this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00. theresa may has suffered her first commons defeat over brexit, losing by just four votes. ayes, 309, noes to the left, 305. mps have forced the government to guarantee that parliament will have a "meaningful vote" on any final deal after a rebellion by a dozen conservative mps. four—time tour de france winner chris froome is being investigated over excessive use of an asthma drug against anti—doping rules. jailed — the gang that used drones to smuggle everything from mobiles to cannabis into prisons in scotland and england. good evening and welcome to bbc news.

the prime minister has suffered her first defeat in the house of commons on the government's legislative plans for brexit. by a majority of just four, mps supported a change to the eu withdrawal bill which would give them a legal guarantee of a vote on the final brexit deal. repeated offers of concessions by ministers were not enough to win the day. the amendment had been proposed by the conservative mp dominic grieve, a former attorney general, who'd said it was time to put country before party. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. the tory rebels, huddled among their colleagues on the left, and labour on the right, thought they had lost. weeks of energy and effort gone to waste. but watch that shuffle of mps, the four approaching in the middle. cheering. the signal theresa may had been beaten. the ayes to the right, 309, the noes to the left, 305. there was only four votes in it.

look, one of the tories who had voted against the prime minister on the top left in white, reaching to colleagues in congratulation. cabinet ministers tucked behind the chair wondered what would happen next. the key thing is the balance between getting the legislative detail in place for a smooth brexit and making sure parliament has the proper transparency and accountability, so we will look again to make sure we get the balance right, it is a minor setback but will not stop us leaving the eu in march 2019. but the first defeat of its kind for theresa may is not a minor incident. it is a success for the opposition parties and a powerful group of tory remainers. we've got to get over this, co—operate together to make sure this bill is in a proper state to do what people want, which is to deliver a smooth and effective brexit, and we will do that. i will get together with my colleagues and continue the work. i will be heartily

glad when it is over. no question, this emboldens the opposition. as well as tories with doubts about how the government is managing brexit. at last parliament has asserted itself, the prime minister tried a power grab, tried to push through an eu withdrawal bill without proper parliamentary scrutiny and take powers away from parliament. parliament resisted tonight. ministers had mounted a full—scale operation to avoid losing. as the vote began, watch the small knot of tory rebels on the top left corner, wondering, hoping they still had the numbers. then, blink and you would miss it, a figurejoins them, the defence secretary, until weeks ago the chief whip. taking one of them aside for a quiet chat. you might not see clearly, but moments after that conversation finished, the mp stays on the benches, drops his head to his phone to tweet that he would abstain, not vote against the government. in front of your eyes, the guts of how close votes are lost or won.

all afternoon, her top lieutenants had been trying to avoid this result. reporter: has the government done enough to beat the rebels? but what is it about? some tory mps, the opposition parties and these hardy campaigners were backing so—called amendment seven. stop brexit... demanding a legal promise from the government that mps will have a chance to votes and debate the deal between britain and the rest of the eu, crucially before it is signed. stop brexit. the government had promised a vote, but there just wasn't trust that they would stick to it. the debate has been bitter and rough. large numbers of people telling one that one's a traitor. some, i have to say with regret, of one's honourable and right honourable friends, saying things which i find slightly startling. bad tempers, blatant inside the same party. deep suspicion, those who wanted to stay in the eu are trying to run the referendum again.

clause nine is not about implementing leaving the european union. read it! sit down! if people in this house use that amendment for those purposes, the backlash from the british public will be like none seen before. he should beware of that consequence. the idea that this somehow undermines the referendum decision is a load of rubbish and he well knows it. if he had any better arguments he would put them rather than using something that is so ridiculous. the downing street offensive, however much charm there was... reporter: what will it take?! calling in rebels, did not work. after hours of debate, a last—minute concession was dangled. the government is willing to return a report stage with an amendment on the face of the bill, making clear the undertaken assurance that i gave

in my speech that statutory instruments under clause nine will not enter into force until we have had a meaningful vote in parliament. it is too late, you cannot treat the house in this fashion. it was too late and the government support, too little. parliament, not the tory party, had its day. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth is in westminster. the bottom line is that parliament and the mps will now decide on what a final brexit deal looks like, what are the ramifications of that when it comes to theresa may trying to negotiate with brussels? the ramifications are twofold with the result today. the first is about the process. those who have supported

this amendment and wanted to enshrine in law this guarantee of a parliamentary vote, what they say this was about was ensuring the sovereignty of parliament, protecting the democratic process so ministers could not sign a deal without mps having a full sale on it harder will work in is yet to be worked out it was yesterday this amendment passed in the government was defeated but this bill still has many stages to go through for it is finalised. the government itself has said it will go away, take stock and consider the changes that need to be made. we still don't know exactly when the vote will happen or what it may mean in terms of theresa may's negotiation. the other element of courses political. it is about theresa may's authority, on one hand, you can as it is now proven that she cannot get everything she wa nts that she cannot get everything she wants through parliament. she is meeting eu leaders in brussels tomorrow with this vote having just

happened this evening. there are some who have warned that this may dent her authority and jeremy corbyn suggested as much. the other aspect, of course, is about the time frame of course, is about the time frame of these talks. the argument of the government had been that if there is a vote for mps that may affect the time frames of the talks because there is a finite period to these brexit negotiations to happen. there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding this but what you can ta ke surrounding this but what you can take away is that the parliamentary arithmetic is so tight that theresa may needs to rely on every vote to get anything through. this shows that there are some, even on her own side, who are prepared to say we do not agree on this point and we will stick our head above the parapet and show you that. chris froome, britain's most successful road cyclist, is facing the prospect of being banned from the sport for failing a drugs test. the four—time tour de france winner registered twice the limit of a medication used to treat

asthma, during a race in spain in september. cycling's world governing body has launched an investigation. chris froome has told the bbc tonight that he understand this "will come as a big shock to a lot of people" but insists he hasn't broken any rules. 0ur sports editor dan roan reports. having come to dominate cycling's biggest race, chris froome's established himself as the pre—eminent force in his sport, but the british star now faces a fight to save his reputation. it was here during his historic victory at spain's grand tour the vuelta that he was found to have exceeded the permitted legal level of the asthma drug salbutamol. he says on doctor's advice he increased his dosage due to acute symptoms at the end of the day the truth will

be told. writers can take the drug ata be told. writers can take the drug at a whole chris froome, who has had asthma since childhood, gave a sample with tracers twice the permitted amount. he says it can be explained. it can be affected by many different factors. dehydration, the way the body metabolisers, for example. this is not a positive test. all asthmatics will know what the drug is and i have only been too happy to help the uci fill in the blanks. in a statement team sky boss sir dave brailsford said: i have the utmost confidence that chris follow the medical guidance in managing his asthma symptoms, staying within the permissible dose for salbutamol.

there is a medical need there. what needs to happen, however, is that support around the athletes needs to improve. if he is asthma is that bad, should he be taking it? if you are still symptomatic after that much, shouldn't you just take a break. management have been grilled lately and there has been a uk anti— doping investigation. chris froome has taken a strong moral stance on the controversial use of therapeutic use exemptions for banned substances. i think most people will listen to everything we say about hearings and offences and they will not care. as far as they are concerned, it is another thing that has happened to team sky and another thing that is damaging to the

reputation of cycling. next year, chris froome plan to aim for a fifth tour de france triumph. except now a potential ban hangs over him. he faces an anxious wait as does team sky here at their headquarters in manchester. they have dealt their brand around him and are trying to recover from recent controversy. brand around him and are trying to recoverfrom recent controversy. he has come to symbolise a new era for the sport after it's deeply troubled doping past and there is a huge amount at stake for him, his team and for cycling. the us democratic party has been celebrating an unexpected victory in a special election for the us senate in the state of alabama. doug jones beat the controversial republican candidate roy moore, who'd been strongly backed by president trump. mr moore had faced allegations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls, allegations he'd consistently denied. the result means the republican majority in the us senate now stands atjust 51 to a9, as our north america correspondent nick bryant reports.

amidst all the noise and rage of american politics, it's worth remembering elections are often decided in quiet suburbs. that was true in alabama, where moderate republicans didn't turn out for their party's radical, scandal—hit candidate, and where many don't much like donald trump either. it's a rejection of donald trump. tracy james is a lifelong republican, who yesterday went democrat. it was also a protest vote against the president. i do think donald trump has a problem in the republican suburbs. you don't know what's going to come out of his mouth next. you don't know whether we're going to go to war with north korea. you don't know if he's going to insult a woman in congress. i think they're very uncomfortable with that. modern—day democrats aren't supposed to win in staunchly conservative states like alabama. it hasn't happened here for 25 years. no wonder the blizzard of confetti. alabama has been at a crossroads.

it has been at crossroads in the past and unfortunately, we have usually taken the wrong fork. tonight, ladies and gentlemen, you took the right road. the losing republican candidate, roy moore, thought he was on his way to washington, but he was hit by allegations, which he denies, of sexual misconduct against teenage girls and shunned by senior figures in the republican establishment. that's where the anger of his dejected supporters was directed. it's really sad for the people of alabama what took place in this state tonight. you think you've been betrayed by the republican establishment? absolutely, no doubt about that. # you can't always get what you want #. it's true, you can't always get what you want. a lesson for donald trump, who has strongly backed roy moore. so get out and vote for roy moore. do it.

so this is a big black eye for the president and also a failure of the trump political playbook, to deny accusations of wrongdoing as fake news and to attack accusers. with a republican majority in the senate reduced to a single seat, it will be even harderfor the president to enact his stalled legislative agenda. the democrats hope this result is indicative of an anti—trump wave which will help win them back capitol hill in next year's congressional elections. this senate race doubled as a battle for the soul of the republican movement and thus marked a defeat for conservative insurgents against the party establishment. that too is a setback for donald trump and his unorthodox brand of politics. nick bryant, bbc news, alabama. that's a summary of the news, newsday is coming up at midnight.