president trump has now said he believes the missing saudi journalist jamal khashoggi is most likely dead. he said if the saudis are responsible, the consequences should be severe. the us treasury secretary has pulled out of an investment conference in riyadh, joining his british and french counterparts. prime minister thesea may is considering delaying the uk's departure from the single market and the customs union. this would give more time to agree a final brexit deal, and find a solution to the future of the irish border. she has come under significant criticism for all this from her own party. afghanistan is on high alert ahead of crucial parliamentary elections, with taliban militants increasingly active and posing a growing threat. the taliban says it carried out a deadly attack inside the governor's compound in the kandahar. it's 2:30am. you up—to—date on the headlines. it's time for thursday in parliament.

hello again, and welcome to thursday in parliament, our round—up of the day at westminster. in this programme, counting the cost. the government's under fire over a benefits mistake, that's left tens of thousands of sick and disabled people out of pocket. the dwp now estimates that it will pay up to £1 billion as a result of this shambolic error. britain could be staying in the eu for longer, or perhaps not. the one thing i believe in it that it is vital that we leave the european union as early as we can, so we can make sure that we are outside of the common agricultural policy, outside the common fisheries policy, and that we take back control. and a minister shares his family's experience. my mother was 50 years old, she was having a really bad

experience and she was taken off to a mental institution. all that to come and more. but first, up to 180,000 sick and disabled people could be in line for backdated benefits payments of around £5,000, after an error at the department for work and pensions. coming to the commons to answer an urgent question, a minister said it was hoped all the payments would be made by the end of next year. and those who were terminally ill were being prioritised. the problem stems from a move to a new payment called employment and support allowance, which began in 2011. the shadow minister for disabled people said the government's estimate of the number of people underpaid had more than doubled. it has taken this government six years to acknowledge these mistakes, seven years to find out how many disabled people have actually been affected, and some disabled people will wait ten years to receive back payments. the dwp now estimates that it will pay up to £1 billion as a result of this shambolic error.

she said people had been pushed into debt, rent arrears, and destitution. will she apologise to the almost 200,000 disabled people and their families who have been denied this vital social security support? the minister said mps had been regularly updated and she already apologised. this was a dreadful administrative error within the department, and it should not have happened. she explained how the mistake had happened, when people were moved to the new system. and so, all of the funding that they were receiving from the department was transferred across. and so nobody had anything taken away from them. what happened here was that people had missed the opportunity of receiving additional support, additional premium. so what wea re doing now... —— so what we are doing now...

what we are doing now by reviewing these cases is to make sure people get everything that they're entitled to. but her claim about how the administrative errors were picked up provoked shouts from the labour benches. in fact, it was the good housekeeping of the dwp that spotted the scale of the error. it was during the routine work that's undertaken on fraud and error that actually detected the scale of the problem. the minister has quite rightly apologised. can i apologise, as i was the minister for part of the time when this migration was taking place? in all governments, mistakes happen — it happened over the 13 years of labour in government, us before, and its how we handle this. so, a department which has a budget of in excess of £250 billion a year, there will be mistakes made. but can i ask the minister to make sure that if there is necessary payments in compensation, because there will be people here that have suffered, that we stand up and we admit

that and we address that? it is absolutely staggering that this was allowed to happen in the dwp‘s part, and the fact that this was allowed to happen for so many years, it should be shocking. but actually it's not shocking because myself and many of my colleagues at these benches, week in, week out, we see the absolute ineptitude of the department for work and pensions every single week. now i have a lot of respect for the minister, but to suggest that somehow this was due to housekeeping on part of the dwp really is laughable. because this has been an absolute unacceptable situation. so, will the dwp be undertaking investigations to find out what impact having less money has had on these people, how many of them have been forced in the poverty, how many of them have had to use food banks, and how many have suffered physically and emotionally as a result of this catastrophic error? the minister said processes in the department were being strengthened to make sure this doesn't happen again. how long does she envisage it will take before everyone affected is repaid the money they're owed? i thank my honourable friend for his question,

and we're working as fast as we possibly can. and i confidently expect everyone to be paid by the end of next year. this involves hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable people in our society. now, i'm afraid to say, mr deputy speaker, that makes me angry and very, very sad. and given the time that has elapsed since this came to light, some, if not many of the individuals who are known to be terminally ill will have sadly died. and their loved ones will have lost a loved and treasured family member in the knowledge that they had to endure increased hardship due to wrongly withheld benefits. will the minister confirm this money will not come from existing budgets? and will she also make representations to the chancellor to make sure the extra spending does not now impact on additional spending urgently needed in other areas, like universal credit? very much thank the honourable lady for that question, and i very much want to confirm

there is no impact on any of our existing benefits claimants at all. on behalf of the constituent who rang my office this morning concerned that if they received this end of payment, it may then get clawed back from other benefits, can the minister confirm this won't be the case? that's a really good question, and i can assure them that it won't. sarah newton. theresa may has said that the uk's transition out of the eu could be extended by a matter of months. to ensure there's no visible border in northern ireland. the prime minister floated the idea at a dinner in brussels ahead of the eu summit, which failed to produce a brexit breakthrough. back in the commons, the possible concession was raised at question time. mr speaker, regardless of our differences about our future relationship with the eu, the secretary of state and i will agree that a thriving food and drink sector is an endpoint the want to get to at the end

of whatever the negotiations will bring. does he think that an extension to the transition period would be helpful in achieving that goal? i know he would talk a little... the one thing i believe it is vital that we leave the european union at the earliest possible time so we can make sure that we are outside of the common agriculture policy, out of the common fisheries policy, and that we take back control. mps were concerned that they might not be able to change any deal that emerges from the negotiations. after dominic raab seemed to suggest that mps would only be offered a take it or leave it, yes, no vote. the brexit secretary dominic raab appears to suggest, some would say, that mps would only be given a ticket or we could vote. is parliament sovereign? because last night, we heard that the prime minister can't win

on a straight vote without fixing the rules. the government have fought at every stage to avoid a vote on a final meaningful deal. mr deputy speaker, this is not a minority dictatorship, this is a parliamentary democracy and parliament is sovereign. this is the most outrageous power grab that's ever been seen by the government. can the leader come back to the house with a statement on the constitution opinion on not allowing an amendable motion and could she do her constitutional duty of being the house's representative in cabinet? she offered some procedural advice. the house will be aware that whether or not debate should be recognised will be in the hands of the house itself, which is the business of a house motion and the form of any such motion will be in the hands of the house itself. which has the power to amend, approve or reject aside motion. but it is also important to recognise the need for house... the question that will be in for the united kingdom whether or not to accept the deal that the government is negotiating with the european union. earlier this week, andrea leadsom hosted a meeting over pizza

with ministers to discuss brexit. over the garlic bread, whatever the prime minister cobbles together will be wood fired. amidst all of this madness, nothing changes and the whole disastrous brexit is now approaching. there's no good toppings left, it's just the anchovies and the pineapple. brexit is a deep pan that is already inpalatable to the eu, this house, and most certainly to the pizza munching cabinet mutineers. the comments later outlined the parliamentary menu on offer. 0n the one hand, any straightforward approval of the deal will bring huge uncertainty for businesses and citizens. but on the other hand, any motion of the house is a matter for the house to decide and we have noted, on many occasions, mr speaker, it will decide whether to accept the motion. if there is a deal under 13.1, there is a vote, it is amendable,

but if the government is defeated on the deal, it defeats the deal. in either case, brexit proceeds under our procedure. it is now unstoppable, and nobody in parliament under the existing act can stop it, except the government. so will the government give me a categorical assurance that whether there is a deal or no deal or whether a deal is made, brexit proceeds at the end of march and the government will not delay by a single day? well, i can say to my honourable friend that the united kingdom will be leaving the european union on march 29, 2019. and just to clarify again, once the deal with the eu has been agreed, parliament will have a vote on the withdrawal agreement and the terms of our future partnership. and parliament will have the choice to accept or reject that deal — if parliament accepts the deal, we will introduce the eu withdrawal agreement bill, which will implement it in domestic legislation. if parliament chooses to reject the deal, the government will be

unable to ratify the agreement. andrea leadsom trying to clarify slightly confusing parliamentary rules. now, do we take cheap food for granted and does it come at a high human cost? that was the accusation as mps debated how to end exploitation in supermarket supply chains. the mp who put forward the debate said the uk's still imported made seafood each year, despite some horrific examples of slavery. the environmentaljustice foundation has uncovered horrific examples of slavery in the thai seafood sector. workers were tortured, abused, wages, food and sleep withheld. some men were kept at sea for months on end leading to transfer from one ship to another, without ever seeing dry land, force fed methamphetamines to keep them working for longer, bodies thrown overboard when they were unable to go on. 59% of fishing workers have

witnessed the murder of a fellow worker. a labour mp said there were plenty of examples of workers being exploited by gang masters in this country. fruit pickers and other seasonal agricultural workers prominent amongst them. this still goes on. there are workers who are nominally paid at the minimum wage rate, but charged for theirjourney to this country. charged for theirjourney to work each morning. charged over the odds for squalid housing. all of these sums deducted at source from their wages, by the agents who have recruited them and who are hiring them out to the organisations they are working for. a conservative harked back to a gentler age. in my lifetime, short lifetime, i should have emphasised that again, our high streets were lively places. 0ur towns and streets

were made lovelier. sadly, all of that is no longer the case. what napoleon called a nation of shop keepers has become a nation of automated checkouts with contactless cards, and we are all worse off as a result. the minister said modern slavery was an insidious and terrible crime, and the government was determined to end the expectation. since the landmark modern slavery act was passed in 2015, we have seen more convictions and arrest every year and increased specialist support for victims. currently, there are more than 950 live investigations into modern slavery accusations. and this year alone, the government will invest at least £61 million in work to end modern slavery in the united kingdom and abroad. you're watching thursday in parliament with me. if you miss a programme

or you want to watch this one again, you can catch up on the bbc iplayer. now to a special debate on the subject that many feel has not had the political attention it deserves. there are 3.5 million between the ages of 15 and 65 in the workplace. one and four working women are either going through or have gone through menopause. today is world menopause day. and today's the day that the international menopause society in collaboration with the world health organisations have designated to focus on menopause. from the hot flashes all the way to heart health and everything in between. we have still got a long way to go. last night, when i was in the lobby, i was voting and i was approached by a very senior colleague who shall remain nameless. the comment was, why are you having a hot flash, dear?

that was said to me, to my face. and does that not illustrate how we, my goodness, we need to raise awareness and this is not a woman's issue. this is a society issue! this is for everybody! because every man works with a woman! related to a woman! lives with a woman! you cannot just denigrate and belittle those experiences which are, can be incredibly difficult for women to push through. i had no idea when my mother was going through the menopause. referred to as the change and she was very, very poor. i remember being in the living room, my dad was at work, i was in my living room when the doctor was called, my mother was 50 years old, she was having a really bad experience and she was taken off to a mental institution.

she was carted out of the house, and she ended up in what can only be described as a victorian asylum. this, i'm really glad things and moved on in that regard. this is some time ago. but, you know, it is absolutely crucial that we get to children early enough and make sure that they understand the condition that affects every single woman. nigel adams. the plastic bag tax and the ban on microbeads but mps in the commons wanted much more action to cut through. plastic or otherwise. how about the pollution produced by disposable nappies. microfibers and unwanted clothing. fashion shouldn't cost the earth. but every year, 300,000 tonnes

of time and are disposed into landfill, could she ensure that in the upcoming resources on waste strategy, there is something to force clothing producers to take account of the end use of the garments that they produce. i know this is the subject of inquiry at the moment, that her committee is undertaking. i think it is fair to say that the government, have been working with the foundation on this issue and i am sure that recognise how it is addressed. does she plan to rescue humanity from the plight of disposable nappies? mr speaker, i think disposable nappies have become a very much consumer convenience that we have. i'm very pleased that proctor & gamble have invested in technology that we see in italy and we are encouraging to bring that here, not only for disposable nappies but other types of hygiene products and it is something that we can do

something about, but i am not convinced that we will be seeing an end to disposable nappies anytime soon. the government is thinking about a return scheme to try and improve recycling rate. they asked for an update on progress. mr speaker, when does the secretary of state plan to announce a plastic bottle deposit scheme ? i want to thank my right honourable friend, he is a great champion for the environment, especially in cheltenham, and he will be conscious that it is not a straightforward scheme to introduce, i recognise that many will ask seen that another countries around the world. it is the front and that's very simple, it is the backend that is challenging, we want a system that works across the united kingdom and we're continuing to work on that. overin over in the lords peers have reacted with anger to reject their appeals over the investment into historical sex abuse allegations against the former conservative prime minister. who died in 2005. 0peration last year, they said he would have been

questioned about 42 allegations, but a former private secretary to the former pm challenged ministers with these questions. as the government persists in refusing to commission an independent review of operation connifer, perhaps they will muster the courage to express a view themselves it produced not a single shred of credible evidence that he might of been guilty of child abuse, although a lot of credible evidence to show that he was not. other senior peers met the home secretary last month to discuss their demands, which he rejected. a month after that meeting having ta ken advice, he wrote to the noble lord

on october the 10th saying, i do not think there are grounds to justify review by government and he set out as reasons, and that i have to say to the lord, i do not think the home secretary is going to change his decision. 0n the broader issue, i find it compelling that those who knew sir edward personally, do not believe that there is truth in the accusations that have been made. we have a tradition in politics of allowing these accusations to fester over years and decades, and there is very difficult to form a clear view. i do think that if you are dealing with, let us say, matters that were medical or scientific, we would have authoritative and qualified people to deal with that. could we not do so with appropriate scholarly authorities. i think this whole episode illustrates the problems

confronting the police. on one hand, conducting thorough investigations, taking complainants allegations seriously, and avoiding unfair damage to the reputations of people who can no longer defend themselves. many women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the uk, thousands die every month. in a debate in westminster hall, mps highlighted those figures and asked what improvements could be made to drug availability, the numbers of specialist nurses and screening programmes so that survival rates could be improved. and some mps shared their personal stories of cancer survival and loss. i'm sure people probably know by now, my daughter, age 35 in 2010 was diagnosed with breast cancer and she was dead within 13 months.

and when i first came to parliament, i was going to do anything i could to make sure that did not happen to other people do whatever i could to make things better. progress has been made, but survival outcomes vary significantly across the country and britain continues to trail behind other european countries on breast cancer survival, you can imagine that sort of statistic hits home with me. debates such as these, along with the necessary commitments from the government are crucial if we are to work towards a future where everyone with breast cancer can live and live well. after three decades of progress, the number of women dying from breast cancer each year in the uk is projected to rise within four years, according to recent analysis. we have to address this, it be allowed to happen. we have had new treatments, a lot of new treatments come

in in the '905, chemotherapy in the form of tax burdens, better treatments come in, chemotherapy in the form of taxings, better surgery, better staging. and all of that has added up to get us up and over the 80%. but as was mentioned, we are below the european average. however well we are doing, we cannot be complacent the figures are always something i look at constantly, constantly worry about. the failing of the national breast screening programme, there are many things that come across your desk that you wish didn't. and there are many things that you worry about. there are some things that kick you where you do not want to be kicked as a man and the breast screening programme failing kicked me very hard there when that happened. it result of thousands of women between 68 and 71 not being invited to their final screening and that is a stark reminder that, however well we think we are doing, we have got to do better. the minister said he insisted that

the minister said he insisted that the enquiry into the breast screening failure would make challenging recommendations. mps represent the regions and nations and all of their diversity. some may even have begun their lives far from westminster and that can lead to the occasional communication problem. cani can i ask what is being done? i'm sorry, that must be something to do with my antipodean background, could you please repeat the question? because i did not follow of it. well, i'm seeing that the number of parliamentary colleagues that have disabilities, have difficulty getting around certain parts, what can be done to make sure that those with disabilities are able to interact more freely and make things more accessible? i'm really sorry. please, could you do it very slowly? just give any old and so?

i'll take the answer, it may help to reply in writing! i will try it on the first go! because i am welsh, so god help him. and in our look at thursday in parliament, thank you for watching, pleasejoin me at and for the week at westminster. goodbye for now. hello again. most of us saw some decent sunshine on thursday, and after a sunny day, we've kept those clear skies for the first part of the night as well. this is how things looked at the end of the day in east yorkshire. with those clear skies and light winds in place,

temperatures have been falling pretty quickly. but we do have quite a bit of cloud now working into the north—west of the uk, along with strengthening winds. so the coldest part of the night is past us in northern ireland, and across the north—west of scotland, with temperatures actually rising over the next few hours as this band of rain arrives. also some gale—force gusts of wind working into the western isles, becoming quite blowy as well for the northern isles of scotland. further south, well, we've got some frost around to start the day in the countryside in northern england. cold, some cold spots in wales, again with temperatures just dipping down, and there could be one or two patches of frost elsewhere first thing. but generally friday, across england and wales, it's high pressure that's firmly in charge, a weather front staying across the north—west of the uk. heavy rain then to start the day across north—west scotland. but the rain eases off quite quickly, and as the front pushes southwards, it weakens just to this strip of cloud, really, across northern ireland, working into north—west england and the far north of wales.

there could be the odd spot of rain, but not amounting to much. south of that, some sunshine, temperatures to 16 degrees also in london, so a pretty mild day coming up. now, through friday evening and overnight, we'll keep the clear skies, light winds combination across england and wales. this time, we may well see some mist and fog patches forming through the night as those temperatures fall. areas that could be foggy, well, maybe the somerset levels, through the wash marches, the salisbury plain as well, could be a few patches elsewhere. so it does mean for some of us that saturday morning could start something like this, and any mist and fog could take a few hours in the morning before it burns away to reveal some sunshine. further north and west, quite a lot of cloud to start off your weekend. outbreaks of rain for the north—west of scotland, where it'll continue to be quite windy. temperature—wise, the temperatures around about 15 or 16 degrees for scotland. 17 for belfast, so mild here. and towards south—east england, highs reaching 18, possibly 19 degrees celsius. for the second half of the weekend, high pressure still with us across england and wales, but another cold front sliding into the north—west of the uk will bring some heavier rain with it to scotland, and this time northern ireland getting some heavier rain for a time too. the best of the weather further south, but again there could be

so mist and fog patches to start the day. some of that could be quite slow to clear. but it's in the south we'll see the highest temperatures. things, though, cooling down across the whole of the country as we head into the weekend. that's your weather. a very warm welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to our viewers in north america and around the globe. my name's mike embley. our top stories: saudi arabia under more pressure. president trump acknowledges jamal khashoggi is most likely dead, and talks of "very severe" consequences. well, it'll have to be very severe. i mean, it's bad, bad stuff. but we'll see what happens. backlash for the party as theresa

may tries to break the brexit deadlock. —— from her own party. against a backdrop of virtually non—stop violence, afghans attempt to hold elections. we have a special report from kabul. and, merging the big screen with the big stage. how some of the world's most high—profile bands are using tech to transform their shows.