to become the world's youngest national leader, at the age of 31. sebastian kurz is in a strong position to form a new coalition government, but may have to rely on the far—right freedom party. police in somalia say the massive bomb blast in the capital, mogadishu, has killed at least 230 people and wounded hundreds more. it's the deadliest attack since al—shabaab militants began their insurgency a decade ago. britain and ireland are bracing themselves for the arrival of hurricane ophelia, the most powerful storm ever to have formed so far east in the atlantic. the met office has warned of potential danger to life, with strong winds, heavy rain and storm surges expected. it's hoped ophelia may weaken to a tropical storm by the time it makes landfall. now on bbc news, the week in parliament. hello and welcome to

the week in parliament. deal or no deal — and at what cost? some are urging me to send a message to the eu that we mean business and i think they know that. will the prime minister today show some humanity, intervened and make at least a helpline free. i want people to get betterjobs, on molk, get on without government support. also we hear from the news chairman of the foreign affairs committee. and a

liberal democrat peer surprises the house with a revelation...” liberal democrat peer surprises the house with a revelation... i did not know if he is a regular watcher of love island... days before the minister gave a speech she had been in europe. she set out the government aims and object does in the process. the prime minister expressed enthusiasm for a friendly and wide ranging future relations. mr speaker, a deep and special partnership between the sovereign and united kingdom and a strong european union is our ambition and off at two european friends. achieving that partnership will require leadership and flexibility.

notjust from us but require leadership and flexibility. not just from us but from require leadership and flexibility. notjust from us but from our friends in the eu. as we look forward to the next stage, the ball is in their court but i optimistic we will receive a positive response because what we are seeking is not just the best possible deal for us but it would also be the best possible dealfor a but it would also be the best possible deal for a european friends. six months on from the referendum and no real progress has been made. the prime minister yet delivered yet another definitive speech designed to herald a breakthrough which instead only confirmed the confusion at the heart of government. our european friends are looking aghast at the chaos the government is creating. a counter briefing and backstabbing. can i simply point out to people complaining these negotiations are going to slowly that after the

referendum, the europeans refused to negotiate before triggering article 50 and then they refused to discuss the long—term relationship and even after the conciliatory speech is still refusing to discuss the relationship. when does she call home? the question of how prepared the government was came into focus two days later when the chancellor wrote an article for the times asserting he needed to assure the government was ready for any outcome. appearing before the treasury committee, he was pressed on that by a conservative mp. the release funding only when it is responsible to do so. can you explain further what you mean by

that and what circumstances you envisage it would be responsible to spend funds preparing for a no deal? the point i was making is that some are urging me to spend money simply to send a message to the eu that we mean business. i think the eu knows we mean business and that we are planning for an ideal scenario and that we have to do that. in terms of when we start spending money on programme expenditure related to no deal expert, and where that is uniquely required, some of it will need to be spent anyway... but where it is uniquely required, we need to work backwards from the 29th of march and identified when we need to make the commitment decision in order to deliver on time but not commit public fund on a potentially

abortive basis. philip hammond made it the appearance just a few hours ahead of prime minister ‘s question. the chancellor was in his place next to theresa may on the government front bench when the former leader asked the prime minister about those no deal preparations. on monday my right honourable friend was very clear about her negotiations and that it remained the government priority to get a very good free trade arrangement before we leave. alongside that we would make plans and arrangements to depart under world trade organization terms that should no such agreement the available. can she confirm all monies necessary will be allocated as and when required?” monies necessary will be allocated as and when required? i am very happy to give my right honourable friend of my confirmation. we are

committing money. the public have witnessed the most extraordinary spectacle of the prime minister ramping up the no deal rhetoric on brexit and backtracking on her commitment to stay in the single market for transition all because she is afraid of the most right—wing rabbit element in her party. don't the british people deserve better thana the british people deserve better than a prime minister simply running scared? the honourable lady could not be more wrong. first of all, first of all, we are not ramping up an ideal scenario, we are actively working, actively working in

negotiations with the eu to make sure we set up and get a good deal for a brighterfuture sure we set up and get a good deal for a brighter future for this country. on thursday, the fifth round of talks on brexit concluded with michelle barnier saying they had not been enough progress to move on to the next stage — trade talk. he said there was new mentor but also deadlock in the divorce bill which he said was a disturbing. david davies insisted considerable headway had been made. mps were still digesting the notion that money would not be spent until the very last moment on an ——a no deal occasion. at question on thursday to the trade secretary... can he inform

the trade secretary... can he inform the house and treasury is giving all the house and treasury is giving all the resources needed to prepare for ano the resources needed to prepare for a no deal? there is note difference between the chancellor and myself. the chancellor says we need to ensure to make sure we spend money on all areas where contingency plans are necessary. away from international trade, a think tank has published a report stressing what it thinks parliament has a place to play. the government will be hoping to avoid a major commons vote on a controversial foreign policy issue. it also states the uk cannot afford to give the impression that it no longer aspires to be up all sold the nation. something u pwa rd all sold the nation. something upward to the mp who wrote the foreword to the report. the point is

the uk has always set itself apart from any other nation by being engaged in helping others to solve problems. that does not mean we are at interventionists. we helped save up at interventionists. we helped save up the un, the world trade organization and setting up a supporting organisations like nato. when we say problem—solving, it does not mean intervening in somebody else's country by playing our part where our strength lies. parliament should not be a place for set piece debate on committees have a role to play in encouraging some strategic thinking. you can have all the strategic thinking that you like but as you know, a woman can take lovely committee reports and put them on a shell. they can but do they get listened to? my predecessor produced a report in which he chose to

respond to it. frank field has done amazing things on welfare by using the committee he chairs strategically and properly. now, given that this government has got quite a lot on its plate and it doesn't have a majority, do you think that there is going to be a tendency to have fewer contentious foreign policy issues debated on the floor of the commons? i think it is going to be certainly the intention of government to avoid too much contentious debate on the floor of the commons. that is the nature of government. and of course, that is what they will try to do. but the truth of foreign policy, as you know, it is not you who chooses what happens, it is others, and therefore the ability to decide timing and to decide whether or not a debate is necessary may not always be in the government's hands. what do you think the role of public opinion is in all of this?

i mean, how is the public having its voice heard on these big foreign policy issues? well, the role of parliament, let's not forget, is to represent public opinion. i mean, myjob as a member of parliament is to represent the community that i love very much in tunbridge and malling. 75, 000 electors, about 100,000 souls all in. and to reflect the views and the interests of the people of my community and the views and interests of my country, the united kingdom. but if the government won't timetable time for debates on contentious issues, that doesn't matter? well, as you know very well, there are various ways in which time can be allocated. there is urgent questions and statements, there is emergency debates, as they are called, so 2a debates, as this is the week in parliament, i'm going to assume people are more interested in parliamentary process than at other times. and of course there is the committees. and so one of the things that we are certainly going to be looking at is things that are very topical, so impact that is why we started, as you know, were first round of enquiries with an enquiry into the rohingya the crisis in northern burma. from which we've had plenty of warm words from the government

about what a terrible situation this is, but are you going to be able to nudge them in any direction? well, we are just taking evidence that the moment. so, i'm not going to pre—empt what the enquiry will say. but if we need to give the government to push, we certainly will. if we need to support the government, we certainly will. the purpose of the foreign affairs committee is not to bully or to praise, but simply to point out where parliamentarians think government should be going, and that is exactly why we are 11 members of parliament from three different parties. there are five conservative, five labour, and one scottish nationalist... but you've got no lib dems, no dup, and nobody from what you might call the corbynista wing of the labour party. so how representative are you, really? well, it is up to the labour party how they elect their members onto the committee, it is up to the labour party to decide how they are represented. it is up to the conservative party, likewise, to decide how they are represented. and the scottish nationalists were the ones who put themselves forward. so, i can't speak for the other two parties because they didn't claim the seat.

the truth is we are representative of parliament in the sense that we are made up of our parties and we are certainly representative in that sense. ourjob now, however, is notjust to reflect our own views, whichever particular wing in the various parties we may come from, but to reflect the views of our colleagues as well. so, the purpose of the select committee process is notjust the public enquiry that you see, and i know you broadcast quite a lot on this channel, but it is actually the debate that is held in private as well because that is where the enquiries are decided, that is where the relations are shaped. and that debate is absolutely essential to the governance of our current tree. of our country. we will watch the debates with interest. tom tugendhadt, thank you very much indeed for coming into the programme. thank you. tom tugendhadt. now let's go back to prime minister's questions, which wasn't all about brexit. the labour leader challenged theresa may over the rollout of universal credit. it replaces six existing working age benefits and is being rolled out across the uk.

but mps, former civil servants and charities have all expressed concern about the delay before some claimants receive any money. the government has promised to speed up the system of advances for those in need, butjeremy corbyn said that wasn't the only concern. not only are people driven into poverty, but absurdly, mr speaker, the universal credit helpline costs claimants 55p per minute for the privilege of trying to to get someone to help them claim what they believe they are entitled to. will prime minister today show some humanity, intervene, and make at least the helpline free? it is working because more people are getting into work on universal credit than were on jobseekers' allowance. and i do want people to be able to find work. i want people to be able to get betterjobs,

to be able to earn more, to get on without government support. now for a look at some other stories from around westminster in brief. britain's leading defence manufacturer, bae systems, announced almost 2,000 job cuts. 1,400 of the posts are going from its militaryjet business, with factories in lancashire and east yorkshire badly hit. the firm, which makes the eurofighter typhoon, is facing a drop in demand. it's the result of internal restructuring and a drive to transform its businesses so it can continue to be one of our most efficient and effective companies generating export orders across the world. if these redundancies go ahead, there is a very real risk that these skills will be lost for ever with a knock—on impact for this country's long—term manufactoring capability. labour accused the government of putting politics ahead of bombardier workers in northern ireland. the canadian firm employs more than 4,000 people in belfast. it's been hit by proposed massive new tariffs on its aircraft in a row with the us over state aid. labour accused the government of inaction as it wanted a post—brexit trade deal

with the united states. but the minister said he wouldn't rest until the "groundless "action" was ended. theresa may launched her race disparity audit on tuesday. ministers have challenged public services over how they treat people of different races, as data on ethnic minorities was released on a new government website. the approach the government is taking is explain or change — where significant disparities between ethnic groups cannot be explained by wider factors, we will commit ourselves to working with partners to change that. history has shown that positive change only happens under a labour government, and we are ready, once again, to deliver a more fair and equal society for the many and not the few. the government published legislation designed to lower the cost of gas and electricity bills.

it will give the energy regulator ofgem the power to cap what are called standard variable tariffs. but one former labour leader felt he'd heard this policy suggestion somewhere before. given that this policy was once described from that dispatch box as a con, ajoke, disastrous, living in a marxist universe, it would be churlish not to welcome his conversion to it today. well done. he is very welcome to the party. in a report this week, the care quality commission reported that england's health system was "straining at the seams". labour was concerned. now, winter is coming. and last week, the tory party made £15 billion worth of spending commitments but not a penny extra for the nhs. so this winter, will the nhs fair worse or better than last year? or are we set for another winter crisis made in downing street? what the cqc actually said this morning was that the majority of health and care systems

across the nhs are providing good or outstanding quality. the safety of care is going up, and performance is improving. but he is right that we are always concerned about winter. let me tell him the new things that are happening this year to help prepare the nhs. £1 billion more going into the social care system in the budget that we have just had. £100 million capital programme for a&e departments. 2,400 beds being freed up. and increasing clinicians at 111 call centres. so, a lot is happening. overall, let me remind him that our nhs is seeing 1,800 more people every single day within four hours. that is something to celebrate. there were demands in the house of lords for an independent, judge—led inquiry into the police handling of child abuse allegations against the late former conservative prime minister, sir edward heath. wiltshire police launched operation conifer in 2015 when the former pm was accused of historical child sex abuse. this week, the force said sir edward would have been questioned over sex abuse claims, but insisted that statement shouldn't infer guilt.

many of sir edward's friends have been angered by the handling of the allegations. as he is dead, the normal provisions and processes of the law are not available to resolve the matter. and the cloud of suspicion remains hanging in the air indefinitely. my lords, justice delayed isjustice denied. the dead deservejustice no less than the living. does the noble lady not agree that the best, perhaps the only way of arriving at some finality ofjudgment would be to set up an independent review of the police investigation? lady williams said the bar for being interviewed under caution was low and didn't infer guilt. as to the calls for an inquiry... operation conifer is, as i said initially,

an independent police investigation. it is not appropriate for government ministers to comment on an operationally independent investigation, and any decision to follow this line of enquiry would in fact be a matter for the chief officer. lord macgregor told peers he'd worked closely with edward heath as head of his private office in the 1960s. and i have to say that i think the most damning indictment of operation conifer was from ken macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions, who was in the best position to know when he called it a sham. and there is another problem. if distinguished contributors to our public life, like edward heath, are treated in this way, is that not a major disincentive to others to wish to enter public life? but lady williams said she thought the public would complain if allegations were not investigated. the commons speakerjohn bercow has suggested changing the system under which backbenchers bring in legislation. private members' bills are debated

on certain fridays but have little chance of becoming law without government backing. and mps who oppose such a bill can "talk it out" until it runs out of debating time. gary connor reports. the brutal truth is that today, while we set aside 13 sitting fridays for 20 such bills, the chances of any more than a handful becoming law are meagre. the talking out of bills, though done within our rules, and often with destructive skill, has, in my opinion, not enhanced the reputation of the house. the commons procedure committee recommends a time limit on private members' bills debates. and a peer review process, leading to fewer but higher quality bills. colleagues should have time to debate the matter, and to decide whether they are attracted by this particular blueprint, wanted an alternative version of it, or were inclined to be bolder

and shift these measures out of fridays. alternatively, at the other end of the spectrum, the house could determine that fridays were constituency days, and if private members' bills have to be sacrificed in order to make that happen, then so be it. he also suggested mps should be able to recall parliament if there is a major crisis during a recess. providing the system could not be abused. to offer one model, a petition for a recall could be launched with the relatively high number of 600 mps, perhaps a quarter of them, provided that at least a quarter of them were drawn from those that support the government and at least a quarter from the opposition. this would ensure both the degree of balance and testing the threshold for a recall bid to cross. and you can watch that speech in full on bbc parliament on saturday evening at 10.30. let's take a look at what's been happening in the wider world of politics this week.

here's ben butcher with our countdown. nicola sturgeon wasn't taking any chances at her conference speech on monday. learning from the prime minister's coughing fit last week. at the risk of tempting fate, i've come prepared. she wasn't the only politician struggling with a sore throat. conservative anna soubry standing up for fellow raspers. women with bad throats won't be silenced. labour's paul flynn was trying to put marijuana legalisation on the agenda with the bill before joining activist for high tea on parliament green. guess they didn't get the memo to stay off the grass! borisjohnson has had problems getting into number ten before, but not this literally, as he tried to attend cabinet. and it is farewell to the prolific baroness trumpington, who announced she will leave the lords on her 95th

birthday, after almost four decades of service. finally, for now, one peer was getting rather heated about smoking on television. he prefaced his question to the minister with a sentence probably never heard before in the house of lords. i don't know if he is a regular watcher of love island, but if he were to look at the itv website, it describes love island as an emotional feast of lust and passion in the sun. the same website says that this programme captures 56% share of the 16 to 34—year—olds. on this programme, those contestants are regularly smoking. what message does that say to young people? that i can live at glamorous life if i smoke as well. the question brought this admission.

lords, lam not a regular watcher of love island but i can't help noticing that the house is unusually full today. peers have passionate opinions on many things, but it seems the glamorous world of love island had them stumped. there was a something of a pause after lord ashton sat down. laughter. peers not quite feeling the love for love island. and that's it from us for now, dojoin mandy baker on monday night at 11 for a full round up of the day here at westminster. but for now from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye. hello there.

fairly quiet conditions out there at the moment. on monday, things turn more stormy to the west of the uk, especially in northern ireland. the met office has already issued an amber be prepared warning for strong winds from monday afternoon. damaging and disruptive gusts are expected. the worst will be in southern ireland. ophelia, an ex—hurricane, moves towards the shores. the met service in ireland has issued a red warning. danger to life and property across the entire country. the wind will steadily strengthen in the west. scotland will have rain come and go. dry conditions in england and wales. the winds start to pick up through the irish sea in particular as we go into the afternoon. western parts of wales, the isle of man, northern ireland, parts of south—west scotland in particular. we can see winds in excess of 80 miles per hour in a few spots. that will cause loose debris to fly around and travel disruption. only part of the story, of course. on monday, rain across the board in ireland. cool conditions in scotland

with outbreaks of rain. england and wales, away from western coasts, blustery day but quite a warm and sunny one, 23 degrees. evening rush—hour, midlands, northern england, gusty winds. the strongest of the wind in the north. the low pressure system will transfer to northern scotland. these areas could see 60—70 miles per hour winds. they could cause disruption. temperatures holding up into tuesday morning. through monday and tuesday, just a reminder, some problems around, not just with transport, power supply problems as well. check for warnings on the website and on the bbc weather app. the strongest winds will go down on tuesday. outbreaks of rain continue in scotland and northern ireland. a cold day there. england and wales, a lot of dry weather. light winds, hazy sunshine. feeling pleasant, even without the tropical layer of monday. later in the day, rain spreads in through the english channel. this system willjust go north through tuesday night into wednesday. the warmest air confined to east anglia and the south—east. wet weather in southern counties of england. on wednesday, the midlands

into northern england, southeasterly winds, the heaviest of the rain in the east of the pennines. part of eastern scotland as well. western areas, dry and bright. still feeling cool away from southern counties where it will be pleasant. overall this week, a stormy start to the week. things turn quieter but stronger winds as well. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is ben bland. our top stories: austria elects the world's youngest leader. but will 31—year—old sebastian kurz forge a coalition with the far—right? somalia's deadliest attack in a decade — saturday's massive bomb blast in the capital is known to have killed at least 230 people. warning of "potential danger to life" as hurricane ophelia barrels across the atlantic towards the british isles. and more claims of sexual assault against hollywood kingpin, harvey weinstein. police in britain investigate allegations by three women.