and nearby oil fields from kurdish control. armoured vehicles moved into kirkuk in an advance that took less than 2a hours. it comes after the region voted in favour of independence. more than 1,000 people have taken part in a vigil in malta for a journalist murdered by a powerful car bomb. daphne caruana galizia was a leading investigative journalist. she highlighted alleged corruption by senior politicians, including malta's prime minister, who's denied any wrongdoing. wildfires in portugal are now known to have killed at least 36 people. thousands of firefighters are tackling outbreaks in central and northern areas where more than 600 separate forest fires have been reported. fires have also been causing widespread damage in north—western spain. now on bbc news, it's time to look back at monday in parliament. hello, and welcome to monday

in parliament, our look at the best of the day in the commons and the lords. the headlines: 400 jobs are to go at vauxhall. is the uk's withdrawal from the eu to blame? and her government's shambolic negotiation of brexit negotiations is undermining the uk. labour condemns donald trump's threat to end the us—iran nuclear deal as "reckless, mindless and downright dangerous". and how on earth did one mp's letter to the brexit secretary end up in the hands of a political blogger within a mere three hours? and by 15:03pm precisely my letter was on the website. but first, the business minister has said the news that 400 jobs are to be lost at the vauxhall car

plant in ellesmere port is "particularly disappointing". vauxhall is owned by a french company psa. the factory in cheshire makes the astra model. staff will be moved from two production shifts to one early next year. a spokesman for the company said the move was nothing to do with brexit, but down to a fall in sales. the minister, claire perry, was called to the commons to answer an urgent question. this is as we said last week a very concerning time for families, particularly in the run—up to christmas. and i do want to assure the honourable gentleman and the honourable and right honourable members in the house that once again the government is standing by to do all it can to support those affected. the department for business, energy and industrial strategy is going to speak with the company, the unions and the wider supply chain and the dwp is also standing by to provide advice and support for those affected. but she was upbeat about the prospects of the car industry and she would appeal for unity across the benches. i think all of us in this house,

if i may, mr speaker, should think really hard about the message we are sending to those looking to invest in industry in the uk going forward and back the fact that highly productive plants and highly skilled workforces, regardless of the changes that may happen through the model sectors, this is the place for auto companies to be investing in in the future. so perhaps people who want to chunter otherwise should think about the messages we are sending to those investors going forward. a string of opposition mps blamed brexit. if this tells us anything, it is that business won't wait around while businesses argue amongst themselves. i should make it clear i don't include the minister as one as those concerned with more of their own future than of the country's but i ask her to say to her colleagues that posturing and prevarication has to stop. it has been made repeatedly clear

that clarity on future trading relationships, the uk car industry remains vulnerable. whilst the parent company has cited a declining market share in the decision, they are also quoted as saying they halted uk investment plans due to the government's lack of visibility in the uk's future trading relationship with the eu. figures indeed now show that direct foreign investment has vaporised in the uk. instead of a level playing field, let alone the possibility of market advantage, businesses, workers and communities continue to be let down by this long and humiliating brexit chaos. the shadow trade secretary wondered whether the owner had been given assurances that brexit would not affect its business, as others had. if not, can she explain why the secretary of state stepped in to support nissan and reportedly toyota but not vauxhall? and does she accept that this case—by—case approach is the very antithesis of an industrial strategy?

and her government's shambolic handling of the brexit negotiations is quite frankly undermining british manufacturing and all of those reliant on it. a conservative mp said he was failing to understand the reason the company gave for the job losses. the government says the uk automotive sector is the most productive in europe. 50% higher productivity than over all uk manufacturing productivity. and the government says that last year saw a 17—year high in the number of cars built in the uk. yet psa say manufacturing costs at ellesmere port are significantly higher than those of the benchmark plants in the psa group in france. how can the government statement be reconciled with the attitude of the french owners? mr speaker, i haven't looked in detail at the operation and fixed cost production, but i suspect that if you are running below your full capacity, which we know the plant is currently because sales are weaker than planned, then your cost of units produced will actually be higher. 80% of the cars produced

at ellesmere port are for mainland europe and 75% of the parts for the cars at ellesmere port are for mainland europe. so what assurances can the minister give that when we leave the european union there won't be additional customs checks or barriers to trade? because the inevitability if there are is that more jobs will be lost, notjust at ellesmere port but also elsewhere in the car sector and in manufacturing more widely. we are in complete agreement about the need to have a frictionless and close relationship with the single market but she and i i think will both welcomed the fact that since 2011, the value of the uk sourced by uk car manufacturers in the uk supply chain has gone up from 36% to 41%. and of course, one of the potential opportunities for the manufacturers is to think about onshoring production. the business minister, claire perry. the shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry has said donald trump's threat to the iran nuclear deal

was "reckless, mindless and downright dangerous". last week, the us president accused iran of reneging on the agreement which was signed by president 0bama in 2015. the deal curbs iran's nuclear ambitions, and in return, some sanctions that stopped iran from trading on international markets and selling oil have been lifted. in the commons, labour used an urgent question to press ministers over their response to president trump. mr speaker, the nuclear deal with iraq stands out as one of the most successful diplomatic achievements in the last decade. and let us be clear, the deal is working. what could today have been another north korean crisis in the heart of the middle east has instead been one problem that that region doesn't have to worry about. so for donald trump to jeopardise that deal, for him to move the goalposts by linking it to important but utterly extraneous

issues around iran's wider activities in the region, for him to play these games, is reckless, mindless and downright dangerous. it makes a reality of hillary clinton's prophecy that putting donald trump into the white house will create a real and present danger to world peace. and let us make it clear that when donald trump talks about needing the deal to be fixed, that is utterly disingenuous. when the only evidence that it is in any way broken is a figment of his fevered brain. the deal was designed to do a specificjob, which it has done. it was designed to curtail iran's nuclear programme and its pursuit of a nuclear weapons. and it has done, so far, just that. and that is why the united kingdom strongly supports it. clearly, we disagree with the assessment that president trump has made. we don't in any way fail to understand the concerns the united states has about the activities of iran in the region and we have made that clear. but we also believe that those

matters need to be dealt with outside the agreement. and that is why the agreement is so important. to have gone through all that to get something that works in a world where it is quite difficult to get agreements that work seems to us to put that to one side would not necessarily help the wider situation. so we will continue as we have done to work our counsel with the united states and with other parties to the agreement, try and continue to work with the iranian government on matters of mutual interest between us, including those things about which we have concerns, to see if we can use this particular agreement as the possibility of a springboard to confidence in the future, knowing that these things don't come quickly, but knowing that also signatures on deals do matter. and that's what the united kingdom is going to adhere to. mr speaker, this deal shows what can be achieved through diplomacy and dialogue and i pay tribute to those in europe and elsewhere and those in his department who work

so hard to make this a reality. has the minister been clear about the disagreement he has with the trump administration on this? can he revealed to the house what his discussions have been? and also, will he tell us to what extent he will be continuing to work with our european partners, our natural partners in this regard, who are not the enemy in this particular issue? minister. i can assure the house and the honourable gentleman that discussions with allies go on all the time. and clearly in the run—up to the consideration of the position of the united states to iran, there's obviously being consultation going on not only with the united kingdom but also with all the parties to the agreement. those discussions will continue. the agreement remains in place, of course. the president has put it to congress, certain elements of it.

but the opportunity to scrap the deal completely was not taken by the united states. the minister has described how difficult and complex it was to negotiate this deal, which was such a significant step forward and of course is now at risk. can i ask the minister to be a little bolder and state clearly on the record, does he think this intervention from the us president will make it easier or more difficult to reach a successful multilateral diplomatic agreements in future? minister. that's a good question. i think honesty in these matters is really important. and if there is anything we know about president trump and his administration, he did make clear certain things before he was elected which he has followed through on. and i think the president would on the united states defend their actions in that way. there is of course a significant risk. agreements do go on government to government. and ensuring that and agreement

is adhered to is a fundamental to international negotaitions. can the agreement carry on without united states? and what is the practical implication of the us position? minister. mr speaker, i knew at some stage a question would come beyond my pay grade. i've always taken the view that there are many signatories to this agreement and the agreement stays in place. the united states is taking action that it is doing in relation to the possibility of new legislation, but it has still remained a party to the deal. so the deal stays in place. we will not want to contemplate the situation in which one party unilaterally withdrew because of the implications for other parties. you're watching monday in parliament with me, mandy baker. don't forget you can catch up with all the week's programmes via the bbc iplayer. the home office has confirmed that the government will be supporting a bill to increase penalties for assaults

on emergency workers. the measure is being taken forward by the labour mp chris bryant. also during home office questions, amber rudd reassured mps that she had no plans forfurther cuts to the police budget amid concerns that officers are overstretched. a quarter of my local police force's operational strength has been cut since 2010. when i visited police in barnsley this weekend, they told me they are generally worried about how they will continue to operate at the same level if further cuts are made. does the home secretary disagree with officers like those in barnsley that additional cuts will have a superior impact on neighbourhood policing? i can reassure the honourable lady that there are no plans for further cuts, that the police budget has been protected between 2015 and 2020. can i say to the home secretary that there is a worrying increase in crime in west yorkshire and in the shipley constituency and it is a fact that the police officers, who are doing a fantastic job, are overstretched. the first duty of the government

should be to protect the public and keep them safe. can i urge her to make sure that more resources go into west yorkshire to support the police, tackling this worrying rise in crime? well, i agree with the honourable gentleman that the first role of government is indeed to protect people and as the conservative party in government we will make sure that we do that at every step. we know the pressures on police resources and the rise in violent crime, the huge increase in 999 and 101 calls, unprecedented terrorist threats and a surge in non—crime demand from mental health and missing persons. so if the minister's house was burgled, how would he feel if the police didn't show up? i'd feel frustrated and angry like anyone else would. and let me say this to her.

we on this side of the house totally recognise the pressure that the police are under. in fact, i'm just concluding a process of visiting or speaking to every single police force in england and wales. so i don't need any lectures on how pressured and strained the police system is, which is what we are listening to and is feeding into the work that we are doing for the rotation on the ‘18—‘19 funding settlement. we are determined on this side of the house to make sure the police have the resources they need to continue to do the job whilst continuing to challenge them to be efficient and effective. the house of lords has heard that a shortage of care home beds is leading to relatives being pressured into taking loved ones home, despite being unable to cope. 0ne labour peer told the story of an elderly couple, who she said had been badly treated. sometimes undue and unfair pressure is put on the families, on the carers, to accept discharge in an such as the 87—year—old carer to whom i spoke last week, herself frail and with severe angina, was induced, and use the world advisedly, to accept discharge of her—year—old husband, still immobile after a fall, with a promise of twice—daily visits from the community nurse, which have not yet materialised. the minister explained

what the latest figures showed. i am sorry to hear about that particular issue. perhaps you might write to me about it. clearly it should not be the case that is anyone is forced to accept to leave the care. the information is collected on the number of bed days occupied by patients waiting to be discharged by hospital. the latest available information estimates that on an average day in august this year, 1574 beds were occupied by patients waiting to be discharged to nursing or residential care homes. the shadow minister said that was a big number. and over a year i understand the last financial year, there were about 2.4 million days essentially lost because of the delay in transfer.

sometimes undue and unfair pressure is put on the families, on the carers, to accept discharge in an such as the 87—year—old carer to whom i spoke last week, herself frail and with severe angina, was induced, and use the world advisedly, to accept discharge of her—year—old husband, still immobile after a fall, with a promise of twice—daily visits from the community nurse, which have not yet materialised. the transport secretary, chris grayling, has insisted he would have no fear about buying a plane ticket for summer 2019 — despite claims that brexit could ground flights. last week, the chancellor, philip hammond said it was possible that if the uk left the european union with no deal, planes could not fly. all flights within the eu have been governed by the open skies agreement allowing any eu airline to fly between any two eu places. the uk will need to negotiate a new treaty to give planes the right to fly over other countries after brexit.

but chris grayling told mps on the transport committee he was confident of reaching a deal. mps also asked about the collapse of monarch airlines and whether the taxpayer would get back any of the costs of repatriating passengers. it would be of no benefit to anybody to have a situation where the current international aviation structures are weakened as a result of problems between us and the european union. i'm sure that's not that's not what they want. i have a very good relationship with the european commissioner. i am convinced that in the coming months, we will have moved towards sensible arrangements, but we are preparing for eventualities. and that is to be expected. so, when you say over the coming months, when do you think a transitional deal will be in place? that is a question i do not know the answer to, we are going to get it as soon as possible, but i also talking to the airlines about when they need that in place, and i think we have some period of time before it really becomes a problem for them. what is your assessment of when it would become a problem? i think, really, airlines start to take bookings for 2019 next summer, i think they will want comfort that we are making progress

by next summer, but none of them are being very specific. no one has said that there is a hard deadline that you need to to adhere to. and if it got to say, april next year, and you are booking a flight ahead for april 2019, would you feel confident buying a flight if there was no transitional deal in place? yes. i would buy a flight myself without any worries at all. i'm sure lots of people will be feeling comforted that you would buy a plane ticket and go on holiday, but i wondered if you could give the same level of comfort to somebody who had budgeted, save for a long period of time, where we will see more and more people who cannot afford to go away because of the price to go, can you offer them the same level of comfort that if they have purchased a ticket, at a saving for a substantial time, that they are guaranteed to get the holidays that they might be looking for. it is inconceivable that there will not be planes. the airlines are not feeling as confident as you are. one of the reasons that monarch airlines has just gone bust, is because there was such

a competitive market at the moment. too many planes, but enough passengers. but in fact, monarch have been carrying more passengers than previously, but because there's so much competition in the marketplace, the numbers have gone down, so more people are flying. they have had record years this year. it's not going to change. these also asked about the collapse of monica airlines. how much would you expect them to contribute? i have an idea what was, at the demonstration, but if i were in their position, i would want to make a contribution, if only to demonstrate my will that i wasn't doing anything else except trying to be an unhappy steward of a business that did not work. how much of their 60 million do you think is their direct responsibility to fund? i would not put a number of it, because i have no idea what would come at the administrative process i'm afraid. the performance of the commissioners dealing with equality and human rights have been criticised in the house of lords. a labour peer, lady prosser

complained that a new commissioner, lord shinkwin, had refused to come to meetings unless his demands were agreed to. a lib dem peer thought the commissioner was suffering from "hang—ups". first peers were given details of the appointments process. recent appointments to the equality and human rights commission have been carried out with in accordance with the code of practice for public appointments. successful applicants have been six elected on merit through an open and fair competition. well, i thank the noble lady flat reply, but if that is correct, how is it that is the first of the recent appointments, despite not being recognised as by the interview panel, who has subsequently refused to attend board meetings, and to certain of his demands —— until certain of his demands have been met. a commissioner whose term of office ended in january 2017, that the term of office would not be

renewed that it should be. no reason was given, even though there is a requirement under the rules to do so, and even though, the termination letter highly praised the work and contribution of the commissioner in question. i would like to thank the noble lady for raising those two issues. turning to the first one, i think you might be referring to my noble friend lord shinkwin, antes recruitment process took far longer than intended. yes, it has reached a situation now where there are ongoing discussions between the chair of the eh rc, and lord shinkwin. of course, the government values that, and believes that the ai to aussie has the knowledge to do that. that is why he was selected for the role. apologies for the long answer, but he did raise two issues. there have been a0 commissioners appointed to the hrc since 2006. only seven of these have been reappointed.

so, individualappointment and reappointment are as is for the secretary of state. i think the house will agree that there can be no automatic expectation of reappointment is for members of any public was. would be noble lady confirm, or that she confirmed, what my noble friend lady prosser said about the absence of recommendation from the interval you panel, for her noble friend, and if that is the case, can she say what is the purpose of an interview process, if the recommendations are not to be observed ?

jaidee i cannot confirm, i cannot speak any further about that individual case, if i can get any further information i will. but, as we know, there was a very clear and well—defined process, and there were independent assessors on the panel. would the minister agree with me that it is grossly improper for somebody who is appointed to an independent law—enforcement agency to put pressure on that body to agree with his particular issue, as a condition of his taking part as a commissioner? i would say that the chair of the eh rc has reached a compromise, on the issue to which you refer. now.

how does a letter to the brexit secretary end up on a conservative blogsite within three hours? tom brake takes up the story. on friday i e—mailed the secretary of state for exiting the european union's office, at eight minutes past 12. it was acknowledged by his office at 21 minutes past 12, and by 15:03 precisely, my letter... was on guido fawkes's website. mr speaker, you may be aware of guido fawkes. i'm sure you will get pleasure from the fact that we are mentioning his website here today, but could you expect to me, how i can ensure that the minister's office is just as prompt at giving me a reply, to my enquiry as it has been, it would appear, in giving that enquiry to guido fawkes martirosyan website. —— could you explain to me. —— guido fawkes' website.

jokes aside, the speaker thought it was a serious matter. i do not know how the honourable gentleman's e—mail found its way onto a third—party website, but on principle, i must say, i strongly agree that members of this house should be able to assume that their correspondence with departments will be treated in confidence and with respect. it should not be logged in the direction of some website. and rather ominously john bercow said he would hope that sooner rather than later david davis would explain to the house what had happened. and that's it for this programme. alicia mccarthy will be here for the rest of the week. for now, from me, mandy baker, goodbye. x hurricane 0phelia is still

barrelling across the british isles. earlier on, it smashed into southern parts of ireland with winds approaching 100 mph in gusts. now it is affecting northern parts of the uk, scotland, northern ireland and northern england. this is what it looks like early hours of tuesday morning. still some vicious gusts through the lowlands of scotland, across the pennines, the north—east of england. gusts could approach 70 miles an hour for the of england. gusts could approach 70 miles an hourfor the morning rush—hour look how much quieter it is around the south of the uk. hardly any wind at all. in terms of the weather on tuesday, of course improving across many areas. still some showers around. still a brisk wind in scotland. in the south, a bit of rain by the time we get to the afternoon. this week, after the

stormy start, it will eventually turn a lot more unsettled as we head towards the weekend. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. our top stories: thousands of civilians flee the iraqi city of kirkuk after the goverment‘s army seizes control from kurdish forces. well, we've suddenly had to pull back. there was a sustained outburst of gunfire at the position up ahead. we can't be sure where it came from. a journalist who investigated corruption amongst politicians, officials and business people is killed by a car bomb in malta. three days of national mourning in portugal after at least 36 people are killed in deadly forest fires. and watching over the waves. shark—detecting drones take to the skies in australia to try and make surfing safer.