congressional elections, president trump has told supporters that his republican party is delivering the american dream. the former democratic president, barack obama, said the character of the country was on the ballot in the midterms. the cameroonian government has launched a huge search operation for 79 children kidnapped from a boarding school. unidentified gunmen seized the students at the facility in bamenda in the north—west of the country. students have described hiding as the hostage—takers ransacked the building and selected which children to abduct. the us secretary of state mike pompeo says washington will exert relentless pressure on iran unless it changes its current course. speaking after the reimposition of sanctions, mr pompeo said the objective was to starve the country of the revenue he said it used to fund violence. now on bbc news — monday in parliament. hello, and welcome to

monday in parliament. our look at the best of the day and the commons the battle continues for universal credit. we know that the roll—out of benefits is leading to personal debt, and they are being forced to turn to food banks throughout. how to bring about a change in culture. mps after a bullying issue. so we don't end up in a situation where we all knew, everyone knew he was a bit like that. and those fixed odds betting terminals. the chancellor says the government is in a difficult position. we are looking at the measure that would have a very significant impact on the industry, the industries own estimate is between 15,000

and 21,000 jobs will be lost. but first, the government has been given more details of its plan to use the introduction of universal credit following red to ease the introduction of universal credit following red spread criticism of the new system that merges six benefits into one single payment. in the future, claiments will have to wait as long, and benefits will take longer to switch to. also, debt repayment will be reduced, and work and pensions secretary told mps, ministers were listening. we will put an extra 1.7 billion a year into work allowances, increasing the amount of hard—working families can earn by £1000 before universal credit is taken away, providing extra support for two point for working families, 2.4 million working families. of course the opposition doesn't like helping 2.4 million working

families, that's why they are laughing mr speaker because we help people. the government had recognised the concerns of vulnerable people, moving on from universal credit. we have made a further1 billion packages of changes providing two additional weeks of dwp legacy benefits for those of you onto universal credit. a one—off number of able some that will that will provide payments, and this is on top of the additional housing benefits that will be received and put into place a chair. we know that the roll—out of benefits is leading to people turning to food banks for help. the budget did little to address the very long wait for payments which is causing hardship. despite this, the government is now planning to start the next phase of universal credit which it

calls manage migration, which will involve the transfer of two million people onto it. 0nly undoes reverses half of cut that was made in 2015. that is like taking £100 away from someone and giving them 50 put it back, and say you should be grateful that i gave you this back. the reality is that people are worse off. mr speaker i strongly disagree that universal credit is not getting residents out of poverty. i say this because a constituent of mine has got to me this morning and he has mental health problems and he is universal credit, and he says this is exacerbating asthma mental health condition. and he says this is exacerbating his mental health condition. universal credit has 157 cases so far and only three of them are out awaiting processing for payment. can the minister explain why it is going so smoothly when members opposite assure us it's a disaster.

i think my honourable friend who has actually visited his job centred and finding out what is actually happening on the ground is giving esther mcvey. the leader of the commons says there is no place for the abuse or harassment of anyone working in commons. a scathing report last month that which concluded the loot, and intimidating behaviour bite mps has been tolerated and concealed for years. the commons is up and given its first opportunity to debate the report. the allegations have been denied. the house of commons has fallen woefully short in supporting

and protecting its staff. it has failed the people who were here the fact that some of those in position of power or authority have believed, intimidated, and harass those who work alongside them, and perpetuated a culture where that behaviour is not only tolerated, but it comes to be expected by members of staff as norm, is outrageous. there is no place for this. we in the opposition are grateful to all those who contributed to the report, and to those members of staff i too want to acknowledge the hurt that you have suffered, and acknowledge the courage of those of you who have spoken up. from those who work throughout the house, you undertake your work professionally, and with integrity. you are helpful, creative, and supportive of members. there is a very high standard of work here, which is appreciated.

this isn't the crux of the problem, that until we have a culture in this place where a member of staff who makes a complaint about a senior manager, or a member of this house is confident that by making the complaint they are not ending the own career, until we get the culture changed nothing is going to happen here. leadership is actually what we are talking about, and all these rules actually don't count for anything if our style is wrong. and we know what is right, and people who do wrong should be called out by the rest of us, and dealt with. you don't need commissions, and you don't need rules for that. what is right is right, and what is wrong is wrong, and we should know that as mps. but i don't think it is either fair, or appropriate to use this particular issue, which is a long—standing issue in this place as a way of settling old scores with the speaker. largely from people who, like me, didn't vote for them in the first

place, and this is rather a convenient stick to beat him with, and that trivializes the very issue in this house. i do think there is some system so we do not end up inajimmy saville situation where everybody says, we all know, we all new, it it was like that. oh yeah, of course it was. we need a place where members of parliament come together. so we can show patterns. the debate on bullying and harassment at westminster. the resignation of a minister in protest to what she saw as a delay to the introduction of a change to the use of fixed odds

betting terminals, was welcomed in many quarters at the end of last week. the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby called tracy crouch's decision to quit, principal and courageous. her resignation followed the announcement of the chancellor philip hammond, last monday that the switch from a maximum of £100 staked to a maximum £2 stake would not come in until october next year. the chancellor was asked about the issue at the treasury committee. why is this change to the maximum stake not coming in until october 2019? willjust be clear, october 2019 will represent a period of 12 months from the budget statement. but not from the impact assessment, that will be may 2019 which is the nine to 12 month point. we have engaged with the industry and the decision was made to go

to two pounds. there was a great deal of debate, and those who felt that the stake needed to be reduced to the level which effectively would eliminate these machines, and i have absolutely no love for these machines, i think they are terrible things, but government has to manage this process in an orderly sensible way. we are looking at a measure which will have very significant impact on the industry, the industry's on estimate between 15 and 21,000 jobs will be lost as a consequence of the elimination of fixed odds betting terminals. members of the committee might take a view about that estimate, but it's very clear that there will be a significant number ofjobs lost, that there will be a significant number of high street betting shops that will close. implementation i'm told is about changing software,

so it can be done within a matter of months. the former minister said in her letter said that two people take their lives every day because of gambling related problems. it is the case that the government has prioritised the preservation ofjobs and the gambling industry over the addiction to those who suffer from these machines. a state level of £2. this means the machines are going, and they will no longer be a part of the business model of high street betting shops, as they will generate revenues that are sufficient to make an appropriate contribution, so they will be gone. i think those who campaigned and we would have been clear about that beginning stakes down to this level is effectively saying

let's get rid of these machines, and that is perfectly legitimate decision for government to make, and if i may say so, the tribute to the campaigning tenacity of my honourable friend, the member from chatham, that was her objective. the stake will be reduced to a level that effectively will eliminate these machines. the job of government, i'm afraid, and it doesn't always win applause, is there to implement these measures in a way that is balanced, and fair, and allows for an orderly transition, and that's what we believe that october 2019 will do. the trouble with that very rational analysis, and i perhaps expect nothing less, is that it does not really help the expected 300 people a day who may end up taking their lives suffering mental health problems from gambling addiction, when we know this is a social problem.

the house has taken a decision to end it, the government has taken a position to end it, yet we have a delay in implementation. there are many social harms that we know about, very many things which drive mental health problems, and sadly occasionally suicides. of course, in everything we do, we are focused on trying to reduce that impact, but there are many other examples i could give you of steps that could be taken which would no doubt have a positive impact in some areas, but because they would have wider impacts, are not taken, and we can all think of examples across tobacco, alcohol, sectors for example. philip hammond, you are watching the best of the day in the comments and the lords. —— commons. still to come, a former military chief says we must learn from the mistakes that followed the end of the first world war. the immigration minister has confirmed that european union

citizens resident in the uk before brexit will be welcome to stay after brexit. last week, the minister indicated that employers might have to check whether eu nationals had the right to work here if there was no—deal brexit. she came to the commons to answer an urgent question and caroline noakes was warned that mixed messages coming from the government had caused distress to more than 3 million eu citizens. does the minister accept that as we move towards leaving the european union this type of confusion over policy is simply not acceptable? it is notjust the good faith of government that she is calling into question, but it is people's lives that we are playing with. does the minister accept finally that it simply is not good enough to come before this house and talk about further information being provided in due course?

it is five months to go and the clock is ticking and we want no further confusions of this nature. she did refer to the 3.5 million eu citizens already in this country. the prime minister, the home secretary, the brexit secretary and myself have been clear we want those people to stay and in opening the eu settled status scheme, which we have done now in private beta testing phase two, we are already putting in place steps that has enabled in the region of a thousand people to confirm their status. the home secretary has told the media there will be a transition period and there will be no additional checks for employers if there is no deal. can the minister tell us, will there be additional employer checks on eu citizens immediately after no deal, yes or no? we will of course continue to need

that employers need to check id cards as they do now for eu citizens and british citizens when making a newjob offer. we will not be asking them to differentiate even if there is no deal, and the right honourable lady will be conscious we are working hard to secure a deal. the prime minister and the brexit secretary have been clear that we will honour our commitment to eu citizens and their family members and more information will be sent out in due course. telling people they are welcomed sounds hollow, given the terrible treatment meted out to commonwealth citizens who were told once they were welcome but they then did not have the documents that they did not know they were supposed to have. what does the minister think i should say to my eu constituents in bristol west who have no confidence at all in the government's proposals? it is very important that those people who are going through the settled status scheme will be given a digital status

so they can evidence they have been through the scheme. hundreds of thousands of people have been blighted by this shambolic brexit. does she agree that the ring fencing of citizens' rights 110w and paying for their settled status applications might go some way towards healing the hurt inflicted on them as a result brexit and this government? my constituent robert adams is an eu citizen and is working as a lecturer in sweden and he does not know whether he will be able to continue in sweden and whether his wife, a us citizen, can come back with him. he could lose his home, his job and his family. what reassurance can you make? there is ongoing work with european counterparts and the eu to make sure that they make the same clarity and simple status offer as we have

fought eu citizens living here. is the immigration minister saying with just five months to go until we leave the eu, the eu has not made clear what the rights of uk nationals will be in the eu on brexit day? given the huge contribution uk citizens make to european countries, does she share my outrage of this callous disregard for the lives and future of uk citizens living in the eu? i thank my reward friend for that question. i am conscious in the time i have been immigration minister we have got the settled status scheme up and running, from scratch, a whole new digital system. i wish i could see a similar commitment made by the eu 27 because it is important that should be confidence for those british citizens who are living in the eu 27. caroline noakes. was it a good budget for local councils a week ago? philip hammond announced new money to revive declining high streets

and there was a substantial sum for the repairing of those annoying potholes in the road. but the budget fails to satisfy most labour mps, some of whom voiced their displeasure at local government question time. i do not know if the minister has ever heard the song streets of london by ralph mctell. it is worth listening just to remind us what the streets of every town in this country are like, how rundown they are, how many rough sleepers, how much deterioration, how much graffiti and broken pavements. that is what my constituency in my town and it is happening up and down in this country because you have starved our country of local government services. mr speaker, the honourable member opposite may want to talk this country down, but we on this side of the house have faith in the towns and communities up and down this country and that is why we backed britain's high streets with a £675 million fund because we believe in local communities taking control of their high streets, developing vibrant communities

which we will enjoy for years to come. this government's record is clear on local government. since 2010 his department's budget has fallen by at least £13 billion. by 2020 the revenue support grant will be cut by 80%, which is £8 billion, putting more pressure on to council tax, and an equal levy. northamptonshire has effectively gone bust with the media reporting that surrey, east sussex and lancashire are next in line. services under pressure, cuts slashed or stopped altogether, councils at breaking point. why when the public accounts committee asked ministers to publish a definition of financial sustainability for councils, methodology for assessing authorities at financial risk and to publish projections

for spending and demand in service areas, why have ministers refused? common sense, what has he got to hide? cheering mr speaker, the honourable gentleman has a job to do and i appreciate that. laughter but i would have thought that this week after all the times we have had questions he would join me in welcoming last week's budget, a billion pounds extra for local governments across these two years. this weekend it will be exactly 100 years since the horrors of the first world war finally came to an end. the armistice came into effect, ending the war on land, sea and air in western europe between the allies and western germany. the armistice was effectively a german surrender as its conditions ended any possibility of germany continuing the war. a great many of events around the country will mark the centenary of the armistice this sunday.

when the lords debated the centenary, a former military chief made a strong plea for the events after 1918 not be forgotten. after a great many mistakes, after years of stalemate on a number of fronts and after blood—letting on an unimaginable scale, the allies finally in november 1918 achieved a decisive operational victory. over the following few years, however, their diplomatic and political failures turned this into a strategic defeat of the first order, a defeat that was set us on the path to the second world war and to even greater carnage. the hubris of victory, the increasing alienation of germany, the creation of a stab in the back myth, the failure of the united states to engage properly in the global commons, the san remo agreements on the division of the remnants of the ottoman empire which we see

unravelling before our eyes today, all of these things and others led us eventually to a much darker abyss than the one from which we emerged in november 1918. in his book on the armistice, joseph proseco wrote that of all the men who had died in the war, the column would stretch 386 miles from paris halfway through switzerland and would have taken from 9am on monday to 4pm on saturday to pass. in that ghostly column marching past would have been scientists, like henley mosley, one of the most brilliant scientists of his generation, the man who invented the new periodic table, there were poets from every nation, alfred lichtenstein, a german poet.

apollinaire, david thomas, wilfred owen. composers such as george butterworth. we can only imagine the sort of world they would have created if they had lived. a lib dem peer has warned children will still be able to access pornography online despite new rules designed to protect them. lady benjamin, a one—time children's tv presenter, said social media sites would not be covered by a new law that would require viewers of explicit pornography websites to prove they are aged 18 or over. the minister said the government would say earlier next year when the government certification would begin, but the lib dem peer was critical. does the minister share my disgust and horror that social media companies, such as twitter, can state that their minimum age for membership is 13, yet they make no attempt to restrict some of the most gross forms of pornography being exchanged via their websites, via their platforms? unfortunately the digital economy bill does not affect them because they are not predominantly commercial porn publishers. does the minister agree

that they need to develop mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the legislation in terms of restricting access to pornography by children to social media sites and put a stop to this unacceptable behaviour? my lords, i agree that there are areas of concern in social media sites and as she rightly says, they are not covered by the digital economy act. we are producing an online harms white paper in the winter in which some of these issues can be considered and will be considered and if necessary legislation will be brought forward to address some of these issues, but not only that, but many other harms as well.

labour were worried that like new rules to curb high—stakes gambling, a new system of fines were yet to be introduced to stop —— gambling, a new system of fines were yet to be introduced. with the minister not agree that the possession of a biometric card by the population would make implementation of things like this very much easier? in some ways it would, but there are problems with people who either do not want to who cannot have biometric cards. and that is it for this programme, but do join me for our next daily round—up from westminster. until then, from me, keith mcdougal, goodbye. hello there. the pressure patterns set up across the uk for the next few days will be crucial to how the weather is going to look and certainly feel.

we've got a big area of high pressure over the continent, spinning clockwise, and a big area of low pressure over the atlantic, to the west of us, spinning anti—clockwise. and this is driving up southerly winds right across the country, and this mild air moving up from the mediterranean, through france, and across our shores. but as we go through the next few days, this area of low pressure across the west will slowly encroach into our shores, so although it's going to be mild, it will start to turn windier, and there will be outbreaks of rain pushing in from the west. now, early this morning, it's going to be a largely dry start. some mist and murk around from the bonfires and fireworks on the previous evening. but there will be some splashes of rain pushing into some western areas, but generally light at this stage. and a very mild start to the day, no lower than 8—11 degrees. so for tuesday morning, we start off on a largely dry note. for much of england, wales and scotland, there will be some spells of sunshine around, but quite a bit of cloud too. as we head into the afternoon, this more active weather front will start to throw in some pretty heavy rain at times through parts of cornwall, devon, in towards western wales as well.

could even be a rumble of thunder with this rain as it moves in. could also be pushing into north sea coastal areas, maybe the far west of north—west england, in towards northern ireland, certainly be wetter here, and then eventually western scotland. and it will be a blustery day for all, but certainly across western areas. temperature—wise, pretty good further east. where we have the dry and bright conditions, 17 or 18 degrees. but even further west, with the cloud, the rain and wind, 13 or 1a degrees. and then through tuesday night, that rain will continue to edge its way eastwards, perhaps not reaching the far east of scotland and england until we head into wednesday morning. we've got a secondary area of low pressure developing out of this as it moves across our shores, so wednesday is looking particularly unsettled — very windy, cloudy, some heavy rain pretty much anywhere through the morning. maybe a rumble of thunder or two, particularly in the showers, these blustery, heavy showers, which will arrive across southern areas into the afternoon. temperature—wise, not quite as high as monday and tuesday, looking at 12—14 celsius.

and it will be a windy day, with gales in exposure, certainly around coasts and over hills. and then as we end the week, well, we maintain a south or south—westerly wind, with low pressure still out towards the west. because high pressure could still be close by, it could remain dry. spells of rain, but again, with the winds coming in from the south, it should be pretty mild for the time of year. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: reaching the final furlong — president trump makes one last pitch, ahead of the us midterm elections. a blast from the past — barack 0bama stumps for the democrats. he calls this a defining moment. a major search is underway to find 79 children kidnapped from a boarding school in north—west cameroon. and how we shall remember them — a hundred years of changing attitudes towards the first world war.

millions of people have already voted and, for the rest,