you're watching beyond 100 days. for months, theresa may has walked the brexit tightrope, avoiding the big decisions she must make. but how much longer can she stand in the middle? the future plan, the irish border issue, the backstop on customs arrangements — all critical issues now coming to a head. are you bungling brexit, prime minister? it's been a tough day for the prime minister — she is under fire from the opposition and from within her own cabinet for delaying the publication of the government's brexit plans. on the thorny issue of the irish border, the bbc has learned the government will publish its backstop plan tomorrow. also on the programme... there have been more volcanic eruptions in guatemala disrupting the search efforts. there are more than 200 people who are missing. president trump believe he can pardon himself if he wanted to — the speaker of the house, paul ryan, says no, he can't. i don't know the technical answer to that question, but i think obviously, the answer is, he shouldn't and no one is above the law.

get in touch with us using the hashtag #beyond1000ays. hello, i am katty kay in washington. christian fraser is in london. 434 days. that is how long the british government has been deliberating brexit. and in case you are wondering, there are fewer than 300 days left until britain officially leaves the eu. yet still, there is no clear plan. the british prime minister confirmed today she is not going to publish the government's proposals on what kind of future relationship the uk wants with the eu until after a crucial brussels summit at the end of this month. if you think that smacks of foot—dragging, indecision, chaos, you wouldn't be alone. on the continent there is deep frustration, as there is within the british parliament. not that there's much coherent policy from the opposition labour party. the splits run deep on either side of the house, as our political editor laura kuensberg reports. where is the plan?

a question that has been asked often enough around here. there is no sign of the government's next brexit blueprint, promised by the end of the month. forget detail, though, there was one plain message to the eu today from the man in charge of the process. the commission's position seems to be shooting itself in the foot just to prove the gun works. so those who think or say that the uk must be seen to be damaged by brexit should think again, because the truth is, if you harm britain, you harm all of europe. a public telling off for the european union, but there is trouble in private too. number ten will tomorrow publish the temporary customs arrangement, a fix in case other solutions can't be found to the long—running problem, but there are big reservations in other parts of government about that whole proposal. as ever, the government was having a hard time agreeing with itself

before persuading the rest of the eu. have you personally signed off all the details of the backstop proposal we expect to be published tomorrow, and if it comes out without your explicit approval, can you stay in yourjob? that's a question, i think, for the prime minister, to be honest, the second one! the detail, the detail of this is being discussed at the moment. it's been through one cabinet committee, it is going to another one, and it would be improper of me to pre—empt the negotiation. # rule britannia... he is not the only one who is grumpy, though. the document has no specific time limit for close ties to the eu. one source says it is like hotel california — we check out of the european union, but we never leave. what would be troubling for me and others who supported the leave campaign is the idea of being locked

into some single market—type arrangement for an indefinite period. yet they are queueing up to tell theresa may what to do. the prime minister must lead, she must sort out the divisions in the cabinet, the british people are fed up with this. remain tory rebels at the downing street gates... we're very supportive of the prime minister. how can the prime minister pacify them all? i trust i will be able to convert her too! are you bungling brexit, prime minister? week after week, brexit brings pressure at prime minister's questions. when it comes to brexit, this government has delivered more delays and cancellations than northern rail! it is this government that is delivering on the vote of the british people! and of course, none of the shenanigans go unnoticed in the european union. mrjuncker, have there been any new proposals from the uk

on brexit this week? discussing it, yes, not in the same way. soon david davis and then the prime minister will be back in brussels — will the government still be finger—pointing or playing nice as friends? alex forsyth is at westminster for us. so alex, let's start with the white paper. the government has this 150 page blueprint for the future relationship. there are fewer than 300 days left, with just four european union summits to go, before the uk leaves on march 29, 2019. so why the delay? put simply, the prime minister can't get agreement on what she thinks the future relationship with the eu should look like. as a consequence, she has been pushing things down the road until she can get the support of all the different sides in her party and in parliament. and in the meantime trying to maintain a fragile truce without clarity on what a future trade relationship would be. so it's hard for the

government to crystallise that in black and white, which consequently makes it hard to put it to the european union. so we have discontinued vacuum, and in that you get lots of infighting, positioning and pushing here in westminster, which is only making the prime minister's job which is only making the prime minister'sjob harder. which is only making the prime minister's job harder. it's not clear whether david davis and the prime minister can get on the same page when it comes to the northern irish border, but if he were to go, how much of a complication would that be at this stage in the negotiations that are already dragging on? can they afford to lose somebody who has been so critical? there has been chapped in political and media circles about the possible resignation of david davis, but i don't think we should say that is imminent. but there is clearly a fundamental disagreement between these two significant figures in this negotiation. david davis is the man who is supposed be in charge, theresa may is the prime minister. on this issue of the backstop, what would happen if they can't reach any other customs arrangements to ensure there is no hard border on the

island of ireland ? there is no hard border on the island of ireland? there is a fundamental disagreement and there is no doubt that david davis is feeling aggrieved at the way number ten are handling it. so the damage at this stage is quite apparent and if that were to continue unresolved, it would of course be damaging. for brussels, looking at what is happening in the uk, they have said from the start that they would want to see a unified approach that makes the negotiations easier. if they see continued fracturing within the conservative party and the government, that would only make the position of theresa may weaker. alex forsyth, thank you. i guess the question is when a temporary backstop becomes a permanent situation. that is what brexiteers will be worried about.” situation. that is what brexiteers will be worried about. i think you're right. if you look at the front of the times tonight, there are comments from government ministers and people within government who says she can't make a decision. concern is growing within

the brexit camp that this is not a scenario of project fear tends —— two, this is serious. there are only three summit after the one that is coming up and don't forget that the european parliament and the british parliament and the others parliament had to sign off on the plan, so three summit is not very much. and as alex said, europe have been asking for clarity on this. there are rebel mps on both sides of the house who want to vote for a norway—style relationship with the european union. norway is a member of two key european organisations: the european economic area or eea and the european free trade association also known as the efta. the eea is a collaboration of all the eu member states, plus norway, liechtenstein, and iceland. it gives norway full access to the european internal market for goods and services — but with a price. norway still pays into the eu budget, they still accept free movement of people and they are aligned to eu market

rules, without much say in shaping them. efta is the group that includes just norway, iceland, liechtenstein, and switzerland. they trade among themselves — and the group as a whole has free trade deals with numerous non—eu countries. for britain, this norway model could go a long way to solving the irish conundrum. and norway is not subject to thejurisdiction of the european court ofjustice, a red line for brexiteers. but would norway want a big bear like britain in their small exclusive club? i have been asking the norwegian prime minister erna solberg what she makes of the debate. for all of us who are anxiously waiting out to find out how our relationship with britain will be after they leave the eu, it feels a bit slow because there is insecurity for businesses. what will their framework be in the future? i can understand that this is difficult and there are difficult policy options that the brits have to take on which way to go, but for the rest of us,

we are a bit restless on trying to find out find out how the 2a,000 norwegians who live in britain and have been living here for a long time and who work here, how will their future be affected by it? what about the efta court? one of the red lines for the government is membership of the european court ofjustice. they want away from that. would you accept britain into the efta court, a smaller court that runs in parallel with the ec]? there might be difference between our priorities it might be easierfor britain on its own... but would you object to britain being a member of the efta in principle? in principle, we would always have that if possible. but we have to discuss what will be the benefits of this. of course, with a big brother like britain alongside you, you might have more clout in brussels because at the moment,

you are a rule taker. if britain was part of the eea efta movement, you might have more say. that would be one of the benefits, the pros for that. then of course, there are some cons. for example, the fact that it might also be more challenging, because small countries with a different type of business and different type of economic activity might be easier to more easily get a free trade agreement with another country because we don't look as big as britain's economy. but we have to weigh the pros and cons and then britain has to decide what they want. you're going to speak today to the royal united services institute about defence. you say that nato is the bedrock of our security. you don't meet the 2% spending threshold on defence which donald trump has demanded. why not? well, we are number nine on the list of how much of gdp we have been spending on the military. and if you look at per capita,

we are only second to the us in how much money we are spending on it. do you think donald trump understands those subtleties? i don't think so. i don't think any other countries understand that. but we have increased military spending by 24% during my time as prime minister. do you see nato as the future rather than a bigger european defence force, which has almost been set up in competition to nato? for norway, nato is the cornerstone. it's important to remember that norway is neighbour to russia, and it has its biggest navalfleet, strategic submarines, just across our border. by history, we know that the norwegian coast is extremely important. we were neutral before the second world war. nazi germany occupied us to have control over the fjords,

and a large amount of norwegians who died in the second world war were sailors in the convoys of delivering goods to russia, because that was the lifeline. putin was in austria yesterday. he wants to reopen relations with europe. you would be in favour? i think it's important for a country like norway to say yes, we are allies. we are working together. you can't push us, but we also have good cooperation in the north on bilateral matters, from fishery resources to the surveillance we have, and it's important to have those two levels of it. but russia has violated international law, and it's important that we have a clear stand on that. that is the first protection for a small country. she makes the point that they have

more per capita on defence spending, but it is notjust donald trump wishing for 2% of gdp on defence spending, those are nato's own guidelines and they are not there yet. they are a wealthy country. shouldn't they be spending more? the point she is making is that the norwegian government put away money for future norwegian government put away money forfuture generations. she made the point that they spend more per capita than any other country apart from the united states. but donald trump would point to a country like norway, a vastly wealthy country that doesn't spend 2% on defence, which is what he has demanded, and yet she has set out why it is unnecessary. they have a border with russia. the submarines are on the northern border. she talks about the history of the second world war and norway is one of those countries thatis norway is one of those countries that is anxious about the muscles that is anxious about the muscles that russia flexes on its border. so she has spoken today at rusi about the importance of nato, and yet she would put the money behind it to the

extent that donald trump once. and nato says they should too. there are unusual signs today that some republicans are breaking with the mr trump over his extensive view of his own power as us commander in chief. in tweets this week, the president has argued that he has the power to pardon himself in the context of the investigation into collusion with russia. not so fast, said the normally compliant republican speaker of the house today. under the us constitution, paul ryan said no one, not even the president, can be above the rule of law. er, i don't know the technical answer to that question, but obviously, the answer is that he shouldn't and no one is above the law. well, for more on the russia investigation and the actual threat moscow may still pose, we are joined now by former fbi special agent clint watts — author of messing with the enemy. congratulations on the book, very timely. let's pick up on this idea

of the president'spowers. the republican party has been reluctant until now to cross the president on a whole host of issues. when the president says he is basically above the law and can pardon himself, are we seeing that as a red line that republicans would cross? yes, this is way beyond the norm. to the president's credit, he has pushed his own power until it has been checked. and until we see congress, which it is now, starting to say, we are not going to say you can pardon yourself or that you are above the law. so the president has pushed all the way up to what are some red lines and you are starting to see his party pushback. the subtitle of your book is surviving in a social media world of hackers, terrorists, russians and fake news. why hasn't united states or populations in europe done enough so far to protect themselves against the kind of threat that russia posed in the 2016

election and subsequent elections in europe? is it that they can't always the will not there? i think the will is not there and they are not sure how to do it. the two things that come pick it things our freedom of speech and freedom of the press. the russian strategy, known as active measures, is going into a population and turning it against itself so it can't be fighting you. it is smart because it plays inside a democracy. how can you push out one person's speech or one nation's speech when you say you are open to all of this? what are the terms we can use to refute this disinformation? secondly, they don't know how to regulate social media companies. we saw in our hearings in the united states, when congress talks to social media companies, they want data protections. we saw facebook today has been tied up again with

huawei over data privacy. they don't know how to regulate these companies. europe have taken great strides about protecting both data and information and privacy on the social media platforms. that is the start of it, but ultimately it will be civil society, not governments, that will protect truth and democracy. it has to come from the public. i was thinking how spy craft and intelligence has shifted, listening to you. they used to be adjusted in banking details and trade secrets and now they are interested in people as a commodity, because they can do so much more with that. yeah, the russian approach from the outset is very different from how we think about it in the west. we tend to focus on state to state relationships and going back and forth. going back to the soviet era when they came up with this approach, it was always, i'm going to communicate with the people and the parties in your country and use them as either unwitting orbiting adversaries or

allies against you inside your country, inside these democracies, so that i move your population to my foreign policy position. we can't state enough how successful this has been. putin may have tilted an election one way or another, but he has won over an audience on social media that he can still much today. many of the alternative right audiences that are out there to put his policy positions. it is nationalism, not globalisation. it is anti—eu, antenatal. and they now, on his behalf, unwittingly, of advancing his cause across europe and in the united states. you say you are not getting enough buy in from the relevant agencies. i was thinking back to the period of the french election and the hacking of president macron‘s party. the person i was speaking to on our balcony in paris was, to put it bluntly, an old man. and he was one of the legislators and he didn't really understand what was going on. how much is that the problem around the

west, that the legislators are behind the curve? yeah, we are trying to communicate to people who don't understand social media platforms the danger of what is going on. the us is far more vulnerable to this, because we spend almost double the amount of time consuming news on oui’ almost double the amount of time consuming news on our social media. europe has done better on this. so as this grows, everyone is going to be consuming their information in the digital age, not the analog. and the digital age, not the analog. and the more people increased that consumption, the more they will be at risk. france and germany did better. they saw what happened with brexit and they have been more resilient. facebook kicked a lot of fa ke accou nts resilient. facebook kicked a lot of fake accounts out, but this will only grow, not just fake accounts out, but this will only grow, notjust because of russia, but because all the politicians have seen what has happened and they are duplicating those methods. thanks very much for coming in. the book is called messing with the enemy. there have been fresh volcanic

eruptions in guatemala, prompting a new wave of evacuations of people living on the slopes below. nearly 200 people are now believed to be missing after the fuego volcano erupted on sunday, killing at least 75 people. attempts to recover bodies are being hampered by thick layers of ash. will grant sent us this report from the village of el rodeo at the foot of the fuego volcano. it is a scene they know all too well in this part of guatemala, fuego spewing smoke and ash, desperate families running for their lives. just days after the massive volcanic eruption destroyed entire villages, the volcano began to smoke again and the emergency services decided to evacuate. following the huge pyroclastic lava flows, the ground beneath them was still dangerously hot and too precarious to keep searching for survivors. in the end, they ordered everyone but essential personnel off the mountain. the tiny community of el rodeo,

high on the mountain slope, will never be the same. some lost their homes, others their entire families. buried beneath the ash are lives and livelihoods. few who return to this village will find they've been spared the grief. boris rodriguez lost his wife and herfamily and now has nowhere to turn. translation: no-one told us anything, no—one came by to say, evacuate. nothing. people got out however they could. those who could get out, did, and those who couldn't, well, god rest them. the emergency services are working around the clock — some literally until they drop — but they are struggling to cope. the disaster has left a trail of destruction that will take months to overcome in what is already one of the poorest countries

in the americas. the search for survivors continues in el rodeo, but with each passing hour, the likelihood of success is growing slimmer and for those families still waiting for news further down the mountainside, the prospects are looking grim. will grant, bbc news, el rodeo, guatemala. around a hundred firefighters have been tackling a blaze at a five—star hotel in knightsbridge in central london. the fire is at the 12—storey mandarin oriental hotel. the cause is not yet known. there are no reports of injuries. voters in eight american states have gone to the polls to select candidates that will now compete in november's midterm elections. while some of the results are still being calculated, the big takeaway so far is that democrats have avoided being shut out of crucial house races in california. they'll need those contests in their attempt to flip the house of representatives and oust the republicans from power.

a soldier in the us has been arrested after stealing an armoured military vehicle and leading police on a two—hour chase through a busy city. the vehicle was taken from the ford pickett national guard base in virginia on tuesday and was driven at speed through the state capital, richmond. footage posted on social media showed more than a dozen police cars in pursuit of the personnel carrier, which was not equipped with any weapons. no injuries or crashes were reported. president trump has granted clemency to 63—year—old grandmother alice johnson, who was serving a life sentence in prison for a first time non violent drug offence. this comes just one week after kim kardashian visited the president in the white house to lobby forjohnson‘s release. it is trump and kim bearing fruit! we have been talking about pardons,

and here is one. this is something the president likes. he is of course within his rights and he has the power to pardon people, but for this president in particular, there is something about the executive power of this that almost authoritarian ability to say, you are pardoned and you are not, that particularly appeals to him. i am tempted to say there is something quite the apprentice—like about it. he can say you're fired or not fired, and he can say the same about pardons. quite a stiff sentence for a one—time drug offence. this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. coming up for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news — the stage is almost set for the historic summit between north korea and the us — but what makes a summit a success or failure? that is all coming up. stay with us. once again, whatever your outdoor

pla nts once again, whatever your outdoor plants may be over the next few days, i don't think the weather is going to get in the way too much for many parts of the british isles. most areas will be dry. there will be sunshine around, just one or two isolated pockets of showers. for the dry and settled weather, we have to thank this kink in the jet stream which is up over iceland and across scandinavia. and into that big bend in the river, we have a high pressure king keeping things settled. there is just pressure king keeping things settled. there isjust the pressure king keeping things settled. there is just the chance of one 01’ settled. there is just the chance of one or two settled. there is just the chance of one 01’ two showers settled. there is just the chance of one or two showers getting across the channel into the southern counties of england and through the channel islands. elsewhere, temperatures are pretty much where we we re temperatures are pretty much where we were at the start of the day. thursday still seeing quite a bit of disturbed weather across the near continent. some of that looks as though it is going to push further into the southern counties of england as we get through the day.

some of the showers are sharp, but evenin some of the showers are sharp, but even in the south, it may be that some areas stayed dry throughout the day. and with some sunshine, temperatures will be 23 or 2a at best. the uv levels are going to be the greater part of the british isles. the pollen levels are still stubbornly high for the greater part of england and wales, so bear that in mind if you are a sufferer. they are also pretty high in northern ireland. from thursday into friday, high pressure is still dominating the top three quarters of the british isles. there is a bit more instability across the south west water, so they have the chance of a few sharp showers and the odd one in the western highlands. away from the east coast, the onshore breeze is tempering the feel of the day, but

temperatures will get into the low 20s. on saturday, not a great deal of difference. still the prospect of afairamount of of difference. still the prospect of a fair amount of cloud. the best of the sunshine is across western parts, with the prospect of a few showers there. by sunday, there is some uncertainty but we may see a bit of rain close to the eastern shores of england and maybe something else coming off the near continent into the south. this is beyond 100 days, with me katty kay in washington. christian fraser's in london. our top stories... under pressure over brexit — cabinet divisions as the government prepares to set out its plans to avoid a hard border in northern ireland. as the countdown to singapore continues, rudy giuliani weighs in claiming the north korean leader begged "on his hands and knees" for a summit. coming up in the next half hour... we meet the unsung heroine being celebrated

by the welsh national opera. and which word stands out from 130,000 stories written by children? is it unicorn, trump, plastic, slime or brexit? the answer might surprise you. let us know your thoughts by using the hashtag 'beyond—one—hundred—days' president trump's lawyer has made the extraordinary claim that the leader of north korea got down on his knees and begged for the nuclear summit to take place. it's not clear if rudy giuliani was speaking metaphorically but the statement was pretty striking. after mr trump cancelled the meeting, mr giuliani said... it's not clear how this statement will go down with the famously proud north korean leader,

nor really why the president's personal lawyer is commenting on a sensitive national security issue. the two leaders will meet in singapore next week on the city's sentosa island at the exclusive capella hotel. robin wright is a writer for the new yorker. he had a great history of past american summits, but i have to ask you about this comment by rudy giuliani. helpful? not at all and ask you about this comment by rudy giuliani. helpful? not at alland i can't imagine kimjin—sun giuliani. helpful? not at alland i can't imagine kim jin—sun will get down on his knees —— kimjong—un. physically or politically is not what he does. in his summit with the south koreans he had a mastery of theissues south koreans he had a mastery of the issues but he is also an expert games and. his reluctance to have officials meet with the americans in singapore earlier for preparation to return in the us calls was positioning himself and that is what we will see a lot in this period of diplomacy. as mr trump gets ready

for the summit, he would do well to look at the history of past american summits and you have done it for him andi summits and you have done it for him and i hope he looks through your piece on it. is there a tendency and a pattern in the course of american presidents repairing for international summits of significant importance, something they can do that prepares the summit for success ? that prepares the summit for success? the obvious thing is to spend a lot of time both learning the country and the issues for them so the country and the issues for them so when you get to the table you are not blindsided. you have a common perception of the issues and the options. one of the stunning thing about this summit is that it is the shortest preparation time of any major 's summit by an american president, we're talking about days and contact only began in march. mike pompeo saw kim jong—un twice, but briefly, 13 hours and much of it

discussing hostages and other issues. we are not even on the same page when it comes to what is denuclearise asian. it means vastly different things to the two countries —— denuclearisation. different things to the two countries -- denuclearisation. our historian has a question!” countries -- denuclearisation. our historian has a question! i have been looking back at these summits, going back to 1961, you have the ever smooth geoff caton meeting nikita khrushchev and it was a disaster —— jfk. nikita khrushchev and it was a disaster -- jfk. it was to be worst disaster -- jfk. it was to be worst disaster for an american president, shortly after the bay of pigs invasion and kennedy had proposed that they meet in vienna. kennedy was not well prepared and khrushchev was. there was a wonderful sequence where at one point they were walking through a garden and he was wagging

his finger at kennedy. kennedy said afterwards he was savaged, that is a direct quote, he said it was the worst thing in his life. they came up worst thing in his life. they came up with nothing and within two months the russians started building the berlin wall. and a few months later you saw the advancement of and deployment of missiles in cuba. it was one of the deepest disintegration of the cold war in its history. but there is nothing quite like donald trump, there is no precedent for this. do we know if the art of the business deal can be applied to these kinds of big international events? the jury is out, wisdom says no but we don't know. the jury is out. chemistry is important and that is one thing we learned with president reagan meeting with mikhail gorbachev. these men did have personal chemistry and a common understanding

of the issues and even though the first summit in reykjavik did not go well and there was nothing tangible, they agreed to the principle of denuclearisation or limiting nuclear weapons and even potentially abolishing them and they came together a year later and for the first time in history eliminated a whole category of missiles that could carry nuclear weapons. the challenge for president trump, can you imagine two leaders more different than a wealthy real estate magnate in his 705 and a communist whose family has been in power for 70 years in the most isolated country in the world? getting the personal context will be a real challenge. they need a basketball player, dennis rodman! thank you very much. funny you should say that because of course dennis rodman would be going along because if donald trump can't do it, they will

put him in! at that point was interesting about 1961 and the meeting between kennedy and khrushchev. kennedy thought the same thing, that he could be the guy who could charm khrushchev and actually it did not work out exactly what donald trump thinks. he thinks his personal chemistry and his ability to charm will do things other leaders have not been able to. you can talk about dennis rodman some more! why not? there is a personal rapport between kim jong—un and dennis rodman. he has been twice to north korea and they do get on. kim isa north korea and they do get on. kim is a big basketball fans if it goes pear shaped, they can wheel him in and see if they can restore diplomacy we shall see. and see if they can restore diplomacy we shall 5ee.|j and see if they can restore diplomacy we shall see. i think if the charters of world peace rest on the charters of world peace rest on the shoulders of dennis rodman... the charters of world peace rest on the shoulders of dennis rodman. .. we are in trouble! another big brexit moment is upon us. on tuesday the eu withdrawal bill returns to the house of commons. mps will vote on 15 amendments put forward by the lords which could potentially shape

the future of brexit. the session is expected to go long into the night. tomorrow the government will publish its backstop plan to avoid a hard border in ireland. in the absence of a deal, the uk will have to observe eu rules and remain under the jurisdiction of the european court ofjustice. but there is no time limit for this backstop plan. it's an open—ended commitment which infuriates the brexit secretary, david davis, and reportedly has set him at odds with the pm. some speculation that he will go. will hutton is a political economist and author of the new book ‘saving britain: how we must change to prosper in europe' and gerard lyons is chief economic strategist with financial firm netwealth. welcome to you both, so much to get into. picking up with this backstop plan. laura kuenssberg was calling it the california hotel, you can check out but never leave.|j it the california hotel, you can

check out but never leave. i think it'5 check out but never leave. i think it's a stupid idea. the reality is thi5 northern ireland i55ue, while important, ha5 thi5 northern ireland i55ue, while important, has been played up out of all proportion. we currently have a soft border between the north and south even though we have different tax rates either side, different exci5e dutie5 tax rates either side, different exci5e duties on each side and even though you preregi5ter good5 when you go acr055 though you preregi5ter good5 when you go across the border, 5000 companies in the north of ireland trade with the south, 80% of trade i5 trade with the south, 80% of trade is basically local trade. the eu it5elf is basically local trade. the eu itself has done a detailed analysis 5howing itself has done a detailed analysis showing you don't need a hard border. i think the prime minister unfortunately today is doing what 5he unfortunately today is doing what she has done recently, 5howing unfortunately today is doing what she has done recently, showing a lack of vision and leadership but here in the uk the problem has been that the whole establishment ha5 here in the uk the problem has been that the whole establishment has not really moved on to make brexit a success. really moved on to make brexit a success. we are still trying to fight the referendum of two years ago. therefore david davis i think i5 ago. therefore david davis i think is correct to say there should be an end date for this. i argued la5t year for a transition deal, i think we should leave the single market, leave the customs union, that makes

5en5e. leave the customs union, that makes sense. we need a condition deal because bu5ine55 sense. we need a condition deal because business does not like uncertainty. we should remember that the fears we are hearing are a continuation of those we have heard in the last two years. employment... do you believe that? i happen to like that there are brexit is saying that this is not project fear two but this is now the crux. it's getting real. ithink but this is now the crux. it's getting real. i think what he said wa5 getting real. i think what he said was totally wrong. the republic of ireland take5 was totally wrong. the republic of ireland takes a different view. you cannot 5u5tain ireland takes a different view. you cannot sustain the relationship between northern ireland and the republic of ireland without either britain remaining in the eu or there being a commitment to stay in ea5ing the market and customs union with all that implies, ie the market and customs union with allthat implies, ie being the market and customs union with all that implies, ie being a rule ta ke all that implies, ie being a rule take and the rest. it is an ineradicable political and economic fa ct. ineradicable political and economic fact. the point is, and the labour

leadership are as guilty of this as the tories, but everybody is living ina the tories, but everybody is living in a fantasy in which there is some place between a hard brexit in which briti5h trade is related by the world trade organisation, and membership of the innovation union, there is not. there is no place between that. —— of the eu also what we are discovering i5 between that. —— of the eu also what we are discovering is that the attempt to create one is difficult to do anyway because world trade is menaced by donald trump and to a degree by china. secondly, the eu is the centrepiece of international free order. and at the global... how does it look from the us? you have a president who makes decisions and is prepared to walk away, you might not agree with it but he makes decisions. we have a prime minister who does not seem to be able to make one. let me ask a question i have often asked here in washington by

officials in this country, is it that it was so technically difficult for britain to extricate itself from the european union that we will a lwa ys the european union that we will always going to end up in a situation where two years into the process we still did not seem to have much progress? or is it british leadership which has failed in trying to do the negotiations and get there? it is primarily the latter but the former part is also right. i think brexit i5 latter but the former part is also right. i think brexit is very 5en5ible for the uk but even in arguing for that in the book, it is truly difficult to leave anything you have been in for over 40 years, hence there is always an adjustment pha5e. what you need to have its clarity and vision and the prime mini5ter clarity and vision and the prime minister was a clarity and vision and the prime mini5terwa5a remain clarity and vision and the prime minister was a remain 5upport clarity and vision and the prime minister was a remain support and therefore 5he minister was a remain support and therefore she has not given either of those. it has not been helped by the fact that many people have tried to continue to undermine the referendum vote of two years ago but

i don't think they would have been able to do that if the prime mini5ter had taken clear leadership. we do need to move on. where i agree with will is that the domestic economy needs a fundamental respect and we 5hould've been doing some of that when we were in the eu and we now have a better opportunity to do that outside of it. there is actually a way of doing this, the european economic area. that plus some control5 european economic area. that plus some controls on immigration which would be negotiable would have been a possibility. that is the private view of david cameron and if you around which i think much of the hou5e around which i think much of the house of commons could coalesce but the difficulty is that it cannot be delivered by a conservative party riven by differences over remain and leave and a labour party that is worried about a minority, it has to be said, but an important minority of con5tituencie5 which were leave voter5. of con5tituencie5 which were leave voters. but the eea does not give you the right to set the rules and

relation5 committee have your hands tied. it is the second-best option, i know that, but if you want to interpret the brexit vote in a way that could have got you so macome it could have been that. personally i think there should be a second vote on what kind of deal comes back ultimately and in a democracy one should revisit decisions that are rank bad and this is a rank bad decision. i will have to cut you short. thank you. facebook has confirmed it shared data with four chinese firms, including the mobile phone maker huawei which has been flagged as a a security threat by us authorities. the social media network has been blocked in china since 2009, but the company has been trying to find other ways to access the massive potential there. microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea near orkney off the north—east of scotland. the company wants to test the theory that the cost of keeping computers cool will be cut by placing them in the sea. the data centre is contained in a cylinder which could sit

on the seabed for up to five years. the boss of qatar airways has apologised for saying that a woman couldn't do his job. on tuesday akbar al—baker said that the airline had to be led by a man "because it is a very challenging position". in a statement following the backlash to his remarks, mr al—baker said qatar airways fully supported gender equality and accused the media of sensationalising his comments. what do you think of that?” what do you think of that? i think he said it was a joke which is an easy option. we were talking to the norwegian prime minister earlier. do you know that the three top government positions in norway are all occupied by women? finance, defence and the prime minister. we were hearing from the norwegian prime minister earlier in the programme. i asked what she made of mr al—baker‘s comments. i think this is sort of old—fashioned male thinking and they would be surprised to see that other ways of leading probably is more modern and more in tune to what the challenges

are for the world's society today when we need more cooperation, maybe a little bit less testosterone and a little bit more understanding of people, maybe female leadership is needed. does it make a difference when you are sitting around the cabinet table when you have women in those top positions? it makes a difference not in everyday politics. it is political divisions that makes them and your ideology and what you believe in is the most important. but it has made a difference to the political agenda in norway. more women in politics have made other political priorities, that's why we have an extensive childcare system, long maternity leaves, because we understand that if women are going to participate in the same level as men, we need to make sure they both can be mothers and have a family and of course have a full—time job and manage to do that. we know that to our productivity, more women and more work hours from women have been important. so i won't say women are nicer and softer as leaders. everybody, any country

who had margaret thatcher as prime minister should know that! but it does change priorities because it brings also the other part of society's everyday life into politics and it's important. the world needs less testosterone! this programme has plenty of that on it! one of the things she said was about this idea of diversity and something that the finnish prime minister says because he is often asked about the health of the finnish economy and the most important thing he said if the commitment of the country to gender diversity. i have spoken to christine lagarde about it and she has this great phrase, saying it had

been lehman brothers and sisters, perhaps we would not have jumped off that financial cliff in 2008! is not that financial cliff in 2008! is not that anybody is think it should just be lehman sisters, but the mixture of men and women makes the best economic outcomes. i'm quite happy with that! somebody was saying, do you want to come back on that? i definitely don't! we will leave it there. this is beyond 100 days. still to come... the children's word of the year for 2018 has been announced — one that's seen an explosion in popularity. stick around to find out what it is. the financial watchdog has begun a full investigation into the failure of online banking at tsb. the systems problem in april caused disruption for almost 2 million people using the bank's digital and mobile banking services, and left many customers unable to access their accounts. paul weekes tsb customers had

trouble logging into their accounts. the service is better now but still unstable. customers phoning for help are having to wait for harper now on average being cut off completely —— average being cut off completely —— a halfan average being cut off completely —— a half an hour. customers like photographer paul clark, shut out of his account for long periods, in the confusion falling victim to 28 fraudster who stole £10,000 —— to a fraudster. his band three days on the phone getting the money back.|j have lost all confidence that they have lost all confidence that they have got a grip. i don't know the situation with my account, i can't get in, i have no confidence in their ability to answer phones or get my account back into a secure position. in the firing line for the failures is the chief executive, paul pester. the is directly criticised in the letter published

today by the financial watchdog the sca, announcing a full investigation. the letter says... it says he gave mps and optimistic view of services. the bank was not open and transparent, claiming the vast majority could use online accou nts vast majority could use online accounts when only half good and there is concern about an increase in customers impacted by ford, not getting refunds as quickly as they are supposed to. —— by fraud. the investigation into tsb will look at why the proved the upgrade and why there was no plan b. the sca has a big stick, it can impose unlimited fines on banks and on individuals and banned them from working in the business —— the fca. she was a suffragette whose portrait now hangs in the house of lords, although as a woman, lady rhondda was never allowed to sit there. despite campaigning throughout

her life for change, margaret haig thomas died before women entered the lords for the first time in 1958. quite the activist. she was imprisoned in 1913 after blowing up a post box in her home town of newport. and then went on hunger strike while in prison until she was eventually released. this summer her story will be brought back to life by the welsh national opera. our wales correspondent, sian lloyd, reports. # she was a newport suffragette, she led that plucky crew...# celebrating the life of lady rhondda. opera singing. the largely forgotten story of this welsh suffragette and pioneering businesswoman is being brought to life in music hall style by an all—female cast and crew. so many adventurous things, so many wonderful, unbelievable, incredible things that you could hardly even make up, seem to have happened to her in her life, and it was absolutely perfect materialfor an opera.

her life was remarkable in many respects. she survived the sinking of the lusitania when it was torpedoed by a german submarine during the first world war. and when herfather, viscount rhondda died, she inherited his title. she campaigned throughout her life for women to be allowed to sit in the house of lords. pictured at rallies with emiline pankhurst, the leader of the british suffragette movement, her own fame spread when she attempted to blow up a post box in her hometown of newport. # a tiny postal fire, you'll see that we mean business, # herbert henry asquith esquire... something like that. i just haven't heard of her at all before which i feel totally ashamed of now, and it is just a wonderful opportunity to bring her to the forefront of this 100 years of suffrage. lady rhondda became a leader in a male dominated world of business, and wrote an influentialjournal of the time.

she wanted to rip up the rule book for women. alongside the new production, welsh national opera is holding a conference to discuss the current challenges being faced for equality in the classical music world. on every aspect of this industry we need more women. we are not equally represented yet, but we're going to be, because this wonderful ball that she got rolling, lady rhondda, it has gathered speed like nobody's business. the opera rhondda rips it up premieres in newport tomorrow night. sian lloyd, bbc news. i was wondering if they would blow it up! ‘plastic‘ has been declared children's word of the year. analysis of stories written by five to 13—year—olds showed use of the word ‘plastic' was up 100% since last year. use of the terms recycle, packaging, pollution and plastic bag have also increased.

as we know, plastic pollution is a huge threat to our environment and in particular to our oceans. every year, another 8 million tonnes of plastic gets added to the ocean and in ten years' time there could 250 million tonnes of plastic drifting around our oceans. i'm not surprised by this.” i'm not surprised by this. i want them to do that in the states, i bet it would be a different word but i'm so interested see that british kids are bringing up plastic. my daughter went to school and she was told to write a speech at half term and she wrote one about plastic in the ocea ns wrote one about plastic in the oceans of her own back and she came back and said she was not the only one who had written about it. this is what the government wants, a tipping point for the i was reading that it all started with the 5p plastic bag levy and as a result, we have talked about plastic bags on beaches, 9 billion fewer bags have

been consumed in britain. what they wa nt been consumed in britain. what they want is for it to be socially unacceptable not to recycle bottles. we have all sorts of things going on at the moment, bottle recycling, deposit schemes, packaging recycling and all that sort of thing and it's interesting and interesting that children are so enthused about it. my children are so enthused about it. my children certainly fits the bill, and think it is blue planet and david attenborough and the pictures they have watched that have enthused them. we have the levy on plastic bags here and there is a big recycling effort. i have a horrible feeling that if my daughter was asked to write an essay it would be about the virtues of playing fortnight! one frenchman has become one of the luckiest men in the world — defied 16 trillion to one odds. he has managed

to win the same lottery twice in less than two years, first in november 2016, and now again last month. each time the winning tickets — bought in the same tabac — giving him a million euros each time. he must feel just like me, he must feeljust like me, winning the lottery working here everyday!” thought you were going to say that if you won you would not be working with me everyday! hello. what about your outdoor plans are for the next few days i don't think the weather will get in the way too much for many parts of the british isles. most areas will be dry, some sunshine and one or two isolated pockets of showers. for the dry and settled whether we have to thank thejet dry and settled whether we have to thank the jet stream which is up over iceland and into scandinavia and in that big bend there is high

pressure keeping things settled and that will be the way this evening and overnight. just a chance of one or two dunshea showers in the southern counties of england and the channel islands —— punchy showers. temperatures pretty much where we we re temperatures pretty much where we were at the start of the day. quite a bit of disturbed weather on thursday across the continent and some of it looks like it will push further into the southern counties of england as we get through the day. some of the showers are quite sharp but even in the south it might be that some areas stayed dry through the day and with some sunshine you could be pushing up to 24 degrees. still some show was around donegal in northern ireland and some in the west of scotland on and some in the west of scotland on a day where the juve and some in the west of scotland on a day where thejuve —— uv levels will be high for the greater part of the british isles and the pollen levels are still stubbornly high as well. bear that in mind if you are a

sufferer. pretty high in northern ireland as well. this is thursday to friday, high still dominating the top three quarters of the british isles. this is a weather front with a bit more instability in the south—western quarter so the chance of some sharp showers and close by to northern ireland, the odd in the western highlands but others were away from the east coast where the breeze is tempering the feel of the day, we will see temperatures in the low 20s. this is going into saturday, not much difference, still the prospect of a fair amount of cloud for central and eastern areas, the best sunshine in western parts and still the prospect of one or two showers breaking out there and by sunday it might be, and there is some are entered into, that we will seek a bit of rain close to the eastern shores of england and maybe something else coming off the continent into the this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: the grenfell tower inquiry has heard that the man who lived in the flat where the fire started, is terrified of giving evidence,

and lives in fear of reprisals. it was accidental and he bears no responsibility directly or indirectly for the fire. it spread, or the dreadful consequences that followed. the editor of the daily mail, paul dacre after 26 years at the helm, is to step down. under pressure over brexit. cabinet divisions as the government prepares to set out its plans to avoid a hard border in northern ireland. the boss of tsb admits that more than a thousand customers lost money due to fraud, after the bank's computer meltdown in april. 100 firefighters put out the blaze in knightsbridge,