the scale of destruction wrought by hurricane michael in the us is becoming clearer. the storm hit florida and then made its way northeast. video shot from a helicopter shows rows of houses near coastal areas ripped from their foundations. hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are without electricity. russia has halted manned missions to the international space station while an investigation is held into why the crew of a soyuz spacecraft were forced to make an emergency landing minutes after lift—off. the russian cosmonaut and his american colleague are spending the night hospital under observation. scientists in china say they've managed to genetically produce healthy baby mice with two mothers and no father. they took an egg from one female mouse and a type of stem cell from another. they then used gene editing to delete some of their dna to make them compatible. it's just after half past two in the morning. now on bbc news, a look back at the day in parliament.

hello and welcome to our daily round—up of the day in parliament. a day when the government came under growing pressure to rethink its flagship welfare reform. the damage that is going on now, let alone next year, cannot be underestimated. but ministers insisted things are on track. we are making sure no one sees a reduction in their benefits when they move onto universal credit. mps will continue to plan after brexit. as mps debated plans to help support victims of crime, labour reckoned there was a long way to go. the experience many victims have with the criminaljustice system is frankly disgraceful. but first, there is mounting pressure on the government over

the introduction of universal credit — a new welfare system that combines six working age benefits into one payment. in the last few days, two former prime ministers have criticised the way it is being introduced. labour's gordon brown warned the roll—out with another 2 million claimants next year could lead to poll tax style chaos, in what he called "the summer of discontent". the work and pensions secretary estimate admitted that some people could be worse off because of the switch. she said there will be protection for those affected. and the former conservative prime minister, john major, also compared the changes to the poll tax that helped in margaret thatcher's time and downing street. —— in downing. in the questions, labour mps queued up to condemn the change. it is causing real hardship to people. we've now got the intervention of two former prime ministers, half of all lone parents and two thirds of couples with children

stand to lose £200 each month. is that correct? that is what the secretary of state allegedly said to the cabinet. we want to know, in this house, whether that is true. i would encourage her not to believe everything she sees in the press. as my right honourable friend the secretary of state has made clear, we're making sure no one sees a reduction in their benefits when we move them onto universal credit. there is frequent {3.1 billion of transitional protections being provided. as well as criticisms from former prime ministers, the architect of universal credit iain duncan smith quit as work and pensions secretary, protested customers funding. he told the bbc it needed an extra £2 billion to operate as planned. labour mps wanted answers. will the minister make a statement about what is actually happening on the ground, rather than take cover in generalise statements that are often hiding in reality of acute

hardship for people in need? the damage that is going on now, let alone next year, cannot be underestimated. the government is determined to continue with the roll—out of universal credit because it is helping more people back into work. the government has also, however, been determined to improve the system as we roll it out, which is why it has been piloted. and what we have done following lessons learned from those pilot roll—outs is we have raised advances to 100% of the first month payment. we have made it quicker and easier to get those payments. so that anybody who needs it can now get paid on the very first day of their claim. we've scrapped the seven—day waiting period. we've also formed a new partnership, the citizens advice, to help people to be able to actually claim universal credit. so all of these are measures that have been taken as a result of the very sensible proposals made in this place, and by constituents.

but nevertheless, the roll—out will take place, and we're making sure no one sees a reduction in their benefits when they are moved onto universal credit. my constituent has been in and out of work, so has now been told he is unable, in fact he has exhausted a number of universal credit advance payments that he can receive. he's out for now, received his last paycheque two weeks ago. he has even exhausted all his food bank vouchers. the dwp told him he will have to wait seven weeks for any sort of payment for something to interventions from my office. he's been awarded £350 towards paying his rent which is not enough. can i ask the leader, most sincerely, for an urgent debate on government time on the horrendous realities of the universal credit roll—out and the impact it is having on constituents on all sides of the house? and please, please, do notjust refer me to dwp questions next week. we need a debate because the realities of universal credit are truly abhorrent. hear, hear!

well, i am extremely sympathetic to the honourable gentleman's points. but he will be aware that the opposition day debate on wednesday is on the subject of universal credit and he will have the opportunity to raise the issue there, as well as at the dwp questions on monday which is the appropriate place to raise it. but i do want say that we have been clear that universal credit is designed to simplify benefits for people. there are many examples. i can give many examples of recipients who have found it much easier to manage. we are making sure no one sees a reduction in their benefits when they move onto universal credit. and she told him to raise his case with ministers when they were in the chamber for work and pensions questions on monday. you may remember from wednesday's programme that mps were told there was a risk flights between the uk and the eu could be grounded after brexit.

the head of the nation's spending workshops to the brexit committee said it was not implausible or impossible that planes will be stopped from flying. a day later at questions, the chair of the transport committee took her chance to put ministers on the spot. in october 2016, the secretary of state told the transport committee that future aviation arrangements part of the brexit negotiations in the next few months and would be handled. a year later, no evidence of progress. they assured us that planes, there was no danger of planes being grounded by no—deal brexit. a year on, it is clear that the government's owned... —— own technical notice that this is a real possibility. who in government is handling this? what progress has been made? what confidence can people have booking flights? and how can we reach any other conclusion than the conclusion that this has been badly mishandled? hear, hear! the honourable lady has got this completely wrong.

there is nothing the government has said or done to acquire that planes will be grounded, there will be no flights after we leave the european union. i give this house categorical assurance that flights are going to continue, and interestingly those in the aviation industry, mr speaker, who have been most vociferous about the risk of planes being grounded, are now selling tickets for next summer and expanding the number of routes from the united kingdom to the european union next number. chris grayling, trying to reassure anyone to book a holiday for next easter. later he was said to give more details of a review of the railways announced next month, in the wake of the collapse of the east caost railway franchise and the chaos that fouled the introduction of new timetables in may. mr grayling said it was time for revolutionary change. but he brushed aside labour's call for nationalisation. some have her call for a return to national state run locally. go back to the days of british rail. there is an expectation that taking on hundreds of millions of pounds of debt onto the government books will magically resolve every problem.

this fails to recognise that many of the problems customers face this year were down to the nationalised parts of the railway. exactly! hear, hear! yes! it also creates the false sense, madam deputy speaker, that a government controlled rebrand would somehow make every train work on time. those who make this argument failed to tell passengers that the much—needed investment taking place today would be at risk and the taxpayers money would be averaging from public services to subsidize losses. the review will be led by keith williams. deputy chairmanjohn lewis, shadow transport secretary said it was a cover—up of mr grayling's own disastrous failure to run the railways properly. isn't it the truth that we don't need another review to tell us what is wrong with the railway? what more do we need from a real outsider, to tell us what we know already. is that the expertise that we need? also, can he tell us how many days a month keith williams

will contribute to the review? my sources tell me one day a month. hardly worth the bother, is it? will he stand here and rule out the premise of network rail, which he seems to keep saying the nationalisation of network rail is the problem? we do not want a repeat of the tory railtrack we had, by privatising the state infrastructure. so will he do that today? this review will look comprehensively at the structure of the industry. it is designed to deliver genuine change. i do not expect the industry to emerge in this review in the same shape that it is today. it is important that we find a structure that works for the public and works for the passengers. but no i do not intend to transfer the ownership of network rail to the private sector. injuly it was revealed that the uk would share evidence with the united states in the case of two men accused of carrying out atrocities while fighting for so—called islamic state. but ministers were criticised when it became clear that the government would not ask for assurances, but the death penalty was suspended

if the men were convicted. the two men are alexanda kotey and el shafee elsheikh from west london. accused of being the surviving members for group nicknamed the beatles because of their british accents. the mother of one of the men has mounted a high court challenge to the government sharing of evidence with the us. and the decision in that case is expected at a later date. security minister ben wallace that the government's opposition to the death penalty had not changed. labour's chris bryant said that was tough. —— was guff. yesterday the government marked world end the death penalty day by declaring, as the minister has again today, that had has committed to oppose the use of the death

penalty and also possesses as a matter of principle. in the past, that has always meant that the cooperating with the foreign judicial system where the death penalty is in operation, we seek assurances in every case that the suspects will not face the death penalty. yes the minister admitted on the 23rd ofjuly, the government secretly decided early this year not to seek such assurances in the case of two foreign fighters. i want to see those fighters face justice. but in fact, the people who have lost family members to those people do not want them to face the death penalty. chris bryant said the minister has cited precedents, where an exception for the death penalty had not been sought post—op and he wanted more details about those cases. mr speaker, you know what i think really happened? the government got the collywobbles. jeff sessions huffed and puffed and blew the home secretary down, the prime minister decided to cower down to trump and the government changed the policy secretly without telling this house. my right honourable friend the home secretary and my right honourable friend the foreign secretary considered this strongly. they found that there are strong reasons and took the necessary decision that in this case, we would share with the united states evidence on the condition that guantanamo

was not part of the process. but in this case, that we did not seek death penalty assurances. many of these fighters are seeking to undermine our democratic values by the most evil and despicable of means. does the minister therefore understand the central importance of not outsourcing our moral and ethical basis, by helping in the execution of the death penalty against those democratic values? ben wallace that in this case the decision was taken to share evidence with the us, which has an independentjudiciary and the rule of law. there were strong reasons to do that without seeking a death penalty assurance. you're watching thursday in parliament with me, david cornock. don't forget that if you miss a programme or you just want to watch it again, you can catch up with the bbc iplayer. normally it is how mps

vote in the house of commons that makes waves. but on wednesday night it was the dup‘s decision not to take part in a vote on the agriculture bill that may have worried downing street rather more. theresa may relies on the nine dup mps for her comments majority. and they are now threatening to vote against the government if they do not like her brexit deal. 0pposition mps struggled to contain their sympathy. well, it looks like the shortest romance in political history is coming to an acrimonious end. forged in the passion of £1 billion dowry, how could they possibly have resisted the abundant charms of the cuddly dup? laughter it can be signed by a border between them, as the best irish sea, as the star—crossed political lovers will now bring themselves down as well as the country? the leader of the commons said the negotiations were always going to be complex.

i do think that all honourable members do need to give the prime minister the opportunity to finalise what is an arrangement that is 85% agreed, and the arrangements on the northern ireland issue and also that of the future trading arrangements do need to be given the space to be properly negotiated. that is what responsible parliament will do. the northern ireland issue was highlighted in the lords as peers debated the impact of brexit. it's 20 years since the good friday agreement was signed, every agreement that relied on ireland in the uk being in the eu barring some of the divisions. the debate was led by a labour peer with the northern ireland minister at the time. seems to me we are facing enormous difficulties as result of trying to deal with the good friday people. we don't have answers yet. when zouma have no answers. we have heard people say you should forget about the agreement and i think that's absolutely wrong. and a dup peer said fears were overstated.

the vast majority of people right across northern ireland from both communities and in the republic of ireland have no intention of allowing the people to resume their destructive campaign. the language the employee must be measured so as to not give encouragement to the evil perpetrators of violence for their own selfish ends. the former first minister said the agreement has led to a change in the relationship between ireland and the uk. that is now being threatened. and it's being threatened not by us in northern ireland but by brussels and dublin. and they need to think again about who their friends really are. and northern ireland minister said the uk and ireland would suffer

if there is no deal with brussels. indeed, that's why the backstop position is bare. to ensure that should we not be in this particular moment able to secure the appropriate listenership the uk as a whole not divided up across any borders, but the uk as a whole remains within the customs union until such time as we can secure the appropriate developed sensible relationship between the eu and ourselves. and he said the government would not allow lines to be drawn that divide the home nations of the united kingdom. their key concern. and he spent the afternoon debating the ever met‘s victim strategy that supports those who have been affected by crime. it contains proposals to consult on a revised victim code and on the detail of victim focused legislation. the minister said that someone was a victim of crime should not then become a victim of a process that follows. i believe the strategy is a reflection of how we should seek to see ourselves as a nation.

one that offers dignity, empathy and compassion to be one there at their most vulnerable. visit consisted in this house and it action being taken by this government to reduce crime and reduce the number of victims of crime. this strategy will help ensure that when someone does become a victim of crime the support they need is there. labour is said the blueprint did not address the fundamental issues on which campaigners have long demanded action started out why no measures to stop the barbaric process of allowing victims to be cross examined in a way to undermine their credibility? missing instances of rape survivors being grilled by their previous partners, their underwear and even about owning sex toys and attempts to undermine credibility and that there sexual history meant that they were consenting to their rapists. the experience that many victims have with the criminaljustice

system is disgraceful. we need a law with teeth and consider without huge changes across government they experience that they have the criminaljustice system will not get better. how can your are mysteriously approved the experience of victims while also slashing budgets? they said that progress had been made but there was room for improvement. the constituents would have been a victim of sexual offences, coercion and domestic violence. communication from the police had been bad but things got worse after the suspect was released on bail. at the incident that led to a re—and application to vary the conditions the hearing was missed because as far as would have been able to ascertain because

the suspect was taken to the wrong court on the day of the hearing after a weekend in a police cell and sought after having missed the hearing he was released on bail after the existing conditions. friends of former colleagues of the late prime minister sir edward heath have stepped up calls for an inquiry into the way historical sex abuse allegations against him were investigated. server died in 2005, ten years later wiltshire police launched operation, for into the allegations of sexual abuse. although they said he would have been questioned if you are alive and it said no inference of guilt should be drawn from this. is quite disgraceful that a year after the completion of the deeply flawed operation nothing whatsoever has been done about the slur which unsubstantiated allegations have left of the repetition? a home office minister rejected

the idea that the government should intervene. i do completely recognise the desire of noble lords to find a solution to this and it's unfortunate that the operation was not able to resolve conclusively the position in relation to the allegations made against them. they said there was a pattern of false allegations made against famous people. isn't it about time the government stopped turning a blind eye to these huge breaches of human rights? and reviewed the law particularly of anonymity and composition? britishjustice is being trashed and we are witnesses to it. i do absolutely recognise the strength of feeling from noble lords particularly in relation to those who have died who are not here to speak for themselves. lord armstrong worked for sarenren bazee in downing

street. the operation spent two years in 1,000,000 and a half pounds conducting a whole range of interviews of those that had noted him or work for him. and it is not a stupid of evidence to support allegations of child abuse. very dodgy evidence and at times justice was injected into the situation and now this would be the time to do that. the minister again rejected the idea that the government should intervene. labour has attacked a government plan to sell almost £4 billion of the english student loan book. the shadow education secretary brought a message the commons to make an urgent statement. she said the government had snuck out the plan the night before and demanded to hear the reasoning behind the policy. mr carrier stagette it any

justification for this policy with selling off an asset to fly this government's tolerable position on national data? with nearly £1 billion lost in their sale can he tell us just how low the sale price would have to go before the decided it since it was not worth it? in short, mr speaker, just how much public money do we have to lose before the education minister stars learning their own lessons. mr speaker, thank you. i certainly object the point that was made that the loan sales were snuck. the radar but this is a written ministerial statement and a 20 spokesperson was in a position to bring an urgent question today. student loan sales in this country have taken place over nearly two decades.

this is not new. he said the sales started under the last labour government in the 1990s. this is good for the taxpayer. once you have been to university and says no public purpose to have the money tied up. they release the money to invest in other priorities. the financial services sector, the son of people buying this are the least trusted people in this country. isn't it a fact that there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of former students out there was something like £50,000 of personal debt extremely worried about what will happen to the data that they sold to these unscrupulous people? the loans that we currently have our inter—contingent loans that are collected through the tax system which means that even when the loans are sold off the new owner of the loans has no means or mechanism to contact the students

were to chase them for payment. the new mr seems to be saying that he is selling off the student loan book to invest in the public services that his government has a slash. but given it is the end of austerity should not be possible to invest in those public services without privatizing the financing of our higher education and the debt of so many students? all the government is doing is trying to capture today an income stream that it will get over 25 to 30 years. this is money that is due to the government and its coming to a financial relationship and that allows it to capture the money today. as the last labour government saw fit and so this government sees fit its sensible and prudent way to manage the government finances. this is a example of the government selling off short—term assets for capital gain. can the minister confirm how much

of the loan but he intends to sell off, and what assurances do what this will achieve long—term to the taxpayers at wyeth uk government devaluing assets and selling them off for what less than they're worth? eight cell... but i will not be taking lessons from the snp on student finance. they're bringing us to the end of thursday parliament. do join alicia mccarthy on friday evening for a department three weeks. for now goodbye. hello there. with storm callan

approaching from the west, we are in for somebody ghillie unsettled weather over the next couple of days. very wet and very windy. now, we gotan days. very wet and very windy. now, we got an amber warning in force from the met office for very heavy rain, particular across south wales. there, the rain will be quite slow moving through all of friday and saturday. there could be some flooding impacts. the winds also a real feature of the weather through the day on friday. now, strong south—westerly gales were many areas, strong winds to the irish sea, around the irish sea coasts we could see gusts up to around 70 mph oi’ could see gusts up to around 70 mph or more. less windy down towards the south of the east, where we should stay mostly dry with some sunshine. here it will be quite warm, to anyone or 22 degrees. cooler further north—west across the country, especially when you add in the effect of the strong wind and heavy rainfall as well. this rainfall is slow—moving for friday night and into saturday, especially the part of northern england, wales, the south—west of england as well, where we could see up to 100 millimetres

of rain over high ground. that is enough to cause some flooding impact. goodbye for now. a very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: a trail of destruction left by one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the united states. and there it is lift off of the soyuz. russia suspends all manned flights to the international space station after the crew of a soyuz rocket were forced to make an emergency landing. mum's the word — researchers in china say they've created baby mice with two mothers and no father. a special report from kabul on the taliban and islamic state prisoners jailed for violence and disruption.