that left more than 800 people dead. lack of equipment is hindering the search for survivors. many desperate residents have turned to looting shops for food, water, and fuel. typhoon trami has made landfall in japan injuring at least 80 people. the storm has now cleared the mainland. the aftermath has brought travel chaos to several cities. gale force winds and heavy rainfall blocked roads and train lines. there's been a low turnout in macedonia on a referendum whether to change the country's name to north macedonia. electoral authorities say little more than a third of macedonians had voted — well short of the 50% needed for it to be valid. now on bbc news — dateline london. hello and a very warm

welcome to dateline london. i'm jane hill. it is party conference season here in britain. we are going to look at labour's week and forward to the conservatives'. we will also turn state—side to see the bitter divisions around the nominee for the supreme court in the us. stephanie baker, senior writer at bloomberg news. marc roche, correspondent for france's le point magazine and many years at le monde as well. alex deane is with us and eunice goes. a warm welcome to all of you. jeremy corbyn told the labour faithful, meeting in liverpool, that he was ready to rebuild a divided country put up e—commerce to renationalise the railways

and create 400,000 jobs in the green economy. delegates also voted to keep options open when it comes to brexit. political watchers spoke with more confidence compared to the year before. will the mood be similar among the conservatives about to meet in birmingham? brexit is the inevitable backdrop and borisjohnson has stuck his neck in againjust before curtain up. lets take time to discuss labour as well first of all. the conference that has been and gone. we might have renationalised railways in the uk. some of us are old enough to remember. which, i think renationalisation, deep investment in public services, more power to the unions and so forth and so on. investment. the problem is, how do you finance that?

that is the weakness of the labour plan which on paper is really good for the future of this country but how do you finance it? if you stop austerity, you have to increase tax. the poor won't pay tax, the rich won't pay tax, it will be on the middle—class and i think that is what labour is doing, you cannot win an election without the middle—class, by taxing them. labour will say those plans are there, in the manifesto. british public opinion wants a cost. it is finished the time when you spend, spend, spend, like in 1983. you know what happened to michael foot, he went to a resounding defeat. the financing is not there. he didn'tjust say he would renationalise rail, but water, energy, the postal service. this is a huge amount of money and not only would they say they will nationalise all of those things and prove that states are better at running those things, he furthermore said they wanted to compel companies to give 10%

of their value to their workers. companies over a certain size, i think. let's think about international investment. if you are thinking about investing in country a, b, c orthe uk, and in the uk you need to dilute your business by 10% over and above what you pay for them, are you more likely to invest in the uk or country a, b and c? of course it makes investment in our country less likely. even the threat of it makes it less likely, let alone doing it. it would cripple british business. would it, stephanie? i would say i would agree. you can impose something like this on companies and companies wouldn't react in the same way. they wouldn't, for instance, cut dividends. it is really a backdoor tax on companies and why not do it? you know, if they want to give workers more say over pay, for instance, it would lead to doing that.

it would lead to companies rethinking their investments in the uk and perhaps thinking of delisting and going elsewhere. but there are plenty of people out there who increasingly support jeremy corbyn, who say why do we always start from the point of what businesses want? that is true. let's talk about real people who are seeing wages stagnate. the battle is also that these companies that are going to be, according to labour's plans, nationalised, they are extremely inefficient in providing terrible services to customers for many years. labour is targeting a popular need with the way the rails are being run. the way that people are being ripped off by utilities. it is also an idea that the british voter no longer buys. the whole question about tax, there is a strong argument to be made about how the top do not pay sufficient tax. they do not invest sufficiently in their companies. a lot of the investment is done by the state from technology, science, innovation and so on. all of that is done by the state so it is about time there is a bit of a payback. another thing that is important to remember, in the 1990s,

labour introduced a windfall tax on privatised utilities to fund welfare reform. they were extremely popular, those ideas, and effective. we were talking about labour's plans to compel businesses to create more shares and give them to their workers. your comment was to defend denationalisation. what about the idea, giving them out to your workforce, more likely to make businesses leave the uk?

i don't know! i think the proposals are not sufficiently detailed. there is four years ahead to the next election. this is a conversation. the cost of some of the labour plans they have outlined, is that the best way to spend money? it is not about whether the state is spending more but is that the best way to spend the money? would it be better to spending on infrastructure? that is owned by the private sector, the infrastructure.

the amount of money the british taxpayer has given to private utilities to private rail operators and so on, i think it is a good time to call bluff. we have already proved we could spend the whole programme discussing that. i want to look ahead because the conservatives are about to meet in birmingham. marc, how do you view the week ahead? we have had a huge intervention from the former foreign secretary, deliberately timed. how do you view the prospects? i think theresa may, from my point of view, is in a strong position because she is the only one who can deliver an agreement on brexit, to have soft brexit, and to have an agreement with the soviet union. laughter. i mean european union! freudian slip. to deliver that and she has this argument, it is me orjeremy corbyn. all the other candidates

are either possible candidates to the leadership, either untried, or borisjohnson, and for someone who is very attached to defence of the morality, how can you have serial adulterer as prime minister? i don't get it. pro—brexit, hard brexit tories who do not want chequers and 40 pro remain tory mps who don't want this super—canada. i don't know how she gets herself out of that besides doing what many think is a giant fudge or a kind of blind brexit where she comes up with a vaguely—worded political statement that anyone can kind of spin as they have won. i think it is impossible. there is no parliamentary majority for either. it would be very hard

for her to even get a fudge through because it is attached to this high price divorce bill, £39 billion. is that all we are getting in exchange, if there is no uncertain future and there is a true question... there is no other choice for britain. britain wants to leave. britain is not prepared, britain is divided and europe is united. do you think macron would have signed up? will he relent on that? the only way could be stopped by macron. what will theresa may say? only one of us has got a book out about britain's success. well, you can't go half, you are a brexiteer now. no, i am not.

i am not a brexiteer, i am a remainer who knows the fact that brexit is going to happen. at the centre was a stage upon which things were played out. in labour, issues were debated and there were real policy arguments. now, of course, there is so much pressure on theresa may for the speech to go right. every single conference is the most important speech but this really is crunch time. whereas in labour, it was between basically the unions on the one hand and momentum on the other, for control of the hall. there was all of this energy

and basically momentum won. the sea of palestinian flags and the conference hall was united. we want to know what theresa may has to do in her conference speech now. is her option, as stephanie outlined, what will she say? she needs a very low bar. she needs her voice not to go, her stage not to collapse around her, she needs... she will still have to say something about brexit. she will say something about the chequers agreement. god bless her, she has really stuck to her guns. i think people will look back and see her resilience. thank god she was really not campaigning on either side of the brexit debate. stephanie is right, she has pressures on both wings but any other person would have had one of those wings over balancing. she has pulled it off. pulled what off? what are we getting towards? we have an eu summit in november. i think the outcome is that we leave

in march on something akin to the chequers agreement. my point is, for brexiteers like me, there is the danger of another referendum. that is the biggest danger. the process still gets stymied. we have less than six months to go... what is wrong with a second vote? i want eunice to come in. eunice, your thoughts... she is quite isolated. she has shown incredible resilience and stood her ground. she has the party behind her, the members and voters are behind her. they cannot foresee anyone else negotiating brexit in better terms

than the one she will negotiate. no one knows what the terms will be, it will be a fudge, the eu is terribly good at producing fudges and that is the kind of fudge that will let us through march. there will come a moment where britain has really to decide what kind of relationship it wants with the european union. this can't go on for years and this is, for europeans, becoming increasingly frustrating because we have been discussing britain since 2010. this has dominated so many european summits. it has to stop. britain has to choose what kind of relationship... your final point on this, marc. immigration reform, eastern europe.

to be frank, the brexit agreement will be easy to do. the conservative party conference is this week which means we can take stock in one week's time. political divisions have been laid well and truly bare on capitol hill in the last few days, watched by more than 20 million americans on television, as the senatejudiciary committee questioned president trump's nominee to the supreme court. there were powerful and emotional scenes as the committee heard from christine blasey ford, a university professor who is one of three women who have accused brett kavanaugh of sexual assault. the nominee himself was often aggressive and angry in his questioning that followed. the division between republicans and democrats in response to the testimonies was stark. stephanie, as we go to air, it looks like we have a one—week delay. there will be some sort

of fbi investigation. whatever that throws up, it seems the last few days on capitol hill were really unedifying. yeah, i think it was emotionally wrenching for everyone who watched that. i think it is incredibly difficult to predict how this will play out, i think. even with a week's delay in an fbi investigation, that's not a long time to get to the bottom of what happened 36 years ago. it's unrealistic to think that they will come up with something that could change the outcome. the issue is if somebody else comes forward in the meantime, that gives more credibility to what is already widely accepted as very credible testimony by christine blasey ford. that makes it harder for some of the more moderate republican senators, lisa murkowski of alaska and susan collins of maine, to vote against kavanaugh. i think it is really down — they are both under a huge amount

of pressure on this, to get this right. and you'll see from the polls that have come out more recently that republican women are dropping in support for kavanaugh dramatically, i think they have dropped about 18%. and is your point that republicans, lawmakers, following those polls, and actually, is that having any resonance with them ? in the ultimate decision? they're worried about how this will play out in the midterms. they don't want republican women to stay at home, because they are so disgusted with what happened. and i think for many women who watched ford's testimony, it all rang too true. it sounded right. no—one could imagine why a woman would come forward with a story like this. she's got no motivation. it's come at a tremendous personal cost. she is dead certain it was him. he has come back with a counter testimony that was, you know,

he was understandably angry, but he was unhinged and uncontrolled, and many people are now seeing that that was an unbecoming demeanour for a supreme court justice. because he was so evasive, and kicked back questions, particularly one question to a female senator, "well, do you have a drinking problem?" he looked more like a petulant teenager than a supreme court justice. he is a man who is already a judge and he has gone through many investigations in the past to reach that point, as the republicans are keen to remind us. is there anyone who thinks in terms of this nomination, someone is innocent until proven guilty, whatever the charge? i do. i'm surprised by the way that this discussion has gone, because don't you believe in the presumption of innocence? well, i don't think you can get to the bottom of this in a week. i think the fact that he resisted having an fbi investigation,

eight times he was offered, why not get the fbi to investigate? if there is nothing to this, why doesn't he want to clear his name? that is proper due process, to have a proper investigation. why is he worried about it? that's remarkable, to say this is proper due process. as i understand it, you may know better, the democrats had her letter from august, sat on it, she wanted to have these hearings privately, which i think would have made more sense, given the allegations. she did not want her letter released... i completely understand about. she had control over that. she had no problem with the way dianne feinstein handled that... you think she released it? the suggestion is the democrats leaked it. we don't know who leaked it, but diane feinstein has denied her office was involved in the leak... crosstalk. wait, wait, wait. marc, briefly. and then eunice. at the end of the day,

you cannot have a supreme court judge with a rape accusation hovering over him. you know, the wife of caesar has to be above suspicion. this is the supreme court. so he has to withdraw. what i find also extraordinary is that we are shifting the discussion from a traumatic experience of a woman, and we are questioning the veracity, either her memory was failing or she has an ulterior motive, and asserting the presumption of innocence, of course he's entitled to that, he has a presumption of innocence, well, the attack dogs that were launched on dr ford were very undignified. and the optics of that vote were absolutely terrible. this was gilead. this was an image out of gilead, and we are in 2018. scary. when you say "of course i believe in the presumption of innocence, but", what you really mean is, "i don't believe in the presumption of innocence." but why isn't dr ford not

also given that trust? she is not being accused of something. she is. she is being accused of lying. she is being accused of having an ulterior motive. there is no way we are going to get to the bottom of it unless proper time is given to investigate the allegations, and i don't understand, if he does not want this cloud hanging over him 30 or 40 years he is on the court, really, why not go through a proper investigation, and we can come to... crosstalk. they have been saying, i interviewed a republican on friday, who said you could have had a long stay, not the one week we are looking at right now, the best thing to do for the due process would be to have a very, very long stay. there's no harm done. you don't need to have this newjustice in place immediately. then it totally clears the air and it's a proper process. and they still have time to get another justice through before january. it's not — there's no

need to rush this. marc, that is... with this accusation, we can't have someone accused of being a rapist on the supreme court. that is precisely what happened with clarence thomas, who had to defend his name in the senate in much the same way, and he has been a finejustice. he was terrible. that's questionable. let's talk more broadly about the supreme court and why so many people have been watching and why this is so significant. the point is, obviously, it is a presidential nominee. that's how the system works. talk us through the balance of the supreme court and why this is so gripping for people in the united states, because again, it is an appointment for life and this is about whether the supreme court, whether it ends up being brett kavanaugh or somebody else. well, it is such a big battle, because kavanaugh, if confirmed, would replacejustice kennedy, who for decades was the swing vote on the court, and kept the court more or less balanced between conservative and liberal, through a number of decisions. if kavanaugh is confirmed, he would solidify a conservative

majority for decades to come. and that means that issues that would come before the court, such as the rights of labour unions, gun rights, and importantly, the states' ability to restrict abortion, would come before the court. and he would be the crucial vote on these issues. we have already seen, with the confirmation of neil gorsuch, trump's last pick for the supreme court, he was the crucial vote, and there were some very important decisions, on labour rights and regulatory issues, and i think that's why this is so big. this is the first time in years where we're going to have a conservative, a solid conservative majority on the supreme court that could change laws for decades to come. yes, but in the end, your position might be that this is what happens with this justice, let's get anotherjustice. how can we expect anything other, if these tricks work,

than to say the next justice will have allegations about him or her, about things that may or may not have happened 30 years ago, can't say where or when, to torpedo their nomination as well, until we get somebody more to the left? neil gorsuch was confirmed and there was none of this. there was none of this. but now, on your basis, we are going to see this work. there is no evidence that christine blasey ford was part of some democratic conspiracy. the real problem with kavanaugh now with that in his testimony on thursday he ripped into the democratic party inaway... how would you feel, if they were saying untrue things about you? he was saying it was a hitjob. the concern is that if he is confirmed, he has now shown a partisanship that is very unbecoming for a supreme court justice and it really questions his ability to rule impartially. marc, as an outside observer, if i can put it that way, as a non—american, what did you think, just watching what went on on capitol hill, what went through your mind? i think america at the moment is so divided between conservative

and liberal, but i agree completely with stephanie. of course, you know, in france, you do not have a supreme court with such importance in the social domain, you know? like abortion. yes, it's a distinction. yes. it's a big distinction. that is why it is so terrifying to have someone who has a suspicion, i can put it, i don't know if he did it or not, a suspicion of rape above his head. as stephanie said, we can have another conservative, but at least one who is clean. if you agree with stephanie though, i can ask both of you, what could he possibly have done or said that would've satisfied you, once the allegation, which we apparently must believe, once this allegation is made? is itjust the case that once this allegation is made, it must be believed and the person is finished? have the fbi, he should say, i want the fbi to look at this. because i believe i am innocent and i believe the fbi investigation will prove my innocence. christine blasey ford has said

i want an fbi investigation. why is he so resistant? a final thought from you, as well, on the point about the importance of the supreme court and why the next appointment matters so much. well, it is because of the reasons that stephanie already mentioned. it's an extremely important position. it's a position for a very long time. a position which, to a certain extent, is the barometer of morality in the united states. it's a very long period of time. and to have a supreme courtjustice that has this cloud hanging over him, and a demeanour which frankly demeans the office that he is about to represent, doesn't look good. so you must be serene about these things. would you be? i am not a candidate to the supreme court of the united states. this is the point. and this debate will continue, probably around this table for the next few minutes, but i am afraid our time is up on dateline london this week. plenty more to discuss at the same time next week. dojoin us if you can.

have a good week. goodbye. hello there. the fairly widespread showers we have seen today across the northern half of the uk will increasingly become confined to northern scotland and irish sea coasts overnight as a rigid high—pressure moves in. what that high—pressure will do is ten to clear the skies, so it will be a dry nights for the majority of loss and the wins will fall light. temperatures really taking a bit of a dive. we will see things getting cold enough and pockets of frost particularly in scotland, northern england, or though there could be one 01’ england, or though there could be one or two areas england, or though there could be one 01’ two areas in england, or though there could be one or two areas in northern ireland. the towns and cities also

pretty chilly first thing monday morning, it will be a cold start to the day that they will also be plenty of morning sunshine to look forward to. however, as we go through the day, things will turn cloudier in the north and west of the uk. 0utbreaks cloudier in the north and west of the uk. outbreaks of rain getting into the north and west of scotland, the highlands and the north isles as we get to the day as well. that means an increasingly heavy through the afternoon. that is your latest weather. —— that rain will turn increasingly heavy. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is martin stanford. our top stories — lack of equipment hinders the search for survivors in indonesia after the earthquake and tsunami that left more than 800 people dead. as aid supplies trickle in, many desperate residents resort to looting. translation: we need to eat. we

don't have any other choice, we must get food. s translation: we have nothing for our basic needs. food, water, we desperately need them. and, macedonia's prime minister says he will seek parliamentary approval to change the country's name despite the low turn—out in a referendum.