hello, you're watching afternoon live. today at 2. more than 30 sex offence cases are under urgent review after two rape trials collapsed because of late disclosure of evidence by the metropolitan police. obviously our priority will be those around 30 cases which are about to go to trial and it is really a pragmatic step to insure we can go to trial safely on those. the eu's chief brexit negotiator says the uk's post—brexit transition period should end no later than the end of 2020 — less time than the prime minister wants. i'm ben brown live in westminster where mps are debating the eu withdrawal bill. the international monetary fund downgrades its forecast for britain's economic growth this year, blaming brexit uncertainty. coming up on afternoon live all the sport with holly hamilton. who's hosting the

commonwealth games? it looks like an early christmas present for birmingham. they are set to be confirmed as the hosts for the 2022 games as long as they don't mind paying for it with a price tag of £750 million. i will have more at 2:30pm. thanks, holly. and tomasz has all the weather — unfestive weather. it is. look at the gloomy picture behind me. as we go from christmas day into boxing day, it might turn colder but mild is the word. thanks, tomasz. also coming up — prosecco and perfume for pampered pets — owners spend more than ever before on christmas gifts for theirfurry friends. hello, this is afternoon live.

the metropolitan police is reviewing 30 sexual assault cases, and investigating "scores" of others. the announcement follows the collapse of a second rape trial in just a few days after vital evidence wasn't made available by the police. the met say the same officer worked on both cases. disclosure, as it's known, means that police have a duty to hand over any relevant evidence to defence lawyers. last thursday, the trial of liam allan was halted after it emerged officers had failed to disclose phone messages where his accuser had pestered him for sex. our legal correspondent clive coleman reports. it has been reported isaac itiary spent four months in jail awaiting trial on charges of sexual activity with a child to stop the case the case against him was dropped yesterday

when text messages from his alleged teenage victim's phone showed that she routinely lied about her age. a few days earlier the case against liam allen was stopped because text messages showed his alleged victim had enjoyed having sex with him. in the last two years i have just spent worrying and you know, not really concentrating on anything. so it has completely ripped apart my normal sort of personal life. the metropolitan police is now carrying out a review into what happened to liam allan. and of the evidence in all its current rape and sex abuse cases. that review is being conducted jointly with the cps, so with the lawyers in each case and are investigating officers, to make sure that those cases are safe to go to trial, our priority is those 30 something where trials are about to start. i have no reason to believe that there are any problems with any of those cases. it is a pragmatic step to conduct that check now. the police and crown prosecution service have made huge efforts in recent years to right the wrongs of the past and ensure that

alleged victims in rape and sexual assault cases are treated properly. but some fear that the process of disclosing evidence to the defence has been damaged as a result. the real issue here is giving the public confidence in the criminaljustice system. i do not see how an internal review by the police and the crown prosecution service can give the public that confidence. particularly if there has been a change in culture, swinging against believing people who come up with a reasonable explanation for their behaviour. this afternoon in the commons, the prime minister sought to reassure mps over the issue of disclosing evidence. my right honourable friend the attorney general had even before these cases came up, actually initiated a review into disclosure. i think it is important that we look at this again to make sure that we are truly providing justice. the prosecution's duty to pass evidence to the defence, which assists the defence, is a foundation of our justice system. that duty is now under scrutiny as never before. the european union's chief brexit

negotiator, michel barnier, has said the transition period after the uk leaves cannot continue beyond the end of 2020. the uk is due to leave in march 2019 and had asked for a longer transition of around two years. ben brown is in westminster for us this afternoon. thank you. here at westminster, mps are completing the main stages of the brexit legislation this afternoon, the eu withdrawal bill. and the government have accepted a key amendment on that, a compromise amendment, that means the government and the prime minister went, it now seems, be facing a second rebellion on brexit in the chamber. they will not be facing a second embarrassing commons defeat. this is all about the date of brexit being enshrined

in the legislation. a compromise on that has been agreed to by the government. meanwhile, as you say, michel barnier, the chief brexit negotiator, has been talking about the transition period that follows brexit, saying it will not be more than 21 months. the government had talked about it being around two years but now it will end at the end of 2020. translation: another important point, which is also in the european council decision, relates to the duration of the transition period, that should be of a short and specific duration. in florence, theresa may in her speech referred toa theresa may in her speech referred to a maximum of two years. our position, the european commission's position, the european commission's position, is that this would run logically to the 31st of december 2020, because that is also the

duration of the current multi—annual framework. that was michel barnier. meanwhile, we have also been hearing from the international monetary fund, the imf, who have downgraded their growth forecast for britain to i.6%. christine lagarde from the imf said the brexit decision had weighed heavily on the british economy and created uncertainty. our forecast for growth in 2017 this year, is 1.6%, down from 1.8% in 2016, and 2.3% in 2015. and all of that, despite what i have just mentioned, which is a stronger global environment. ourforecast for which is a stronger global environment. our forecast for 2018 isi.5%, environment. our forecast for 2018 is1.5%, as environment. our forecast for 2018 is 1.5%, as uncertainty about the shape of brexit persists most

likely, and inflation remains above target. that was christine lagarde of the imf. our chief political correspondent vicki young is in the house of commons for us now. warnings from the imf, also a tough line from michel barnier in brussels, but at the end of this year, and in the last prime ministers questions in the commons, theresa may must be feeling pretty good about herself, i suppose? she survived in power and she is making headway with the brexit talks? yes, the year has ended up may be slightly better than it began, given that she called that general election hoping for a sweeping mandate in order to deliver brexit, and of course lost the conservatives' majority. it has been a pretty terrible year for her but right at the end she has had a bit of hope that things might be improving by getting through to that second phase of negotiations. but in the end, she is celebrating surviving, which is not a position

she wanted to be in when she called that general election. nonetheless, i think there are some in number ten who will be thinking, thank goodness it is christmas, she is still here, she is making progress. the other thing that has been against her last week was that first defeat on the eu legislation going through the house of commons. another defeat was predicted tonight, over the idea of writing into law that departure date from the european union. there were some conservative mps, very unhappy about it, could not understand why the government wanted to do that, because they felt it could tie the hands, that if you get to the point where you might want to extend the negotiations, you might not want to have that in there. a compromise has been found whereby now the government will keep that fixed date and there will also be amendments in there saying we can change it if we need to. a self—inflicted wound here for the government. they did not need to do this. they had to row back slightly. today, theresa may

was asked by a leading brexiteer if that still meant the uk would be leaving the eu in march 2019? the prime minister hasjust given assurance that amendment 400 would indeed only be used in extremists and fora indeed only be used in extremists and for a short period of time. could i pressed her to be any more specific than that quest that if the powers are used at all, could she assure the house that it would only be used for a matter of weeks or months at the maximum, and no longer, because there is a concern that it could indefinitely extend out that it could indefinitely extend our stay within the eu? could i thank my honourable friend for seeking further clarification on this particular point. can ijust start by saying, as i did, to my friend the honourable memberfor the new forest, we will leave on the 29th of march 2019. that is what we are working to, but we do want to ensure that we have the same legal position as the european union, and thatis position as the european union, and that is why amendment 400, tabled by

my right honourable friend has been accepted. but i can assure my honourable friend that we are talking, if it were the case that this would be used, it would only be in extremely exceptional circumstances, and it would be for the shortest possible time. after that, downing street insisting this is not a climb—down by the government. they say ministers a lwa ys government. they say ministers always say they would listen to mp5, this is a very important piece of legislation, important to get it right, so they can deliver what they call a smooth and orderly brexit. thank you. vicki young there our chief political correspondent. i'm joined at westminster by two members of parliament, mary creagh for labour and maria caulfield for the conservatives. merry, you have a couple of amendments. my amendments are on the chemicals agency, britain's second largest export to the eu with chemicals. half a

million direct and indirectjobs. when we leave an exit day, all our chemical exports and imports will freeze. my amendment is for us to stay in the european chemicals agency and protect that investment and thosejobs. agency and protect that investment and those jobs. maria caulfield, what sort of brexit are we going to have? we have had the cabinet discussing among themselves what kind of trade arrangement we will have with the eu. some people will think it is a bit late in the day for discussing that? i think there is an agreement that we want the best possible trade deal so we can keep trading with the eu and we do not want to be in the customs union or single market and there are many other countries which averaged a free trade agreement with the eu, and are optimistic we it can be done relatively quickly. michel barnier said that cannot include wine and services. there cannot be ever spoke agreement for the uk?|j

services. there cannot be ever spoke agreement for the uk? i think that is something that needs to be discussed and the prime minister has made it clear she wants financial services to be included. that is pa rt services to be included. that is part and parcel of the negotiations starting. people said we would not be in this position now trade talks, and they are just about to start. there is a lot of talk going on but until they start we will not know for sure. mary, it is true that the prime minister and government are in the best position than many people have been anticipating and we are on the verge of trade talks? it is extraordinary that 18 months after the referendum the cabinet had its first discussion. 18 wasted months where we had a general election which wasted three valuable months of negotiating time. talks on the transitional phase will not get going until march, and we will not have a substantive talks until we have a substantive talks until we have actually left. british business, britishjobs, british people are left up in the air, not

clear about what is happening in 15 short months‘ time. clear about what is happening in 15 short months' time. the prime minister can see she is on course and those people saying she would only survive a few days, they have been proved wrong. she is still here and she is negotiating with brussels. she's still here. they wa nt brussels. she's still here. they want her weak and stable. the hard brexiteers and the people who voted against leaving both the hair of the best option, but i think she will muddled year ahead. we will have a muddled brexit. she does a nod to one side, wink to the other, and we saw that with the amendment she put down, the net when amendment saying we can change it if we like, and then saying we might not leave when we say we leave. honestly, she is going round in circles. a muddled brexit is what we are heading for? she is getting on and doing that job. we're not clear what labour's position is. there are clear we are

leaving in march 2019, we are leaving in march 2019, we are leaving the customs union and single market. labour make it up every day. the prime minister is clear we want certainty for the people going forward. that is why she has worked so forward. that is why she has worked so hard to get the first phase of negotiations under way. people said we could not to deal northern ireland, we could not agree a payment mechanism and we could not ee, payment mechanism and we could not agree, the things we needed to to get onto trade talks. we have done that and we are in a very good position. that provide certainty for the country. businesses are starting to react really positively to this. only yesterday, forbes announced britain was the number one place to do business with. we are creating that certainty and i am looking forward to the talks starting next year. 0k, well a busy year ahead no doubt. many thanks to both of you. that is it from here in westminster, back to you in the studio. thank you very much. some breaking news to bring you now. this is

regarding a series of 24—hour strikes which are due to take place on well when lines injanuary. we are hearing from the rmt union that workers on southern, south—western well way, greater anglia, merseyrail, arriva rail north and the isle of wight‘s island line are all set to take part in a series of 24—hour stoppages. it is part of a long—running dispute about the role of guards which the rmt union believes is potential to ensure the safety of the travelling public. —— the rmt union believes is essential. we have not got the dates for the strikes. we will bring you those when we have them. two organisations are set to hold strikes this month. there could be quite a lot of difficulties in january. there could be quite a lot of difficulties injanuary. you are watching afternoon live. you're watching afternoon live,

these are our headlines: more than 30 sex offence cases are under urgent review two rape trials collapsed. the international monetary fund downgrades its forecast for britain's economic growth this year, blaming brexit uncertainty. the eu's chief brexit negotiator says the uk's post—brexit transition period should end by 2020. in sport, a boost for birmingham, set to be the host for the 2022 commonwealth games. they were the only city to bed before the end of the compliance period. —— to bid. a man who carried out a racist attack on raheem sterling has been jailed. and after being suspended by england earlier this month, batsman ben

duckett has been left out of the lions squad to play in the west indies next year. i will be back with more on those stories on afternoon live at 2:30pm. homelessness in england is a ‘national crisis‘ according to a group of mps. more than 9,000 people are sleeping rough and a further 78,000 families are in temporary accomodation. the committee of mps says that government efforts to tackle the issue are an "abject failure". the government says it‘s providing more than a billion pounds, in the next two years, to reduce homelessness. andy moore reports. just go through this. when his dad was made homeless, seven—year—old billy lived part—time with him in one room of this emergency shelter. billy had his own bed, his dad used a folding bed. so how does it work, he has to fold it out every night? yes, just like this. it is tough enough for an adult to be here, but to be here

with a child and remain strong is difficult. he should not be here. he shouldn‘t be here at all. i‘m doing what i can do to be a parent to him, under these circumstances. this report says the problem of homelessness has been growing for years, with the number of people in short—term accommodation up by 60% since 2010. the mps said there is an unacceptable shortage of realistic housing options. there are estimated to be 9000 people sleeping rough on the streets every night, more than double the number in 2011. there are a further 78,000 families living in temporary accommodation, often of a poor standard and that includes 120,000 children. the committee has described the situation as shameful. it has called on the government to focus on the supply and affordability of decent housing. you need to stop being complacent about this. it is not enough also to just throw money at it. it needs to be money that is fixing the core root of the problem that

looks at why people are homeless in the first place, and you need to be building more houses, yes, but they need to be truly affordable houses. the committee now wants the government to come up 9with a strategy for tackling theissue by the middle of next year. labour said this report showed that the conservatives had caused the crisis of rapidly rising homelessness, but had no plans to fix it. billy and his dad have now found somewhere permanent to live. but there are many others who won‘t have a place they can call home over christmas. andy moore, bbc news. with me in the studio is matt downie, head of policy for homeless charity crisis. thank you for coming in. sadly, there are always people in this country who are homeless. why is it 110w country who are homeless. why is it now and national crisis? homelessness is by no means inevitable. what we have seen is

that while one part of government is trying to deal with homelessness, there are other parts which are causing it. if you take away affordable housing, if you leave housing benefit to be less and less every year, you inevitably get homelessness. we have a lack of a coordinated approach across government, which means homelessness u nfortu nately government, which means homelessness unfortunately is going up very fast. to say the government has taken away affordable housing, isn‘t that a function of how the free market works, with successive governments failing to build enough housing? we think dealing with homelessness is a choice. you can choose to end it or you can choose to let it go up. we have seen there is not enough affordable housing. social housing in particular has disappeared and there does not seem to be any real agenda to build the housing that is needed at the affordable levels we need. if you're not ill when you become homeless, what is the health impact going to be new? the raw

statistics about homelessness really hide the human catastrophe out there. people who experience the worst form of homelessness, the 9000 people who will sleep out tonight, we will see people getting health conditions. the average age of death is just 47 conditions. the average age of death isjust 47 for conditions. the average age of death is just 47 for homeless people. you‘re 17 times more likely to be attacked on the streets. this is about a human catastrophe on an individual level that is quite often masked by the political noise that we have seen today at prime minister‘s questions and other things. this is about real people who need real help. but the government says this help is coming with £1 billion. that is a lot of money. you have got to ask how the money. you have got to ask how the money is being spent. £800 million is spent every year on tempi accommodation for homeless people. that is money that could be spent on resolving the homelessness, getting somewhere real and permanent to live, and for people who have been

homeless a long time, people with complex needs, we know it is cheaper and more effective to get people into accommodation quickly, rather than seeing this devastating lifestyle on the streets. tell us what crisis is doing over this christmas? we run centres all the way across the year and across the country, but this christmas, this saturday, we will open our doors to oui’ saturday, we will open our doors to our christmas centres where we expect to see about 5000 people coming through for assistance. we will provide hot meals, shelter, medical services and a way out of homelessness personally for those people. and can you just tell us about annie lennox and ralph mattel. we have annie lennox, ralph mattel and a crier who have done a reworking of the song streets of london —— and a choir. we are trying

to get to number one. thank you. the european commission has launched unprecedented disciplinary proceedings against poland over its planned judicial reforms. it says a draft of new laws, including howjudges are appointed, threatens the rule of law. the polish conservative government says the reforms are needed to curb inefficiency and corruption. thousands of people across the country have held protests against the planned reforms. our correspondent adam easton joins us from warsaw. adam, just more detail, if you could, what poland has been planning? well, this is a series of laws to radically reform the judicial system, which has not been reformed since the days of communism in the 1980s, and stilljudges... it badly needs reform. what they have

done is they have packed a whole series of reforms and laws which will essentially, what the commission is worried about, will give the governing party and president the tools to politicise the courts and politicise the judicial system, and appoint judges which are loyal. that is the major concern of the european commission and other institutions. the polish government says we are a sovereign member state of the european union, we have to reform ourjudicial system, it is badly in need of reform and this is what we are going to do. thank you. apologies as we we re to do. thank you. apologies as we were losing the sound but i hope you got the gist. a little bit more detail on the strikes which are happening in january, workers detail on the strikes which are happening injanuary, workers across a number of roadway companies of

staging strikes in the new year. —— well way. workers southern, greater anglia, arriva rail north and the isle of wight will have strikes over the use of guards on—board trains. president trump has secured his first major legislative achievement, after the us senate backed major changes to the country‘s tax system. critics say the plans are a giveaway to the super—rich. but senior republicans insist they will boost the economy. our correspondent gary o‘donoghue is in washington. he has waited a long time for this sort of success, many would argue, gary? yes, he has waited almost a whole year for any kind of legislative success. he tried earlier on in this year with the repeal of the affordable care act, so—called obamacare. that fell apart

in congress with bickering among republican ranks. here we have a major reform of the tax code, tax cuts from the top down to the bottom and it is unquestionably a legislation landmark. it is a big piece here and what he will be hoping now is that he can persuade and his republican colleagues can persuade the public to like it. at the moment, the polls say they don‘t much like it. winners and losers then? lots of winners and losers. it depends how you cut the cake to who wins and who loses. unquestionably there are big tax cuts at the top. for example, the highest rate of tax for individuals comes from 39 point something to 37, so if you are a very high rate taxpayer you win there for definite. corporate taxes come down massively from 35% to 21%. businesses are laughing. and there are cuts further downstream for the

middle classes. increases are doubling for what they call the base rate at which you start paying tax. in other words, how much you can earn before you start paying tax at all. that has doubled for individuals and couples as well. again at the upper rate, what we would call in britain inherited tax, they called state tax or if you really don‘t like it, the death tax. that has been doubled. a couple can pass on a cool 22 million to their offspring without worrying about the taxman. the markets seem to have been liking this idea in the last few days, but what will it do for paying off america‘s debt? few days, but what will it do for paying off america's debt? the debt issues of the question. this does and out of the ad to the debt over ten years. you‘re talking in the region of $1 trillion. that is the reason why some of the tax cuts for individuals have a sunset clause over them. in other words, they run out in 2025. that is the only way

they could have got it through congress because they would not have been allowed to under the rules. everyone believes they would be renewed but it would be for a future congress to do that. the big unknown is the amount of economic growth. if they get the kind of levels of growth they claim they will get from this tax cut, then the debt will not suffer that much. if, this tax cut, then the debt will not sufferthat much. if, however, this tax cut, then the debt will not suffer that much. if, however, they just lose revenue and the growth does not make up for it, the debt will be even higher. that is the big unknown and that is what they are banking on. it is the old argument about the extent to which tax cuts boost growth orjust make the country poorer. gary, thank you, gary o‘donoghue in washington. let‘s have a look at the weather forecast now with tomasz schafernaker. what a lovely scene you have put before us. i was tired of putting in the cloudy pictures. it is a photograph and not

one of your amazing drawings? it looks beautiful but it‘s actually not that cold in some parts, it‘s quite an festive, very mild. it is, we have been talking about this the past few days, confident it will stay mild up until christmas, christmas day expected to be mild as well but there could be some changes on the way. my cousin colder weather heading our way. when? probably later on christmas day it will start to get called in scotland so there isa to get called in scotland so there is a chance we could have a bit of snow across the scottish hills on christmas day but it‘s looking more likely that from a roundabout boxing day onwards we are going to get the colder weather coming, so this is boxing day, if you were watching yesterday i was telling you about how peaks yesterday i was telling you about how pea ks and yesterday i was telling you about how peaks and troughs in the jet strea m how peaks and troughs in the jet stream and this is a trough of this

airstream, is stream and this is a trough of this air stream, is what determines where the weather comes from, where the cold or warm the weather comes from, where the cold orwarm air the weather comes from, where the cold or warm air comes from. mild airyear, cold or warm air comes from. mild air year, called cold or warm air comes from. mild airyear, called air cold or warm air comes from. mild air year, called air here. there is air year, called air here. there is a thinking there will be lots of low pressure in the atlantic and if i zoom pressure in the atlantic and if i zoom out a little century the whole picture, i will step out and come back, there are multiple blows across the atlantic. on one hand it will turn colder but on the other at the weather will flip flop from mild to colder, it could turn quite stormy in the run—up to the new year. mild until the 25th and then from the 26th —ish it looks like things might turn a bit more rough and risk of snow across northern parts of the uk. but back to the here and now, a lot of cloud across the uk, some of it breaking up, it‘s not been gloomy like this

everywhere. this is kim fisher, in some parts of the country we had some parts of the country we had some sunshine. the rest of the day this is the early hours of the morning, around 10 degrees by early on thursday, seven, 8 degrees across the north, looking pretty nippy. thursday it self, tomorrow, a lot of cloud around across the uk. could be drizzle around the welsh hills, temperatures 12 degrees in london, brighter in scotland, six celsius. into friday, no change, eastern areas will be a little bit brighter so maybe in hull, newcastle, edinburgh, certainly aberdeen a chance of sunshine but if you‘re down in cornwall it looks like it‘s going to be mild and cloudy. that ta kes going to be mild and cloudy. that takes us into the weekend and into christmas as well. goodbye. this is bbc news —

our latest headlines: "scores" of ongoing sex offence investigations are being reviewed by the metropolitan police, following, following the collapse of a second rape case in a week linked to the lack of disclosure of evidence. we are reviewing all of those with the cps to ensure that we have complied with the disclosure process in all of those cases. a date has been set for the end of the transition period after the uk leaves the eu by the chief negotiator michel barnier. he says the temporary arrangements should not run too long, and that the uk can not adopt an "a la carte" approach. translation: our position, the european commission‘s position is that this would run logically to the 31st of december 2020. the international monetary fund has downgraded uk economic growth to 1.6% for this year.

imf chief christine lagarde said the economy was being held back by rising inflation and stagnant wages. uber isa uber is a transport company and not a digital service according to the european court of justice. a digital service according to the european court ofjustice. it means the firm can now be subjected to tighter eu regulations in the country in which it operates. breaking news to bring you, we are hearing from the metropolitan police counterterrorism command that an investigation is taking place after a man was arrested at stansted airport at around 80 yen yesterday morning. a 34—year—old man got off a plane from stockholm, he is swedish, he was stopped under the terrorism act and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of being in possession of material containing information

likely to be useful in committing or preparing an act of terrorism. he is in custody at a police station and essex. a 34—year—old man from sweden arrested yesterday at sta nsted airport after getting off a flight from stockholm. sport now on afternoon live with holly hamilton. after a ll after all the waiting, the commonwealth games 2022 going to birmingham but it‘s not been easy has it? it has not, feels the creeping waiting for this announcement for quite some time. we expected to be made official tomorrow morning which would put an end to this arduous process which has left birmingham hanging on for the past three months at least. this began back in march when durbin was stripped of the game dues to financial problems and it sparked a bidding race which led to a race of government backing between

birmingham and liverpool which birmingham and liverpool which birmingham won in september and in the end they were the only cities to submitan bid the end they were the only cities to submit an bid so you‘d think it was a done deal but apparently it was not fully compliant so there was a further delay until birmingham could provide the federation with guarantees. but it‘s now over and we expect the official announcement tomorrow. these events are very expensive, i will recover the cost? at £750 million this will be the most expensive sports event in britain since london 2012 and let‘s face it very few councils are overflowing with cash right now. there have been questions raised about the council and its ability to meet these costs because of a dispute with the refuge collectors over and redundancies but apparently there have been guarantees made and there have been guarantees made and the city will be hoping the event recoups some of its costs with sponsorship, ticket sales and broadcasting revenue. fingers crossed this will be now, the

decision has been made and we will see the birmingham games in 2022. let‘s get a look at some of the other news, a man who carried out a racist attack on raheem sterling at the weekend has beenjailed. he was targeted outside the club‘s training ground on saturday, convicted football hooligan carl anderson kicked raheem sterling four times and said he lost his temper. he pleaded guilty and has beenjailed for16 pleaded guilty and has beenjailed for 16 weeks. manchester city and arsenal will be in the draw for the semi—finals of the league cup, which will be made after tonight‘s matches — chelsea take on bournemouth, while the holders manchester united face championship side bristol city — and city manager leejohnson is in the mood for an upset, after reminiscing about their last big cup win, when they beat liverpool in the fa cup in 1994. it's it‘s a big game. it‘s a fantastic game. i think when manchester united come to town i think it always brings that feeling of it is a big

type and this club hasn‘t had it for a long time. probably back to certainly the footage i have seen, the iconic goal against liverpool. it's a call! they've done it! bristol city score! the players have got to feel somebody can be that hero in that game. off the pitch it‘s the first sell—out in the newly renovated ashton gate and it‘ll be fantastic. i‘m forward to it. the australia bowler who‘s done the most damage to england on the ashes tour, could miss the fourth test. mitchell starc has a bruised heel and will be reassessed before the traditional boxing day test in melbourne. he‘s taken 19 wickets so far in the series, which has gone a long way towards giving australia an unbeatable 3—0 lead. it‘s been a pretty dismal tour all round for england, with lots of talk about ill—discipline within the squad. batsman ben duckett was one of those in trouble — he poured a drink over james anderson‘s head in a bar in perth and was given a suspension.

now he‘s been told he won‘t take part in the england lions tour to the west indies next year, because of that incident. i hope at some point i can bring you good news about english cricket. might have to wait a while! but we don‘t blame you, honest. as we‘ve been hearing, the european union‘s chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, has said the transition period after the uk leaves cannot continue beyond the end of 2020. the uk is due to leave in march 2019 and had asked for a longer transition of around two years. ben brown is in westminster for us this afternoon. thank you very much, mps in the commons behind me for the last day of debating the main stages of the government brexit legislation, the eu withdrawal bill. we will talk to

the liberal democrat brexit spokesman tom brake who joins me, the liberal democrat brexit spokesman tom brake whojoins me, a few pro—eu demonstrators here outside westminster as well. the government is doing all right with its brexit legislation, they had one setback for theresa may, the commons defeat the other day, but on the whole is the government doing better than expected 7 whole is the government doing better than expected? the boat the government lost was important because it means parliament will have a meaningful vote, a vote on the deal the government is going to strike at a point when parliament can ask the government to go back and negotiates a more. i think that‘s an outstanding result for those who want a positive engagement with the brexit process. so i think the government are making a bit more progress than one might have anticipated. we have got a critical vote tonight on amendment 120 which will provide for a vote on the deal so that everyone in the country, once the government have negotiated

the deal, probably sometime next year, the deal, probably sometime next yea r, towards the deal, probably sometime next year, towards the end of the year, would have a vote so the public can say if they are happy. a lot of people will see that there‘s a second referendum, they have voted once and you did not the answer.|j expect there are a lot of people who don‘t like what has happened since that brexit vote was taken. i cannot remember any of the leave supporters campaigning on the basis we would have to pay the european union £35 billion. i can‘t remember any of them campaigning on the basis we have now created a huge degree of uncertainty on the border between ireland and northern ireland. i think are about this. if there was a referendum today again do you think the majority would still be in favour of brexit? the polls suggest not. they suggest around 55% of people are in favour of remain and

45% in favour of leave saw the will of the people as expressed in the 23rd ofjune last year is not necessarily the will of the people as it might be expressed towards the end of next year once people have had a chance to look at the deal and see if it works for them, families and jobs. from the point of view of theresa may at the end of the year she has in some ways done better than she might have expected, she has completed the first phase of the brexit negotiations with brussels and is on to the second phase, things look ok. she is on to the second phase but as many people have rightly pointed out this is the really difficult phase because what she hasn‘t yet done is she has not yet secured the support from her cabinet for whatever deal the uk tries to negotiate in terms of what our future relationship might look like and that‘s the hardest challenge she‘s had to face so far. for the moment, tom brake, thank you very much, the liberal democrat

spokesman on brexit. there is an important amendment which has been accepted important amendment which has been a cce pted by important amendment which has been accepted by the government now being sponsored by the government which is a compromise on the whole idea of enshrining the brexit date into legislation, there is flexibility which means the government will not be facing a second commons defeat on its legislation. let‘s also talk now from the scottish national party, ian blackford, the leader of the snp in the house of commons, thank you for being with us, what is your view on the brexit legislation as it com pletes on the brexit legislation as it completes its main stages?m on the brexit legislation as it completes its main stages? it has been a shambles. we know other is a power grab against the scottish parliament, and now live in areas of devolved competence coming to westminster rather than going back to the scottish parliament. there has been a lack of respect shown towards the devolved administrations in edinburgh, cardiff and belfast. lot of lacking of respect in what

way? kill mac when devolution was set up, the scotland act defined what was reserved and what was devolved. for example agriculture and fisheries are devolved to scotland. to use the phrase often used by brexiteers, taking back control, they are taking back control, they are taking back control of areas which ought to be devolved which is a lack of respect to our government. we have said we wa nt to to our government. we have said we want to compromise, we respect the vote which took place across the united kingdom but we have also said that scotland voted to remain and specific way there is a desire in scotla nd specific way there is a desire in scotland to remain within the single market and customs union. there is a massive economic threat to not just scotla nd massive economic threat to not just scotland but the whole of the uk and we are seeking to protect our economic interests. the prime minister said again and again she negotiates a half of the united kingdom. if we go back to our

referendum in 2014 we were told if we stayed in our place in europe would be secure. she‘s gone back on what was said at that time. we are asking is that the devolved administrations are shown respect, that we have a situation where we are involved in the process. we have the situation we now know to phase one, there will be no hard border across northern ireland, we welcome that. we now know to the intervention of the dup there will not be a border between the island of ireland and the rest of the night kingdom that we have to have alignments of the rules of the european union. there‘s a question as how that will work because it has to work. you‘re talking about something which is either the single market only customs union or close to it. what we are asking for is that the devolved administrations play a part in that process. let‘s work together to make sure we can protect the interests of our people.

ian blackford of the snp, thank you. we heard from the prime minister at prime minister‘s questions and we‘ll hear from prime minister‘s questions and we‘ll hearfrom her again in about half an hour as she appears before the commons liaison committee and i‘m sure she will be asked about then as well. let‘s get more now on the metropolitan police launching a review of all current sex offence investigations, after the collapse of a second rape case in a week. the prosecutions were halted because of the late disclosure of evidence. this scotland yard confirmed the same officer was involved in both investigations. the force‘s commander for safeguarding, richard smith has said around 30 cases that are about to go to trial will be reviewed with lawyers from the crown prosecution service. with me is angela raffety qc, chair of the criminal bar association. thank you very much for coming in to

talk to us. this is not a new problem is it, even though this review is being undertaken urgently? that is right, criminal barristers and the criminal bar association have been warning for a number of yea rs have been warning for a number of years that a miscarriage ofjustice was likely because of problems with the disclosure procedure. why is that happening? i think there are two problems. lack of resources generally in the criminaljustice system and a general lack of training as to the rules and procedures surrounding the disclosure process. that should be fairly rudimentary to teach somebody, what you have to disclose and what you don‘t? somebody, what you have to disclose and what you don't? it is not difficult but it requires time and resources and it requires those who are undertaking the review to see the case from both sides. how much of the problem is that if police are looking for a prosecution in any

particular case that they go looking for the evidence which supports a prosecution, is not a temptation to ignore the evidence which does not help? all police officers are trained that they must investigate impartially and the test of disclosure is looking at material to see if it undermines the prosecution case or assists the defence case and thatis case or assists the defence case and that is the test that should be met. it can be difficult in a high volume of cases to assimilate all the information but still the police should be well trained and well funded to do this. the metropolitan police in particular looking at sexual offences but how many other types of offences might this be pertinent to? all offences, it applies across all criminal cases so it‘s not just applies across all criminal cases so it‘s notjust sex offences. although sexual offending is a high proportion of the workload in the crown court. this could apply to any type of case. thank you very much. a couple whose son killed himself

are putting special messages on coffee cups around the uk to try and help others who feel like they have no one to talk to. evan and carole‘s son cameron died in 2014, and the couple have started the cameron grant memorial trust in his name to support young people struggling with their mental health. evan and carole join me now from coventry. thank you very much forjoining us, tell us about this initiative you have launched 7 tell us about this initiative you have launched? thank you, yes, cameron struggled with mental health for seven years before he died but he kept it a secret. he bottled it all up. so the message in his memory is there is always somebody to talk to and we urge people who are struggling with mental health or know people who are struggling to reach out and ask for help. and we have coasters and cups, yes, the

coasters here and the cups, the message is there is always someone you can talk to and on the back helplines you can get in touch with and for the most part we put these in places with helpline information which is local to the community using them so for example in a university it‘ll be student union helpline and we tailor their help to the community using the matt the cup. cameron kept his worries to himself, that‘s something we hear a lot with young people particularly young men. martinez asking about young men. martinez asking about young men. martinez asking about young men keeping things themselves are not talking? yes it turned out that a few of his friends are feeling down after he died but they did not talk to each other. when i

asked what they talked about they said they talked about factual things like football but emotion did not seem to come into it with men, not seem to come into it with men, not like girls who are quite happy, just chatting generally. not like girls who are quite happy, just chatting generallylj not like girls who are quite happy, just chatting generally. i think it is clear... sorry, carry on. it's a bigger problem for men than women but the number of who take their own lives is shocking in both sexes. how far across the country do you hope youridea far across the country do you hope your idea will spread? well we want to cover the whole country. the coasters are already pretty much throughout the uk, we have not yet got to northern ireland‘s but we have coasters from plymouth to shetlands, from canterbury to aberystwyth and on to manchester and lancaster. we have got pretty good coverage in the uk apart from

northern ireland which is something we are working on. that is our ambition, to help people throughout the uk. hopefully somebody in that pa rt the uk. hopefully somebody in that part of the uk will have heard that and maybe they can get in touch and help it spread to northern ireland. thank you very much for talking to us. thank you for inviting us on. in a moment the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. metropolitan police confirmed they are reviewing scores of current sex offender investigations after the colla pse offender investigations after the collapse of the second rape case in a week. the international monetary fund downgrades its prediction for uk economic growth to 1.6% for this year, saying the impact of brexit has "weighed heavily" on the uk. the us senate has approved big reforms to the us tax system slashing business taxes from 35% to 21%. it has to return to the house of

representatives for a final vote but could be signed into law later today. we‘ll have more on that in a moment. the european court ofjustice has ruled that uber is officially a transport company and not a digital service. the ride—hailing app had argued that it simply put passengers in touch with drivers and should not fall under transport regulation. uber says the ruling will not affect the way it works. homes and businesses will have a legal right to demand high—speed broadband by 2020. openreach, owned by bt and responsible for the infrastructure, had been offering voluntary improvements on it‘s own timetable — but the government has rejected their offer — opting instead to make providers face a legal requirement to provide high speed broadband when requested, subject to cost. this hugely anticipated us tax bill is almost a reality — what will it change? it is huge. it‘s the first big

overall in almost 30 years and and surprisingly it was quite controversial, republicans seeing these cuts would boost the economy and then the democrats, all of the democrats voting against it and saying it was benefiting the ultra rich. they pointed to the cost of the tax cuts which is estimated at about $1.5 trillion over ten years and when you think the us national debt is something like $20.6 trillion and rising it is a significant add—on. but what will change? corporate tax rates falling from 35% to 21%, individual tax rates falling for some but it‘s a temporary move. it will increase the amount you can give to your children or partnerfor amount you can give to your children or partner for inheritance tax kicks m, or partner for inheritance tax kicks in, expanded child tax credit and lower tax credit. this is about us

tax reform so why do we care here? let‘s ask yogita limaye whojoins us live from ny — is this a us story or is it a global story that could have implications for us in the uk? both. the republican pitch is that because the us had the highest tax rate, the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world it was using business so this will make it more competitive. the top tax rate will be 21% which is comfortable to countries around the world including the uk but the effects of tax rates because of various deductions could because of various deductions could be lower. the republicans are saying it will bring business and companies back to the us. that of course could have an impact on other markets around the world including the uk. what they have also done his earlier

profits made by companies abroad, when it was repatriated they had to pay us taxes but that has been done away with so what president trump is saying is that this will bring cash back to the us. the other way it impacts the world of course is a lot of these are big companies that are listed on the stock market here, how will be stock markets reacted to this move? what happens here on wall street in the us impacts the world. but i have to add there is a fair bit of scepticism about this republican pitch, about whether this is actually going to bring a lot of money, business to the us, if it will create jobs because even if companies have big savings it's not necessarily saying we will invest it ina way necessarily saying we will invest it in a way which creates more jobs for people. thank you for your time. markets. yes please. it is down

slightly, we talked about this yesterday, the market across the world could not wait for these tax reforms, they gained massively on the back of the anticipation, now it is almost there it has fallen slightly, tesco up slightly. markets are so fickle but it keeps is interested , are so fickle but it keeps is interested, thank you rachel. time for a look at the weather. not very festive out there, grey skies, drizzle and missed. it looks like december doesn‘t it? if you have been following the forecast in the last few days you know we are confident it‘s going to be mild in the run—up to christmas and mild on the run—up to christmas and mild on the big day itself. similar picture yesterday if you‘re watching the forecast, a plume of mild air across

the uk and into scandinavia, this pattern has remained unchanged, a lot of mild air across the country. in fact more cloud and drizzle coming in and this is the pattern we are going to see over the next few days, it will just are going to see over the next few days, it willjust be pulses of cloud coming of the atlantic and temperatures not falling any more low than 10 degrees. this is thursday morning, again misty and murkier class much of england and wales, some rain around yorkshire, maybe northern ireland, the north of scotland, the other side of the weather front will be dry and bright, fresh and around 6 degrees expected in aberdeen. that takes us into friday, the same pattern continues, south west bringing the cloud, i think a slightly more dry day maybe, but again missed and mark around some of the hills. the

temperature is double figures for most of us on friday. we are now starting to get into the festive period over the weekend, saturday a su btle period over the weekend, saturday a subtle difference in the north, quite a big difference because we have low pressure moving through with the weather front, strong winds and gales across scotland, but 11 in the south far north, double figures across the board saturday into sunday look at what happens, weather front coming from the south, dragging more mild air, the big day itself looks like this. rain in the north. temperatures around 6—8, double figures across most of england and wales. beyond that in might turna england and wales. beyond that in might turn a bit colder. which

hello, you‘re watching afternoon live. today at 3. more than 30 sex offence cases are under urgent review after two rape trials collapsed because of late disclosure of evidence by the metropolitan police. obviously our priority will be those around 30 cases which are about to go to trial, and it is really a pragmatic step to ensure we can go to trial safely on those. the eu‘s chief brexit negotiator says the uk‘s post—brexit transition period should end no later than the end of 2020 — less time than the prime minister wants. i‘m ben brown live in westminster where mps are debating the eu withdrawal bill. mps have completed the main stages of the brexit legislation. the international monetary fund downgrades its forecast for britain‘s economic growth this year, blaming brexit uncertainty. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with holly hamilton. so the commonwealth games are coming to birmingham. it looks like an early christmas

present for them. they are set to be confirmed as the hosts for 2022, as long as they don‘t mind paying the price of £750 million. all the details at going to price of £750 million. all the details at and going to price of £750 million. all the details at i and h gc‘ficu price of £750 millic mesa! details at i were and h gc‘ficu iii ‘fi‘é m’f‘i?§%§§§"§f?sf 7??s i: ?,t‘ "' ” ' ' f ' t 7

a few days earlier the case i—f’fiié’éi'ff';iféifélfigéilé—zifiéfieelffz i have no reason to believe that there are any problems with any of those cases. it is a pragmatic step to conduct that check now. the police and crown prosecution service have made huge efforts in recent years to right the wrongs of the past and ensure that alleged victims in rape and sexual assault cases are treated properly. but some fear that the process of disclosing evidence to the defence has been damaged as a result. the real issue here is giving

the public confidence in the criminaljustice system. i do not see how an internal review by the police and the crown prosecution service can give the public that confidence. particularly if there has been a change in culture, swinging against believing people who come up with a reasonable explanation for their behaviour. this afternoon in the commons, the prime minister sought to reassure mps over the issue of disclosing evidence. my right honourable friend the attorney general had even before these cases came up, actually initiated a review into disclosure. i think it is important that we look at this again to make sure that we are truly providing justice. the prosecution‘s duty to pass evidence to the defence, which assists the defence, is a foundation of our justice system. that duty is now under scrutiny as never before. clive coleman reporting.

the european union‘s chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, has said the transition period after the uk leaves cannot continue beyond the end of 2020. the uk is due to leave in march 2019 and had asked for a longer transition of around two years. ben brown is in westminster for us this afternoon. good afternoon. mps in the commons today completing the main stages of the government‘s brexit legislation. the government accepts an amendment which means they won‘t now suffer a second defeat, this was on the issue of enshrining the brexit date into the legislation. there is a compromise amendment that the government has accepted. meanwhile the eu chief brexit negotiator michel barnier has been talking about the transition period post—brexit, and saying that actually it‘s going to be a bit shorter than theresa may outlined.

she said the transition period would be about two years. he‘s saying it will be 21 months, it will end on the 31st of december 2020. this is what he said. translation: another important point, which is also in the european council decisions, relates to the duration of the transition period. it should be of a shorthand specific duration. at florence theresa may referred to a maximum of two years. our position is that this would run logically to the 31st of december 2020, because that's also the duration of the current multi—annual financial framework. that was michel barnier earlier on. we‘ve also heard from

the international monetary fund, downgrading their forecast for british economic growth from 1.7 to 1.6%, saying the brexit decision weighed heavily on the british economy and had caused uncertainty. this was christine lagarde the head of the imf. our forecast for growth in 2017 this year is 1.6%, down from 1.8% in 2016 and 2.3% in 2015. all of that despite what i have just mentioned, which is a stronger global environment. our forecast for 2018 isi.5%, global environment. our forecast for 2018 is1.5%, as global environment. our forecast for 2018 is 1.5%, as uncertainty about the shape of brexit persists most likely, and inflation remains above target. christine lagarde of the imf. let's target. christine lagarde of the imf. let‘s take stock of where we

are with brexit as we head towards the end of this momentous political year. i have lucy fischer senior political correspondent at the times newspaper, k proctor from political correspondent at the times newspaper, k proctorfrom the london evening standard and an unknown and from the think tank changing europe. let‘s have the final stages of the brexit legislation. is she in a better place than she would have expected after that election surprise? the government have come toa surprise? the government have come to a compromise over the weekend. the final sticking point for the pro—remain tory rebels, so she's not going to suffer a defeat. the defeat she suffered earlier this month over the meaningful amendment put her in a better state to go to brussels. it showed the eu 27 leaders that she is facing a lot of battles on her home front. i think that might help in

the negotiations over all. she's not going into christmas in such a fraught way. how do you read her position now? she is piloting the brexit legislation, she‘s got through phase one of the brexit talks with brussels as well. through phase one of the brexit talks with brussels as weltlj through phase one of the brexit talks with brussels as well. i was surprised we didn‘t see another rebellion this week. i thought we would see... i got the people who voted last week would go to the same strategy again. it shows if you come up strategy again. it shows if you come up with a pragmatic compromise first, your backbenchers appreciated and it‘s worked. if she can continue to work in that way and take soundings from backbenchers she‘s in a good position now. anand menon from uk in a changing europe, looking ahead to next year and the shape of the brexit agreement on trade between britain and the eu, the cabinet have only now this week for the first time been discussing what sort of trade agreement they

wa nt what sort of trade agreement they want from britain‘s point of view. what do you see is the most likely outcome of those trade talks? first of all there will be no deal on trade next year. there will be a political declaration as part of the withdrawal agreement. i suspect will be quite vague in that we all want lots of trade kind of way. they simply aren't going to have time to provide a lot of detail. remember, phase one isn't finished. then they've got to negotiate transition. there isn't a lot of time left to start considering trade so i expect there to be a cursory declaration and nothing more. lucy, how do you see next year and the importance of those trade talks? we are already hearing talk about canada style agreement or a canada plus plus plus, or whether london and the financial services are included in a trade agreement or not. michel barnier talking fairly tough? talking tough this week, warning the uk that there won‘t be any cherry picking, and the desire from the uk

to get financial services included in any eventual trade deal is incredibly important because services make up 80% of our economy. free trade in goods point be good enough. i think it‘s interesting, i think we have to take his words with a slight pinch of salt. we are just beginning to talk about the trade deal, having sewn up the principles of the divorce terms. of course he‘s going to be talking tough. the canadian deal was a bespoke guildford canada, norway had a deal that‘s fairly bespoke and the uk position is unique. we are starting from a place full alignment. whatever the deal will be there will be an element of cherry picking. it's be an element of cherry picking. it‘s going to be a game of tactics straight into the new year. tactics not only between the uk and the eu but, kate proctor, also within the cabinet. there are different positions about what sort of trade agreement it should be. philip

hammond, boris johnson four example how pretty different ideas of what we should be pushing for. how pretty different ideas of what we should be pushing forlj how pretty different ideas of what we should be pushing for. i think in january you're going to see some big intervention. we had it trailed already. asjohnson intervention. we had it trailed already. as johnson and intervention. we had it trailed already. asjohnson and michael gove are going to come forward with something. they might write one of the enormous essays against. they are going to be the key people we need to watch in those early months because they are the ones who will because they are the ones who will be encouraging theresa may and philip hammond to take risks and start sounding out those potential trade deals. we can't sign anything until we've left but there's no harm in doing that diplomatic work to try and make sure we have a good trade deal in place. i think they are going to be the people who are pushing that forward when the other half of the cabinet might be feeling more reticent. who would you think is going to win out within the cabinet or is it impossible to say? i think the public want to see some movement and i think you're going to get that from boris and michael. i

think probably i would put my money on them. anand menon, how do you see this transition phase? michel barnier has been saying it‘s got to end by the end of 2020, it can‘t go on forever. then you hear some brexiteers saying we don‘t want to bea brexiteers saying we don‘t want to be a colony during that time, we don‘t want to have to obey all the rules of the ecj and so one. they've used the word vassal state to describe what the eu is proposing andi describe what the eu is proposing and i think they are right. what the transitional deal on the table is, is having to obey all the eu rules, having to be under the european court ofjustice having to be under the european court of justice and having to be under the european court ofjustice and having no say over eu laws. that‘s what the eu are offering and their argument is there is no time to do anything different. it's is no time to do anything different. it‘s either this or nothing. i suspect the government will be squeezed into accepting this. whether the brexit has put up with iti whether the brexit has put up with it i don‘t know. whether the brexit has put up with it i don't know. ijust want whether the brexit has put up with it i don't know. i just want to take you inside westminster.

our chief political correspondent vicki young is in the house of commons for us now. theresa may the prime minister is due to appear before the liaison committee, committee made up of all the chairs of the select committees. they are going to talk to her about brexit, particularly about the implementation and transition phase. they will also talk to her about health and sexual impropriety in the workplace. let‘s go and have a listen, hilary benn is speaking. workplace. let‘s go and have a listen, hilary benn is speakingm that correct? first of all, can i congratulate you chairman on your election as chairman of the liaison committee. yes, ifi election as chairman of the liaison committee. yes, if i look at the question of what we put into the progress and northern ireland, there are three stages and looking at the commitment of no hard border. the first is that we expect and intend

to be able to achieve this through the negotiations on the overall arrangement between the eu and the uk. the second fallback is, failing that we would look at specific solutions for the unique circumstance of northern ireland, and failing that we fall into the full alignment as was said in the progress report. sometimes when this is being discussed people forget there are already specific differences have and specific situations. their already some arrangements in relation to agriculture. as to what would be necessary in terms of looking at those arrangements, where we to have to fall back to that third option, andl to fall back to that third option, and i emphasise its a third option, that would be a matter we would need to look up and negotiate at the time. our focus is on the first

option, now we can start, we've got sufficient progress and we can start to look at the overall relationship between us and the european union. that is where we'll be putting our work and effort and focus. indeed. since the government has made a clear commitment to no infrastructure, no checks, no controls in all circumstances, all three of those you‘ve just laid out, i‘m just focusing on the full alignment fallback. the question i put again, with that cover agricultural goods yes or no? the reason i agricultural goods yes or no? the reason i answered agricultural goods yes or no? the reason i answered in the way i did is because of course that is still in the progress report. but i don't wa nt in the progress report. but i don't want people to assume that this is the process, that this is the solution that we are working towards. i understand that. we are working towards the first one. the issues such as the movement of agricultural livestock and goods

between northern ireland and the republic of ireland is obviously an issue that we would have to be looking at. but as to how we would achieve the objectives that we both wa nt achieve the objectives that we both want to achieve in those circumstances, that will be a matter for negotiation should we get into that position. should it become clear that neither of the first two options are available for us or are going to be possible. i'm sure we'd be able to achieve the first option. we put forward some ideas as to how we can achieve this, we published papers on this and now we've got sufficient progress and out of phase one we can start to look at these in detail. the problem we've had so far is whereas we've been putting ideas forward , is whereas we've been putting ideas forward, actually we haven't been able to negotiate or discuss these with the other side in these negotiations because they've been clear we've been in phase one. now we can start doing that in earnest.

are you telling us that you can‘t say at this stage whether it would cover agricultural goods or manufactured goods? as i understood it the purpose of putting in the fallback option was to offer assurance in all circumstances to all of those involved. if you‘re saying you can‘t tell us what it covers, then what exactly does it mean? it means that we will ensure there is no hard border. how we achieve that in specific areas and sectors would be a means for the negotiations. that is what i'm saying in my answers to you. we are clear in terms of no hard border. we believe we can achieve that in the overall relationship and we've put forward some ideas as to how that can be done. now able to discuss those specific ideas, and this is about no hard border, no physical infrastructure. surely, prime minister, if it doesn‘t cover all

goods, those that are excluded would then of necessity be subject to checks and therefore your commitment that you‘ve given to there being no ha rd that you‘ve given to there being no hard border, no checks, no controls, could not be delivered. either everything is in or everything isn‘t in. it‘s a very simple question about how this would work. and it's about how this would work. and it's a simple answer. what we are going to deliver is no hard border. no physical infrastructure at the border. then you can't confirm what it would cover. can i move on now to timing. the eu commission has said the transitional arrangements should last no longer than the 31st of december 20 20. do you think that will be long enough?” december 20 20. do you think that will be long enough? i think as you know full well in my florence speech isaidi know full well in my florence speech i said i thought but probably the implementation period would be around two years. we are about to start the negotiations and obviously

what we've seen today is that position coming from the european union. we will be in negotiations as to what the implementation period should cover. they've said that date because it covers their current budget plan period so that has a neatness for them if i can put it like this. but we will obviously have to discuss because this is a practical issue about how long certain changes would need to take to be put in place. before you can make the changes you have to have an agreement on the new free trade relationship which is your number one objective. do you think those negotiations can be completed in the implementation period, the transition period? will there be sufficient time to complete them? to ask the question another way, is it

still your view that you can com plete still your view that you can complete negotiating a free trade agreement by march 2019? that is what we are working to and that is what we are working to and that is what i believe we can do. everybody wants to know on what basis they are going to be operating in the future, sucked that the limitation period is a practical period which is going towards preventing the agreement we have with the eu. i and other ministers have made the point in the past that we start off from a different point from other third countries as we will be, because we are already a member and already trading with them on a particular basis. as you will know full well, we can't legally signed the new trade agreement with the european union until we are at a third country on the 29th of march 20

19th, but i believe we can negotiate that arrangement in that time. that is the view you and the government hold, but the view on the other side of the negotiating table is that the best that‘s going to be achieved by march 2019 is a scoping of what the free trade agreement is going to cover. i‘ve met nobody who thinks it will be possible to negotiate all of the details by march 2019. why is the details by march 2019. why is the government so confident it can be done when those with whom it‘s negotiating don‘t think it can? a lot is often said about the time it ta kes to lot is often said about the time it takes to negotiate trade deals. there are different experiences around the world. the reason i am confident we can do this within the time concerned is because we start off from a different point. we haven‘t got a situation where

country a is coming to negotiate with the eu not having had any arrangements with the eu before. we come from the point where we are a member of the eu, operating on the same basis at the moment, and therefore i think that starts off from a different position in terms of our negotiations on trade in the future. we aren‘t just of our negotiations on trade in the future. we aren‘tjust talking in phase two of negotiating the trade agreement, we are also talking about negotiating the future security partnership we want to have with the european union. where you aware that no impact assessments were being carried out by government departments looking at the effect brexit and different sectors of the economy or on the implications of leaving the customs union? did you know that wasn‘t being leaving the customs union? did you know that wasn't being” leaving the customs union? did you know that wasn't being i was aware that government departments were in searing they were in touch with different sectors and continue to be in touch with different sectors that are taking their views on implications in terms of what

matters to them. that was the analysis that was undertaken and we continue to talk to business. it isn't that there is a point in time where we say what is the impact here, actually we didn't produce impact assessments as we describe them. we continue to talk to business and to talk with representatives of all sectors on theissues representatives of all sectors on the issues that matter to them. we are about to publish most of what you‘ve given to us and i think the public will see there is no assessment of the impact of brexit on the different sectors of the economy, but we can perceive that on another occasion. we're going to come onto a group of questions. on monday in the house you said that based on reasonable assumptions the financial settlement is estimated to stand up between £35 billion and £39

billion in current terms. over what period of time would you expect that amount of money to be paid to honour our obligations to the eu?“ amount of money to be paid to honour our obligations to the eu? if you look at the joint progress report, it makes clear that none of the payments that are required will be required from us until they fall due, unless there is another agreement between the uk and the european union that they will be paid at another time. some of the implications, some of the elements in the financial settlement are elements that may arise at some stage in the future. but the assessment that has been made, obviously it's looked at those alongside what most people would consider to be the more regular payments if i can describe them as that. i made clear in my florence speech we didn't want anybody to fear that as a result of us leaving they were going to have to pay more

or receive less in relation to them and bishop of the european union. the reason i‘m asking is because obviously the treasury select committee has ta ken obviously the treasury select committee has taken evidence on the budget and the recent obr fiscal outlook. in that outlet, the obr talk about a fiscally neutral approach but from 2019—2020 and that any reduction of transfers to the eu would be recycled fully into extra domestic spending. they have a child whereby they anticipate eu contributions ending in the year 18-19 contributions ending in the year 18—19 and increase in domestic spending from 2019—20 onwards. it sounds to me from what you‘ve just said is though that may not be the right way for the obr to approach it on the basis we may be paying more money in relation to our eu contributions over some years to come. i wouldn't want you to go away

with the impression that there is a lengthy period of time over which we will be paying money to the european union. that isn't going to be the case. to the extent that the financial settlement covers payments that we would have made of the member state, that we would have made of the memberstate, and we that we would have made of the member state, and we won't be required to pay more or sooner, then the settlement is already provided for in the budget forecast. it is not the case that these sums of money are additional to that because they baked in payments. the obr is breaking in anticipated future domestic spending which may not be correct. that may be something the obr might have to change in their future fiscal outlook. but the obr has done is take a fiscally neutral approach to this. they said that any savings made from not paying to the european union will be recasts, re cycled european union will be recasts, recycled into domestic spending. they haven't assumed how that particular expenditure will be used.

asl particular expenditure will be used. as i say, these sums are covered over the period of time. there will bea over the period of time. there will be a point at which a decision on the timing of those would be possible if it was felt appropriate to change that timing from what is in the agreement so far. let me move on to financial services. the sector paid £72 billion in taxes to the uk government last year. it‘s one area that you would agree we are already operating on the same basis as the eu, infact operating on the same basis as the eu, in fact the uk has been... michel barnier said this morning he doesn‘t expect a free trade agreement to cover financial services. how will you persuade him that isn‘t a wise course of action? we are going into a negotiation. but i would say is that the city of london which is obviously important

to us but actually it is of significant importance to the rest of the european union as well. i'm afraid i don't have the exact quote but i understand the governor of the bank of england has commented on this earlier today. i think he used a phrase such as the city of london is the bank for europe and there is significant provider of capital finance for europe and i think as we come into discussions, there will be a greater recognition of the role the city plays in the financial provisions for europe as a whole, and notjust provisions for europe as a whole, and not just with the provisions for europe as a whole, and notjust with the uk. let's move onto rachel reeves. thank you prime minister for coming onto rachel reeves. thank you prime ministerfor coming to onto rachel reeves. thank you prime minister for coming to give evidence today. our select committee has taken evidence from a number of business organisations and businesses, and the association of british pharmaceutical industry is said on the issue of regulation, it wouldn‘t make sense for us to have

something where we had a diverging to regulation. you‘ve spoken about regulatory alignment. i wonder precisely what does that mean and how is it different, if it is, from what we have today? there are some of those that are of no impact on trade relations, have no impact on trade relations, have no relevance to trade relations, there will be some areas where we have the same goals and same objectives in terms of regulations but wish to achieve them by separate means. there are other areas we have the same goals and accept these should be achieved by the same means. as part of the negotiations we now go into the process of looking at that in detail and to determine as one would in any trade agreement, any trade agreement there is an agreement as to the regulations and standards on which the trade is going to take place.

that is what we will now be doing with the european union. so regular tory alignment could mean we have different rules and regulations here compared with what they have in other eu countries, it might include what you have set out different rules and regulations here compared to the rest of the continent? alignment means we have the same objectives. we might achieve them by the same means we may choose to achieve those objectives by different means. in any trade agreement that be part of the discussion. it will be no different here. so when we took evidence from the food and drink federation they said convergence is a good thing, convergence of regulation is a good thing because it brings them cost. if we have different rules and regulations even if we have the same

objectives, it might mean higher costs for industry, the food and drink industry seems to think that. in the car manufacturing sector they spoke about semi—catastrophic effect of having to stop production if eu type approvals were not able to be provided by the uk vehicle certification. they are worried, businesses are worried about us diverging from the rules and regulations, even if we have the same objectives they are worried about diverging from the specific rules and regulations because that‘ll make it harder for trade. rules and regulations because that‘ll make it harderfor trade. if that‘ll make it harderfor trade. if that would businesses are saying to you? what businesses want to be able to do is continue to trade as tariff free and frictionless as possible with the eu as they are today. in one of the examples you have cited i think it showed how this can be achieved in a number of ways because it referenced uk authorities being able to deliver the standards which

are expected in the european union. this is in any trade relationship in order to be able to have that trade on the basis that is negotiated agreements will be reached as to what the standards are, what the regulations under which that trade takes place. this will be no different, what we are going into now is a negotiation which will look at different areas and we are very clear that'll be goods and services. obviously we will be discussing how we achieve that trade and what that overall trading relationship should be. the reason why the vehicle certification agency in the uk can give those type of approvals is because we are a member of the european union and it is similar with other areas, for example the european aviation safety agency or the european medicines agency. in the european medicines agency. in the house last week the brexit

minister donna grabb said whether there is a demonstrable national interest in pursuing a continued relationship with an agency or other eu body the government will look carefully at that. will the government look at things if we might remain in the european aviation safety agency or similar, are any of those possibilities on the table? if i may differentiate between the various bodies you have cited. on the european aviation safety agency it is uk expertise that has made a significant contribution to the high standards we have in europe and we would intend to maintain consistently high standards. of course we will look at the question of our continued participation but that will be a matter for the negotiations. the reason i wanted to differentiate is that it's a different case because of the very unique legal

relationship in relation and that is why when we formally notified of our intention to leave the eu we started the process because they share a common institutional framework which makes them uniquely legally joined. but what we are doing is we have been putting a nuclear safeguard spell through which has started on house of lords. we have agreed principles for addressing the key separation issues relating to our withdrawal which includes safeguards, future regime, principles of authorship and we will continue to apply international standards as agreed by the international atomic the authority. it isa international atomic the authority. it is a good example of where we will be leaving a particular institution but continuing to operate on a basis that enables people to continue to have confidence in what the uk is doing and continue to work with us and move material between us. prime minister it is a year since

your last in of this committee and your last in of this committee and you trigger the election last march, sorry article 50 last march, when you did that were you planning to call a general election a month later? at the time i made the call for a general election, as i made clear, having seen the response to some of the issues around brexit i thought it was appropriate to call the general election. when you called article 50 were you planning to call a general election now knew had two years and had a lot of work to do in those two years? of course there was a lot of work to do. when i called the general election i was aware of the fact we had work to do in relation to the brexit negotiations. as you know because i have said it, i made the final

decision on the general election over the easter time just before we came back into parliament. having triggered article 50 and called the election did you then imagine you would go back six months later and beg the european union for two more yea rs beg the european union for two more years in the florence speech?” beg the european union for two more years in the florence speech? i have not begged the european union for two more years. if you look at what isaid in two more years. if you look at what i said in the lancaster house speech you will see we were already talking about the concept of a smooth and orderly process of withdrawing from the european union. that is what the implementation period is about. this is not two more years to negotiate, this is about two more years when practically both businesses and governments will be able to put in place the changes necessary to move from the current relationship to the future partnership we will have... the two years were not long enough

and in that period you had an election and now you want this two year period to go on longer, was it wise to hold an election in that time given that time was so short or did you not realise time was so short? i'm sorry, i not accept the comments are making in terms of the timing. it is not because there was a general election that we needed another two years, we have been clear all along that there would be in orderto clear all along that there would be in order to have a smooth and orderly brexit we would want to ensure that businesses and governments were able to adjust to the future partnership. that's the purpose of the fermentation period. that information period was all was going to be after we left the eu which having triggered in march this year is going to be the 29th of march 200019. year is going to be the 29th of march 2000 19. i year is going to be the 29th of march 200019. i think year is going to be the 29th of march 2000 19. i think people will

draw their own conclusions. on trade deals, how many countries for the uk have increased trade buyers with after brexit? after brexit we will be ina after brexit? after brexit we will be in a position where we are looking to ensure we are able not only to have new trade deals with countries around the world but also obviously a number of trade arrangements which are currently held with the european union and we will be looking at our relationship with those countries once we leave the eu and are no longer subject to those arrangements. we will have increased trade buyers with the eu 27. we will have increased trade barriers. so the uk is heading for a situation very possibly where it will have increased trade barriers with up to 94 countries, how do you feel about that? i'm afraid i do not acce pt feel about that? i'm afraid i do not accept the premise of your question.

the premise is based on has not been able to negotiate a trade deal with the european union and an expectation that there are bound to be increased trade barriers as a result of negotiations that we have. the premise of the question is based on the premise that there can be zero increase which is what we have at the moment or up to as many as 94, my original question how many countries between 0— 94 while the uk have increased trade barriers with? and as i made clear, once we have left the eu we will be looking to have trade deals in place, this is a question of what we can do during reimplementation period but the intent to have trade deals in place with countries around the world which in some places the eu might not currently have trade deals with those countries. there will be countries will european union does have trade deals and we will be looking at the relationship the united kingdom will have with those countries post brexit as a result of no longer being part the eu trade

deals and we have already started discussions with the number of those countries. do you accept the premise it is possible for the uk to have increased trade barriers with up to 94 countries. do you accept that possibility? they talk over each other the premise of your question is that the united kingdom is not going to be able to negotiate trade deals either with the european union orany of deals either with the european union or any of those countries with whom we currently have a trade deal as a memberof the we currently have a trade deal as a member of the european union. one possibility is of course we could roll over those arrangements with those countries as an individual country leave the european union. we have already started discussions with the number of countries as to what our future relationship with them will be because our aim is to ensure not that we see new trade barriers being put in place for the net kingdom but that we see improved

trade relationships with countries around the world. there are political prisoners at the moment in the european union, in spain, do you have any particular view on that? sorry? there are political prisoners in the eu at the moment, in spain, do you have any view on that?” assume you're making a reference to the fact that the spanish government has ensured the spanish constitution is abided west and the rule of law, people abide by the rule of law and the spanish government in believing the spanish government in believing the spanish government in believing the spanish constitution should be applied and the rule of law should be applied. thank you. we are going to come onto a group of question about northern ireland, foreign affairs and home affairs. you seem a long way away down there and you have had a tough day so my apologies for making it worse for you, congratulations on bringing us to where we are at the moment. can i ask you who will pay for the rights

of northern ireland residents who identify themselves as being irish and therefore will continue with the possibility of an eu passport after brexit? things like the european health insurance card and probably more importantly, other further writes that the european union may grant in the future? there are three possible payees for this, the united kingdom, the republic of ireland and the european union itself. which one of those will pay for those rights? sorry i wasjust of those will pay for those rights? sorry i was just checking the references, because the question of things like health care rights were cove red things like health care rights were covered in the joint progress report which was published between the united kingdom and the european union, it's one of the issues which has been under discussion between, in orderto ensure has been under discussion between, in order to ensure citizens rights in the future and making sure that

those arrangements could continue, as they do at present. clearly but there may be writes the european union decides to award its citizens in future, union decides to award its citizens infuture, and union decides to award its citizens in future, and often rights have a price tag and what they are a good thing we have to consider who is going to pay for them. so in future, where the eu to award rights and we have accepted those who identify as irish will get eu rights even though they reside in northern ireland, it would be useful to know who would be responsible for paying for any consequential is? i'm sorry i have just been shown the reference in the joint progress report i was looking for, it specifies the european health insurance card scheme that persons whose competent state is the uk and are in the eu 27 on the specified date and vice versa whether only temporary stay are

resident are eligible for health ca re resident are eligible for health care reimbursement. that will, that obviously is an agreement which will ta ke obviously is an agreement which will take place in future so we will continue to be able to do that. and is that hold for further writes the european union might wish to award in health care all elsewhere? now that's specific to the current arrangements within the european union and therefore, the citizens rights is about ensuring the choices people have already made will continue to be respected in future and it's in that context that that is set. young 0k. and it's in that context that that is set. young ok. so any further 0k ok so any further writes will be paid for by who? 7 both parties agree the withdrawal agreement should... in the next

phase of negotiations we will examine arrangements to give effect to the ongoing exercise of access to those rights. thank you. can i pressure on paragraph 49, the constructive ambiguity contained therein, the default position is this way option three which you have cited and i am puzzling over some of the words because it mentions the whole ireland economy, the all ireland economy. now and in the future in relation to the rules of the internal market and the customs union which may be subject to full alignment. given the all ireland economy now and in the future means practically everything, all sectors and industries and products i am wondering where the divergences may

emerge in order to continue to provide our right honourable friend the memberfor provide our right honourable friend the member for north somerset with a job. ifi the member for north somerset with a job. if i can just. .. i'm the member for north somerset with a job. ifi canjust... i'm afraidi will repeat the point i made in response to the very first set of questions i was given. this is not the default position in the sense that it's the default default position. there are two phases we will be going through and i fully expect we will be able to resolve theissue expect we will be able to resolve the issue about the border in northern ireland in the first element of negotiations, through the overall relationship. there is a second stage we can go to if we feel that, this is then the final as i say, the default default rather than being the automatic stage we go to if we do not achieve this to the eu. i had to press you on this because we have to look at the worst possible option and option three is the worst possible option. and i am

sure you will excuse me if i say i do sometimes hope that people would look at the best possible option as well as only ever looking at the worst possible option as you have described it. this is, to give the guarantee that we will ensure there is no hard border in northern ireland. the all ireland economy already is they are in a number of ways, i cited some examples in relation to the first question i was asked. but if you go on to read in paragraph 50 it is clear we will also ensure that we do not do this ina way also ensure that we do not do this in a way which disrupts or damages their economic integrity of the united kingdom. as it says no new regulatory barriers develop between northern ireland and the rest of the uk unless it's consistent with the belfast agreement, the northern ireland executive and assembly have accepted that. would he think we can diverged7 we must be able to

diverged7 we must be able to diverged and at the moment option three suggests we would not diverged at all. what option three is saying is that if we get to that point we will ensure it possible for trade to continue across the border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland without having a hard border and without having the physical infrastructure at the border. that's the commitment which has been given. it's a commitment we believe because we have already paid for proposals on this can be achieved as part of a wider relationship between uk and the eu. we will now be able to discuss that, negotiate back in detail with all the parties concerned. we have not been able to do that up until now because we have beenin do that up until now because we have been in phase one of negotiations. now we have significant progress we can look into this detail other parties. thank you. prime minister, thank you for coming this afternoon, what does global britain mean to you? it means i united kingdom that

is playing a full role on the world stage. it has various elements. part of it is the trading relationships we want to develop around the world. another part is us continuing to play our role in multilateral institutions around the world, continuing to play our role in the united nations, in nato, in the commitments on defence and security that we give and upholding the values which underpin our society and democracy here in the united kingdom. your national security adviser specifically cited the other day three elements investing in partnership, strengthening the rule based system and boosting prestige. with today's report the boosting of procedure seems somewhat of a concern. i would say look at what

our armed forces are doing around the world. the royal navy is in the mediterranean continuing to save lives and we have committed, as i did at the eu council last week to continue to be in the mediterranean as long as necessary. our air force and the work it's been doing in the coalition in iraq and syria for example. and last week at the military are words i was pleased to present an award to representatives of operation rumen which was the joint services award led by the navy which went in and gave support to our overseas territories and others after the hurricanes in the caribbean. i think people see a united kingdom around the world playing its role. of course commitments we've made on defence an important part of that so those are commitment to the money being spent on aid. i think that shows the

united kingdom has commitments around the world. and what do you see is doing to increase the rules —based system? see is doing to increase the rules -based system? i think that is something, we are doing it in a numberof something, we are doing it in a number of ways. part of that is about working with those countries, working to encourage and persuade those countries who currently take action against the rules —based syste m action against the rules —based system to sign up to an international order which is the rules —based system. i think it's about the contributions we make in a numberof about the contributions we make in a number of international bodies to uphold the rules —based system be that within the united nations or other bodies we are part of. may i ask which nations will be priorities and when will you get the relevant departments to publish your priorities on these areas? well in terms of the overall response that we have as the united kingdom and global britain, we have priorities ina numberof global britain, we have priorities in a number of parts around the

world but in different ways around various parts of the world. may i switch to europe if i may, you have cited the deep and special partnership i know many of us hoped for. may i ask, you have spoken, the government has spoken about the relationship with, could you highlight how is playing a role in those organisations or if we have a role? i think, if i may, those organisations or if we have a role? ithink, ifi may, iwould describe it in a slightly different way, what we want to continue to do as part of the deep and special partnership is continue to be able to be discussing with contributing to be discussing with contributing to these issues of foreign policy and defence. we play a key role in nato. but we would also like to look to the possibility of being involved in some agreements which take place

in europe, launched only being and to last week we are not party to but there is a possibility for other countries to be involved on particular operations. and on the foreign policy side i think we would wa nt foreign policy side i think we would want to continue to be able to work with countries in the european union 27 on key issues that are of importance to us. one of the areas for example the uk has been very clear as i said in my statement on monday is the need for sanctions in relation to russia. there are issues like that where we want to be continuing to work with others to ensure we are upholding the values we continue to share as europeans. you rightly highlighted our cooperation with organisations like nato, would you agree we require structured cooperation in terms of alongside the eu to make sure our sanctions regimes are effective as they should be? one of the things we

will be doing as we look at legislation in relation to the position that will apply to the united kingdom once we come out of the european union is to make sure to precisely put forward legislation to precisely put forward legislation to make sure we are able to apply sanctions. that is our own sanctions, i mean alongside others. yes but the point i'm making is if we are not in the eu we won't necessarily be partly of that regime but we will put in place a regime which will enable us to ensure we are putting sanctions in place where we agree it's to do so. today we obviously put sanctions in place not just that are applied by the eu but also the united nations. there we have the prime minister taking questions from the house of commons liaison committee made up of the cheers of each of the different select committees in the lower house. taking questions on a variety of different subjects, the prime minister saying there will be a

non—hard irish border as she put it, she said she had not beg for an extra two years after britain leaves the european union. regarding the impact assessment report a lot of people thought had been commissioned she said no but we have been in touch with different sectors about what is important to them to give them certainty after brexit. also saying the divorce bill, the final settle m e nt saying the divorce bill, the final settlement has been the forecast and is included in all of the forecasts from the office for budget responsibility so no extra costs are involved. much more on that on the red button if you want to veer away frost, otherwise it‘s the weather. the very festive out there, grey skies and drizzle and missed mist. does look like december doesn‘t it?

if you have been following the forecast you know we are confident it‘s going to be mild in the run—up to christmas and mild on the big day itself. similar picture yesterday, the forecast at the same time, a plume of mild air across the uk and into scandinavia, this pattern has remained unchanged. in fact more cloud and drizzle coming in and this is the pattern we are going to see over the next few days, it will just be pulses of cloud coming of the atlantic and temperatures not falling any more low than 10 degrees. this is thursday morning, again misty and murkier across much of england and wales, some rain around yorkshire, maybe northern ireland, the north of scotland, the other side of the weather front will be dry and bright, fresh and around 6 degrees expected in aberdeen. that takes us into friday, the same pattern continues, south west

bringing the cloud, i think a slightly more dry day maybe, but again mist and murk around some of the hills. the temperatures double figures for most of us on friday. we are now starting to get into the festive period over the weekend, saturday a subtle difference in the north, quite a big difference because we have low pressure moving through with the weather front, strong winds and gales across scotland, but 11 in the south and far north, double figures across the board saturday into sunday look at what happens, weather front coming from the south, dragging more mild air, the big day itself looks like this. rain in the north. temperatures around 6—8, double figures across most of england and wales. beyond that in might turn a bit colder. hello, you‘re watching afternoon live.

today at 4. the eu‘s chief brexit negotiator sets a limit for the uk‘s post—brexit transition period — less time than the prime minister wants. our position, the european commission‘s position is that this would run logically to the 31st of december 2020. dave set that end date because it cove rs dave set that end date because it covers their current budget plan period, so that has a neatness for them. —— they have set that end date. it is a practical issue. the international monetary fund downgrades its forecast for britain‘s economic growth this year, blaming brexit uncertainty. i‘m ben brown live in westminster, where mps are debating the eu withdrawal bill. the prime minister has said only in

exceptional circumstances will the government seek to delay brexit beyond the target date of march 20 19. more than 30 sex offence cases are under urgent review by the metropolitan police.two rape trials collapsed in the last week because of late disclosure of evidence by the metropolitan police. obviously our priority will be those around 30 cases that are about to go to trial. and it‘s really a pragmatic step to ensure we can go to trial safely on those. coming up on afternoon live all the sport with olly foster and birmingham finally gets the green light. they‘ve been made to wait. they really sat on that decision but birmingham has won what was essentially a one horse race. the 2022 games are theirs. thanks olly, and tomasz schafernacker has all the weather. it looks brighter and milder than it should this time of year. some of us today had a decent day with some sunshine. over the next few days it

is cloudy, drizzly and mild. we‘ll talk about christmas in about half an hour. thanks tomasz. also coming up — there‘s always someone to talk to — we meet the couple who hope that their special coffee cups could help people struggling with their mental health. hello everyone — this is afternoon live. in the last hour, the prime minister has been giving evidence to mps about the progress of the brexit negotiations — and what the government expects in the uk‘s future relationship with the eu. she faced tough questioning from some on the liaison committee of mps — particularly about the transition period, after comments from the eu‘s chief negotiator, michel barnier, saying that transition can‘t continue

before the end of 2020. ben brown is in westminster for us this afternoon. all yours. thank you. it is an important day at westminster. not only has the prime minister been appearing at the liaison committee and pmq ‘s, also it‘s the last day in the commons of the detailed scrutiny of the government‘s brexit legislation, the eu withdrawal bill. the government has accepted an important amendment, which will avert the possibility of a defeat on the brexit legislation. let‘s go straight to vicki young our chief political correspondent. that's right. this was set up to be another contest between some conservative backbenchers and theresa may. in the end our government realised they didn‘t want another defeat so there is an amendment to the amendment

which gives them a bit of wriggle room saying the final date will be written into the bill, but actually they can change that date if they need to in extreme seconds answers. theresa may has been appearing before the liaison committee. this isa before the liaison committee. this is a committee made up of all the people who chair the different select committees. they each get to ask the prime minister questions over a couple of hours but no surprises really that the issue of brexit dominating. particularly those words from michel barnier, talking about this transition or implementation period. theresa may wa nts implementation period. theresa may wants it to be two years, he said today the european commission wants it to be around 21 months. theresa may was asked about that this afternoon. as you note, in my florence speech i said probably the implementation period would be two years. that was what the indications we had at the time were. we are about to start the negotiations and

obviously what we've seen today is that position coming from the european union. we will be in negotiations as to what the implementation period should cover. they've set that end date because it cove rs they've set that end date because it covers their current budget plan period. that has a neatness for them. but we will obviously have do discuss because this is a practical issue about how long certain changes would need to take to be put in place. theresa may making the point that that this is michel barnier laying out what he wants to get out of the negotiations, her point being these negotiations, they will start soon, we may not end up with exactly what he is saying. another thorny issue for the government is the issue for the government is the issue of the city of london, financial services. how can we strike a free trade deal with the eu which includes that, which is worth

so much to british economy. the suspicion so far and michel barnier against saying there have been no trade deals in the past between the eu and other countries where financial services have been included. the british government keeps saying they want a bespoke deal, they aren‘t expecting to get what others have got because they say they‘ve come from a different position. the chairwoman of the treasury select committee nicky morgan quizzed the prime minister about this. michel barnier has said he doesn't expect a free trade agreement a couple financial services. how will you persuade him that that isn't a wise course of action? we are going into a negotiation. but i would say is the city of london which is obviously important to us here in the uk, but actually it is of significant importance to the rest of the eu as well. i'm afraid i don't have the exact quote but i understand the governor of the bank of england has commented on this earlier today, and i think used a phrase such as the city of london is actually the bank for europe. it is a significant

provider of capital finance the europe, andl provider of capital finance the europe, and i think as we come into discussions there will be a greater recognition of the role that the city plays in the financial provisions for europe as a whole, and notjust provisions for europe as a whole, and not just for the provisions for europe as a whole, and notjust for the uk. it's been quite a yearfor the prime minister theresa may, some predicting she wouldn‘t make it through to christmas as prime minister, today she made the point of the labour leaderjeremy corbyn that she had managed to do just that. it‘s not how she wanted this to turn out. she called that general election very suddenly, she wanted a stronger mandate for the british people to deliver brexit, that‘s not what she ended up with, she ended up losing the majority. she was asked to reflect on this by the snp. having seen some of the response to the issues around brexit i felt it was appropriate to call that general election. the point of the article

50 being called at the end of march, we re 50 being called at the end of march, were you planning to hold a general election knowing you had two years together for the uk leave the european union and there was a lot of work to do? of course there was a lot of work to do. when i did call the general election i was aware of the general election i was aware of the fact that we had work to do in relation to the brexit negotiations. as you know, because i've said it and i've made the final decision on the general election, it was either that time just before we came back parliament. having triggered article 50 and called the election, did you then imagine you'd go back six months later and begged the european unions are two more years? in the florence speech. i haven't baked the european union for two more years. if you look at what i said in the lancaster house speech, you would see we were already talking about

the concept of a smooth and orderly process of withdrawing from the eu. that is what the fermentation period is about. this is not two more years to negotiate with the european union, this is about two years when practically both businesses and governments will be able to put in place the changes necessary to move from the current relationship to the future partnership that we will have. angus macneil reminding the prime minister of that general election, that she would probably rather forget. but committee election, that she would probably ratherforget. but committee hearing will go on a bit longer, when they will go on a bit longer, when they will move on to domestic issues such as health and social care. the prime minister has been talking today and michel barnier in brussels. we‘ve also heard from the imf, christine lagarde who announced the imf had downgraded britain‘s growth forecast, saying brexit had weighed heavily on the british economy and it will still creating economic

uncertainty. our forecast for growth in 2017 this year is 1.6%, down from 1.8% in 2016, and 2.3% in 2015. all of that, despite what i‘ve just mentioned, which is a stronger global environment. ourforecast for 2018 is 1.5%, as uncertainty about the shape of brexit persists most likely, and inflation remains above target. that's christine lagarde of the imf. i'm target. that's christine lagarde of the imf. i‘m joined target. that's christine lagarde of the imf. i‘mjoined by target. that's christine lagarde of the imf. i‘m joined by two members of parliament, lucy powell for labour and kit malthouse for the conservatives. an important day because this is the last day of detailed scrutiny of the eu withdrawal bill. from the prime

ministers point of view it‘s going better than expected in some ways.” think she‘s lost a crucial vote last week. obviously she reminded us 36 times, i think we‘ve got another half a dozen to come later this evening. it‘s not been the easiest of roads but i think everyone will be glad when we get to the end of this period, because it has been very intense and quite gruelling all around with a lot of uncertainty. at least we can move on. at the end of this year, although obviously some people were saying after the election she might only surviving a few days, she‘s completed the first phase of the brexit talks and is piloting this legislation through the commons. i don't think anyone could say theresa may has had a year. it will go down as a. certainly she is probably passed the biggest danger point that she had earlier in the autumn when there was maximum uncertainty. there are still

many hills to climb over the coming months and that‘s before you even get to any other domestic policy. we‘ve not heard anything about domestic policy, the government then seemed to be capable of doing anything to tackle some of the deep—rooted inequalities our country faces and some of the causes of the brexit vote in the first place. we arejust muddling brexit vote in the first place. we are just muddling through brexit vote in the first place. we arejust muddling through hoping there isn‘t a further crisis and brexit and i don‘t think that‘s good enough. kit malthouse, as we approach the second phase of the negotiations over the trade agreement, we aren‘t clear what the government wants. the cabinet met for the first time to discuss what it once, doesn‘t that seem a bit late7 it once, doesn‘t that seem a bit late? not really, to be honest. when you're ina late? not really, to be honest. when you're in a negotiation why would you're in a negotiation why would you broadcast what you want the final result to be? i think the government has taken things sensibly. if you asked me two years ago to draw up a timetable i think with the on what we expected. we aren‘t even clear what the cabinet actually thinks about what sort of

trade agreement we want. i'm not surprised because we haven't been able to see what people were open to. we've seen since the prime minister got her deal, we've seen the eu start to lay out what it thinks is possible as against what we think. the government has said from the start we want a no tariff free trade arrangement. that was the starting position. it was then further eu to respond. we haven't had their response on yet. michel barnier has said the odd thing and jean—claude juncker has said he can't say those things donald tusk has contradicted him. different heads of state has said what they want. it's quite difficult to be able to put the jigsaw together and declare unilaterally what you would expect in the absence of what your counterparty wants. as far as i can see the government is taking it in a sensible measured way. there's not enough politicians or journalists who have ever been involved in a big negotiation and you are bound to get

this kind of melodrama. we are getting the kind of result everyone predicted wouldn't happen. lucy powell, looking ahead, kit malthouse is the government is proceeding in a measured way, what do you see the new year as holding? measured way, what do you see the new year as holding 7” measured way, what do you see the new year as holding? i think the robber is starting to hit the road and some of the inconsistencies about what the government is saying it wants. it‘s saying it wants maximum free trade, maximum access to the single market but with some of the —— with none of the things that come with that. we can‘t have a frictionless border in northern ireland if we aren‘t also in the customs union and single market. the robber is starting to hit the road. it is going to be a difficult period and there will be many more obstacles. and there will be many more o bsta cles. i and there will be many more obstacles. i hope we can start looking again at some of the domestic issues that my constituents get in touch with me about, they just want brexit done really. one of the things michel barnier has been

saying is there can‘t be a bespoke trade agreement with the uk, for example a deal that makes an exception about the city of london, financial services, canada plus plus plus as it‘s been termed. financial services, canada plus plus plus as it's been termed. michel barnier has been a wonderful champion for the eu but not everything he's said has come to pass. remember his deadlines, his red lines. suddenly that all evaporated in the face of european pragmatism. some pragmatism from the prime minister as well. there was a lot of tough talking from boris johnson about they could go whistle. that was when it was at 100 billion. it's that was when it was at 100 billion. it‘s still tens of billions. that was when it was at 100 billion. it's still tens of billions. i've just come from the treasury select committee whether bank of england have announced they are in effect unilaterally allowing passporting of eu —based financial institutions into the uk. that raises a question about what the eu response will be. we have shown and the chancellor has

put out a statement saying there will be legislation to enable this to happen. we have shown that we wa nt to happen. we have shown that we want a frictionless border, a frictionless arrangement and we are willing to legislate for that. we now have to wait for the eu response. this seems a sensible way forward that recognises the cost to them is going to be greater than the cost us so we can get a bit of the moral high ground. we'll see a series of those things over the months to come as we work towards march and april when things become more concrete. lucy powell, people we re more concrete. lucy powell, people were talking about theresa may not lasting long, now within the tory party they are talking about her staying as leader until maybe 2021. i think the tory party haven‘t really got an option and that‘s part of their problem. we keep hearing more and more wishful thinking and their big problems with that wishful thinking. people like kit and others

have been telling us the eu want to doa have been telling us the eu want to do a deal more than we want to do a deal with them. what we seen as its briton who have had to make the big compromises not europe. i‘m not sure how long that will be sustainable for theresa may within her own party let alone with the rest of the country. she‘s certainly in a stronger position than she was six months ago but she‘s in a much less strong position and she was 12 months ago thank you both for your time. the metropolitan police is launching a review of all current sex offence investigations. two rape cases have collapsed in the last week — after the prosecutions were halted because of the late disclosure of evidence. the attorney general‘s office says the review into disclosure was announced last week — before the collapse of the two cases — but it will take them into consideration.the met say the same officer worked on both cases. disclosure, as it‘s known, means that police have a duty to hand over any relevant evidence to defence lawyers. last thursday, the trial of liam allan was halted after it emerged officers had failed to disclose phone messages where his accuser had

pestered him for sex. our legal correspondent clive coleman reports. it has been reported isaac itiary spent four months in jail awaiting trial on charges of sexual activity with a child. the case against him was dropped yesterday when text messages from his alleged teenage victim‘s phone showed that she routinely lied about her age. a few days earlier the case against liam allan was stopped because text messages showed his alleged victim had enjoyed having sex with him. in the last two years i have just spent worrying and you know, not really concentrating on anything. so it has completely ripped apart my normal sort of personal life. the metropolitan police is now carrying out a review into what happened to liam allan. and of the evidence in all its current rape and sex abuse cases. that review is being conducted jointly with the cps, so with the lawyers in each case and are investigating officers, to make sure that those cases

are safe to go to trial, our priority is those 30 something where trials are about to start. i have no reason to believe that there are any problems with any of those cases. it is a pragmatic step to conduct that check now. the police and crown prosecution service have made huge efforts in recent years to right the wrongs of the past and ensure that alleged victims in rape and sexual assault cases are treated properly. but some fear that the process of disclosing evidence to the defence has been damaged as a result. the real issue here is giving the public confidence in the criminaljustice system. i do not see how an internal review by the police and the crown prosecution service can give the public that confidence. particularly if there has been a change in culture, swinging against believing people who come up with a reasonable explanation for their behaviour. this afternoon in the commons, the prime minister sought to reassure mps over the issue of disclosing evidence.

my right honourable friend the attorney general had, even before these cases came up, actually initiated a review into disclosure. i think it is important that we look at this again to make sure that we are truly providing justice. the prosecution‘s duty to pass evidence to the defence, which assists the defence, is a foundation of our justice system. that duty is now under scrutiny as never before. in the last few minutes, the attorney generaljeremy wright has been given his thoughts to the met police‘s review. the two cases we‘ve heard about this week are obviously appalling failures of the criminaljustice system and we need to understand and understand urgently what went wrong in those cases. that‘s the work

underway now. but there is a broader issue which is about how well or otherwise the disclosure system is working throughout the criminal trial system. we are already aware there are concerns about this. concerned i think arise not necessarily from failures of individuals to do theirjobs properly, but from the fact we have very large amounts now of mostly digital information in a whole range of trials but it‘s very hard to filter and sift effectively, so you can find the evidence that ought to be disclosed. that‘s a problem we are encountering in fraud cases, terrorism cases and in other kinds of cases two, and that‘s what we need to have a at. the mini—cab hailing app — uber — is a service used by millions of people in hundreds of cities around the world. it launched here in the uk in 2012 — and has proved popular but also hugely controversial. now the european court ofjustice has ruled that uber should legally be considered a transport company — notjust an app — which means it will be subjected to tighter

regulations in the european countries in which it operates. theo leggett reports. the ride—hailing service uber has become a fact of life in cities around the uk over the past few years. it is certainly convenient. you can call a car, monitor its progress, and pay for it — all over the internet. but what exactly is it? when uber first started operating in europe, it tried to present itself as a kind of digital middleman, connecting passengers with drivers. in other words it was just a mobile phone based app and didn‘t need to abide by all the onerous rules and regulations that apply to regular taxi companies. but others, particularly established taxi drivers, disagreed. they said that uber was in fact a transport services company and should be subject to the same rules and regulations as any other taxi business. now the european court ofjustice has agreed with them. it says that legally speaking uber is indeed a transport company. for uber itself there will not be a huge immediate

impact from the ruling. it has already given ground to regulators in most of its major european markets. in the uk and many other countries it is already licensed as a taxi operator. but the decision could affect its future plans. it said today, millions of europeans are still prevented from using apps like ours. it is appropriate to regulate services such as uber and we will continue the dialogue with cities across europe. so that is actually a transport service... meanwhile lawyers said the impact of the ruling could go beyond taxi firms and affect other businesses which operate in the so—called gig economy. i think other companies in the gig economy will be worried by this. this is showing that the courts are not going to be distracted by the technology, they‘re going to look at what is actually happening and how local legislation should already apply to that. free—market campaigners meanwhile say that is a bad thing. they think policymakers should be moving with the times. if you halt innovation by applying old systems

and old patterns of regulation, simply to protect incumbents, or perhaps even you know with some sort of idea about passenger safety, you are constraining the ability of people to do things in their own way. and at the end of the day people know what is good for them. this is by no means the first legal ruling to affect uber and it is unlikely to be the last as courts and regulators come to terms with the profound impact companies born in the digital age have had on traditional businesses. theo leggett, bbc news. a man is in custody after being arrested on suspicion of terror offences as he disembarked a plane at stansted airport. the 34—year—old from sweden is being held on suspicion of having material connected to preparing an act of terrorism. he arrived on a flight from stockholm yesterday morning and was taken to an essex police station. counter terror officers from the metropolitan police are investigating. workers across a number of rail companies will stage a series of 24—hour strikes in the new year. rail staff on southern, south western railway,

greater anglia, merseyrail, arriva rail north and the isle of wight‘s island line will walk out on eighth, tenth and 12th january in a long running dispute over the use of guards on—board trains. british homes and businesses will have a legal right to high—speed broadband by 2020 as part of plans to improve broadband speeds in rural areas. under the proposals broadband providers will face a legal requirement to provide high—speed broadband to anyone requesting it, subject to a cost threshold. ministers rejected a voluntary offer by bt to connect more than a million homes to high—speed broadband. let‘s ta ke let‘s take a look at the weather forecast. where is that?! this is what might be coming our way but too late, not at the moment. if you want a bit of snow for christmas i think

any chance of snow is more likely to be in the run—up to the new year. in the short—term, no. be in the run—up to the new year. in the short-term, no. it's been a bit mild and damp. it has and we've been forecasting this for days now. the forecasting this for days now. the forecast unchanged. let‘s talk about what‘s going to happen after christmas because the weather is going to be changing. yes, it might be cold enough for a bit of snow across the hills, it could also turn quite stormy, so the weather is going to turn very unsettled. i‘ll show you where it‘s going to be coming from. this is around boxing day and you can see a lot of milder across the south of the uk. later on boxing day we get this shot of cold aircoming infrom boxing day we get this shot of cold air coming in from the north. there another spell of warmer weather and when we get this pattern that goes up when we get this pattern that goes up and down, that gives us meteorologists a clue that the weather is going to be turbulent, u nsta ble weather is going to be turbulent, unstable and changeable, and very fast moving. we could even see

stormy weather as well. this is the run—up to the new year, beyond christmas, so boxing day onwards. low— pressure christmas, so boxing day onwards. low—pressure crossing the country which could bring snow across the hills. there is another weather front in the atlantic and more areas of low pressure heading our way, pushed by an increasing and other powerful jet stream. the pushed by an increasing and other powerfuljet stream. the weather is quiet, damp and mild right now. probably the same on christmas day and then from boxing day things are going to ramp up and will start to see the weather changing a bit more dramatically. in the short term a lots of cloud up there but some of us had a bit of sunshine. it wasn‘t too bad. if you live across many southern and western areas of the uk the chances are you saw grey skies and even england fairly miserable there. across nottinghamshire, midlands, parts of eastern and northern scotland we had some fine weather. through tonight, a lot of cloud over all across the uk and

it‘s going to be very mild. in the south overnight temperatures will be more or less what we‘ve got right now. they aren‘t changing much between the day and the night. in scotla nd between the day and the night. in scotland there will be less cloud. clearer skies and hear the temperatures will dip away. tomorrow these south—westerly winds dragging these south—westerly winds dragging the cloud, there will be a bit of light rain here and there. not a bad day but not very festive for the run—up to christmas. into friday, again it‘s more of the same so get that impression pretty much every day this week, it‘s about the same overall across the uk with a lot of cloud and hill fog. those temperatures getting up to double figures across the south, even in glasgow for friday we are expecting 10 degrees. towards the weekend we see a bit of a change, the weather front and low—pressure sweeping scotland. that means increasing winds. on saturday it will be mild.

even double—figure temperatures in the northern isles. throughout the whip and breadth of the country it is going to be mild. a sneak peek of what it might look like at christmas, it will be around ten or 11 in the south. a hint that things up 11 in the south. a hint that things up cooling off already in the north and then from boxing day, that is when the weather starts to change. have a very good afternoon. this is bbc news — our latest headlines: the eu‘s chief brexit negotiator says the transition period after the uk leaves the eu should last less than two years. translation: our position, the european commission‘s position is that this would run logically to the 31st of december 2020. they've set that end december 2020 date because that covers their current budget plan period so that has a neatness for them, if i can put it like that,

as that but we will obviously have to discuss because this is a practical issue. the international monetary fund has downgraded uk economic growth to 1.6% for this year. imf chief christine lagarde said the economy was being held back by rising inflation and stagnant wages. the metropolitan police is reviewing scores of sexual assault cases, amid concerns that some evidence might not have been disclosed. and finally uber is a transport company and not a digital service. that is thejudgement of the european court ofjustice. it means that the firm can now be subjected to tighter eu regulation in the countries in which it operates. sport now on afternoon live with olly foster. after a ll after all the waiting we are expecting birmingham to be named the host city for the commonwealth games

in 2022, was it ever going anywhere else7 in 2022, was it ever going anywhere else? it wasn't, never really in doubt but my word birmingham have been made to sweat. the only competition they really had was from liverpool in the early days but as soon as they received government backing, birmingham that is, they we re backing, birmingham that is, they were the only bid put forward to the combo of games federation. but then the deadline was stretched, but birmingham was still the only bid on the table. there were reports of victoria in canada, kuala lumpur and others might enter the competition but it was just birmingham others might enter the competition but it wasjust birmingham on others might enter the competition but it was just birmingham on the table. they got stung by durban who ran out of money despite being awarded the games two years ago, they pulled the plug on it back in march so the commonwealth games

federation did not want to get into another situation like that. £750 million, 75% coming from the government, which has been promised, wondering if birmingham city council can come up with 25%, apparently they can and have given the guarantees so there will be an all singing and all dancing news conference tomorrow saying it is all systems go. winter olympics are not far away and news today of russian involvement7 far away and news today of russian involvement? less than a couple of months, a couple of things today regarding russia and their involvement, firstly the ipc, international power the committee who are putting on the winter paralympics, they say they are upholding the blanket ban on russia, the band rush from the rio summer paralympics because the band rush from the rio summer pa ralympics because of the band rush from the rio summer paralympics because of historic doping offences and their continued failure to be fully compliant. they will make the final decision next

month, taking it to the wire about if russia will be able to take part in the winter paralympics but it is unlikely they will make any progress. the ipc still have to decide whether russia, the russian athletes who have been completely vetted as clean will be able to compete as mutual athletes which is something the ioc allowed after the band russia from the games. they have revealed what the athletes will be allowed to wear as mutuals, nothing remotely resembling a russian flag, no russian emblems or anthems allowed, there you go, all fairly bland, exam 13 guidelines which came out that the ioc has laid down today. let‘s bring you up to speed with the rest

of today‘s news, a man who racially abused and assaulted raheem sterling at the weekend has been jailed today. he was targeted outside the club‘s training ground before the team‘s match against tottenham later that day. i convicted football hooligan karl anderson verbally abused him and kicked him for back times. he has beenjailed for 16 weeks. the last of the league cup quarterfinals take place tonight, manchester city and arsenal already in the hat for the draw which follows chelsea against bournemouth, bristol city against manchester united. bristol city third in the championship, the club no stranger toa cup championship, the club no stranger to a cup upset, their last big win was against liverpool in the third round of the fa cup in 1994. it's a big game, a fantastic game i think. manchester united coming to town, i think it always brings that feeling of it isa think it always brings that feeling of it is a big tie and this club hasn't had it for a long time.

probably back to the footage i have seen, the iconic goal against liverpool. they've done it. bristol city score. the players have got to feel that somebody can be that hero in this game and it's a great test for us on the pitch and off the pitch, it's the first sell—out at the newly renovated ashton gate and it will be fantastic and i'm looking forward to it. commentary on that madge on radio five live tonight. manu tuilagi is free to play against saracens on christmas eve after his exciting for a dangerous tackle at the weekend was dismissed. he was making his first appearance since suffering a knee injury on the opening day of the season. he was cited after a high tackle. but the disciplinary committee did not think it warranted a red card. that‘s all the sport for now, that with more in the sport for now, that with more in the next hour. now on afternoon live —

let‘s go nationwide — and see what‘s happening around the country — in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. we will be hearing in a moment about the impact hull city of culture 2017 has been happening on the region and we will be speaking to victoria graeme in plymouth to find out why injured seals in cornwall are being serenaded. at first hull, peter, it‘s been a huge success, being the city of culture, what‘s the most lasting impact7 city of culture, what‘s the most lasting impact? some people laughed when we won it, not here but in other parts of the country, the elephant is out of the room. the

year has been amazingly successful, museums and art galleries seeing a 1.2 million visitors, the council says the city of culture has brought more than £60 million in extra spending to the city. three and a half million people have been to the city of culture events. the new theatre has been refurbished at a cost of £16 million. fabulous brand—new entertainment venue about to open in the new year which has cost £36 million. and the art gallery was refurbished and is displaying the turner prize at the moment. the winner announced live on the new skank in a special programme a couple of weeks ago. it looks fabulous. indeed many network radio and tv shows have come from the city this year putting us well and truly on the map. and that is something which simply would not have happened without us being the city of culture

and the bbc getting behind it. it seems like yesterday back on the national news january one, simon mccoy mentioning hull and i got excited, not often you can say that when you see simon mccoy. laughter how do is hull going to remain a cultural city up to 2021win how do is hull going to remain a cultural city up to 2021 win the title hands over to the next incumbent7 title hands over to the next incumbent? good question. the man in charge of the city of culture thinks it‘s more than money, he thinks it‘s about pride. listen to this. the thing which is not quantifiable is pride and confidence. we can point to bricks and mortar, new venues the council are putting up, all the statistics but actually it's this head up, shoulders back, my city pride that this year has produced and if you get that in people's soul

it has the half—life of plutonium. he has a way with words. it‘s about pride and confidence and i think thatis pride and confidence and i think that is spot on. people here are much more proud of the city. they might not be into art but they now it has been good and it has worked and that success through pride is non—quantifiable. coventry have gotten some big shoes to fill in four years‘ time. i am sure you will tell me you visited? do you know i missed a trick. there is always next year. you will show me around? it's a date. i know coventry very well and they will do very well. it‘s my stay on after an live tomorrow so you can insult simon personally very soon. let‘s go to plymouth and speak to victoria, how do you sue the

sickly seal pup7 to victoria, how do you sue the sickly seal pup? you don't know? let‘s ask salty. welcome to the most watched reasonable news, these seals at the cornish seal sanction a are being well looked after and they are being well looked after and they are being soothed by classical music. they have been getting soothed, they get grumpy at times because there are over 40 of them washed up on the beachesin are over 40 of them washed up on the beaches in cornwall and they are taken and beaches in cornwall and they are ta ken and looked beaches in cornwall and they are taken and looked after. they get grumpy at feeding time so apparently, listen to this... the classical music soothes them. there are a few christmas carols and the curator says the pops seem a lot calmer when the music is being played. are the partial to a

particular composition7 played. are the partial to a particular composition? absolutely, they love mozart apparently. they just feel more calm after it but the staff at the sanctuary are flat out at the moment, 40 pups pups but as soon as the music started it comes right down. the curator says they do calm down a lot when the music starts. back in the day i played the flute and it never once occurred to me to go to the zoo to play to the penguins.” once occurred to me to go to the zoo to play to the penguins. i played the cello and the dog would start howling but i‘m thinking when i get home at christmas i might play a mozart for a bit of simon mccoy as he has been a bit grumpy since you have been doing this programme. let‘s hear from tamara before you go. absolutely. we are getting wild

seals over the winter and it can be quite stressful for them to suddenly be brought into rehabilitation, into pens where we are treating them. some of them might be relieved thoroughly and they might be in pain from the injuries. we thought we would give it a go, place and classical music in the hospital and we noticed it seemed to have an effect. they were much more calm, not as loud as they usually are as you can hear in the background. they can be quite vocal and this chilled them out so we thought we would give ita them out so we thought we would give it a go. and if you want to see more you can see it on bbc spotlight facebook page. from all of us here at bbc spotlight, have a lovely christmas. you to, let us know how you get on with simon, if it works with seals it might work with him. and peter i will put my train ticket to hull. thank you very much.

if you want to see more on any of those stories you can find them on the iplayer and be gone nationwide every weekday afternoon at 4:30pm. homelessness in england is a "national crisis" according to a group of mps. more than 9,000 people are sleeping rough and a further 78,000 families are in temporary accomodation. the committee of mps says that government efforts to tackle the issue are an "abject failure". the government says it‘s providing more than a billion pounds, in the next two years, to reduce homelessness. andy moore reports. just go through this. when his dad was made homeless, seven—year—old billy lived part—time with him in one room of this emergency shelter. billy had his own bed, his dad used a folding bed.

so how does it work, he has to fold it out every night? yes, just like this. it is tough enough for an adult to be here, but to be here with a child and remain strong is difficult. he should not be here. he shouldn‘t be here at all. i‘m doing what i can do to be a parent to him, under these circumstances. this report says the problem of homelessness has been growing for years, with the number of people in short—term accommodation up by 60% since 2010. the mps said there is an unacceptable shortage of realistic housing options. there are estimated to be 9000 people sleeping rough on the streets every night, more than double the number in 2011. there are a further 78,000 families living in temporary accommodation, often of a poor standard and that includes 120,000 children. the committee has described the situation as shameful.

it has called on the government to focus on the supply and affordability of decent housing. you need to stop being complacent about this. it is not enough also to just throw money at it. it needs to be money that is fixing the core root of the problem that looks at why people are homeless in the first place, and you need to be building more houses, yes, but they need to be truly affordable houses. the committee now wants the government to come up with a strategy for tackling the issue by the middle of next year. labour said this report showed that the conservatives had caused the crisis of rapidly rising homelessness, but had no plans to fix it. billy and his dad have now found somewhere permanent to live. but there are many others who won‘t have a place they can call home over christmas. andy moore, bbc news. in a moment the business news with rachel horne.

first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. the prime minister says the length of the transition period after britain has left the european union is still open for discussion, after the eu said it should finish by the end of 2020. the international monetary fund downgrades its prediction for uk economic growth to 1.6% for this year, blaming brexit uncertainty. the metropolitan police is reviewing scores of sexual assault cases , amid concerns that some evidence might not have been disclosed. the us senate has approved big reforms to the us tax system slashing business taxes from 35% to 21%. the bill does still have to return to the house of representatives for a final vote expected before 5pm uk time which means it could be signed into law by president trump later today. supporters say the cuts will boost businesses and economic growth — those against argued it is designed to benefit the ultra—rich. the european court ofjustice has ruled that uber is officially a transport company and not

a digital service. the ride—hailing app had argued that it simply put passengers in touch with drivers and should not fall under transport regulation. uber says the ruling will not affect the way it works. homes and businesses will have a legal right to demand high—speed broadband by 2020. openreach, owned by bt and responsible for the infrastructure, had been offering voluntary improvements on it‘s own timetable — but the government has rejected their offer — opting instead to make providers face a legal requirement to provide high speed broadband when requested, subject to cost. talk to me about tesco. ok, i have just thrown my pen at you, sorry, thatis just thrown my pen at you, sorry, that is how emotional i am, they are the uk‘s largest retailer, you will remember the putting up bid to take over booker, the uk‘s largest

wholesaler. we are familiar with tesco but booker are a wholesaler who provide catering companies and restau ra nt who provide catering companies and restaurant chains and have about 200 cash—and—carry stores which provide about a convenience stores like all family shopper and all of those brands so when tesco wanted to buy booker there was concern if tesco on the high street is providing the item and they also own booker which is providing items into the little shop down the road there could be a competition issue so it was referred to the competition markets authority and its been given the green light which is has surprised many people. so let‘s start with the investment director at fidelity international, thank you forjoining us, are you surprised it went through without any restrictions and is this the time tesco to be taking on such a huge acquisition7 time tesco to be taking on such a huge acquisition? i think many

people were surprised it went through so easily. when the deal was announced in january everyone assumed there would be requirements made of tesco, they would have to sell some of their convenience stores and whatever. come november when we had the first provisional findings from the markets authority they said it's going to be fine and then we had the final confirmation of that. it's surprisingly because tesco are such a dominating force, 28% of grocery retailing is controlled by tesco and booker is the major horsetail so put them together and it's a powerful force. let‘s talk let‘s talk about toys r us, the pension protection fund have said they will not approve a plan unless they will not approve a plan unless they put £9 million into the pension pot, the deadline is tomorrow and

they are in talks right now as we discussed this, have toys r us got the £9 million and will they put it into the pension fund? the short answer is no they do not have that £9 million and toys r us in the uk is in trouble. but its parent company in the us is in even deeper trouble. in september it filed for chapter 11 insolvency which is what we call administration. the company is in big trouble like many retailers, it's borne the brunt of the online threat. it's not how we buy toys any more, they are the biggest toy retailer but it's going online. and let's talk about bt. the government have pledged to give eve ryo ne government have pledged to give everyone in the uk the right to demand high speed broadband by 2020. bt have said we will roll it out through our own timetable, the government have said no, we are going to say it will be a legal

requirement for all providers to provide this on demand by 2020, how significant is it that the government said no? it says that ofcom takes very seriously and so they should. we have one of the worst track record when it comes to broadband speeds in this country. something like 4% of premises don't have 10 megabytes per second which is the minimum for broadband. i think what they have said is we do not think your voluntary scheme is good enough, we want to put in a universal service obligation and i think that is a sign of icy display they take the issue. thanks for your time. and the markets? the ftse down slightly, i have picked up the ibex because there is voting in catalonia tomorrow so keep an eye on that, it dropped, it is down about three and a half percent from where it was at

the end of september when the referendum happened on the 1st of october. the referendum the spanish government did not recognise. and i put up the dough, 247001st government did not recognise. and i put up the dough, 24700 1st of january last year it was about 19,000 so it‘s up about 25% off the back of all these promises from donald trump, looks like these tax cuts will come into play, we are waiting for the vote which will happen any minute now and they are waiting to see how it goes. thank you rachel. a couple whose son took his own life are putting special messages on coffee cups around the uk to try and help others who feel like they have no one to talk to. evan and carole‘s son cameron died in 2014, and the couple have started the cameron grant memorial trust in his name to support young people struggling with their mental health. they told me about their trust‘s new initiative. cameron struggled with mental health

for several years before he died that he kept it secret he bottled it allup so our that he kept it secret he bottled it all up so our message in his memory is there is always someone you can talk to and we urge people who are struggling with poor mental health or know people who are struggling to reach out and ask for help. and we have coasters and cups... show us. yes indeed, the coasters and the cups, the message is there is always someone you can talk to and on the back helplines you can get in touch with. and for the most part we put these in places with helpline information which is local to the community using them. for example in a university to be the student union helpline, retailer the help to the community using the beer mats or the cup. evans said cameron kept his worries to himself and we hear that a lot of young people, particularly

young men. asking about young men not keeping things to themselves and not keeping things to themselves and not talking? yeah, it turned out after cameron did that quite a few of his friends are feeling down but they did not talk to each other. when i asked them what they talked about these sock to buy very factual things like football scores but emotion did not seem to come into it with men, not like girls who are quite happy talking, just chatting generally. i think it's clear... carry on. yes, it's a bigger problem for men and women but the number of people who take their own lives is shocking for both sexes. how far across the country are you hoping your ideal raw spread7 across the country are you hoping your ideal raw spread? well we want to cover the whole country. the

coasters are already pretty much throughout the uk, we‘ve not yet got to northern ireland but we have coasters from plymouth to shetland, from canterbury to aberystwyth and on to manchester and lancaster. we have got pretty good coverage in the uk apartfrom have got pretty good coverage in the uk apart from northern ireland, that‘s one of the things we‘re working on and it is our ambition to help people throughout the uk. talking about the trust set up, the cameron grant memorial trust. that‘s it from us today, my last afternoon here tomorrow, join us then if you can. bbc news at 5pm coming up, but let‘s get a look at the weather. not out there, grey skies, drizzle hands mist, pretty gloomy, looks like december in the uk doesn‘t it? have

you been following the forecast in the last few days you know we are confident it‘s going to be mild in the run—up to christmas and also mild on the big day itself. similar picture yesterday, a plume of mild air, the pattern has remained unchanged overnight and into today, a lot of mild air, more cloud and drizzle coming in, this is the pattern we will see there will be pulses of cloud and drizzle landmark coming off the atlantic and with that temperatures overnight will not be following any more low then around 10 degrees. thursday morning misty and murky across much of england and wales some rain around yorkshire may be northern ireland catching some rain, possibly the south west of scotland, the north of scotland, other side of the weather front will be dry and bright, fresh and around 6 degrees expected. that

ta kes and around 6 degrees expected. that takes us into friday, cloud coming from the south west, look at these temperatures, double figures, up for most of us. that‘s the week now be get into the festive period, saturday a subtle difference in the north, quite a big difference actually the weather front, probably gales, look at the temperatures, 11 in the south and far north, double figures across the board. saturday into sunday look at what happens. the weather front comes from the south, drags in more mild air, the big day itself looks like... this! rain in the north with temperatures of around 6—8, double figures across most of england and wales. beyond

that in mitrovic colder. today at five. britain‘s biggest police force confirms it is reviewing dozens of sex offence cases. scotland yard will review about 30 rape cases about to go to trial — including child abuse, rape and sexual assault cases. we are reviewing all of those with the cps to ensure that we have complied with the disclosure process in all of those cases. it comes after the trials of two men collapsed because of late disclosure of evidence by police. we‘ll be talking to the former lord advocate of scotland who led a 2015 review into the handling of rape cases. the other main stories on bbc news at five. theresa may plays down eu calls for an end date to a post—brexit transition period — saying it‘s open to negotiation. we will obviously need to discuss because this is a practical issue