this is bbc news. the headlines at 11: brexit talks get the green light in brussels — they will now move on to the next stage. a student is cleared of rape after police fail to disclose evidence which could have proved his innocence. ryanair agrees to recognise pilots' unions for the first time — in an attempt to avert strike action in the run—up to christmas. and on newsnight, now that we are entering the next stage of brexit talks, we jump ahead with our guests, including the historian niall ferguson, to examine britain's post—eu future, and how we want to present ourselves to the world. good evening and welcome to bbc news. eu leaders have agreed to move brexit talks on to the next phase, which will deal with the future

relationship between britain and the eu. theresa may has called it an important step on the road to a ‘smooth and orderly‘ brexit. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. the men with the message. part one is done. the european union is ready to grant the prime minister's wish and move on. she was a tough, smart, polite and friendly negotiator. and so we were able to conclude that sufficient progress has been made. to get this far on brexit, there has been some conflict and a lot of compromise. what is needed to get to the end of the next phase, and is theresa may's goal of a full agreement by march 2019 realistic? still realistic and, of course, dramatically difficult. the real negotiations on the second phase will start in march next year. i cannot say when these

negotiations will be concluded. but i don't hope that i will have to have as early morning meeting with the british prime minister than the one i had last week. hopefully, with fewer last—minute trips to brussels in the middle of the night, the negotiations step up. it has been a slog to get this far, but their words this morning are part of our history now, the official end of the beginning of our departure from the european union. it's taken time, but at last the government's negotiating team can crack on with initial talks about how we do business in future, and vitally the transition a couple of years after brexit itself. the uk and the eu have shown what can be achieved by commitment and perseverance on both sides. i'm pleased that it's been agreed we should make rapid progress on an implementation period, which will give certainty to businesses and individuals. the eu's brokers believe the cabinet at home must

bury their differences, though, to give a clearer picture of how they want the future to look, before getting a decent hearing. the divide within the conservative party is going to make it very difficult for us to negotiate a way through as a country. and theresa may, ultimately, has to be able to deliver for business here. business need that certainty now. the 27 we are leaving behind don't agree with much of what the uk has already put on the table, especially during the transition period. they want the european court to be in charge during that whole time, for the uk to accept any changes without a say, and for immigration to stay the same. this is a big junction. "phase two will be even tougher," she warned. we would like it to look as much like the current relationship as possible, but that wouldn't necessarily be the view of everyone.

it's a marathon race. we have just finished the first mile. given how far apart the two sides were, and the distance between the different wings of the tory party, the prime minister might feel entitled tonight to take a pause for breath, a moment to savour having reached this junction. but with clashes in the commons to come, in the cabinet, and contradictions between the european union and the uk, still, she has little time or energy to waste on celebration. and to reach this point, not even halfway, she's already had to yield so much. indeed, at times it felt like the prime minister simply might not make it even this far. it is a very long way still until the end of this whole journey. tonight, ministers appear to have headed off the possibility of losing a second vote in the house of commons next week. the government was defeated on wednesday, in a vote over how much say mps would have over the final brexit deal.

some conservative rebels had suggested they'd vote down plans to enshrine the date of leaving the eu in british law. a compromise now appears to have been reached — meaning the date will be written into law, but ministers will have the power to delay, if more time is needed. relatives of the four children who died in a housefire in salford have said they don't know how they will be able to tell the children's mother — who is in a medically induced coma and likely to remain that way for several weeks. 15—year—old demi pearson, three—year—old lia, lacey aged seven and brandon who was eight, died following the fire on monday which police are calling a targeted attack. the child ren's grandfather says the family had been harrassed before and the police had been called on sunday night but left. the house was set alight a few hours later. three people have been charged with murder. judith moritz reports. brandon and lacie was running

up—and—down the street. theyjust, they were so happy that it was snowing. brother and sister playing in the snow last week. brandon and lacie pearson were inseparable. lia was the baby of the family. everyone doted on her. she melted your heart. you couldn't have a serious face on with that child. she brought you so much happiness. their teenage sister demi looked out for them all. demi mothered them like they was her own. they wasn't siblings, they were best friends, the lot of them. four young lives ta ken. their mother michelle is badly burned in a coma. she doesn't know that her children have died. how can i turn around and say, "they've gone?" i can't even turn around and say one's gone. all her young ones, all her babies have gone. she's just going to say, "why have you brought me back?" "why didn't you just let me go." this is the first time

her family has spoken of their pain, their loss, and their memories of the night they saw fire engulfing the house where the children and their mother were asleep. there's not words what your eyes can describe what you see. no, you can't describe what you see. i remember going down the street and then just being surrounded by police officers. and i'm screaming at them, screaming at them, and i'm calling them all sorts of names. you just wanted to go in and help but you couldn't. little lia's life hung in the balance for two days. her auntie claire comforted her as she slipped away. they allowed me to cuddle her and hold her as she passed. did you speak to her? i spoke to her, i sang to her. it must have been so difficult. it broke me, it did. i didn't want to let that little girl go.

the police say that the house was targeted. the family say michelle complained of being unsafe there. she'd said she'd actually been to the housing that week and begged them to move her to a safe house, or get her out of the area. michelle's been unsafe in that property for months and months and the police was aware of this. the council was aware of this. and i'm sorry to say this, but... people have let her down. and my sister and her kids would have had a chance of survival if they did theirjob properly. the family is broken, the pain is raw and the loss is immeasurable. ajudge has called for an inquiry after a university student was cleared of rape because police failed to disclose evidence which could have proven his innocence. 22—year—old liam allan spent two years on bail,

before his trial at croydon crown court was halted, when it was revealed his accuser had sent him thousands of text messages. he's been speaking exclusively to clive coleman. the day after the case against him was dropped, liam allan is coming to terms with the end of a two—year nightmare. i was relieved, notjust for myself, but for everyone that's been with me every step of the way. and everyone it has impacted. it wasjust a huge, huge relief. you sort of get your life back. you don't realise that you've lost parts of your life until you actually have it completely done. the trial may be over, but the strain it caused remains vivid. i'll be honest, i did start to suffer from panic attacks, a couple of weeks before court, which is why i said it was probably my worst time. because you just, you have to have your own reaction, panic attacks are an internal reaction that you can't help yourself. but it is to be expected, you can't not go through this and not panic and not fear, and remain strong

through the whole thing. it could bring the strongest person in the world to their knees. liam went on trial charged with six rapes and six sexual assaults. his lawyers were repeatedly refused access to his alleged victim's phone records. they were finally handed over at the start of the trial. 40,000 phone messages included details which clearly suggested he was innocent. his trial at croydon crown court collapsed yesterday. she said she didn't like sex with him. text messages to say she loves sex with him. there were rape fantasies, there was sex in the open air. this was a i2—count indictment. if the defence hadn't got that, that man would have been convicted, that man would have got 12 years, that man would have had his life trashed, and on a sexual offences register for ever. it's a fundamental principle of our system that the prosecution must hand over any evidence that it holds that could help the person on trial.

lawyers tell me that liam allan's experience is far from a one—off and that there's a widespread problem. the metropolitan police are carrying out an urgent assessment the case. but for liam, sorry just won't do it. an apologyjust doesn't feel like enough. the length of time i faced, the fact that the person remains anonymous and i am everywhere and got dragged through hell for the last two years, apology doesn't even slightly cut it at all. liam's case adds to mounting concerns that the system for ensuring that those on trial receive all of the evidence that could help their defence, is failing far too often. ryanair has agreed to recognise pilots unions for the very first time. the airline is urging its staff to call off industrial action which is planned for next wednesday. the head of ryanair, michael 0'leary once said he'd rather cut off his own hand than recognise unions, so it's a bit of a turnaround,

as our transport correspondent richard westcott explains. it isa it is a staggering turnaround, for someone it is a staggering turnaround, for someone who was always known as one of the real tough guys of the business world. two years michael 0'leary had said he will not basically recognise unions, he would not let pilots negotiate three unions. he was saying it only on tuesday when press release came out from the company saying "we will not recognise unions. and this morning out of the blue they did an about—face and said they will recognise unions under some circumstances. they are facing industrial action is from pilots, a stark fashion extract in ireland and in portugal next week. you may remember that they have had problems with pilots before, ryanair, it was not that long ago that i was standing right here telling you about the 20,000 flights they had to cancel across the winter because they messed up their pilot roster

will stop that affected 700,000 passengers, people who had to rebook flights, or make other plans. and so what about that strike next week, on wednesday? there is a bit of a twist tonight with that, the union has said they are happy to call off the strike but they want to meet ryanair first, they will not call off the strike until they can actually meet ryanair face—to—face. ryanair strike until they can actually meet rya nair face—to—face. rya nair says it can only meet them on wednesday. strike day. too late. at the moment neither side is budging, we will have to see how that plays out. but at the moment that strike in ireland next wednesday is still going ahead. the date has been announced for prince harry and meghan markle's wedding. the service, at st george's chapel windsor castle, will take place on saturday 19 may. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell explained it's a break with tradition for the royal family. it isa it is a saturday, which is unusual but not unprecedented. back in 1999

there was a wedding. part of the calculation has been that because there is no bank holiday for this wedding, having a saturday will give those who are so minded an opportunity to go to windsor and be pa rt opportunity to go to windsor and be part of the celebration. the other interesting thing about saturday the 19th of may is that it is the date of the fa cup final. william of course is president of the fa, he would normally be at wembley, if he so chooses i think he could still make it, best man or supporter to his brother at windsor in the morning, a late kick—off at wembley in the afternoon. but somehow you know, i think there will all be too busy celebrating. that's a summary of the news, newsday is coming up at midnight — now on bbc news it's time for newsnight with kirsty wark. we're well on the road to delivering a brexit that'll

make britain prosperous, strong and secure. we'll get it done and we'll get it done in a very successful and very timely way. we are on course to deliver on the sovereign vote of the british people to leave the european union, and that's what we'll be doing. but to what end? tonight, as the eu says talks can move into the second phase, we ask what comes next in the great brexit fandango. now that tories have defied theresa may once, tonight she seems to have seen off another rebellion with a concession on the date we leave the eu. i'll be talking to the arch brexiteerjacob rees—mogg and rebel ken clarke. and "yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery" is part of a famous phrase — tonight we look ahead to the mystery. will britain, separate from the eu, embrace a different identity — more dynamic, international, a bold new direction? or will we go the other way — separate, smaller, and inward looking?