following on behind, clearer skies allowing the temperatures to dribble away to single figures in parts of scotland, maybe into the north of england as well. further south, realy quite mild under the blanket of cloud, which thickens up all the while. after a dry enough start across wales and the south—west, i think there will be some rain into the afternoon, so too into northern ireland, eventually i think we will push it towards the north—west of england, maybe into the south—west of scotland. if you haven't had a mention thus far, you will probably get away with the bulk of a dry day. top temperature 19, possibly 20. on into the start of next week, we keep it pretty unsettled across northern parts, but it will warm up in the south. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: fire has broken out for a second time in four years at one of scotland's architectural landmarks, the glasgow school of art. there has been extensive damage. the government has said it will help with restoring the building. we don't know what the structural damage is, the damage to the stonework. so, i think it's too early to say

what's going to be required, but what i can say absolutely is, we will be there to help. the home secretary uses an exceptional power to release illegal cannabis oil to severely epileptic billy caldwell, after doctors said it was a ‘medical emergency‘. his family say the substance — which has now been administered — helps keep life—threatening seizures at bay. andy murray confirms he will make his competitive return from hip surgery at queen's next week. now on bbc news, it's time for this week's edition of dateline london. hello and a warm welcome to dateline london.

i'm jane hill. this week, we discuss a turbulent week in westminster around the brexit negotiations, we'll consider how much was achieved at the us—north korea summit and we'll discuss the potentially desperate humanitarian situation in yemen. my guests this week are dr vincent magombe, from africa inform international, the north american writer and broadcaster jeffrey kofman, the british political commentator and columnist steve richards, and the french algerian journalist nabila ramdani. welcome to you all. at westminster, it's been a particularly turbulent week around all things brexit. my goodness. there was surprise in some quarters that the government avoided defeat on an amendment put forward by the upper house, the lords, about giving parliament a meaningful vote on any brexit deal. one of theresa may's junior ministers resigned, hours before the vote. earlier in the week, her secretary of state for exiting

the eu had decided not to. so much remains uncertain, but one thing we do know is that the white paper won't now be published in time for the european council summit, later this month. steve, it is hard to know where to begin after a week like we had, if it is possible to summarise, where on earth are we, after this week? no further forward in terms of the ending of this brexit. it's like a netflix box set, where no—one knows the ending, including all the main players. this week illustrated why that's the case. theresa may is a fragile prime minister, negotiating the terms of what britain will propose to the european union, with a divided cabinet. she has a hung parliament, a divided parliamentary party. this is going to happen again and again. you mentioned the vote on a meaningful vote,

when the brexit deal is put to the house of commons. that was surreal. because the vote will be meaningful, i can exclusively reveal! laughter in other words, if she is defeated on the deal, which is possible, the idea she stands up and says, "thank you very much for defeating me, we nowjust leave without a deal" is a fantasy. she will have no authority to do anything. maybe she'll win the vote, that is meaningful because it means britain will be leaving. this is a multilayered game where anything, frankly, could happen. and i think it is a game, what's happening here and we saw it this week, the hardline brexiteers are hoping to run out the clock. they are gaming her and her weakness. and the majority in parliament who are soft brexiteers or remainers are hoping —

that now that we are within months, not even a year... nine months. all of the clarity we kept being promised is as cloudy as ever. i think that david davis and borisjohnson and the other hardliners are really hoping that if they can just keep kicking this down, the deadline will approach, "oh, no, we don't have a deal! out we are," and we don't have a say. but to what end? what happens to trade? the commons vote was ultimately about... theresa may was able to persuade all but two of her mps to back her brexit. it was a minor triumph but, as steve said, she still remains a pretty vulnerable figure with a bitterly divided conservative party. i would suspect she spent most of last week trying to convince david davis not to resign. similarly, would—be rebels such as dominic grieve would have been encouraged to toe the line.

yes, the government scraped through, without a defeat, but not without a price. there were climb—downs by the government on amendments and it was hard to know in many ways who exactly had won. but the division within the conservative party also reflects a very divided society, two years on from the brexit vote. and the kind of antagonistic arguments we are seeing within the conservative party. i am an african and ugandan in london watching and i am enjoying watching this tragicomedy. it's like the british people are just walking towards the cliff, not knowing where they're going. what amazes me is how... you know, you taught us democracy and all those types of things. parliament represents the people. and it amazes me how the prime minister and cabinet have to fight to take away the power of parliament, for fear that it's not

going to do what they want. anyway, i think the difference between what happens here and what happens in a country like uganda is that whatever the scenario later on that emerges, britain will still survive because of the institutions that you have and so on. take, for example, uganda — if we were in such a situation where you don't have institutions, you don't have democracy, presidents do what they want, killing people all over the place... it would end very, very tragically. wile i say it is a tragicomedy, in britain, you will end up in the front. i don't want to scare people, but i think scotland might go away one day and ireland might go away one day. because of brexit. but little england will survive. it will try to assume its imperial role later on. try to save the commonwealth... that is in edition of

dateline a few years ago. scottish mps leaving prime minister's questions. the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, is trying to use brexit to fuel the argument again for independence and a second referendum. a majority of scottish people voted to stay in the eu. there is no evidence yet that there is any more renewed momentum towards that. the voting polls does not suggest a big shift yet. but she is obviously hoping... i think she is sceptical of stunts in parliament. she would have authorised this one in westminster. they are trying to dramatise it any possible way they can westminster against scotland.

you know, "how dare westminster behave this way and treat scotland with such contempt?" that is a framing which might, might at some point renewed interest in a second referendum on independence. that's one of the many, many wild cards flying around. what i don't think will happen is a no deal. theresa may is convinced that would be a catastrophe, as an example. there is no majority in the house of commons for it. precisely. even if she loses on her deal, parliament would not allow there to be no deal. there will be a constitutional crisis. but one way or another, there will be a scramble to extend the deadline of this article 50 and try to sort it out. yeah. i would put money... it is very dangerous to do anything in this world. but do it, anyway! there will be no no deal, something will happen. it is possible that we may look at a scenario where, really... the way the prime minister is going at the moment, she is is a brexiteer one day

and the next day, a remainer, the government may have to fall and we end up in a new election. but we have a divided opposition as well! that's right. that brings up the deafening silence of the labour party. you talk about the strength of the institutions, parliament depends on a vigorous and vocal, loyal opposition. jeremy corbyn's indifference, at best, to brexit, leaves his party with no clear vision and no clear alternative. with all the vulnerabilities of theresa may, any other labour leader would have been able, i think, to have toppled her. but people are so afraid of him, within her party, as well, that this is allowed to perpetuate itself. that is why i would call the whole situation a slow—motion crisis. it seems to be going on indefinitely, with no obvious solution in sight.

but i do agree with steve, the scenario of a no—deal prospect is highly unlikely. but isn't there a deep irony, though, in the brexiteers who are obsessed with taking back control, you know, having this sneering attitude towards the scottish issues? you might think they might have a bit more sympathy towards the scottish national party but, instead, they keep baiting them. that's quite unhealthy for the entire debate. they would say it's about sovereignty. one final thought. it's crystal—ball time, steve, but another vote in the commons this week. theresa may having to corral the troops to chequers, taking the inner cabinet to chequers, the country retreat, to debate this. there is a lot happening in the next few weeks. yes. i know people have been saying this for the last two years, but this really is the beginning of the end sequence.

each week is going to contain all kinds of dramas. this coming week, as you say, there will be another vote on the meaningful vote. it's like something out of monty python's flying circus... yes, keep up at the back! it's a comedy! you're right. the cabinet are too divided to publish the white paper on brexit before the summit. it will resolve nothing. then they will agree on their "position " because it is not clear what that means. presumably, the white paper will be published, but that will be difficult. there are more difficult votes in july. and then the most difficult bit of all begins, which is the negotiation between the uk and the rest of the european union. yes. this is just trying to clarify britain's position. there are many, many

other countries involved, that's what we forget. this is a very mean thing to do to you, but a quick, final thought about the leader herself, the prime minister herself. how many times have we all sat around this table saying, she's vulnerable, she's vulnerable? your thoughts at the end of a difficult week? more likely than not she will carry on until the end of this process. but it cannot be definite. because of the fragilities we have been talking about. but a replaced leader changes nothing of the things that we have been talking about, the context. she's so lucky that this brexit... if there wasn't brexit, i think she would have gone, not the scandals and all of these things. if it wasn't brexit, she's happy it's brexit, but... i have a feeling... i wouldn't describe her as happy! but we take your point, yes! plenty more to discuss next week, i suspect, given the time line steve has outlined.

a very busy week. president trump declared this week that the nuclear issue with north korea is "largely solved". that is a quote. he met kimjong—un in singapore, where the two leaders signed a document, which committed the communist state to de—nuclearisation of the korean peninsula. analysts, though, pointed out there's no reference to "verification" in the pledge, the us president later saying, that is because he only had been there one day and the two men had agreed it all. donald trump went on to take south korea, and his own armed forces, by surprise, by saying that the us‘s regular joint military manoeuvres with the south would stop. they're very expensive, apparently. which is what an awful lot of goods may be about to become, because on friday, he announced that 25% tariffs would be slapped on $50 billion—worth of chinese products from july. jeffrey, let's start with the summit. we heard the word ‘historic‘ so many times this week, i have outlined some of the negatives, but the very

fact that it took place, that's a positive? a source of optimism? easy for those who don't like trump to bash him. and easy for those who love him to revere him. you're right, let's give him credit for doing one thing. 70 years of stalemate, old—style politics and diplomacy got us nowhere with korea. he has made headway. whether or not his bold statements that it's now a settled issue, or close to that, we'll see. he is covered. if six months from now, he said, i tried, i got us further, i looked him in the eye, he said we could trust him, but we can't. i don't think he's going to pay a price for that. what's more worrisome is that he's really shown his true colours in the last couple of weeks. for those of us who are sceptical, to say the least, of his values and his projection

of american values, we have seen that this is a man who would much rather be in the company of dictators and demagogues rather than democrats. if there was any doubt, we saw on fox news just yesterday when he stood up in front of the white house and said, i have to paraphrase, i don't have the precise words, but he essentially said that kim jong—un's people listen to him, i wish my people listened to me like that. and then he said to cnn, that wasjust being sarcastic, i wasjoking, but we have all been caught in those moments. the week before, with the g7 and his slapping of the european leaders and justin trudeau in canada, he just doesn't want namby— pamby politics. we have seen the spineless

leadership like here in the uk. he is a response to that. it is very interesting. that phrase of yours, he is somebody who wants to dine and perhaps get into bed with dictators. as africans, we are completely at a loss to understand what trump's approach to africa is, what the policy is. we see him dining and going into bed with dictators. i come from uganda. we have a brutal dictator. whose only value is to america, he takes out troops to somalia to take out islamists and so on. but he's brutal. no democracy. our people are dying. 30 years and he's just changed the constitution, taking away the 75 age limit. a terrible dictator. and trump, he's continuing to give him arms and so on. i would like to ask — you see him going to north korea. that's nothing to me. it is total nonsense. but what is his approach to different world matters like africa?

like uganda? i think he freelances this, you give him too much credit, there is no approach! it is seat—of—the—pants diplomacy, in the most powerful office of the world. i would certainly qualify your optimism, though. i think the summit was certainly successful as a media jamboree. it had the feel of a reality tv spectacular. that is howjust how trump likes it. kim jong—un's appearances in front of the foreign media are rare indeed, so he would have been quite happy to exchange smiles. there wasn't quite a bromance, even though trump was in his element. but he loves those big pr exercises, which ultimately come to unchallenging and very simplistic. his view of the world is in terms of deals. no doubt, he would have his eye on the nobel peace prize for getting together with his worst enemy and cooking up yet another deal. with a very simple objective

here being world peace. his supporters would say that if kim jong—un follows through on the document he signed and if we start seeing some evidence of denuclearisation, that is something that previous leaders have not managed. well, that is where the problem lies because the jointly signed documents... it is supposed to be dismantling of north korean peninsular, nuclear, getting rid of all nuclear weapons, including potential american weapons. far from the pledge of what america wanted and what trump's advisers wanted of full dismantlement. ultimately, america didn't get that. i think he does deserve some credit for recognising what, i gather... i'm no expert on north korea. ..were early indications of some willingness to move on some issues. not, i'm sure, denuclearisation.

but a willingness to engage. i read that the sort of early overtures came more from north korea. it reminds me, you remember the early 19905 when the british government sensed there were changes in the ira and theyjust leapt on it? credit for that. it is fascinating. you could make a play or a film out of the last few days. that meeting with the g7. yes. his disdain for these weak—kneed leaders of democracy. merkel struggling with her coalition, it might implode at any moment. theresa may might be gone this week. and he just finds it irritating. he didn't even want to be there. and he prefers dictators, because you can do the deal. these people are going to be around for 30 years, possibly.

and the juxtaposition was revealing. sorry. the unstated story is who actually should take, you know, the respect and value of doing this? it is more to do with south korea, the president of south korea came to power. you remember they had the conflict with america when he said, "i want to talk to the north." he campaigned on that. he won elections on that and he has followed through. yes. so i would think that it is more to do with korean people, whether it's north or south, they want to come together. trump is this houdini, just stealing the glory. he is shining when i don't think he needs the credit. i would disagree. more self—conscious presidents...

he threatened to nuke the entire country, trump, in some speech or other. now he is in negotiations with a leader who he personally insulted, i can't remember the precise insult. he would argue that is his gamesmanship and that is what he would argue got him to the table. there were other factors. because he is not self—conscious or consistent or coherent, it sometimes creates space for him to leap in when opportunities arise. jeffrey, a quick thought on the trade war, a phrase used again a lot this week, the trade tariffs he talked about with china, they're not due to come in untiljuly. will we see see any movement, because there are plenty of analysts telling him it is a bad idea? it is. he is talking about adding tariffs to the eu and canada on cars at 25%. he sees his role as putting up walls around the us. why are we importing cars? we make great cars in america. sending conductors from china, we don't need them. the problem is, as you say,

it is a very simplistic world view. in an interconnected global economy, those semiconductors are part of a supply chain that feeds american industry. even his own administration people are saying, this isn't really viable. china immediately responded with counter tariffs. i don't think it's a trade war yet, but it certainly sets the stage for one. the question is, with steel tariffs in the eu and canada, is he ramping it up so that we have a trade war? steel in the us, only 12% of the economy goes into trade. americans consume 70%, 88% of what they produce. they are quite insulated. apart from this supply chain issue from trade. that will return in weeks to come. in yemen, the biggest battle so far in the country's civil war has been continuing for control of the vital port of houdayda, which is the entry

point for about three quarters of all aid for the country. more than 22 million people need humanitarian assistance, with more than eight million people at risk of starvation. the united nations failed to find a diplomatic path to head off the assault — just one element of a three—year conflict between a saudi—led coalition and iranian—aligned houthi rebels. nabila, just over a three—year war that has gone under—reported, what is your take on the situation there now? this latest, vital battle for the port. the saudi—led forces are calling the attack on houdayda a golden victory. but it threatens what is already a catastrophe catastrophic war. to become an horrendous conflict. it started more than three years ago. yemen was already the poorest arab nation. it is now the world's worst humanitarian disaster. it could become far, far worse. yes, the un reiterated

that this week. yes, houdayda is a crucial port for those defending it, notjust those for military reasons. but because goods such as water, food, and medicine enter the country through the port. effectively, these essentials are being distributed to 18 million yemenis, two thirds of the population. if the port is destroyed, which seems very possible, all these essentials wouldn't be able to go through. all the humanitarian aid. but even now, two thirds of the 29 million yemeni population suffers from food insecurity. with 50,000 children who died of hunger and related illnesses last year alone. one million people in yemen have cholera. the fall of houdayda could threaten mass starvation and the threat of even more disease. one of the worst aspects of this is that the west knows very little

about what is going on with these devastating starvation figures. and the intricacies about an increasingly entangled conflict. i don't think the west knows little, i think they know. they see it, the reports are just too many. in uganda, nobody talks about our tragedy. yemen is in the news every day. people have reported extensively about this. what this shows is just the hypocrisy of western politics. i'm sorry to say. i always believed in virtues of democracy from the west and so on. but if the west was not supporting saudi arabia in the way it's doing and blinding its eyes to the tragedy that is happening in places like yemen, we would have a very different situation. but if the west is motivated to sell arms, in spite of, for example, human rights violations in saudi arabia itself. apart from what the saudi—led

coalition is doing in yemen. there is a real need for a rethink on global politics in terms of, you know, what do we do to stop these things? it's all driven by this interest to sell arms, to make money, in spite of people dying. it's exacerbated and i think you're entirely right, but it's exacerbated by the fact that this is a proxy war between iran, saudi arabia, and we know what america things of iran. thinks of iran. we know that trump enjoys banquets with the saudis and being lavished in palaces. and the moral leadership and the voice in europe is silent on this. theresa may is too busy covering her brexit... agenda. so, you're right, saudi has a blank cheque on this. and the antipathy toward iran fuels saudi arabia's power in this.

we must, regrettably, leave it there. which partly speaks to our point, but we will discuss this again. thank you, good to see you. thanks for watching. dojoin us again — same time, same place — next week. goodbye. hello once again. i had brought the pictures showing you how miserable the conditions have been in the miserable —— in the british isles. eventually, the group —— blue skies chase the rain away. that is a slower process for central

and eastern scotland and you could join the dots, this is the weather front stretching into the south—western quarter. you get a chance of finishing the day with sunnier skies with one or two showers in northern ireland. eventually, the rain clears away and the sky is clear across scotland and northern england, in single figures. not the case across the south—west because the next weather fronts are spreading their cloud starts sunday, then the rain arrives in south—west england, wales and northern ireland. further to the central and eastern parts of the british isles, this is where you have a chance of staying drierfor where you have a chance of staying drier for that where you have a chance of staying drierfor that bit where you have a chance of staying drier for that bit longer, with a high of 19. this is bbc news.

the headlines at five. a second devastating fire in four years at one of scotland's architectural landmarks, the glasgow school of art. the scale of damage is extensive. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, sees the destruction for herself. it is hard to find the words to describe what it feels like, to look at such an iconic building, notjust an iconic building in glasgow or scottish terms, but a building with significance for people right across the world. the home secretary uses exceptional powers to allow doctors to treat severely epileptic billy caldwell with illegal cannabis oil. billy is getting the best care in the world here. and i think safe here at this particular hospital. so again, isjust one here at this particular hospital. so again, is just one step at a time, praying for a miracle, really.