hello, it's monday, it's 9 o'clock, i'm joanna gosling, welcome to the programme. journalist jamal khashoggi was murdered when he visited the saudi embassy in turkey. saudi arabia has blamed a "rogue operation" and apologised to his family. the individuals who did this did this outside our authority. there obviously was a tremendous mistake made. there's been international condemnation but there's evidence that this may not be an isolated case. there have been a string of abductions of dissident members of the saudi royal family. we'll have the latest. this programme has learned that victims of the nhs contaminated blood scandal have written to the health secretary asking for an immediate increase in support payments. the public inquiry into the scandal isn't due to look at financial

support until 2020 — campaigners say that's too late. financially, it has been an incredible struggle. it's been completely traumatising for many people. people have had to sell their homes, people have been unable to get mortgages, people have been unable to get life insurance. campaigners say over 100 people are likely to die before support payments are received. and will banning these in favour of these really make any difference to the planet? the government says straws and stirrers could be banned by this time next year. tanni grey thompson is here to tell the environment minister why she has concerns about a ban. hello, welcome to the programme. we're live until 11 this morning.

do you think plastic straws should be banned? or should the government be going a lot further when it comes to plastic packaging? we're also talking about homework later in the programme after a group of parents wrote to the education secretary about some primary school children being punished for not completing it. what do you think? get in touch on all the stories we're talking about — use the hashtag victorialive. if you're emailing and are happy for us to contact you — and maybe want to take part in the programme — please include your phone number in your message. if you text, you'll be charged at the standard network rate. our top story today — western countries have increased the pressure still further on saudi arabia over the murder in its turkish consulate of jamal khashoggi. germany, britain and france have signed a joint letter demanding facts, and chancellor angela merkel says her country will no longer export arms to riyadh. while there is so much uncertainty. saudi arabia says the king and crown prince have offered their condolences to the son

ofjamal khashoggi, and the saudi foreign minister has called the killing a "huge and grave mistake". here's eliza philippidis. new footage showing hatice cengiz, seen on the left, spending the night waiting for her fiancee, jamal khashoggi, to come out of the saudi consulate. he never did. these pictures have been released showing what was probably the very last moment they spent together. saudi arabia has been under diplomatic pressure to tell the truth about what happened in istanbul. now they say his murder was a huge and grave mistake. we are determined to uncover every stone, we are determined to find out all of the facts, and we are determined to punish those who are responsible for this murder. many governments are currently unconvinced by the saudis‘ explanations as to what happened. germany say they will not export arms to saudi arabia, while the current uncertainty over the fate of mr khashoggi persists.

translation: there is an urgent need to clarify what happened. we are far from having this cleared up, and those responsible held to account. in a joint statement, the uk, france and germany have condemned the murder, saying... the turkish president has vowed to reveal within days the naked truth over the death of the washington postjournalist. translation: we are seeking justice, and this incident will be entirely revealed — entirely. why did 15 people come to istanbul? why were 18 people arrested? this must be revealed in detail. questions are being raised as to whether the west will really punish the saudis. they possess around 18%

of the world's oil reserves, and earnings from military contracts are huge. eliza philippidis, bbc news. and we'll have more from martin patience, our correspondent in istanbul later in the hour. rebecca jones is in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the rest of the days news. victims of the contaminated blood scandal have written to the health secretary asking for an increase in support payments. the public inquiry into the scandal, which is expected to take at least two—and—a—half years, has heard the number infected could go "far beyond 25,000". tainted blood, a support group for victims, says it wants support payments in england, wales and northern ireland to match those being paid in scotland. hundreds of survivors of child sexual abuse in australia have heard their prime minister, scott morrison, deliver a national apology for

what they and others have suffered. an emotional mr morrison told parliament that the state had failed to protect them from decades of what he described as "evil, dark crimes". hywel griffith reports. for keira, today is about trust. abused as a teenager in care, she twice fell pregnant. the system failed her. now the authorities want to say sorry. she's come to canberra to listen. a lot of abuse survivors don't trust easily and we're going to need to see some footwork and action as well as words. but sorry‘s a good start. as he delivered the apology, the australian prime minister said he did not expect forgiveness from victims. he acknowledged that, for years, so much abuse had been covered up. not just as a father but as a prime minister, i am angry too at the calculating destruction of lives and the abuse of trust, including those

who have abused the shield of faith and religion to hide their crimes. outside, kirra tried to decide whether the apology, with all its emotion, would really make a difference. it's pretty hard to believe a politician, but i think, if they change half of what they promised to today, the world's going to be a better place. australia has spent much of the last decade confronting the spectre of abuse in churches, schools, homes and sports clubs. a five—year inquiry recommended the national apology and compensation for around 60,000 victims. some abuse survivors, like paul, say far more is needed. he says real change to protect children will only come with tougher laws to jail those who cover up abuse. in all australia, there's only ever been one person convicted

of covering up child sex abuse. and i ask you, i ask everybody, is that really good enough? while today's words do carry real weight, the test for many survivors is if they are followed by action. many here still feel a deep sense of frustration and anger, wounds that may never heal. hywel griffith, bbc news, canberra. the group representing hospitals, ambulance services and other nhs trusts in england is predicting that the strain on health services this winter will be worse than last year. nhs providers says the provision of cancer care and routine operations is already under severe pressure — that's before hospitals respond to the seasonal demand for emergency care. the department of health says that the nhs will benefit from a second year of enhanced winter planning and it is committed to longer term funding. theresa may will insist that

a brexit deal is "95 per cent complete" when she faces mps in the house of commons this afternoon. it follows a weekend of attacks from within her own party. but in an article in the sun newspaper this morning, mrs may admits that the last stages of the talks are going to be "the hardest of all". one of the world's biggest tobacco firms, philip morris, has been accused of "staggering hypocrisy" over its new ad campaign that urges smokers to quit. the marlboro maker said the move was "an important next step" in its aim to "ultimately stop selling cigarettes". but cancer research said the firm was simply trying to promote its smoking alternatives, such as heated tobacco. plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds could be banned in a year's time. environment secretary michael gove has launched a consultation on the government's plan to ban the items, which he said can devastate the world's oceans and wildlife.

the ban could be put in place at some stage between october next year and october 2020, the duke and duchess of sussex have been visiting fraser island in queensland — one of their last stops in australia before heading to fiji. our royal correspondentjonny dymond has been travelling with them. harry has been in paradise today, quite literally. fraser island is one name for this place. the other name is gari, which translates as paradise. he came here to open something called the queen's commonwealth canopy. it's a conservation project that stretches across dozens of countries in the commonwealth, and he made his way deep into the rainforest, across bumpy and rutted roads, where he had a welcome to country ceremony and unveiled a plaque. but he made thatjourney alone because meghan, his wife, skipped on that section of the tour, we think because of the nature of the roads and because of her pregnancy. he went on to another couple

of projects and then he came back here to a place called mckenzie's jetty where there was a surprise waiting for the people who stayed here. because here he wasjoined by the duchess of sussex. they walked down the pier, they met a large group of well—wishers. as ever, a hugely enthusiastic welcome, but what is notable is that they make the effort to come to the smaller places in australia as well as the big cities. they talked, they chatted, they shook hands, they got presents — they always do — and now they're going to end this stage of their tour of australia and make their way to fiji. the former cricket star freddie flintoff and entertainment presenter paddy mcguinness arejoining the motoring show, top gear. they'll begin filming their first series of the show early next year alongside motoring journalist and racing driver chris harris. it follows friends star

matt le blanc's announcement that he was leaving the programme. his final series will be transmitted in early 2019. a lioness has killed the father of her three cubs in their pen at a zoo in the us. 10—year—old nyack was attacked by the lioness, and staff at indianapolis zoo couldn't separate the pair. he died of suffocation. the lions had lived in the same enclosure for eight years, and had three cubs together in 2015. that's a summary of the latest bbc news, more at 9:30am. do get in touch with us throughout the morning — use the hashtage victorialive and if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. how important do you think the potential banning of plastic straws will be? let's get some sport. katherine downes is at the sports centre. i wonder what lewis hamilton will be thinking when he eventually wakes up in texas. everything was set up for

him to win his fifth world title yesterday. he was on pole position at the circuit of the americas, where he has enjoyed success in the past. sebastian vettel had been given a three place grid penalty but vettel wasn't going to give the championship to hamilton yesterday, despite making a mistake at the start of the race, spinning on the first lap. at the start, kimi raikkonen, on the front row, out accelerating hamilton to take the lead. he hung onto the to win the race. kimi raikkonen winning the race, vettel, this is the spin. battling back from 15th up to fourth, to finish behind hamilton, who was third behind ferrari's kimi raikkonen and max verstappen of red bull, who started in 18th because of problems in practice, charging through to finish second. hamilton couldn't do enough to clinch eight

more points than sebastian vettel, which is what he needed to win the world championship. all the focus on that battle between hamilton and vettel. vettel finding the competitive edge he has sometimes lacked this season to deny hamilton the glory this time. big congratulations to kimi, he did a greatjob today. no mistakes, he had a great start and managed it all the way. so, i think, on our behalf... also verstappen did a greatjob as well. i mean, he was on a slightly better tyre than us in the end so naturally a bit of a struggle. i naturally thought we would have been able to do better. next week may not be quite as exciting. in mexico, hamilton only needs five points to be crowned champion, meaning he only needs to finish seventh or better. but the race yesterday was a real spectacle and battle. it could be a lot easier for lewis hamilton next week will stop and young sports personality of the year, an award won by the likes

of wayne rooney, andy murray, tom daley, the winner this year is kare adenegan, a 17—year—old para athlete who has shaken up the accepted order of things this year, twice beating five—time paralympic champion hannah cockroft. she set a new record for the t 34100 metres at the anniversary games in london, and then beat hannah croft cockcroft again. you can see her looking radiant ina again. you can see her looking radiant in a sparkly dress at the radio1 radiant in a sparkly dress at the radio 1 teen awards at wembley yesterday. this is what she had to say about being named young sports personality of the year. wow, this is so amazing, i can't believe i have won an award. it is so believe i have won an award. it is so prestigious, to be alongside so many names like yourself and to be here to celebrate the amazing things young people are doing itjust

proves it should not be underestimated. i am so thankful to be here, thank you so much for this award. she also got a paralympics silver medal and two bronzes. you would not bet on her coming away with more. this programme has learnt that hundreds of victims of the nhs contaminated blood scandal have written to the health secretary asking for an immediate increase in support payments. a public inquiry opened last month into how thousands of people in the 1970s and 80s were given blood products infected with hepatitis viruses and hiv. it is thought more than 2 thousand people have died, while many others have been left in very poor health. the public inquiry into the scandal is not due to look at financial support until 2020, but the chairman of the inquiry has said decisive action is needed. our reporterjim reed is here with the story. tell us what the situation is. this

letter has gone out from a campaign group called tainted blood, which represents the biggest number of people in this scandal. it tackles what it calls an immediate problem, what it calls an immediate problem, what many families cannot do, pay the bills. more than 4000 families we re the bills. more than 4000 families were affected by this scandal in the 70s and 80s and that number could be higher, some estimates put it up at 35,000. many are very sick and they we re 35,000. many are very sick and they were left in a very sick situation and they cannot work or hold down jobs. in many cases relatives have had to give up theirjobs and careers in order to support their loved ones. take the case of bob and sue. bob was infected with hiv in the 1980s. he was a fit haemophilia who received contaminated blood products. he passed away in 1991 and

i spoke to his widow sue yesterday. she now helps work with that tainted blood group. i asked about the impact on her and the community. financially it has been an incredible struggle. it has been completely traumatising for many people. people have had to sell their homes, people have been unable to get mortgages, people have been unable to get life insurance. we have instances, we had one recently, a few weeks ago, where someone was widowed, someone we all know very well. and she is in the throes of desperately, desperately trying to sell their beautiful forever home before the bank repossess it. nobody should be put in that position because of somebody else's fault. what do the victims want? no single compensation deal has ever been agreed with this group of people ever. instead there has been this ad hoc support payments which is paid out either regularly every year or ona out either regularly every year or

on a sporadic basis. the important thing is it is different depending where you were infected across the uk. take sue's case. her husband was infected in england and she received a one—off payment of £10,000 as a result. if her husband bob had been infected in a scottish hospital, she would have received £27,000 every single year. you can see the huge differences depending on where you we re differences depending on where you were infected. that is because health is a devolved matter. it depends on the assemblies and the parliaments of scotland, northern ireland and wales as well as the english government. they are saying they want all the payments lifted to they want all the payments lifted to the highest levels so everyone receives the same and in most cases thatis receives the same and in most cases that is the scottish level, the system that pays at the most at the moment. what other government saying? the government is coming under pressure now. last week we had the chair of the public enquiry that open a few weeks ago and the chair

took the unusual step of writing to the cabinet office, describing how the cabinet office, describing how the people he had spoken to work on the people he had spoken to work on the bread line and some of them had lost everything. he asked the government to take decisive action. now we have seen this letter from victims. the problem is, as things stand it will only be addressed when the inquiry finishes and that could be two years or even longer down the road. the campaign group says that by then hundreds more people will have died. it wants to see more action. the government says it will action. the government says it will act as soon as possible. a separate issue that is emerging is that some patients were forced to sign a contract promising to drop legal action before they were aware of the full extent to which they had been affected by the problem. this is the front page of the daily mail today. it refers to exactly that. it is saying people who were infected in the 70s and 80s with hiv and

hepatitis c, when they found out they were infected, they were asked to signa they were infected, they were asked to sign a contract saying they would not take any further legal action or they would not receive any more compensation after that point and thatis compensation after that point and that is starting to come out of the public enquiry. we will see many more stories like this as we get more stories like this as we get more details about what happened. with us now is diana johnson, the labour mp who's the co—chair of the all—party parliamentary group on haemophilia and contaminated blood and is one of the leading campaingers for victims of this scandal. i know you have been very heavily involved since a constituent came to eight years ago. what do you think first of all about what the victims are saying about the need for proper financial compensation immediately? absolutely, they have to have compensation and there has never been an admission of liability by the state and that is why the government are giving these ad hoc payments. in southern ireland they made compensatory payments without

admitting liability and they were generous payments. there is no reason at all why our government could not decide now, even though the public enquiry is under way, to say we will compensate these people and pay them properly. even their financial schemes in levelling up are not adequate to really compensate people for what has happened to them and their lives have been destroyed in many cases. what would be the correct amount? when you talk about levelling up i presume you mean to the scottish level, but you still do not think it is enough? in the interim it is a measure that could be introduced quickly, but what the government need to do is pay proper compensation, hundreds of thousands of pounds because of the effect this has had on people's lives. in ireland they have given them priority in terms of health care, so they are always at the front of the queue to get any health care procedures. how would you

ascertaining sadly what the level should be at this stage? this does not come under the remix of the inquiry until 2020 which seems to be too far away when people are suffering now, but it needs to be properly scrutinised. of course it does, but in southern ireland they we re does, but in southern ireland they were able to do that. in negligence cases in law there are ways of calculating a loss to somebody, the loss of earnings, the loss of enjoyment of life and the government could do this. the other thing we would like to see is that this group is past ported onto the new welfare benefits the government has brought in. a lot of these people are going through assessments for employment support and being turned down and then having to go through a further appeal. we think they should passport this group right through to these new benefits. assault on people signing away their right to make further claims? disgraceful.

and the state doing that to a group who knew they had hiv, but who did not know what else they have infected is disgraceful. this is why the state has harmed this group of people and the state now needs to step up and compensate them properly. thank you very much. do get in touch if you have been affected by that. a group of mps are demanding the government must urgently provide more places at refuges. the home affairs committee says millions of people are affected by domestic abuse every year, with two women dying at the hands of their partner or ex every week. but despite the high demand it says many refuges are having to turn away 60% of referrals because there isn't enough space. a new report by the committee is calling for refuge provision to be a statutory obligation and for domestic abuse to be recognised as a gender—based problem affecting women and girls. the government is currently working on its new domestic abuse bill which it claims will create stronger powers to protect and support victims and survivors.

in april, two women told us their stories about summoning up the courage to speak out about their abusive relationships. their names are priscilla and claire. i can't describe the countless times that i try to get us out. i can't count the times that i was disappointed that i couldn't. he, just how he messed with my head so much that i was just scared, so scared to go out on my own, or if i was going shopping, he would have to come with me. but it was just going out that front door and being on my own, and the sweats that would come. and it wasjust, it was horrendous, it was just like four walls that became my home. the refuge helped me

recognise i could be more. this wasn't the end of me but the beginning of me. it really hurt in some aspects to think that... i had no one to help me. but i had me and i had the strength to carry on. i felt like every day i got stronger. every day i found a new strength within me to recognise what i was and who i am and who i'm going to be. i was in the refuge for ten weeks and then i got the phone call. i found out that i'd got my forever home. and it was scary, leaving somewhere

that was safe and being on my own without the control, without any pressure, was an amazing feeling. although scary but amazing at the same time. i knew that here i was able to make the changes i needed, find the information i needed, to help me and my children. the refuge made us a family again. that was priscilla and claire are talking about their experiences of refuges. joining us now is charlene mensah — she attended a refuge as a child and as an adult trying to escape a violent and controlling relationship. saskia ritchie is chief executive of cheshire without aabuse which provides temporary accommodation and help to women and children escaping domestic abuse. she also went to a refuge herself in the early nineties.

aklima bibi is a lawyer who works with victims of domestic violence. and eleanor briggs is head of policy and research, at action for children. welcome, all of you, thank you very much for coming in. charlene, i mentioned you had to seek refuge twice, first as a teenager with your mother and then as an adult leaving an abusive relationship. how important was it to you to have that sanctuary on both of those occasions? it was definitely very important for me personally. my situation was there was an incident where i was assaulted and the police we re where i was assaulted and the police were called and it is mandatory for them to call social services once children are involved. they gave me an ultimatum, would i leave the partner i was with all my children would be removed from the home? if i did not have anywhere to go, i could

potentially have lost my children. the news today is at some refuges 60% of people are being turned away. can you imagine what that must be like? how would it have impacted on your mother when she took you when she was in a situation with children, and you at a later stage? it would have been really devastating to be honest. to have to stay in a situation like that. it ta kes a stay in a situation like that. it takes a lot of courage to even get the ability to stand up and admit you are going to something and then admitting it to somebody else and speaking out, it takes a lot. to build up that courage and to go to someone build up that courage and to go to someone for help and then to be turned away is devastating. saskia, you have been to refuge yourself and you have been to refuge yourself and you are a chief executive of our refuge and you have seen different

perspectives yourself. what do you think when you know there are a woman out there going for help and they had been turned away?m woman out there going for help and they had been turned away? it is devastating and having worked in this field for over 20 years and having been through a refuge myself when my children were small i don't think that things have progressed in the way we might hope they have. i really welcomed the recommendations that we are seeing in this report. i think they are critical for continuing to improve the situation. are you witnessing many incidents where people are having to be turned away? our accommodation is consistently full. we have accommodation across two local authority areas. in one local authority areas. in one local authority it is funded and in the other it is not. we are regularly, every day, asked for space we cannot provide because our spaces are full. whilst we do our best to work with

women who need to flee, working with the national helpline and refuges online, sometimes that space is not available. what happens to these people when they cannot come to you? their options are absolutely limited. if we can help them to get support through homeless families units ina support through homeless families units in a local authority area where they live, then they might get a night or two in a hostel. many people end up sofa surfing. unfortunately, some people are forced to stay in their very dangerous situation that they have been living in, because there isn't an alternative for them to go to. eleanor, you look at the impact of all of this on children specifically. what is that impact? action for children are concerned children are the forgotten victims of domestic abuse, so we welcome the

report that puts children at the heart. we see in our service is how it affects children. we know in a long term it can affect physical and mental health. on children under three it can impact their brain development because of the stress they experience. we feel this support is essential. and beyond refuges we think there needs to be longer term support. while we welcome the recommendation about refugees, we want that to be stronger and for there to be a requirement on local authorities to provide support for children beyond just the refuge stage. and you work with victims of domestic abuse as a lawyer. another aspect of what the mps are talking about is the legal process and how distressing it can be for victims. what do you think about the way the situation currently treats victims? not only doi currently treats victims? not only do i work with victims, i am a

survivor myself. the legal system is, in my opinion, absolutely appalling. you can make recommendations. running away to a refuge, that is short—term, as you discuss, but that's only one state. what happens afterwards? you have to go through the legal process. at the moment i find both at the law enforcement and judicial system, the judges, they are not appropriately or adequately trained or knowledgeable about specifically certain cultures. i come from predominantly the asian community. the horrendous abuses, you can't really count. you have forced marriage, a gimme. a lot of women are having to live is another wife. —— you have the bigamy. —— live with another wife. to interrupt, you say

judges are not getting it right and are not necessarily aware. are you saying people are living with their kids and it's getting picked in the legal process? what are you saying? i had legal process? what are you saying? ihada legal process? what are you saying? i had a recent case of a lady who wa nted i had a recent case of a lady who wanted to escape from an abusive husband and her entire family, her in—laws. she came down to luton. she had nowhere to go. i helped her to apply for an emergency injunction restraining order and the judge threw it out saying she was being silly. the judge actually said that?! yes, he didn't believe the in—laws were involved, and he didn't believe she would be in danger. she has two young children and he has threatened to take them away to pakistan. the judge did threatened to take them away to pakistan. thejudge did not believe her. she had witnesses, her roman family members. before the judicial

restraining order application she tried to go to a refuge, but there we re tried to go to a refuge, but there were no places in luton nor bradford. i advise that this was the best thing to do to keep him away and thejudge best thing to do to keep him away and the judge threw it out. she was crying, she said, i have no choice, ifiam crying, she said, i have no choice, if i am dead, iam crying, she said, i have no choice, if i am dead, i am dead. i have to go back. you can make your own analysis on that one. is that an issue you come up against or is that further down the track? it's part of the situation that many women have to face, either after they have been in refuge, when they are in refuge, or even those women with support in the community. we have real issues with bail conditions in the uk where the emphasis is often on the victim to protect themselves from the perpetrator. there are situations like the one described in all communities. i think there are significant issues with the judicial

system. whilst i really do welcome the recommendations in the report, i don't think they go far enough, particularly post—refuge. don't think they go far enough, particularly post-refuge. there is a lot in the report that there will be an mp report. are you confident change will happen, will there be funding for refuges? number one is to get a responsibility for the government to ring fence money for domestic abuse, refuge, recovery for victims and children. to get that on the books so it becomes a legal responsibility on criminaljustice organisations and local authorities to make sure victims and children are protected. until that is on the statute then we will continue to see this postcode lottery where it depends on where you are in the country as to the quality of service, if any, that you are able to access. thank you all very much. i willjust read a statement

from a government spokesperson which says... "domestic abuse is a devastating crime that shatters the lives of victims and families. we are determined to transform our response so we welcome the committee's support for the government's planned domestic abuse bill. the landmark bill will create stronger powers to protect and support victims and survivors, pursue perpetrators and ensure agencies are able to respond effectively. it is right that the bill, and the new domestic abuse commissioner, focus solely on supporting the near two million victims and working towards tackling this crime." if you have any thoughts or experiences you would like to share, please get in touch. still to come: could the 4.7 billion plastic straws we use in the uk every year be banned? we talk to the parliamentary under secretary of state for the environment. and we'll be getting more details on the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi, which saudi arabia has blamed on a "rogue operation". time for the latest news — here's rebecca jones.

saudi arabia says both king salman and crown prince mohammed have telephoned the son of the murdered journalist jamal khashoggi to offer their condolences. the foreign minister has blamed a "rogue operation" for mr khashoggi's death in the saudi consulate in istanbul. germany, britain and france have signed a joint letter demanding facts, and chancellor angela merkel says her country will no longer export arms to riyadh. victims of the contaminated blood scandal have written to the health secretary asking for an increase in support payments. the public inquiry into the scandal, which is expected to take at least two—and—a—half years, has heard the number infected could go "far beyond 25,000". tainted blood, a support group for victims, says it wants support payments in england, wales and northern ireland to match those being paid in scotland. theresa may will insist that

a brexit deal is "95% complete" when she faces mps in the house of commons this afternoon. it follows a weekend of attacks from within her own party. but in an article in the sun newspaper this morning, mrs may admits that the last stages of the talks are going to be "the hardest of all". australia's prime minister has delivered a national apology to victims of child sexual abuse. in a speech in parliament, scott morrison said the state failed for years to stop those crimes. the national apology was one recommendation of a royal commission that investigated decades of institutional child abuse in australia. one of the world's biggest tobacco firms, philip morris, has been accused of "staggering hypocrisy" over its new ad campaign that urges smokers to quit. the marlboro maker said the move was "an important next step" in its aim to "ultimately stop selling cigarettes". but cancer research said

the firm was simply trying to promote its smoking alternatives, such as heated tobacco. the former cricket star freddie flintoff and entertainment presenter paddy mcguinness arejoining the motoring show, top gear. they'll begin filming their first series of the show early next year — alongside motoring journalist and racing driver, chris harris. it follows friends star matt le blanc's announcement that he was leaving the programme. his final series will be transmitted in early 2019. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. plastic is for many now seen as environmental enemy number one. the government has announced plans to ban plastic straws and drink stirrers — the ban could come into effect as soon as october next year. environmental campaigners say this is a headline—grabbing measure that will have little impact. and the local government association has warned that councils are struggling to meet the cost

of plastic recycling. let's talk now to the environment minister therese coffey. also here is the disability campaigner baroness tanni grey—thompson, and the environmental journalist lucy siegle. welcome to all of you. by october next year, potentially, plastic straws will be gone? one of the reasons for having the consultation is to get into the detail of the exemptions we have highlighted. we are conscious of people with disabilities or medical needs and why getting rid of plastic straws for them is not the right thing, but we need to work out a solution on how to make the ban effective so we can take plastic straws out of circulation in the broadest possible sense. tanni grey-thompson, exemptions for people with disabilities. explain why plastic straws are needed in some cases? unfortunately with the case of straws, plastic is a useful

substance to have them made out. metal straws are not good for hot drinks. if you have involuntary facial movement like cerebral palsy, it can cause problems with your teeth. paper straws collapsed to easily so unfortunately plastic straws are a good thing to have. i really support the reduction of plastic and there is so much around. the difficulty for disabled people is if they are not readily available it stops them going out, potentially working, and the cost could become extremely expensive. for some people, this is a life or death, but if straws are not available, they can't drink, they can't stay hydrated, which can cause of the medical issues. how do you see some of the exemptions are working? that is why we are looking for the detail from people. we have considered licensing processes for wholesalers. there will be an element of trust on whether it is pub chains, similar restau ra nts, whether it is pub chains, similar restaurants, so when they apply to buy these they will use it specifically for people who really

have the need. but overall, removing them from circulation more broadly, whether it is at fast—food outlets, that's the sort of thing where either they are given out when needed, and it's those kinds of changes where it will be effective. it puts a lot of onus on the person running a place to say that they can only be given out when needed. how does that get policed? it will be a ban around general sale and usage, but we are conscious that people, in terms of their lives, so should later, other ways of doing that through medical situations, where it is needed. so it's important to get the balance right. but overall, the direction is clear, to get rid of plastic stirrers, plastic stem cotton buds and straws. that is why we have been specific in the consultation about this exemption for medical and disability issues. do you feel reassured that the

exemption will mean it will be ok for disabled people who need straws going forward? the devil is in the detail. if there is a serious reduction in the availability of straws... some of it has been pushed back to disabled people for them to be responsible, for them to have their own straws. how will you be able to get them? what is the cost, can you get them on prescription. it is not acceptable to a disabled person to say they can use a baby sip cup. there are other issues would that. what about the prescription idea? would that. what about the prescription idea ? would would that. what about the prescription idea? would that be a neater way of doing it? that is one idea that has been suggested. i am personally conscious that we don't wa nt to personally conscious that we don't want to make it an overly cumbersome situation where people have to go to a doctor to be ascribed. we are talking about using pharmacists or potentially wholesalers so we have a direct link with pub chains and similarto direct link with pub chains and similar to try to make it as simple

as possible. lucy, it has become a really live issue after pictures of turtles with plastic straws up their nose. what difference do you think a band like this could have? banning straws will not turn the tide on the plastic pandemic as a whole. but straws are a problematic thing, especially in recycling because they get blown off the recycling belt. evenif get blown off the recycling belt. even if they are made from one sort of plastic, meaning they should be re cove red of plastic, meaning they should be recovered and recycled, they are not for other reasons, so we need to do something about them. the volume of plastic overall is something nobody can cope with at the moment. we need to cut anywhere we can. the problem with a ban is, as soon as you knock something off the top, another product will push up and will become the new bete noire. we don't have time to ban everything one at a time. what we really need to do is look... ina time. what we really need to do is look... in a way this is a good conversation because it's the sort

of conversation we need to have about all sorts of plastics. for example, when you ban plastic straws, how do you justify a shrink—wrapped coconuts and all sorts of ridiculous things that everybody agrees is ridiculous. plastic is an important material for some stuff. it makes heart valves for example, it facilitates space travel. for some people are plastic straw is incredibly important. to have a grown—up conversation as a society about what we think plastic should be used for and not used for. picking them off one by one is good for headlines and it might keep people happy for a short while but it isn't the way to solve the problem. what would you like the government to do? we are often told about how brilliant norway is because it's recycling is so good. sorry to get into the deep on this, but it all

comes down to polymer. if you tell manufacturers you are only allowed to do this and curb their enthusiasm for many plastics and cheap additives and materials and putting that on the market and make them responsible, everything becomes more possible. we become able to recycle and collect and do all the things we really need to do. it is about volume and complexity at the moment. unfortunately, we have to combat manufacturers because they are getting away with it at the moment. the norwegian government threatened various taxes and there was a response by several manufacturers. we are intending to bring our resources and waste strategy next month and more will be set in the budget next week about certain plastics. in terms of taxes on business? i know you cannot tell us, but what sort of area? there was evidence of trying to curb the use

of single use plastics and there was an element of taxation or charges. we will have a packaging recovery syste m we will have a packaging recovery system and that is why manufacturers are engaging. sorry to interrupted, do you agree with lucy that manufacturers are getting away with it at the moment? when you look at the stats they contribute just a tiny fraction to the cost of reprocessing and recycling compared with the huge costs on councils of dealing with it. you will see something more coming out on that in the strategy. we have had a market—based the strategy. we have had a market— based system the strategy. we have had a market—based system to try and effectively have recycling and there is more that can be done and that is why we have put forward the resources and waste strategy. when it comes to polymers, the manufacturers it comes to polymers, the manufacture rs are it comes to polymers, the manufacturers are working on this andl manufacturers are working on this and i expect something from them by the end of the year on how we try and harmonise it a bit more. it is not impossible to recycle that

plastic, it is about making it as straightforward as possible for widespread recycling across the country. but it is very expensive to do something. it has got to be volume four or of us dashed for all of us, whether we are manufacturers or citizens. we need to stop the flow of plastic and not just straws. this is the holistic approach and we need to take it right across the environment. plastic is very good for carbon. it is the holistic approach that we need to take so we get the balance right and also undoubtedly what is going into our national environment. the plastic pandemic has made this so urgent. we used to say whatever produces the lowest carbon that we can rationalise, that is the thing we can go for. the plastic pandemic has added a new element into the

statistics and we have to say that we cannot have 51 trillion particles. by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than face and that obviously has a really devastating impact so we have to do something about it. we have got loads of comments coming in. irene says, the public can do as much as they can but the government needs to put a total ban on all plastic packaging. mike says, has anyone ever thought of saving money and simply washing them like we do with other plastic items? david says short straws should be banned along with other unnecessary plastic products. we can all make a difference by reducing plastic pollution by thinking twice when buying and using products. i want to ask you a quick question on brexit. what is going to happen? will theresa may be prime ministerfor much longer? yes, and i think she will get on and get this deal done. we are down to one major item.

everyone is aware of the challenges of the so—called backstop and that is what needs to be sorted out. less than six months to go and we need to have calm heads. how toxic is it in the party right now? some of the language being bandied around warwick repeated to tory sources is difficult. it is appalling and disgusting and i do not know who has said this and i wished they were not saying this and i wish they'd put the interests of the nation first. the majority of all my colleagues are focused on trying to get this done. they are conscious this is a very politically important matter but that language is disgusting and i hope whoever said will think twice before ever mentioning it again. thank you all very much. coming up... do primary school children do too much homework? we speak to two parents with opposing views. do share your views on that as well.

do share your views on that as well. do you do your children's homework? the king of saudi arabia and his crown prince mohammed bin salman have called the son of the murdered journalist jamal khashoggi to express their condolences. their actions yesterday complete a remarkable change of stance by the saudi leadership. it was first claimed that mr khashoggi had left the saudi consulate in istanbul after entering. then they said they didn't know what happened to him, then moved on to saying he started a fight with staff members and was killed in an ensuing scuffle. yesterday saudi foreign minister adel al—jubeir admitted that khashoggi was murdered, saying it was a "tremendous mistake" part of a rogue operation. our middle east correspondent martin patiencejoins us now. they are now admitting he did die inside the consulate. what is the latest? the latest is that europe as well as america simply is not buying the saudi version of events and that is why we are seeing so many changes. we had thatjoint statement

from france, britain and the uk yesterday, calling on saudi arabia to continue investigating and present what it called credible fa cts . present what it called credible facts. turkey is a key player in all of this. it happened on turkish soil and the turkish president has said that he will reveal, as he put it, the full, naked truth tomorrow. what president erdogan will say we do not know. but what we do know is there has been a torrent of leaks to the turkish media and they have contained the gruesome details of joe marcus orgy‘s final moments and without those leaks we would not be talking about this issue at the moment. they were designed to keep up moment. they were designed to keep up the pressure on saudi arabia and we could be hearing more from president erdogan on this issue tomorrow. that will be significant because until now president erdogan has said very little on this matter. let's speak now to our

security correspondent frank gardener. the saudis are being pushed by the turkish authorities who will not let this go and they keep saying they have got that evidence and now we know tomorrow it is understood there will be full disclosure of the evidence. they are not being pushed just by the turks, but by the european governments. this is a crisis for saudi arabia's relations with the west. president trump has blown hot and cold over this. it is very ha rd to blown hot and cold over this. it is very hard to tell exactly which way he will end up. one minute he says there will be consequences and the next he says it is not worth losing $110 billion worth of arms and americanjobs over. $110 billion worth of arms and american jobs over. then $110 billion worth of arms and americanjobs over. then he says he does not believe them, then he says he does. for the saudis, the risk for the saudi leadership is they thought they would be able to move on from this fairly early on and have been surprised at the reaction,

this huge reaction to the death of just one person, given that what is going on in yemen where they are leading an aircampaign going on in yemen where they are leading an air campaign that is having a devastating effect on that country. it is the air war that is causing most of the casualties. they have been able to weather that criticism. everything now hinges on what evidence the turks are prepared to reveal to the world. if there is this audio tape, it needs to be heard or at least played and shown to somebody independent, a un investigator, rap attack, a prosecution lawyer, something like that, who were actually tell us what is on it. if it is as has been suggested by the reports, what then? we know germany has suspended arms sales and there are different

positions coming out of the united states, what is likely in terms of advance on arms sales? the uk government has already tried to dodge this one. the government i think is being understandably accused of hypocrisy. the russian state—controlled media has said, look at the outrage over the attempted murder in salisbury. here you have got one of your allies who has quite clearly committed hideous crime against a citizen, but there isa crime against a citizen, but there is a reluctance by the west to punish saudi arabia. the background to all of this is that saudi arabia is engaged in a sort of low—grade struggle for supremacy in the middle east with its archrival iran. the west backs saudi arabia and its gulf allies, bahrain, kuwaitand

west backs saudi arabia and its gulf allies, bahrain, kuwait and the united arab emirates and they are seen as a united arab emirates and they are seen as a fellow of britain, which is why they were reluctant to push saudi arabia too far away. the chinese and the russians will be lining up to do business with saudi arabia. if we lose business, it will go to them. they do not have the same qualms that western governments do about the disappearance of journalists. thank you very much, frank. thank you very much, frank. let's speak now to labour's shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry. thank you forjoining us. do you think the uk should stop arms sales to saudi arabia? we have been saying for more than two years because of the way in which the saudis have this bombing campaign in yemen that we should stop selling arms to them. there are bombs and planes that are being used to bomb weddings and funerals. during the summer there was a bus of children coming back

from a school trip that were killed asa from a school trip that were killed as a result of saudi air bombing. we have been saying for more than two yea rs have been saying for more than two years that we need to have an independent investigation into this, the saudis need to be held to account on this. it is tragic what has happened to jamal khashoggi, if not more than that. half of the people in yemen are facing famine and at the moment the saudi arabians are putting a barricade around the main portand are putting a barricade around the main port and ensuring that people are not able to get access to food. this is what has been going on in yemen, the forgotten war, and the crown prince is the man behind that bombing campaign and his behaviour is erratic. we would look at the way he kidnapped the prime minister of lebanon. i cannot believe this is true, but it is. he kidnapped the prime minister of lebanon and told him he had to resign on tv. yet we pulled out the red carpet and called

him a great reformer. i said at the time to the government this is not right, you have made the wrong decision, you should be standing up to the saudis. at times like this you remember robin cook with his desire for an ethical foreign policy and it has always been like that. whatever the government, these arms sales will happen? no, there has to come a time when we say enough is enough. otherwise what do you do? we sit back and say we do not like this, you should not be doing that. there have to be consequences. in the end it is for the saudis to fix their behaviour, they can do that, they can stop kidnapping people and murdering people in their consulars, they can stop bombing children in buses. they can change their behaviour and then we can continue to be their allies. but if they do not change their behaviour, we have to stand up to them. just saying this is not right is not enough and they need to be consequences. a week

ago the foreign secretary said if the saudis were involved, they need to be consequences. are there consequences when the saudis can just take their business elsewhere and get arms sales from other suppliers like russia and china? i heard what your security correspondent was saying, and that the west as an ally of saudi arabia and not iran... it is said, for example that when the iranian nuclear deal collapsed because of america pulling out of it that the chinese would fill that vacuum. of course we need to take realistic ha rd course we need to take realistic hard nose views on this, but we also have to have some principles. frankly, this has gone on for long enough. our indulgence of the saudi monarchy has gone on long enough and we need to speak clearly to our friends and need them to change

their behaviour. a quick question on brexit, the big march yesterday. what does the turnout say to you? the turnout says to me that people are getting increasingly alarmed by the fact we are just not getting a deal. we are running out of time. theresa may says she's 95% sure what the deal will look like, but we are missing what the continued economic relationship will be with our biggest trading partner. frankly, she hasn't even got off first base with that. she has spent two years fighting with the tories over what it is they want to negotiate, which is why we haven't been able to negotiate with europe. it's very worrying and of course people are alarmed by it. we need to have another injection of democracy at this stage. wejust another injection of democracy at this stage. we just say we have voted to leave and we will leave it to the tories to sort out. we have said we need a meaningful vote, and that isn't to take whatever bit of nonsense she that isn't to take whatever bit of nonsense she can agree that isn't to take whatever bit of nonsense she can agree with the european union or fall off nonsense she can agree with the european union orfall off a cliff. that is not an injection of democracy, that is simply putting a

gun to our heads. you didn't go toe to the march? no, i went to crawley to the march? no, i went to crawley toa to the march? no, i went to crawley to a constituency where 58% of them voted to leave to talk to them. emily thornberry, thank you. we will be talking about brexit shortly. the prime minister will be speaking later, and she says 95% of the deal is done. the brexit secretary appealing to tory mps to hold their nerve. let's get the latest weather update with carol. good morning. for many today it will be dry with sunny spells around. varied amounts of cloud but in the far north of scotland there is a wet and windy day in store. later in the day we will seek gales across the northern isles. drizzle in the west, but for the rest of the uk it's pretty fine. lots of sunshine with temperatures down on yesterday. in

suffolk they reached 20.4 celsius but they will not be as high today. it's breezy, less so in the south but more so in the north and particularly in north wales. the top temperature today is likely to be 13-15, temperature today is likely to be 13—15, as we pushed to the london area. this evening and overnight we hang onto wet and windy weather in northern scotland and some of the rain slips further south. for northern ireland, england and wales, bits and pieces of cloud around but clear skies particularly in rural parts of england where temperatures could fall to two or three, soy touch of ground frost thirsting in the morning. tomorrow, a lot of dry weather with spells and variable cloud. windiest traditions across northern england, breezy in the north, and temperatures ranging between ten and 11 with highs of 15 or 16. hello, it's monday, it's 10 o'clock, i'm joanna gosling.

saudi arabia say both king salman and the crown prince have spoken with the son of murdered journalist jamal khashoggi to offer their condolences. the authorities called the murder a "huge and grave mistake". the individuals who did this, did this outside our authority. there obviously was a tremendous mistake made. tomorrow turkey's prime minister says he will release more information — but what will that consist of... this audio tape, it needs either to be heard or at least played and shown to somebody independent. a un investigator, a reporter. —— rapporteur. theresa may will try to convince mps this afternoon that her brexit plans are on track, amid continuing speculation about whether she can continue as prime minister. and should homework be compulsory for the under—8s? a group of parents has written to the education secretary to say children shouldn't be punished forfailing to do it.

let us know what you think — is homework necessary at such a young age? rebecca is in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the day's news. saudi arabia says both king salman and crown prince mohammed have telephoned the son of the murdered journalist jamal khashoggi to offer their condolences. the foreign minister has blamed a "rogue operation" for mr khashoggi's death in the saudi consulate in istanbul. germany, britain and france have signed a joint letter demanding facts, and chancellor angela merkel says her country will no longer export arms to riyadh. our security correspondent frank gardner told us this reaction will have taken the saudis by surprise. this is a crisis for saudi arabia's relations with the west and donald trump, president trump, has blown hot and cold over this. it is very hard to tell exactly which way he is going to end up. one minute he is saying

there will be consequences, the next he is saying this is not worth losing 110 billion dollars‘ worth of arms contracts over or americanjobs. then he is saying he does not believe them, then he says he does. so for the saudis, i think the saudi leadership they obviously thought they would be able to move on from this fairly early on and have been surprised at the reaction, this huge reaction, victims of the contaminated blood scandal have written to the health secretary asking for an increase in support payments. the public inquiry into the scandal, which is expected to take at least two—and—a—half years, has heard the number infected could go "far beyond 25,000". victims have been telling this programme about some of their financial concerns. financially, it has been an incredible struggle. it's been completely traumatising for many people. people have had to sell their homes, people have been unable to get mortgages, people have been unable to get life insurance.

we have instances, we had one recently, a few weeks ago, where someone was widowed, someone we all know very well. and she is in the throes of desperately, desperately trying to sell their beautiful forever—home before the bank repossess it. australia's prime minister has delivered a national apology to victims of child sexual abuse. in a speech in parliament, scott morrison said the state failed for years to stop those crimes. the national apology was one recommendation of a royal commission that investigated decades of institutional child abuse in australia. theresa may will insist that a brexit deal is "95% complete" when she faces mps in the house of commons this afternoon. it follows a weekend of attacks from within her own party. but in an article in the sun newspaper this morning, mrs may admits that the last stages of the talks are going to be "the hardest of all".

the former cricket star freddie flintoff and entertainment presenter paddy mcguinness arejoining the motoring show, top gear. they'll begin filming their first series of the show early next year alongside motoring journalist and racing driver chris harris. it follows friends star matt le blanc's announcement that he was leaving the programme. his final series will be transmitted in early 2019. a lioness has killed the father of her three cubs in their pen at a zoo in the us. 10—year—old nyack was attacked by the lioness, and staff at indianapolis zoo couldn't separate the pair. he died of suffocation. the lions had lived in the same enclosure for eight years, and had three cubs together in 2015. that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 10:30am. lots of you getting in touch on

straws and the prospect of a ban on plastic straws within the year. on facebook, my son has cerebral palsy and can only drink through a plastic straw. paper or cardboard straws are mangled quickly, and stainless steel ones are difficult to clean and not suitable for hot drinks. if plastic straws are completely banned he doesn't know how he will drink. i suspect you can only buy them with a disability label and they will become extremely expensive. we discussed an exemption for plastic straws for people with disabilities the environment minister earlier. another viewer, we had waxed paper straws. it was only with the advent of plastics and presumably cheaper manufacturing costs that presumably eliminated them. why don't we go back to pre—plastic paper straws and bikes. crockery, glass, bottles,

they are already cycled all and retu rna ble they are already cycled all and returnable to earth. ask all your interviewees who their sponsors are. the plastic industry is all—powerful, effectively employing in whole or in part politicians. let's get some sport now. katherine downes is at the bbc sport centre. good morning. lewis hamilton said his mercedes team were not at their best as he's made to wait for a fifth formula one world title. despite starting from pole he was overtaken by ferrari's kimi raikkonen who went on to claim his first win for five and a half years. title rival sebastian vettel recovered from this spin on the first lap to finish fourth and with hamilton ending up third it means the title race moves on to mexico. big congratulations to kimi, he did a greatjob today. no mistakes, he had a great start and managed it all the way. so, i think, on our behalf... also verstappen did a greatjob as well. i mean, he was on a slightly better tyre than us in the end so naturally a bit of a struggle.

i naturally thought we would have been able to do better. jordan pickford showed why he's england's number one with a penalty save for everton but admitted afterwards he hadn't done his research on the taker. the game was 0—0 when he kept out the spot kick. late goals from dominic calvert—lewin and this one from cenk tosun sealed it to move everton up to eighth in the table. steven gerrard secured his first league away win as rangers manager. they beat hamilton 4—1 — alfredo morelos with the last one to leave them five points off leaders hearts. arsenal women are averaging more than five goals a game in the women's super league to maintain their 100% start. vivianne meedama scored her second hat trick of the seaon as they beat reading 6—0. there was a thumping 6—0 win too for manchester city at brighton and hove albion. british number one

kyle edmund was in tears after winning the first atp title of his career. it came at the european open in antwerp, he beat gael monfils over three sets. he lost the first, but won the next two and was very emotional at the end. yeah, just very obviously happy and a lot of hard work goes into this. it'sjust emotion. cheering. newcastle falcons may be bottom of the rugby union premiership but they've made it two wins out of two in the european champions cup. they beat toulon last weekend and yesterday they saw off another french powerhouse in montpellier. newcastle's callum chick scored in opening time to claim the 23—20 victory. elsewhere toulouse beat leinster and cardiff blues lost to glasgow, the two—time olympic gold medalist jade jones said she was so nervous that she cried before her bout at the world taekwondo grand prix

in manchester where she won gold. she beat china's li—jun chowe in the final in what's the second gold for britain over the three day meet. afterwards she said it has been an anxious wait. at the start of the day i was actually in tears because i was so nervous. i get really nervous. it's hard, everybody expecting you to win all the time. but when i came out and the crowd were screaming for me, it's impossible not to go for it. so it's impossible not to go for it. so it really helped me today. good to see a double olympic champion still gets nervous! that's all the sport for now. theresa may will make a statement to mps this afternoon to try to convince them that her brexit plans are on track and that "95%" of the deal with the eu is now settled. but she's facing a barrage of criticism from within her own ranks. many of the newspaper front pages are dominated by reports that she could face a rebellion this week if she does not bow to demands from the pro—brexit wing of her party. theresa may herself has written an article for the sun newspaper

insisting she will make "the right choices, not the easy ones". our assitant political editor norman smith is in westminster for us now. the brexit secretary also calling on tory mps to hold their nerve. what are you expecting today from theresa may? i think the name of the game for the prime minister today will be to try to convince her mps that the brexit bandwagon hasn't ended up in a ditch overturned with the wheels spinning. she wants to convince people she is still making progress, which is why she will say, yes, we have 95% of the deal, we have cracked difficult issues by gibraltar and cracked difficult issues by gibraltarand in cracked difficult issues by gibraltar and in effect saying to her party, don't give up now, we are almost there. the trouble is, almost there is a great big crater in the road known as northern ireland. and there still isn't an obvious solution to this vexed issue of the

northern ireland backstop. meanwhile, some of her mps are beginning to talk loosely about whether mrs may can carry on. i don't think it has come to the stage where there will be an organised move against heard this week. it could happen by accident. maybe 48 letters will be sent in by tory mps demanding a contest, it could happen. but i don't get the sense there is a broader view amongst the non—aligned bits of the tory party that they have got to get rid of mrs may. she probably has a bit of space. and i think there has been a backlash against some of the briefing against mrs may at the weekend where we had very violent and aggressive language used by some tory mps, talking about heating up a knife and sticking it into mrs may, and others talking about telling her to bring her own news to a meeting of backbenchers, suggesting mrs may

is reaching the killing zone. trasch bring her own —— bring her own noose. i suspect some of that might have helped mrs may and chris grayling was at the bat condemning that language this morning. i have no idea who has been making comments of the kind we have heard over the weekend, but it is not appropriate to use that language in politics today. we have got a tone thatis politics today. we have got a tone that is overheated and people should be using measured phrases and should talk ina be using measured phrases and should talk in a respectful way. be using measured phrases and should talk in a respectfulway. it is be using measured phrases and should talk in a respectful way. it is not very helpful but i think we are in the land where pretty much anything could happen now. it is like the end ofan could happen now. it is like the end of an action movie when our hero or heroine is there on the ice, cue the dramatic music, the killer well bursts through the eyes, or the helicopter could come over the horizon and lowered and escape ladder and all the ice could melt beneath her, all these things that

happened to the pm. wow, it sounds so happened to the pm. wow, it sounds so dramatic with the music as well. thank you, norman. with me arejenny chapman, who speaks for the labour party on brexit, the conservative mp pauline latham is in derby — she voted leave and has concerns about the prime minister's negotiating strategy. and the conservative mp dr sarah wollaston, a conservative mp who is backing a second referendum. she famously changed her position during the referendum campaign, switching from leave to remain. welcome, all of you. i will come to you first, pauline. how treacherous is it for the prime minister this week? i think some of the language week? i think some of the language we have heard is absolutely appalling and nobody should be using that sort of language about our prime minister. i do not want a change in leadership, ijust want the right deal for this country. when you talk about the language it

is the unattributed comments to tories talking about her entering the killing zone, effectively saying she is going to be toast? that is not appropriate, we have seen violence against members of parliament and we should not be doing it ourselves and making violent comments against the prime minister, that is very shocking and i wish people would be much more moderate. i agree with chris grayling, they should be much more moderate in the language they use. if they are not happy with her, fine, but do not use that sort of language. norman said there could almost be an accidental move against the prime minister this week if the number of letters written calling for a vote of no—confidence hits 48. the suggestion is there is 46 already. have you written a letter? i certainly have not. nobody knows there is 46. the only person who

knows is graham brady and he would not tell anybody. he keeps his cards close to his chest and he will only tell people when it has got to the required number. 46 just supposition, nobody knows except him. presumably you are all looking at and other and wondering and asking to each other? how openly by these things talked about?|j asking to each other? how openly by these things talked about? i have not asked anybody if they have put letters in, but people have said in the media they have put a letter in and they have not. or they have put and they have not. or they have put a letter in and withdrawn it, which they have not. there is a lot of loose talk out there and until such time as graham brady comes forward and says we have got 48 letters we should forget about it and worry about exactly the sort of deal we are getting on brexit. do you feel you are in good hands? theresa may will be speaking later saying 95% of

the deal is done, dominic raab calling on mps to hold their nerve. the deal that is going to be a good one is forthcoming very soon?|j one is forthcoming very soon?” would hope so, but for who? one is forthcoming very soon?” would hope so, but forwho? i one is forthcoming very soon?” would hope so, but for who? i do not think either side, whether you are a brexiteer or want to remain, are happy with the deal that would appear to have. if there are serious we have 95%, theresa may will have to explain a little bit more about what that 95% means. if i can be there, although i think i have a meeting before that, if i could be that i would be saying what about rolls—royce in derby who sent pieces of machinery over to europe and then they come back and they go back again and come back? how will she help companies like rolls—royce in derbyshire? at the moment i do not see that we have got that right deal. would you vote against the

deal? it depends what the deal is and until such time i am not going to say that i will vote for it or against it because i really do not know. i would love to know what the detail of the 95% is and we are not being told that. abc will reveal everything this afternoon, i hope so. everything this afternoon, i hope so. sarah wollaston, as pauline latham was saying, neither side will be happy with the deal, do you agree? this is the problem, there is not a majority for any of the sutures at the moment in the house of commons. that is the brexit reality we face. no amount of violent language from the extreme brexiteers in my party will change that fact. we all need to be prepared to make some concessions if a deal will get through. my feeling is alongside the 700,000 people who

marched in london this weekend is that once we know what the final deal is we should present the evidence open and honestly to people about what it looks like, what the risks and the benefits are, and allow them to give their informed consent to the final deal. nobody knew at the time of the referendum which of the many versions of brexit would be the one we would eventually arrive at. if it were to go to a referendum on those terms, where would it take us? if there was a referendum it would have to be a rerun of in or out? people would have to say this is the deal is on the table, or indeed no deal, and then people can see and have it explained exactly what that looks like. there are very many versions of brexit that we see from the norway model to the canadian plus plus model, right through to and no deal and they all have extraordinarily different consequences and unintended

consequences. consequences and unintended consequences. once you know exactly what we are dealing with, that is the point where you can go to people and say, this was the final deal and these are the risks and benefits, do we have your consent to proceed? what would you envisage being on the table? you are saying yes or no to that and in particular? or would there be remain as an option? with any referendum there would be an option to stay as you are or move to that position. but if we end up crashing out with no deal on condition, with the extreme brexiteers constantly scuppering any sensible compromise, we roll out right to the edge of the 29th of march and we crashed out with no deal and no position and pauline latham who has been speaking about the importance of the car industry and products that need to cross borders and my committee has looked at the disastrous implications, and we will continue that inquiry tomorrow, looking at the

implications of no deal for medicine and medical once people see where we are, particularly if it is no deal, and the actual consequence of that, the brexit reality as opposed to the brexit fantasy, then they deserve a chance to be able to say is that what we really wanted or do we think it is in our national interest to stay as we are? we need to know what the final arrangements are before people can give proper and formal consent. just like before the operating theatre, you need to know what the risks and benefits are. when you talk about extreme brexiteers scuppering any compromise, people will say it is clear, we had a referendum, we voted to leave, that is what the politicians will be delivering. but there are very many different ways you can leave and we know that now. we know there are the burdens of brexit, the so—called soft brexit

that address the issues around the northern ireland border, which is crucially important. in my entire childhood the backdrop of the troubles and the murders of over 3000 people is not going to be something that we should just brush aside as trivial complication. this isa very aside as trivial complication. this is a very serious part of the brexit conundrum and why we are not actually arriving at a deal. these things cannot be swept aside as if they are nothing. the issues around how products across the border in a frictionless way. although we are 95% now, the fact is you cannot cross a bridge that is 95% complete. this is a really important final stage and we see some members of my party does constantly undermining and threatening to scupper any deal with the risk that we crashed with no deal at all. this is very

worrying because the clock is ticking down to the 29th of march and we will be in a terrible situation if we crashed with no deal and no concession. sarah wollaston, thank you. jerry chapman for labour, would the labour party step in and support the parliament in that event if it became a reality, crashing out? that is not reality, that is the choice theresa may was it to be, but it is not. if the deal she presents is not a good enough deal, we will not be voting for it and we will want to have a better deal negotiated. that is the choice. she is pretending it is her deal or no deal and she would do that, wouldn't she? we have seen two years of hard negotiations. have we? it seems that way, we are this close to the deadline. two years have passed,

thatis deadline. two years have passed, that is true, whether she spent her time hard negotiating during that time, i would question. she spent a lot of time arguing with her party and she took time out for an election which i am sure she regrets, so i would question that.” would labour do it differently? we think we have a solution. it comes down to what you do about the northern ireland border and everybody understands that now in the way they did not a year ago. it is fairenough, the way they did not a year ago. it is fair enough, but everybody is on a journey, let's accept that for a minute. we have said the way you resolve this is by being part of the customs union said the uk and the eu ina customs union said the uk and the eu in a customs union and you resolve those issues. you also have the benefit of protecting manufacturing industries like pauline latham was talking about. the customs union is the right solution we think. we understand it is a compromise, it is

not everybody‘s favourite outcome. but there is not going to be a deal thatis but there is not going to be a deal that is everybody‘s favourite outcome, there will have to be some compromise. brexiteers say it is not our favourite outcome, compromise. brexiteers say it is not ourfavourite outcome, it compromise. brexiteers say it is not our favourite outcome, it is not what was meant when the country voted to leave. they have been saying a lot this weekend. they are having a tantrum. it is outrageous the way they have been expressing themselves. they need to calm down and start listening to people who do not agree with them. what is the evidence that the people at large in the country who voted out would accept the customs union?” represent a leave constituency and the majority of people i represent voted to leave. i think they will accept that. they want to leave the european union, absolutely, but they do not want to do it in a way that harms industry. a lot of my constituents served in northern

ireland, they are veterans and they ca re ireland, they are veterans and they care about not turning the clock back. we believe the customs union gives us the benefits of being close and collaborative with the european union, but it satisfies the referendum and it means that we leave. it is not perfect, i understand that, but it is the best solution and it would move us forward now. there is a lot of divining what the result at the referendum actually meant about what people really want in the end. isn't the only way to be clear on that to have a second referendum? we had that huge march on the streets of london at the weekend, 700,000 people turning up, what does that say to you? i am not utterly closed off to that option because we had a resolution at the labour party conference of keeping the option open for now. it is not my preference, to be completely straightforward with you, because i

think that... straightforward with you, because i think that. .. why not have complete clarity now, the clock is ticking? it is and that is why we take a chunk of time out to have something like that. also you would need to be com pletely like that. also you would need to be completely clear about what the question was to be. lots of people who want the second referendum i saying it needs to be we remain in and we have theresa may's deal or no deal. for me putting a referendum to the country which said leaving with no deal was a viable outcome would be...i no deal was a viable outcome would be... ithink no deal was a viable outcome would be... i think why put something forward that you know would be destructive and is ultimately not viable for the uk. but if you have a free option referendum there is a risk that that outcome is successful. i would not be in favour of that. but i do think we need to keep an open mind at this stage. what i want is a deal, i want a deal that parliament can support and theresa may has the job of

delivering a deal that parliament can support. the sad truth is that at the moment she cannot even deliver a deal that her own cabinet can support, never mind her own party or parliament. thank you very much indeed. let us know your thoughts. we will get comments from theresa may later, who says the deal is 95% done. coming up... comedian paddy mcguinness and former england cricketer andrew flintoff are the latest new presenters to take up the mantle of top gear. we'll be asking what this means for the uk's most successful motoring show. should homework be compulsory for under—8s? well, one group of parents believes the law should protect their children from taking schoolwork home, and they've written to the education secretary, damian hinds, asking him to confirm that primary—age children aren't legally obliged to do it. some primary schools do punish children forfailing to complete homework. one school in leeds has a warning

on its website that children "would need to stay in for some playtimes to learn" if their homework scores were frequently low. the department of education has told this programme "it is up to the individual school to decide their own homework and behaviour policy. " so should there be national guidelines? joining us now, two fathers who both have two children. ryan ellis is a year five primary school teacher, he gives out homework, but has some big reservations with it. and ken okoroafor, who thinks that homework is a valuable and important experience. he's brought his two sons along. joshua and elias. welcome to all of you and thank you for coming in. let's start with the boys. what do you think about homework? it's fun. it's fun! why do you think that? because i like reading. you must be very proud as a pa rent to reading. you must be very proud as a parent to hear your boy say that! what are your views on homework? we

actually like the idea of homework at home. purely because we quite like promoting learning at home as a lifelong thing. so even before we started getting any form of homework at home we already started teaching the children about the idea of learning to read and learning phonics in various ways at home. we have a bias towards learning at home. we quite enjoy it. it's obviously working with your boy who likes to read. ryan, what are your thoughts on homework?” likes to read. ryan, what are your thoughts on homework? i think homework, if done the right way, is a really positive thing. like ken says, it can promote lifelong learning at home, it's something parents can bond with their children ove rco m e parents can bond with their children overcome if it has a purpose. i'm

against homework that is given for no reason, say to complete a worksheet with no apparent link to the learning. why would it be for no reason quest mod it is linked to what they do in the classroom. you would like to think so, that it is linked to something they are doing in the classroom. but again, it's the term homework itself that is construed the wrong way sometimes. for me to something that is promoting learning at home. as ken says, i was the same way, learning with my child before he attended school, reading and learning about the outside, learning is a vital life skill. have you come across kids being punished for not doing homework? i know some schools have been known to do it. i have never been known to do it. i have never been involved in it myself, because i think it is detrimental to their learning and sends the impression, especially something potentially out of their control. you like the cameras! what do you think about kids being punished for not doing homework? i think it's a bad idea.

learning should be fun and kids should be encouraged to learn because they want to learn. the minute you start to make it super mandatory, and kids are forced to do things, i think the joy of learning and the fun of learning gets taken out of it. at home we try to encourage the children to work out their own pace and guide them on that journey. we see their own pace and guide them on thatjourney. we see it as a lifelong thing. we are learning ourselves, even at this age, we continue to learn and we want to encourage the children to do the same thing. and it's not an obligatory thing, ryan, that primary schools give kids homework. of course not. the biggest thing i have picked up is that we encourage reading as a lifelong skill, reading for enjoyment, improving vocabulary and speech. but it isn't something thatis and speech. but it isn't something that is obligatory, it is optional, and that's why we have a huge gulf

in schools who perhaps give out more than others and it differs a lot. heidi on e—mail says my son is five and a half, he is in school for 30 hours every week and just wants to play and enjoy his childhood when he comes home mentally and physically exhausted. he has to practice spellings everyday, count to 100, and on top of that he has english and on top of that he has english and maths homework to be completed every week. i disagree that it gets them ready for the future. it puts them ready for the future. it puts them off and they are not old enough to appreciate the value of it. what do you think should happen if a pa rent do you think should happen if a parent decides that actually the homework is a disposable thing? again, it's down to the individual opinion. i love that e—mail that has come in. ifind myself nodding opinion. i love that e—mail that has come in. i find myself nodding along in agreement with much of it. it seems like a lot for a younger child. my little boy is five, and i compare it to a recent homework experience i had, it was simply to continue reading at home. go and

enjoy a walk outdoors to learn about autumn. the homework was to go outside with my child and talk about the leaves and changing colours and experience bonding with them. they will get more out of that in their physical and emotional development than sitting at a table and maybe getting frustrated with something. keep your comments coming in, and thank you forjoining us. still to come... we'll be speaking to nursery worker louise abbott, who was 25 weeks pregnant when she was in a serious car crash. her baby sadly died, but the midwife said layla may have been the reason louise survived at all. two new presenters on bbc‘s top gear. we'll be speaking to an entertainment reporter about what she thinks of comedian paddy mcguinness and former england cricketer andrew flintoff. let us know what you think with matt

leblanc leaving the show. what do you think of the replacements? nursery worker louise abbott was 25 weeks pregnant when she was involved in a serious car crash. she was badly injured, and sadly her baby layla died. the day after the crash, louise had to give birth to layla, but the bereavement midwife told her that her baby could actually have been the reason that louise survived the crash as her pregnancy reduced the impact on her own body. since then, the man responsible for the crash has beenjailed for dangerous driving and louise feels ready to talk about her experience. thank you for coming in. it's obviously an absolutely awful thing that you have been through. it was two years ago and you finally got some compensation for what you went through. how was the level of compensation arrived at for something that you have and your to, what is it? i got £100,000. ithink

it was just what is it? i got £100,000. ithink it wasjust adding what is it? i got £100,000. ithink it was just adding all the different factors. we have to drive to her grave, and it is quite farfrom where we live. the travel costs and everything involved in that. and ongoing therapy i am having and stuff like that all had to be included in the compensation i was given. so it was two years of building up all of this massive document to then send off to them for the costs and things. and the psychological compensation as well. you had to go through a stillbirth after being in the accident. how did the people around you react? you we re the people around you react? you were going through something traumatic, and obviously bewildering not only for you but everyone who loves you and understood the baby that was so hoped for was not to be

and it was all ending in the most horrendous fashion. honestly, i had the best support from my family and friends. i don't think i would be where i am today if it wasn't for them. and my husband as well, he was my rock. it's so important to have that support because i would have crumbled without it, i think. you we re crumbled without it, i think. you were told you survived because you are pregnant. yes, it was a comment that my bereavement midwife made. she said, when you are pregnant you have a third more blood in your body. and my injuries were internal bleeding. so basically, the amount of time it took to get to the hospital and get scanned and into the trauma unit and everything, i probably wouldn't have survived, purely because i would have bled out. and also the fact your bones are more flexible when the baby was

there as a cushion for the blow. the seat belt was where i got a lot of my injuries from. so she felt she thought it might have been the reason why i survived. when you go through something awful, it makes you particularly attuned to how others deal with it with you. what we re others deal with it with you. what were the sort of... what were the best ways people responded? people don't always know what to say to somebody. we have obviously had a lot of awkwardness and people, i have experienced if i have mentioned it or said something, people have just walked out of the room, left the room. ijust want just walked out of the room, left the room. i just want to talk about it, you know what i mean? it's difficult because it is such a taboo subject, nobody really wants to talk about it, british awkwardness and everything, nobody knows what to say, but i think it needs to be talked about in depth and people need to be listened to. because one

of my friends, she had a miscarriage and said that a lot of people, even and said that a lot of people, even a couple of weeks afterwards, were not interested in talking about it with her any more, they wanted to change the subject and she was still grieving for her baby, but everyone else was, it is gone, it is over. people need to be listened to and there needs to be a lot more support as well. what would your advice be? sadly, what you went through, you went through it because of a car accident, but what you went through happens to many women and many couples, they lose a baby.” happens to many women and many couples, they lose a baby. i would just say to be there for each other. talk it out, cry if you need to cry. don't try and bottle it up or push each other away. talk about it, really. just talk. and you have had another child in the two years since. how is she? she's amazing.

and it is still important to remember layla? yes, she will always be the big sister. in just under three weeks, people in the united states will vote in their midterm elections. these are hugely important for us politics. they determine whether republicans or democrats will hold the balance of power in the lawmaking bodies — congress and the senate. the elections are so important that the russian state has been accused of seeking to interfere with the results. russia was also accused of meddling in the presidental election that saw donald trump elected. butjust how credible are these allegations? suzanne kianpour investigates. did russian president vladimir putin really want donald trump to win the 2016 presidential election? that was putin talking to a reporter in helsinki back injuly. a couple of weeks later, us security leaders gathered together for an unannounced briefing at the white house to warn the american people. russia attempted to interfere with the last election and continues to engage in malign influence

operations to this day. now the us department ofjustice has charged a 44—year—old russian woman who they allege had a plan to create conflict by leveraging hot button issues like gun rights and race relations, and to spread distrust for us political candidates before the midterms. so, why is this so important? because two years after this... i will faithfully execute... the office of president of the united states. ..the office of president of the united states. ..america is getting ready to head to the polls again, this time to decide to either keep or replace their state and federal representatives in the middle of the presidential term. this is called the midterms. and according to every us intelligence agency, russia did in fact meddle in the 2016 election. paul wood is a bbc world affairs correspondent who has been investigating russia's role in american politics. back in january 2017, he broke the news of a secret foreign intelligence surveillance

act warrant to investigate allegations of kremlin money going into the trump campaign. i first heard the words "trump" and "russia" coupled back in march 2016. paul was told the russians were allegedly using money and hacking to meddle in the election. but hang on a minute. the us is a superpower. it's home to arguably the centre of the world's technology. so if russia is meddling, why is the us having such a hard time fighting back against this? people in the tech world have told me they are frustrated. they say the us government is relying on silicon valley to save america. so far, 23 russian nationals have been indicted for alleged meddling in the 2016 us presidential elections. they are accused of hacking and manipulating social media. and now, 32 more facebook accounts and pages have been taken down in the run—up to the midterms, which are thought to also have links to the kremlin. here's what sheryl sandberg of facebook had to say. it's clear that whoever set up these

accounts went to much greater lengths to obscure their true identities than the russian—based internet research agency, ira, did in the lead up to the 2016 us presidential election. so it appears as if they are getting more sophisticated and they don't have a political preference. what we see is the russians are looking for every opportunity, regardless of party, regardless of whether or not it applies to the election, to continue their pervasive efforts to undermine our fundamental values. the bbc‘s security correspondent gordon corera was the first to break the news that the us intelligence community was expecting russia to interfere in the midterms. the russians are employing very clever techniques. techniques of hybrid warfare, below the threshold of war, employing a wide range of cyber hacking, cyber espionage, social media. these are challenges which cross boundaries for the us government and us intelligence community. for instance, the cia and nsa are charged with dealing with foreign challenges and threats

— and the fbi domestically. but this is something which crosses that boundary. i think there is a problem forthe us, institutionally and bureaucratically, in organising itself to try and fight this kind of interference. so the russians have effectively tapped into one of america's weaknesses? i think the real challenge for the us is coordination. when you have this many players in it, you need someone to say, you're going to do this, you're going to do that, and put pressure on them to work together. that's what i understand — talking to people close to american intelligence — that's what they are worried about, that there isn't that leadership from the top. this is all starting to sound a bit like a spy novel, isn't it? enter christopher steele, formerly of the british intelligence agency mi6. he was paid by a company hired by the democrats in 2016 to dig up dirt on donald trump. the steele dossier claimed that the russian government had been handling donald trump for years — assisting him, supporting him. the dossier also claimed that they

had compromising material on him. paul first was given this document a month before donald trump's election. i first heard in october 2016 from a former member of the us intelligence community that he had been told by his east european contact that there was a sex blackmail tape of president trump when he was a businessman visiting russia. i have since heard from another source, somebody in a russian criminal organisation, of a tape. in fact, we have two sources in russian criminal organisations, one of whom has a lot of credibility with me because he was talking about these sex tapes, giving very similar descriptions, before the dossier was ever published. of course, there is a very convincing alternative explanation for all of this, which is that the russian intelligence services decided to carry out a provokatsiya — a fabricated piece of information designed to dismay and confuse the enemy. and they planted this story and that's why we are hearing about it from multiple sources.

trump denies any sex tape exists. so was the dossier part of putin's plan all along? either way, the effects of russia's alleged meddling goes beyond simply social media influencing and hacking. russia has dominated the news agenda in the united states. congressional enquiries into 2016 interference are looking more and more like a partisan circus and special counsel robert mueller‘s investigation into possible trump campaign collusion with russia is still ongoing. which seems to be tying up the president's time on social media. and putting him on the defensive. america has never seemed more divided, which looks like a victory for russia. but this is not lost on lawmakers, especially republican senator and former presidential candidate marco rubio. a nation continually debating these issues and divided over it. this is how you weaken an adversary from within. and then there was the summit in helsinki, where trump sided with the russian president over his own intelligence community. at the press conference,

putin denied russia ever had or would interfere in us elections. my people came to me, dan coats came to me, and some others, and said, they think it's russia. i have president putin, he just said it's not russia. i will say this, i don't see any reason why it would be. 24 hours later, trump changed his tune. in a key sentence in my remarks, i said the word would instead of wouldn't. the sentence should have been, i don't see any reason why i wouldn't, or why it wouldn't be russia. a few days after the helsinki summit, it was revealed by the new york times that trump knew all along about putin's personal involvement in the 2016 interference. a few weeks before he took office, donald trump was briefed by his intelligence community, his soon—to—be intelligence community, about putin's direct rule in ordering the operation. a us intelligence official, who was serving at the time, told me

that the evidence that trump was given about putin's role about where the directive and the tactics and the operations came from was overwhelming. but what's interesting is that trump's reaction wasn't necessarily what he should do about this, but rather, whether or not he should believe the intelligence. the source recalls trump was taken aback by the level of detail the us intelligence community had on putin's inner circle. but he's denied all allegations, including the existence of kompromat. if they had it, it would have been out long ago. so do the russians really have kompromat on trump? or does the mere rumour of its existence disrupt the political discourse? in more tangible terms, they are allegedly still meddling in us politics. mid—term candidates say they have found hacking attempts and tech companies say they have spotted and shut down fake accounts and fake websites. so the question as americans head

to the polls in november is, have the warnings of security leaders and social media executives made an impact on voters? top gear will get two new presenters. comedian paddy mcguinness and former england cricketer andrew flintoff will be replacing matt leblanc, who will step down at the end of the next series. they willjoin current host chris harris as lead presenters amd rory reid will take on a reduced role. so, what will it mean for the uk's most successful motoring programe? we can speak to entertainment reporter, emma bullimore, who's here in the studio. and chris goffrey, a former top gear presenter, whojoins us from oxford.

i think this is an attempt to bring some banter back to the show. when they started it was a big line—up of seven presenters with chris and matt and it did not quite work. i think they are trying to make it a bit more intimate. chris harris will still be there, so i think it is a welcome change. chris, what do you think about the new guys?” welcome change. chris, what do you think about the new guys? i wish them every success, it is a great programme, it has been very successful all around the world. there has been a bit of a ratings drop, so hopefully they will pull back back and top gear will continue. it has been going for 30 years. it is not a question of which presenter has been doing it. there have been 16 or 17 presenters over the years. in the past i think we we re the years. in the past i think we were much more of an information show. today it is an entertainment show. today it is an entertainment show and that is great and these guys will do really well at that.

going for 30 years it is an enduring format, but how important are the presenters to the success of it? format, but how important are the presenters to the success of mm was more of an information show and then thatjeremy clarkson era, it was very tribal, and whoever took over from them it was not going to go too well to start with and chris evans go too well to start with and chris eva ns was go too well to start with and chris evans was the fall guy for that. those devoted to the clarkson era have fallen off a bit. this brand—new era will help the show. it will keep going, it is a big success still for the bbc and a big success internationally. yes, the presenters area internationally. yes, the presenters are a key part of it and they need to think carefully. this is a good choice of people who love the show, who are enthusiastic and to have found anyway and they will bring the real energy. every time there is a change in presenting line—up, there isa change in presenting line—up, there is a weight and look at how things

will shake down. there was a lot of talk when chris evans took over that it would be jodie talk when chris evans took over that it would bejodie kidd and it was not. they don't have a female presenter. people should be chosen for roles because they are good at them, not because they are male or female. some people will be upset it is not a woman. most people wanted to bea is not a woman. most people wanted to be a good combination of presenters who will keep the show going forward. do not forget that angela rippon was the first presenter on top gear.” angela rippon was the first presenter on top gear. i did not know that. maybe it is time to bring her back. what about you, chris? are you an avid fan of it in his new shape and form? i don't know. we always tried to be entertaining. i did 13 years on the show. we try to do more serious stories and it did not hurt our audience. we discovered

the motor industry was storing cars in wet fields and they were up to the axles in mud. we changed the way the axles in mud. we changed the way the industry stored its new cars. stories like that struck a chord with our audience at the time. we we re with our audience at the time. we were a little half—hour with our audience at the time. we were a little half— hour programme out of pebble mill and look what it has developed into. on that, bruce says the bbc should have the courage to fade out top gear, popular as it should be. fossilfuel cars will no longer be sold and people need to be weaned off, think of our children's future. what about coming away from the idea of it all being about petrol heads? certainly people up my generation and below do get fed up with supercars going round and round in circles with smoke everywhere and perhaps we want to know a little bit more about which way the industry is

going and how governments are going to change the way that drive our ca rs to change the way that drive our cars with the chains over to zero emission vehicles. it is an escapist, fun show as well, and we saw matt leblanc dressing up as james bond and doing these big films. as well as those stories, the show has to incorporate both if it can. does it incorporate the other things? there is always talk about electric cars and where they are going, but perhaps not as much as chris is suggesting. if it does not do that, will it die out sooner rather than later? i don't know. i don't think it will die out because i hope people on the production side are sensible enough to realise and stay in tune with their core audience. i think over the last few years there has been a bit too much emphasis on amusing teenage boys.

thank you very much. good to talk to you. thank you both very much. and thank you very much for your company today. bbc newsroom life is coming up today. bbc newsroom life is coming up next and theresa may will be speaking later on brexit and there will be full coverage of that on bbc news. see you at the same time tomorrow. have a lovely afternoon, goodbye. it has been a chilly start to the day, quite breezy as well, so we have had problems with mist and fog. todayit have had problems with mist and fog. today it is not looking too bad with high pressure in control. mainly dry with good spells of sunshine around. but the cloud will build and it will be windy in the northern isles of scotla nd be windy in the northern isles of scotland with outbreaks of rain in the northern isles. temperature wise it is not as good as we saw over the

weekend. this evening and overnight it will be mainly dry, but it will turn windy. central and northern areas will see gales at times. double—figure values further south and it will be a chilly start to tuesday. but a largely fine day packs to the high—pressure. in eastern scotland more cloud and gales with rain in the north—west corner of the country. some shelter in aberdeen. otherwise the best of the temperatures will be further south. you're watching bbc newsroom live. it's11.00am and these are the main stories this morning:

theresa may will tell mps a brexit deal is 95% done, amid increasing frustration in her party over her approach to negotiations. the king and crown prince of saudi arabia offer condolences to the son of the murdered journalist, jamal khashoggi, after their foreign minister admits he was murdered. the transport secretary says police should be involved after an elderly black woman was racially abused on a ryanair flight. another health warning for the nhs, services could come under even greater pressure in the coming months than during last winter. a stroll in the sun in queensland — the duke and duchess of sussex visit fraser island on their tour of australia. simon mayo and jo whiley‘s radio 2 drivetime show