this is bbc news. the headlines. share prices in the united states have plunged by more than 11,100 points in the biggest one—day fall since the financial crisis a decade ago. the dow closed 4.6% lower. the malaise spread to asia, with stock markets injapan and hong kong falling by about 4%. a former president of maldives, who was in powerfor three decades, has been arrested at his home as a crackdown on the opposition intensifies. maumoon abdul gayoom was detained after the government declared a 15—day state of emergency, suspending parliament and sending police to the supreme court. the eu's chief brexit negotiator has warned britain that it will face "unavoidable" barriers to trade if it leaves the customs union and single market. speaking on a visit to downing street, michel barnier said the "time had come" for the uk to choose what it wanted after its 2019 exit. now on bbc news, a look back at monday's events in parliament. hello, and welcome to monday

in parliament, our look at the best of the day in the commons and the lords. on this programme: can we trust the civil servants to be neutral over the effects of brexit? i have maintained this document as propaganda from top to bottom. a hundred years since women got the right to vote. but female peers say there's a long way to go in the fight for women's rights. you have to ask yourself what is meritorious, who decides what is the value? and after donald trump tweets about the state of our nhs, an invitation is issued to the us president. showsowwleaders—hip.l

i think i have done overall more than 20 years, with some discontinuities. i never had the occasion to question the impartiality or objectivity of the of civil servants. quite often they have said things that i did not want to hear but i would never accuse them with with the recent accusations leveled against them. i think we should be proud of our civil service and i reject the smears against them.

he will be familiar with this document. this report forecasting the complete collapse of the british economy were we to leave. this document is propaganda from top to bottom. it turns out to be utterly untrue in reality. can i ask my noble friend this, if i continue to criticise the members and the ministers who prove the statistics in this document, does that make me as snake oil salesman? i think my noble friend should distinguish between criticisms of ministers and those of civil servants. the document that he has in his hands was presented publicly by the chancellor. any criticism should be directed at the politician who presented it. a former cabinet secretary saw

a risk to democracy. does the minister believe that those who make allegations without supporting evidence against serving civil servants who will not respond, are undertaking a form of bullying that, to be honest, is something which diminishes those making the attacks but more importantly, damages our democracy. he said they were congenital snag hunters. that's what we pay them for. will the noble lord agree that this will be the road to a politicized civil service which will be ruinous for this country. i agree, it is the job of civil servants to bring to ministers' attention the consequences

of their policies when they believe they are misguided. is it not the case that in any sane business, when they embarked, any sensible person before starting a business will always do a business plan. a responsible government must engage in responsible, cost—benefit and policy analyses and if we give up those habits will be deeply damaging to future of the country. it is the logic that some of these people are trying to drive us to. some ministers who impugned the impartiality and good faith of our civil servants are behaving very much like president trump in the united states in regard to the fbi. i don't know if i want to open up a fresh front form the despatch box. president trump, i hope, will read what what my noble friend

has to say. the debate over the civil service. the head of the nhs, simon stevens, has invited president donald trump to come and see the healthcare provided by the service. it follows a tweet from the us president which stated that the health service in the uk was "going broke and not working." but as simon stevens was facing a committee in the commons, labour was challenging the government's decision to suspend accident and emergency waiting time targets. the crisis our nhs is now in is so deep and severe, that on friday, nhs england was forced to announce that target to see 95% of patients within four hours is effectively abandoned until march 2019. on saturday, thousands of us took to the streets to demand a nationally funded nhs.

by the way we will not take lessons from donald trump. the nhs model is not broke but it does need funding. if this government will not give it the funding it needs, then the next labour government well. the nhs was better prepared for winter this year. the number of one—on—one calls has doubled since last year. 0ver1 million more people have been vaccinated against flu virus. 3,000 more beds have been made available since november. the reality is this year we have had pressure in the nhs as a result of pressure from flu. the difference is in 2009 this party did not play politics with flu pressures, this year, the honourable gentleman, has dones so, so he should compare

to wales and see the excellent performance we have had in comparison. what is the government's response... the response to the recommendations of the last executive of the nhs, and indeed the retiring head of the treasury, that there has to be a form of taxation to provide sustainable, stable funding? it has been true for that 68 years of the nhs. the reality is if we are to fund the nhs do what we all wanted to be funded, we have to be sure that we have a strong economy. is my right honourable friend and not in agreement, that we have an nhs that is free on the point at a live delivery to all our citizens, can he confirm that this will be the policy of this government going forward, and will he agree

with me that we should not be listening to the voice from across the atlantic who think that we should adopt a different system ? i absolutely agree that the nhs will remain free of the point of delivery. it has been run by the party on this side of the house, we know the value of the nhs remaining free the point of delivery. away from the commons, the chief executive of nhs england, simon stevens, was talking to a committee about cyber security. it is not a cyber attack, but it was a twitter attack on the nhs today. president trump was tweeting about it. unfortunately, that tweet got the wrong end of the stick. he invited president trump to come and see the healthcare provided by the nhs. healthcare delivered at half

the cost of health care to united states is something that people in this country are committed to. 100 years ago, women got the right to vote. at least those over 30 with property. to mark the 1919 represent the shape of that best representation of the people bill, the houses have been having a special debate. women of all walks were brought together. women wanted to be truly represented in the laws and customs of this country, demanded to take part in the laws and customs of the uk.

the voice of women deserved to be heard. they may have used different tactics, the suffragettes and the suffragists, but all saw them as a way to achieve the same ends. another peer had known one of the last surviving suffragettes. she was a scot, her father was a tailor, she went to school... she knew it was isolating, drudgery from dawn to dusk. she had a half day off every week, one afternoon off, and she said to me, during my afternoons off i would go around glasgow, and put incendiary devices into postal boxes. she was a suffragette, and i loved to hear more than once how she would carry laundry baskets into meetings and police on the door

would say what is in that basket? and they would carry it as if it had bunting. it actually carried mrs pankhurst. when the police rushed the platform, there was a phalanx of women before she was taken away. we need to engender girls from an early age with a strong and resilient self belief. we also need to give their ambition going through their lives. they have the pay act for women, including maternity leave, in 100 years of progress, only 34% of women of mps are women, and it seems unbelievable that only until 1968 women have been in this house.

we packaged demands according to the male template. we adjusted demands to the male norm. unfortunately we followed their idea to get there on merit. but you have to ask yourself who decides who is meritorious, who decides the values to be attributed to the roles that should be available to men as well as women, women as well as men. treated as equal. those who are not equal, it does not create equality. it's great to see so many women now being propelled into high—level positions, here in parliament, and that includes women of colour too, but not enough. my lords, one of the many challenges women have to contend

with when they do reach new highs, is that they are so often judged differently to men. they have to work harder to prove themselves. opportunity is what we all need to make progress. to be all embracing and not to be tribal, defensive and protective. the commitment to women in public life is hard work, and we need to get it right. it requires strong leadership and concerted action. i applaud those who have fought to fight, long and hard the battle is not over and it it will not be over until... the old joke, well, that's a very good point, miss smith, perhaps a man would like to make it, becomes an unrecognisable part of history. you're watching our up of the day in the house and the lords. you're watching our round—up of the day in the commons and the lords. still to come: "we apologise for any inconvenience caused." the transport secretary says he's ending the franchise

for the east coast main line earlier than expected. the government's plans for its immigration policy after brexit have been called "a shambles" after it was disclosed that a long—promised paper on the issue have been delayed further. the document was originally expected in the autumn of 2017 but may now not be published until this autumn. the delay was criticised in an urgent commons question by the mp who chairs the home affairs committee. what on earth is going on? and i have to say to the minister, frankly, this is a shambles. i understand the migration advisory committee is not reporting until the autumn. i understand they will want to take advice on the labour market. however, ministers knew that timetable because that's felt that timetable when they asked for advice from the migration advisory committee. i also understand negotiations are continuing. but again, ministers knew that before christmas. and that does not get around

the obligation of the home office to tell the house, to tell the public, to tell the citizens and employers what the negotiating objectives actually are. and this is just not good enough, keeping parliament in the dark this way. they said they do not want to be in the single market but don't tell us what they want instead. they have said they don't want to be in the customs union but had not told us what they want instead. and now they have said they don't want to be a free movement that again not told us what they want instead and what the negotiating objectives even are. and at best, ministers are cutting parliament and the public out of this crucial debate about the future of our country. at worsr, they seem to be stuck in negotiations without having agreed even amongst themselves what they want to achieve out of them. we are not kicking the can down the road. we are making sure we do is get a system that is right for people.

that is why i make no apology for making our priority the 3 million eu citizens living here and the million uk citizens in eu states. because we want to have a system in place for them during the implementation period that we can register the 3 million people as smoothly and seamlessly as possible. it is absolutely imperative that we come to the house with white paper and indeed within immigration bill, they are the right pieces of legislation. a white paper is a consultation document and it seems to meet the government is delaying consulting on what should go into a consultation document. aren't we in this situation because it an extreme right wing of the tory party or extreme brexiters and... not quite sure how i should respond being called a dog. however, i think it's only important to note that we are working incredibly hard to make sure we have an immigration system after brexit that works

in the interest of uk citizens. there is no extreme right wing cabal controlling the tory party. it's actually about making sure we deliver on what the british people voted for in 2016. outside the commons, the eu's chief brexit negotiator, michel barnier, who was holding talks in london, warned that trade barriers would be "unavoidable" if theresa may carried out her plan to leave the customs union. asked to reaffirm the government's commitment to leaving the single market and customs union, the minister said they had been clear. post exit, we want to have a deep and special relationship with our neighbours going forward. but we also want a smooth transition and it's really important that we have an implementation period that enables us to make sure that the 3 million eu citizens here are allowed to register smoothly and seamlessly. but he will be as aware as i am the prime minister has been very clear we're leaving the single market and the customs union. it's really important when discussing immigration to recognise that the overwhelming

number of people who come to our country come here to work. we are grateful for the work that they do and we should always welcome the contribution to make to our country. and also, could she confirm the customs union has got diddly squat to do with immigration? it's emerged that the government is considering directly operating train services on the east coast main line. the transport secretary chris grayling has told mps the stagecoach—led franchise will only be able to continue in its current form for a "very small number of months". he said the option of the department for transport running the service was "very much on the table". the problem is very straightforward. stagecoach got its numbers wrong. it is now paying the price. contrary to widespread speculation and rumours, no deal has been done on this railway and i have not yet made a decision on the successor operator to run the east coast railway until the longer—term plans for the integration of training can

begin in 2020. it is now clear that this franchise will only be able to continue in its current form for a matter of a very small number of months and no more. last week, following detailed analysis, the notification of the franchisee reaching a key financial covenants. this is really important, mr speaker, to be clear with the house and the public this is not going to impact the railway‘s a day to day operations. the business will continue to operate as usual. but it does mean i need to put in place in the very near future a successor arrangement to operate this railway and in the current contract stop with the announcement today is yet another monumental misjudgement to add to a growing list of miscalculations by this secretary of state. members across this house can be and no doubt the bailout culture of the department for transport is alive and well.

it's never been better. virgin stagecoach failed to deliver on their contract on the east coast route. no problem. the government will step in and bail them out. kissing goodbye to the £2 billion virgin had previously agreed to pay. well, staying on matters of transport now, because the expansion of heathrow airport in london is continuing to be scrutinised by mps. although the government now backs a third runway at heathrow, parliament has still to give its approval. willie walsh, the chief executive of the company that owns british airways, called on the civil aviation authority to break up heathrow‘s "monopoly" of infrastructure. he said other companies should be allowed to set up terminals at the airport to increase competition and lower costs for consumers. this is notjust about the book, this is also about exports. a third of almost all uk experts outside the eu go on passenger planes from

heathrow. we need to have more hub connections from heathrow will help to make sure britain remains one of the world's a great trading nations. domestic connectivity and experts are the key economic drivers of the heathrow expansion. are you satisfied and can provide sufficient evidence that the patterns of behaviour of business are not going to change significantly over the next 20—30 years and that you are satisfied that they will continue to need the hub airport question that we are very confident we need the hub airport. we are confident in the continued need for the hub airport. very often people talk about the new planes, the boeing 787, the eight 350 planes and how they will change the economics, if you look at who is buying those, it is mainly network

carriers. they are helping to build the hub because they make them more viable to have secondary cities connected. we need in the uk the capacity to have more flights from heathrow to secondary cities around the world. cities in china we have barely heard of but will be vital to our chronically in the long—term —— economy. we will see a growth in other cities in the uk having direct flights into other hubs around the world, such as hong kong work to buy. that's a very good thing but it does not substitute for having an expanded heathrow. 0nly only an expanded heathrow can make sure that the uk remains at the centre of the global trading network and does not become a spoke to someone and does not become a spoke to someone else's trading network. the ongoing story of expansion at heathrow. now, could we see local authorities in england's big cities gaining some powers over income tax? the idea's been suggested at a commons committee hearing that's been looking at the future finances of of local councils. the chief executive of the public

service accountancy group cipfa said there was a clear need for greater cash—raising powers as demands on england's city—regions increase. a conservative mp took up the questioning. are you suggesting that they should be another change that we should move away from devolution towards a more central interference model we've had before? the change i would hope to see one day is that a regional devolution in england is similar to devolution within the nations of the uk. if the scottish government can vary income tax or corporation tax in order to fund services in scotland, why can't the mayor of london or the mayor of manchester? have access to varied income tax or corporation tax in accordance with the plans of that area. the problem is local government is being funded from a very local tax space. and actually, devolution over time will mean a wider transfer of responsibilities and a plurality

of the funding proposed with it. that's what i think everybody in local government would one day like to see. and that's it for this program. mandy baker will be here for the rest of the week. but for now, from me, keith macdougall, goodbye. well, it's remaining cold for much of this week. there is some snow in the forecast. that's going to be causing maybe a few problems on the roads to start tuesday. it is going to be a very cold, frosty one elsewhere. but a good deal of sunshine around too. this is the weather front bringing the sleet and snow to scotland and northern ireland over the course of the night.

by tuesday morning, it will be lying across northern england and wales. maybe some rain to lower levels. sleet and snow to the high ground with plenty of showers behind it. skies will be brightening up gradually through the morning across scotland and northern ireland. these are snow showers, also some hail showers, adding to accumulations of snow across scotland and northern ireland. a very cold start. you can see the blue hue. temperatures, sub—zero for many, even by sam. that weather front lying across northern england, into parts of wales, the north—west midlands, some sleet and snow could cause some problems. further east, a cold and frosty but largely dry start with some sunshine. certainly scraping those cars first thing before heading out. looks like that band of rain, sleet, and snow, will gradually fizzle out as it reaches the midlands. ahead of it, continuing to be sunshine for east anglia and the south—east. and further north and west, apart from a few wintry showers, sunshine but it will be cold. the weather front may invigorate again and take some snow to east anglia before it clears out.

behind it, widespread clear skies. and a very cold night to come tuesday night and wednesday morning, probably the coldest night of the week. temperatures well below freezing out of town. it does mean a ridge of high pressure should bring spells of sunshine on wednesday. that's before this weather system brings strong wind and cloud and rain to the north and the west of the uk. with it, slightly milder air, but it will be brief, cold air will make a return by the end of the week and into the weekend. a very cold and frosty start across the board on wednesday. plenty of crisp, winter sunshine for england and wales. scotland and northern ireland, cloudy with outbreaks of rain. mainly of rain, with some sleet and snow to the hills. the air starting to get milder. into thursday, slightly less cold air. temperatures, 6—9—10 degrees. cloudy day with outbreaks of rain and quite breezy. by friday, a ridge of high pressure builds in. plenty of winter sunshine but that colder air begins to move in from the west. a very warm welcome to bbc news,

broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: dramatic falls on the stock markets. the dowjones finishes 4.6% down — its biggest one day fall since the financial crash a decade ago. its sharp fall is echoed in asia. stock markets injapan and hong kong tumble by about 4%. the political crisis in the maldives deepens: the former president is detained as a state of emergency is declared. a warning from the eu — britain will face ‘unavoidable' barriers to trade if brexit means it leaves the customs union and the single market.