rescue and recovery efforts are continuing in greece, where wildfires have engulfed several towns and villages near the capital, athens. there are scenes of devastation with forests, homes, and cars completely burnt. at least 7a people are confirmed dead, but it's not clear how many people may be missing. it's emerged that a dam that collapsed in laos, killing 20 people, had developed a fault the day before the accident. a spokesman for a south korean firm helping to build a hydro—power station said workers tried to repair the damage and that authorities evacuated the area before it burst. polls are due to open in pakistan's general election shortly. the front—runners in the contest are the governing party of former prime minister nawaz sharif and the challenger pti party lead by cricketer—turned—politician imran khan. he's been accused of benefiting from the support of the country's powerful security establishment. you're up to date with the headlines. now on bbc news it's time for tuesday in parliament. hello and welcome to tuesday

in parliament, our look at the best of the day in the commons and the lords, on the final day before the summer break. on this programme: the government says public sector workers are being given their biggest pay rise in nearly ten years. today we were able to scrap the cap and increase public sector pay. but labour is not convinced. we don't buy it and they demand public sector workers get the pay they deserve. also: another plea for high speed two to be scrapped. is cutting great swathes in our environment damaging ancient woodlands.

and: as the long summer recess gets under way, one peer says don't do it. i do absolutely, my lords, think we should be returning to do ourjob in mid—august and not adjourning thereafter. but first: the government has announced pay awards for some public sector workers. around one million school teachers, prison officers, members of the armed forces, police, doctors, and dentists will see their pay rise between 2% and 3.5%. the move confirms last year's abandoning of the government's 1% pay cap. but some trade unions were demanding five per cent rises and say many of the announced rises fall below the current rate of inflation. there was a mixed reaction when a treasury minister announced the news in the commons. we were able to announce these pay rises only thanks to the hard work and of the british people which has brought down the deficit by over three quarters, and allowed us to reach the point where that debt will begin to fall this year. we did not listen to the cause of the opposition for damaging

splurges, and that is why today we are able to scrap the cap and increase public sector pay. the government thinks it's enough to announce to the press, mr speaker, and yet again on cost proposal which at best leave workers just about breaking even on their austerity/pay whilst civil servants continue to see their pay cut, this is a mendacious exercise based on the announcement today after eight years of the pay cuts for employees, police officers, doctors, and specialist doctors, gps, dentists are all being offered a further real terms pay cut. these proposals will pour his threadbare departments and make further cuts to vital services, and what for? also that the prime minister can get a cheap pr hit to cling onto power. than we do not buy it at labour will demand the public sector

workers get the paid that they deserve. mr speaker, yet again we heard from the opposition front bench, not positive well, the news today, that is going to mean hundreds of pounds more in the pay packets of the public workers, instead we have heard yet more complaints and no solution from the party opposite. for what reason have been announced about cuts in real terms perk schoolteachers when the review body said at 3.5% increase, it was needed across all pay ranges in order to prevent deteriorating trends teacher retention. i think it's important we focus the pay rises on those lowest earning teachers.

i think that's what was being supported across the system. past announcements have unravelled within days, is the cheapest secretary guaranteeing that every single penny to find the teacher pay increase will be coming out of the central budget with not one single penny ali on school budget. i welcome the money but can ask my right honourable friend in terms of them money, where does the 500 million come from within the department because the department already had to make efficiency savings given the extra 1.3 million that went to schools. i thank my honourable friend and i think it's a poor schools receive the extra money so they are able to afford those pay

rises and that money is coming from central budgets, under spent,. i was speaking to constituency teachers who are frustrated because they cannot finalize budgets and now they are able to do so and i think the secretary of state has dodged the question a bit today but can she guarantee today, they will not have to find a penny from their existing budget to fund this? i think one point that many members opposite are missing is that head teachers have significant flexibility in terms of paying their staff. and last year, there was an average corporate 6% rise including promotions. -- 4.6%. the point i am making is that above the pay award already baked in of i%, the department for education is providing extra funding to the tune of 500 million and my honourable friend will be announcing the allocation in due course. earlier this week israel carried out an evacuation of members of syria's white helmets civil defence group from a war zone in south—western syria.

more than 400 volunteers and their families were taken tojordan via the israeli—occupied golan heights. the british government has said it will help to resettle them, providing protection to as many of the volunteers and their families as possible. many other syrian civilians are trapped in the northern part of the country. a labour mp raised the issue. there are several million people in the northern city of idlib today, hundreds of thousands of people being pushed there by the syrian regime, following the siege of other towns. these internal refugees are now waiting for what comes next, and if a rupee debit, the consequences predicted for children will be utterly horrific. she said she'd recently been to southern turkey where she'd met a group of syrian doctors. these doctors, mr speaker, have a target on their backs just for doing theirjobs.

which is an impossiblejob to do but simply because they lack basic supplies that british taxpayers have paid for to get to them. we need to make sure that we carry diplomatic efforts to get the aid across the border. we are all frustrated the difficulty of getting access for humanitarian purposes, and territories which are increasingly controlled by the syrian russians and iranians. so the ability to deliver the humanitarian aid which we have on offer, as perhaps more difficult now than it was when the conflict was at its height, because there are fewer pockets through which we can actually easily deliver the aid we want to deliver. we operates is talking to the honourable lady's former colleague david miliband, different from the white helmet, but wherever there are people delivering humanitarian aid wanted to the maximum access and protection. sir alan duncan. now: the prime minister's announced she is taking personal control of brexit talks with

the european union, with the new brexit secretary "deputising" for her. dominic raab took over from david davis as brexit secretary when mr davis quit in protest at the government's post—brexit trade plans, the so—called chequers agreement. theresa may's announcement came minutes before mr raab appeared at a session of the brexit committee alongside the uk's lead negotiator and head of the prime minister's europe unit, 0lly robbins. he was challenged over the trade plan. even department ministers did not see the detail until thursday, the details were kept from them, is that correct? i do not think so, no, the prime minister met a number of her colleagues over there days and weeks running up to that crucial cabinet meeting, and the proposition that contained in the white paper published a few days after drew many respects on those conversations including collective agreements reached before the meeting. i do not think it's a secret to say

probably the largest meeting she had on the full range of issues was with the secretary of state predecessors. his chief of staff at the time said there was a decision which at the highest level to circumvent the department imperative they had people holding the pen in producing white paper you don't accept that was blue i do not. the two views should swap places because in actual fact are secretary of state being supported by the one next use. what we have done is try to make clear some of the tensions that you understandably referred to, and given the mixed functions that cabinet office were performing, the vote is a matter of the official

level of advice we get, is one team, that determines the ministerial change of command there is one team, and the advice runs to adhere to the function as effectively as possible through the mist your change of command as the statement of the prime minister is productive day, makes crystal clear that she is in charge of negotiations i deputize for her and we very much welcome the excellent advice we get, these arrangements as we move into the final phase of the negotiations, up until october. they are meant to make sure it we have the most effective team, as i said, one chain of command one team and that's the way we get the best deal. earlier mr raab published proposals for how any withdrawal agreement with the eu will be put into law. but the chair was more concerned at the prospect of there being no deal. when i asked you is the commitment that eu citizens lawfully resident in the uk at the end of december 2020 will they be able to stay, you said there would be no wholesale removal of rights,

and ijust wonder on reflection, whether you would like to clarify what exactly you were referring to because if there is no wholesale removing, are their rights that they could lose in the event of there being no deal. i think of you check the transcript i'm happy to clarify, i suggested there would be no wholesale removal of the eu nationals or their rights. you are saying we have to step up preparations for the deal, and you are saying there'll be no wholesale removal of citizens in the event of being no deal, i mean, that isn't really providing any assurance to them about their status is it? with respect mr chairman i think would does give the eu nationals here in the uk and ex—pats abroad a fact that according to the eu, it includes both substantial substantial protection to rights, and mechanism for enforcement of rights, in the withdrawal agreement, direct rights to that agreement in uk courts,

there is also the authority as i set out today, i gave reassurance to the uk ex—pats abroad. dominic raab. a bbc panorama documentary last year exposed staff mistreating detainees at the brook house immigration removal centre, near gatwick airport. the revelations put the spotlight on the management of detention centres. they're used to house illegal immigrants before deportation. a review of the system by stephen shaw noted improvements since his first report two years ago. i'm very grateful to mr shaw for his comprehensive and thoughtful report. it recognises the progress the government has made in reforming immigration detention since his last report in 2016, but it also challenges us to go even further. mrjavid announced four new priorities. let me be clear that the starting point is always immigration detention is only for those whom we are confident that there are no other approaches that will work.

encouraging and supporting people to leave voluntarily is of course preferable. i've asked the home office to do more to explore alternatives to detention. with faith groups and ngos and with an community. as a first app i cannot than a week intend to pilot a scheme that will mendis lovable woman in the community would otherwise be detained. there'll be better support for vulnerable detainees and more published data on immigration detention. finally, i also want to see a new drive on dignity and attention. i want to see an improvement to the basic provisions available to detainees. the practise in some immigration centres of having three detainees in rooms that were designed for two come to a stop immediately. it is telling we have the statement

as the last statement of this parliamentary session and some may be concerned that it will not get the attention it deserves. but in a way, that is symptomatic. immigration detention and the conditions in immigration detention have always existed in the shadows without sufficient scrutiny but that lack of scrutiny has been partly addressed by the shaw review. she welcomed plans to find alternatives to detention. i was shocked at how desperate some of these women were there. some of whom were victims of trafficking and victims of sexual abuse. and should never have been there in the first place. totally unacceptable even if they... the government has waited

for the final minutes before releasing and... i want to welcome some of what the secretary of state has laid out. in his statement i think we would all agree that immigration detention is the fundamental question of human rights liberty and rule of law. the government is running away from scrutiny in this issue. and i welcome the measures the home secretary has announced today and look forward to scrutinising them and our ongoing immigration detention inquiry? we should say to him we've heard some quite shocking evidence in the inquiry including torture victims and recognising those still being locked up for many months. and repeated evidence that the indefinite nature of detention is both traumatising for those who are being held but also means there's no pressure on the home office and immigration system to make swift decisions that we need. the home secretary replied that there would be a proper review

of time limits for detention. you're watching our round—up of the day in the commons and the lords. still to come. "not me, gov." the transport secretary distances himself from the problems on the trains. now it's due to cost upwards of £50 billion and it should open for business in the mid 2020s. but it continues to have vocal opponents. high speed two will see trains running at up to 250 miles an hour, reducing journey times between london and the west midlands initially, before, in the 2030s, its extension to the north west and to yorkshire. however, questions about the financial viability of hs2 continue to be asked. it is good that the hs2 is regularly updating its budget, but it is a pity that nobody knows about it. the last public budget given was in 2013. which is five years ago. since then, we have had reports of land purchase costs being close

to 2 billion over budget and well behind. we had a report in the sunday times last weekend by the infrastructure and projects authority consultant using treasury figures saying that the project is up to 60% over budget. and was in a precarious and fundamentally flawed position. isn't it time we had a review of this project? in the cost and programme terms, because spending 100 billion with no budget since the last five years ago is surely not a good use of public money. we update the cost estimate but we do not share the details of those estimates as they are commercially sensitive. however, the headline numbers will inform the business case as published next in 2019, and on the sunday times article i understand the article was based on an end of row report from a few years ago and of course we don't comment on leaked documents.

the hsz does not recognise or agree with the analysis or the figure it contains and the recent reports authority doherty recently described hsz as being on target to be completed on time and on budget. i beg the minister to do all she can to persuade the government to abandon this insane vanity project. it is causing misery for thousands and thousands of people along the proposed route whose lives it's damaged. it is cutting great sways to our environment including damaging ancient woodlands up and down the country. and all the billions spent will be much better spent improving the whole of the railway network throughout england and wales to the benefit of many people. my lords, what is needed is a step change in railway capacity. it delivers this way beyond what will be delivered in improvements of existing lines. i'm afraid to inform my noble friend that the government is committed to delivering h52 and it does remain on track with strong cross party support and will bring huge economic

benefits that will be felt across the country. lady sugg. well from the trains of the future to the trains of today, or at least the trains of the last month. once again, the transport secretary chris grayling has distanced himself from the severe problems that followed the introduction of a new national train timetable in may. it led to many hundreds of services being delayed or cancelled. mr grayling came before the transport committee. i would accept completely that you're not the industry expert on how to develop rail timetables and that therefore you would want to listen to the views of those with expertise in the rail industry. it's very clear in this document that the secretary of state is where all the arrows are directed at from the industry board and from the board that the recommendations come over to you. are you saying the recommendations were an accurate? are you saying the recommendations were inaccurate? ultimately, you made the decision?

no, i didn't make a decision on the introductory timetable in may, i received an indication from those who are in place to plan the new timetable. and we had a panel and industry board and both recommended the timetable should go ahead. 0bviously, i'm not going to intervene in decisions. i don't run the railways. we have rail professionals too. you made the decision based on the recommendations? i took no decision. i was not asked. nor did i take any decision. i simply listened to the current state of readiness board that said it was fine. i was not asked to take a decision nor did i take one. so the decision tree diagram that's suggest that you sit at the top of the decision tree with recommendations from the industry readiness board and the programme board is rather misleading is it? i mean, i'm not sitting there at the start of may and nobody is coming to me, "go ahead with the timetables? " that is not what happened.

they simply updated the progress, introduced the new timetable which to all intents and purposes was positive. so what i want to understand how is it possible that a plan that received a rating of green, green, and ambergreen, could possibly have gone so badly wrong. surely you should take responsibility for the overall system of delivering the train services that the country needs. that is what the department for transport is for, isn't it? well, the department for transport has a duty for a smooth network. but it is not the job of the department transport to micromanage. it never has been and never should be. chris grayling. well it's one of those quirky features of westminster life. when parliament gets to its final day of term, mps stage a general debate, allowing them to raise any subject they like, national or local. this last day of term was notable for a couple of maiden speeches. when i was a young child and even a young adult,

i never imagined i would become a local counsellor. certainly not an mp. it was quite possibly the furthest thing from my mind. and having grown up with a mum and her endless capacity for compassion and kindness, she gave us children a strong sense of social justice. and i was keenly aware from an early age of the impact of prejudice and discrimination on people around me. i was aware that many black, asian and ethnic people did challenge those who sought to suppress them. there were others who learned how to cope with discrimination rather than to complain. they learned how to suffer rather than to speak out. jared 0'mara defeated sir nick clegg at last year's general election but hadn't before spoken in the commons. i was elected a year ago. but due to the mistakes that i made when i was young, and for which i'm am truly sorry as it hurt a lot of people,

i've been unable to speak in the house with confidence until now. and i currently speak in the capacity of an independent member. in addition to this, i'm also parliaments's first autistic mp, as well as having cerebral palsy and other disabilities. this is something which fills me with immense pride and it is an honour for me to have the chance to represent our country's disabled people and addition to serving my constituents. when i return to parliament in september, i should do so with renewed vigour and unwavering commitment to social justice and i look forward to being the best mp that i can possibly be. meanwhile, the house of lords heard a plea for parliament's long summer break to be drastically cut. my motion this afternoon proposes that we take nearly two weeks off until monday august the 6th. which after all is about the length of holiday that most people get on whose behalf we legislate and deliberate. but i do absolutely, my lords, think that we should be returning to do ourjob in mid august and not

adjourning thereafter. and i can tell your lordships from highly scientific polls of meetings of brexit up and down the country in recent weeks, that this is the view of most of most of the british people, too. he said this august would be busy. i imagine given the activity with which he has been displaying in briefings in the last week, that mr dominic will also be frequently briefing the media on his appearances in brussels and his tussles with the prime minister, on who is actually in charge of negotiations, as this issue has played out over the next few weeks. the only people who are going to be absent from this constant reporting back and media attention on the progress of negotiations will be parliament. on a vote, lord adonis‘ proposal for a greatly reduced recess was heavily defeated, and a few moments later the lords adjourned for the summer. and that's it, not only for this

programme but also for this term. parliament's not due to be back until tuesday the 11th of september, which is when we'll be back for our daily round—up. until then, goodbye from me, keith macdougall, and have a very good summer. hello there. well, tuesday brought some significant contrast in weather conditions across the uk with the south—east of england and east anglia having other dry sunny and hot day, with a top temperature of 31 degrees in suffolk but further north and west, a lot more cloud around thanks to a week whether font with low temperatures

and even patchy light rain. if you look at the satellite picture, cast your eyes out to this swirl of cloud out in the atlantic, this is a significant area of low pressure which is going to reach our shores by the end of the week and bring some of us some significant rainfall. back here and now and to the early hours of wednesday, it is looking largely dry across the board. one of two showers, western scotland, more of a breeze too but elsewhere, dry and a warm, muggy start across south and south—eastern parts of the country. 0n into wednesday, on the whole, it's going to be a dry and brighter day for much of the uk. that sunshine up into the parts scotland, northern ireland, with just a few showers the western isles. maybe the odd shower developing in the heat of the day across east anglia. you can see the orange colours extending further north and westwards. temperatures reaching the low 20s celsius across scotland and northern ireland. high 20s for england and wales with a few locations in the south—east seeing 30 or 31 degrees. into thursday, this

is the peak of the heat. the heat will be spreading north and west, in fact, a good—looking day to most, maybe an odd shower developing in the afternoon. more of a breeze across northern ireland and western scotland ahead of that area of low pressure as you make inroads. notice the red and orange colours pretty widely across england and wales. temperatures ranging from 27 to 33, 3a, maybe 35 degrees somewhere in the south—east. the area of low pressure edges ever closer for friday, sending in its weatherfront initially across western areas for northern ireland and western scotland, western parts of england and wales. ahead of it, there is going to be a cluster of heavy showers and thunderstorms which will develop. some of these could be quite intense across parts of the midlands into northern and eastern england, perhaps with some hail mixed in as well. across the south—east, another hot one, 33, maybe 3a celsius. turning cooler and fresher further west. during friday night into the early hours of saturday, that line of thunderstorms pushes

on into the north sea. one or two showers behind but slightly cooler and fresh appeal to things. that is how the new weekend is shaping up slightly. slightly cool and fresher right across the board. largely dry with some good spells of sunshine bar the odd shower but temperatures a bit more comfortable than where they have been. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: 7a people are confirmed dead in greece as wildfires rip through villages near athens. i took my baby and then towards the sea, but my wife, for people red doors cc to take refuge. but they were too late —— the people ran towards the ocean. after a dam collapses in southern laos, the construction company admits it knew of problems the day before. pakistan's general election gets under way very soon now — but has the army already won?

and the artworks banned by facebook. belgian museums demand a rethink on the social network's nudity policy.