such as the respect policy place such as the respect policy we re place such as the respect policy were sufficient and robust to deal with any complaints made by house staff. subsequent reports came to light through the media which strongly suggested however that this was not the case. as a as a result, at my instigation, the external members appointed dame laura to look at the effectiveness of the policies. her report is the result of that inquiry. to clarify, the independent complaints and grievance policy has been up and running since july and all staff have access to it, including house staff and those that historic allegations. we have set up

two independent helplines, one to deal with allegations of bullying and one to deal with allegations of sexual misconduct. the new scheme delivers a behaviour code that applies to everyone who visits or works in parliament. we have a new hr advice service for mps and a house staff have access to an employee assistance programme. we have also implemented a significant new training offer, as well as a new induction scheme for parliament for the first time. the complaints procedure provides full confidentiality to all complainants and i'm pleased dame laura recognises the importance of this. i have been absolutely clear right from the beginning that this is the start, not the end of the process. the iac gp has reviews built into at six and 18 months and dame laura's inquiry report will be central to

shaping those views. colleagues may be aware that the health commission has called an urgent meeting for monday, to consider this report, and asi monday, to consider this report, and as i have said, the house leadership must now respond fully and promptly. it is imperative that we make parliament a modern, professional and safe place to work, where everybody is treated with dignity and respect. when i raised the expenses scandal 12 months before the telegraph exposed it in here, it didn't go down very well with parliament. with the child abuse inquiry, the response of the political parties, and going now, is to put a lawyer and a qc into the inquiry to protect the interests of mps past and present. and the sexual harassment scandal, there are people who have gone public making very

serious allegations, who have been left in limbo for more than a year. and now we have this. paragraph 30, quote, "a culture that is as embedded as it is shocking". which sums up this report. paragraph 141, identifying it is well known there are serial offenders currently in parliament. paragraph 160, which goes through the 15 different forms of harassment and bullying behaviour. paragraph 161, that goes through the impact of that. paragraph 409, which pleads that the active support of mps, which says

rather a lot. will the leader of the house guarantee, with these three simple recommendations that dame laura cox has made that all three will be implemented, but further, because i am aware what the problems are, wilby labour party and every other opposition party —— wilby labour party and every other opposition party of their unequivocal public support today for those three recommendations, in order that they can be pushed through speedily and effectively? leader of the house. i'm grateful to the honourable gentleman because this is an issue he has pursued. we have discussed this number of times. he has been gravely concerned about the allegations of bad behaviour that have ta ken place

allegations of bad behaviour that have taken place and a bad culture which has existed in this place for far too long. i would like to pay tribute to him for all the work he has done in this area. what i can say to him if this is a matter for the house, and as of the house, i will do everything in my power to stamp out all forms of bullying and harassment. i would just say to all honourable members, those attempted to turn a blind eye or to allow it to turn a blind eye or to allow it to go on under their view, is as we all know, for evil to succeed good men only need do nothing. maria miller. dame laura cox says in her report many consider at a senior level there is still no genuine understanding of things needing to change. that shocking culture of fear and deference is driven right from the top of the house of commons. behaviour that we simply would not tolerate elsewhere. the new grievance procedure is welcome and my right honourable friend is to

be applauded for what she has done in that place, but it is not enough and dame laura says that. she is clear there is a need for a culture change as well, and this directly requires a change in the management of the house of commons. and as we have just heard, that very senior management are the people who will decide what happens next as a result of this report. will the leader of the house explain how the brave staff who have spoken out can be reassured that action will be taken? because the house of commons has a duty to lead by example, to be an exemplar employer. the report is clear that there needs to be a com plete clear that there needs to be a complete change in leadership at the most senior level, including you, mr speaker, as chief officer. if we are, in dame laura's words, to press the reset button. well, i know my right honourable

friend cares a great deal about these issues, and again, she has been closely involved with the progress of the new complaints procedure and has had a hand in shaping its direction. she will know that all of those involved in the working group right across all of the political parties and right across this place, worked tirelessly to reach an arrangement where we would be in a position to change the culture of parliament. she is exactly right to highlight that that is what is needed. i am and i remain, and as i'm sure the honourable lady, the member for brighton, and all over the honourable gentleman and the opposition scottish nationalist speaker for the leader of the scottish nationalists, if i may say that, and all of those involved in the working group will all take the same view that i do. that we have to

change the culture of this place. it's absolutely vital that we do that. it's not going to happen overnight. we have do continued to lean in and accept the recommendations of dame laura's report and do everything we can to make sure this place mend its ways and becomes not just make sure this place mend its ways and becomes notjust an exemplar but isa and becomes notjust an exemplar but is a role model for other parliaments around the world, so that they can learn from our experiences. so, bbc parliament if you want to keep watching that discussion. the leader of the house on andrea leadsom, saying she was shocked and appalled by the contents in dame laura cox's report. let's go to our chief correspondent vicki young. i'm simon mccoy, by the way, i slipped on whilst you were watching! this is afternoon live. rather interesting, maria miller turning to the speaker and saying it calls for changes, including you. we are in this pretty bizarre

position. this report comes out and talks about the culture of bullying and harassment in this place for the people that work here. she says that culture was coming from the top, the house authorities, the people that run this place. you have to remember there are hundreds, thousands of people employed here, notjust by mps but staff who work around this place every day. the accusation is that those at the top, and that includes the speaker, may not be the people who can sort this out. that is really what this is about today. as you say, maria miller saying she believes that the people in place can't sort it out. john bercow himself has that accusations of bullying put against him. he com pletely bullying put against him. he completely denies that and today he did get up and say he thought there had to be an independent look at what should happen, including whether historical accusation should be looked at. there was today, we heard also from kevin barron, the outgoing chair of the common

standards committee. he had a very tough words forjohn bercow. as chair of the standards committee backin as chair of the standards committee back in 2012, we tried to toughen up the code of conduct by putting a report on the floor of the house. that report was amended by the three main political parties and effectively said the independent parliament of standards could investigate some members of parliament. i can tell you, i and the committee were so frustrated about that. i went to see mr bercow at the time and told him of the frustration and how it was wrong and against the principle of independent commission investigation. i got no help or assistance whatsoever. what the report said yesterday it is this culture inside parliament has not changed, isn't changing and we need leadership that will change it. my view isjohn bercow is not the man who would lead that changing culture. the voice of someone who

feels this place isn't a safe place to work. it is a pretty shaming and damning take on what goes on here. the report out yesterday does not reflect well on this place, said that prime minister's spokesman. john bercow has had some support from the labour side and emily thornberry, a senior person in the shadow cabinet. this is what she had to say about whether he should keep hisjob or not. to say about whether he should keep his job or not. we are heading for the biggest constitutional crisis britain has faced in living memory. much of this has been about a meaningful vote. we'll parliament have a meaningful vote? there was a big debate in parliament about whether there would be an amendable motion and technicalities, which would mean the spiegel would need to exercise his discretion. we need an experienced speaker. we need to make sure the decisions made in the next few months are made properly, so i am very worried about the idea of having somebody in the speaker's

place who is not experienced. i don't know about these allegations. all i know is my own interaction with the speaker, and i have never seen any of this. many other people who have worked closely with him, who have worked closely with him, who i know, like the speaker's chaplin, says she doesn't recognise this. those were treated with raised eyebrows from some unions who said they should be on the side of the workers. they were pretty appalled that emily thornberry was saying because of brexit you need someone experienced in the chair, seeming to suggest these allegations should go unchallenged, that it shouldn't be looked at in any more detail. some unhappiness there. interesting in the next hour or so how many mps get up the next hour or so how many mps get up and theyjohn bercow is not the man to sort this problem out. 0k, vicki, i will speak to you again later. thank you. the deadline for moving all benefit claimants onto universal credit has slipped to the end of 2023. pressure has been mounting

on the government to delay or halt the roll—out of the reform, which merges six benefits into one payment. the bbc understands the government has drawn up plans to spend hundreds of millions of pounds making changes to universal credit, to prevent claimants suffering hardship as they move onto it. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. universal credit is a new service that helps ensure you are better off in work than you are on benefits... it was meant to make things easier, bringing six different benefits into one monthly payment. but for too many people, universal credit has made life more complicated. this single mother has regularly had a failure to pay for her childcare costs, which is at the 25—year—old struggling to make ends meet. it has been hell, a very stressful experience. i had loads of problems with my childcare payments, having to call them up every month, to remind them to pay me and notjust once a month,

but a few times a month. such problems saw evidence of rising food bank use in areas where universal credit is introduced has put pressure on the government to stop or delay roll—out of the benefit. from next summer, around 4 million people were due to start moving on to universal credit but we have learned the process won't properly begin until november 2020, which means the benefit won't be fully rolled out until december 2023, almost seven years later than originally planned. we have had people going into arrears and sadly even losing their homes as a result because of eviction, so it is a real mess of a programme and the government really needs to get its act together and sort it out. ministers hope to use the delay to improve universal credit. they plan to continue paying some benefits to claimants for an extra fortnight. most existing benefits are currently stopped when someone applies the universal credit. reduce the amount of maximum deductions that can be taken from a universal credit payment

and make it easier for self employed so it was left to a junior minister to respond. we have always said that under universal credit, it is a test and learn approach and as we test and learn, we adapt and earlier this year, we put in an extra £1.5 billion to support claimants and clearly this is a process. the government has today refused to confirm which changes, if any, it will make, but universal credit, announced with such hopes in 2010, continues to provide significant challenges to ministers and claimants alike. michael buchanan, bbc news. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: calls for the speaker to go: john bercow facees calls to resign after a report into bullying in the house of commons.

we need more time — the eu chief negotiator says major issues including the northern ireland border have still to be agreed. hate crimes reach a record high in england and wales, with offences against religious communities seeing a forty percent increase. jose mourinho has been charged by the football association following his verbal outburst after the manchester united victory against newcastle ten days ago. wales will be without real madrid's gareth bale and aaron ramsey as they take on the republic of ireland in a nations league match in dublin tonight. and great britain lizzie's yano who is retiring from skeletons she doesn't believe with the world anti—doping agency's decision to reinstate the band russian federation. back with an update on 15 minutes. us secretary of state mike pompeo has met king salman in saudi arabia as pressure grows on the country to explain what happened to missing

journalist jamal khashoggi. mr khashoggi was last seen at the saudi consulate in istanbul two weeks ago and turkish officials believe mr hashoggi was murdered there and reports have surfaced in the us media that the saudis are to admit it happened during an unauthorised interrogation that went wrong. mark lowen is in istanbul. difficult to imagine it makes things any better? or indeed that it would be seen as credible, given the fact that for example, the saudi team said on here for the alleged interrogation or what ever operation it was, one of them was a forensics experts. there was an autopsy specialist, one was reported to bring a bone saw with him. why would you do that if it was just an interrogation? that will feed the sceptical voices, if these us reports are correct. president trump said yesterday following his talks with king sound man by phone,

possibly the suggestion of row killers being involved as part of those suggestions. they're talking about saudi arabia, a vertical power structure where everything is approved and has the full knowledge of the highest levels of government. i think what critics will say is that if this comes out of the saudi narrative, this is an attempt by the saudi government to absolve itself of responsibility, to shield the young crown prince and if turkey i did this narrative, it would be seen as an attempt i those governments to prioritise their own individual relationships with saudi arabia over an attempt to uncover the truth. the difficulty for saudi arabia is how much information the turks have at their disposal. there are some questions as to what they are relying on. talks initially of this apple watch being used and there are questions as to whether the building itself had been bugged and they can't admit it. yes. i think the

turks have got quite a lot of incriminating evidence that they say they have gathered and they have lea ked they have gathered and they have leaked over the last ten days or so to the turkish state media. the turkish president has taken a more cautious approach. i think what the turkish strategy was basically to have the saudis over the barrel of a gun. they know they have leverage over the saudis at the moment and they, the saudis, are on the back foot for the first time in a long time. and the relationship is an important one. i think what conceivably might happen now, and this is speculation, turkey is going through a period of economic problems at the moment. it doesn't wa nt to problems at the moment. it doesn't want to lose saudi money. could it extra ct want to lose saudi money. could it extract financial concessions, while still holding these threats of releasing the audio video recordings that they apparently have from inside the konte over the saudis? which would be pretty incriminating

if they come to light. i think that is quite possibly what the turks are playing at in this relationship at the moment. good to talk to you, thank you very much. theresa may has briefed her cabinet on the state of the brexit negotiations, before tomorrow's crucial eu summit in brussels. last night, eight cabinet ministers took the highly unusual step of meeting on the eve of the weekly gathering, to discuss their concerns about the prime minister's approach. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier said this lunchtime that several issues remain unresolved, including the future of the border between the irish republic and northern ireland, and that more time was needed for a comprehensive deal to be finalised. translation: we worked very hard in recent weeks and in the last few days with the british authorities to find an all—encompassing solution to the question of ensuring an orderly brexit. brexit needs to be orderly for all parties and in all areas, including ireland. we need to find a

solution to ensure under no circumstances there is no hard border on the island of ireland. we have not yet managed this. there are still several areas under discussion, including the question of the irish border. it is my understanding we will need more time to reach this agreement that suit all sides and achieve decisive progress which is necessary to bring to an orderly end the brexit negotiations. that is where we stand that we will use the coming weeks to work calmly and seriously to find a solution. back to westminster. vicki young is still there. i said we rewrote the back he. let's talk about the meeting last and cabinet meeting this morning. it would appear, theresa may has still bought time.l three—hour cabinet meeting. two and a half hours of that spent talking about brexit and the prime minister had full support from those around the table, in that they agree with her that there are these two main

sticking points. the prime minister told the cabinet she absolutely could not accept a situation where there would be a customs border down there would be a customs border down the irish sea, that northern when it came to customs. but also the uk can't be indefinitely in this backstop with no root out. we were told there was a detailed discussion about what you could do about this and they discussed the mechanism that would clearly define how you could get out of that arrangement. let's find out if that might be enough to bring onside some of those on the eurosceptic wing of the conservative party. i am joined by simon clark. the cabinet clearly agree with you on that there is a problem with this and they are talking about not the date by which this could end but mechanism that shows it is clear for the uk to get out of it. we have to be up to get out of it. we have to be up to get out of it. we have to be up to get out of the backstop otherwise it would be a wholly unacceptable

outcome, notjust a parliament but to the country. we voted to leave the european union and we must take control of our destiny. the backstop if it wasn't completely under our control, would be unacceptable. you are not necessarily saying it has to bea are not necessarily saying it has to be a hard state. if that was the case, it's not really a fallback position? my strong preference would bea position? my strong preference would be a fixed date, december 2020. the prime minister emphasised yesterday thatis prime minister emphasised yesterday that is our goal. as a minimum, an absolute minimum, must be able to be exercised by us. as far as theresa may's position, it sounds like the cabinet were rallying around her. saying she can go to this summit tomorrow. presumably saying to the eu, she can't budge any more?|j think she should be saying very clearly that we want a canada style free trade agreement. it's always been my preference in terms of the eventual outcome rather than the chequers offer. i think on the backstop she should say loud and

clear, this is a prerequisite for any parliamentary agreement to any deal. isn't it the case that if she gets over that hurdle and we get the withdrawal agreement, she said today to her cabinet that has been some very good progress on the future trading relationship. a lot of that has been done. we are looking at their being a deal now, would you back her? we have to see the detail, that's always what every mp would say, in fairness. i'm clearthat that's always what every mp would say, in fairness. i'm clear that i have grave reservations about the, and rule book. it is not meaningful and rule book. it is not meaningful and could prejudice our ability to strike free trade deal. there's no way you could be persuaded to back that, if that is the deal? if that is the basis of the deal, i couldn't andi is the basis of the deal, i couldn't and i think i'm far from alone in that regard. are you content, would you be ok with us going out with no deal? no deal doesn't mean no deal it means world trade organisation terms. that is far from my preferred outcome, i think a canada style

agreement should be the way forward. we need to resolve the irish border and get away from the main obstacle stopping us going down that route. but if it does come to a no deal, i think we need to be robust about that and back ourselves as a country. we need to look at reports that show the economic impact could be quite marginal. i think a lot of what we have seen over the last few months has been heightened rhetoric, the sort of catastrophe rising we saw during the campaign itself and which failed to dissuade voters then. thank you very much indeed. those cabinet ministers that met not quite secretly last night, we knew they were there, they were eating pizza apparently. today at cabinet, they were offered sausage, egg bacon damages, not a pizza insight! we miss nothing here at! foreign ministers have been meeting in luxembourg. in the last few minutes we have heard about the difficulties hampering the negotiations

dramatically some of those issues are difficult because of decisions england has made. there are vulnerabilities and exposure which are much more significant than that exposure for other eu countries. that is why the michel barnier task force has been so insistent, but also so supportive in the context of the need for illegally operable backstop on the irish border question, to be agreed as part of the withdrawal treaty. and that that backstop would be there unless and until some other solution is agreed and found. that is the text that has been agreed last march, signed off on by the british government, as well as the task force, and that is the text we expect will be the basis of any final agreement. gavin lee is in luxembourg. it looks from the

outside this is unravelling, is it? it isa outside this is unravelling, is it? it is a good point. i think the idea, as this was built, as you know, the moment of truth summit. michel barnier said it, we had donald tusk saying it, suddenly i think the truth is that is fading away. we just heard from think the truth is that is fading away. wejust heard from simon coveney a minute ago. he went further than that comment to say it was unlikely there would be any real progress in the talks tomorrow. the fa ct progress in the talks tomorrow. the fact is, theresa may gets to talk before dinner at this brussels summit tomorrow, not during the event. we're looking at a maximum of a couple of hours. unless theresa may agrees to what is this insurance policy, to avoid a hard border between the north and of ireland and have northern ireland as part of the customs union, eu officials are saying to me there will be no special summit in november. this is the rub, this is why they are in luxembourg today, a meeting about eu

affairs. michel barnier has come here to update the eu ministers, will tell their bosses ahead of the summit tomorrow, who will decide has been enough progress to have this special sonic? right now, the noises lam hearing special sonic? right now, the noises i am hearing in the background is no. you might get more information elsewhere that they are saying they don't believe there is much space for much breakthrough tomorrow. let's just talk about donald tusk. he has said veron no grounds for optimism and brexit before the summit. it is unravelling. —— there are no grounds for optimism. he is right. right now, there are no talks, it doesn't exist, because the teams on both sides, the civil serva nts teams on both sides, the civil servants stop talking on sunday. many here, in fact, some of the ministers, including the austrian foreign minister, said they thought they were absolutely going to get a

deal. but others have said now it is a whole feeling of suspense because the talks have stopped and it doesn't tend to happen, even in the talks a few years back when they discussed greece during the crisis, there were still technical talks going on. how they swear that hole... the other issue theresa may is talking about, if there was going to bea is talking about, if there was going to be a customs union that ireland or the to be a customs union that ireland orthe uk to be a customs union that ireland or the uk has to stay in, she wants the date that is temporary to come out. simon coveney, the irish minister saying you can't, you can't have a date suddenly if there is nothing to avoid hard border. we are going round in circles at the moment. the moment of truth, i think, has well disappeared. we are looking potentially at a summit that involves the other eu leaders in november to discuss contingency plans if there is a no deal. another brief update for you. the german foreign minister, his message to me today for theresa may is to say the realistic and ultimately try to get a deal. gavin, for now, thank you.

we will be talking to him again later on. time for a look at the weather. susan is with us. hello. there is a low up there. the kids have been back at school at least five minutes so it is time for half—term next week. if you are like me you are thinking it is not doing too bad, it is 22,23 me you are thinking it is not doing too bad, it is 22, 23 in eastern england. fake a look what has been on, this is the remnant of lesley and michael. this is the ex—hurricane that brought all that rain to span and that flooding into france, so for the next few days simon, it is not looking too clever in western europe. you have booked your holiday, it is all right. here is next week. it is looking better

then, but if you are going to greece or turkey, southern italy, sardinia, ta ke or turkey, southern italy, sardinia, take your mac. i can cheer you up. you could stay here and stay warm. half—term closer to home, if you have saved your pennies. this is really cheering those of us who don't get half—term off up. today, to the east at the moment, in the sunshine, after a bit of a misty start, 21, 22 degree, i would sunshine, after a bit of a misty start, 21, 22 degree, iwould pack my shorts away and think that is it. 0r leave them there. when we are sizzling away again it is going to get fresher. the forecast is tame after the weekend. a breeze round tonight, a weather front, after the weekend. a breeze round tonight, a weatherfront, some rain for the midlands, some for the south—west, but actually it is a quiet picture, and as we move into tomorrow, we will see perhaps brightness in the south—east, again,

some rain though, tomorrow, playinging the south—west of england eventually other southern counties, so tomorrow the best of the sunshine further north, scotland, northern england, northern ireland. temperatures closer to average here, certainly, but nonetheless it is not looking too bad. that high is starting to build. that will get rid of the weather front, so a bit of cloud left thanks to that on thursday. nice day, pretty much across the board thursday. there will be a lot of autumn sunshine round, could be chilly first thing with a few patches of mist and fog after clear skies overnight. the story is looking settled, for a big portion of the uk. the end of this week and on to the weekend and into next week, so it may well have been worth saving your pennies and booking a holiday closer to home. friday we start to see some weather fronts trying to topple in to the top of our area of high pressure, thatis top of our area of high pressure, that is where we will try and see

the weather giving action in the coming days, so there will be some rain at times for scotland and northern ireland, perhaps a bit on friday. again, for many the end of the week looks like it will be dry. desent sunshine in northern and eastern scotland. with shetland tore the east of northern ireland and for england and wales and the temperatures start to creep up again, so our stourry in the coming daysis again, so our stourry in the coming days is one of a lot of decent autumn sunshine. we will see some mist and fog early on, we could see a few pockets of frost. for the uk the weather story is one of settling down, further south in europe, still through the western end of the med we have stormy conditions and that will move further east, so might be worth taking a look at forecasts further afield if you have plans to head this is bbc news — our latest headlines. speakerjohn bercow tells mps that he wants complaints about bullying and harassment at westminster to be investigated by an independent body.

mr bercow strongly denies claims that he bullied officials, but some still call for his resignation. the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier has said that both sides need more time to find a comprehensive brexit agreement, in effect ruling out a breakthrough at a summit in brussels tomorrow. the roll—out of the goverment‘s welfare reform policy is to be delayed yet again. the bbc understands universal credit is unlikely to be up and running before the end of 2023. and the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, meets the king of saudia arabia to discuss the suspected killing of journalist jamal khashoggi. unconfirmed reports suggest the saudis may be preparing to admit that khashoggi died during an interrogation. sport now on afternoon live with olly. we've heard about the pressure the manchester united manager has been under recently and now he's been charged by the fa? remember, we were talking about mourn mourn “— remember, we were talking about mourn mourn —— jose remember, we were talking about mourn mourn ——jose mourinho a lot, so the knifes were out. united on that bad run of form, it was

reported hisjob was that bad run of form, it was reported his job was on the line, if they didn't beat newcastle at old trafford, it was one of the great games we have seen this season, united came from 2—0 down, they won 3-2, but united came from 2—0 down, they won 3—2, but the united came from 2—0 down, they won 3-2, but the fa, united came from 2—0 down, they won 3—2, but the fa, they have been investigating this, jose mourinho's marched down the touchline at full—time, now we are not going to show you the comments he aimed at the camera because it might offend portguese speakers out there. the fa have charged him with using improper language, he has until friday to respond to that charge, if he is found guilty, it is very likely he would have to serve a touchline ban and the timing of this is beautiful, because the following day, manchester united play at chelsea, of course, where mourinho had such success so he would be much agrieved if he missed out on a place in the dug out at stamford bridge. he has until friday to respond to that charge. plenty of messages from the

stands at that place! let us look at brighter news. lizzy yarnold, winter olympic champion announcing her retirement. she has had a lot to say. she is only 29, retiring the double skeleton champion, the first british olympian, winter olympian to win back—to—back golds. she won in pyeongchang earlier this year her first title was in sochi, where one of the greatest doping scandals took place, russia eventually banned after that long investigation, lots of whistle—blowers involved, the mass doping of its own athletes. last month the world anti—doping agency lifted that suspension, even though the russian doping system is yet to comply with the criteria for its rhone state.. lizzy yarnold is one of those against that. in my opinion it wasn't the right thing to do. i think we have to really keep

pushing the anti—doping message, it is not ok to sway away from that. they had to complete the things they we re they had to complete the things they were asked to, it's a changing world but we have to keep pushing for a clea n but we have to keep pushing for a clean and fair competition. some other headlines. johanna konta has recorded one of his best victories in a tunnelled season. she won victories in a tunnelled season. she won in straight sets. looked good as well. it is herfirst won in straight sets. looked good as well. it is her first match since she split from her coach last week. she is working with a frenchman on a trial basis. good first impression. warne gatland has named his squad for the autumn internationals. the wales rugby union squad. joanna horns is the surprise inclusion. she qualifies through a welsh grandparent. he rested some of his established players over the summer

but recalled alun wynjones. they have scotland, australia, tonga and south africa across the month. the wales football tea m south africa across the month. the wales football team are in dublin tonight against the republic of ireland. they would go top of the group with a win. they were humbled by spain in. aaron ramsey is also unavailable. it has happened in the past, where we have to cope without better players and like i say, the players who i will give players chance, no matter what age they are, thenit chance, no matter what age they are, then it is up to them to take it. yeah, stop that record, you know, prove people round, if that is the case. and, yeah, make that record just a little bit better. it's not easy because like i say, you will

a lwa ys easy because like i say, you will always miss someone like gareth. that is all the sport for now. with two weeks to go to the budget, the treasury received mixed economic news this morning. new figures show wages have risen at their fastest pace in nearly 10 years — but there's been a stark warning from independent economists, the ifs, who say the chancellor will need to find an extra 19 billion pounds a year for the next 5 years, if he's to meet the government pledge to end austerity and balance the books by 2020. our economics correspondent andy verity is here. thanks simon. so that 3.1 % pay rise was better than expected — but it tells you something about the decade we've had that that is the biggest average pay rise in nine years. when you take

account of inflation — the average wage has gone up by 0.6 %. better than a pay cut — but how does it look over the decade since the crisis? here's what we're earning now — about £25 a week more on average than we did in 2014 — when the squeeze on living standards was at its tightest, if you compare it to the peak we're earning about £20 a week less than before the crisis struck. and weak wage growth is also a big reason why austerity‘s lasted so long. the government keeps raising the amount you can earn before you pay tax — so even though more people are working than ever before, there's still not enough tax rolling in to cover the government's spending — also known as a budget deficit. yet theresa may's promised an end to austerity — which means lots more spending. the government have made two incompatible offers to the electorate. it said in its manifesto it wants to get rid of the deficit, and the second thing the prime minister said just a couple of weeks ago, is that the end of authority is nigh. well, getting end rid of the end of austerity will mean spending

at least at extra £20 billion or so by the end of this parliament. if you are going to spend an extra 20 billion or so you won't get rid of the deficit unless you have tax rises. to cover that extra spending and get the deaf set down the office for fiscal studies reckons the chancellor would need to raise an extra £19 billion in cash. with the budget coming up in two weeks the government's committed to tax cuts as well as spending rideses and ending authority and the economic logic is something has to give. a man has gone on trial accused of the murder of two nine—year—old girls in brighton more than 30 years ago. russell bishop, who's 52, is facing his second trial. he denies the charges. ?helena lee is at the old bailey. helena. yes, simon, court 16 here at

the old bailey was taken back 32 year, almost to the day when the two schoolgirls both aged nine at the time went out the play one day after school, two girls the court heard who were afraid of the dark. they we re who were afraid of the dark. they were reported missing that evening and it wasn't until the next day after a huge police search their bodies were found half a mile from their homes in woodland. a postmortem examination concluded that they had been sexually assaulted and strangled. today is the first day of the trial into this case and the jury was told that russell bishop who is in the dock, the dedefendant in in case, he was tried and acquitted for their murders in the year after, in 1987 but because of new evidence that has

emerged and advances in dna testing the prosecution said that the course of appeal quashed them and he is going to face this second trial. they also have been told they are going to visit the site during the course of this case, where the girls lived and look at some of the areas which are will come up during this trial and thejury which are will come up during this trial and the jury has been told that rush —— russell bishop attempted to attack another girl in 1990 for which he was convicted by a jury. the prosecutor in this case simon told thejury jury. the prosecutor in this case simon told the jury as he opened the case, brian altmann qc, the killings we re case, brian altmann qc, the killings were intentional and carried out in the woods by a man who sexually assaulted him for his own gratification, that man, say the

prosecution, was this defendant russell bishop. in court, the families of the two girls had been sitting listening to the evidence eso far, including karen's mother, she has two of her daughters sitting next to her, she isjust sat she has two of her daughters sitting next to her, she is just sat to the side of the dock, out of sight of the defendants but she was club clutching her daughter's hands as the prosecutor went through where the prosecutor went through where the girls were found. three people have died after a car towing a caravan crashed into two cars while driving the wrong way on the m40. it was travelling south on the motorway‘s northbound carriageway, which was closed overnight after the crash. the accident happened at about 4pm on monday, thames valley police said. the driver and passenger in the car towing the caravan, who were both in their 805, died, along with the driver of one of the cars that was hit, who was in his 30s. calls for the speaker to go:

john bercow facees calls to resign after a report into bullying in the house of commons. we need more time — the eu chief negotiator says major issues including the northern ireland border have still to be agreed. hate crimes reach a record high in england and wales, with offences against religious communities seeing a 40% increase. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. average wages — excluding bonuses — rose by 3.1% in the three months to august, compared with a year ago. that's the fastest pace in nearly ten years, according to the office for national statistics. the unemployment rate held steady at 4%. the chief executives of three big banks have become the latest bosses to pull out of a conference in saudi arabia. it follows tensions between the us and saudi arabia over the saudi journalist jamal khashoggi's disappearance.

car maker audi has been fined more than £700 million over diesel engines that did not meet emissions standards. audi has accepted the fine and admits responsibility. its parent company, volkswagen, has already warned the fine will hurt profits for the year ahead. the co—founder of microsoft has died. yes, paul allen he was can co—founder of microsoft. together he and bill gates created microsoft. he died of complication from non—hodgkin's lymphoma. he told people the disease returned two weeks' ago, in 2009 he had treatment for it. where yes, paul allen he was can co—founder of microsoft. together he and bill gates created microsoft. he died of complication from non—hodgkin's lymphoma. he told people the disease returned two weeks' ago, in 2009 he had treatment for it. bill gates said "i am heartbroken by the passing of one of my yes, paul allen he was can co—founder of microsoft. together he and bill gates created microsoft. he died of complication from non—hodgkin's lymphoma. he told

people the disease returned two weeks' ago, in 2009 he had treatment for it. bill gates said "i am heartbroken by the passing of one of my oldest and dearest friends. "so very sad news. it was a very strong statement. the personal computer wouldn't have existed without him. they did form microsoft. let us go live to new york to talk to kim, our north america business reporter. this is very sad news, there is history between bill gates an paul allen is fascinating. it is. paul allen, in the year of publication that talked about a personal computer, he went over and convinced bill gates to leave harvard and start microsoft with him. paul allen said he was the ideas guy. he was the chief technology officer, he would come up with pie—in—the—sky ideas and he said bill gates would find a which to execute on them. they worked as a team to bring personal computers into homes round the world. the second thing he is best known for is his flan row pip. he was worth something like $20

billion but like bill gates and warren buffet he pledged to give a significant proportion of his fortune away. he had given $2 billions to improve our understanding of the human mind as well as education, it is a lot of tributes that are coming forward. how wonderful he was. thank you. something is going on with her microphone, it seems to be picking up a lot of background noise. an interesting move for scottishpower — away from coal and gas? it has sold its hydroan gas stations to another energy supplier for over

£700 million, the acquisition it says the company says is a pivotal shift for the firm, that is what scottishpower says it wants to move away from gas and hydra and concentrate on wind power. it is offshore business which is huge. it says it will invest over 5 billion infour says it will invest over 5 billion in four years says it will invest over 5 billion infouryears in says it will invest over 5 billion in four years in its renewable capacity. drax who it sold it to said it is very happy with the purchase, interestingly it is going to bea purchase, interestingly it is going to be a key player in the energy market at times when there is less and wind and solar out put in the uk. less? so drax the company who have bought it off scottishpower will now step in, with gas, and coal power when there is less wind power. lam power when there is less wind power. i am questioning why there would be less wind power. if there is less wind blowing. it relies on the wind

basically. i thought you would be an expert on wind i am told. let us have the supermarkets shall we. yes, so the new york market opened 15, 20 minutes ago. things are looked better to world markets, one reason is stability. the london mark is barely changed from its opening of 7035. great. you will be back later for a seamless business update. with morejokes about for a seamless business update. with more jokes about your... move on. see you later. happy birthday to blue peter. he is 60 today. it has seen 3 presenters and it has been educations children for more than 5,000 episodes. let us show you a few highlight. this footage does contain flashing images. hello there.

hello. hello! welcome to live blue peter! i think this is the first time i've shampooed a camel. hold onto that. oh! get off my foot! that was a very scary moment. i'm up 20,000 feet and i'm upside down! and here it is, tracy island. your very own blue peter silver badge. this might be the proudest day of my life. that is fantastic. here is your very own gold blue peter badge. applause it is the best day of my life. yeah! that was wicked! woohoo! whoa! i'm abseiling off blackpool tower. ready to skydive?

joining me live from salford is our arts and entertainment correspondent, colin paterson. colin, he is with us, it is a big day. i offered to climb nelson's callum, i was turned down —— column. this is a special edition of blue peter. it will be shown at 5.00, there are rehearsals going on at the moment. 37 people have presented blue peter in the history of the show. 27 are in that room, right now. show. 27 are in that room, right now. and we will speak to a lot of them on afternoon live this afternoon. first of all i have been speaking to two of them konnie huq, the longest serving is female presenter in blue peter history and janet ellis who presented from 1983 to 87. i started off by asking

jeanette, 60 years why had blue peter lasted? i jeanette, 60 years why had blue peter lasted ? i think jeanette, 60 years why had blue peter lasted? i think it has lasted because it has as dresed the audience it was intended for. it is tempting with a programme that goes on past its first audience to nudge or look at the viewers over the children's heads, it has never done that, if you are between the ages of 8-1 that, if you are between the ages of 8—1 you are safe in blue peter's company. connie, where does the show go from here, because children's viewing habits have changed so much. they watch things on ipads? viewing habits have changed so much. they watch things on ipads7m viewing habits have changed so much. they watch things on ipads? it is all there online, so although the viewing habit is the same the content viewing habit is the same the co nte nt has viewing habit is the same the content has changed. there is something for everyone. one minute you are doing something on the environment and the next you are with a fluffy pop group so it will cater for all. there is with a fluffy pop group so it will caterfor all. there is something for everyone. and a few of your height lights. —— highlights?|j for everyone. and a few of your height lights. -- highlights? iwas struck by the fact without knowing which was struck by the fact the girls and boys did everything, there

was no demarcation along gender lines and that stays the same. i love, this the nearby, we went to a place called cork about bee, it was somebody‘s house before, when the owners somebody‘s house before, when the owners had left it. we were the first people to look round, it was that sort of privilege was extraordinary. gets you behind the scenes. shark feeding was my favourite. blue peter was pc before pc was in. let us forget shark fielding, there is only one —— feeding, there is only one moment anyone ever feeding, there is only one moment anyone ever talks about. are you referring to lulu the elephant? that is exactly. we are showing it right now. is exactly. we are showing it right now. i was thinking i wonder if they will manage to get her back because they can live up to the age of 80. she died three or four years after this moment happened. she has given so much entertainment but died at a young age. who was your favourite presenter it tended to be the one

you grew up with, that was peter purvis and john noakes and valerie singleton for me. i used to love the crazy stu nts singleton for me. i used to love the crazy stunts peter duncan did. his first episode cleaning big ben. he p°pped first episode cleaning big ben. he popped out on the a little swing and with no rope round him at all. i don't think health and safety would allow that now, but you are exactly right. it is like doctor who, your favourite is the one you grew up with. in terms of celebration, it is unique to have them in the same place at the same time. unique to have them in the same place at the same timelj unique to have them in the same place at the same time. i went back and watched the 50th anniversary show, nothing like that, that time the queen did present gold blue peter badges but this idea, the fact there is 27 blue peter presenters in that room, is going to get a lot of people tuning in live at 5.00 and we will try and get you as many on the programme before then. if not you can show one you've done earlier.

hey! i am glad you enjoyed that. i will talk to you later on. cheers colin. of course you can see the blue peter big birthday, it is at 5.00 on cbbc and it is on bbc two, next saturday at 4.30 and as colin said, we will be back to him later and talking to some of those we all remember from our childhood and beyond. let us catch up with the weather: here bringing some rain in through the evening and arriving in time for the rush hour, and some hefty showers for northern around western scotland and a few for northern ireland too. those will mostly die out, our

weather fronts difficults south—east wards, perhaps the rain persistent for the south—west, through the small hour, clear skies pretty much either side of that front, maybe a few patches of fog returning to the south—east. to the north, definitely the driest and the clearest of the weather i think on offer for wednesday. decent sunshine for scotland, northern england, wales, further south and east the weather front sitting round through the day. the rain never heavy but a different looking day for the south—east and east anglia. cooler and cloudier than today. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at 3: commons speakerjohn bercow says an independent body should investigate bullying allegations in parliament, amid pressure on him to quit. the only possible way to resolve this matter is the establishment of a body which is both entirely independent of and external to parliament. we need more time — the eu chief negotiator says

major issues including the northern ireland border have still to be agreed. theresa may is asked to bring new proposals another delay to the introduction of the government's flagship welfare reform — universal credit. critics say it should be scrapped altogether. and preparing for a bouncing royal baby — i'm waiting for pictures to illustrate the story of a bouncing royal baby. i think i will quit whilst i'm behind a that one! some nice pictures of the duke and duchess of sussex and a bouncing kangaroo. i will show you those little later on. you're watching afternoon live. the disappearance of the saudi journalist jamal khassoggi — the us secretary of state tells the saudi king he has huge concerns. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport... it is going swimmingly so far!

i was expecting to see a kangaroo! in the sport, jose mourinho could be given a touchline ban. he has been charged by the fa for using abusive language on live television. talk to you later, thank you. also coming up on the programme... if you were in charge of a house of commons committee looking into the role of robots in the future — who would you ask? thank you for asking me to give evidence. i'm a resident robot at middlesex university. a robot is questioned by a panel of mps in what they are claiming is a first for uk democracy hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. the speaker of the house of commons, john bercow, has called for an independent body to be set up

to investigate all allegations of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct in the house of commons, including historic cases. his comments came ahead of an urgent question in the commons on the report into bullying and harassment in the house published yesterday. the leader of the house of commons, andrea leadsom, took the opportunity to apologise to those whose experiences were highlighted in the cox report and called for the house leadership to "respond fully and promptly. the speaker outlined what he thought the mps' response to the findings should be. having read with care the report by dame laura cox and having lived through the mps expenses scandal, i am persuaded by at least two of her fundamental recommendations. without seeking to pre—empt what the house might ultimately decide, i firmly believe that the only possible way to resolve this matter is the

establishment of a body which is both entirely independent of and external to parliament, to hear and adjudicate upon all allegations of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct, including deciding how far to investigate past misconduct, whether the allegations involve mps or staff, the same entirely independent body should be in com plete independent body should be in complete control of the process from start to finish. as i have said before in this chamber, and to the leaders cross—party inquiry in my oral evidence last december, independents and transparency are the best guarantors of a process that will both be there and, and

general confidence. our chief political correspondent vicki young is in westminster... has he just announced has hejust announced he's has he just announced he's grabbing this issue by the scruff of the neck or kicking it down the road? the suspicion among some as trying to deflect attention and take decision—making away. one former cabinet minister said we don't need another report, we need to work out how we're going to change the culture of what is going on here. i think it's important to remember this isn't just about think it's important to remember this isn'tjust about mps and their staff that work it. there are hundreds possibly thousands of people who work it all the time and it is the commons authorities who employ them and look after their well—being and their safety. that is, from the top, is the culture that has been criticised so much and they are having raised about whether they are having raised about whether the speaker, as they headed back commons authority gone is the person who can bring through these changes. it's certainly not the pearson who

maria miller think should be in charge. —— not the person. and as we have just heard, that very senior management are the people who will decide what happens next as a result of this report. will the leader of the house explain how the brave staff who have spoken out can be reassured that action will be taken? because the house of commons has a duty to lead by example, to be an exemplar employer. the report is clear that there needs to be a complete change in leadership at the most senior level, including you, mr speaker, as chief officer. if we are, in dame laura's words, "to press the reset button". quieter moment, looking the speaker in the eye and telling him he to go. it is being discussed on the speaker is sitting there in the chair. from the other side, from the labour side, a comment from emily thornberry, a senior member of the

shadow cabinet. her reaction to all of this is actually, this is not about the speaker but a much wider problem than that. this is what she had to say about his future. we are heading for the biggest constitutional crisis that britain has faced in living memory. much of this has been about a meaningful vote. will parliament have a meaningful vote? there was a big debate in parliament about whether or not there would be an amendable motion and all kinds of technicalities, which would mean that the speaker would need to exercise his discretion. we need to have an experienced speaker. we need to make sure that the decisions that are made in the next few months, for the interests of the country, are made properly. so, i am very worried about the idea of having somebody in the speaker's place who is not experienced. i don't know about these allegations. certainly, all i know is my own interaction with the speaker, which is i have never seen any of this. many other people who have worked closely with him, who i know, like the speaker's chaplin, for example, has said that she doesn't recognise this. now, there are others who met that

with raised eyebrows because they felt were emily thornberry was saying is because he is experienced, he can lead the change that is needed here. so even the unions, some union leaders saying it was the wrong thing to do and actually this should be much more about those who have been the victims of this kind of behaviour. that was echoed by another labour mp who said she was irritated that some people who are known to dislikejohn bercow and have been trying to get rid of him for some time using this because of that. i have spoken to hundreds of the people involved in this throughout the process. i notice the member for roach that has probably spoken to none of them and some of us don't actually care who it is who is the offender, it is the victim is that we ca re offender, it is the victim is that we care about and we will not use it for political gain and nothing fills

the victims with more dread than when people play with their feelings! so don't do it! don't do it in here, don't do it for them. you are speaking only for yourself. i don't, i personally think the management of this place probably needs a massive overhaul. i'm not going to point the finger for the sake of newspaper headlines but the fa ct of sake of newspaper headlines but the fact of the matter is, nothing i have heard today fills me with any hope that politics will be taken out of this and that the same 12 people, and we all know exactly who they are and we all know exactly who they are and how they are getting away with it, won'tjust be walking around for the next 20 years. i think that is the main point, that mps are feeling that something has to change, because effectively this is a workplace which isn't safe for people to work in. lots of people saying things need to change. the question is how thatis need to change. the question is how

that is done on who is in control of that is done on who is in control of that process. thank you very much, talk to you later. vicki young, there. the deadline for moving all benefit claimants onto universal credit has slipped to the end of 2023. pressure has been mounting on the government to delay or halt the rollout of the reform, which merges six benefits into one payment. the bbc understands the government has drawn up plans to spend hundreds of millions of pounds making changes to universal credit, to prevent claimants suffering hardship as they move onto it. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. universal credit is a new service that helps ensure you're better off in work than you are on benefits... it was meant to make things easier, bringing six different benefits into one monthly payment. but for too many people, universal credit has made life more complicated. single mum mischa has struggled with the benefit for three years. they've regularly failed to pay for her childcare costs, which left the 25—year—old struggling to make ends meet. it's been hell, a very stressful experience. i had loads of problems

with my childcare payments, having to call them up every month to remind them to pay me. and notjust once a month, but a few times a month. such problems and evidence of rising food bank use in some areas where universal credit is introduced, has put pressure on the government to stop or delay the roll—out of the benefit. from next summer, around 4 million people were due to start moving onto universal credit but we've learned the process won't properly begin until november 2020, which means the benefit won't be fully rolled out until december 2023, almost seven years later than originally planned. we've had people going into arrears and sadly even losing their homes as a result because of eviction, so it's a real mess of a programme and the government really needs to get its act together and sort it out. ministers hope to use the delay to improve universal credit. they plan to continue paying some benefits to claimants for an extra fortnight. most existing benefits are currently

stopped when someone applies for universal credit. reduce the maximum deductions that can be taken from a universal credit payment, and make it easierfor self—employed people to receive the new benefit. paying for the changes, that will cost hundreds of millions of pounds, still needs to be approved by the treasury. the secretary of state was tight—tipped when asked about the benefit. is universal credit still fit for purpose? bye now. so, it was left to a junior minister to respond. we've always said that under universal credit, it is a test and learn approach and as we test and we learn, we adapt. earlier this year, we put in an extra £15 billion to support claimants and clearly this is a process. the government has today refused to confirm which changes, if any, it will make, but universal credit, announced with such hopes in 2010, continues to provide significant challenges to ministers and claimants alike. michael buchanan, bbc news. the head of the european

council donald tusk has called on theresa may to put forward new concrete proposals to break what he describes as an ‘impasse' over a brexit deal, adding that he saw "no grounds" for optimism. he was speaking before a meeting of the european council this evening, when eu foreign ministers will be briefed on the current position over brexit. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, has also said that several issues remain unresolved, including the future of the border between the irish republic and northern ireland, and said more time was needed for a comprehensive deal to be finalised. translation: we've worked very hard in recent weeks and in the last few days with the british authorities to find an all—encompassing solution to the question of ensuring an orderly brexit. brexit needs to be orderly for all parties and in all areas, including ireland. we need to find a solution to ensure under no circumstances there is no hard border on the island of ireland. we have not yet managed this. there are still several areas under discussion,

including the question of the irish border. it is my understanding that we are going to need more time to reach this agreement that suits all sides, and to achieve decisive progress, which is necessary to bring to an orderly end the brexit negotiations. that's where we stand and we will use the coming weeks to work calmly and seriously towards finding a solution. gavin lee is in luxembourg, where european ministers are meeting in advance of this week's european summit in brussels. there is some chat this is all a blast but if it is some needs an oscar, it looks dire. you mentioned an hourago and oscar, it looks dire. you mentioned an hour ago and is interesting, you said is it starting to unravel? this idea that the eu leaders said, the moment of truth where something could happen and it seems since talks stalled between the civil serva nts talks stalled between the civil servants on monday looks less likely. now it is pretty crystal clear that nobody believes there

will be anything significant happening at the summit tomorrow. this from donald tusk, the head of the eu council, the main conduit of these talks. he is saying in the last few minutes in a press conference that he has been briefed by michel barnier, here in luxembourg today, and he has no grounds for optimism before tomorrow's european council and brexit. he says he will ask theresa may whether she has any concrete proposals on how to break the impasse. he says only such proposals will determine if a breakthrough is possible. i think we're hearing from the top, officially now, that the moment of truth has already been revealed, that they don't believe there will be anything significant. why does that matter? because the pressure is on from the eu side to say to the uk, if you want a special brexit summit to work out a deal in november, we have do see significant progress. get this, i think you will appreciate this, donald tusk goes back into the of history, a quote to adam fleming who said, give us a

sense, if there is no deal tomorrow, where it is going. he said this, then the issue of the border between northern ireland and ireland, said it's like a new version of the gordian knot. unfortunately, i still can't see a new version of alexander the great, there is not like creative leader. a lot of people will be scratching their heads. i think it is 333 bc. alexander goes for macedonia into what is now turkey. he sees an incredibly complicated bourdy and not, slices and is declared the king of asia. what donald tusk is saying today if there is no one to fix the riddle thatis there is no one to fix the riddle that is brexit. you thought i might appreciate that, i'm not sure i entirely do. the point is, theresa may is heading out there and unless she has a new proposals, it is quite clear that nobody is budging?|j think you're right. pan the camera,

the british are about to leave. the europe minister is about to depart. maybe we can get a word with him as we are speaking. let's see what happens. they are fashionably late and if you go too far in advance its like scaring off the wildlife creatures, they move very quickly into the distance and then they have gone into the wild bush somewhere. let's if they will speak to us. my ta ke let's if they will speak to us. my take of all of this is that now we are ata take of all of this is that now we are at a position where the other leaders have tried to talk of optimism, but let's listen for a minute to the irish foreign minister and deputy prime minister, simon coveney, when he was asked about any chance of a deal tomorrow. from an irish perspective there are vulnerabilities and exposures that ireland has, which are much more significant than the exposure for other eu countries. that's why the michel barnier task force has been so insistent, but also so supportive in the context of the need for

legally operable backstop on the irish border question, to be agreed as part of the withdrawal treaty, and that that backstop would be there unless and until some other solution is agreed and found. that is the text that has been agreed la st is the text that has been agreed last march, signed off on by the british government, as well as the eu todd bowles, and that is the text we expect will be the basis of any final agreement. you are waiting for someone to get in the car but you are right, 333 bc. the gordian knot, it gives its name to a problem solvable only by bold action. you get the sense that brexit we are beyond that. interesting, a couple of days agojeremy hunt, the foreign minister, went to take the other foreign ministers who are here now from europe around a maze in kent and said brexit things easier than

this maze. let's see if we can get a word. tim, a quick word with the bbc, have you time? one of theresa may's aids. how did the talks go? maybe i was a little too late and was unjust but we should have lord callaghan coming out in a second, if you can bear the anxiety of waiting. i spoke to him on the way in, the europe minister. interesting, he said they cannot have from the british position, this diktat from the european union saying you take out planned tomorrow evening from theresa may or there will be no deal at all. this is about customs. it's having a temporary, potentially temporary period to make sure there is no unlimited period on about the integrity of britain not separating from northern ireland. we have heard all of that before. let me talk... it might happen in next minute or so. tomorrow evening, there will be a dinner between the eu leaders. before that, theresa may will have between an hour and two hours, a

limited time until the dinner starts, where she will put to the floor where her position is. donald tuskis floor where her position is. donald tusk is saying now he wants to hear something new before the other leaders respond. we have been asking here what the eu ministers' messages after theresa may. interesting, the german foreign minister saying be realistic, make sure there is some sense of compromise. it may be that the wheels are falling off this moment of truth summit. the civil serva nts moment of truth summit. the civil servants are talking. we shall see what happens. no sign of the british europe minister. you don't feel you can talk for another 45 seconds? let's have a quick look. i think i could talk the tail off a donkey! let's have a look, simon. giving you a live view of what is going on as ministers are leaving the summit. it might be, let's face it, i know for a fa ct might be, let's face it, i know for a fact that some of the british team from talking to the diplomats, they do watch the bbc. what they are watching me and you and simon

coveney decides to stay a little longer to make you and me suffer a bit more. that would be another version of the gordian knot and the bbc. i have been around since 333 bc! i will leave it there and come back to you later on, gavin. thank you. this is afternoon live. us secretary of state mike pompeo has met king salman in saudi arabia as pressure grows on the country to explain what happened to missing journalist jamal khashoggi. mr khashoggi was last seen at the saudi consulate in istanbul two weeks ago and turkish officials believe mr khashoggi was murdered there and reports have surfaced in the us media that the saudis are to admit it happened during an unauthorised interrogation that went wrong. the bbc‘s turkey correspondent has the latest from istanbul. of the saudi team that were sent in here for the alleged interrogation or whatever operation was. one was a

forensics expert. there was an autopsy specialist. one was reported to bring a bone saw with him, why would you do all of that if it was only an interrogation? that will feed the sceptical voices, if indeed these us media reports are correct. after president trump said yesterday that following his talks with king salman by phone, that possibly the suggestion of rogues killers being involved with part of those discussions. they were talking about saudi arabia. this is an autocracy where a very vertical power structure, everything approved and has the full knowledge of the highest levels of the government. so i think what critics will say is that if this comes out of their saudi narrative, this is an attempt by the saudi government to absolve itself of responsibility, to shield the young crown prince salman and if the young crown prince salman and if the us and turkey buy into this narrative, well, critics would see that as an attempt by those governments to vettori —— prioritise

their own relationship over the truth. the difficulty for saudi arabia is how much information the turks have at their disposal and there are some questions as to what they are relying on. there were talks initially of this apple watch being used and there are questions also as to whether the building itself was being bugged and they can't admit it. yes, i think the turks have got quite a lot of incriminating evidence that they say they have gathered and have leaked over they have gathered and have leaked over the last ten days or so to the turkish state media, whilst president erdogan has taken a more cautious approach. he has not echoed accusations of murder. i think the turkish strategy was to have the saudis over the barrel of the gun here. they know they have leverage over here. they know they have leverage over the saudis at the moment. and that the saudis are on the back foot in this relationship for the first time ina in this relationship for the first time in a long time. and also that the relationship is an important one between ankara and riyadh. i think what conceivably might happen now, and this is speculation, turkey is going through a period of economic

problems at the moment and doesn't wa nt to problems at the moment and doesn't want to lose saudi money. could it extra ct want to lose saudi money. could it extract financial concessions from saudi arabia and buying into this conversation? and still these threats of releasing the apparent recordings they have over the saudis, which would be pretty incriminating if they come to light? i think that is quite possibly what the turks are playing at in this relationship at the moment. a san francisco company has developed a technique to make edible meat from cells found in the wing of a live chicken. but how does this slaughter—free meat hold up to a taste test? james cook has been investigating. . .. one of the more amazing things we do atjust, we culture meat, essentially grow animal meat without killing the animal. this is still early in the prototype phase. this is chicken, grown right here.

i'm going to dip it in the sauce. there we go. take a bite! it's really tasty. it tastes like chicken! it tastes like chicken. it is chicken, yeah. there is something about the structure that is not quite the same as you might be familiar with, although the taste is very similar, the physicality, the feel of it in your mouth is slightly different. right, and there are ways you know that we can work on getting that together. i think finding things in the animal kingdom or 3d bioprinting is something that exists today. but as far as using that to manufacture food to feed the world, that is way too slow for that ever to be feasible. so we have to find ways of being able to create this fast, cheap and you know get those textures dialled in. sorry about the music!

we have a spokesman for the vegan society, woody have to say, about this? this technology has the capability of ending animal suffering that there won't be a vegan product at the end of it. it uses animal cells in its creation and also needs a growth media mantra that usually isn't vegan. in fact, it's normally animal blood, specifically calf‘s blood. the whole process won't be vegan. just indulge me for a moment, process won't be vegan. just indulge me fora moment, if process won't be vegan. just indulge me for a moment, if it was just from a further, would you still have a problem with it? yes. i think for vegan is it's more than about the

cruelty to animals. it's about the use of animals. even in this process , use of animals. even in this process, there are still flocks of hens kept in captivity. the welfare may or may not be good. that sounds a bit weird. if i walk along the street and find a better and its use to create a food i tend to enjoy, where is the problem? would you object to that? it still wouldn't be vegan. i think in that case, you'd be finding something, you know, in the wild, in that sense i suppose it's not welfare issue but it still wouldn't be vegan. by definition, something is only vegan of that hasn't come into contact with animals. you see... i'm not a vegan, but a lot of people i would suspect i'll vegan is because of what they see as the cruelty to animals, the unfairness on animals. this is a different league, totally different, isn't it? this technology has huge

potential to improve animal welfare and that is not something we do do do it is something we would welcome. i think there is a huge benefit to the environment, as well, the environmental impact can be reduced to this technology and also the potential to make it healthy for people. there are lots of things that are very good news, but at the end of the day, it is still using the growth medium is still going to be calf‘s blood. the growth medium is still going to be calf's blood. i get that, but i wonder if you might have to change the terms about what you are. if someonejust comes the terms about what you are. if someone just comes across a feather ora someone just comes across a feather or a piece of server that has been left lying around and something can be created from that, i wonder where theissue be created from that, i wonder where the issue really is? no animal has suffered, it hasn't been reared for that purpose... the advert would be nothing was harmed in the making of this product. i think in this case something would be harmed. they are keeping animals in captivity for the

purpose of exploiting them to produce food. there are plenty of alternative. this is different, entirely different. if we're talking about... maybe down the road when they are breeding chickensjust about... maybe down the road when they are breeding chickens just to produce feathers, you might have a point but if we're just talking about this particular technology, this example, forgive me, for the pun, it flies in the face of that argument. they are keeping a flock for this particular product at the moment. so animals are already being exploited for this technology at present. obviously, if we can find a growth medium, and i know the industry is keen on finding such growth medium is, but we still have theissue growth medium is, but we still have the issue of using animal cells. that would be something we could ever that would be something we could ever endorse that the vegan society because it is about living as far as is possible without the use of animals. that is why you are vegan? there are lots of alternatives, lots of really good substitutes for meat now. of really good substitutes for meat now. they are healthy and very like

meat in the taste and texture and even appearance. meat in the taste and texture and even appearance. there are plenty of alternatives without using this technology. samantha, good of you to talk to us. thank you for your time. let's have a look at the weather now. let's have a look at the weather now. after an unseasonably warm day across some parts of england and wales, we are leading into a mild night. there will be a lot of fine weather around as well, with a couple of exceptions, as they usually are. this time the weather front across the north—west of england and wales, bringing some rain through the evening, arriving in time fora rain through the evening, arriving in time for a shower, and some hefty shows the northern and western scotla nd shows the northern and western scotland and a few for northern ireland. those are mostly die out as the night goes on. the weather front drift slowly south—eastwards, rain perhaps more persistent in the south—west in the small hours. clear skies pretty much either side of that front, maybe a few patches of fog in the south—east. to the north, the driest and the clearest of the weather on offer for wednesday.

completion sunshine for scotland and northern england, northern england and increasingly so for wales. further south and east, the weather front sitting around through the day, the rain not heavy but a different looking day for the southeast and east anglia. cool and cloudy than today. we have some breaking news from westminster, let's go to our deputy political editor. in the last few moments we have been seeing on the floor of the house of commons something of a postmortem into that extraordinary report of yesterday detailing setting out the stories of

bullying and harassment including sexual harassment of staff at westminster. calls by a former high courtjudge for a whole new westminster. calls by a former high court judge for a whole new system of dealing with those complaints and also called to the highest authorities at westminster, including the speakerjohn bercow, whether he is the one to oversee a new system given the failings that have taken place. there were calls on house of commons forjohn bercow to go from both sides of the house, but the speaker has now discussed the idea of stepping down, and means to leave next summer. nextjune would mark ten years in office for john bercow and clearly for obvious reasons he wouldn't wish dipping down to be as a response to this furore, but given the calls we have seenin furore, but given the calls we have seen in the house of commons today and which will go on, you need to acknowledge for a whole new vista of changing the culture at westminster,

which was described by the high courtjudge is a culture of cover—up and concealment. he wouldn't wish to be seen to be driven out by that sort of pressure but inevitably this plan aboutjohn bercow that i'm hearing about now will be seen against that context. you used the phrase discussing the idea of stepping down, is he going or not? he said his intention is to gojune orjuly of next year. he had originally planned to be gone by now, he took office saying he would be there for nine years, then that plan changed and the last we heard was he would stay to see out the process of brexit. emily thornberry for one wants him to stay and see out that process, they see him as a potential helped to their side in the arguments and the possible crisis to come, but the pressure is

intense and john bercow is now discussing the means of his going because that is his intention. the question is now, will that be a timetable that takes place gesture and mark will he be able to stay for that long? the difficulty forjohn bercow is he has had a difficult hour on house of commons. one senior tory mp calling on him to go. he may not be in control of his destiny in the way this suggests he thinks he is. there was a call from maria miller, a senior conservative, who effectively called for him to go. another mp spoke about the rot is taking place from the head down, the leader of the house of commons, andrea leadsom spoke about the need to stamp on this behaviour. john bercow just a very short while to stamp on this behaviour. john bercowjust a very short while ago i was talking about sending out the process of dealing off complaints to a —— and entirely outside body. he

isa a —— and entirely outside body. he is a divisive figure at westminster at the best of times and these are not the best of times. those calls are not going to stop. we will see if the timetable i'm hearing about will be the one that takes place. any more, i know you will come back to ink. —— back to us. thank you. sport now, and it is not getting any better for jose sport now, and it is not getting any better forjose mourinho? yes, united were on that really bad run of form, and it was reported that his job was on the line if they didn't beat newcastle ten days ago. they came from 2—0 down to win 3—2 at old trafford but the fa were investigating this. . .and they used a lip reader. mourinho's march down the touchline towards the tunnel at full—time

— we're not going to show you the comments that he aimed at the camera, but the fa have charged him with using "abusive and/or insulting and/or improper" language. he has until friday to respond to the charge. if found guilty, it's likely that he would have to serve a touchline ban for his united's match at chelsea. the wales football team are in dublin for tonight's nations league match against the republic of ireland. they would go top of the group with a win.

but they were humbled by spain in a friendly last week in cardiff in a friendly last week in cardiff and they will have to do without their two star players. already missing gareth bale through injury, aaron ramsay is also unavailable after becoming father to twins. it has happened in the past, its going to happen in the future where we have to cope without our better players. like i say, the players who... i will give players chances no matter what age they are and it is up to them to take it. stop that record, you know, prove people wrong if that is the case. and yes, make that record a little bit better. it's not easy because you will a lwa ys it's not easy because you will always wa nt it's not easy because you will always want someone like gareth. this is a big blow for arsenal and scotland women's teams.

kim little has a broken leg and will be out for at least ten weeks. it happened in a heavy challenge during the five nil win over the champions chelsea in the super league over the weekend. the uncapped leicester wing jonah holmes is the surprise inclusion in the rugby union squad for next months autumn international series. originally from stockport, he qualifies through a welsh grandparent. gatland rested some of his established players over the summer on their tour to argentina but he has recalled captain alun wyn jones. he returns along with fellow osprestustin tipuric, george north and liam williams. they face scotland, australia, tonga and south africa. double olympic skeleton champion lizzie yarnold, who has announced her retirement late last night, has criticised the world anti—doping agency for lifting the three year ban on russia. yarnold won her first olympic title at sochi where it emerged that russia had carried out

the systematic mass doping of its athletes. in my opinion it wasn't the right thing to do. i think we have to keep pushing the anti—doping message. it is not ok to sway away from that so i don't think it was correct to let them back without completing the things they were asked to complete. it isa things they were asked to complete. it is a changing world but we have to keep pushing for a clean and fair competition. johanna konta looks to be finishing her troubled season on a high. she knocked out the seventh seed elise mertens in the opening round of the kremlin cup in moscow, winning in straight sets. it's konta's first match since she split from her coach michaeljoyce last week. she's working with frenchman dimitri zavialoff on a trial basis at this event. a good first impression for him. that's all the sport for now. thank you.

there has been a surge in hate crime directed at people because of their religious beliefs. new figures from the police in england and wales show an increase of 40% on the year before. more than half of the offences were aimed at muslims. it comes as the home office is considering making offences sparked by hostility to elderly people or to men a hate crime, following a review of existing laws. here's our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw. talking about hate crime, these kids at globe primary school in east london are meeting government minister lady williams to tell her what they've learnt from a course on equality and diversity. the home office is funding more projects like this as part of a new hate crime action plan. we learnt about stereotypes and we learnt not to judge people by just what they look like or just what we know about them. we should get to know them more and then judge them by their personality, not by their appearance. you don'tjudge a book by its cover, it's a good saying. you don'tjudge people by their appearance. you have to be nice to people and respect them and notjudge them by the way they look,

or what their religion has done in the past, because everyone is different and you have to respect them. and more awareness about hate crime has led more people to report it. between april 2017 and march this year more than 94,008 hate crimes were recorded by the police in england and wales. that's a 17% increase on the year before. religious hate crimes went up 40%, most of these offences were directed at muslims. but some believe that an even wider variety of offences should be seen as hate crimes. as well as getting schools to tackle the problem, the home office has announced a legal review. it will look at extending the definition of hate crimes to include offences motivated by a hatred of women and men. people have come to us and it is right that we ask them to look at it. it may be that we don't

take it forward. it would be very interesting to hear what the law commission says. the law commission review will also consider if offences targeting older people and those from alternative cultures, such as goths, should be defined as hate crimes. there's more than! million older people in the uk who experience abuse every single year and yet less than half of 1% of that actually reaches the criminaljustice system. more lessons about tolerance won't be needed here. danny shaw, bbc news, tower hamlets. three people have died after a car towing a caravan crashed into two cars while driving the wrong way on the m40. it was travelling south on the motorway‘s northbound carriageway, which was closed overnight after the crash. the accident happened at about 4pm on monday, thames valley police said. the driver and passenger in the car towing the caravan, who were both in their 805, died, along with the driver of one of the cars that was hit, who was in his 30s. one of britain's most prolific paedophiles has won a seven—year cut

to his jail sentence. cambridge graduate matthew falder was originally sentenced to 32 years in prison for over 100 offences committed over a ten—year period. the 29—year—old has had his custodial term reduced by seven years after his lawyer argued that the original sentence was manifestly excessive. scottish power has become the first uk energy firm to rely solely on wind farms to generate electricity. the firm has closed all of its coal plants in the past decade and has nearly 3,000 megawatts of wind power capacity, either operating or under construction in the uk. scottish power which has five million customers has described the transition from coal and gas as a "pivotal moment". anyone running a political advert on facebook in the uk will now have to prove their identity, as well as disclose who paid for the advert. the new system already operates in the united states and brazil. the social media giant has been under pressure to act following controversy about advertisements it

displayed during the 2016 us presidential election campaign, as well as the uk's eu referendum. members of the thai school football team who were rescued from a flooded cave injuly have been surprised by one of their footballing heroes. the 12 boys and their coach were appearing on the ellen degeneres tv show in america, when the la galaxy striker zlatan ibrahimovic stepped out to meet them — they'd just told ellen that he was their idol. this team is braver than me and they show their collective teamwork and patience. so this is probably the best tea m patience. so this is probably the best team in the world. amazing when your hero appears in the studio. in a moment the business news, but first the headlines... the bbc understands

commons speakerjohn bercow has told friends he will stand down injune orjuly next year amid calls for him to quit following bullying allegations. we need more time — the eu chief negotiator says major issues including the northern ireland border have still to be agreed. another delay to the introduction of the government's flagship welfare reform, universal credit. critics say it should be scrapped altogether. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. average wages — excluding bonuses — rose by 3.1% in the three months to august, compared with a year ago. that's the fastest pace in nearly ten years, according to the office for national statistics. the unemployment rate held steady at 4%. the chief executives of three big banks have become the latest bosses to pull out of a conference in saudi arabia. it follows tensions between the us and saudi arabia over the saudi journalist jamal khashoggi's disappearance. regulators will widen their investigation into sainsbury‘s planned merger with asda to take account of the rapid rise of aldi and lidl.

the competition and markets authority will also assess the rise of online firms in its probe of a deal that would create the uk's largest grocer. some news that some of us can relate to — how passwords are stopping us accessing cash? yes, a —— have you ever had money sitting in account... i know you have millions in your offshore account! i wouldn't be sitting here! you have forgotten your transaction code, you cannot get into your account so you just say you know what, forget it, i don't care any more. that apparently is happening to millions of people and it means we are foregoing quite a lot in savings and investments because of the lost or forgotten password. let's talk this through now with

kevin, what is your password? let's talk this through now with kevin, what is your password ?ij let's talk this through now with kevin, what is your password? i know you have tried lots of times to get it so i'm not going to tell you this time! it's incredible how many of us seem to have forgotten these passwords and how much money we are leaving behind because of its. according to this survey it is one in seven people have lost track of their savings or their pensions, their savings or their pensions, their financial matters. if that is true of the population as a whole, it is7 true of the population as a whole, it is 7 million people who probably wa nt it is 7 million people who probably want that extra bit of cash and have probably forgotten they have even got it so clearly there is that money sitting around and this service once reunited. if you think you are one of those people, what can you do if you genuinely don't know your password less gin mark

because it can be so difficult to get through telephone security. yes, with national savings investments, they say 2.8 alien pounds is unclaimed so that include things like premium bonds too and they say you can find it. there is my lost account service which finds unclaimed money in bank accounts and national savings investments and things like that, then you have the pensions tracing service which traces your pensions and you can find the money you may have set aside a long time ago, completely forgotten it was there and maybe go ona forgotten it was there and maybe go on a nice holiday with the money or just spend a few pennies and pay off some debts. i think the latter in my

case! kevin peachey, thank you. let's look at the markets. what does merlin run? theme parks, isn't it must remark i think of king arthur's sidekicks. it has told investors it lego park theme [and has flat lined in terms of growth. normally what happens with merlin is it makes its money from other ventures, for example have you watched any of the lego movies? no, welbeck films for people under the age of ten which are normally make a lot of money but they haven't done this year and that has had an impact on their profits and therefore share price. paddy power bet fair, there share price

has risen nearly 4% after it was told it would be fined for failing told it would be fined for failing to protect customers with gambling addictions. right. thank you very much. i feel like i should stop now and walk away, but i can't! try. more baby news now and pippa middleton, sister of kate, it says here "has given birth to a baby"! pippa middleton, sister of kate, sister—in—law of william, has had a baby. the duke and duchess of cambridge say they are thrilled for pippa and her husband james, so congratulations from all of us to

pippa and james on the birth of a baby. we will have more on that later. shares a birthday with blue peter, which is in fact 60 years old today. it's seen 37 presenters, along with dogs, cats, and tortoises, entertain and educate children for more than 5,000 episodes. here are a few highlights from the progamme's six decades on air and a warning this footage — which we prepared earlier — contains flashing images. hello there. hello. hello! welcome to live blue peter! i think this is the first time i've shampooed a camel. hold onto that. oh! get off my foot! that was a very scary moment. i'm up 20,000 feet and i'm upside down! and here it is, tracy island. your very own blue peter silver badge. this might be the proudest day of my life.

that is fantastic. here is your very own gold blue peter badge. applause it is the best day of my life. yeah! that was wicked! woohoo! whoa! i'm abseiling off blackpool tower. ready to skydive? yes. joining me live from salford is our arts and entertainment correspondent, colin paterson. with recognisable faces.|j with recognisable faces. i promised you blue peter presenters and i have got them, and i have been learning

this afternoon how every month you presented counts. seven years from 1972 to 1979. ten and a half years from november 1967 to march 1978. six years we worked together. how would you sum up that time?m six years we worked together. how would you sum up that time? it was a great time, a lovely time for television. there were only three channels so what we did got watched. we know now it gets watched but is ina very we know now it gets watched but is in a very different way. it was immediate and we only learned later what people thought of us whereas now with social media they can tell you straightaway what they think of the show so it is different but my word, it deserves its longevity. what is your theory why it has lasted 60 years? i think it is its

combination of being deeply old—fashioned combination of being deeply old —fashioned and deeply combination of being deeply old—fashioned and deeply modern all at the same time. it has stuck to its values because everybody knows its values because everybody knows it isa its values because everybody knows it is a programme that is guided by what it thought was right and just and fair. it stuck with that but it managed to communicate that message by using new media, it has websites, it is interactive. it has moved with the times. we just had a remarkable moment where 27 blue peter presenters moment where 27 blue peter p rese nte rs we re moment where 27 blue peter presenters were having their photo taken together. what was that moment like? fantastic. we all have a mutual belief in the show. we love it. i don't think any of us has bad thoughts about the show. i probably did it for too long but i loved every minute of it so to be there with so many like—minded people who enjoyed performing and enjoyed what

it stood for, that was important. i know thatjohn has now left us bless his heart but it was a wonderful time for television. john noakes would have loved today, wouldn't he? no, he wouldn't! he hated crowds, he hated being in the public eye. he was not an extrovert. he invented john noakes to play him on television and he played him on television. off—screen he didn't wa nt television. off—screen he didn't want anything to do with it. he would have been embarrassed by this and found it difficult and bless him, he doesn't have to go through it. it was a reluctant staff. before we let you go we want to know your favourite moments, the moments that still make you laugh. my favourite moment was having to eat with the king of tonga. do you remember?|j

king of tonga. do you remember?” do. and in fact i interviewed his daughter, princess latufuipeka. for me it was the elephant. the keeper alec would tap her on the forehead every time he wanted her to move. tap heron the every time he wanted her to move. tap her on the head and she goes where he wanted. biddy thought that was cruel and the elephant did what it wanted. we have just on the show in edinburgh at the fringe and we show the whole clip during the show. it brings the house down every time.

these are classic tv moments. you couldn't write it, if that had been scripted it wouldn't work like that. was anyone hamming it up? oh yes! what made it funny as well was the presenters valiantly soldiering on as if none of this was happening.” was laughing my head off. johnny on the other hand made every moment count. he pretended the elephant trod on his foot, it didn't. he pretended he stepped in the elephant poo,, he pretended he stepped in the elephant poo, , he didn't. pretended he stepped in the elephant poo,, he didn't. 0n pretended he stepped in the elephant poo,, he didn't. on screen he was always looking for the gag. you are live on the cbbc channel, 27 blue peter presenters in the one studio, it is going to be good, isn't it?

not to be missed. colin, leslie and peter, thank you. it certainly was the funniest thing on television i have ever seen. you are watching afternoon live. a robot named pepper has become the first non—human to give evidence to a committee of mps in parliament. the android from middlesex university has been answering questions from the commons education committee, which is investigating how technology could help ease the strain on certain elements in the public sector. what is the role for humans in the fourth industrial revolution? robots will have an important role to play but we will always need the skills that are unique to humans. that is a relief! now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell. after an unseasonably warm day, we are leading into a mild night. a lot of fine weather around with a couple of fine weather around with a couple

of exceptions. this time we are talking about a weather front across the north west of england and wales bringing rain through the evening. some quite hefty showers from northern and western scotland and a few in northern ireland too. they will mostly die out as the night goes on. the weather front drifts southwards through the small hours, and clear skies pretty much either side of that with some fog returning to the south—east of england. to the north, the driest and clearest of the weather on offer for wednesday. further south and east, the weather front always sitting around for the day, the rain never especially heavy but a different looking date for the south—east and east anglia. cool and cloudier than today. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at 4.

commons speakerjohn bercow is believed to have told friends he'll step down next summer, amid calls for him to quit now following a report about bullying in parliament. "no grounds for optimism" on a brexit breakthrough at tomorrow's summit — the verdict from the president of the european council. another delay to the introduction of the government's flagship welfare reform — universal credit. critics say it should be scrapped altogether. the disappearance of the saudi journalist jamal khassoggi — the us secretary of state tells the saudi king he has huge concerns. and preparing for a bouncing royal baby — an early gift in australia for the duke and duchess of sussex. coming up on afternoon live all the sport. jose mourinho could face a touchline ban. the manchester united manager has been charged by the fa after using abusive language on live television. the weather forecast? we are going

to continue with some decent weather and some autumn sunshine for the weekend. details coming up. thanks. also coming up — twin brothers who've squashed their own record for the uk's heaviest pumpkin grown indoors — we'll have more on that in a few moments. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. the bbc understands that the speaker of the house of commonsjohn bercow has told his friends that he intends to stand down next summer. his departure — injune orjuly — would coincide with his tenth year in office — but some mps have been demanding his immediate resignation. that follows yesterday's fiercely critical report on the failure of high level figures in parliament to deal adequately with bullying — including sexual harassment — of staff members at westminster.

the report condemned what was described as a culture in which abusive behaviour was "tolerated, concealed and covered up." our chief political correspondent vicki young is in westminster. the assumption is that he has control over when he is going to go? it is up to mps how long he stays as speaker. there has been speculation over speaker. there has been speculation over how long he would stay in the job and initially he said he would go last summer, 2018, and then there was speculation he might stay longer and now the bbc has confirmation that the plan is that he will go next summer after the bouncer brexit and article 50 —— after the plans for brexit. earlier today the focus was on this scathing report and the questions forjohn bercow are about his leadership of this place. the

commons authorities of which she is one of the leaders, that report suggested that was not the right way to deal with the problem and that may bejohn to deal with the problem and that may be john bercow was to deal with the problem and that may bejohn bercow was not to deal with the problem and that may be john bercow was not the person to bring about the change that was needed and this was his response. having read with care the report by dame laura cox and having lived through the mps expenses scandal, i am persuaded by at least two of her fundamental recommendations. without seeking to pre—empt what the house might ultimately decide, i firmly believe that the only possible way to resolve this matter is the establishment of a body which is both entirely independent of and external to parliament, to hear and adjudicate upon all allegations of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct, including deciding how far

to investigate past misconduct, whether the allegations involve mps or staff, the same entirely independent body should be in complete control of the process from start to finish. as i have said before in this chamber, and to the leaders cross—party inquiry in my oral evidence last december, independents and transparency are the best guarantors of a process that will both be fair and command general confidence. that was the response ofjohn bercow. he is sitting there in the

chair as speaker but mps were getting up to condemn him. and as we have just heard, that very senior management are the people who will decide what happens next as a result of this report. will the leader of the house explain how the brave staff who have spoken out can be reassured that action will be taken? because the house of commons has a duty to lead by example, to be an exemplar employer. the report is clear that there needs to be a complete change in leadership at the most senior level, including you, mr speaker, as chief officer. if we are, in dame laura's words, "to press the reset button". we can get reaction from andrew bridgen who is not a fan ofjohn bercow. what you make of this news that he is going to say that he will stand down next summer? we have

heard rumours that the speaker will make a statement later today, that he will announce his own departure date next summer which will be on the tenth anniversary, i assume, but this is clearly a pre—emptive strike to head off inevitable calls for him to head off inevitable calls for him to go immediately following the damning criticism he has received from the laura cox report we have just heard in the chamber. do you think that he could make the changes that laura cox has talked about? she has talked about a culture that needs changes. as dame laura cox pointed out in her report, the culture changes is a minority of mps but it needs to be seismic and the current senior management of the house of commons including the head clerk and the speaker 's office, came in for heavy criticism and dame

laura cox said she did not believe the change we need to see in this place could go ahead with those characters in position. i'm thinking that if this will be another eight, nine months before the speaker leaves that will delay the whole process and change, and whether that will be enough to keepjohn bercow imposition, with so much going on, is up to our colleagues stash in position. you would like to see him go sooner than that, presumably? they could be disruptive, though —— it could be disruptive, though, with the brexit legislation going through. in my view he has ripped every page of impartiality from the speakers rule book and we have very important votes coming up regarding how we leave the european union and i'm very concerned that he may disregard parliamentary roles and standing orders and allow more

modification of the meaningful vote which could extend article 50 or a second referendum which would be unconstitutional. we know his views on brexit, he not impartial. some people say he has been impartial from the speaker's chair and he has changed this place by giving more power to backbenchers to hold the government to account and that is what hisjob is government to account and that is what his job is to do. there is no doubt that many of the changes that the speaker has made in his time have been very well, and he has givena have been very well, and he has given a voice to the backbenchers —— very welcome. but he is nick kyrgios any can turn on a sixpence and i have seen him take apart fairly vulnerable new mps in that chamber and destroy their confidence to speak and that can never be allowed stash but he is mercurial and he can turn ona stash but he is mercurial and he can turn on a sixpence. something which

she has denied, of course, many times —— he has denied. thank you, andrew bridgen. we will find out later if his announcement will stop because for his immediate resignation —— stop the calls. the head of the european council donald tusk has called on theresa may to put forward new concrete proposals to break what he describes as an ‘impasse' over a brexit deal, adding that he saw ‘no grounds' for optimism. he was speaking before a meeting of the european council this evening when eu foreign ministers will be briefed on the current position over brexit. for a breakthrough to take place besides goodwill we need facts. tomorrow i'm going to ask the prime minister theresa may whether she has concrete proposals on how to break the impasse. only such proposals can determine if the breakthrough is possible. while working on the brexit deal we also need to make

sure that we are prepared in case an agreement is not possible. or in case it is rejected. therefore, tomorrow, we will discuss how to step up our preparations for a new deal scenario. but as i have already stressed, the fact that we are preparing for a no deal scenario must not under any circumstances lead us away from making every effort to reach the best agreement possible for all sides. that was donald tusk. our europe correspondent gavin lee is in luxembourg. the prime minister's spokesperson was asked about what donald tusk had said and they said the prime minister set up her position yesterday, so there is not going to be anything new to come from this will stop given what donald tusk said, this is looking rather grim. the idea of a moment of truth summit

and the language, as well. to go back to the summit in salzburg, the briefings with getting from eu leaders and in the council, even donald tusk‘s language is that they we re donald tusk‘s language is that they were going for a deal, but now he says, unless she has anything new on the table, and her spokesperson says she has put out what she wants to say, that leaves us in gridlock. this is a difficult situation. if we go back into the annals of history, alexander the great managed to cut through what was known as the gordian knot. apparently no one could on tired but he stepped in, and whoever could on tired would be the king of asia minor. it's about managing to do something when it

seems impossible, donald tusk was wondering where that figure is of creative influence. one of the journalists said to him, you talk about alexander the great, and boris johnson's full name also features alexander, but he said it is not wa nt to alexander, but he said it is not want to compare alexander the great with borisjohnson. want to compare alexander the great with boris johnson. —— want to compare alexander the great with borisjohnson. —— he did not want. we answer at this summit is key, but now the wheels are falling off stop —— we understand this summit is key but now the wheels are falling off. there are eu members inside who have been briefed by michel barnier. we may get talked to a few. they were briefed early and then tomorrow leaders will decide whether or not during the evening speech by theresa may and the discussion they have, has enough of

a reachable agreement being made on theissue a reachable agreement being made on the issue of northern ireland to go forward to a special november summit on brexit. what we are hearing doesn't look good. what is the mood music like amongst the ministers? what have they been saying as they arrived? the german european minister, he gave a direct message to theresa may, be realistic and constructive, and we have had the minister for latvia, the spanish, the swedes, they feel they are in some kind of suspense and they are waiting to find out whether or not it isa waiting to find out whether or not it is a lot of politically and -- politicking. we had a word with one of the top civil servants with theresa may, but we did not get a

word with him. we can now hearfrom someone who is pretty key to these talks. this is the deputy prime minister and the foreign minister in ireland and this is what he had to say about the chances for a brexit deal tomorrow. from an irish perspective, there are vulnerabilities and exposure that ireland has, which are much more significant than the exposure for other eu countries. that's why the barnier task force has been so insistent, but also so supportive in the context of the need for a legally operable backstop on the irish border question, to be agreed as part of the withdrawal treaty, or the withdrawal agreement, and that that backstop would be there unless and until some other solution is agreed and found. that is the text that has been agreed last march, signed off on by the british government, as well as the eu task force, and that is the text

we expect will be the basis of any final agreement. the other thing to think about, if there is no agreement tomorrow when theresa may has the moment with the other leaders, we will come this way to see if there are any other eu members coming out... there are contingency plans to have the other 27 metres meeting in november without the uk and they detect contingency in case of a no deal summit —— 27 members meeting in november without the uk and they will detail contingency. but at the moment it does look like we will see any major deal in the next 24 hours. what about those who say this is an act and bring manship and things are much closer to a deal then we are being told? —— brinkmanship.”

much closer to a deal then we are being told? -- brinkmanship. i hear that from different people, but being here when you talk to the diplomats and the people representing ministers, it feels very real, and when you look at the reality, go back to the great crisis, the late—night summits, at least you had technical talks going on, but here no talks have been going on —— the greek crisis. we are live on the bbc, a quick word? we try. you have been briefed by michel barnier. give me a sense of whether you think anything is likely to happen tomorrow? i would be glad in an agreement would be reached tomorrow but indeed the situation is too complex to think an agreement will be reached soon. the position

is in line with the european union position that an agreement on brexit will be beneficial for the uk and the eu but it is complex and more time is needed and so it will be offered tomorrow and we hope for the best and we prepare for the worst. what did michel barnier said? that the negotiations are indeed complex and there is the question of the irish border and the irish backstop, very important, and the european union is united over that, it's position in line with the european position, that a solution should be found for the irish border question. can you spell out what this means for sweden if there is a no deal?”

cannot speak for sweden but i can speak for the netherlands. we have a strong relationship with the uk, trading relationship, which is very intensive. a lot of dutchman living in the uk and a lot of uk citizens living in the netherlands who are longing for clarification about what their position will be, so the sta kes their position will be, so the stakes are high. that is why we are so much in favour of brexit agreement which will be beneficial to both but we also prepare for a ha rd to both but we also prepare for a hard brexit. thanks forjoining us. sometimes the dutch and the swedes and the spanish have to speak to their own media first but they were very kind and we got a sense there that it very kind and we got a sense there thatitis very kind and we got a sense there that it is looking pretty unlikely right now for any deal tomorrow. he was looking very happy because you have just made was looking very happy because you havejust made him prime minister, as well! is the foreign minister.

yes, he is the foreign minister, we have spoken to him a few times. gavin, thanks forjoining us. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. the bbc understands commons speakerjohn bercow has told friends he will stand down injune orjuly next year — amid calls for him to quit now — following bullying allegations we need more time — the eu chief negotiator says major issues including the northern ireland border still have to be agreed. another delay to the introduction of the government's flagship welfare reform — universal credit. critics say it should be scrapped altogether jose mourinho has been charged by the fa for directing abusive language into a live tv camera after manchester united's victory over newcastle ten days ago. the arsenal and scott —— scotland midfielder kim little has broken her leg and will be out for a while. whilst rugby union head coach warren gatland has

named his squad for the autumn internationals —— wales rugby union. i will be back with a complete update in the next 20 minutes. us secretary of state mike pompeo has met king salman in saudi arabia as pressure grows on the country to explain what happened to missing journalist jamal khashoggi. a state department spokeswoman said they "agreed on the importance of a thorough, transparent, and timely investigation that provides answers". mr khashoggi was last seen at the saudi consulate in istanbul two weeks ago and turkish officials believe mr khashoggi was murdered there and reports have surfaced in the us media that the saudis are to admit it happened during an unauthorised interrogation that went wrong. let's cross over to geneva where we can speak to rupert colville — spokesman for united nations human rights chief, michelle bachelet. talking a timely investigation, it has been a couple of weeks and we

still don't know what happened. that is right. but very often you don't know what has happened with a major crime investigation for quite some time. what we do know is that jamal khashoggi disappeared and has not been seen since and there are very serious allegations about what may have happened stop the need for a clear prompt transparent and effective and impartial investigation is paramount. how complex is dismayed by the fact it is allegedly happened in a consulate? —— how complex is this made. consulates do have a certain diplomatic immunity but there is a convention on consumers and there is a clear exception in the case of a grave crime and the allegations about what may have happened to jamal khashoggi would appear to indicate a possible grave crime and so the immunity should be waived in our view immediately. and

completely. there's more than one crime to be investigated? we don't know enough details to be certain but he has disappeared, so at the minimum it would appear there is an enforced disappearance, so that's a crime, if that is carried out by a state or whatever, and possible allegations that he may have been murdered. in terms of what turkey and saudi arabia need to do now, what are you actually asking them to do? we are asking saudi arabia in particular to say everything they now particular to say everything they now about what has happened to jamal khashoggi, where izzy and what happened after he entered the consulate two weeks ago? —— were is he. that is clear. that is in their hands. the turkish authorities are

investigating thoroughly and they have managed to get into the consulate yesterday but we don't know if they were given total access to everything they wanted to see and examine and not just to everything they wanted to see and examine and notjust the consulate but also the residence of the saudi consul general and the cctv of the vehicles going to and from the consulate that day. if it turns out he was murdered at the consulate, what sanctions could be taken against the saudis? if a crime like murder is committed, there is a perpetrator and sewing investigation will hopefully follow the evidence and give us the conclusions were the evidence leads as to who committed the crime and who planned it. and if thatis the crime and who planned it. and if that is the conclusion that it was a crime and there were particular perpetrators, they should be charged and punished. rupert colville,

spokesman for the human rights of the united nations, thanks for joining us. we have some breaking news. stormy daniels became involved with a legal dispute regarding the us president, that the president had paid hush money to silence her over an affair she said they had in 2006. donald trump has gone on twitter and what he has had to say... the world's longest running children's television programme is 60 today — it's seen 37 presenters, along with dogs, cats, and tortoises, entertain and educate children for more than 5,000 episodes. here are a few highlights from the progamme's six decades on air and a warning this footage contains flashing images. hello there.

hello. hello! welcome to live blue peter! i think this is the first time i've shampooed a camel. hold onto that. oh! get off my foot! that was a very scary moment. i'm up 20,000 feet and i'm upside down! and here it is, tracy island. your very own blue peter silver badge. this might be the proudest day of my life. that is fantastic. here is your very own gold blue peter badge. applause it is the best day of my life. whoa! that was wicked! woohoo! whoa! i'm abseiling off blackpool tower.

ready to skydive? yes. joining me live from salford is our arts and entertainment correspondent, colin paterson. this is the blue carpet before blue peter's 60th birthday party, the special programme on cbbc which sta rts special programme on cbbc which starts in 33 minutes and lasts for an hour. we are now with barney howerd and anthea turner. you were on the show for a couple of years, how do you look back? i'm number 20, by the way. today is a privilege to be here, i was a fan of blue peter

asa be here, i was a fan of blue peter as a child and to get the job be here, i was a fan of blue peter as a child and to get thejob is be here, i was a fan of blue peter as a child and to get the job is a dream come true, and to be here in this exclusive club, sure you feel the same... there are 37 of us in the same... there are 37 of us in the whole world. a very small number. we are like a little family and we have all done the same job. they can have a conversation about what we did and we have done the same stuff but we brought it to a different generation of children. same stuff but we brought it to a different generation of childrenm it intense? intense, but very funny. you work very hard to get it right. it isa you work very hard to get it right. it is a live studio but very well rehearsed and well produced. everyone says, what went wrong? not a huge amount because we worked hard to make sure it didn't. tracy island, your greatest hit moment. why did you become such a sensation? nobody else wanted to do it,

firstly, and if anybody remembers that, it was christmas and the shops had run out of tracy island and the manufacturers had not ordered enough and blue peter said, we will come to the rescue. we will make it. what about the copyright issues? clearly there wasn't. every presenter since has asked for their own version of the tracy island. what was yours? pom—pom penguins. the tracy island. what was yours? pom-pom penguins. did that go down well? not so well. they were little fairy penguins. the boys turned off at that point. moving on... how long can it last? another 60 years. people talk about how children access television, on their phones, and if you watch the last couple of years on blue peterjewell see we have made the digital transition. ——

you will see. as long as we keep moving, we will be fine. simon mccoy would have been a good blue peter presenter? he would have been one of the best presenters on the show. he is warm and talented and has so many skills. he's for this, is warm and talented and has so many skills. he's forthis, by is warm and talented and has so many skills. he's for this, by the way! —— he's paying for this, by the way. does he have a badge? do you have one? no, but! does he have a badge? do you have one? no, but i think i does he have a badge? do you have one? no, but i think! deserve one. he thinks he deserves one. you have got to earn it. we will make that decision. there you go. enjoy the show everybody. 60 years of blue peter. thanks for joining show everybody. 60 years of blue peter. thanks forjoining us. you can see the big birthday party at five o'clock on cbbc. it will be on

bbc two next saturday. susan powell is here in the studio. half turn coming up which would normally mean it will be horrible, and it will if you are travelling? isn't it the wrong way round, you save your isn't it the wrong way round, you save your pennies and say let's go to the mediterranean where it will be sunny, but you may have heard for the past few days we have had the re m na nts of the past few days we have had the remnants of hurricane leslie which has flooded the south of france, then that got followed by low pressure. just look at the next 24 hours across the western side of the mediterranean. the balearics are under there somewhere, sardinia and corsica, everywhere getting plastered with rain. look further north closer to home, and for once stayed put and you are probably on toa stayed put and you are probably on to a winner. the winner? we will

probably get comparably better weather in the uk than many of the favoured holiday resorts around the mediterranean. and we are heading towards october. even the canadians have been getting some of those storms and they are normally a bankerfor storms and they are normally a banker for holiday weather this time of year. banker for holiday weather this time of yea r. close banker for holiday weather this time of year. close to home we are not losing out. stay at home and watch the forecast, and you can bring us it now. we have a weather front to talk about at the moment which will bring rain into the north—west of england and wales through this evening. to the east clearer skies, mist and fog returning after a warm afternoon across eastern england, then heavier showers for a time across western scotland and northern ireland. this weather front drifts southwards by the end of the night,

with some drizzle from the midlands and east anglia. tomorrow this weather front is keen to stick around so it might push more persistent rain into east anglia. a dreary day in the south—west of england, writer later as the cloud piles eastwards. more cloud around, drizzly rain, and consequently it will be corner as well. nearly 22 degrees in eastern england today. but the pressure will moving through and thursday and friday. by thursday patchy cloud across southern england, but really a lot of fine weather from top to tail across the uk, justa weather from top to tail across the uk, just a light breeze. it could be chilly first thing. a crisp autumn start with fog but thursday should bring a lot of sunshine with temperatures average for the time of year. we are still talking about the

mid teens. even as we go on friday and more so through the week ahead, we will see some weather front toppling into the zero of our area of high pressure which will bring some rain into scotland and northern ireland but all the while they will be pushed away so there will still be pushed away so there will still bea be pushed away so there will still be a lot of fine weather on offer across the uk. if anything, by friday, the temperature is trying to heat up again so a couple of degrees above average in the south has become towards the end of the week and the forecast is holding steady with a lot of fairweather into week's half term. you can get all of the details by heading to the website. this is bbc news —

our latest headlines. the bbc understands that speakerjohn bercow has told friends he will stand down next summer after ten years in office. but some senior mps have said he should resign now after a highly critical report on bullying in westminster. european council president donald tusk says there are ‘no grounds for optimism' regarding a brexit breakthrough, as the deadlock over the irish border issue remains ahead of an eu summit tomorrow. us secretary of state, mike pompeo, has met the king of saudia arabia to discuss the suspected murder of journalist jamal khashoggi. pompeo also met with saudi arabia's crown prince who agreed that there should be a thorough investigation into the case. and the duke and duchess of sussex have been on their first public outing since it was revealed that they are due to become parents. the couple are in australia

for an overseas tour and were given baby presents as they met the country's governor—general. sport now on afternoon live with olly foster at the bbc sports centre. jose mourinho in a bit of trouble? yes, imagine if we trained a camera on you for a couple of hours and got a lip reader involved, do you think you would be in a spot of bother? a lip reader involved, do you think you would be in a spot of bother7m would be about some baby remotely related to a royal, i suspect. when it was reported jose mourinho's job on the line, united 2—0 down at old trafford, the investigating —— the fa are investigating this. he vented

his anger at, we think, the press and all of those who had written him off before that victory. the fa have charged him with using abusive and insulting or improper language. if he is found guilty, it is likely he will get a touchline ban for the game against chelsea. a big game tonight in the nations league in dublin? yes, it was a fantastic game. the nation ‘s league is a back door insurance policy that those teams who miss out on normal qualification for the euro 2020 championships. wales would go top of the group if they beat the republic of ireland in dublin but they were thrashed by spain ina dublin but they were thrashed by spain in a friendly in cardiff last

week and will have to do without their two star players. already missing gareth bale through injury, aaron ramsay is also unavailable after becoming father to twins. it has happened in the past and will happen in the future when we have to cope without our better players. the players who. .. i cope without our better players. the players who... i will give players chances no matter what age they are and it is up to them to take it. stop that record, you know, prove people wrong if that is the case. yes, make that record a little bit better. it is not easy because you will always miss someone like gareth. staying with football... this is a big blow for arsenal and scotland women's teams. kim little has a broken leg and will be out for at least ten weeks. it happended in a heavy challenge during the five nil win over

the champions chelsea in the super league over the weekend. little helped scotland qualify for next year's world cup. the uncapped leicester wing jonah holmes is the surprise inclusion in the rugby union squad for next months autumn international series. originally from stockport, he qualifies through a welsh grandparent. gatland rested some of his established players over the summer on their tour to argentina but he has recalled captain alun wyn jones. he returns along with fellow osprestustin tipuric, george north and liam williams. they face scotland, australia, tonga and south africa. double olympic skeleton champion lizzie yarnold, who has announced her retirement late last night, has criticised the world anti—doping agency for lifting the three—year ban on russia. yarnold won her first olympic title at sochi where it emerged that russia had carried out the systematic mass doping of its athletes. she would like to stay in sport to help in the fight against drugs cheats.

there are boards i can hopefully applied to be on and continue to have the voice of the athletes represented, and remind people that we have to protect athletes, especially when we are talking about anti—doping issues. we have to protect fair and clean competition but i think it is still important to use the platform i have as an olympic athlete and make sure our voices are heard, even though sometimes it feels like they are not being heard, we have to continue to fight. johanna konta look to be finishing her troubled season on a high. she knocked out the seventh seed elise mertens in the opening round of the kremlin cup in moscow, winning in straight sets. it's konta's first match since she split from her coach michaeljoyce last week. she's working with frenchman dimitri zavialoff on a trial basis at this event. and that is all your sport for now. now on afternoon live,

let's go nationwide and see what's happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. let's go to rogerjohnson. where are you? it only happens with me! ..in salford where environmental campaigners have continued to protest against friday‘s high court decision to allow fracking to re—start in lancashire. sally taylor is in southampton where twin brothers have squashed their own record for the uk's heaviest pumpkin grown indoors. talk to you in a moment but let's go back to roger. it's often the case

we let these stories drift in use terms but presumably people today are still angry about fracking? yes, the protesters have said they will continue to campaign in the village called little plumpton. the protesters were there as they have been for numerous years, making their point. they were joined today by vivienne westwood, not for the first time. she has appeared to join their protest, today she danced and heard dan is apparently slightly tongue in cheek criticism of the prime minister theresa may. she has a good deal to say about the government's decision to give fracking the go—ahead, something she feels vivienne westwood could have major consequences far beyond lancashire. if we don't act now, we are in dangerof

lancashire. if we don't act now, we are in danger of mass extinction probably within a generation. if you draw a line level with paris, once we go past the tipping point, below that will become uninhabitable. we cannot say exactly when but it is inevitable. and the fear of most protesters presu ma bly inevitable. and the fear of most protesters presumably is having got the go—ahead for this site, others may be picked in lancashire. exactly. the process of fracking, many people may know this already, it is two kilometres down this is happening. they did their first test over a happening. they did their first test over a distance little over the spread of my arms yesterday, they have done the same today. they pump water at incredibly high pressure down predrilled pipes and it comes out into the shale rock, that fractures the rock and the gas will be able to bubble back to the surface. once they have done this, they can drill many wells on the same site and have numerous across

the country. there could be many hundreds across the whole of the uk, but the fracking industry says it makes us more self—sufficient in terms of energy, we have to import less gas, it is slightly cleaner, they say greener, but slightly less bad than ideal or coal and therefore a bridge to a more renewable future. they also say it will create many jobs. the fracking process itself on these initial wells will be completed by next year. but if you wa nt to completed by next year. but if you want to drill more, you could drill does —— dozens and dozens? want to drill more, you could drill does -- dozens and dozens? after two or three years it is at a production level and after that you won't know it is there. so when you are sitting

with an interview you have a tie, with an interview you have a tie, with us you have one loosely. before that interview i was cavorting on the beach with pudsey bear, that is another story. i don't have time to ta ke another story. i don't have time to take that any further at all. we are talking pumpkins. yes, it is that time of year. it is a whopper, a staggering 174 stone this particular pumpkin, and! staggering 174 stone this particular pumpkin, and i am reliably informed it is 1000 kg orjust over. the uk s heaviest pumpkin, and apparently it is the equivalent weight of the combined football team so you get the idea. this monster was grown by two brothers from lymington. they run pine tops nurseries and in a quiet corner of the greenhouse they

have a pumpkin patch. if you have this it is more of a pumpkin field but it has a waistline of 20 feet which is a roundabout six or seven metres. the brothers have been growing these vegetables since they we re growing these vegetables since they were 13, so what's the secret? we use the very best seeds so we cross the best and biggest seeds with the best and biggest seeds. they want the best soil so we have light and aerated soil because they are fine roots, very deep soil, and a lot of water. when they are growing at their fastest, probably water. when they are growing at theirfastest, probably 150 water. when they are growing at their fastest, probably 150 gallons of water per day. i suppose what is the secret is one question, why is another, so what happens to this thing now? various suggestions, soup

is one, you could give it to blue peter on their 60th anniversary and they could do something with it, but in fact they have sold it to covent garden where it will go on display for halloween, maybe make a huge jack—o'—lantern for halloween, maybe make a huge jack—o'—la ntern out of for halloween, maybe make a huge jack—o'—lantern out of it. they will harvest the seeds and attempt the world record next year. this one is the second heaviest in the world so who knows what will happen next. there is no limit to how big pumpkins can grow, so next year we could be standing inside one doing this chap next year, simon. you can only say gawd almighty. cani only say gawd almighty. can ijust only say gawd almighty. can i just say only say gawd almighty. can ijust say one thing, it is lovely to be on with rogerjohnson, who i used to sit next to down here, and the same attire. just smile at

each other, there we go. lovely to see you, roger. talk later, we are on! thank you, that is nationwide. you can access any of these stories on the bbc iplayer. the deadline for moving all benefit claimants onto universal credit has slipped to the end of 2023. pressure has been mounting on the government to delay or halt the roll—out of the reform, which merges six benefits into one payment. the bbc understands the government has drawn up plans to spend hundreds of millions of pounds making changes to universal credit, to prevent claimants suffering hardship as they move onto it. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. universal credit is a new service

that helps ensure you're better off in work than you are on benefits... it was meant to make things easier, bringing six different benefits into one monthly payment. but for too many people, universal credit has made life more complicated. single mum mischa has struggled with the benefit for three years. they've regularly failed to pay for her childcare costs, which left the 25—year—old struggling to make ends meet. it's been hell, a very stressful experience. i had loads of problems with my childcare payments, having to call them up every month to remind them to pay me. and notjust once a month, but a few times a month. such problems and evidence of rising food bank use in some areas where universal credit is introduced has put pressure on the government to stop or delay the roll—out of the benefit. from next summer, around 4 million people were due to start moving on to universal credit but we've learned the process won't properly begin until november 2020, which means the benefit won't be fully rolled out until december 2023, almost seven years later than originally planned.

we've had people going into arrears and sadly even losing their homes as a result because of eviction, so it's a real mess and the government really needs to get its act together and sort it out. ministers hope to use the delay to improve universal credit. they plan to continue paying some benefits to claimants for an extra fortnight. most existing benefits are currently stopped when someone applies for universal credit. reduce the amount of maximum deductions that can be taken from a universal credit payment, and make it easierfor self—employed people to receive the new benefit. paying for the changes, that will cost hundreds of millions of pounds, still need to be approved by the treasury. the secretary of state was tight—tipped when asked about the benefit. is universal credit still fit for purpose? bye now. so, it was left to a junior minister to respond. we've always said that under universal credit, it is a test and learn approach and as we test and

we learn, we adapt. earlier this year, we put in an extra £1.5 billion to support claimants and clearly this is a process. the government has today refused to confirm which changes, if any, it will make, but universal credit, announced with such hopes in 2010, continues to provide significant challenges to ministers and claimants alike. michael buchanan, bbc news. the business news in a moment but first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. the bbc understands commons speakerjohn bercow has told friends he will stand down injune orjuly next year amid calls for him to quit now following bullying allegations. we need more time — the eu chief negotiator says major issues including the northern ireland border still have to be agreed.

another delay to the introduction of the government's flagship welfare reform, universal credit. critics say it should be scrapped altogether. here's your business headlines on afternoon live... average wages — excluding bonuses — rose by 3.1% in the three months to august, compared with a year ago. that's the fastest pace in nearly ten years, according to the office for national statistics. the unemployment rate held steady at 4%. the chief executives of three big banks have become the latest bosses to pull out of a conference in saudi arabia. it follows tensions between the us and saudi arabia over the saudi journalist jamal khashoggi's disappearance. regulators will widen their investigation into sainsbury‘s planned merger with asda to take account of the rapid rise of aldi and lidl. the competition and markets authority will also assess the rise of online firms in its probe of a deal that would create the uk's largest grocer. some important economic news out today.

yes, wage growth is an important indicator of the economy, and household consumption makes up 60% of the economy so let's look at the figures. wage growth in the three months to august grew at 3.1%, the fastest pace in nearly ten years. inflation was 2.5% and it sounds good but if you strip away inflation, wage growth was actually o.6% inflation, wage growth was actually 0.6% which is ok, not amazing but still in positive territory. unemployment fell by 47,000, which means the jobless rate basically stays the same at 4% so some pretty decent news for the uk economy. joining us now is sophie kilvert,

senior investment manager, seven investment management. on the face of it, really good figures. good that people are finally getting a wage rise, after last year people were effectively getting a wage cut every month. this figure is still half of what it was before the global financial crisis in 2008 so people are not feeling as boyd as they should be. if we look at what it might cause the bank of england to do, normally we would see wage growth feed through to inflation which would make the bank of england start to think about rising rates faster, but with brexit on the horizon and the deadline of march 2019, it is unlikely the bank of england will move before then. oil prices have been in focus recently and we have seen today oil

prices pulling back after surging in the last few days, what has been going on? yes, we had seen the oil price gradually rising. we have the fear of us sanctions on iran and problems in venezuela as well which has seen the odd price rise over the last few months, but we have seen saudi arabia increasing their production really on the back of urging from president trump and that, plus concerns demand might not be as strong as we would expect, we have seen the oil price start to come back a bit now. sophie, good to talk to you. thank you forjoining us. a quick look at the markets. the london market managed to climb nearly half a percent and the rest of europe is looking positive. last time we were talking, very exciting news, sort royal baby news. pippa middleton. this baby will because in to second in line to the throne. and

you want more details, do you?m to second in line to the throne. and you want more details, do you? it is a baby boy for pippa middleton and her husband james. that is good news because it will be a nice cousin for prince louis. this is them on their wedding day. the baby born yesterday at 1:58pm weighing 8le nine oz. everyone is delighted, mother and baby are doing well. thank you very much. royal correspondent, me, any time, just bring me on. thank you very much, you are a princess already. away from the catwalk, let's just show you some more royal pictures. prince harry and meghan have

received their first baby gift — after announcing that they are expecting their first baby next spring — the royal couple arrived in sydney on the first leg of their tour. australia's governor—general sir peter cosgrove and his wife lynne presented them with a toy kangaroo, complete with joey, as well as a little pair of ugg boots. that's it from your afternoon live team for today, next the bbc news at five with huw edwards. time for a look at the weather here's susan powell. after an unseasonably warm day across some parts of england and wales, we are leading into a mild night. there will be a lot of fine weather around as well with a couple of exceptions. this time we are talking about a weather front across north—western england and wales, arriving in time for the rush hour, and some hefty showers for zero and

western scotland and a few for northern ireland too. they will mostly die out. perhaps the rain somewhat persistent for the south—west through the small hours. clear skies pretty much either side of that with patches of fog returning to the south—east of england. to the north definitely the driest and clearest of the weather on offerfor driest and clearest of the weather on offer for wednesday, some decent sunshine, and north england. further south the weather front always sitting around, the rain never especially heavy but a different looking day for the south—east and east anglia. cooler and cloudier than today. today at five,the commons speaker, john bercow, will stand down next summer the bbc understands. the news comes after a damning report on bullying and harrassment at westminster. mr bercow wants a new body to investigate. the only possible way to resolve this matter is the establishment of

a body which is both entirely independent of and external to parliament. mr bercow‘s expected departure would coincide with his tenth year in office, but he's been under increasing pressure to resign. the report is clear that there needs to bea the report is clear that there needs to be a complete change in leadership at the most senior level, including you mr speaker. we'll have the latest from westminster and asking one of the speaker's main critics whether next summer is too late.