hello. it's thursday. it's 9 o'clock. i'm victoria derbyshire. welcome to the programme. our top story today: hurricane irma, one of most powerful hurricanes in recorded history, is continuing its pa rt recorded history, is continuing its part the devastation over the caribbean with several islands flattened. my whole caved in. there we re flattened. my whole caved in. there were seven of us. all we could do was pray and call for help. the firemen came to our rescue as soon as they could of course. we'll talk to those affected throughout the programme. also this morning — we've taken the belgian paralympian with a crippling degenerative disease who wants to end her life to meet an anti—eutha nasia campaigner. if you can't decide who wipes your bottom and then someone says, you know you could die and it would be dignified, suddenly is that the choice? you can't choose to have the

dignity of deciding who looks after you but you can decide to die? you know what pain is? when you are totally alone and crying because of the pain. watch that full conversation in about 15 minutes. and listen to this. # one—day... and a new george michael single has been released today 8 months after his death. we'll play you some of it and get reviews from some of his fans. hello. welcome to the programme. we're live until 11 this morning. throughout the morning the latest breaking news and developing stories and, as always, really keen to hear from you. a little later in the programme we'll be talking about the school which has introduced a gender neutral uniform. it's been introduced over

concern about skirt lengths at the school and to accommodate some transgender pupils. it means effectively that girls have got to wear trousers and they cannot wear skirts. this comes after the announcement from do john lewis wear skirts. this comes after the announcement from dojohn lewis that they would sell gender neutral children's clothing. they would sell gender neutral child ren's clothing. one they would sell gender neutral children's clothing. one mother says that her daughter is a girl and she wa nts to that her daughter is a girl and she wants to wear a skirt and that is her gender. please get in touch. we wa nt to her gender. please get in touch. we want to hear what you think. the details are on the screen. hurricane irma has left a trail of destruction in the caribbean virtually destroying two islands and killing at least seven people. officials say the french and dutch territory of saint martin has been reduced to rubble. people on the island of barbuda are to be moved away as the authorities say it is no

longer habitable. the storm has moved past puerto rico knocking out power for moved past puerto rico knocking out powerfor more moved past puerto rico knocking out power for more than 1 million moved past puerto rico knocking out powerfor more thani million people and is now heading to florida. andy more reports. the island of barbuda, home to 1600 people, was one of the first places to be hit by irma, and it bore the full brunt. it is estimated 95% of homes have been damaged. the communications tower was destroyed, cutting the island off from the outside world. the prime minister said the island was barely habitable. what i saw was heart—wrenching, absolutely devastating. in fact, i believe on a per capita basis, the extent of the destruction in barbuda is unprecedented. a two—year—old toddler was killed. there were many lucky escapes. we had cars flying over our heads. we had containers, a0 foot containers, flying left and right, the story you are getting from most of the residents here is the eye of the storm came just in time.

persons were literally tying themselves to their roofs with ropes to keep them down. 185 miles per hour. in the french territory of saint martin, six people were killed. authorities said the island had been reduced to rubble. this is hurricane irma seen from space. it's now heading north of puerto rico, and could hit florida at the weekend. it's one of three hurricanes in the atlantic. there are particular fears for hurricane jose, following close behind irma and on a similar path. officials say with most people homeless, barbuda cannot withstand another storm. ifjose does head its way, the island may have to be evacuated. andy moore, bbc news. the red cross said the damage in barbuda was like nothing they had ever seen barbuda was like nothing they had ever seen before. the first report coming out of

barbuda, after we lost communication last night, the first report from the prime minister today when he took his first trip, indicated 90% of property was damaged or destroyed. we had the release of the first set of images this evening and the devastation is nothing like we have ever seen before. we are talking about the entire country or population of barbuda being significantly destroyed. we have mobilised our resources and we will be going over to barbuda tomorrow to get a better picture of what immediate, medium and long—term needs are. from that we will start the relief effort. we have already been meeting with the government. we actually just came been meeting with the government. we actuallyjust came out of a meeting with cabinet where we identified what type of resources are available and how soon we can make relief efforts available, from tarpaulins to shelters, which is a major priority, as well as some health concerns. this is what the focus is

on in the next 2a hours. the last major hurricane we would have had remotely close, not at the same level just remotely close, remotely close, not at the same leveljust remotely close, was in 1995. we did have significant devastation to antigua and we did rebuild, but what we are seeing in barbuda, it is something we never fathom that would happen. we never thought that we would have images where you see the entire population of barbuda pretty much desolated before your eyes. this is something thatis before your eyes. this is something that is very difficult for people to deal with, particularly the fact that we have one fatality, and such a young individual. really a lot is being dealt with in the barbuda community. a spokesman from the red cross. we will bring you more on that devastation later. annita is in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the rest of the days news. mps will debate the european union

withdrawal bill today. the regulation will transfer thousands of eu laws and regulations into british law. labour says it will oppose the bill in a vote next week. meanwhile the european union wants northern ireland to have a different brexit deal to the rest of the uk, the bbc understands. proposals due to be published later today by michel barnier are expected to suggest special exceptions to allow people to work, go to school and receive medical treatment on either side of the border with the republic of ireland. a leading health organisation says britain's obesity crisis is being fuelled by businesses pushing unhealthy food and larger portions on consumers. the royal society for public health says that shoppers are at risk of eating 17,000 extra calories a year from unnecessary food and drink. it wants businesses to stop encouraging people to eat more, and suggests the government could reward businesses with reduced

rates as an incentive. universities in england could face fines if they pay their leaders more than the prime minister unless they can convince the regulator that their bosses are with it. dozens of vice chancellors currently earn more than doubled the prime minister's annual salary of £150,000. universities ministerjo johnson says urgent measures are needed to ensure a good dealfor both says urgent measures are needed to ensure a good deal for both students and taxpayers. the second largest police force in england and wales, west midlands police, has been accused of failing to record thousands of crimes every year including domestic abuse and rape. the inspectorate of co nsta bula ry rape. the inspectorate of constabulary said the force's performance was inadequate. the force said they took the issue seriously and said a number of cases had been recorded but classified incorrectly. one in five people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual have experienced a hate crime in the last

year according to research by the charity stonewall. they found 80% of victims chose not to report the crimes to police. ian miller has more. leon and steve want to be able to be themselves, but say they can't because they're gay. three weeks ago i was in a nightclub and this guy must have heard my voice, heard that i'm camp and gay, so thought he would try to intimidate me. he turned around and started saying some quite homophobic slurs to me, at which point i brushed them off. i wasn't going to let him ruin my night at the time, which he definitely didn't like, because he then turned around and stamped on my hand. and from that stamp, i found out two days later, that my knuckle was broken. compared with how things were 20 years ago when i first came out, we're in a different place today. with gay characters all around us, people growing up with that, the last thing i expected was for a young man to find it offensive and think it was ok to hit me.

new research carried out by stonewall suggests that hate crime is on the rise. the number of lesbian, gay and bisexual people who experienced hate crime in the past year increased by 78% on four years ago. a1% of transgender people said they had suffered an incident in the last 12 months. 81% of people surveyed didn't report the offence to police. the charity is warning against complacency and has called on the public to work with the authorities to tackle the problem. it really needs police forces to step up. it needs the government to look at how they deal with hate crime. what we are asking people to do is to sign the pledge on our website that they will stand up for lgbt equality in their communities, because actually it'll take individuals in every part of britain to change this. the government has said it is already working with police and the justice system to help ensure victims have the confidence to report abuse. facebook says it has discovered

evidence of a russian operation to promote divisive social and political messages on the social network during the us presidential campaign. the company said £77,000 was spent on about 3000 adverts over a two year period. the adverts did not back any specific political figures but posted on topics including immigration, race and equal rights. prince george is starting school today. the four—year—old is attending thomas's school in battersea, south london. fees at the school are more than £17,000 a year. prince george was taken to school by his father. the duchess of cambridge, who is pregnant with the couple's third child, is said to be suffering from morning sickness. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. more at 9.30. thank you. get in touch in the usual

ways. we are talking about hate crime later. if you have been the victim of a hate crime, please get in touch. sports news injust a moment and we will play you a little bit more of that new george michael track which has been released today eight months after his death. have a listen. # one day you say you love me # the next you tell me you don't # one day you say you will # the next you tell me you won't # hey little baby, there ain't much point in hanging around, yeah it isa it is a remix of a track fantasy which was supposed to be an the listen without prejudice album. it

was recorded in 1990. george michael's sisters have posted an update on his official website saying they will carry on his musical legacy exactly as he would have wanted. you are an aficionado of george michael's music. tell us what you think of that track. now the sport. we start at the us open. roger federer and rafael nadal have never played each other there before and it will not be happening again this time? no, absolutely not. it was what all tennis fans had been hoping for. roger federer and rafael nadal would have rolled back the years when they met in the australian open final backin met in the australian open final back in january, but there met in the australian open final back injanuary, but there will be no repeat because the five—time wimbledon champion has been knocked out of the open after being beaten byjuan martin del potro. it is the first time the swiss has lost in a grand slam all season. the wimbledon

champion was beaten in four sets to book his place, as del potro moved into the last four and he will be meeting rafael nadal. roger federer admitted he was not really feeling his best this year. i knew it would bea his best this year. i knew it would be a tough one. i struggled throughout the tournament thinking too far ahead. throughout the tournament thinking too farahead. in throughout the tournament thinking too far ahead. in some ways i am actually happy i made the quarters. iam not actually happy i made the quarters. i am not that disappointed because it has been a good run already this year. you know, unfortunately i ran into a guy who was better on the day. it is del potro who will take on rafael nadalfor a place in the final. but failed adult is back in the world number one spot which he took off andy murray. he was ruthless against the 19—year—old russian. he dropped just five games in the whole match. sorry, go on. are you going to say something or am i? let's hear from victoria! there is an all american line—up for the

women's semifinals. exactly that. you would have to go all the way back to 1981 for the last time that happened. this year karolina pliskova's time as number one has been that to an end. and venus williams will take on sloane stephens. chris evatt and barbara potter faced off and austin took on martina navratilova. now, who can forget piegate? the story of the sutton united reserve goalie eating a pie filmed durng an fa cup match. first it was look at this stroke and thenit first it was look at this stroke and then it became a bit more serious. it's still going on, what's the latest? yes. it escalated. fans were watching and thought, hang on a minute, and it started as a joke.

wayne shorter was sutton united's reserve goalkeeper in this match in february. an fa cup defeat to arsenal. he ate pie during the day after a bookmaker odds of 8—1 that he would. he said it was just a bit of fun at the time but later resigned and has now been fined £375 and banned for two months by the fa for breaching their betting rules. it started as a joke, but didn't end that way at all. thank you. we will have more throughout the morning. marieke vervoot is 38 and a top paralympian who won several medals in london 2012 and rio 2016 for belgium. she also wants to choose when she dies. she lives with a painful degenerative disease and has signed euthanasia papers to end her life. we've been following her story on this programme over the last year. she's told us that as her condition continues to deterioate, she now has more bad days than good, and wants to end her life when

the time is right. but anti—euthanasia campaigners say it sends out a message that some lives are worth less than others. we took disability campaignermik scarlet — who also lives with chronic spinal pain — but is against euthanasia to meet her. their conversation is frank and contains discussions about suicide which you may find upsetting. it's a really, really lovely experience. i will do the indoor skydiving. i had to quit with my top sports, and i was very scared for a deep black hole. but this feels so great. i'm so happy that i found another sport. you see your wheelchair standing outside, and you are flying like a bird.

yes, it's really an awesome feeling. hello, i am marieke vervoort, i am an athlete from belgium. i am twice triathlon world champion. i have four olympic medals, including one gold in london 2012. but i have constantly battled against a progressive disease, which leaves me in chronic pain. it has been getting worse. i live life to the full. but my time is up. i've been living with chronic pain for 37 years now.

this will be the first time in quite a few years of campaigning around the subject of assisted dying, assisted suicide and euthanasia. that i've actually met someone who themselves is disabled and those experiencing it from the other side of the argument. three in belgium. three in belgium? right, i'll remember that. let's go inside. come on. i suppose my worries about euthanasia is that we don't live in a world, i think, that's kind of ready for it. because i don't think the world understands what being disabled or ill means. and i don't think it's kind of in a position where we are all able to live as we want. so it worries me that more and more countries are getting the right to die with this kind of choice,

i have the right to die as i want. i'm not saying that's a bad thing, i'm just saying i think it would be good if before we got that, we had the right to live as we want. i think totally different about it. i don't agree with what you're talking. you're talking about getting all things out of your life. that's what i'm doing as well. i take all things, and i've got a big bucket list of what i want to do. i will live, i'm going for the life, so long as the life is something beautiful. as long as i have good days. i heard your story, obviously it's not exactly the same, but we have a lot in common. you know, 14, 15, iwas disabled from birth because i was born with cancer.

from the base of my hips to the base of my rib cage, that has grown deformed. so all of that started to crumble. so now what i've got is titanium rods that go from the top of my rib cage to the bottom of my hips. they are bolted together, so i'm solid. so you're like robocop? i am, i'm like the wolverine. robocop. my nephew thinks it's fantastic that i'm like wolverine and i'm all metal. but can i ask you something, is your disease stable now? the condition i've got is not a continuous downward sort of slope. but i don't know what tomorrow will bring, if you know what i mean. i can't guarantee that today is the last day i'll be ok. me, it's going every time worse and worse.

my view, i see now, only 20% any more. one eye, one point, the other eye two points. so it's very bad. they don't know, it's also something wrong with my brain. 0h, right. also, the last years, a lot of epileptic attacks. they don't know from where it comes. that's also something in my brain. for me, if i still have good days, then it's worth to enjoy every little moment. but now it starts to have more bad days than good days, and it's getting really difficult, that's why i really, really glad that i signed my euthanasia papers. that gives me a safe feeling. because i have my own life in my hands.

when i say it's enough, i can't live in this condition, i have the right to say i want to quit now. yeah. it was a lot of... that came off me, a lot of stress, a lot of things off me. i felt safe from that moment and i started to live again after the papers were signed. yeah, i completely get what you're saying. when i was in that... because i've also been in quite dark places quite a few times in my life. the first time it happened, i genuinely planned a suicide. i couldn't leave the house without assistance at the time. so i waited to rebuild my life enough, so that i could go out and kill myself. that was kind of my plan. get well enough to do it. but what if you kill yourself and it's not working?

and you come out of it and you live like a vegetable? without those papers, i would be thinking all the time, how can i do my perfect suicide? euthanasia is not something that you get like going to the supermarket. it's a really hard process. not everybody can have those papers. you have to go to three different doctors and you have to prove that no treatment exists, and there are no medicines to make you better or make it stable. because of those papers, i can enjoy every moment. it troubles me if we end up with a situation where people are very keen to fight for your right to have the right to choose how you die.

but people don't seem to very keen to for you to have the right to choose how you live. i've got some new friends that i have the people that care for them taken away, that are being put into care homes, whether they want to or not, that are having all of the assistance that they have taken away from them because the government are cutting back. i don't think, when that happens, you can make an informed choice. if you can't decide who wipes your bum, and somebody says, hey, you know you could die, and it would be dignified, suddenly is that a choice? you can't choose to have the dignity of deciding who looks after you, but you can decide to die. you know what pain is, when you are totally alone? and you're crying because of pain, you're yelling that they hear it in the corner of the street. is that a life?

yeah. is this a good life? yes. you think this is a good life? yeah, i have a fantastic life. this is the point, that we are losing sight of the fact that, for example, if pain is a reason to die, then what does that mean for someone like me, in fact one time i had four years of solid pain that never stopped, just didn't stop at all, and during that time, yes, i won't deny it, there were times when i thought, ijust can't do this. but if i lived in a society with that law, then i would have stopped. because i have those papers and i can do it, everything is already ready for when the time is there. it gives me a good feeling that i can plan everything for and go in the way that i want to. i don't know when the time is, and i'm busy now with a new experiment, with the pain treatment,

with a doctor that i've never met before. and they give this, the last chance. if this works, i can go further. if it's not working, then i have to say stop. i'm again in the hospital because i felt really, really bad. i've got my roommate, zen. cute little teeth! i really hope you don't think in any way that i am judging you, because i'm not. i completely understand. i'm not saying you shouldn't do it. that's not it. you can't tell me. we have the chance to talk and use things like this to explore our inner feelings, ithink, and make the world understand. i want to live and to end my life is beautiful. i don't want to die like an animal.

i want to end like marieke. a month ago, i met a guy who's doing funerals. he came to my house and i arranged my funeral already. so it's really different than a normal funeral. i don't want to be in a church. i choose not a black box, but a red box with white flowers and also a box with all white butterflies. it's really weird, when i say it now, but for me i love it when i have an operation. i really love the feeling

that they put me in the sleep. i think that has given me the same feeling, that you will sleep and you never wake up. i hear a lot that i inspire a lot of people. i hope that people get another vision about euthanasia and they won't see it like murder, but it can be also a good thing. i want them to toast on the good life that i had. i don't want people to cry, i want people happy. they will miss me, it's normal. but that they are also happy that i'm not in pain any more, that i can rest in peace.

yee—haw! you can hear more from marieke on 5live sport tonight at 8.30pm and it will be available to download as a podcast. if you're affected by any of the issues in this film please visit the bbc action line for details of where you can get help and support — bbc.co.uk/actionline. it is 9:30am. a couple of comments now from people watching that film. this emailfrom chris in cheshire, every person should have the choice to live or die. it should not be ruled by others who disagree with what is ok for them. it has got to be down to the person themselves.

and this emailfrom be down to the person themselves. and this email from peter: be down to the person themselves. and this emailfrom peter: the right to die assumes society and the state of your life. if they don't, then the premise of rights to die is outrageous, because they have no rights to give or take regarding a life. and on twitter: an exceptionally candid and brave discussion taking place between two people on victoria derbyshire right now on coping with pain and the right to die. thank you for those and please keep them coming in. now the latest news headlines with annita mcveigh. news is emerging of the devastating impact of hurricane irma on the caribbean islands it's passed. at least nine people have been killed. officials say the french and dutch territory of saint martin has been reduced to rubble. the small island of barbuda is said to be barely habitable. the red cross said the impact of the storm was unparalleled. the uk takes another step towards brexit today, as mps debate the european union withdrawal bill.

the measures would transfer thousands of eu laws and regulations into british legislation. the government has urged mps from all parties to work with them to get the legislation through parliament, but labour says it will oppose the bill in a vote next week. the european union wants northern ireland to have a different brexit deal to the rest of the uk, the bbc understands. proposals due to be published later today by the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, are expected to suggest special exceptions to allow people to work, go to school and receive medical treatment on either side of the border with the republic of ireland. prince george is starting school today. the four—year—old is attending thomas's school in battersea, south london. fees at the school are more than £17,000 a year. prince george was taken to school by his father. the duchess of cambridge, who is pregnant with the couple's third child, is said to be suffering from morning sickness. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. more at 10. here's some sport now with reshmin.

roger federer has been knocked out of the us open byjuan martin del potro, which means it's the argentine who will face rafael nadal in the semi—final. fans at flushing meadows were hoping to watch federer and nadal face off for the first time in the competition. but the five—time champion, who suffered his first defeat in a grand slam this season, admitted he was simply not at his best. in the women's draw, it's an all—american semi—final line up for the first time in 36 years. coco vandeweghe ended karolina pliskova's reign as world number one, beating her in straight sets to set up a meeting with compatriot madison keys, while venus williams will take on sloane stephens. chris froome had his lead cut by 42 seconds in the vuelta a espana as vincenzo nibali capitalised on a gruelling final climb to reduce his advantage. froome, the four—time tour de france winner, is aiming to win the event for the first time.

england's deciding test match against west indies gets under way at lord's injust under an hour. toby roland jones returns to the side and another fast bowler, james anderson, could become the first englishman to take 500 test wickets. that is all the sport. back to you. thank you. there is a new george michael track out and it has been released eight months after his death. it got its first airing on chris evans's death. it got its first airing on chris eva ns's breakfast death. it got its first airing on chris evans's breakfast show this morning. we are about to play george michael's brand—new single. here's how it happened. thisjust in now. thank you, david austin, george's manager, for sending us this. he hasjust typed this and sent it to us now so we know exactly how this happened. "fantasy was originally meant to be on listen without prejudice and was intended to be one of the singles from the album, but somehow it got lost in the ether, in what was going on at the time. though george did then release it lateras a b—side in 1990. however, years later, just last year, when looking for a lead single for the reissue of george's listen without prejudice mtv unplugged album, and to

accompany the new film, freedom, that george had just finished working on before christmas, fantasy was george's first and obvious choice. so george phoned up nile rodgers, his good pal, in early 2016, because the two of them have always spoken the same musical language, as long as they have known each other, and nile reworked the record." and that is what you are about to hear right now. that is where we are. # little baby, i can give you all the loving that your heart # i can give you all the loving that your heart desires # one day you say you love me # the next you tell me you don't # one day you say you will # but the next you tell me you won't # hey, little baby, there ain't much point me hanging around, yeah # one day you make me feel that your love is in my hands

# one day you say you will stay # but the next you're changing your plans # hey, little baby, ain't much point in hanging around # ain't much point in hanging around, yeah # because if you ain't got time for me # i will find another fantasy nile rodgers has been posting on twitter about his nerves before this was released. he said he had pins and needles and he would work until the report starts coming in. and in tribute to the original artist, he then tweeted: let's find out what this new track means to his fans. laura o'mahoney is a fan of george michael and danced to one of his tracks

as herfirst wedding dance. and soren madsen who has been buying george michael music since he was a teenager. what do you think of it?|j what do you think of it? i think it is brilliant. y? i think it will be fun to dance to when i go out. i think it is a nice updated version of it. it sounds like the original but it is really good fun and upbeat and a great legacy as to what george michael was all about. and what about you ? michael was all about. and what about you? i can't agree any more. i think it is fantastic. a fantastic track. tell me about the first dance at your wedding. it was careless whisper, one of my favourite george michael tracks, and i managed to persuade my husband not to be too embarrassed to dance to it and we had a great dj singer who did it

electro swing style and it was great fun. a bit of a laugh, not taking it too seriously. and also because i love george michael, it was quite special. and apparently there was a george michael b match your hen do as well. yes, i thought i wasn't that much of a fan but clearly i am! at my hen do in london, i entered the room and all my friends were dressed up as george michael with really dodgy blonde wigs, wham plaything, and everyone was wondering who we were dressed up as. we arejust wondering who we were dressed up as. we are just showing pictures of your hen party which is quite bizarre! but good fun. it is better than just wearing tutus and carrying around obscene inflatables!” wearing tutus and carrying around obscene inflatables! i totally agree on that point! what was the first

george michael track you bought? wa ke george michael track you bought? wake me up before you go go. then i was caught. i just wake me up before you go go. then i was caught. ijust kept buying every time more music was released. what do you think the mix of this track says about his legacy?” do you think the mix of this track says about his legacy? i think it is typical george. he has always recorded music and he has always tried to renew himself and his music. he has always tried to take some of his old tracks and remake them. everything she wants, which was released as a single and a re/max, and remixed again. almost every single was re—done over the yea rs every single was re—done over the years so every single was re—done over the years so it is so typical of george

michael. what are the chances of this going to number one, laura?” would like to say the chances are very high and people will buy the track and download it in memory of him. it is quite a treat to be able to get the track after he has left us. to get the track after he has left us. i hope people will take it seriously and enjoy it and buy it. i certainly will do. chris evans read this out this morning. just in case you missed that, laura, this is from the management. fantasy was originally meant to be an listen without prejudice, intended to be one of the singles from that album, but it got lost on either of what was going on at that time, although it was released as a b—side in 1990, although years later, just last year, when looking for relief single for the reissue of without prejudice

mtv unplugged, and to celebrate the film freedom, fantasy was his first and obvious choice. then he rang up nile rodgers in early 2016 because the two have always spoken the same musical language as long as they have known each other. and nile rodgers reworked the record and that is what they are hearing today. i am just looking at twitter. so many people love it. number one it is, says somebody. fantasy has sent shivers down my spine and i so miss george michael. quite a few people tweeting nile rodgers to say thank you. we will see what happens. thank you. we will see what happens. thank you both very much. coming up: universities in england could face fines if they pay their leaders more than the prime minister. we will bring you the story. thank you for your comments

about the school which has effectively introduced a gender neutral uniform. that means that girls cannot wear skirts. jerome says why be dictatorial? why not give children the choice of wearing skirts, gilles, trousers? taking away the choice is back. this email from john: who decided that trousers are gender neutral? and this one: gender neutral uniform? this world is going to end. that seems apocalyptic! you are either a boy or apocalyptic! you are either a boy or a girland it apocalyptic! you are either a boy or a girl and it is that simple. and from mike: to for somebody to be gender neutral is surely as bad as forcing somebody into agenda. why must a forcing somebody into agenda. why musta girl forcing somebody into agenda. why must a girl who wants to wear a skirt be made to wear trousers? it was the most effective and stand—out slogan from the brexit campaign —

"let's take back control". well, later we'll start to hear more about what taking back control might look like. the european union withdrawal bill represents the biggest constitutional change in the uk since the 1970s as thousands of eu laws and regulations are effectively downloaded into british law. about 12,000, i think. mps will start debating it, with labour planning to oppose it because they say it gives too much power to the government rather than elected mps in parliament. once informally known as the great repeal bill, the now less grandly titled european union withdrawal bill faces its first big test in parliament today. but what is it and why does it matter? well, the idea is to do the biggest cut and pastejob in parliamentary history, by moving a0 years' worth of eu law straight into uk law. then, when the uk formally leaves the eu in 2019, britain will be able to change those laws as it sees fit. sounds straightforward enough, doesn't it? so what's all the fuss? well, the bill also includes

controversial powers nicknamed henry viii clauses, after the 16th century king who introduced a statute of proclamations that gave him power to make laws without parliament's consent. critics fear these powers would allow ministers to change legislation without the scrutiny of parliament. as a result, the opposition labour party have vowed to vote against it. they say it grants too much power to ministers to, quote, "slash people's rights at work and reduce protections for consumers and the environment." the government says it won't use the powers to make significant changes, and has warned that if the bill doesn't clear the commons, it could create a legal vacuum when the uk leaves the eu in 2019. since the last election, the government has a wafer thin majority, with onlyjust enough mps to get new laws passed. but if this bill, or one like it, isn't passed by the time the uk formally leaves the eu, britain could find itself in a king—sized legal muddle.

let's talk to mark harper from the conservatives, stephen gethins who's the snp's europe spokesperson, and ina and in a moment labour mp peter kyle, when hejoins us. good morning. mark harper, the former attorney general dominic grieve says no sovereign parliament should pass the eu withdrawal bill. is he wrong? i'm very happy with the bill. i've looked at the bill. i think it does what's necessary. it takes all of the european legislation that's currently passed in secondary look legislation puts into british law so when we leave we get a smooth exit. it's worth saying, the legislation it's going to move was all passed into law through the same process as the secondary legislation and i didn't hear lots of people complaining about that at the time. i think it's a necessary process.

the house of lords committee looked at it and said in an ideal world you wouldn't do it like this, but they accepted because of the volume of legislation, this was necessary. they said the government should limit the powers ministers are going to have on the government has. the powers ministers have, they can't use it for example to create taxes or make retrospective legislation. it is for tweaking the legislation and of those powers. tweaking sounds so and of those powers. tweaking sounds so benign. it is. what are you worried about? all reviewable by the courts. i'm astonished to hear mark talking about nobody ever complaining. we've had years of eurosceptics complaining about european wars do uk government signed up to. —— european laws the uk government signed up to. this paragraph that the house of lords are concerned about, the law society of scotland have illustrated concerns, takes power backstroke

from parliament. these henry viii clauses they are using, why not give control back to parliament? give parliament a say. one thing that's missing... sorry, sorry. what do you mean? two solutions. on areas that are devolved competences, give the devolved administrations in wales, northern ireland and scotland say over those, don't restrict what they can legislate on and they can't legislate on, which this bill does. it restricts them. on the parliamentary side, give parliament proper scrutiny. they are restricting the days we can debate this. one thing that is astonishing, if the government had the courage of its convictions and was confident of what it was doing, it would be happy with parliamentary scrutiny but it is not. peter kyle from the labour party, thank you forjoining us. you will tell me your party is definitely not trying to block brexit when it votes against the second reading of this bill, but

that will be the perception among some people, some voters out there who voted for brexit.” some people, some voters out there who voted for brexit. i can say categorically, and i'm in a good place to say this, the party is absolutely not trying to block brexit. i am someone who voted against article 50 and broke the labour whip. i think our country was fundamentally unprepared and our government was unprepared for the negotiation period. ok... i'm prepared for the legislative consequences of brexit. today's paragraph is proof positive that our government did not give the time or the consideration and is underprepared for the whole brexit process that they are ramming through parliament with too little time. how are you going to convince people that this concern about parliamentary sovereignty is not simply masquerading you trying to put hurdles in the way of the government completing brexit? they are government completing brexit? they a re two government completing brexit? they are two separate things. article 50 and a vote for article 15 triggered the brexit process. this is about

how we do brexit and getting brexit right and getting a brexit that is right and getting a brexit that is right for britain. what is your solution? i wonder if it is possible to deliver a brexit good for britain when you see the leaks coming out of government and the shambles of the negotiation process unfolding around us. negotiation process unfolding around us. what specifically? what is it specifically labour is suggesting? there is something like 12,000 regulations under eu law that we are going to download. you are not talking about scrutinising all those pieces... why not? how long will it take? it should take as long as it takes. if brexit is about parliamentary sovereignty, we give sovereignty to parliament. what you don't do is take parliamentary sovereignty away. what would be wrong...? that sovereignty away. what would be wrong. . . ? that was an enlightening answer. what it says is, if you went through every single one of those regulations, which by the way didn't have that level of scrutiny when they became law in the first place.

that is what people voted for. the labour party were happy to do that. then this process would never finish. the real agenda of the labour party is they want to kick and pushed down the road are sleeving, because many of them... and pushed down the road are sleeving, because many of them. .. we wa nt sleeving, because many of them. .. we want to get it right. if we leave it in two years' time in march 2019 and have removed all this into british law, it will be a chaotic exit. businesses, the public and people will suffer. do you not accept peter kyle's point about doing it properly? it takes as long as it ta kes ? properly? it takes as long as it takes? we are taking these pieces of secondary legislation which currently rely on european legislation to be law and moving into british law. the powers that are going to ministers are to enable small changes, where you need to change the name of an institution for example. the government has been very clear that any significant changes will be done through primary

legislation, through the full parliamentary process. do not believe it? mark... i don't. these assurances, mark trying to tell if it's not that bad. dominic grieve, former attorney general, we sit on opposite benches, very different views but real concerns about this. this is something really important. this is something really important. this has a huge impact on everybody, on our environment, it opportunities for young people, on the economy, and jobs. the economy will take a massive hit from this process. it takes as long as it takes and parliamentary scrutiny is important. i agree with peter, his concerns about ramming this through parliament. what's the point of having a parliament if it is not fairto point of having a parliament if it is not fair to scrutinise and ask the government questions? especially on something that will affect each and everyone of us in such a devastating way is this. peter kyle, your labour colleague who voted to leave the eu said anyone who votes against the principle of this bill, which is what you are debating this afternoon and the next few days, is betraying the will of the british people. that is one of your

colleagues. she is wrong, i'm sorry! she's wrong. she's in a tiny minority within labour and within parliament. on this particular point she is simply wrong. when labour we re she is simply wrong. when labour were in power, mark and his party voted against labour if we brought ina bill voted against labour if we brought in a bill which had more than ten or 11 statutory instruments that were giving more powers to government. they repeatedly said it was a power grab. they are introducing a bill today that will have over 1000 pieces of legislation, power which is round away from parliament into government, out of the hands of civilians, out of the hands of democratic scrutiny. this bill is pernicious and wrong.” democratic scrutiny. this bill is pernicious and wrong. i don't agree with that. it is a practical measure. the house of lords constitution committee said this is the only way it can be reasonably done. they said ministers' power should be restrained. there is clear legislation that talks about the limits ministers will have. i looked at the bill last night in preparation for this and am very clear there are lots of controls in

there and i am content with them and will be supporting the bill on monday. are you not happy with the limits in there, peter kyle? why don't you believe them? the limits? there are no limits in this bill. that are. this bill does not give 1000 statutory instruments and 1000 different mechanisms for ministers and civil servants to take decisions that are going to affect our air quality, lousy quality, the food quality... right across the raft of regulation for our country. it's also giving the power to overturn different pieces of legislation. this bill, for example, will give the power to ministers to leave the finally —— to finally leave the eu without coming back to parliament for the final vote. they give power to government that could even overturn this particular piece of legislation. the power given to government by this bill is overwhelming. it is unprecedented. we need time to scrutinise and get brexit right. i think brexit is going wrong and we need to stop and

think about it, but i'm fully behind labour's position now, to get this bill right and get every step of the way right. otherwise we would damage our country in the most pernicious and evangelistic way. ok. a quick final way. theresa may said she will stay on to fight the next general election, are you happy?” stay on to fight the next general election, are you happy? i want the prime minister to get this brexit negotiations on. are you happy with her planning to stay? she said before to mps at westminster she will stay as long as we were noted. she's doing a greatjob negotiating the brexit deal. she said she will stay on to fight the next general election, would you support?” stay on to fight the next general election, would you support? i want her to get this brexit negotiation done and then all the other challenges facing against product —— about around productivity and job creation for some she's doing a greatjob and i want ijust don't get that done. do you want her to stay on as she announced she will be doing to fight the next general election? i want her to stay and

deliver the thing she said. what about fighting a general election? we have a five—year parliament. i wa nt we have a five—year parliament. i want her to get on and deliver for the british people. are you happy... very happy to defend and support her if she does that. what about the question i have asked you a number of times... are you happy theresa may has announced she is planning to stay on to fight the next general election? i'm very content to support the prime minister. doing a great job. .. for the support the prime minister. doing a great job... for the next support the prime minister. doing a great job. .. for the next general election? i'm very happy with the leader she has as leader of our party and prime minister. and the next general election, you to put that not? she said she will stay as long as the parliamentary party... since she has said that she has announced she will be staying on to fight the next general election. i'm very happy with what she's doing reading our country and happy to continue supporting her for as long as she wants to stay as prime minister. she wants to fight the next general election.”

minister. she wants to fight the next general election. i said as long as she wants to stay as prime minister. thank you very much. mark harper from the conservatives, stephen gethins from the snp and peter kyle from the labour party, thank you for coming onto the programme. some breaking news to bring you if i may. they're with me one moment. the crown prosecution service says it has received a file from the police regarding allegations of historical child sexual abuse made by a man who was known as nick, which led to operation midland. the cps spokesperson said on the 11th of september we received a file of evidence from northumbria police with allegations against one person as to perverting the course of justice and fraud. prosecutors will consider the evidence with a view to making a charging decision in line with the code for crown prosecutors. thank you for your comments about right to die. this e—mailfrom sandra who said, i've just been watching your very moving discussion. on the right to die. i fully support anyone who wishes to

end their life through illness. i travelled with my husband andrew to dig in attacks in december last year. he had ms for 21! years. he had no quality—of—life but he had the ability to make his final decision of taking control. —— i travelled with my husband andrew to dignitas. ending his life when he wished. and roger has e—mailed as well. having spent a good deal of time in distress through spinal pain and frightening asthmatic attacks i can understand that some who suffered this on a permanent basis would want some peace. what worries me, says roger, if we might reach a stage where people were so worried about the fact they were too much of a burden on others and ruining the lives of others that it would be best to put this right by ending their lives. once we are living and breathing, life has got to be fought for. thank you for those. do keep your comments coming in. we will bring you the latest sport and

news in a moment but first, the latest weather with simon. good morning. ithought simon. good morning. i thought i would start by showing you the latest with hurricane irma. still a massive category five hurricane and is currently just to the category five hurricane and is currentlyjust to the north of the dominican republic. you can see the eye, offshore but giving strong winds, heavy rain and a storm surge in the dominican republic and up towards haiti. it will work its way towards the turks and caicos islands later. that is one area we will keep a very close eye on. as it maintains its strength asa eye on. as it maintains its strength as a category five hurricane. back to the uk. an area of low pressure sitting towards the north—west of the uk. that is bringing is not only some fairly strong winds across northern and western areas but some outbreaks of rain as well. that rain is going to gradually work further southwards as we go into this afternoon. towards the south and east of england things

going little drier. quite cloudy but there will be in a few bright spots. remaining quite wet across scotland during this afternoon. with that breeze, feeling quite cool, temperatures only 11! or 15. pretty wet for northern ireland and eventually some wet weather into north—west england, north wales as well. elsewhere, across england and wales, while there could be a few showers it is mostly cloudy. any brightness will be down towards the south and east. that is where temperatures will get to about 17-19. through this evening and overnight, the wet weather will continue to spread further south and east. still quite breezy conditions to take this into the early hours of friday morning. overnight temperatures down to about 11—13. during friday, quite u nsettled to about 11—13. during friday, quite unsettled for many. a few heavy showers affecting the northern half of the uk. further south, you can see this area of rain spreading into southern areas. see this area of rain spreading into southern areas. some see this area of rain spreading into southern areas. some of that could be on the heavy side. pretty breezy

for many. temperatures around the mid to high teens, again feeling pretty cool. into the weekend, staying cool and quite windy. some rain around us. this is the picture on saturday. quite a few showers coming in. blustery conditions throughout the day on saturday. temperatures around 15-18. day on saturday. temperatures around 15—18. by the time we get to sunday, this area of low pressure starts to move in. tightening isobars, stronger winds on sunday for all of us. stronger winds on sunday for all of us. with that, the weather front bringing outbreaks of rain mainly in the west but will spread further eastwards. some brighter skies the further east you are but eventually turning cloudy and wet. that's it for me, see you later. thank you. it is thursdayjust after 10am. i'm victoria derbyshire. hurricane irma has caused widespread disruption across the caribbean, leaving at least nine people dead. thousands were running from house to

house and we had cars flying over our heads. we had containers, a0 foot containers flying left and right. we will talk to some of those affected. and one in five lgbt people have experienced hate crime or hate incidents in the last year. one in ten have been assaulted, but many of those are reluctant to report it to the police. he punched me in the face and broke my nose and i needed an operation under general anaesthetic a few weeks later. we will ask the police if they are failing the victims of hate crimes. and the incredible video of a shoplifter in texas who managed to slip off her handcuffs, steal a police car and lead them on a 100mph an hour chase. we have video of that which we will

show you in the next half an hour. it is quite extraordinary. here's annita in the bbc newsroom with a summary of today's news. news is emerging of the devastating impact of hurricane irma on the caribbean. at least nine people have been killed. officials say the french and dutch territory of saint martin has been reduced to rubble. the small island of barbuda is said to be barely habitable. the red cross said the impact of the storm was unparalleled. the uk takes another step towards brexit today, as mps debate the european union withdrawal bill. the measures would transfer thousands of eu laws and regulations into british legislation. the government has urged mps from all parties to work with them to get the legislation through parliament, but labour says it will oppose the bill in a vote next week. the european union wants northern ireland to have a different brexit deal to the rest of the uk, the bbc understands. proposals due to be published later today by the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, are expected to suggest special exceptions

to allow people to work, go to school and receive medical treatment on either side of the border with the republic of ireland. a leading health organisation says britain's obesity crisis is being fuelled by businesses pushing unhealthy food and larger portions on consumers. the royal society for public health says that shoppers are at risk of eating 17,000 extra calories a year from unnecessary food and drink. it wants businesses to stop encouraging people to eat more, and suggests the government could reward businesses with reduced rates as an incentive. universities in england could face fines if they pay their leaders more than the prime minister unless they can convince a regulator that their bosses are worth it. dozens of vice—chancellors currently earn more than double the prime minister's annual salary of £150,000. the universities ministerjo johnson

says urgent measures are needed to ensure a good dealfor both says urgent measures are needed to ensure a good deal for both students and taxpayers. one in five people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual have experienced a hate crime in the past year according to research by the charity stonewall. it found more than 80 percent of victims chose not to report the crime to the police. stonewall has said it has launched its come out for lgbt campaign to fight this. prince george is starting school today. the four—year—old is attending thomas's school in battersea, south london. fees at the school are more than £17,000 a year. prince george was taken to school by his father. the duchess of cambridge, who is pregnant with the couple's third child, is said to be suffering from morning sickness. the school's principal explained what kind of person he had george will be when he leaves primary school. i hope very much that he

will be himself. the whole aim of these precious years of early education is to give children confidence in who they are. we will not try and mould him into any kind of particular person and we wouldn't do that with any of our pupils. we hope you will have the confidence to be himself with all his quirks and idiosyncrasies and characteristics. that is what we want for all of our children. that is a summary of the latest bbc news. more at 10:30am. dan in birmingham says labour, the snp and the liberals all trying to scupper brexit. and when rmp is going to understand that we voted to leave because we don't want mps deciding what happens? —— when our mps going to understand? let the cards fall wherever they fall. there was not this level of scrutiny on entry. and this one: when we see how many laws have got to be passed into uk law, it shows how much we have been ruled by the unelected omission. and this one: we can only assume that conservative mp mark

harper does not want theresa may to run as per a minister in the next general election. now she knows it. please get in touch. if you are texting, you will be charged. now the sport. it's barely believable but roger federer and rafael nadal have never played each other at the us open and unfortunately for many ardent tennis fans, that's not going to change this year either because the swiss has been knocked out in the quarter finals. federer was beaten in four sets byjuan martin del potro, so it's the argentine who will take on nadal in the last four. it was the wimbledon champion's first defeat of the season and he admittted he just wasn't playing at his best. i knew it was going to be a tough one. i had struggled too much throughout the tournament, you know, to think too far ahead. in some ways i'm actually happy i made the quarterfinals. i am i'm actually happy i made the quarterfinals. iam not i'm actually happy i made the quarterfinals. i am not that disappointed because it has been a good run this year already. u nfortu nately i

good run this year already. unfortunately i ran into a guy who was better on the day. nadal was ruthless against the russian teenager andrey rublev as he booked his place in the semi—final. the spaniard, who recently reclaimed the world number one spot, dropped just five games in the match. it's double misery for karolina pliskova, who will now lose her world number one ranking after she lost her quarter final to coco vandeweghe. it means the women's draw features an all—american semi—final line—up for the first time since 1981. vandeweghe will take on madison keys while serena williams plays sloane stephens in the last four. manu tuilagi's hopes of appearing in england's autumn internationals were already slim but now they're over after he suffered a knee injury in leicester's premiership opener against bath on sunday. he'll be out for around 12 weeks. tuilagi had already been told by coach eddiejones that he had just one more chance to prove he had the right attitude to be an england player. england's test series decider against west indies begins today.

it will be the last commentary for toby. he said it was too early to know what he would be feeling about his retirement. i am trying to wake up his retirement. i am trying to wake up still. i have not been through a full inventory of how i am. i have been doing this for god knows how long. i will only know when i am commentating. lovely to have a test match with something riding on it. we are hoping for the west indies revival to continue. we are hoping for the west indies revivalto continue. i we are hoping for the west indies revival to continue. i do. we are hoping for the west indies revivalto continue. ido. it we are hoping for the west indies revivalto continue. i do. it would be lovely if they won. it would do cricket so much good.” be lovely if they won. it would do cricket so much good. i am all for them winning. and we speaking to our correspondentjoe wilson. that is all this book. thank you. welcome to the programme. hurricane irma has caused devastation in the caribbean with some islands totally flattered. the

prime minister of the small island of barbuda says it has been left barely habitable. a toddler has been killed and 90% of buildings including schools and hospitals have been damaged. barbuda sustained wind of up to 225 mph. as a result of that, the country's infrastructure, all of the homes are practically decimated, up to 90% of the homes are damaged. many of them lost the roof. in many instances, some of the homes are totally demolished. so it's a really terrible situation there. we are now trying to bring some urgent relief to the people of barbuda, and then hopefully to start the rebuilding process shortly afterwards. prime minister, for people that don't know barbuda, could you just describe it a little more? i think there were 1600 people living there. it's very flat, isn't it? there wasn't really anywhere for people to go from those kind of winds and, i guess, a storm surge as well? absolutely.

it's an extremely flat island, only about as many as 1800 inhabitants. that's one of the issues why the devastation would have been so bad, because there are no hills and so on to serve as breakers for the wind. clearly, the wind would have literally had a free space to destroy everything in its path. that is just the nature of barbuda, a very flat island. again, the highest point i believe is about 50 feet above sea level. so flooding was a problem. presently there is maybe three or four inches of water on the ground. so it's a really challenging situation in barbuda. michaeljoseph is the president of the red cross in antigua and barbuda, and explained the extent of the damage. the prime minister would have indicated that damage

in barbuda is like none we've ever seen before. the catastrophe, it'sjust... words cannot explain it. seeing pretty much 90% of the country demolished, in rubble. when we first lost communication with barbuda, never did we anticipate that the next time we would be receiving any form of image or any form of communication from them would be to such detriment. talking about everything being completely destroyed. its electricity, its roads, its water, its food, its churches, its supermarkets, shops, everything. there is literally nothing that currently exists in barbuda right now. i think the prime minister has spoken a bit earlier about the magnitude of what it would cost us in terms of rebuilding the country of barbuda itself. from his indication,

we're talking about 100 million us dollars in damages. so even if we're looking at getting barbuda to 25%, we're talking about a significant amount of investment. if you're looking from the red cross perspective, just dealing with immediate needs that currently exist in barbuda. residents have been describing people tying themselves to their roots to try and save their lives as the hurricane struck. —— roofs. roots to try and save their lives as the hurricane struck. -- roofs. what we experienced is something you would see in a horror movie. people we re would see in a horror movie. people were literally running from house to house and we had cards flying over our heads and a0 feet container is flying left and right. at least nine people are known to have died across the region. more than a million people have been cut off from electricity in puerto rico and the storm is now heading towards florida. let's talk to brieaunna curry who is in orlando in florida and preparing for the storm to hit. and on the line is erhan sahin,

a british tourist on holiday in holguin in cuba. cuba is due to be hit by the storm and erhan is hoping to get out of the country before that happens. and ummi krishman director of the emergency health unit at save the children, who's deployed a specialist team to help in the worst affected areas. doctor, tell us about the help you have been giving. we know that this isa have been giving. we know that this is a monster storm with catastrophic impact. what we don't know is how long the nightmare will last. we are not taking any chances. save the children works in all these countries, especially haiti and dominican republic, where we started preparing the minute the storm started brewing. that is why we have a specialist team from an emergency health unit. they will be responding very quickly, starting with children and their medical and health needs, and their medical and health needs, and going onto psychosocial and

mental health needs. we are talking about a region with a history of cyclones. i was in last year following hurricane matthew. there we re following hurricane matthew. there were two problems. one was the impact of one of the worst storms to hit haiti in 50 years, matthew. the second was the secondary impact of the hurricane, which was the cholera outbreak. and the third one was that children had been going through similar storms and they had been emotionally hit very badly. our priority will be to protect children, take care of them, says their medical and health needs, emotional well—being, as well as responding to survival needs. it is a big, catastrophic hurricane. julian, specialising in tropical prediction that the met office. can you talk through the movements of hurricane omar. a hurricane, category five. thankfully the eye of

hurricane irma, where the strongest winds, are keeping offshore at moment. it kept offshore at porto rico. it is keeping off the shore of the dominican republic and haiti, but there is a possibility it could come very close to the turks and caicos islands and across the bahamas and then into cuba over the next two lap or three days. and what about florida ? next two lap or three days. and what about florida? yes, florida seems to be in its path as well. what we expected the continued westward movement would happen through to about saturday. and once it gets close to cuba, it is likely to take a sharp right turn, which means it could make landfall directly over the southern tip of florida. there isa the southern tip of florida. there is a chance it could passjust east of florida and run up the east coast of florida and run up the east coast of florida and into georgia and the carolinas. whatever of florida and into georgia and the ca rolinas. whatever happens, of florida and into georgia and the carolinas. whatever happens, florida will be impacted and other parts of the south—eastern usa as well. will be impacted and other parts of the south-eastern usa as well. can you explain why the winds continue at such a pace? is it to do with the

size of the landmass? small territories, small pieces of land don't really slow down the storm? that is right. the sea temperatures in that region are slightly above average, a degree or 1.5 degrees above average, fuelling the really strong winds in this hurricane. small islands like barbuda which was passed over yesterday have no effect on the intensity at all. larger islands, such as porto rico may do, but the eye is keeping offshore, so the amount of weakening over the next two days, we do expect some weakening but it might be relatively minimal. by the time the hurricane gets to florida, it still may be a category four hurricane. brieaunna, how are you preparing in this case comes to your area? i mean kind of the same way everyone else is trying

to. making sure food and water, and i have shelter for my dog and that all my friends are safe. just yesterday i try to go to the store to pick up some supplies like water, making trips to the gas station to get gasoline. even though the storm is not set to hit as for a few days, everything is selling out, from coast to coast. my parents live on the tampa side of florida and everything there is sold out. everything upwards north of jacksonville is getting sold out and we are starting to get some evacuees from miami down here in orlando, who will be going further north. we are just hunkering down and trying to get supplies, if we can find them. sorry to interrupt... there is no question for you but to stay put. you're not going to try and get out of the area? well, i mean... we're in orlando, about an hour and a half

away from the coast, a little more inland. we are little further up in florida, so right now we're kind of like sitting ducks. our governor has talked a lot about the evacuation plans formiami. talked a lot about the evacuation plans for miami. they are starting to introduce them for the rest of florida, but outside, north of miami, we don't know what to anticipate. we don't know if we need to evacuate, we just need to know we need to prepare our houses, block —— blockade our windows and put sandbags up. when the storm gets close to the southern tip of florida, we will know what we need to do up here, as far as evacuation goes. let's talk to our friend in cuba, a british holiday—maker. cuba is due to be hit as well. how long are you due to stay there for? well, we're staying here until thursday...

inaudible a few days ago i was watching the news. inaudible they let it slip there was a hurricane hitting us. when i could speak... there only to members of staff left on the complex. they said when the storm gets worse, lock yourself in your room. we have tried calling the thomas cook rets but no one picks up the phone.” calling the thomas cook rets but no one picks up the phone. i am picking up one picks up the phone. i am picking up every other word you are saying but not all of it. i want to ask you, would you like to get out of cuba and come home before you were due to next thursday? we are willing to pay our way out. the british embassy told us to contact thomas cook and thomas cook and one is picking up the phone, the line is

just ringing dead. we were guaranteed when we booked this holiday that there would be emergency contact, 2a hours a day, but nobody is picking up the phone. we just want to get off this island. we just want to get off this island. we have canadian citizens who will be evacuated in three hours' time. they have a plain landing at the airport, evacuating them to canada. we don't mind paying for it. there are 70—80 tourists stranded. we just wa nt to are 70—80 tourists stranded. we just want to get out. there are children and we don't know what to do. you sound really frustrated. it is, because we have no information. nobody is giving us any information. you only have one security guard standing on the front doors and a cleaner. that is all we have got. 0k. cleaner. that is all we have got. ok. i hope you get through to someone. ok. i hope you get through to someone. thank you so much for talking to us. a british tourist on

holiday in cuba, who wants to leave, frankly, before the storm hits. thank you to everybody for coming on the programme, thank you. have a look at this incredible moment when a woman who has been arrested in texas for shoplifting slips off her handcuffs and steals a police car. stop! cover, cover. wow was not how bold was that woman?

orstupid, wow was not how bold was that woman? or stupid, one or the other. goodness me! right, we are going to talk about the possibility of you being a victim of crime in this country and whether your fear of crime actually matches up to the reality. the bbc has developed a new tool to find out. this is about you and me and everyone else in the country. it is not thinking about that film or police officers being victims of crime, it's about ordinary people. this is really simple, a tool on a website that you can go to this morning, i tweeted a link as well, that takes the national crime data from the crime survey of england and wales, a big rolling survey which captures real experiences, and you put in your personal data. we don't capture that data. once that data is in, it gives

you effectively an estimation of your risk of being a victim of crime. the way it is able to do that, it looks at people like you, in areas like yours and what has happened to them over the last three or so years happened to them over the last three or so years and put those two things together with data on deprivation. once you've got that, it gives you an estimation of what's going on. 0k. an estimation of what's going on. ok. so we have created three fictional people just to show how this works. it is not scientific but it gives people an idea. this is andy, a 22—year—old student. there he is. he happens to be living in private rented accommodation in a nice street in maidenhead, which as you all know is where the prime minister's constituency is. it is in the top 20% of the wealthiest areas. what did the stats say about andy? andy is living in a nice area, nice neighbourhood, i would andy is living in a nice area, nice neighbourhood, iwould be andy is living in a nice area, nice neighbourhood, i would be secured and all those things. he is three

and all those things. he is three and half times more likely than the average person in england to be a victim of robbery. ok, that's interesting, why? it's nice in maidenhead, isn't it? it is. it all comes down to his age. he is young and the young are more likely to be victims of crime. if you think about it, i'm always badgering my son about locking up his bike. lock up your bike, those kinds of things. sometimes kids forget about these things and they have disposable goods, which are easy to steal. that's one of the reasons young people are more likely to be a victim of crime. and emma, lives in gateshead in tyne & wear. 61, again not scientific, fictional people. she is 61, she works and owns her own home. what does... what is it called? crime calculator. what does it say about her? it says the risk of someone like emma being a victim

of someone like emma being a victim of robbery is 0.3%. that is massively below andy in maidenhead. hugely below the national average. yet the interesting thing, of course, is most older people, people of her generation, would be more likely to think they are victim of crime but in actual fact emma, living in a poorer area, crime but in actual fact emma, living in a poorerarea, in a crime but in actual fact emma, living in a poorer area, in a poorer neighbourhood is less likely to be a victim of robbery. interesting. let's have a look at the final example, our fictional character is claire. she is a5, she hasn't got a job at the moment and lives in saltash in cornwall in social housing. we fed her details into the crime calculator and what came out? this is where it gets interesting around social deprivation. because she is poorer, in a poorer area, those are contributing factors to her being the victim of crime. she's more likely to be a victim of

break—ins, robbery, potentially violent as well. so in essence, what we see in the data is gender and age do matter. if you are a younger man, you are more likely to be a victim of crime. if you are an older woman, or the older you get is a woman, the less likely you are to be a victim of crime. but in particular circumstances, claire is a good example of this, your economic conditions can affect how likely you are to be a victim of crime. there are to be a victim of crime. there are other factors we can't quite ca ptu re, are other factors we can't quite capture, this is a very simple tool. but what we wanted to people, myself, colleagues, we go on air talking about crime rate up and down across the nation. people have a perception of what that means, but in reality that is only part of the story. if you look at this tool will give you a better sense of what may happen to you, it may not happen, but it will give you greater sense. you need to take the two things into consideration. one thing i would recommend is put younger versions of yourself into the tall, change the

data and the profiles and think about why you're crime profile may have changed over the years. very interesting, thank you. let's talk to jane wood — she's a forensic psychologist from the university of kent — she's an expert in the way we perceive crime. good morning. overall, we are told crime has been coming down for about 20 years, broadly speaking. what has happened with our perception of crime? the perception of crime and the fear of crime that people feel is kind of fed by a number of different factors. it is fed by the immediate neighbourhood, so if you for instants perceive your neighbourhood is neglected, poor street lighting, there is vandalism, youth gangs on the street, you're likely to perceive that you are more likely to perceive that you are more likely to perceive that you are more likely to become a victim of crime. it is also fed by our ability to defend ourselves. so this is one explanation as to why the elderly feel more vulnerable. if elderly

people and females tend to feel they appear to be more vulnerable, that they are more vulnerable and less able to defend themselves if they we re able to defend themselves if they were to be attacked, and so they perceive that their chances of being a victim of crime are higher and therefore they fear crime more. but it may not be the reality. no, no. statistics do not bear that out, it is not the reality. the reality is most likely victims of crime are going to be young men under the age of 20. white and a final thought, there is a difference between the way men and women perceive crime or have a fear of crime. there is. the research shows men tend to fear being victims of assault or robbery and women tend to fear being victims of sexual assault. and of course, for women, when they think about things like sexual assault, this has potentially life changing consequences for them. so it becomes a bigger reality for them, a bigger

worry. thank you very much for coming on the programme. staying with crime statistics, one in five people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual have experienced a hate crime in the last year. that's a 78 percent rise compared to four years ago. leon and steve are among them. he stamped on my hand, which was on the side of the staircase. he punched me in the face. before i knew it, there was blood everywhere. three weeks ago i was in a nightclub with my friends. and whilst i was going up the stairs there was a group of guys in front of us. from, isuppose, hearing my voice, one of the guys noticed that i was gay. at that time he turned around and started saying some quite

derogatory homophobic comments which, at the time, i brushed off because i just felt too confident in myself. from that, i suppose he got a little bit riled that he wasn't as intimidating towards me as what he probably wanted to feel like he was. so he stamped on my hand, which was on the handrail on the side of the staircase. you could see a heel mark where he had stamped on my hand. and it broke my knuckle. you can actually see the bone there. just before i met leon, just over 12 months ago, i was having a drink in a gay bar in birmingham, having a kiss with someone i was with at the time. but there were some straight people in the bar that didn't like that. before we knew it, theyjumped up and one of them was coming at me with his fists. punched me in the face and broke my nose. i ended up having to have an operation under general anaesthetic a couple of weeks later to try to put it right again. for people who are transgender,

the hate crime figure rises to two in five. 80% of victims chose not to report the crime to the police and more than three in five gay men say they don't feel comfortable walking down the street while holding their partner's hand. kiran wood is a 17—year—old transgender student who experienced a hate incident in a station in london. and in nottingham is alex field. she and her wife becky were attacked on a night out in croydon last year. and david tucker is from the national college of policing. welcome to you all. thank you for coming on the programme. alex, you are out with becky when you were attacked. tell the audience what happened. we went out. we don't usually go out. we were with our friends and we were approached by a gentleman who seemed quite friendly.

i think it was fuelled by drink, really. everything was fine until two men in particular arejoined together and we got punched in the face multiple times. i got my head slammed into a lamp post. we only reported it because there were police right there. why did those men do that to you? just because we we re men do that to you? just because we were gay. they said derogatory remarks as well. it was actually our friends who outwardly gay and kissing in public which drew their attention. i guess we got the brunt of it. i really horrific, violent attack. what impact as it had on you both? we don't go out much. we have moved out of the area. we have a son and we don't want to be in that area. ithink and we don't want to be in that area. i think london crime is much

higher. even though it is more accepted in london, i think. higher. even though it is more accepted in london, ithink. i higher. even though it is more accepted in london, i think. i am actually shocked that one in five people were attacked in the last year. and not many reported it. i am not that surprised because the police that we had did not really support us. we didn't have a proper case person who was on our case. when we went to court, it was all very... it wasn't actually dealt with properly because the police we re with properly because the police were not actually there. and this was on a high street and there were no cctv cameras whatsoever. one person was found guilty and one not guilty. specifically, what is your complaint about the police? the guilty charge was when it was literally taken to the judge and he decided guilty. he wasn't there. he had fled the country and there is a warrant out for his arrest. the second guy got not guilty because he asked to go to crown prosecution service have a jury. what is your

complaint about the police specifically because i have a representative from the college of policing right here and he needs to hear it. on the second court date when it had gone to the jury and he had to stand up and say what happened, the police officer who spoke up to us in the first instance was also there on the day and she saidi was also there on the day and she said i have not even looked at your case file in the eight months that have gone by. and you experience to hate incident because you are transgender. what hate incident because you are tra nsgender. what happened ? hate incident because you are transgender. what happened?” hate incident because you are transgender. what happened? i was in paddington and i went to go to the toilet and a toilet attendant in their challenged me when i went into their challenged me when i went into the toilet. they said it was not the female toilets and i made it clear that my gender identity is mail so i was using the toilet that matched my gender identity. he continued to challenge me. being confident in myself, i went into the toilet and just went to go to the toilet. when icame just went to go to the toilet. when i came out, he was looking at me and

smirking, and he followed me very closely behind as i left the toilet. he caused me to have a panic attack. really? the impact was that great? why do you think that was? yes. i was wearing this t—shirt. why do you think that was? yes. i was wearing this t-shirt. it says some people are trans, get over it. i think because i am quite open about my identity and who i am and some people arejust about my identity and who i am and some people are just not ok with that, i guess. david tucker, national college of policing representative, thank you for coming on. this experience and alex's experience and the fact people don't report hate crimes partly because of a lack of faith in the police. how do you respond? i have been involved in policing around dealing with hate crime and a whole range of things

since 1998, 1999, and i launched an inquiry report. what we have seen is a significant change in the attitude of police towards all forms of hate crime including lgbt hate crime. but not enough. i think that is a fair criticism. we have very strong training. the college sets the standards and the guidance that we have a good operational manualfor the officers to use. and what we have seen over the years is an increasing amount of reporting and the office for national statistics say they don't think the amount of offending has gone up, that the attitude of the police has improved and the way in which the police are recording incidents has improved, and there is an increasing confidence among people to come forward and tell the police about these awful incident. your eyebrows raising as he says that!” these awful incident. your eyebrows raising as he says that! i am part ofa raising as he says that! i am part of a charity called mermaids that helps trans—young people, and a lot of what they have talked about in

terms of police recording hate incidents as hate incident is not happening and the police are not very good at recording hate incidents. often they are coded as crimes are not specifically hate crimes. the policy is very clear around that. it comes from the stephen lawrence inquiry report. if anybody says that an incident is motivated by hate, then it will be recorded in that way. the reason that policy position was adopted was because there was a fear that police we re because there was a fear that police were trying to cut the statistics. we are very clear that we don't want that to happen. we want to know what the experiences of people around crime and what happens when hate incident happened because it is really important that we support people as best we possibly can. i know alex's experience was not that. but we would absolutely encourage officers to support victims of crime through the criminaljustice process. and then try to divert,

signpost people into longer—term support when they need that. did you go to the police? because of my anxiety and the fact i had had a panic attack, i called my mum, who called british transport police, who we re called british transport police, who were actually really good. because of the situation, we ended up meeting them at my local is dating and talking to them then and reporting everything. —— my local station. there were very good at recording everything properly and i got a letter through with the help i could get if i needed extra help, which was good. it didn't go further because it didn't reach the criminal threshold. david tucker, are you saying that it is vital that people report such incidents so that the police get a much better idea of what is going on and are actually able to investigate? exactly the point. there is almost a vicious circle here. if the police are not

told about things, we can't respond told about things, we can't respond to it. so the problem is that we have about a lack of understanding and a lack of appreciation of the full crime picture, continues. we wa nt to full crime picture, continues. we want to hear from full crime picture, continues. we want to hearfrom people full crime picture, continues. we want to hear from people about the hate crime experiences so we can respond in the right way. thank you very much, everybody. thank you for coming on the programme and we wish you all the best. it is prince george's first day at school today. i know you want to hear more about this there we are about to tell you more. he is four and he is attending thomas's battersea, £18,000 a year, and it is in south—west london. his mother was not with him to drop him off because she has very bad morning sickness because she is pregnant with her third child. the head of the school, ben thomas, has been speaking this morning about his hopes for prince george's future.” hopes for prince george's future.” hope very much that he will be himself. the whole aim of these precious years of early education is

to give children the confidence in who they are. we are not trying to mould him into any particular person and we wouldn't do that with any of our pupils. i hope you will have the confidence to be himself, with all his quirks and idiosyncrasies and characteristics, which is what i wa nt characteristics, which is what i want for all of our children. in his first year, talk through a few things that he will experience here. what sort of things will he get up to? it is an incredibly exciting time. up and down the country there are children starting school at this time. just on the way here i saw children with their new school shoes having pictures taken on the doorstep. children throughout the country are starting school and we will be trying to do the same for our pupils as well as those pupils as well. our royal correspondent sarah campbell as they are now. no doubting that prince george looks very cute and because he is the future king of england he needs cameras there when he first goes to school. a nightmare for him. cameras there when he first goes to school. a nightmare for himm cameras there when he first goes to school. a nightmare for him. it is a rite of passage for every young

child but these pictures will be beamed around the world. the first day of school is a big one. every pa rent day of school is a big one. every parent will recognise that look, slightly nervous. he did a pretty good royal handshake. that is ahead of the school. it is thomas's battersea, half an hourfrom kensington palace, so further away than the school where william and harry went, just round the corner from kensington palace. £18,000 a yearin from kensington palace. £18,000 a year in school fees. a mixed school, girls and boys, 560 pupils. we found out today that he will be known to his classmates as george cambridge. and kate is not very well so she is not there. fair enough. and that is an indication of how not very well she is because she would obviously have wa nted she is because she would obviously have wanted to be there today. the third pregnancy was announced on monday. kensington palace announced that she visibly too unwell to accompany george. we understand in the future that is regularly as possible william or catherine will

drop him off as school. thank you. just over a year ago, lastjune, 52% of the country voted to leave the eu and many of those who backed brexit saying they wanted to take back control. that's going to mean thousands of eu laws and regulations being brought under uk law. but with mps as divided as the country, it's probably not going to be as easy as that. mps start debating the eu withdrawal bill later today. once informally known as the great repeal bill, the now less grandly titled european union withdrawal bill faces its first big test in parliament today. but what is it and why does it matter? well, the idea is to do the biggest cut and pastejob in parliamentary history, by moving a0 years' worth of eu law straight into uk law. then when the uk formally leaves the eu in 2019, britain will be able to change those laws as it sees fit. sounds straightforward enough, doesn't it? so what's all the fuss? well, the bill also includes controversial powers nicknamed henry viii clauses, after the 16th century king

who introduced a statute of proclamations that gave him power to make laws without parliament's consent. critics fear these powers would allow ministers to change legislation without the scrutiny of parliament. as a result, the opposition labour party have vowed to vote against it. they say it grants too much power to ministers to, quote, "slash people's rights at work and reduce protections for consumers and the environment." the government says it won't use the powers to make significant changes, and has warned that if the bill doesn't clear the commons, it could create a legal vacuum when the uk leaves the eu in 2019. since the last election, the government has a wafer thin majority, with onlyjust enough mps to get new laws passed. but if this bill, or one like it, isn't passed by the time the uk formally leaves the eu, britain could find itself in a king—sized legal muddle. our political guru norman smith is in westminster.

what will happen today, tomorrow, monday? we get the start of an almighty great row that is probably going to go on for, i'm afraid, months, with endless very technical difficult arguments, legal spats. months, with endless very technical difficultarguments, legalspats. it will be a parliamentary war of attrition, which i'm afraid will dominate life here for an awfully long time to come. that said, it does matter, because this bill is really the sort of gangplank to brexit. this is how we get out of the eu, because it repeals the 1972 european communities act, which took us european communities act, which took us in in the first place. if we don't pass this, we won't be going anywhere. it matters hugely and because of that it is an almighty great big beast of the bill and that

gives critics of mrs may's approach to brexit all sorts of opportunities to brexit all sorts of opportunities to table an amendment saying, we should stay in the single market, we should stay in the single market, we should stay in the single market, we should stay in the customs union, mps must have a vote before a final deal is signed off. in other words it gives mrs may's opponents, opponents to brexit, huge opportunities to cause trouble and may be to change mrs may's approach to brexit, some say even to potentially derail brexit. so it will be bruising, it's going to be acrimonious, there will be late nights sit ins but it matters big—time because it really good shape our approach to leaving the eu. thank you. let's hear from you. reko smith is a student who wants the uk to get on with leaving, abby king, a european studies student who thinks we were wrong to leave, and linda burbridge, who voted leave but thinks some politicians are trying to block brexit. in our leeds studio is mike ward,

who's considering leaving the country because of brexit. seriously, mike? yes, it's certainly a possibility. my wife has lived and worked and paid tax here for 32 years. there is no guarantee she's going to be able to stay. where is your wife from? rishi is from germany originally, berlin. ok. -- she is from germany, originally, berlin. if she is not able to stay or other circumstances... it is a real possibility and we are considering it. what do you say to that? the government have been clear, they have said immigrants from the eu who are already here have the right to remain here. no, they haven't said that. they are discussing it at the moment but until they reach an agreement and sign it with the eu, there are no guarantees for anybody. they have said that. they haven't. my wife applied for permanent residency and

spent many months in a very laborious procedure trying to get hold of this piece of paper. solicitors, lots of money, complaints, letters to the mp and so on, got it in the end. week heard a week later after she got this piece of paper that the government is going to abolish permanent residency, so everyone who has permanent residency is back to square permanent residency is back to square one permanent residency is back to square one and will have to apply for settlement now. i suppose this relates to the bill we have just been hearing about. broadly speaking, how do you think brexit is going? there is a lot of uncertainty around this bill that i've been hearing, but to be honest i support this bill. if we don't support this bill, we are going nowhere with brexit. in terms of what the ministers have been saying, saying there will be maybe possibly a transitional arrangement or a period after we leave the eu, philip hammond the chancellor said that and

supported by liam fox, ithink hammond the chancellor said that and supported by liam fox, i think that also needs to happen if there is loads of legislation that need to be passed into uk law, transition and with immigration systems. ifeel like the government has taken a hard brexit. i'm ok at the minute, but we will see how it goes with this vote. how do you think it's going? personally i think it is a bit of a shambles at the moment. i'm a member of the labour party, sol shambles at the moment. i'm a member of the labour party, so i am against the repeal bill. i don't really think that the government is doing a very good job of brexit. there was a poll earlier this week on the daily politics show, going out on the street and seeing what people thought and it was very close, if not a win for the no campaign, as m, not a win for the no campaign, as in, the government isn't doing a good job on brexit. i think it is such a complex process. i studied the youth for three years and there is no, the government doesn't seem to have an idea on what it wants to achieve with brexit. if it wants a syste m achieve with brexit. if it wants a system like norway or anything like that. ijust think their aims are

not clear. it wants to limit immigration, that is clear. yes. and it wants to do bilateral trade deals when we leave, that is clear? kiosks, but there's a lot more to the eu than that. with the repeal bill, 12,000 wars they are trying to translate into domestic law. -- 12,000 wars. that could be relatively straightforward, if people vote for it, which they're likely to. will tell. how do you think it's going? at the moment i think it's going? at the moment i think it's going? at the moment i think it is early days, because they are just going to start debating this latest bill. i agree with reko, i think at the moment they are doing 0k. it will take time, it is complex as abby says. do you think there is time to get it sorted by march 2019? had to say, i have no idea because i don't know everything involved. i think if they get their skates on and get this vote through next week

and get this vote through next week and start really working on it, i think it's the first good step, to vote for this bill, so they can start the hard work in parliament of looking at the amendments on different things they will need to do for each item. it's a good start. we will see why happens, thank you all for coming on. lots of you getting in touch this morning about our conversation at the start of the programme between 38—year—old belgian pa ralympian marieke vervoot who has signed euthanasia papers and an anti—euthanasia euthanasia papers and an anti—eutha nasia campaigner. euthanasia papers and an anti—euthanasia campaigner. here is anti—euthanasia campaigner. here is a short extract. hello, i am marieke vervoot, i'm an athlete from belgium. i have four olympic medals, including one gold medal in london 2012. i've been living with chronic pain

for 37 years now. this will be the first time in quite a few years of campaigning around the subject of assisted dying, euthanasia, where i have met some on themselves who is disabled and experiencing it from the other side of the argument. i suppose my worries about euthanasia is that we don't live in a world, i think, that's kind of ready for it. i don't think the world understands what being disabled or ill means and i don't think it's kind of in a position where we are all able to live as b1. i think totally different about it. for me, now, it starts to have more that says that on good days and it's getting really difficult. that's why i'm really, getting really difficult. that's why i' m really, really getting really difficult. that's why i'm really, really glad that i

signed my euthanasia papers. when i say it's enough, i can't live in this condition, i have the right to say i want to quit now.” this condition, i have the right to say i want to quit now. i have so many friends that are having the people that care for them taken away, that are being put into care homes whether they want to or not. i don't think when that happens you can make an informed choice. when you know what pain is, when you are totally alone and you are crying because of pain, yelling so loud they hear it at the corner of the street. is that right? yeah. i have a fantastic ride. i had four years of solid pain that never stopped. if i lived in a society with that for, i would have stopped.” i lived in a society with that for, i would have stopped. i don't want to die like an animal. i want to end like marieke

i arranged my funeral already, so i don't want people to cry, that they are also happy that i am not in pain any more. that i can rest in peace. let me read you an e—mailfrom louise, not a real name. she says, people who have never had ongoing pain and... what you see is darkness again and again. even if you get two our street it just breaks again and again. even if you get two our street itjust breaks you, it's not living, it's just existing, our street itjust breaks you, it's not living, it'sjust existing, it's not living, it'sjust existing, it's no way to live. when you reach the void at the end of your dark abyss you feel nothing at all. you just don't want to be any more. i have been theirfour times, don't want to be any more. i have been their four times, yet done nothing yet. another viewer says, i have epilepsy and a few other medical conditions i think it is the last breed a person can have, to choose how to end your

life on your terms and no one else's. thank you. university bosses — officially called vice—chancellors — earn big salaries. in many cases far, far more than the prime minister. dozens of university heads earn £300,000 or more — and some earn more than £a00,000. for that they're meant to provide leadership, secure the budget and carry out ceremonial duties. but are they worth their salary? the government doesn't think so. they're trying to curb their spiralling pay by asking universities to justify any salary over £150,000 a year. joining me now is our reality check correspondent chris morris, who's been looking into the figures. give us some of the specifics of what these vice chancellors are on? they earn a lot of money, no question. they run big businesses and earna question. they run big businesses and earn a lot of money, more than 50 earns more than £300,000 a year. the word spiralling attracted our interest. have they been spiralling? a survey has been done since 2009—10 and over that an average vice

chancellor salaries have gone up 13%. in the same period, the average weekly uk wage has gone up by 13%. so it is hardly spiralling. there are examples, vice chancellor of the university of bath, her salary went up university of bath, her salary went up 11% last year to £a51,000. but the overall average is not really spiralling. it does feel like the government are perhaps looking at them as quite a convenient target, ata time them as quite a convenient target, at a time when they are under pressure on things like tuition fees. they are calling for restraint. what might they do if there is not restraint? there is a suggestion that the new authority which will regulate students and universities could even potentially impose fines on them. but the amount of money we were talking about here is relatively small. if you say cut every vice chancellor salary by 100,000, you might save £10 million... tuition fees as a whole bring in £11 billion. students know

that from this year they will have interest rates on those fees of 6.1%. that is what most people are howling about. people worry they are becoming unaffordable interest rates on tuition fees. there is a sense of attention being deflected onto vice chancellor salaries. they are high that they have always been high. thank you very much, chris. chris morris is our reality check correspondent. chloe's presenting the programme tomorrow — and she'll talk to the former england cricketer who served six—and—a—half years for drug smuggling. thanks for watching today. have a good day. good morning. the weather is looking pretty cloudy for many of us over the next couple of days or so. some

outbreaks of rain. quite breezy at times as well. it is going to feel quite cool, especially today in scotla nd quite cool, especially today in scotland and northern ireland. here is where the rain is at the moment, gradually edging southwards into mainly north—west england. elsewhere, a few showers across wales. the odd shower in the south—east but largely fine and a few bright skies towards a south—east of england. pretty cool across northern areas. temperatures 1a-16. across northern areas. temperatures 1a—16. tonight there will be some rain at times across england and wales. a rash of showers come in for the early hours of friday morning. overnight temperatures 11—1a. during friday, for the northern half of the uk, a mixture of sunny spells and showers and a blustery wind. across the south, some rain at times. some of that could be on the heavy side. top temperatures 17—19. staying pretty unsettled into the weekend as well. see you later. this is bbc news, and these are

the top stories developing at 11am: hurricane irma cuts a trail of destruction across the caribbean, leaving at least nine people dead. we had cars flying over our heads, we had containers — a0—foot containers — flying left and right. flags are suspended and traffic queues build in florida as people tried to leave the state this weekend. the uk will take another step towards brexit, as a parliamentary debate on the european union withdrawal bill begins injust over an hour.

live at westminster, will have continuing coverage of this the year at westminster. we'll be talking to politicians from across the divide, as well