this is bbc news. the headlines at 11. the catalan president signs a declaration of independence, but says the effects will be suspended until more talks can be held. translation: the government and myself propose that this parliament suspends the effects of the independence referendum in order to establish dialogue. britain's leading defence manufacturer, bae systems, has announced plans to cut around 2,000 jobs. the hollywood producer, harvey weinstein, is now facing allegations of rape from three women. 0n the newsnight, we will speak live to the first secretary of state. and as rape allegations surfaced around harvey weinstein, we ask if the curtain is now shattered for good —— surface. good evening, and welcome to bbc

news. the catalan leader, carles puigdemont, has signed a document declaring catalonia's independence from spain. but he told the catalan parliament that the effects of the declaration would be suspended to allow time for talks to reach a negotiated solution over the future of the region. the spanish government in madrid said that the declaration of independence was unlawful and would be met with new measures, as our europe editor, katya adler, reports from barcelona. they came in hope today, in expectation and determination. thousands and thousands of them to this central barcelona square, believing they'd witness the declaration of catalan independence today. independence! "now is our time," geneve told me,

"the president here has to announce an independent catalonia today." their wish for separation from spain so nearly came true when their president, inside the regional parliament, announced the decision by catalans in favour of independence in their recent referendum. this is the moment the crowd has been waiting for. catalonia has won the right to be an independent state, says their president, they believe they're witnessing the birth of the new republic of catalonia. then came the "but..." translation: the government and a myself propose that this parliament suspends the effects of the independence declaration in order to establish dialogue without which we cannot reach a solution. this was the catalan president acknowledging the fact that spanish courts deemed the referendum

illegal, so it hasn't been recognised by the spanish government or by catalans wanting to remain a part of spain. but disappointment amongst this pro—independence crowd was deep. i'm really sad. we were expecting something very different. too little indepdence. translation: the speech of the president is someone who does not know where he is going. the referendum was ruled illegal by the spanish constitutional court. tonight a roller—coaster of emotions here, including confusion, separation from spain may not be happening now, but the catalan president has simply put it on ice. katya adler, bbc news, barcelona.

britain's leading defence manufacturer, bae systems, has announced plans to cut almost 2,000 jobs across england. 1,400 are going from its military jet business, with factories in lancashire and east yorkshire badly hit. the firm is facing a drop in demand. the trade unions warned the affected areas would lose highly—skilled jobs, as our business editor, simonjack, reports. a typhoon fighter makes its impressive ascent. but sales of this war plane are going in the opposite direction. a decline in orders and deliveries have led the manufacturer, bae systems, to cut nearly 2,000 jobs. 750 of them in samlesbury and warton in lancashire. kind of expecting it, obviously. it's just one of them. we know we've got a world beater with typhoon. and we really should be

getting more orders. maybe we will. hopefully we will. we just have to wait for them to come in. bae accounts for one in four manufacturing jobs in this area. and many more in the supply chain. butjobs depend on orders. it is really about timing. it is a difficult market. you can't make customers buy when you want them to buy. you've got to respond to them. bae systems delivered 16 of these planes in 2016 to the raf and saudi arabia. an order from 0man sees that rise to 20 this year. but after that, deliveries are expected to halve in 2018 to 11, and halve again in 2019 to just five. now, the government today insisted it wasn't decisions made here at the ministry of defence that caused these job losses. however, demand from governments around the world, particularly for the typhoon fighter jet, has weakened. the company says if revenues are weak, costs need to be cut. the worry is that if these workers and their skills leave the industry,

they never come back. once you lose workers that have got 35 years experience, having served long—term apprenticeships within this industry, and you take the kids out of apprenticeships that are serving now in five—year apprenticeships, building these skills for the future, you don't just replace them. you can't pick them off the shelf and just replace them when you need them. orders for the hawk training jet flown by the red arrows and made in brough and east yorkshire are also falling. so is the axe on jobs, with half of those 900 employees facing redundancy. i think this is damaging for the united kingdom's industrial capability. exports are key to the future of the uk with brexit etc. aerospace is the number one export. and what we're doing is diminishing that capability. but the government today insisted it would carry on flying the flag for british industry. we continually bang the drum, lead the charge, for our world leading defence industry across the globe. maximising export opportunities

for both companies like bae systems and the thousands of people employed in their supply chains. the company also builds parts for this, the american designed f35, the most expensive defence project in history. it's worth remembering the company employs over 80,000 people globally, and it's decided the best way to protect the future is to make its uk operations as lean and mean as it can. simon jack, bbc news. theresa may has refused to say how she would vote if there was another eu referendum. the prime minister, who backed remain in last year's vote, was repeatedly asked if she would now vote for brexit in an interview on lbc radio earlier today. let's have a listen. if there was a brexit vote now, would you vote brexit, because you voted remain in the referendum. have you changed your mind?

voted remain in the referendum. have you changed your mind7|j voted remain in the referendum. have you changed your mind? i do not answer those kinds of questions. you changed your mind? i do not answer those kinds of questionslj answer those kinds of questions.” would vote in the same way. i can a nswer would vote in the same way. i can answer those. i voted remain for good reasons at the time. but circumstances move on. i think the important thing now is i think we should all be focused on delivering brexit of the best deal. you are asking me how would i vote against a different background, a different international background, economic background... jeremy hunt, he said he voted remain in the referendum, a chief advocate, he says he would vote for brexit because george osborne's economic predictions would not come true. if he says he can change his mind, i don't quite understand why you cannot? you are prime minister. and i am a prime minister saying she will deliver brexit. why can you not say you

would vote leave in a reverend?” could say remain or leave, but i am being honest with you. i am giving a judgement this time around. we are not having another referendum. that is absolutely crucial. we are not having another referendum. we are delivering on the vote of the british people, and we are going to deliver brexit. 0ur political correspondent, eleanor garnier, joined us a little earlier. she said the prime minister was likely to face repeated questions over her commitment to brexit. clearly, it was a bit of a booby trap question. theresa may said she does not answer hypothetical questions. it was the third time at asking that the prime minister said she was being open and honest and could not give an ounce is a referendum was held now. —— answer.

the fact she did not come down on either side of the question shows that she seems unwilling to give full support to the main policy of the government. tonight, downing street is saying it is ridiculous to say she raised doubts about whether she will deliver brexit. she said repeatedly she will leave the eu. but i suspect the fact she did not a nswer but i suspect the fact she did not answer one way or another means she is now going to be asked the question again and again. the hollywood producer, harvey weinstein, has been accused of sexual harassment by some of hollywood's biggest stars, angelina jolie and gwyneth paltrow. weinstein was sacked by his production company at the weekend following similar allegations. but the seriousness of the claims has intensified, after the italian film star, asia argento, and two other women claimed that he'd raped them, according to a report in the new yorker magazine. weinstein has issued a statement saying that he "unequivocally" denies any allegations of non—consensual sex. 0ur correspondent, nick bryant, has the latest. few people have dominated hollywood

quite like harvey weinstein, a movie mogul who changed the face of the film industry, but who now stands accused of abusing that power by harassing women and preying on them sexually in a modern day version of the casting couch. he could not. some of the biggest names in movies are now coming forward. gwyneth paltrow claims that when he hired her as the lead in the film, emma, he suggested they head to his bedroom for massages. she was a kid, she told the new york times, and was petrified. angelina jolie, who was in the weinstein movie, playing by heart, claims he made unwanted advances in a hotel room, which she rejected. in los angeles tonight, louissette geist, who was then a young actress, described pitching a film to him in 2008. when i finished my pitch,

i was obviously nervous, and hejust kept asking me to watch him masturbate. i told him i was leaving. he quickly got out of the tub and grabbed my forearm, as i was trying to grab my purse, and he led me to his bathroom pleading that i just watch him masturbate. the italian model, ambra battilana gutierrez, has accused weinstein of groping her and, after complaining to police, wore a wire to capture a conversation at this manhattan hotel, in which he appeared to admit it. i'm everything, i'm a famous guy. i'm feeling very uncomfortable right now. please come in now and one minute and if you want to leave, when the guy comes... why yesterday you touched my breasts? oh, please, i'm sorry, just come on in, i'm used to that. you're used to that?! please. yes, come in. in a statement from his lawyer, harvey weinstein denied accusations he'd raped three women. "any allegations of non—consexual sex are inequivocally denied by mr weinstein.

"mr weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances." leading liberals were much quicker to condemn donald trump after a tape emerged of him boasting about molesting women than the movie mogul, a major democratic fundraiser. tonight, his friend, hillary clinton, gave herfirst response, saying she was "shocked and appalled." america is a country of second chances and improbable comebacks, but given the number of women who are now coming forward, it's hard to see how harvey weinstein can ever be such a force in the movie industry again. hollywood hierarchies have been dramatically upended, the power now lies with his accusers. nick bryant, bbc news, washington. that's a summary of the news. newsday is coming up at midnight. now on bbc news, it's time for newsnight. a declaration of independence, but not as we know it, as the catalan president pulls back from the brink. is this the end of the separatists' dream ? or is he playing the long game, scottish—style?

are you prepared for the consequences of the declaration of independence? gabriel gatehouse is holed up in the catalan parliament with the president, where no—one seems to know what's going on. well, there he goes into the chamber. you can only imagine the kind of pressure he must be under right now. we'll ask the former catalan president what comes next. also tonight, remember this? that means fighting against the burning injustice. if you're black, you're treated more harshly by the criminaljustice system than if you're white. that was on the pm's first day. a year later, our schools, our police, our workplaces and our hospitals are all under the spotlight in the government's latest figures on race. how harshly does it show up inequality in britain? we ask our panel on race what we should understand by the figures.

and we ask the first secretary of state what the government will do now. today it's rape. new allegations emerge of harvey weinstein's behaviour over two decades. and a recording of a police sting emerges as harvey approaches one female model. go to the bathroom. please, i don't want to. listen to me. you will never see me again after this. we'll speak to the woman told to shut up about the claims by a hollywood heart—throb. good evening. in the end it was a declaration of independence, but suspended somewhere above the heads of the thousands who stood outside the parliament praying their state would go it alone. it was a declaration of independence, but not for today. a declaration of independence, but not quite yet. a declaration of independence, but only once negotiation and talks had been achieved with madrid.