john took exception to the use on screen of audience reaction to what the guests were saying, asking: dave smith declared himself very impressed. the biggest controversy over politics live, one which even hit the pages of the sun newspaper, was prompted by the line—up on monday's first programme. joining me today, former home secretary amber rudd, shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry, the telegraph's camilla tom lee, the guardian's anoushka asta na, tom lee, the guardian's anoushka astana, and the bbc‘s laura collins boat. one viewer thought it was a heavyweight panel. others were scathing about

complaints that this was a stunt, with bernadette tweeting. to discuss all that, i'm joined by rob burleigh, the bbc‘s editor of live political programmes. was it a stu nt? political programmes. was it a stunt? i started to think, who would we like our first show. amber rudd

had not done much media since she home office. i started to think you would be a good labour counterpart andi would be a good labour counterpart and i thought emily thornberry, who is one of the rising stars of the labour party. the point was reached where i looked at the panel we had andi where i looked at the panel we had and i thought, that's a great panel. and we discussed the fact that it was an all woman panel. i said, am a co mforta ble was an all woman panel. i said, am a comfortable and we were. it was the best panel we could hope. it wasn't a stunt, it was a genuine process by whereby it clearly ended up with, and we included laura kuenssberg you say, we need to have some balance? there is a context here. the many years, we were used to

seeing panels. the many years, we have had a problem with underrepresentation of women who represent just over underrepresentation of women who representjust over half of the population is there is no secret there is a concerted effort within there is a concerted effort within the bbc to choose the best guests but also to try and achieve 50— 50 parity between genders. i arrived at this panel that if i had been faced with an all—male panel, i would put it in that context. i'm not suggesting i wouldn't have done but i'd also say this would come to the end of the first week of politics live, we are actually at 50— 50. of the people we invited, we are 18 men and 18 women. we are 50—50. the people we invited, we are 18 men and 18 women. we are 50-50. we do

know that budget cuts are the reason that these changes. because of where we are in funding, cuts have had to be made. none of us like to cut things back. but i would say, of course, sunday politics ended anthony personally, obviously the many people who watched it, that was bad news. the regional element of that programme, the national element, they are maintained and they all come back on the back of martial on sundays to enhance those. idid martial on sundays to enhance those. i did accept that politics live is about cuts. it's short on monday, tuesday, thursday and friday but i think a 45— minute duration is a good duration for a political programme and people at the end of it are feeling they want more. i accept that there have been some changes and it's meant some savings

and that is never positive or nice but what we have is positive and reaffirms not just our but what we have is positive and reaffirms notjust our commitment but doing it in a different way. number of viewers say politics live isa dumbed number of viewers say politics live is a dumbed down chat show. if that's their view, are entitled. this is a programme that is looked at issues around brexit, local government finance, all the big issues in politics are looked at in depth but the difference is that we have a more conversational, open programme. the overwhelming reaction that i have received to the programme has been incredibly positive because we are in a situation where was being regarded asa situation where was being regarded as a toxic political cut short, we can now have conversations that are real and i think that's really positive. that's what we achieve on this programme. there is no dumbing down, no credibility cheer the idea that it's dumbed down. people who

tell me say, this is accessible, this is aimed at me and i'm very proud of it. is it about trying to attract younger audiences? it's important we attract younger audiences but we are not engaging and dad dancing, trying to be cool and dad dancing, trying to be cool and young, then patronising. what we are doing is accessible show which i think will appeal to people of whatever age and young people trust the bbc. we need to try and cater to that. interesting stuff from sixth form colleges, classes who watched the programme, and they talk about how much the young people involved, how much the young people involved, how much the young people involved, how much they enjoy a programme that doesn't seem to be about arguing, disrespectful or confrontational. they didn't mention or notice an all women panel on that show, theyjust

noticed a new way of doing politics. i think that's encouraging. thank you very much. do let us know your thoughts on politics live or on any aspect of bbc news. details on how to contact us bbc news. details on how to contact us at the end of the programme. a couple of your other pro— comments before we go and another change to the bbc‘s political programmes has caught the attention of some. the andrew marr show has been a picture at 9am on sunday morning the years but when it returned last week in the start of its new series, it did start at a new slot an hour later at ten o'clock with a repeat of much of the day taking its place at nine. the bbc says research shows the available audience is higher at ten but some of the regular audience we re but some of the regular audience were unhappy. finally, we are not all about

complaints newswatch. sometimes the plaudits come in, as they differ reports this week on the news at ten from the bbc‘s chief international correspondent. she spoke to one yazidi woman who'd returned home after being enslaved for years. translation: i was scared to come back, i was scared my family would kill me and i was so surprised that the welcome i got. you can begin to imagine what women like her have been through at the hands of so—called islamic state. daily beatings, brutalisation and there are said to be 3000 more yazidi women and children still missing, still captured by islamic state. william hussey was one of those

applauding that report. thank you for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions on bbc news and current affairs or even appear on the programme, you can call us or emailing new swatch. you can find us on twitter and do have a look at our website. we will hear more about your thoughts of bbc news coverage again next week. good morning. the weekend is upon us. many of us will see a little bit of rain at some stage in the weekend. that is by no means the whole story. there will be a lot of dry weather

around as well and some spells of sunshine. quite a complex pressure pattern. high pressure to the south. one area of low pressure to the north—east. then this wriggling weather front pushing in from the atlantic. this is essentially going to send a pipeline of moisture in across central parts of the uk. for wales, the midlands, northern england, we will seek outbreaks of rain through the day, the odd heavy burst. some of that rain dribbling down into east anglia. the further south you are more in the way of dry weather, some brightness and brighter skies to be had further north through saturday afternoon. extra cloud through the far north—east of scotland. get yourself into some sunshine. aberdeen 16, 17 in glasgow. a cool fresh feel, similar story for northern ireland. northern england into wales and the midlands, outbreaks of rain at times, the odd heavy burst over the hills, particularly. it will be quite breezy. breezy further south as well.

towards the channel islands you may see breaks in the cloud and a little bit of sunshine. remember that pipeline of moisture, it piles its way in as we go through saturday night into sunday. at this stage the rain will drift further north as well, perhaps getting into southern scotland. cool in north—east scotland, further south with a fair amount of cloud it will be mild. outbreaks of rain across western and some northern parts of the uk. there could be patchy rain and drizzle around through the morning, close to newcastle, as the great north run gets under way. as we go on through the day i am hopeful the cloud will start to break up. we'll see spells of sunshine developing into the afternoon. temperatures 16 or 17. fairly breezy. across the rest of the country, similar. rain will drift across many northern parts of england, northern ireland, and scotland. rain continues across northern scotland through the day. some thundery showers later on.

increasingly windy. further south, more sunshine towards the south—east and some slightly higher temperatures as well. moving out of sunday and into monday, high pressure still influencing weather in the south. more frontal systems towards the north—west. it'll be northern and western parts of the uk that see outbreaks of rain, often breezy conditions. further south, more in the way of dry weather. some sunshine. and it will start to warm up as well. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: barack obama calls for honesty and decency to be restored in the us government. now president trump hits back. he said, "what do you think of president obama's speech?" and i said, "i'm sorry, i watched it but i fell asleep." after a week of fighting, a fragile ceasefire — the bbc makes it into

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