probably into the 205 until you've got a deal tied up. the trade deal. so this could take some years? hmm. and at each stage, if the uk doesn't satisfy the eu's conditions, talks will remain stuck in the slow lane, as they are now. damian grammaticas, bbc news, brussels. now it's time for newsnight with evan davies. the government wants to be remembered for more than just brexit. the problem is that for many, it's only being remembered for botching up the introduction of universal credit. i think if universal credit is unchanged we'll have some real tragedies happening in our society. it is impossible for people to fend off chaos if they have no money at all. it'll roll out to seven million families in the next five years. labour's shadow welfare secretary wants a pause, we'll ask if that will help. jac holmes went from bournemouth to syria to fight is.

now he's been killed after the city fell. we'll hear from a man who also left the uk, and who fought alongside him. and this... a man called banks, aaron banks. he says he put money into ukip, but is he all he seems? hello. there's no point in having a great idea with a plan and a blueprint, lots of fancy marketing, if you then completely screw up the implementation. well, mps debated the government's flagship welfare policy — universal credit — again today, and the overriding question is whether it falls into that category of "good idea — bad execution". it's a big reform, a simplifying one, six benefits merged into one. but the simple fact is,

that for too many people for whom it is designed, it isn't working. like mario arransibia. basically, the transition period, i think people will find it quite difficult, because you obviously have to go online and sign up to universal credit, and then they give you the appointment at the job centre, which takes about two weeks. so, you can't apply for the advance payment until you have that interview with the guy at the job centre. but, within that time, i obviously had no money, so i had to rely on family and friends to help me out, and then when i did actually get the advance payment, i had to pay back some of the family and friends, with that payment, so yeah, i mean, it is hard. they do make it quite difficult for you, you have to do everything online, you have to phone a number, that's not free, so i had to go to the citizens advice bureau to make the phone call and stuff. so yeah, it was a difficult time. one claimant's experience.

ironically, the government set out ideas to help people in debt today, and yet, citizens advice say that the government's own universal credit is itself forcing people into debt. it's notjust the seven day waiting period when you apply, or the fact, after seven days, you then have a month of assessment before getting payments; it's also the lack of help with the online application process. it is as though the benefit is administered for the convenience of the provider, rather than the recipient. well, universal credit has been a huge controversy in westminster, many mps have faced the wrath of constituents suffering the effects. which is why it came up yet again today. our political editor nick watt has been looking at the pressure for reform of a flagship idea. i'm going to have to ask you to leave... in motive, painful and politically toxic. welfare reform is perilous for politicians of all hues. run the mouse up the screen.

not like that... the ken loach film i, daniel blake, struck a chord. with its betrayal of an uncaring system. universal credit, this government's flagship welfare reform joins a long list of troubled projects, delayed by years, are set by technical hitches, and challenged on the tory benches, but it limps on. i think if universal credit is not changed, we will have some real tragedies happening in our society. itjust simply isn't possible for people to be able to stay in their accommodation if they are in the private sector, to fend off absolute chaos if they've got no money at all. today, the government found itself defending universal credit in the second parliamentary debate in a week. in every phase and in every respect, the development of universal credit

has been all about enhancing the way it helps you get into work, and get on in work. already, universal credit is transforming lives, and we want more families to benefit from the satisfaction, from the self—esteem, and from the financial security that comes from progressing to a job, a betterjob and a career. so just what is universal credit? it was first piloted in 2012, was meant to be fully up and running by this year, and fully rolled out by 2022. essentially, it rolls six in work and out of work benefits into one simpler system. also, it aims to encourage work by ensuring that claimants receive more take home pay if they work extra hours. there is deep frustration in downing street that universal credit is under constant

attack, because ministers feel it is a highly progressive reform, thanks to the way in which it in centre rises work. the work and pensions secretary david gauke believes he is involved in something of a rescue mission to salvage this landmark reform. in his eyes, many of today's problems were caused by the failure of the architect of the scheme, iain duncan smith, to appreciate the vast challenge of introducing such a wide—ranging reform. david gauke is not giving much away at the moment, but downing street is looking seriously at implementing the main demand by tory backbench critics to reduce the initial payment period from six weeks to four, or to abolish the so—called seven waiting days, in which no benefits are paid in the first week. if the government is feeling particularly ambitious, it could look at two further reforms, allowing people to earn more before their benefits first

start being reduced. this would bejuiced george osborne's cup to the worker allowance, costing around £2 billion. changing the rate at which benefits are reduced as someone earns more money, the chancellor cut the tape rate from 65 to 63% in the budget. some cabinet ministers want this to go down to 60%. this would cost around 500 million per percentage point cut. one of the main tory backbench critics says the government will have two move. with universal credit, it is a cobbler kate did benefit. with universal credit, it is a complicated benefit. i pick everybody will blame everybody else. my understanding is a huge number of people leading the project lost theirjobs, some resigned and some

couldn't cope. the problem is, for me, the waiting time of six weeks, we want it reduced to four weeks, and we want to see the taper rate reduced. step—by—step, the government is pressing ahead with universal credit. the challenge is to ensure that the eventual merits of the system will overcome memories of its troubled birth. we did ask the government to join us tonight but nobody was available. however, with me are debbie abrahams, labour's shadow secretary of state for work & pensions. and edward boyd, managing director of centre for socialjustice, and a former advisor to iain duncan smith. thanks, both, for coming in. can we get a bit detailed, because it is quite interesting. let's start with this seven—day period. you apply and nothing happens for seven days. it should go. we have been clear that at least a week should be removed. the government said they wanted to have a system that replicated real life in terms of work

and waiting for a month before you got your first support, but this is more than that in six weeks. this... this is the sum of the six weeks and seven days. what was the thinking? when we originally designed this, there was no seven—day weight. there was no seven—day wait. i will agree on this. i don't think any government of any cover is thankful reforming welfare. labour trying to bring in tax credits in 2003, or this government with universal credit, one thing everyone is missing is, when this is fully rolled out, the estimate is 300,000 more people will be in work. that was based on 2014 — 15 data. that is disingenuous to say that, ed. 300,000 before, and that data rolled out past any changes the government has made.

it is still a massive effect. we have got from you, an admission, you would get rid of the seven—day waiting period. it saves 140 million, there was thinking that people out of work for a short period of time wouldn't need benefits, but it is not the right thing. next one, it is not the first seven—day waiting period, but paying people monthly in arrears. that one is training you to have the benefit system aligned with the way work works. the figures published yesterday showed that people on the lowest incomes, a quarter are paid weekly or monthly. weekly or fortnightly. we want to have alternative pay arrangements that are offered to everyone, not the obscure arrangement in guidance we have now that nobody seems to know what to do about, everybody has a chance to have alternative pay fortnightly, also, it doesn't go to a single householder, which happens

at the moment, which is predominantly men. it is discriminatory against women. it should be split, if that is an option. the housing element can go directly to the landlord. ed, when you designed paying people a month in arrears, was that a problem or is it a feature of the system you devised? it is a positive thing. when rolled out, 7 million or 8 million will be on universal credit. majority will be in work. the overwhelming majority will be paid monthly to make sure that universal credit works with being in work, you had to have them working. if you have benefit paid fortnightly or separate from that, your earnings will go up and down, and be very difficult to manage your income. for those people, it works well. for most, it does, but people that struggle managing money for a month, and there are reports of quite

a view, they are used to getting money which they spend. it may sound patronising, but that is what everybody says is the fact. you say that. i am worried we will argue about data, but 3% ofjobs are paid fortnightly in the uk. it is a tiny proportion of people who are paid at that level. this is where universal credit is revolution every. instead of saying, you can't budget well, so we will adapt the system to you. it says that you can make sure that you can get a budget advance if you need it. it is about changing someone's life. if you can't manage money well, we will help you get somewhere. it is transformational. the principal... no, no, that is not fair. the principal, we support, but what ed is describing isn't there. the principles about simplification and ensuring work pay,

getting into work, progressing to work, that doesn't happen. then we have the administrative clock ups. good idea, badly executed? i mentioned at the outset about single householder, the fact it is only paid monthly, we also have the fact that severe disability premiums weren't transferred across. the most severely disabled people are about £3200... i could go on. some people are worse off. but when you devised it, you weren't quite as mean as it has turned out to be. if you going to do something as ambitious as that, doesn't it make sense to spend money on it and make it work in the early days, rather than having it discredited by penny—pinching? we invented it slightly more generously than it is now. the first important point before that to say, if you look at all the data in amongst all the changes, people are more likely to be in work and earning more money under this system rather than the old system.

it is not perfect, but it is better... some groups say. with different family structures, that is not always the case. single parents are definitely worse. a single—parent nurse, i had, she had a six—week delay, the rent arrears notice when i went to see her. i can respond to that, briefly, with single parents, you can take a case study like that, but on the whole, if you are a single—parent with two kids, under the old system, working 16 hours, the new system has 63%. we are getting the dazzled with numbers. we will see if the government reforms on this in the next few days. thank you both very much. jac holmes, a 2k year old man from bournemouth who went to join kurdish forces in the fight against so—called islamic state in syria, has been killed in raqqa. just a week after the liberation of the city, he was reportedly helping to clear the city of mines and explosives when he was killed. mr holmes had been fighting isis

off and on since 2015. he appeared in a television interview as recently as last month, speaking in raqqa to the bbc‘s quentin sommerville. this isn't your country, it's not your war, why are you here? i think the fight against daesh is everyone's war. it's the world's war. there's daesh all over europe, especially in england, and we need to stop them here and in iraq, or they're going to spread. jac holmes, there. well, he was fighting with the ypg, a kurdish force, which is a big part of the sdf, the syrian democratic forces. another british man who had gone out to fight against isis is macer gifford. he spent a lot of time in syria with mr holmes — and i spoke to him earlier from a ypg base on the iraq, syria border. i have known jac holmes for three years now. i met him on the very day he arrived in syria, in 2015.

and i have known him ever since. he was a passionate humanitarian. he cared very deeply about syria. and he was someone that had a real hatred for isis and everything they stood for. what do you know of what happened yesterday that tookjac‘s life. i understand he was pulling security. while they were clearing buildings, forcing civilians to return home, and unfortunately there was a suicide vest that had been missed. and unfortunately, there was a suicide vest that had been missed. that was hidden, and left behind by the islamic state. and it was in a very volatile state, and it detonated when he was almost on top of it. what do you know of his plans?

obviously, the battle for raqqa was over, what were his plans? his plans were to return home. he's been fighting now, for three years. he's been a very passionate advocate for solidarity with the kurdish people, with the syrian people, and he's been pushing for the british government to do more to help the sdf in solidifying their games, and actually injecting some humanitarian invade, and investment into the country to build. the only way he could do that was by coming home and sharing his experiences, talking about what he did in raqqa, why he was there. and really, to explain really what he was doing there. the fact that the battle for raqqa was over, and he was getting ready to return makes this terribly, terribly tragic, doesn't it. yeah, it's a devastating blow for the international volunteers, and for all the people volunteering here, both on the humanitarian side and on the military side. he was a very much loved person. he was funny, he was... he cared a lot about democracy, about people.

the yazidi people were very close to his heart. and his death has been a huge blow to us all. coming just as we have liberated raqqa at the end of his last tour in syria, it shows you how dangerous the islamic state is, how terrible their legacy mines are, and how we really need to invest in the country, and actually start rebuilding in a much more positive way than we are doing at the moment. give us a sense, if you would come of that battle for raqqa and the role the international fighters had in it. the battle for raqqa was incredibly, incredibly dangerous. incredibly varied. it was a war of attrition, there were a lot of snipers, there were a lot of minds being used very effectively. and it was a terrible, terrible war. i mean, the americans, for the first time, have invested a huge amount into defeating isis. i heard more bombs fall on raqqa

them all the bombs that i have heard in syria combine. it was extraordinary, real shock and awe. but at the same time, i personally was overwhelmed by what the sdf have achieved. and really what the foreign volunteers have achieved as well. the british foreign office do not recommend that people go out and join in that war. they are always saying this is a very, very dangerous thing to do. no regrets that you went out there, despite what we now know, the terrible, terrible losses of comrades and friends. i've never regretted the morality of what i've done,

or indeed what i've done at all. i came out here as a humanitarian, as someone who is a humanist, some of that cares about democracy. and when i came out in 2014, whenjac came out in 2015, there was no help coming from the international community. there were no jets in the sky, there was no military support on the ground, very little humanitarian support into northern syria. so we've seen a massive change over the last three years. and i hope, in some small way, that the international volunteers have shown the world that internationalism is still very strong, that solidarity and compassion is still very strong, too. but you are now on your way home now? i am indeed on my way home to my family. but for me, only half the battle is done. i am going to go straight home, and i'm them to tell people what i have been doing out here, why i have been here, and what the options are for the future, cause assad is not the only option. the fsa is not the only option. i would hope that the sdf is now the democratic opposition to assad and we finally have a plan for peace in syria. a friend ofjac holmes. one of nigel farage's good personal and political friends is the businessman arron banks.

he's not a household name, but he is a big player on the populist right of uk politics. he was there with nigel farage when he met donald trumpjust after the us election; he has a feisty presence on twitter and he's a vocal critic of the bbc‘s brexit coverage. he made his money in insurance and he spent some of it on ukip and then on the leave.eu campaign, the unoffocial brexit campaign, of which he was a co—founder. his book chronicling the exploits of that campaign — the bad boys of brexit — is now, apparently, being made into a hollywood tv series. the narrative is he's not really a bad boy at all — but a patriot prepared to play dirty to save his country. but has banks been taking some artistic license with the truth? john sweeney reports — but not from hollywood. arron banks started on the long road to hollywood back in 2014, when he reacted to a put—down by top tory william hague, from his manor in bristol.

when i woke up this morning, intending to donate £100,000 to ukip, i understand that mr hague called me a nobody? is that right? yes. a nobody. so, in light of that, i decided today to donate £1 million to the party and not the 100,000 we originally agreed. mr nobody has bitten back. i was hoping that mr hague will now know who i am. laughter. i think after this lot, he might just do! this is the moment arron banks first entered public life. i am a self—made person, i made my money from a desk and two telephones. downton abbey was paid by hard work. but with mr banks‘ businessman, or political high roller, what you see is not quite what you get. his manor is mortgaged and mr banks does not live here, it is a wedding venue, owned by one of his companies. arron banks is a multimillionaire with a jet set lifestyle.

he is made out to be a bit like blofeld and this is the bond villain's lair. welcome. it is somewhere near bristol and it is handy for the house where mr banks actually lives. bought for around £900,000 and with £500,000 on the mortgage. arron banks owns eldon, a car insurance brokerage registered here. it's best known brand is go skippy. go skippy.com, cheaper car insurance. he hopes to float eldon's parent group for 250 million quid. a valuation that got him into the sunday times rich list. banks claims eldon will make £24 million profit this year, up from only 300,000 last year, should we believe it? if you move from less than half a million profit in one year

to 24 million the next year, i wish every other company could do that, but it is really quite big by any standard. a turnaround ? a big turnaround. a phenomenal turnaround, i would say. arron banks told newsnight that the £250 million valuation is based on ongoing profit forecasts. he says new ai, artificial intelligence tech is giving eldon a boost. but there has been trouble with eldon's numbers in the past. in 2013, its auditors resigned. they said a breakdown in the relationship has occurred because by failing to supply accurate information, management is imposing a limitation of scope on our work. not so, says mr banks, the auditors resigned because of a conflict of interests. banks also has an insurance underwriting business,

southern rock, based in gibraltar. it too has had problems. it seems to pay out more in claims and expenses than it takes in premiums. when we look at the gibraltar market as a whole the year ending 2015, on average, the market takes in a pound a premium and pays out exactly £1 in claims and expenses. if you look at the largest five motor insurance companies in gibraltar, they only pay out 92p in claims and expenses, so 8p in every pound that they generate is moved towards profit. for southern rock, they pay out £2.86p for every £1 of income that they generate. so that is nearly three times as much as southern rock is bringing in in premiums. mr banks‘ lawyers told us we had drawn serious and entirely wrong conclusions. 0n southern rock, they said this comparison is not an indicator that is applied to or appropriate to be applied to southern rock. because it is not a pure underwriter and has a diversified revenue stream.

these figures do not take account of that. they suggested another yardstick but only gave us figures for one year that we were unable to verify. they declined to offer data for previous years for us to analyse. mr banks‘ lawyers also told us that southern rock's profitability was a matter of public record and that it made 42 million pounds for the year 2015. but that profit came from recapitalisation, in other words, a cash injection from another bank‘s business. another of mr banks‘ businesses has also been the subject of controversy. mr banks was the sole director and one of only two shareholders in a company called african compass trading. it sold a herbal substitute for viagra called star 150. it‘s slogan, naturally, every man wants to be a superman in the bedroom. even herbal medicines need approval

by the regulator, the mhra. they told us, as part of a criminal investigation in 2014, into the sale and supply of unauthorised medicine or products, they seized around £50,000 worth of star 150 pills from an address in bristol. they told us their investigation is closed and to the best of newsnight‘s knowledge, it has not resulted in any criminal charges. mr banks told newsnight that african compass trading shut down three and a half years ago, owing to, in his words, stiff competition. a few run—ins with regulators and auditors, that is what wheeler dealers do. but politics is a different game. the electoral commission is already investigating leave.eu,

a company controlled by mr banks about its conduct during the brexit referendum. newsnight has uncovered disturbing evidence that raises questions about his political funding, even before the brexit vote. cheering and applause. in september, 2014, tory mp mark reckless triggered a by—election in rochester and strood in kent when he defected to ukip. five former employees told us that staff from mr banks‘ company were asked to go to rochester to help the ukip campaign. one was actually there. we have got the number of an insurance salesman who worked for arron banks. and we are told he also went to the rochester by—election. i‘m going to give him a ring. his words are voiced by an actor. we had, like, a photo and then we were like chaperoning people to the voting. you were chaperoning people,

to the polling stations, yes? yes. were they ukip voters or everybody voters? i am trying to think. well, it was for ukip, it was all there for ukip, so, yes, i believe they were all ukip voters. how many cars came from bristol? there was a few of us. about 20 of us, plus. and how many cars did you have? probably between ten and 15 cars, i expect. were you doing this for free? i wasn‘t deducted any pay for being out of the office, so, you could say that i was paid for the two days that i was there. 0ne estimate of the cost of 15 drivers ferrying voters to the polls would be £9,000, a sum that would have put ukip‘s spend over the limit. the tories, of course, are also in trouble for failing to declare election expenses on a larger scale than this. mark reckless told newsnight neither

i nor my agent authorised spending except that which was appropriately declared. but we found no record of this spending in the returns. so where does that leave arron banks? it is only lawful if you stay within the regulated proceedings for spending money for the purposes of the election of the candidates. if you go outside of it, it is unlawful on the part of the third party who organised the assistance, mr banks and his company. if they did it and incurred those costs, without the authority of the agent, as it appears that they may have done, that is called an illegal practice and it is an offence, it is a criminal offence. arron banks told us all expenditure incurred during the by—election was properly expensed in full and notified to ukip at the time. but the party‘s record—keeping, he said, left something to be desired. no prosecution is on the cards

because a criminal allegation has to be made within one year of any potential offence. but this story bites because after rochester, the bbc along with other broadcasters gave ukip and its party leader nigel farage a much bigger platform. hollywood loves a winner, the arron banks box set may well binge on his business antics, but playing fast and loose with democracy? john sweeney there. we did invite mr banks tojoin us tonight but we are told he is out of the country. in a statement he told us: "since the referendum result and my support for donald trump, i have been the subject of politically motivated attacks

by the ‘mainstream media‘ and remain supporting institutions. it comes as no surprise that "newsnight" would join the party at this late stage with their own particular type of trashy ‘news of the world‘ journalism!" an he added: "after allegations of me being a "russian spy, part of a worldwide conspiracy to subvert democracy, the only surprise is how long it‘s taken newsnight to have a pop at me! bbc fake news is alive and well!" end of quote. time for viewsnight now. cramming one opinion into two minutes. tonight, the trade economist shanker singham, from the think tank the legatum institute, looks at how we might get the best from brexit. the harvey weinstein case has ignited a debate about the quiet tolerance of unacceptable behaviour. it feels as though we have re—calibrated attitudes,

so that it is no longer quiet, or tolerated. but one important aspect of the cover—up of sexual predation has come under examination today: it‘s the role of compensation settlements for victims attached to non—disclosure agreements designed to keep them quiet about what happened. the financial times today reported on a former london—based assistant to weinstein called zelda perkins. she was harassed by weinstein; a colleague of hers was assaulted. they wanted to report it, but they were put under pressure by phala nxes of lawyers, both weinstein‘s and their own, to come to a settlement. zelda perkins thus kept quiet, and that‘s why she hasn‘t said anything until now. so should we tolerate these contracts? with me is the lawyer harini iyengar, who works in this field and has drawn up similar agreements. in washington is maya raghu, director of workplace and equality and the national women‘s law centre. thanks forjoining us. harini iyengar, iwant to start with you, are these enforceable? is zelda perkins said

something, it she presumably will not be chased up now? if she said something to years after they had signed it, could he have won in court if she reported it? it depends. it depends on the circumstances. so far, we only know what was in the ft. she used the word to rest. if she entered into a contract under duress, under pressure, it wouldn‘t be enforceable. certainly, the kind of settlement i am involved in between two parties advised and have decided it is the best way to resolve a dispute. she was legally advised, but as she described it, there were a lot of lawyers. she is a young woman, a bunch of men sitting across her table, would a judge recognised that as an intimidating by its nature? if she didn‘t exercise free will, the contract shouldn‘t be enforcea ble. do you think these contracts are desirable? i do, actually.

you have two distinguished the criminal aspect of rape and sexual assault. unfortunately, in the last few years, i have had three cases that did involve rape. they are not entirely separate. when we look at employment tribunal, litigation in particular, sexual harassment, that is getting compensation in monetary form. why do you need to attach to that that you don‘t tell people what has happened? it is on the basis the allegations are not admitted. it avoids expensive litigation. litigation can be in private if there is a sexual harassment element to it, but it is still stressful. i maintain it is better. you might advise a woman to go with it? many women want to get it over with and take the compensation. they want to get proper compensation that reflects what they would have got if and when they had gone to court.

maya raghu, iam interested in what you think on this. i think there are circumstances in which ndas are important and useful for individuals that are coming forward to complain about sexual harassment or assault. however, generally in the us, they have been used to silence victims to cover up the extent of sexual harassment in some workplaces, and really to shield serious harassers from any serious accountability. there are a couple of key differences from what we were just hearing. in the us, many workers will end up negotiating settlement agreements with their employer, in case of sexual harassment without an attorney. that is because the vast majority of victims simply don't have access or

resource to hire an attorney. many of these workers are in low—wage jobs and in fast food industries or retail, and it is not a realistic option to have someone even advise them on their options, let alone on the terms of a settlement agreement. many women suffer in silence and don't come forward because they think they are the only ones, and that acts to prevent others from coming forward and revealing the extent of a problem. harini, how do we get out of the fact that the lawyers were part of the cover—up for weinstein? he made multiple settlements. the process didn‘t work. i have not come across settlement agreements where the sum of money seems very large compared to what one thinks apa would be earning, and indeed, what you might get. she was on 20,000. looking without the details, it seems greatly inflated, and that causes concern. as a business, why is a business, and what would the shareholders and board had to say about excessive sums of money being spent on an employee‘s behaviour? do you think the whole existence

of this institution with no whistle—blowing around it, does actually foster the secrecy and cover up of weinstein type cases? i do. especially in cases like we have in the us, where there is such a power imbalance between the worker and employer, especially if the worker is unrepresented. that is when you can get settlement agreements with nondisclosure agreements that sometimes prevent them from talking about the underlying acts, even if they would constitute a crime in the us. what would you do... sorry to cut you off, what would you do about it? one of the things we have done is we recently launch the first national legal network for gender equity to help women and vulnerable people experiencing sex as cremation and harassment, in implement and in schools, to give them advice and connect them to a network of attorneys across the country that

can help them. the second thing is we know there are legislators across the country, whether in congress or in the states, who think about a legislative solution. and very briefly, you would never allow here, would you, a cover—up of a criminal offence? in a sentence. neitherfrom the women or the business side. thank you both very much indeed. that‘s it for tonight. we leave you with the work of hadar averbuch—elor and daniel cohen—0r, of the university of tel aviv, who have developed software that automates and simplifies the process of bringing still photos to life with 3d animation. it‘s known that facebook are also involved, so expect to see the effect bringing joy to your newsfeed —

or possibly creeping you out — sooner rather than later. goodnight. hello, some wet weather at the moment across northern parts of the uk. the brain has turned heavy and steady in south—west scotland, now moving into north—west england. it comes on that weather front, where the heaviest rain pushes away from wales and out into the north sea. showers fuel across scotland. this weather front, moving southwards, becomes weaker. mild ahead with temperatures of 20 degrees across scotla nd temperatures of 20 degrees across scotland and northern ireland. showers become fewer, the wind, lighter with cloud across southernmost counties of england. some drizzle in the far south but for many areas, tomorrow will be a bright and sunny day. we still have temperatures of 13 or 14 in the north, as high as 18 or 19 in

england, mild for this time of year. 0n england, mild for this time of year. on thursday, the band of cloud and drizzle moves further north towards northern england and wales. in scotla nd northern england and wales. in scotland and northern ireland, some sunshine, some showers in northern scotla nd sunshine, some showers in northern scotland by the end of the afternoon. cooler here, cloud in england and wales, misty in places but still on the milder side. this is newsday at the bbc. the headlines. china‘s most powerful leader in decades — the party congress unanimously backs president xijinping. not such a good day for president trump — a protestor calls him a traitor and two senior members of his own party attack his ability to lead. it‘s a sad place from my perspective for our nation. and i think the worst of it is going to the whole debasing, if you will, of our nation. i have children and grandchildren to answer to and so mr president, i will not be complicit or silent. i‘m babita sharma in london.

also in the programme: in thailand, the last touches before the nation gathers to say goodbye to their beloved king.