from their homes. the governor has declared a state of emergency in three counties. at least 1,500 properties have been destroyed as the flames spread in hot weather. president donald trump's testy relationship with top republicans has reached new levels in a war of tweets with senator bob corker. the president accused mr corker of not having the guts to run for re—election. the senator responded by saying the white house was an adult day care centre. the mayor of barcelona, ada colau, has urged the catalan separatist leader carles puigdemont and the spanish prime minister mariano rajoy not to do anything that might destroy the chance of dialogue and mediation. mr puigdement will make a crucial speech to the catalan parliament later on tuesday. now on bbc news, monday in parliament. hello, and welcome to monday

in parliament, our look at the best of the day in the commons and the lords. on this programme... on track or off course? the party leaders have different takes on the brexit negotiations. just at the moment when britain needs a strong negotiating team, we have a cabinet at each other‘s throats. why did monarch airlines collapse? is it all the fault of the b word? this is a sign of brexit beginning to bite. and is the government ignoring local democracy when it comes to fracking for shale gas? every level of local government had

turned down a fracking application. but first... when mps returned to westminster after their three—week conference break, the battle over the unfolding of brexit was soon resumed. days before the prime minister endured her trouble—hit speech at the conservative party conference, she'd been in italy, addressing european leaders in florence. there, theresa may set out the government's aims and objectives as the uk goes through the lengthy negotiating process for eu departure. the prime minister expressed enthusiasm for a friendly and wide—ranging future partnership between an independent uk and the remaining eu. back at westminster, mrs may received a warm reception from mps.

statement, the prime miniuster. mr speaker, a new deep and special partnership between a sovereign united kingdom and a strong and successful european union is our ambition and our offer to our european friends. achieving that partnership will require leadership and flexibility, notjust from us but from our friends, the 27 nations of the eu. as we look forward to the next stage, the ball is in their court, but i'm optimistic it will receive a positive response. because what we are seeking is not just the best possible deal for us but i believe that will also be the best possible deal for our european friends, too. government brexit blueprints or white papers were being published, she said. while i believe it is profoundly in all our interests for negotiations to succeed... these will pave the way for legislation to allow the uk to operate as an independent trading nation and to create an innovative custom system that will help us achieve the greatest possible tariff and barrier free trade as we leave the eu.

while i believe it is profoundly in all our interests for the negotiations to succeed, it is also our responsibility as a government to prepare for every eventuality, so that is exactly what we are doing. 16 months on from the referendum, no real progress has been made. the prime minister delivered yet another definitive speech designed to herald a breakthrough which instead only confirmed the confusion at the heart of government. the florence speech in fact demonstrated the scale of the mess the government is making of these negotiations. 15 months on from the referendum, we are still no clearer what the future of this country will look like. the question must be asked, what on earth has the government been doing all this time? calling an election in which voters refused to give the prime minister the mandate she wanted,

since then... since then, cabinet ministers have been squabbling among themselves all that time, 15 months wasted. just at the moment when britain needs a strong negotiating team, we have a cabinet each other's throats. half of the conservative party want the foreign secretary sacked, the other half wanted chancellor sacked. they said they wanted to leave the single market, now they say they might say in the single market. they said that staying in the customs union was deeply unattractive, now they want to stay in the customs union further. they were against a second referendum but now they have refused to rule it out. with such a confused position on brexit, no wonder they say they will be a run on the pound if labour gets into power. our european friends are looking

aghast at the chaos that began it is creating. the prime minister's got to put an end to the backstabbing reading and counter reading from her ministers and the surrogates. will he show real leadership by ring fencing the issue of eu citizens' rights, confirm me you will then customs market, the single market and the customs union because i'm not aware of anyone who believes the border between ireland and northern ireland can be safe without that, and finally, will she sack the foreign secretary? whose leadership ambitions blind him to be sustained damage his back—seat driving is doing to the uk's negotiating credibility and increasingly risk of crashing out of the european union. can my honourable friend simply point out people are complaining these negotiations are going to slowly after the referendum on the 23rd ofjune last year, the european refused to negotiate until you triggered article 50 and even then, when we triggered

article 50, they refused to discuss the long—term relationship they were to have with the united kingdom. even after her emollient and conciliatory florence speech, they are still refusing to discuss the long term relationship between the eu and the uk. when does she call time? the european parliament said there was a lack of progress. mr speaker, the clock is running against the prime minister in more ways than one. any new laws agreed after that date will not have effect unless agreed specifically by parliament. we want a smooth and orderly withdrawal. that may mean we will start with the ec] still governing the rules we part of for that

period, but what are also clear on is that we can bring forward discussions and agreements on decisions like a dispute resolution mechanism and if we can bring that forward at an earlier stage than we would wish to do so. almost four months have passed since the horrific fire at grenfell tower. at least 80 lives were lost when fire engulfed the tower block in west london injune. a full—scale inquiry is underway into how the disaster happened; meanwhile questions continue into the safety of britain's high—rise accommodation. some councils claimed last week that the government wasn't releasing funds to improve the fire safety of dozens of tower blocks after promising that a lack of money would not stand in the way of essential works, an issue taken up in the house of lords. the london fire commissioner said, since the grenfell tower tragedy, retro fitting sprinklers can't be optional, can't be nice to have. the minister for housing said sprinklers are additional rather than essential. does he agree with me

that it is time for the government to review those decisions in light of the comments from the government of the tragedy and the advice of professionals in the fire service and elsewhere. they are essential and not additional. building owners are responsib funding fire safety measures but we are ensuring their works are required that a lack of financial resources will not prevent them going ahead. 31 local authorities have contacted dclg, we have invited councillors to provide more detail about essential works and will continue requests as information is provided. discussions are ongoing but we have not turned down a request for essential works. at the weekend, it was reported in the media that nottingham city council had requested to install sprinklers inside flat in communal areas and those inquest in turn down because, according to the housing minister, the measures you outline are additional rather than essential.

could i ask the minister, given there is a public enquiry and that there is also a building regulation review, if either or both of those reviews that are taking place conclude that works to fit sprinklers are essential, will the minister guarantee that the government will find it? we have an ongoing the regulation of fire safety. that could make a difference if one of those were to come forward with something that is essential forthwith. we will begin that situation, my lords. i don't think that is an answer responsible for that is something that could happen in your light of changed circumstances and who is how to get that. can he give us some idea what criteria is being brought to bear, even if it is on a case—by—case basis, what constitutes as essential? particularly when, the provision of the fire service is that, for example retrofitting sprinklers is essential. is it their advice that is being questioned or is it

being sought elsewhere? my lord, i come back to the basic point that no application has been turned down. every application that has been made is still open, of which have been 31, which is roughly less than 10% of local authorities. we're looking at those. clearly essential is going to depend on the circumstances of each case. i don't think i can do fairer than that. it's something that is deemed necessary by the building regulators and the owners and will be looked at by the department. i come back to the basic point that nothing has been turned down and we remain wedded to the central concept that safety is everything and we won't stand anyway our financial resources preventing essential building work. you're watching our round—up of the day in the commons and the lords.

still to come... is britain suffering from too much of a not in my back yard attitude? the collapse of monarch last week left many thousands of uk holiday—makers stranded overseas and led to what's been called "the biggest—ever peacetime repatriation" of british citizens. monarch airlines had been facing financial difficulties for some years. after it was taken over by the investment firm greybull capital, monarch was kept going by means of pay cuts and redundancies. but experts say the decline in the value of the pound left monarch paying £50 million a year more than average for its fuel and aircraft, its biggest costs. in the commons, the transport secretary spoke about the work of the civil aviation authority, or caa, to deal with the crisis. ahead of the collapse, my department had been working closely with the civil aviation authority and several departments across whitehall to prepare contingency plans, and the response since last week has been

swift and substantial. the caa is working to secure planes from 27 different airlines. more than 200 caa staff are working on the project with thousands more in partner organisations taking part. there are a0 airports involved in the uk, around the mediterranean and beyond. that has required 267 coaches carrying more than 13,000 passengers, and so far there have been more than 39,000 calls to our customer service centres, all swiftly answered by more than 250 call centre staff. there have been more than one million unique visitors to a dedicated website — monarch.caa.co.uk — and seven million page views. furthermore, more than one million people have been reached through our facebook promotion. ten government departments and agencies have been involved, including the foreign and commonwealth office in london and our extensive diplomatic and consular network in the affected countries. i have seen at first hand the work being done across government and the caa to make this operation a success. i have spoken to some of the passengers who have returned to the uk on government flights. the loss of a major british brand is always a very sad moment.

however, this should not be seen as a reflection on the general health of the uk aviation sector which continues to thrive. we have never had the collapse of this before. we acted swiftly and decisively and are ever to focus on getting the boys into newjobs. there's an estimated 200 million in the caa administered at all compensation fund but it only covers around one in 20 monarch customers, why is the public purse playing while the outdated at all pot sits largely untouched? monarch airlines continue to sell flights until

october the first even when they knew it was going into administration the following day, why didn't they stop this? the first concerns were raised long before the referendum was even held. i hoped this summer, after the rescue package last year, that this airline would see its way through. what it has actually been a victim of is the anxieties about tourism for security reason of the east mediterranean have led to a concentrated war which this company was ill—equipped to recover. it is a start greg is ample of brexit beginning to bite. there is no denying that the fall in the pound has led to a significant increase in operating costs for this airline over the past year and of course the weak pound has also affected consumers and has led

to a drop in bookings. add to this the uncertainties over the future of british carriers in europe serving as a significant deterrent for any potential buyer who may otherwise have been found and monarch's fate was sealed. as a former business minister before the eu referendum and apparently as one of the chief remoaners, that the unfortunate demise of monarch has got absolutely nothing to do with brexit and those that seek to make it an issue based on brexit don't do anybody any favours. i agree with the secretary of state that in future situations like this the government should look for a wind—down. but isn't that pie in the sky when you look at the evidence in this case where there has been a conspiracy between boeing and greybull to protect the rights

of employees and people who bought tickets when it was clear that this company was bankrupt? i represent many of those who have lost theirjobs and i have to say, secretary of state, had the company been in public ownership, i suspect this would not have happened with proper transparency and accountability in parliament. is the honourable gentleman really suggesting we should go back to a time when the state owned everything? so we want the state to own british airways, we want the state to own a easyjet, we want the state to own jet2, we want the state to own thomas cook? it's nonsense. even in times when the socialist labour party was in power in the past, it would never have suggested the state owned everything else. the controversial technique of fracking — sometimes called "hydraulic fracturing" — has effectively been banned

permanently in scotland. fracking is the modern process of extracting oil and gas from shale rock. but to the delight of many environmentalists, the scottish energy minister has said a moratorium on the technique is to be extended indefinitely. the decision has been criticised in the house of lords. my lords, i think it is a great shame that scotland has taken the decision that it has. it has had a moratorium on fracking since 2015, and it appears that this is now permanent. but we believe that hydraulic fracturing can be done safely in the uk, and that there are strong regulations in place to protect individuals. it is important because it will reduce our gas imports, it will create jobs and also it will heat our homes. i was at preston new road two weeks ago, which is the front line of anti—fracking protests in lancashire. the remarkable thing was how many local residents were protesting, because every level of local government had turned down

that fracking application from cuadrilla, yet the government came in and overturned all those local decisions. now, how does that fit with the government's manifesto promise to allow local people to decide for themselves? the government have not only broken their promise but have also incurred hundreds of thousands of pounds' worth of extra policing costs, which the public have to pay. the noble lady raises a number of issues. peaceful protest is a vital part of our democratic society. but it's important that protesters protest within the law. the noble baroness mentioned lancashire. in the last few weeks, 26 people have been arrested in yorkshire, two of whom have been released under caution and 22 have been charged, including assaulting a police officer. that obviously relates back to costs. if people stayed within the law, perhaps the taxpayer would not have to pay for all these

additional policing costs. my lords, does my noble friend not agree that if the police and the authorities were to give in to the nimbys who are against fracking, the nimbys who are preventing planning consent being given to deal with the housing shortage crisis would be at it as well? it's nimbyism and it needs to be put down. i refer my noble friend to my previous answer about protesting being a vital part of our democratic society. but he raises a very important point. the most recent figures from the public attitude survey carried out by beis show that the vast majority — 90% — of the public feel that they simply do not have enough information about fracking. that and not the fact

that it is taking place is where the problem lies. ministers have faced a wave of concern from mps about the introduction of universal credit. the new payment rolls together several existing benefits including housing and unemployment benefits. it's meant to be paid monthly in arrears, just as most salaries are. but critics say that wait, combined with administrative delays, is leading to hardship as it can take six weeks for new claimants to get the first payment. at the weekend, the former conservative prime minister, sirjohn major, expressed his concern as a plaid cymru mp, noted. there's positivity in the principles of universal credit. however, the roll—out has been characterised by being operationally messy, socially unfair and unforgiving, not my words, but the words ofjohn major. will he also consider dropping a waiting period and to allow the benefit to be paid fortnightly? the evidence so far shows applicants

going to universal credit are more likely to be working six months later than they would have been on the legacy benefits. they're also more likely be progressing in work and that is really important, it's not something that i want to deny people. i do believe that on something like this, we should roll it out gradually, sensibly, make changes as and when necessary, but that is exactly what we're doing. if we don't learn the lessons from the pilot scheme, we risk losing any advantage we gain. 57% of those applicants for universal credit at having to borrow money before

their first payment. isn't that alone enough to justify a policy? what we're doing is making clear that people can receive an advance of their first month's payment. that is then deducted over the next six monthly periods and that is helping people deal with the cash flow issues in that first month. i think that is a sensible and pragmatic response to the issue. would my honourable friend agree one of the reasons why more people have gone out to work this morning than ever before in our nation's history is that as a government, we have knocked up the challenge of welfare reform? we don't let people languish for years on out—of—work benefits and universal credit is an essential part of the welfare reform programme. my right honourable friend is absolutely right, and it has been a consistent policy of this government including under my predecessors such as my honourable friend to ensure that we have a welfare system that puts work at the heart of it

and that is why, one of the reasons why we have record levels of employment. can he give this house a guarantee that none of our constituents will be faced by hunger and near destitution for a lack of money over the christmas period, please? what universal credit is about is ensuring that our constituents are in a stronger financial position and that's what we are trying to deliver by enabling them to work and provide the support they need. the problem is that on time means after a 6—week demand and that delay is causing immense hardship in the country. i met last week with someone who came within an inch of suicide because she had to live literally on waterfor six weeks, her health was irreparably harmed. he chooses to ignore citizens‘ advice, but will he take notice

when sirjohn major calls for it? what i would say is, it's exactly the point i was making earlier, is i don't believe anybody should be left without any support for six weeks where they don't have savings, they don't have an alternative source of income, which is why within the system, it is important that we have advances that available. it is now the case that the majority of claimants make use of advances. we need to ensure that that is properly communicated. david gauke. and that's it for this programme. alicia mccarthy will be here for the rest of the week. for now, from me, keith macdougall, goodbye. hello there.

quite a lot of cloud first thing across the southern half of the british isles. some drizzly outbreaks of rain, as well, in parts of england and wales. the best of the sunshine first thing today is likely to be across scotland. for northern england, perhaps some breaks in the cloud, and for the midlands, too. here's the picture first thing, as you can see. fairly solid cloud across england and wales. we'll take a closer look at where the breaks are to be found injust a second. but really, you can already see the contrast — scotland and northern england looking much clearer. northern ireland likely to see some sunshine in shelter from the westerly or south—westerly wind. but some showers arriving through the morning as well, one or two of them heavy during the rush hour. still strong winds and some heftier showers for the northern isles. the showers as we head onto the mainland of scotland a little bit more scattered. some heavier ones possible through the central lowlands.

here at least, in between the showers, some decent sunshine. sunshine across northern england first thing, too. although look out for some rain around the liverpool bay area, stringing across towards lincolnshire. some glimmers of sunshine for the midlands and perhaps the south—east of england. thicker cloud, however, across the south—west, and some more persistent, if not especially heavy, outbreaks of rain to be found here. stretch those across the bristol channel into southern wales, as well. to the lee of the welsh hills and mountains, however, there should be some sunshine to get the day underway through herefordshire and up into the likes of warwickshire and into the midlands. things improve through the morning. i think we'll see more in the way of sunshine, whereas further south, some of that cloud is going to filter its way further eastwards into the south—east of england. so enjoy any early brightness, because it looks like the afternoon for the south—east of england, east anglia will be cloudy, with some outbreaks of rain. further west, a little brighter. but then cast your eye towards the north—west, where, after that glorious start for scotland, it's all really gone downhill, thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain arriving. that's this frontal system here, coming in from the north. tightly squeezing isobars,

as well, mean strong winds, and that wet weather pushes across northern ireland, northern england, into wales and the midlands through the small hours of wednesday. so a pretty wet and windy story as wednesday gets underway, and this rain is really going to tot up as well for some parts of southern scotland, northern england and for wales. particularly, i think, the cumbrian fells and the mountains of snowdonia getting a real dollop of rain, perhaps up to 100mm before we are through with this weather system, the rain getting further south into wales and the south—west of england come the afternoon. the south—east, with some sunshine, could see up to 18 degrees there, and northern ireland and scotland will clear as the day goes on. thursday probably the best day of the week across the board, in terms of some dry and fine weather. just like winds, as well. and temperatures around average for the time of year, in the mid teens. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: one of the worst firestorms in california's history is tearing its way through parts of the state's wine region, killing at least ten people.

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