hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2. the prime minister is meeting her cabinet at downing street as she seeks their backing for the draft agreement which she says will deliver on brexit. we will take back of the control of oui’ we will take back of the control of our money, laws and borders. we will deliver brexit and the united kingdom is leaving the european union on 29th of march, 2019. does the prime minister still intends to put a false choice the parliament between her botched deal or no deal. as the cabinet meeting gets underway, there's speculation that it could last up to three hours. ministers have been arriving in the last few minutes for that cabinet meeting, the most important in theresa may's premiership. by 5pm it should be over and we will know

whether the prime minister has been successful in getting the cabinets to back her vision of brexit. dozens still unaccounted for after california's worst wildfires in history as the death toll rises to 50. coming up on afternoon live all the sport with katherine. the first premier league sacking of the season, claudio ranieri taking over at fulham. thanks, katherine, and mel coles has all the weather. yes, financed by are the order of the day what much of the uk under blue skies but that is some rain in the forecast. the latest later on in the forecast. the latest later on in the programme. thanks. also coming up, prince charles celebrates his 70th birthday today. he'll have tea with fellow 70—year—olds and dinner with the queen. hello, everyone.

this is afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. theresa may is meeting her cabinet as she tries to secure support for her draft brexit agreement with the eu. in the commons earlier this afternoon, she told mps that it would deliver on the outcome of the 2016 referendum to leave the eu and that the government would not hold another referendum. senior conservative mps across the party have called on ministers to reject the deal, saying it would leave britain locked in the last few minutes ministers have been arriving for those crucial talks. the meeting is expected to last up to three hours. penny more thanit last up to three hours. penny more than it is one of the first to arrive in the in the commons, the prime minister told the commons that the meeting would deliver on the 2016 referendum and the government would not call another referendum. some mps called on britain to reject the deal saying it would leave britain locked into the eu's rules while the democratic unionist party one that could lead to the break—up

of the uk. jeremy corbyn has called ita of the uk. jeremy corbyn has called it a half baked failure. the actual document has not been released but we can look at the main points believed to be in it although they are not yet confirmed. the plan involves keeping the uk as a whole aligned with the eu customs union for a limited time. this would avoid a hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland, which has been one of the most contentious issues in the negotiations and is known as the ‘backstop‘ plan. but it's believed that northern ireland would remain in a deeper relationship with the eu and abide by some additional rules and regulations. under the plan, an independent committee of uk, eu and external members would be set up to review ending this arrangement, this backstop, but the uk would have no unilateral right to leave it. 0ur political correspondent ben wright has this report on the day so far. early morning and number ten made a final push to convince the cabinet sceptics. the international

development secretary penny mordaunt was stony faced and tight—lipped when she left after meeting with the prime minister. 0ther cabinet brexit ears we re prime minister. 0ther cabinet brexit ears were noncommittal as well including the brexit secretary himself. no deal still better than a bad deal? the former tory leader iain duncan smith slept in as well, a leader of the tory brexit years in parliament furious about the proposed agreement. if it means being potentially locked in a customs union forever and can only leave with the approval of the eu, thatis leave with the approval of the eu, that is unacceptable. but there was a warning to brexit ears from anotherformer tory a warning to brexit ears from another former tory leader. what you have to worry about here is that if you don't take this opportunity to leave the eu, to get brexit over the line, you might never leave at all. downing street said it is this agreement are nothing but supporters of another referendum said parliament should throw it out. we

are going to be paying this huge sum of money for no guaranteed trading relationship in return. that to my mind doesn't make any sense at all. the last two night years the prime minister rudd told us no deal is better than a bad deal and now she's saying we have to accept a bad deal and said of no deal and that is a false choice. the biggest roadblock has been the question of the irish border. a customs arrangements with the eu has been proposed which is meant to ensure. but northern ireland could be much closer to eu regulations and the party propping up regulations and the party propping up the conservatives in the house of commons is concerned. rules about the production of goods, agriculture, etc, would be determined in brussels with any see from the uk northern ireland. in the commons labour's leaders said the d raft commons labour's leaders said the draft agreement was a failure. even conservative mps say the prime minister is offering a choice

between the worst of all worlds and a catastrophic series of consequences. when will the prime minister recognise that neither of these options is acceptable? we will not rerun the referendum. we will not rerun the referendum. we will not renege on the decision of the british people. we believe the customs union and the common fisheries policy and common agricultural policy and we will take back control our money, laws and borders. we will deliver brexit and the united kingdom is leaving the european union on 29th of march, 2019. but the prime minister's task of getting a brexit deal through parliament will be tough ask this question from one of all mps proved. you are not delivering the brexit people voted for. and today you will lose the support of many conservative mps and millions of voters across the country. cabinet

agreement later today would be a big boost for the prime minister but her tory critics are circling and parliament could yet people are planned. —— torpedo her plan. let's cross to downing street and speak to ben brown. this place has seen many days of drama but very few like this. this is the most important cabinet meeting of theresa may premiership and one of the most important of recent political times. the premise that variety are back from the commons a few minutes before 2pm ready for the cabinet meeting, ready for questions in the house, and she was looking confident, not to say that she is confident but there's cabinet would go her way. there have been rumblings from brexit ears on the backbenches and there has been speculation that some of cabinets

might be unhappy with the draft eu withdrawal agreement. people talking particularly about andrea leadsom, esther mcvey and penny mordaunt as being people who could possibly be so being people who could possibly be so perturbed by what they have seen and read that they might resign either during the cabinet meeting or shortly afterwards. some commentators speculate that to be honest theresa may good live with one 01’ honest theresa may good live with one or two resignations but if it we re one or two resignations but if it were people higher up the food chain within the cabinet, for example dominic raab are somebody like the home secretary foreign secretary, if they were to resign that could be very difficult or dangerous body prime minister. but on the whole downing street seem confident they can get political approval for this d raft can get political approval for this draft divorce agreement. the meeting is under way and we have seen pretty

much all of the ministers going in through the door of number ten and the last half hour or so. most of them pretty tight—lipped and not many give away anything. penny mordaunt didn't look terribly happy. looked rather, not too delighted with life as she walked in the door, but others were smiling, very hard to read too much into expressions of ministers as they go into a meeting like that. but it is going to be crucial and it should all be over by about 5pm so three hours of the estimate for how long it will take and that the end of that we will now whether the prime minister has ove 1120 m e whether the prime minister has overcome the latest obstacle in trying to get a brexit deal for britain. many would say the bigger obstacle lies ahead, not today but in getting this through parliament. we know today that the numbers are not looking particularly good for him at the moment. in terms of

getting a vote to endorse this brexit deal. the dup would oppose it, maybe 4050: tory backbenchers on the brexiteers said, and then remain as likejoe the brexiteers said, and then remain as like joe johnson as the brexiteers said, and then remain as likejoejohnson as well. so it is looking tough but this is stage one in her battle to get political endorsement this afternoon here that this cabinet meeting. ben brown, looking delighted with life unlike. we would be back later on, thank you. let's get more now on the draft brexit agreement. i'm joined by chris morris from bbc reality check, who's here to explain a bit more about what is covered by the deal. so chris, we now have a draft agreement. tell us what's in it? a lot of it we know because it has been around for a long time. a lot of it we know because it has been around for a long timem a lot of it we know because it has been around for a long time. it is the key new bets we are waiting for. the divorce bill, the financial settle m e nt the divorce bill, the financial

settlement that the uk is going to pay the eu on departure over a number of years. £39 billion. that is language of its citizens‘ rights, for uk citizens elsewhere in the eu and for eu citizens in the uk. what have rights going to be? a of them are still really unhappy about what is on offer. and there is going to be quite a lot of language about the legal status of the relationship with the eu after brexit. there will bea21 with the eu after brexit. there will be a 21 month transition period during which all the rules the same. then there are things like the importance of additional subjects, the future status of gibraltar and military bases on cyprus. anything involving borders with the rest of the european union. and then of course the one thing which we now has taken up and off a lot of time in the last few months than the last few days and weeks, the irish border, and how are we going to have border, and how are we going to have border with a guarantee of no hard boredom and in the future. and the

backstop? that is allegedly the solution. if no long—term option appears then options will be considered. 0ne appears then options will be considered. one will be to extend the transition, to get time to get that long—term arrangement in place. the other will be to bring in this backstop which we now know will include a uk wide temporary customs union. within that, northern ireland will have a deeper relationship with the eu involving being much more closely aligned to the rules of the single market. one of the key things, a review mechanism of the way that the uk connects at the backstop in that temporary customs union. what exactly is the language they are going to say. at one stage they are going to say. at one stage they wanted the right to withdraw unilaterally. that will not be in it. the future relationship with the eu, how would that be formed? the withdrawal arrangement doesn‘t address that at all other than in

small ways around ireland. alongside that there will be published a very short, literally 56 pages, outlined political declaration. the key thing is that will be non—binding, not pa rt is that will be non—binding, not part of a legal treaty, but it will start to set out the terms of reference, in particularfor what the long—term economic relationship might look like in the future. how close will be be to the customs union and the long—term, how close to the single market? will also be language in that short political declaration about the future security relationship, future relationship on foreign policy. and a lot of those areas, a lot of progress has been made behind the scenes but that will have to be set out. the key thing about all the long—term future relationship issues is they can‘t be formally negotiated until after we have left. the negotiations only effectively began after march 29, so anyone thinking get to march 29 week and talk about something else, it is going to be

going on for years to come. 500 pages we know about but it will be all the annexes and attendances, they will be crucial? it is, and thatis they will be crucial? it is, and that is where you need the technical bureaucrats and lawyers, and it is not just lawyers in bureaucrats and lawyers, and it is notjust lawyers in london who will be sharpening pencils, and other capitals across europe they want to look at all those last—minute compromises. what is the exact language being used? is there anything in the language surrounding the idea of a temporary uk wide customs union that gives competitive advantage over us? in the capital people will be going through it line by line. you and i have sat in studios for months and today we are in the fresh air! and we nearly have something to talk about. thank you very much. the question of how to avoid a customs border for northern ireland has dominated the negotiations with brussels. 0ur ireland correspondent, emma vardy, has been gauging reaction. the road to brexit has again and again led us back to the question of the irish border.

today is the day we may finally get to see what the government believes is the final destination. from gb, we import a lot of stuff. we import all of our malt, which is one of our main ingredients. we import a lot of our hops. when the uk leaves the eu, it may result in the need for new checks on some goods coming from britain into northern ireland. that has been the subject of intense political argument. at this company in east belfast, they‘re waiting to see how the politics may affect their pints. it would definitely slow things down. it would be more paperwork. the paperwork already is a bit cumbersome. it probably would become more expensive. the main thing is we just don‘t know so it is hard to prepare when you don‘t know what is going to happen. at northern ireland‘s larne harbour, every day trucks and trade arrive over the irish sea from britain. if goods are destined to travel on into ireland,

at the moment there is no need for checks because northern ireland and the irish republic are both part of the same eu rules. once the uk leaves, that will change. both the uk and the eu have committed to avoiding the need for checks at the irish border itself. brussels has always insisted that until an overarching agreement between the uk and eu can guarantee no hard border, the uk must abide by a backstop. this would keep the whole of the uk aligned by eu rules, but it is believed the backstop also includes measures which would result in the need for new checks on some goods coming from britain into northern ireland. this, the democratic unionist party says, would undermine the integrity of the uk by creating a border down the irish sea. businesses in northern ireland dealing with food or livestock could be particularly affected. like dan carlin, who supplies the hotel industry. everybody is guessing, i suppose.

all supposition at the minute, no one really knows what this is going to bring. but, as i say, there is enough red tape and enough hassle on small businesses nowadays without this and ijust hope it goes smoothly and, at the end of it, it would be great if it was "as you were" but i‘m scared about some of the extra costs that are going to come. the details that dan and thousands of other businesses have been waiting for are expected to be published later today. the brexit deal is packed up and ready for delivery. the question is whether parliament will send it back. with me now is the conservative mp peter bone and labour‘s anna mcmorrin. peter, if i may start with you, you asked a question in the house which basically said she has failed to deliver what people want? yes. the test she used to apply as we end the free movement, we won't pay billions

of pounds each and every year, we make our own laws and our own countryjudged by make our own laws and our own country judged by o'brien judges. clearly from what we are hearing from the leagues, she has failed on those tests and is not delivering brexit. do you trust the cabinet and there are now to respect what you say and to have at it of the supplement? they will have discussion but the majority of the cabinet are remain as so they will undoubtedly support the prime minister. but given what the prime minister. but given what the prime minister is going to say, this deal is the only deal in town, and the alternative is no deal, what would you go for? she has always said no deal is better than a bad deal. she is presenting a bad deal so the logic is we should have no deal, which isn't no deal, it is coming out of wto rules. and that is what the act of parliament says, if there is no agreement we come out on 29th of march with eight wto agreement.

looking at parliamentary arithmetic thatis looking at parliamentary arithmetic that is what is going to happen. lots of questions about labours policy on all of this. you want eight people‘s vote. policy on all of this. you want eight people's vote. do you think what we have seen today makes that more 01’ what we have seen today makes that more or less likely? that is quite clearly not a majority in parliament for whatever this fudge every situation to the semi is going to present. it certainly wasn‘t and isn‘t what people voted for two yea rs isn‘t what people voted for two years ago. it is certainly going to make my constituents and businesses up make my constituents and businesses up and down wales the whole —— and people the uk poorer. the prime minister made it clear, this is what they voted for because we‘re leaving they voted for because we‘re leaving the eu? it is not what they voted for. this will lead us not into a clear—cut brexit is done by 29th of march, it leads us into future discussions and negotiations for

months and perhaps years to come with nothing decided and simply a fudge. but isn't that better than crashing out? this is not a vinery choice between a bad deal and no deal. but that could easily be what happens. if the cabinet says yes it goes to parliament becomes a vinery choice. the choices to visit back to the people and for the people to see dart if she is still leading the tory party after the cabinet meeting she says that won‘t happen? she also said last year she will hold a general election and a few weeks later she died. what is the mechanism for the people‘s vote? later she died. what is the mechanism for the people's vote? the mechanism for the people's vote? the mechanism would be that it is voted on in parliament and the government will come forward with an axe to be voted on in parliament and we need an extension then of article 50 just buy a month or two. peter, your constituents and i am sure you have

heard it said may well have the feeling of let‘s just get this done? yes. and isn't that what the prime minister is saying as well? they certainly want it done but it is not delivering the brexit they voted for. about 63% of my constituents voted to leave on a proper brexit. we both agree what is being proposed is not what people voted for. your idea of a proper brexit is very different from other peoples idea of a proper brexit. you are a remainer and that is a fair point. but my view is close to what many voters we re run view is close to what many voters were run by campaign to wood campaigned up and down the country. those are the key principles and they were the prime minister's principles until checkers. if she was facing the two of you know she

would say clear labour have to have a compromise and that is what she is 110w a compromise and that is what she is now offering? she could have had a comprehensive free trade agreement, like the eu has done with canada, and she had before checkers, but checkers changed at all, and they don't understand that the session then she lost perhaps 100 tory mps. and this customs union will be central to this end of the words customs union appeal in this agreement, what will your reaction be? in the manifesto, every conservative mp stood on in 2017, says he will come out of the customs union. i very much doubt of the words customs union will appear but i think it will be end. this is clearly not a compromise agreement. it was not what people agreed two yea rs it was not what people agreed two years ago and voted for. businesses are telling me all the time, public services will be poorer and struggle and people up and down the country

will struggle, that is not what we want. we need to be responsible and unite the country, not divide it, which is what she‘s doing. unite the country, not divide it, which is what she's doing. the country has never been more divided thanit country has never been more divided than it is now. absolutely. your constituents may well be saying, let‘s just get through this horrible and once we have brexit which was voted for a then we can keep negotiating, what is wrong with that? that is the very problem. this is not what people voted for and it will not be getting it out of the way on 29th of march. it willjust be prolonging the discussions and debates but also divisions up and then this country. that is not what we wa nt then this country. that is not what we want at all. we need to bring the country together and make sure that we provide future, and look at that future relationship, with the eu and partners and closest neighbours and allies and that needs to be within the eu. within the eu? that is the point. we had a referendum for this

divided country and we decided to leave. you can't be half pregnant, you are either pregnant or not, and we have to come out. your side lost and you want another go at it. we have to come out. your side lost and you want another go at itm we have to come out. your side lost and you want another go at it. it is not about rerunning the last time. we have run out of time. so how‘s the agreement going down in the rest of the eu? let‘s speak to our brussels reporter adam fleming. you can hear the atmosphere here is pretty feverish and that is the sense that this is a momentous moment we are approaching. as at the same feeling their? this is the atmosphere in this building work eu ambassadors are meeting now. pretty quiet! this is the building were normally eu summits held but today isa normally eu summits held but today is a meeting of the ambassadors and the 27 other member states. they are having a discussion about brexit preparedness and they will also be briefed by the task force from the

european commission, michel barnier, although when that is going to happen! although when that is going to happen i am not sure. the meeting started about 25 minutes ago and about 15 months ago we saw michel barnier's deputy leaving the building. we chased her down the street and all she would say is it's a beautiful day. iasked if street and all she would say is it's a beautiful day. i asked if it would bea a beautiful day. i asked if it would be a beautiful deal as well and she said, no comment, so we're still waiting to find out what they are discussing. 0ne ambassador said it could last for three hours sojust as long as we are being told the uk cabinet meeting could last. let's deal with hypotheticals because frankly that is all we can do at the moment because neither you nor i have seen this document, but if the cabinet year approves it, and theresa may emerges relatively unscathed and ready to go to parliament, talk us through the timetable in terms of what happens with the eu. there is some thought in the area about how the

choreography will look this. not confirmed by either side so it is just speculation that the idea is that dominic raab would come to brussels, appeared at the podium with michel barnier. michel barnier would the clear that decisive progress had been made in the with all agreement which is the signal he would get the donald tusk, the president of the redeemed council, who then fire the starting gun in a series of discussions. then there is a series of meetings that he would have in the lead up to any normal eu summit. prime ministers and european affairs ministers meeting, all laying the groundwork, and a date scheduled for a special brexit summit on 25th november. that is still a date being speculated about, but that was given rocket boosters by leo varadkar speaking to his parliament a short while ago saying that was the date it had been pencilled in, for a potential brexit

summit. it is worth remembering that is why that is so much drama now because the uk's preferred timetable as you get the whole package and withdrawal agreement and speculation about the future relationship signed off by all leaders including theresa may by the end of november saw you can have a vote in parliament in early december. that is why this seems like such a dramatic period, to hit that target. thank you. talk to hit that target. thank you. talk to you later on. joining me now is stephen kelly, chief executive of manufacturing northern ireland. just give me a sense of what you wa nt to just give me a sense of what you want to hear them the next hours next of days. do you want the detail of what the prime minister has getting backing to or is it you just wa nt to getting backing to or is it you just want to get across that finishing line and then get on with things? the reality of business is we are all individually interested in the politics of this. exactly the practicalities that really matter to manufacturing firms in northern ireland. so we have commitments from

the prime minister and the eu itself, back in december and repeated again earlier this year in march. those commitments were that there wouldn‘t be a border in ireland, those commitments were that firms, manufacturing firms, would have unfettered access to the uk market and an offer from the eu have unfettered access to the uk market and an offerfrom the eu in terms of providing free access, so we would be very keen to find out practically how that will play out. the reality is that one in four families here in northern ireland depend on this, and they are all waiting to find out that whatever deal emerges tonight and from cabinet that it is good for them, for employment and their families. the issue of a customs union. the words customs and union may not appear, but given that whatever is agreed for the uk will mean much more in northern ireland and there may be a special case, a stronger

customs union, does that help from where you‘re sitting? customs union, does that help from where you're sitting? it absolutely does. the reality here is that your colleaguejohn does. the reality here is that your colleague john campbell on bbc northern ireland has been reviewing some analysis of what the backstop would mean for business as opposed to what no deal would mean. by a factor of 10—1 in the backstop is much preferable, much more economically sustainable. so that means ourfirms economically sustainable. so that means our firms are able to enjoy u nfettered means our firms are able to enjoy unfettered access to the uk market, enjoy unfettered access to the eu market, and snowboarder, then that isa market, and snowboarder, then that is a very positive outcome, that our firms are poised to capitalise on, and actually create more employment. are you frustrated with the politics of all this? we are, the reality is that people are talking about this pa rt that people are talking about this part of the world as if they know

what they are talking about. we have people conflating issues thatjust are relevant to each other. we have people talking about the potential for hard borders either in the irish sea across the island of ireland and people want to get on with selling stuff to markets abroad. they want to employ people and make sure wages are paid on friday and families have are paid on friday and families have a good future ahead of them. the politics is definitely getting in the way of this and that it was a business negotiation with the bean concluded before now. thank you. let‘s talk to emma jones. she also co—chairs the business council advising downing street on small and medium enterprises. that is an atmosphere today that something is happening. are you excited? we are. i hope i speak on behalf of all of britain‘s five and a million firms.

5.5 million small firms, they are potentially excited what might come out of today. they have been waiting. what smart businesses wa nted waiting. what smart businesses wanted is clarity over trading conditions, if we can get that today, that would be a great deal for small business. you have the sense, none of us have seen the document but do you have the sense that theresa may has listened to business? she is doing a very good job of listening to business. there has been a strong business engagement approach from number ten. the councils were formed last week, one is fully focused on small business. a big part of the remit of the council will be to look at how to be help small businesses get through brexit, make sure they are trading ready but also how to be make the most of the opportunities. i know today is focused on brexit. 0ne i know today is focused on brexit. one of the first trade trips post deal will be to asia. small businesses want to lift their heads

and say, let‘s get the job done, let‘s get back to business and look at horizons. there was a time when businesses wanted to stay in the custom market and the union, there isa custom market and the union, there is a feeling we have moved on beyond that. is the decision now a deal or no deal and business does not want in ordeal at any price? business wa nts to in ordeal at any price? business wants to get back to business. i was ata wants to get back to business. i was at a session this morning that was saying confidence levels are on the wane. it is because they have had this period of waiting. what they wa nted this period of waiting. what they wanted is back to the certainty that we can invest, look at trading with the eurozone and beyond. what they want, the backdrop of this political arena, ideally we do want politicians to put politics aside, to consider what is best for the economy and what we think is best for the economy is certainty around single market, customs, tariffs and how can we make it as friction free

as possible for small businesses to keep their products moving. as possible for small businesses to keep their products movingm as possible for small businesses to keep their products moving. it is an historic movement but there is politics in the way. -- historic moment. there are 5.5 small firms that are operating every day. it is often said in that house they form the backbone of the economy. we cannot afford to ignore the interest. what they are looking for is some certainty. 0nce interest. what they are looking for is some certainty. once we know the conditions of the deal, we can then start to give practical advice to small businesses to say here is how you keep your business moving and with a growing. we are talking about the withdrawal deal, not our future trading relationship with europe. that is to come. it is. we have called on the government to launch a brexit advice service. 0ne called on the government to launch a brexit advice service. one of the things the government has said, how can we give advice when we do not know the times of the deal? we can get certainty on the terms, that

kind of advice can move. businesses wa nt to kind of advice can move. businesses want to know what is my intellectual property looking like? can i miss my services across borders? should i look at moving my production back into the uk? until we know the detail, they cannot get into that planning. bigger businesses have been able to do this, they have been doing planning for months. small businesses have not had the time, budget or capacity. if we get certainty today, small as can save we can get on with the planning. that might be the train... even seen the light would be great. six months from now until march, give us that preparation time. small businesses who are very busy doing what they do attended to, the day before gdp are, put up their heads and said, what do we do? we do not want brexit to be the same. we want small businesses

to be brexit ready. look into bigger markets. i was at an event yesterday with facebook. 0n markets. i was at an event yesterday with facebook. on facebook, there are 375 million people from outside the uk connected to a british business on facebook. that is astounding. these technology platforms are there to help us, give us platforms are there to help us, give us those conditions and give us that deal and we will get on with us to market. thank you forjoining us. thank you, simon. more to come from this afternoon. let‘s get a weather update. hello. autumn is continuing to show us its mild side. in the short—term we are under the influence of mild air, working its way up from the south west. rain and winds for western fringes of scotland. it will fizzle out as the day goes on. north eastern parts of scotla nd day goes on. north eastern parts of scotland seeing the best of temperatures. 17 celsius. this

evening, dry for a time. we drag in low cloud, mist and fog for the southern part of the uk. more rain for northern ireland and west of scotland. temperatures will not far tv—mac fall away. cloud may be an issue tomorrow morning. it may linger and the rain may become persistent. it will still be mild. temperatures tomorrow, the highest in the south—east of the country. we are looking at highs here of 16 or 17 celsius. this is bbc news — our latest headlines: the prime minister is holding an emergency meeting of her cabinet at downing street as she seeks their backing for the draft agreement which she says will deliver on brexit. we will take back control of our money, laws and borders. we will deliver brexit and the united

kingdom is leaving the european union on the 29th of march 2019. does the prime minister still intend to put a false choice to parliament between her botched deal or no deal? as the cabinet meeting gets underway over the draft agreement — it‘s believed it could last up to three hours. dozens of people are still unaccounted after california‘s worst wildfires in history, as the death toll rises to 50. prince charles is celebrating his 70th birthday today. theresa may led tributes to the prince of wales praising his total commitment to public service. sport now on afternoon live. good afternoon. good afternoon to you. we‘ve had the first sacking of the premier league season and

it‘s fulham who‘ve removed slavisa jokanovic, with the club bottom of the table. 0ur football reporter is simon stone, he says it was only a matter of time before fulham‘s owner took action. they spent £100 million. it was a record for a newly promoted team in the summer. nine games without a win in the premier league. they have lost their last six. they are at the bottom of the table. they have a game after southampton, who are only three points better off than them. the owner thaw he had to do something. yes, it is an air of inevitability about this one. surprise to who they have brought in. i think they are patting themselves on the back about the speed and the fact it was not leaked. yes, she is the man who will forever be known that the man who delivered that premier league title to leicester. that amazing title. within nine months of that, he had

been sacked. he had a less than impressive time in france. he has got to hit the ground running and deliver for them to safety. in cricket... england posted a decent score on the first day of the second test against sri lanka. they were in a bit of trouble earlier this morning, giving away some easy wickets. but a half—century from sam curran gave them a boost. england all out for 285, sri lanka 26 for! in reply — jack leach with the wicket. and former england bowler ryan sidebottom says the visitors are on top. i think they will be really pleased with the score. it is a serious score on that wicket. these then bowled one of the last eight overs. it was spilling profoundly. it turned and bounds. some serious spin. that delivery is a serious delivery. england‘s jadon sancho says more young players should follow his lead and play football abroad. he‘s at borussia dortmund in germany‘s bundesliga — the team he left manchester city for last year. the 18—year—old‘s done so well there that he‘s expected

to make his first start for england at wembley tomorrow, and says that moving away from the premier league has given him new opportunities. personally, if you feel you are ready, then i think you should take a shot at it. try something different. if something comes along and gives you a chance, if they are open to see your ability, if you‘re good enough, they will give you a chance. that is how i felt. roger federer won his second match at the atp finals last night — beating dominic thiem to keep his semi final chances alive. right now world number one novak djokovic is hoping to make it through — he‘s up against german alexander zverev. permutations are complicated — but a win for either would see them through, as long as other results go their way. it‘s all to do with the total number of sets won. currently live for you on bbc two and the bbc sport website. in rugby

union... scotland have made six changes for their test against south africa at murrayfield this weekend. head coach gregor townsend has brought hquones back into the side at centre — even though his performance was criticised after the loss to wales earlier this month. prop gordon reid and lock jonny gray will also start. one other line of rugby news for you — new zeland will host the women‘s rugby world cup in 2021. they beat competition from australia and will be the first southern hemisphere country to stage the women‘s tournament. we‘ve got some pretty epic snowboarding for you now — it‘s the most watched video on the bbc sport webiste this morning. this is austrian anna gasser landing what‘s known as a cab triple 12—60 — which is three and a half full rotations. she‘s the first women to ever land the trick. pushing the boundaries of snowboarding for women. pushing the boundaries of snowboarding for women. catherine, many thanks. the prime minister has hinted

that there could be a government u—turn over the issue of fixed—odds betting terminals, following a revolt that saw a minister quit. sports minister tracey crouch resigned after the chancellor confirmed that plans to cut the maximum stake that can be placed on the terminals, from £100 to £2, had been pushed back by six months, following discussions with the betting industry. following pressure from mps, theresa may today said it will take place in april as planned. joining me now is tracey crouch, the minister who resigned. tell me about your reaction. 0bviously, tell me about your reaction. obviously, i am delighted that common sense has prevailed. these machines, as many of your viewers know, cause a huge amount of harm to people who play them. they are addictive on purpose. they have caused harm on many high street up and down the country. i am pleased

we are back to the original timetable of april 2019. do you think it is your resignation, along with the pressure from other conservative mps, a rebellion on the finance bill over this, which has forced the government‘s hand? finance bill over this, which has forced the government's hand? there has been a collective voice of dismay at the decision to delay the implementation. what the government has realised is that our many parliamentarians, faith leaders, charities, victims of gambling addiction, and other people who thought it was wrong to delay the implementation of the stick reduction. i am implementation of the stick reduction. iam pleased implementation of the stick reduction. i am pleased they have listened to that collective voice andi listened to that collective voice and i am delighted the reduction will be implemented in april. do you think it did take your resignation, though, to bring home to the prime minister has serious an issue this is? is certainly prompted more support in parliament for the issue. i think people have been talking about this issue for some

significant time. it featured prominently in the gambling review that i published as minister back in may. we had made the decision to reduce it to £2. people did not understand, myself included, why it should be delayed. anything collectively people have made their views known and the prime minister, the chancellor, has made the decision to change the implementation date back to what was originally expected, nine to 12 months from the gambling review published in may. the prime minister is under a battle to get support for her brexit plan. do you think the way this has come out, in the midst of that, it is not going to be the headline news that it might have been, do you think the prime minister thinks this will buy her goodwill on the backbenches? this is an important piece of domestic social policy. i think it is important the government as a whole

recognise that while we are dealing with brexit, brexit is the biggest challenge of our time, there is dealt a number of issues we have to remain focused on. i think this is an important issue to many people. people have seen lives devastated because of gambling. i am pleased the government have seen sense and they will deliver the limitation in april. just briefly, are you going to support the prime minister when it comes to the vote in parliament on her brexit plan? i have not had the opportunity to read the 500 pages yet. i do not know what we are voting on yet. i will pay close attention to and make sure we are delivering a brexit my constituents think we should. tracy crouch, thank you very much forjoining us from westminster. let‘s return to westminster and simon mccoy can bring us up to date with what‘s happening on this crucial day in the brexit process. simon. let‘s take you through what we believe the main points of the

agreement are. although they have not been confirmed. the plan involves keeping the uk as a whole aligned with the eu customs union for a limited time. this would avoid a hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland, which has been one of the most contentious issues in the negotiations and is known as the ‘backstop‘ plan. but it‘s believed that northern ireland would remain in a deeper relationship with the eu and abide by some additional rules and regulations. under the plan, an independent committee of uk, eu and external members would be set up to review ending this arrangement, this backstop, but the uk would have no unilateral right to leave it. that‘s what we think we know so far. with me now is the liberal democrat mp christine jardine. nice to see you. this is a moment of history. we have a cabinet meeting at the moment, it may not go the prime minister‘s way. if she does, she comes to this place. what should happen they are? we should vote to

put the deal to the british people. two and half years ago they voted in principle narrowly to leave the european union. a lot has changed since then. what we are getting now ido since then. what we are getting now i do not think anyone who voted leave envisaged. i think a lot of people think, as we have done from day one, there is not as good a deal possible as the one we have with the european union at the moment. what should be decided in the is to take it to the people and give the people the final say. what is the mechanism for that? what they have to do is agree it will happen and then vote for a referendum and make sure it happens before the 29th of march next year. if that is the political will to do it, we can do it. we have to recognise the whole process has been mismanaged from the conservatives from day one. we are now at a point that this is the point where the decision has to be made. this is the point where the

people have the right to say, it is what we wanted or not. what do you say to those people who said, we voted and we wanted the politicians to give us brexit. this is the brexit that has been negotiated, let‘s get on with it. brexit that has been negotiated, let's get on with it. if you buy a house and it is surveyed and you realise there are major flaws, do you buy it or do you reconsider? that is where we are now. we are we are is not where a lot of people thought we would be. if we have got a deal that does not appeal to me or i think to the majority of people in this country, we are already seeing a shift in the opinion polls. i get e—mails everyday is saying we want the final say. the people have a right to say whether or not this is what they wanted. taking the house analogy, i have not got the house or i still want that house, there are problems with it but we can‘t negotiate a way through that. that seems to be where theresa may is ticking us, isn‘t it?

seems to be where theresa may is ticking us, isn't it? she has had two and have years to negotiate and has not done a particularly good job. we have to decide... would you wa nt job. we have to decide... would you want thejob job. we have to decide... would you want the job that theresa may has had? there was always going to have to be... had? there was always going to have tobe...| had? there was always going to have to be... iwould had? there was always going to have to be... i would never, ever have attempted to negotiate a way out of the european union because that is where our future lies, our children‘s future lies. where our future lies, our children's future lies.|j where our future lies, our children's future lies. i would never have been in that position. the vote to years ago was taken and the public make the decision. there isa the public make the decision. there is a feeling out there of let‘s get on with it, isn‘t there? is a feeling out there of let‘s get on with it, isn't there? less than that was. if you look at the opinion polls, it is moving to, this is not working. that was true yesterday but may not be true today. the cabinet has a deal to look at. the country is not run on opinion polls and the reason is to give the people the final say. it is your future, reason is to give the people the final say. it is yourfuture, my

future, our grandchildren. iwas final say. it is yourfuture, my future, our grandchildren. i was at the edinboro university graduation and the person who created the rasmus programme was talking about the opportunity he suddenly created it. for 40 years, the opportunity he suddenly created it. for40 years, people the opportunity he suddenly created it. for 40 years, people have had those opportunities and the wider horizon of europe, our businesses have had traded under conditions. they are going to lose that, they deserve the right tomorrow and between tomorrow and the 29th of march to say, i do not want to give it upfor march to say, i do not want to give it up for this watched deal that the conservatives have taken two and a half years to come up with. conservatives have taken two and a half years to come up withm conservatives have taken two and a half years to come up with. if it was a botched deal or a deal what would be the best to go for? neither. thank you very much for joining us. so the prime minister is preparing to hold an emergency meeting of her whole cabinet at downing street this afternoon and as it stands we have more questions than answers over the 500 page plan she‘s putting to them. we want to attempt to answer any questions you might have at 3.30 this afternoon.

we have no idea what is in the document either. so send us your brexit questions... susannah is there. the prime minister is holding an emergency meeting of her cabinet at downing street as she seeks their backing for the draft agreement which she says will deliver on brexit. as the cabinet meeting gets under way over the draft agreement — it‘s believed it could last up to three hours. dozens of people are still unaccounted after california‘s worst wildfires in history, as the death toll rises to 50 here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. uk inflation remained

unchanged at 2.4% last month with the cost of living increase held back by falls in the price of clothing. we‘ll have more on this injust a moment. the uk airline flybe has put itself up for sale just weeks after it issued a profit warning. it released its financial results earlier which show that pre—tax profits for the six months to september fell by 54% to £7.4m. house of fraser has accounced it is closing four more stores, all based in major shopping centres. the department store chain, bought out of administration in august by mike ashley‘s sports direct, will shut its lakeside, metrocentre, norwich and nottingham outlets in the new year. mr ashley said the landlord, intu properties, had been unwilling to reduce rents for the ailing shops. intu confirmed it had been unable to reach an agreement with mr ashley. what impact all this uncertainty

surrounding the withdrawal bill. that roller—coaster ride for sterling is continuing today. on monday we had the pound falling back because of concerns that any deal would not be reached. yesterday, it lifted to a multi—mode highs following this breakthrough. now the pound has dipped back again during the past hour. all of this uncertainty is continuing. we have also had more indicators for the uk inflation, price rises are holding steady at 2.4%. falls in food and clothing have been offset by rising fuel costs. interestingly, crude oil is volatile as well. all of it as having an impact. i want to bring in michelle our business correspondent. hello, michelle. let‘s talk about the price of oil. it has a bearing

on brexit or brexit has a bearing on the price of oil. we had a forecast saying that it is expected demand should fall next year and sites brexit is one of the issues that it is taking into consideration. it shows that what happened at downing street will have repercussions around the world, doesn‘t it? street will have repercussions around the world, doesn't it7m street will have repercussions around the world, doesn't it? if you look at what has been happening in oil, a huge talking point at the new york stock exchange. 0il falling for the last 12 sessions. that is unprecedented. not something you often see and as a result of that, people are wondering what is going on. how much of this is a global demand story in which, as you say, brexit plays a part in that. the other thing if you want to see how brexit is impacting the market, look at the dollar. that, i think is where you will see investors

concerns reflected. how they are feeling about the risk of a disorderly or orderly brexit process , disorderly or orderly brexit process, that is something people are watching keenly. it is interesting as well when you talk about sterling versus the dollar. it is the strong dollar, notjust weak sterling, which is the story and what is going to happen with the us federal reserve. yes, you are right. this has a knock—on effect. people are talking about where can we go for safe haven? investors look for a safe place to put their money. at the moment, part of that is heading towards the united states. that is why you see a strong dollar. that has a knock on effect on you as companies that do business outside borders. costs go up and it can be tricky if they are exporting abroad. it has a knock on effect on the us economy. that is something to keep an eye on. the other thing is going

back to this thing of growth. we have seen as a period of growth here in the us, how long can i continue? how does the fed in america respond if there is a pull—back? we have seen subdued inflation data, maybe the fed will not raise rates in december, and we are seeing a boost to the market. everything is interconnected in one way or another. absolutely. many thanks, michelle. that round up all of the business news for now. we are keeping an eye on what is happening with sterling, simon. it is pretty much weight and see. volatility as eve ryo ne much weight and see. volatility as everyone expects a decision to come through. you are waiting. when there was talk that something was happening, the markers responded fast and the pound picked up quickly. what can we expect? what can we expect? it depends on what

the outcome is. if there is no agreement and we see that cabinet is in disarray, expect the pound to fall. the financial markets do not wa nt to fall. the financial markets do not want to see a note deal scenario because we do not know what that will mean. we have said that so many times, haven‘t we, on this programme about how financial markets do not like uncertainty and that is what a note deal will present. thank you very much susannah. let‘s catch up with the weather. there is uncertainty there. temperatures are refusing to follow suit as we head towards the end of autumn. beautiful spells of sunshine and it is mild, too. there is normally an exception too. there is normally an exception to the grill. that is the case through northern ireland and western parts of western scotland. heavy rain and wind, too. the winds are coming from a cell westerly direction. —— south—westerly. it is

helping to boost temperatures in scotland. that rain will ease as we go through the rest of the day. blustery winds. as we head over night, dry initially with clear spells. mist and low cloud will urge them. more rain for northern ireland and western fringes of scotland. temperatures will not fall away too far. another mild night. through the day on thursday, rain for northern ireland and western fringes of scotla nd ireland and western fringes of scotland once again. quite persistent for some areas through the day. elsewhere, a murky start. under that low cloud, it will take a while to lift. the best of the brea ks while to lift. the best of the breaks through thursday. the highest temperatures in the south—east. eyes of 17 celsius tomorrow. many places will remain dry. even under the

rain, temperatures will still be in the low teens. not too badly at all. friday, high—pressure stats to build. that will act as a barrier to this pressure system. it tries to move in but will not make inroads. friday a dry day across the board. more cloud around through friday. some places, particularly north eastern parts of scotland, spells of sunshine once again. it will still feel mild. not quite as warm as thursday but temperatures in the mid—teens for most places. they change as we head towards the weekend. it will turn cooler but brighterfor all of us. hello, you‘re watching afternoon live — i‘m simon mccoy.

today at 3. the prime minister is holding an emergency meeting of her cabinet at downing street as she seeks their backing for the draft agreement which she says will deliver on brexit. we will take back control of our money, laws and borders. we will deliver brexit and the united kingdom is leaving the european union on 29th march 2019. does the prime minister still intends to put a false choice to parliament between her botched deal or no deal? as the cabinet meeting continues that is speculation some ministers could resign over the issue. i'll be reporting live from downing street where we are now one hour into what is the most important cabinet meeting of theresa may‘s premiership. dozens of people are still unaccounted after california‘s worst wildfires in history as the death toll rises to 50. the government is to cut the maximum

sta ke the government is to cut the maximum stake on fixed odds betting terminals from £100 to £2, changes coming into effect in april. coming up on afternoon live all the sport with katherine. the first premier league sacking of the season has taken place. claudio ranieri is taking over at fulham. thanks, and we‘ll bejoining you for a full update just after half past. also the weather. we are certainly seeing the milder side of automat the moment. much of the uk seeing blue sky today. some rain around, some quite heavy and you may be surprised to hear where the highest temperatures are expected this afternoon. also coming up. prince charles is celebrating his 70th birthday today. theresa may led tributes praising his total commitment to public service.

hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. theresa may is meeting her cabinet as she tries to secure support for her draft brexit agreement with the eu. ministers arrived at number 10 for the crucial talks earlier this afternoon. the meeting is expected to last until around 5 o‘clock. in the commons earlier this afternoon, she told mps that the agreement would deliver on the outcome of the 2016 referendum to leave the eu and that the government would not hold another referendum. some senior conservative mps from across the party have called on ministers to reject the deal, saying it would leave britain locked into the eu‘s rules, while the democratic unionists have warned it could lead to the break—up of the uk. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, says the draft agreement is a half—baked failure. the actual document has not yet been released —

but let‘s have a look at the main points we believe are in it —— although they have not been confirmed. the plan involves keeping the uk as a whole aligned with the eu customs union for a limited time. this would avoid a hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland, which has been one of the most contentious issues in the negotiations and is known as the ‘backstop‘ plan. but, it‘s believed that northern ireland would remain in a "deeper" relationship with the eu and abide by some additional rules and regulations. under the plan, an independent committee of uk, eu and external members would be set up to review ending this arrangement, this backstop, but the uk would have no unilateral right to leave it. 0ur political correspondent ben wright has this report on the day so far. early morning and number ten made a final push to convince the cabinet

sceptics. penny mordaunt was stony faced and tight—lipped as she left after talks with the prime minister. 0ther cabinet brexiteers for tight—lipped as well. the former tory leader iain duncan smith slept in as well, a leader of the brexiteers in parliament furious about the proposed agreement.“ brexiteers in parliament furious about the proposed agreement. if it means being potentially locked in a customs union forever and could only leave at the approval of the eu that is unacceptable. but there was a warning to brexiteers from another former tory leader. what you have to really worry about here is that if you don‘t take this opportunity to leave the eu, to get brexit over the line, you might never leave at all. downing street will say it is this agreement are nothing but supporters of another referendum said parliament should throw it out. we are going to be paying a huge sum of

money for no guaranteed trading relationship in a time. that to anybody and return to my mind doesn't make any sense at all. for the last two years the prem and as i had told us that no deal was better than a bad deal and now she is telling us we have to accept a bad deal instead of no deal, that is a false choice. the biggest roadblock has been the question of the irish border. number ten has proposed a temporary customs arrangement with the eu meant to ensure there is no ha rd the eu meant to ensure there is no hard border after brexit. northern ireland could be get much closer to eu regulations and the party propping up the conservatives is very concerned. rules about the production of goods and agriculture, etc, in northern ireland would be determined in brussels without any safe from the uk and northern ireland. the labour leader said the d raft ireland. the labour leader said the draft agreement was a failure. even conservative mps say the prime minister is offering a choice

between the worst of all worlds and the catastrophic series of consequences. when will the prime minister recognise that neither of these options is acceptable? we will not rerun the referendum. we will not rerun the referendum. we will not remain on the decision of the british people. we believe the customs union and the common fisheries policy and common agricultural policy and take back control of our money, laws and borders. we will deliver brexit and the united kingdom is leaving the european union on 29th march 2019. but the prime minister‘s task of getting a brexit deal through parliament will be tough as this question proved. you are not delivering the brexit people voted for and today you will lose the support of many conservative mps and millions of voters across the country. cabinet agreement later

today would be a big boost for the prime minister but tory critics are circling and parliament could yet people the plan. it is all happening at downing street at the moment. let‘s go over to ben brown. the cabinet meeting started an hour ago and we think will last for another two. have though it might arguably the most important in recent political history, certainly the most important entities and a‘s premiership. she came back from the commonsjust a premiership. she came back from the commons just a few minutes before 2pm to get the meeting under way and actually she had already been talking to individual cabinet ministers last night and this morning. they had been arriving, a steady stream of them for a one—to—one meetings with the prime minister, to discuss whether they

had any misgivings about the draft agreement, the draft eu withdrawal agreement, the draft eu withdrawal agreement, and also to study it as well, in a special room set aside because this is a document several hundred pages long. in particular, the cabinet wanted to study the proposal surrounding northern ireland, the irish border and backs proposals. we saw the cabinet ministers arriving in the minutes before two p:m., before it began. we saw the brexit secretary dominic raab and some of those who has been speculation about, whether they might resign, people like, the international development secretary. she looked grim faced. andrea leadsom was all smiles, esther mcvey as well, so some could resign, we will have to wait and see. it will lend about 5pm and that is when it will become clear that the cabinet has given political backing for this proposed deal to the prime minister.

let‘s speak to vicky young here with me now watching it all unfold. if there were to be resignations, with there were to be resignations, with the prime minister survive that? how difficult, how dangerous would resignations be? it depends on who it is that resigns, as anyone. if it isa it is that resigns, as anyone. if it is a very senior figure that will clearly be an issue but it is worth remembering, boris johnson and clearly be an issue but it is worth remembering, borisjohnson and david davis, who was leading brexit negotiations, both locked out of cabinet over this issue, and she has carried on. not to be rude about junior members of the cabinet but that it was one of them she can possibly get away with it. people like borisjohnson that encouraging those people sitting in now, eurosceptics, to walk away. he says that they are unhappy they have to make their stand now and we‘ll have to see that happens. just to underline the pressure from all sides, and extremely loyal cabinet member, david mundell. he along with the other scottish tory mps have

written to the prime minister concerned about fishing rights. so even the most loyal members of the cabinet, they want clarification. legal clarification about this mechanism of whether the uk can never get out what is supposed to be a temporary arrangement of being in a temporary arrangement of being in a customs union. they want to be assurances about fishing and access to uk waters. all sorts of different issues people want to know about but the government sends pretty confident that the cabinet will gather them their backing. this is a very important decision for some of those ministers who don‘t necessarily, are not that enthusiastic about this agreement. 0ne enthusiastic about this agreement. one of the backbench brexiteers mps said this is the biggest political decision you will make in your life. don‘t worry about the ministerial jaguar ran the red box, make that crucial decision in the right way. they have to wake up, they have been

eurosceptics their entire life. brexit will happen at the end of march, this is the argument put to them. do you want to make sure that happens or do you want to vote down the deal she‘s going to put to parliament and risk, no one knows. they are potentially risking another referendum, they are potentially risking no deal. that added to many people who think the uk is ready for eight no deal scenario at the end of march. that would be massively harmful to the british economy and the argument we heard, she says thinking about the national interest, this is a compromise and was never going to be anything other than a compromise. this is the best deal she can get. we want to protect businesses with supply chains in europe and you have to be in some kind of customs arrangement. she will say this is the best you can get and you have to decide. thank you, for the moment, thank you very

much indeed. just to talk you through the choreography of what they are expecting, we think the cabinet meeting is going to go on for three hours, as i say, roughly. you can never be too precise. it should end around five p:m., f theresa may gets her way, if she gets up political banking we are expecting a statement at around 5pm and the statement in the house of commons tomorrow. dominic raab will go to brussels to meet michel barnier, the chief eu brexit negotiator, but that is all to go ahead, and that is assuming she gets what she wants from this meeting today. back to you. let‘s talk to the snp‘s europe spokesperson stephen geffen is. let‘s have scenario. the cabinet approves it and comes to parliament. what do you think will happen, should happen?

what seems to be clearance from day one theresa may has been trying to solve a tory civil warrant is unsolved. it is notjust the tories? labour are similarly unsolved. it is notjust the tories? labourare similarly in unsolved. it is notjust the tories? labour are similarly in disarray?” am not going to stand here and say labour are not am not going to stand here and say labourare not in am not going to stand here and say labour are not in a am not going to stand here and say labourare not in a mess am not going to stand here and say labour are not in a mess as well, thatis labour are not in a mess as well, that is reasonable, but i am saying that is reasonable, but i am saying that if parliament is to take control and parliament is sovereign then this place needs to step up to then this place needs to step up to the plate and take control of the situation and undertake to take the least worst option out of love this. isn‘t the actualjob to represent the people? the people spoke two yea rs the people? the people spoke two years ago one theresa may are saying we have negotiated a deal and this is the best deal i can get. then thatis is the best deal i can get. then that is what she is presenting to parliament? first of all, my constituents like people in scotland all voted overwhelmingly to remain pa rt of all voted overwhelmingly to remain part of the eu, but the uk is split on this. we are willing to reach a compromise, which is being part of

the single market and customs union. that is not the best option, which is to stay in the eu, but it is the least worst option, so why don't we reach a compromise? theresa may has to stop trying to get a deal around her divided party and reach out to other parties in parliament. that is what we have been calling for for two and a half years. we heard her seeing today the compromise has been reached and we are leaving the eu, thatis reached and we are leaving the eu, that is what the vote was for? theresa may can say whatever she likes, she has lost control of the situation and it is deeply serious. i know people are tired of hearing about this, but it affects peoples jobs and opportunities. i am the first generation of politician for whom opportunities for young people will be fewer than i had, and that will be fewer than i had, and that will be fewer than i had, and that will be deeply irresponsible. what you said your constituents say, just get on with that? most of my constituents are devastated about leaving the european union, the impact that has onjobs leaving the european union, the impact that has on jobs and the economy. what i said to them and

where i have the responsibility and what i have been doing is to work with colleagues from other political parties, try to find common ground where we can, try to find a way out of this mess that has the least damaging outcome. very quickly, if thatis damaging outcome. very quickly, if that is a vote in parliament and it gets that far, and the choices the prime minister standing up and saying, we have this deal, this proposal, you vote for that auditors no deal. it is one of the other. that is a false choice and that is why we are working so hard with colleagues to get better outcomes on this. thank you forjoining us. i‘m alsojoined by lord paul myners, a free trial atmosphere here, partly because none of us knows what we‘re talking about in terms of that document. —— febrile. we have a rough idea but as with many things the devil may well be in the detail. i‘m alsojoined by lord paul myners, former labour minister and city hedge fund manager. what is your assessment as to where

you think we are this afternoon?m is difficult to tell. the cabinet have been given one hour to read a 500 page document. i would like to find it many the average person can read in that time, but it looks as though the broad framework is emerging. it is so far away from the proposal outlined by borisjohnson and david davis and others that we have to pause and reflect. we voted to leave but we didn‘t vote for what we wa nted to leave but we didn‘t vote for what we wanted to replace full membership of the eu west. we told that at the time. this deal takes us out of the eu, that is what the vote was for. it doesn‘t take is out. it doesn‘t allow us to negotiate free—trade deals. that is the next stage, this is just the divorce paper. deals. that is the next stage, this isjust the divorce paper. this is not what was spelt out so why not

allow the people to say, we see the package, we see what has been on offer, let‘s make sure that if we wa nt offer, let‘s make sure that if we want to, endorse that. that would bring the nation together. this is all been very divisive. if they approve this proposal, which i think that there‘s a lot of doubt about, why not fitted to the nation and say, let‘s have peoples vote to endorse or reject the government proposals. with your business hat on, with the removal of uncertainty, the fact that as a deal, wouldn‘t that be preferable to business rather than the continuing uncertainty of love this? that is a very delicately balanced question. we all want certainty, notjust business but families many people wa nt business but families many people want certainty about the future. but that doesn‘t mean that looking at one or two bad options is better than pausing and reflecting, so i

think it is a trade—off. i would personally, my own view, see a continuation of what you describe is uncertainty which in any case we will get with this deal. anybody watching thinking, thank goodness, this is nearly over. this is nothing like over. we have another 4—6 years of brexit uncertainty under the deal which the government is seeking parliamentary support for. i very much doubt they will attain that support. what about the argument, let‘s face it, you want time for reflection but for people to come into your point of view?” reflection but for people to come into your point of view? i believe sincerely that if i had been in favour of leaving, and i was in favour of leaving, and i was in favour of leaving, and i was in favour of remain, i would say that this country has been pulled apart by this alpha nontraditional criteria and we need to see if we can establish a resolved possession. leavers should support the people‘s vote. if they are confident this is

good they should be confident they can convince the nation that is the case. i do not think this is the accusation of key porting until we get the answers we want.” accusation of key porting until we get the answers we want. i really do not think it is that. —— keep voting. so how‘s the agreement going down in the rest of the eu? let‘s speak to our brussels reporter adam fleming. febrile here but not their? things are very febrile here but not their? things are very quietly and 11 little because everybody here knows that the whole thing could come crashing down with one ill timed fraser worked from somebody on this side of the equation. what is happening is that the ambassadors from the other 27 countries are here in this building where leaders summit usually take place and they are being briefed on the brexit process and progress by michel barnier. she

came error and left and we chase along the street but she said nothing other than it was a beautiful day, we asked if it was a beautiful day, we asked if it was a beautiful deal and she said, no comment. she is now back and briefing the ambassadors. 0n the way into the meeting one of the diplomats said they are meeting my last the hours as well, the same length as the british cabinet meeting. we imagine they are waiting for white smoke or a bat signal from the cabinet in london, that the deal has been given the thumbs up. thank you, adam. back to him later on. joining me now is alex veitch, head of global policy at the freight transport association. i was going to say let‘s take the politics out of this but we cannot. would you be happierjust to have any deal at this stage, to give you that certainty? we keep hearing about certainty. we are relieved to see some progress being made with the withdrawal agreement. the reason

we are relieved that we have been patiently making the case with clear evidence of the referendum about the huge challenges logistics faces in the event of no deal. so is the choice, and that may be the prime minister‘s plan, that if it gets through cabinet, if it gets through parliament, and we don‘t know that, but that it does, if she says that is the choice, you would rather radio that people may be added terribly sure about but he would rather that than no deal? we can look at no deal and we can see that this is not project fear it is project fact. it will be very difficult to get food on the shelves and medicine to the nhs in the event of no deal. the government‘s no deal notices have made that very clear. taking the politics out of that, any agreement that takes as farmers to future that works for customers and the public, to enable the logistics sector to work, we are relieved about that. and any deal which has

some element of a customs union, does that help your industry? some element of a customs union, does that help your industry7m helps but we are cautious. we haven‘t seen the text. helps but we are cautious. we haven't seen the text. none of us have. but if this customs only that is only one part of the puzzle, there are types of checks. if you‘re importing and exporting anamorphic products, if the ec insists they have to go through border inspection posts that could cause a big delay, but our number one concern is the ability for trucks and planes to fly carrying cargo to and from the uk and eu, that is critical. you say this is not project fear but it is the sort of argument we have heard that has struck people as project fear. theresa may has said these things won‘t happen. these things will sort themselves out even only no deal basis. under no deal, purely and simply there would be a numerical limit on the number of trucks that are allowed to cross

into the eu and possibly the same in reverse. there are 80,000 uk registered haulage firms making that johnny every year. the maximum amount of permits we could get is 1200. there are simply not enough permits to go around. i understand people don‘t get this point because it is part of eu law that we never have to worry about being in the eu, but these are the stark fact technical notices have made plain and we have been talking about for the whole period since the referendum on the approach of going forward with pragmatism rather than politics. and time is now the essence, that is the pressure that you are essence, that is the pressure that you a re clearly essence, that is the pressure that you are clearly feeling. 0n essence, that is the pressure that you are clearly feeling. on that basis does it help theresa may, because she can stand up in parliament and say, we out of time, as we are, then the choice is now absolutely simple. my deal or no deal. that is the political game thatis deal. that is the political game that is being played. if that is not

a deal now there must be a solution which pushes the decision back and keeps us in the status quo to enable trade to continue in the meantime. i think it is a very high stakes game. i don‘t think businesses and the government are fully prepared and we have to watch and see what happens out of there is movement in some way. that is this nightmare scenario you‘re describing which echoes project fear two years ago. but it is purely factual and based on the government and dc‘s: documentation. if there is truly no deal, if there are these very restrictive barriers to trade, we can only hope pragmatism prevails on both sides and there will be a mini deal to allow trucks to cross the border. a many deal to allow your cargo to be shipped, but what we see in black—and—white as that will not happen on day one. thank you. an exciting day. so the prime minister is preparing to hold an emergency meeting of her whole cabinet at downing street this afternoon, and as it stands we have more questions than answers over the 500 page plan

she‘s putting to them. we want to attempt to answer any questions you might have at 3:30 this afternoon. so send us your brexit questions by text to 51124, or email askthis@bbc.co.uk or tweet #bbcaskthis. we will try to answer those questions. we‘ll have much more from westminster throughout the afternoon but, for now, back to the studio. i‘m carole walker. the other main stories on afternoon live. dozens of people are still unaccounted for in the town of paradise in northern california, which was destroyed by a wildfire last week. 50 people are now known to have died in the state‘s deadliest wildfires but forensic teams are searching for more victims. firefighters say they‘ve now contained the worst of the fires but they don‘t expect to get them fully under control until the end of the month.

0ur correspondent dave lee sent this report from california. this devastating fire has now scorched indiscriminately through approximately 200 square miles of northern california. 0n the ground in the worst—hit town, called paradise, search teams are using advanced forensic techniques to find and eventually identify the dead. some trapped in their homes, some not able to escape quickly enough. in the south of the state, a separate blaze has destroyed more than 400 structures, but firefighters there at least feel they‘re beginning to see some progress. this is how it looked to those trying to escape the inferno in paradise, in what is now the deadliest blaze in california‘s history. this footage was filmed by a 16—year—old who was fleeing with his mother. that was six days ago. now the community is trying to start the rebuilding process,

including where its children will now go to school. students from paradise high were welcomed into a school in the nearby town of chico. it was the first time many had seen their classmates since the fire. it‘s tough. all of us have lost our homes, and our community‘s been wiped out. i was driving home to try and evacuate, get things and i got about a quarter mile from my house and there was just fires erupting everywhere, so my husband called me and just said, "wherever you are, turn around and get out of there." students from paradise high school may not have any more school buildings to call their own but they‘re meeting here in order to make sure their school community stays very much intact. teachers have promised the class of 2019 that they will graduate together. dave lee, bbc news, in northern california. prince charles is celebrating his 70th birthday today. the heir to the throne will mark the occasion by having tea with a group of inspirational fellow

70—year—olds, before attending a private party hosted by the queen at buckingham palace. this report by our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, contains flash photograpy. he‘s said to be more relaxed than perhaps at any stage in his adult life. that was certainly the impression at the london palladium last night at a special 70th birthday gala, where prince charles met sooty and sweep. the prince at 70 in these birthday portraits issued by clarence house, with his wife, his sons and their wives, and his three grandchildren — george, charlotte and louis. he displays the contentment of a prince who‘s waited virtually his entire life to achieve his hereditary destiny. he became heir to the throne at the age of four, but he‘s made it his business to fill his adult life purposefully. now, increasingly, he‘s taking on some of the duties of his mother. on sunday, once again,

he placed the queen‘s wreath at the cenotaph while she watched from a balcony. and he is representing her on the foreign visits which she no longer makes. most recently the prince was in commonwealth countries in west africa. a reminder that he will succeed his mother eventually, notjust as monarch but also as has been confirmed, as head of the commonwealth. this birthday has already seen him issue the important clarification that, as king, he will not attempt to campaign on issues as he has done as prince of wales. i‘m not that stupid. i do realise that it is a separate exercise, being sovereign. that‘s the only clue he‘ll give as to what sort of king he will be. and while he waits, it‘s clear this 70—year—old will remain fully committed to speaking up for the causes which he regards as important. in the latest edition of country life magazine, which he has guest edited, he says the countryside should not be taken for granted and he calls for britain to become the world‘s most environmentally friendly food producer. today, though, will be

one for celebration. this lunchtime there has been a gun salute to mark his birthday. later he and his wife will attend a tea party with other 70—year—olds and tonight there‘ll be a birthday dinner hosted by his mother. nicholas witchell, bbc news. we will be keeping you up—to—date with the key cabinet meeting at westminster. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with mel coles we are all under the influence of mild air working its way up from the south west. blustery winds for northern ireland and fringes of western scotland. north eastern part of scotla nd western scotland. north eastern part

of scotland seeing the best temperatures. 17 celsius. this evening, dry for a time. temperatures. 17 celsius. this evening, dry fora time. low temperatures. 17 celsius. this evening, dry for a time. low cloud, mist and fog for the southern part of the uk. more rain in the west of scotland. temperatures will not fall away too far. the mist and low cloud may be an issue tomorrow morning. it may be an issue tomorrow morning. it may linger and the rain may be persistent. it will still be mild. temperatures tomorrow, the highest in the south—east of the country. 16 or 17 celsius. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. the prime minister is holding an emergency meeting of her cabinet at downing street as she seeks their backing for the draft agreement which she says will deliver on brexit. we will take back control of our money, laws and borders. we will deliver brexit and the united

kingdom is leaving the european union on the 29th of march 2019. does the prime minister still intend to put a false choice to parliament between her botched deal or no deal? as the cabinet meeting gets underway over the draft agreement — there‘s speculation some ministers could resign over the issue. the government is to cut the maximum stake on fixed odd betting terminals from a £100 to £2. the changes will come into effect from april. dozens of people are still unaccounted after california‘s worst wildfires in history, as the death toll rises to 50. prince charles is celebrating his 70th birthday today. theresa may led tributes to the prince of wales praising his total commitment to public service. now it‘s time for sport. let‘s get

all the details from catherine. we‘ve had the first sacking of the premier league season...and it‘s fulham who‘ve removed slavisa jokanovic, with the club bottom of the table. 0ur football reporter is simon stone, he says it was only a matter of time before fulham‘s owner took action. they spent £100 million. it was a record for a newly promoted team in the summer. nine games without a win in the premier league. they have lost their last six. they are at the bottom of the table. they have a game after the international break against southampton, who are only three points better off than them. the owner thought he had to do something. yes, it is an air of inevitability about this one. a surprise to who they have brought in. they have moved quickly, haven‘t they? i think they are patting themselves on the back about the speed and the fact it was not leaked. yes, he is the man who will forever

be known that the man who delivered that premier league title to leicester. that amazing title. it has to be remembered, within nine months of that, he had been sacked. he had a less than impressive time in france. he has got to hit the ground running and deliver fulham to safety. england‘s jadon sancho says more young players should follow his lead and play football abroad. he‘s at borussia dortmund in germany‘s bundesliga — the team he left manchester city for last year. at 18—year—old‘s done so well there that he‘s expected to make his first start for england at wembley tomorrow, and says that moving away from the premier league has given him new opportunities. personally, i think if you feel you are ready, i think you should take a shot at it. just try something different. if someone comes along giving you a chance, it is always an option and they can see your ability and if you are good enough, they

will give you a chance. that is how i felt. england posted a decent score on the first day of the second test against sri lanka. they were in a bit of trouble earlier this morning, giving away some easy wickets. but a half—century from sam curran gave them a boost. england all out for 285, sri lanka 26 for! in reply — jack leach with the wicket. and former england bowler ryan sidebottom says the visitors are on top. i think they will be really pleased with the score. 285 is a serious score that would —— is serious score on the wicket. it turned and bounds. jack leach was getting a serious spin. that delivery was a serious delivery. to tennis now and in the last few minutes novak dhojkovic the world number one won 6—4 6—1 to win has beaten the german alexander zverev in straight sets at the atp tourfinals in london.

who goes through to the semifinals depends on who has won the total number of sets. a straight set when will help him there as he tries to go through to the finals. roger federe won last night his chance to reach the final is still alive. complicated at the 02 stadium. scotland have made six changes for their test against south africa at murrayfield this weekend. (00v) head coach gregor townsend has brought hquones back into the side at centre — even though his performance was criticised after the loss to wales earlier this month. prop gordon reid and lock jonny gray will also start. one other line of rugby news for you — new zeland will host the women‘s rugby world cup in 2021. they beat competition from australia — and will be the first southern hemisphere country to stage the women‘s tournament. let‘s have another look at the snowboarding. we‘ve got some pretty epic snowboarding for you now — it‘s the most watched video on the bbc sport webiste

at the morning. we have been enjoying that today. this is austrian anna gasser landing what‘s known as a cab triple 12—60 — which is three and a half full rotations. she‘s the first women to ever land the trick. an olympic bronze medallistjenny jones to see that history made for women‘s snowboarding. that‘s all the sport for now. welcome back to westminster on a very busy day. that emergency cabinet meeting is continuing in downing street to discuss the draft withdrawal agreement. throughout the day here on bbc news we‘ve been asking for your questions on brexit — and to answer them i am joined by professor anand menon from the think tank, uk in a changing europe, whic does not take a position on brexit. mark in sunderland asks why does the prime minister not make our legal standpoint available to the whole country so we know what we are signing up to now and in the future?

it is the least she can do, he says. the government never likes to share legal opinions on whatever it might be because they might contain sensitive information and just too much information. you can make a case that brexit is a bigger deal than anything else so we should be allowed to see. i think there were fears that it would set a precedent, we would be under pressure to do it every time. there is an in—built reluctance. there is pressure growing on the government. reluctance. there is pressure growing on the governmentm reluctance. there is pressure growing on the government. it is a one off, is another argument. that traditional reluctance is still there. this one from anonymous. we get a lot from them. we divorced payment has been guaranteed that it does not hurt is too badly over any single year. it is going to be paid over decades to do the pain. now

offer of the third question... no, this is the point. if you compare the size of our market. 65 million, the size of our market. 65 million, the eu was 440 million now. the size of the market, we were never going to be able to dictate the terms of the deal to the european union. wright, the next question... we do not know for certain but almost certainly, yes. from the eu point of view and from legal advice here, this is not a payment for a future trade deal, a payment so they would chase us. do we know what that would be? 39 billion is the figure they have arrived on. what we do not know is what caught this action would be held on. that is not obvious. now

this question... was it too complex? was it too complex? it was it too complex? it was was it too complex? it was a was it too complex? it was a very was it too complex? it was a very complicated decision. the public are voting on all sorts of matters in a general election. we routinely ask the public to vote on complicated things. whether we should have a different threshold in a referendum, set out conditions more clearly, they are good questions. i do not think saying it was too difficult is an. the final question, would trade between the uk and ireland continue as normal? two stages, firstly we have the implementation phase. everything stays as it is during that phase. you will seek no difference at the beginning but they are after, or what we know about the terms, no, because services are not

included. those who deal with financial services, universities, will find it harder to do the trade with ireland. great to talk to you. tough questions there. thank you for joining us. good to see you. let‘s go now to the british academy where we‘re joined by tony blair he campaigned to stay in the european union. there he is and joins me now live. if i could just ask you for your assessment of where we are right now. well, it is hard to know until you see the precise terms of what has been agreed by the government. if it is along the lines of the chequers deal, the central question will be that button is going to be still in the customs union to try and resolve the northern ireland problem and will not be able to get out of those arrangements without the consent of europe. in effect, we are going to be locked into the european trading

system having lost our control over the sea in that decision making process. this is why you are in a curious position now that the people who are levers and the people who are wanting to remain are united in saying this is a bad deal and it is not going to work. the only way you can resolve this issue is to go back to the people and say you are going to the people and say you are going to give us a clear mandate. are you not just to give us a clear mandate. are you notjust morning to give us a clear mandate. are you not just morning because to give us a clear mandate. are you notjust morning because the option is no deal? no, the option is not note due. the critical option is the option the government has gone for in this chequers deal means we will stay in a customs union until the eu says began leave it. for the future trading arrangements, we have a common rule book with the european union. we are still in the single

market for goods and agricultural raw ducks, potentially, and what that means is you have lost your say. the whole purpose of brexit, i do not agree but the whole purpose is to break free of those rules is we are in a bizarre position because we are in a bizarre position because we are in a bizarre position because we are not having any control. so the prime minister was wrong with you said in the house that this is leaving the european union? no, she is right, it is a form of brexit. it is right, it is a form of brexit. it is in name only. we are leaving these structures but we are still tied into the economic structures. the rules and regulations, the things i don‘t object to, but the things i don‘t object to, but the things that lead people to believe we had to get out, we are still tied to those. because we left the structures of the european union, we have lost our seat at the decision—making table. it is the worst of both worlds. i have said

again in my speech today, i am sympathetic to theresa may. she has been dealt a poor hand. she has a divided party. it is an possible that are impossible cycle to square. if we go down this path, it does not resolve the problem. the people who are wanting to leave inside the cabinet, they are going to use some of the fudge language around this to argue after we leave in 2019, they should reopen the whole thing. this debate will not be resolved by this deal, it will carry on through the transition period, the extended transition period, the extended transition period. i understand the desire to take the thing off the table and do the deal at any cost, but this will not work. it will not satisfy the people who want to break free from europe and will not satisfy people like me who want to remain. the only way you are going to do this is to put it back to the

people. i know that sounds counterintuitive, how can it be right to go back to the people? it is because two and half years of experience of this, the negotiation has not worked and the people now need to decide, should we continue with this or do you want to stay? the people said what they wanted two yea rs the people said what they wanted two years ago. politicians are now delivering, they would argue, as best they can. should that not be enough? yes, it is a good point but here is the problem, as you rightly say, they have done the best they can. the best the pan does not satisfy anyone. it was never going to, was it? it was always going to be about compromise and that was the compromise on the table. yes, the compromise on the table. yes, the compromise is on the table but is this compromise really worth the effort? if the compromise assert that you stay bound to europe‘s rules in order to reduce damage, i

get it. if the whole purpose was to break free of the rules, what is the point of doing that? the difficulty all of the way through is that you have a choice between a brexit that is essentially pointless, the one theresa may is offering, and one thatis theresa may is offering, and one that is painful, bricking out of the single market and customs union. —— breaking out. we have had four and have decades of relationships growing up on the basis we are part of this european single market, this unique trading system, one set of rules and regulations. if you are going to leave it, it is going to be painful. if you stayed tied to it but get out of the political structures of decision making, you have a brexit that is pointless. that is the conundrum. it is not theresa may‘s fault that she cannot resolve it because it is a resolvable. the way she has chosen to resolve it will satisfy no one. if she loses the vote in parliament,

what is higher future? if she loses the vote in parliament, what is higherfuture? what do if she loses the vote in parliament, what is higher future? what do you think should happen if she has to go? —— what is theresa may‘s future? the obvious thing is for her to say, i have tried my best. i have done the best deal i can. 0k, i have tried my best. i have done the best deal i can. ok, if you, parliament, think it is not a good deal, we have got go back to the people and ask them, are you after this two and half years of experience, when you see the negotiations and what they look like and you know the different para meters and you know the different parameters and it is not claim and cou ntercla i m parameters and it is not claim and counterclaim and you have reality to work on, do you want to leave? if the country votes again to leave, thatis the country votes again to leave, that is it, the end of the argument. we leave. 0r that is it, the end of the argument. we leave. or do you want to stay? i believe if that happened, you would also find europe would step forward with the different offer for britain. the politics of europe in the last two and a half years have changed. the anxieties that caused the british people to vote for a

brexit our anxieties felt across europe. you could get to a situation where it is not a question of simply the offer we have before versus brexit, but actually a renewed offer which meets many of the objections versus brexit. for many people, you area versus brexit. for many people, you are a divisive figure in all of this. you have just are a divisive figure in all of this. you havejust described are a divisive figure in all of this. you have just described a change of mood in europe. i am wondering, if you could have put the clock back, your immigration policy, many people point to as the moment the brexit started to take off, do you regret your own policy? to you feel in some way responsible for where we are right now? -- do you feel responsible? i am responsible for many things but not a decision i did not agree with and opposed. if you go back to the transitional arrangements, he could have kept restrictions on for a period of

seven yea rs, yes, restrictions on for a period of seven years, yes, the politics that developed over at those years was different of the politics at the time. if i were still in office, i would have been reacting to it. look at the underlying causes of brexit, it is the immigration piece as a whole. the irony is at the very time we had decided that we want to leave, immigration played a huge role in this, the whole of the politics of immigration in europe has also changed. this is why many of the things for example david cameron tried to negotiate last time, you would be negotiating in a different atmosphere today.” time, you would be negotiating in a different atmosphere today. i am just wondering the mechanism for this vote that you say you want, this vote that you say you want, this people‘s vote. what would that mechanism be? how would it work? this is a very good question. you have to work out what the question would be. the electoral commission

in the end can influence that or decide those things. i think the real difference is this, it is whether you are remain or leave. 0n this occasion you know if there is a vote to leave, you are leaving not on the basis of this half in, half out, your footing to leave. —— you are voting to leave. the true positions are stay in or not a brexit in name only, but a true, proper brexit. that is the choice the british people have too make. people say, will that not divide the country? the country is divided already. the biggest point of unity right now is opposition to the set of proposals. if you want to unify the country for the future, you have to have clarity. the route to clarity is for the people to decide and give us the mandate. we have seen two and a half years and they deal the government came up with, do

you want to leave or do you want to stay? jeremy corbyn says we cannot stop brexit and he does not go with the people‘s vote plan that you have. yes, i am afraid i disagree with him about that. i also think if the labour party were to lead this cause, the labour party took a stand and said we are going to put down this deal because it is a bad deal, if we cannot get a general election, we should have a fresh vote. if we let that charge, two things would happen. you would have the vote and labour party would go up in the polls. what you say to those people who say, there is tony blair, former prime minister, a man of yesterday now pushing an argument like this. we have heard it from nick clegg, you both wrote to a german newspaper. what do you say to those who say you to have been standing on the sidelines as theresa may a game of poker. you are at least i think,

you are not going to play that hand, are you? you have played your best ca rd are you? you have played your best card now, you‘re going to be in trouble. you have in some ways undermined the very negotiations that she has been trying to carry out. yes, he is the thing. look, it does not matter whether it is me or someone else. the problem is the hand she is trying to negotiate, what she is trying to negotiate with a negotiable. —— is not able to be negotiated. part of the economic structures of europe changing the structures of europe changing the structure is of being part of the single market, part of the custom union in order to limit the damage. in the same time, a nod to the people who want to leave, we are able to pursue our own regulations and rules. it cannot be done. it is not a question of undercutting her position, she has been pushed into a position, she has been pushed into a

position essentially i think by the divisions in the conservative party where she has incompatible negotiating objectives. she once a frictionless border in ireland. you can have one but you can only have one if britain remains in the customs union for goods and products. she is then being pushed into a commitment, she is going to leave the single market and the customs union. point number three, she has been pushed into a position that northern ireland has to remain in the same position as the rest of the uk. that is no way you can negotiate those three objectives. i have stepped into this argument not because i am not sympathetic to her. i know how difficult the job is. because i am not sympathetic to her. i know how difficult thejob is. she has been dealt a difficult hand. this is such an important decision for the country you have got to get the right place and this is the wrong place. iam sorry, i the right place and this is the wrong place. i am sorry, i would not normally step in when a prime ministers doing something as

difficult as this, this is not going to work. is parliament not the right place? yes, parliament is the right place. if parliament cannot agree to stop if you said to those members of parliament, leave aside all the pressure from the whips, all the debate around you and just decide what do you really think is the right thing to do? then i think members of parliament would vote this deal down. the question is really, in those circumstances, are you going to push ahead with this when it is very, very difficult to see how you could possibly get a deal that truly satisfies parliament. i suspect you must meet lots of people on a daily basis to say, do you know what? politics and politicians have let us down. we made a clear decision in a referendum as a country, it was a clear decision and the politics has let us down on this. here is the

problem, i‘m afraid. the decision was at one level, obviously clear. there are different varieties of brexit on offer. they are different in the implications and consequences. 0n in the implications and consequences. on one level you can see, people have voted to leave. i understand from people say, just get on with it. the problem is when you get on with it, you realise you‘re in the dilemma, stay close to europe and minimise the damage, you are a real taker and you‘re not a rule maker. bad idea. pointless. 0r real taker and you‘re not a rule maker. bad idea. pointless. or do you break out of the single market and customs union, in which case you are going to have a long process of adjustment which is going to be painful. there is no fault here. that is the basic dilemma at the heart of the negotiation. it is why the negotiation has been so difficult. there is no way round it, you have got to choose. she has chosen essentially a pointless brexit. it is not a good dealfor

the country. you should not go ahead with it unless the people have said, 0k, with it unless the people have said, ok, i think that is the right thing to do. to those who would say, hang on, the decision was made, we are where we are. that is a deal on the table or a zero deal. those are the two options. yesterday you had angela merkel and the french president saying we need european army. what do you say to those people who say, there is another reason why we should be. right, first of all, let‘s be clear, a european army not in a sense of one army, what they are saying is that should be greater defence cooperation in europe because they are anxious about whether we can depend on the united states, given the mood there. that is an argument that has been going on for a long time. by the way, britain wants to remain part of that debate. this is a common friend, even with this government, even if we do brexit.

that‘s not the issue that is in front of us. the issue that is in front of us. the issue that is in front of us. the issue that is in front of us, does this deal that she has done, if it is as people anticipate, does it really, you know, does it abate the mandate of the brexit vote —— bay the mandate? most who want to leave say it does not and a large part of the population thinks we should be reconsidering it. this is the question. you can go around it a thousand different times but it comes back to that. the problem is, this is a difficult negotiation. i do not diminish the difficulty of it. i emphasise it at every turn. the deal we have come out with is a deal, as i have said before, it is the worst of both worlds. tony blair, iam the worst of both worlds. tony blair, i am most gratefulfor your time. thank you forjoining us here.

thank you. all the headlines coming up thank you. all the headlines coming up injusta thank you. all the headlines coming up injust a moment. let‘s get the weather first. autumn is up injust a moment. let‘s get the weatherfirst. autumn is continuing to show us it‘s mild side, certainly in the short term. we are all under the influence of mild air working up from the south—west. there is rain and winds from northern ireland and fringes of scotland, that will gradually fizzled out. north eastern parts of scotland seem the best of the temperatures. 17 celsius. into this evening, dry for a time. we started right —— we start to drag in fog. more rain for northern ireland and western fringes of scotland. temperatures will not fall away to fire. the low cloud may be an issue and may lingerfor some fire. the low cloud may be an issue and may linger for some a fire. the low cloud may be an issue and may lingerfor some a realist. that rain may become quite persistent as we go into the early afternoon. it will still be mild. temperatures tomorrow, the highest

in the south—east of the country. 16 or 17 celsius. hello, you‘re watching afternoon live — i‘m simon mccoy. today at 4. the prime minister is holding an emergency meeting of her cabinet at downing street as she seeks their backing for the draft agreement which she says will deliver on brexit. we will take back control of our money laws and borders. we will deliver brexit and the united kingdom is leaving the european union and 29th of march 2019. does the prime minister still intends to put a false choice to parliament between her botched deal and no deal. as the cabinet meeting continues over the draft agreement — there‘s speculation some ministers could resign over the issue. i understand the desire just to take the thing off the table and do a

deal at any cost but this won't work. it won't satisfy the people who want to break free from europe and it won't satisfy the people like me who want to remain. and we‘re reporting live from downing street as we are at two hours and to the most important cabinet meeting of theresa may‘s premiership, it is expected to last another hour. dozens of people are still unaccounted after california‘s worst wildfires in history as the death toll rises to 50. the government is to cut the maximum stake on fixed odd betting terminals from £100 to £2. the changes will come into effect from april. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. thanks, more on the first premier league sacking of the season. claudio ranieri taking over at fulham. see you at half—past. and the weather. good afternoon, often continues on a mild note with the

temperatures reaching close to 16 celsius and several spots. the latest later on in the programme. thanks. also coming up, prince charles is celebrating his 70th birthday today. theresa may led tributes to the prince of wales praising his ‘total‘ commitment to public service. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. theresa may is meeting her cabinet as she tries to secure support for her draft brexit agreement with the eu. ministers arrived at number 10 for the crucial talks about two hours ago. the meeting is expected to last until around 5 o‘clock. in the commons earlier this afternoon, she told mps that the agreement would deliver on the outcome of the 2016 referendum to leave the eu and that the government would not hold another referendum. some senior conservative mps from across the party have called

on ministers to reject the deal, saying it would leave britain locked into the eu‘s rules, while the democratic unionists have warned it could lead to the break—up of the uk. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, says the draft agreement is a half baked failure. the actual document has not yet been released — but let‘s have a look at the main points we believe are in it — although they have not been confirmed. the plan involves keeping the uk as a whole aligned with the eu customs union for a limited time. this would avoid a hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland — which has been one of the most contentious issues in the negotiations and is known as the ‘backstop‘ plan. but, it‘s believed that northern ireland would remain in a "deeper" relationship with the eu and abide by some additional rules and regulations. under the plan, an independent committee of uk, eu and external members would be set up to review ending this arrangement, this backstop, but the uk would have no unilateral right to leave it. 0ur political correspondent

ben wright has this report on the day so far. ? early morning and number ten made a final push to convince the cabinet sceptics. penny mordaunt was stony faced and tight—lipped as she left after talks with the prime minister. 0ther cabinet brexiteers were tight—lipped as well. including the brexit secretary himself. the former tory leader iain duncan smith slipped in as well, a leader of the brexiteers in parliament furious about the proposed agreement. if it means being potentially locked in a customs union forever and could only leave with the approval of the eu that is unacceptable. but there was a warning to brexiteers from another former tory leader. what you have to really worry about here is that if you don‘t take this opportunity to leave

the eu, to get brexit over the line, you might never leave at all. downing street will say it is this agreement or nothing but supporters of another referendum said parliament should throw it out. we are going to be paying a huge sum of money for no guaranteed trading relationship in return. that to anybody, to my mind doesn't make any sense at all. for the last two years the prime minster had told us that no deal was better than a bad deal and now she is telling us we have to accept a bad deal instead of no deal, that is a false choice. the biggest roadblock has been the question of the irish border. number ten has proposed a temporary customs arrangement with the eu meant to ensure there is no hard border after brexit. northern ireland could be kept much closer to eu regulations and the party propping up the conservatives is very concerned. rules about the production of goods and agriculture, etc, in northern ireland would be

determined in brussels without any say from the uk and northern ireland. the labour leader said the draft agreement was a failure. even conservative mps say the prime minister is offering a choice between the worst of all worlds and a catastrophic series of consequences. when will the prime minister recognise that neither of these options is acceptable? we will not rerun the referendum. we will not remain on the decision of the british people. we believe the customs union and the common fisheries policy and common agricultural policy and take back control of our money, laws and borders. we will deliver brexit and the united kingdom is leaving the european union on 29th march 2019. but the prime minister‘s task of getting a brexit deal through parliament will be tough, as this question proved. you are not delivering the brexit people voted

for and today you will lose the support of many conservative mps and millions of voters across the country. cabinet agreement later today would be a big boost for the prime minister but tory critics are circling and parliament could yet torpedo the plan. let‘s cross to downing street and speak to ben brown. two hours and ten minutes so far. exactly, and we are waiting with eager anticipation to find out the result of this cabinet meeting. probably the most important cabinet meeting theresa may will cheer during her premiership. 0ne meeting theresa may will cheer during her premiership. one of the most important of recent political times. cabinet ministers had been

coming to downing street last night and this morning individually for one—on—one sessions with the prime minister and also to study the draft agreement, several hundred pages, and in particular the passages about the irish border run northern ireland and the backdrop agreement as well. we saw the ministers when they arrived for the 2pm cabinet meeting. some of them smiling, some of them not. penny mordaunt, the international development secretary was not smiling. she is one that is speculation she could resign over this. the other, andrea leadsom, esther mcvey, some people saying they might go over this draft agreement. we might have to wait and see. we don‘t have much longer to wait. we think it is going to be around three hours in duration although cannot be exact about that. around 5pm that is when we should get work whether the prime minister has been successful, a crucial step

to getting a brexit deal for britain. many would argue that the tougher political test will be getting it through parliament in the weeks to come. let's go to the chief political corresponded vicky young. if the raw one to leave in three resignations would that be fatal to the prime minister? the bigger test is getting it through parliament but what is happening here has a bearing on that and to sum it up, we were talking about the brexiteers and there are concerns about the uk being too closely tied to the eu. and not being able to get out of a management like the customs arrangements and forge its own trade deals and all the rest, but to underline how many fronts she is facing on, david mundell, and incredibly loyal secretary, along with 13 other tory mps has written

to the prime minister asking for clarification about what is in the dealer that fishing rights and they say they could not support a brexit deal that prevents the uk independently gaining access to waters. that shows you how deep it is. if the david mundell was going to resign and there is no suggestion he will do that but he‘s looking for clarification, barroso 13 other mps who feel they could not support the deal. that is why this is so precarious. she cannot be assured of all of that and what is going on right now is people are going on the table asking for clarification and assurance and probably legal advice about what exactly is this a very long document means. and apart from him, who are most likely to be the people gathering are hard time over this? reports that sajid javid in the past has been concerned about it but it doesn‘t necessarily mean he will walk away. what it comes down to is that they are urging the eurosceptics to walk away, people let borisjohnson eurosceptics to walk away, people let boris johnson jacob rees

eurosceptics to walk away, people let borisjohnsonjacob rees mogg saying this is your moment and there was the time to get out. on the other side, william hague seem to be pull a few walk away it will just be replaced by someone else who in the end has to deal with this question. there has been a referendum and the people wanted to leave and theresa may is trying to deliver that and someone has to sit on the table and make a choice. it has been about prevarication and both sides trying to see what they can get but now is the moment of truth and so theresa may will be hoping enough people around her will go along with it. assuming she does get through this cabinet meeting today, in parliament, the numbers don‘t look great. that is the other thing, they may be one or two or ministers people have never heard of but then means they will be on the other side of the vote when it comes, so it is going to be close and everyone will count. the dup are worried about northern ireland being treated differently in having its own

arrangement. that feeds into the scottish question as well. the lease and david mundell and ruth davidson are so worried is that northern ireland has special arrangements, you can bet people in scotland than the snp will be saying, why can we not have that arrangement as well? this is why the knock—on effects and then they entities may have to persuade remain as adult like it because they want to stay in but in the end it all comes down to what mps want, what do they think the alternative is? if the alternative is no deal in march it may focus minds to get behind it. if they think another referendum, some will vote down the deal and that is the argument she will make. and given this has not been published yet it will be about the prime minister coming to make the case. thank you very much. 0ne brexiteers backbench mp has said to brexiteers cabinet ministers that this‘ll be the

biggest political decisions they make in their life, what to about this draft agreement today at the cabinet meeting and he has been telling them, forget the jaguars that go with ministerial office and the red boxes, do what is right for your country. we will wait and see and the next hour should tell us whether from theresa may‘s point of view this has been a successful cabinet meeting and she has overcome this obstacle only go to getting a brexit dealfor britain. we arejust we are just hearing that theresa may will be making a statement after that cabinet meeting. just hearing that cabinet meeting. just hearing that use right now that she will be making a statement after the cabinet meeting breaks up. we will be keeping an eye on that and taking you over for another that happens, could be after five you over for another that happens, could be afterfive p:m., we will keep an eye on what is going on. in the last tougher i have been speaking to tony blair. he gave his take on the draft agreement which the prime minister is presenting to the cabinet.

iam i am deeply sympathetic to theresa may, she has been dealt a very poor hand with a very divided party and it is an impossible circle to square, and! it is an impossible circle to square, and i completely sympathise but this is not the answer, and if we go down this path it doesn‘t resolve the problem. the people who are in favour of leaving with in her cabinet, they will use some of the forged language to argue that after we leave, they should reopen the whole thing, so this debate is not going to be resolved. it is going to carry on through the transition period, probably an extended transition. i understand the desire to ta ke transition. i understand the desire to take the thing off the table and doa to take the thing off the table and do a deal at any cost, but this will not work. it would satisfy the people who want to break free and it would satisfy people like me who wa nt to would satisfy people like me who want to remain. the only way you‘re going to do this is to visit back to the people, and i know it sounds counterintuitive, how can it

possibly be right? it is because with two and a half years of experience of this, the negotiation hasn‘t worked and the people now need to decide, they want to continue with this or do you want to stay? i‘m joined by labour mp liz kendall, who is in favour of the uk staying in the eu‘s customs union and single market. and conservative mp james morris, who‘s a member of the strongly pro—brexit european reform group. ifi if i can first pick out what tony blair has just if i can first pick out what tony blair hasjust said, and if i can first pick out what tony blair has just said, and that this is brexit in name only and only the people now can make that decision. if the cabinet backs theresa may, what is parliament going to do?m is dangerous to make predictions. i don‘t think anybody really knows what happens but i don‘t think this deal is going to please anyone. it is not what they were promised, we we re is not what they were promised, we were promised taking back control and having more say over the rules that govern our lives, but we are

giving up they say that we have. we we re giving up they say that we have. we were promised a future trade agreement, that it would be the easiest in human history and this is not. it is just the divorce arrangement. the deal has yet to be decided but to the semi has said he will come out of the agricultural policy, the fisheries policy, but this is leaving the eu. we were promised a future trading agreement, signed, sealed and delivered, the easiest in history, and we havejust got some big words and a leap in the dark. and finally even if we do get the promises, the customs union is only temporary which is bad for manufacturing and it doesn‘t cover 80% of our economy, which is services. it is not what we were promised and it is not good and if it is what we‘re hearing, i will be voting against it. the cabinet meeting as we speak, have we seen this withdrawal agreement yet? we haven't had time to reflect on it.

what the prime minister has been trying to achieve is delivering on the result of a referendum. it has beena the result of a referendum. it has been a tough negotiation and she has been a tough negotiation and she has been seeking agreement in the national interest. that is what the cabinet are discussing at the moment. you heard prime ministers questions. were you satisfied that thatis questions. were you satisfied that that is brexit and leaving the european union? she has been negotiating a tough deal with the eu to honour the referendum in 2016, to ta ke to honour the referendum in 2016, to take control of our borders and laws and to ensure we have a smooth transition to the european union. that is what this withdrawal agreement is all about and then they can move on to the discussion of appropriate trade in terms of the european union and it is in the interests of both the eu and the uk to have this agreement, to agri— trading terms as we leave the european union. the prime minister has been working hard on the national interest to deliver the terms of the referendum and economic and long—term prosperity.

terms of the referendum and economic and long-term prosperity. and here we are a few hundred yards away from one of the most heated cabinet meetings they have seen for a long time. a cabinet that clearly has its divisions and that is even before it comes to parliament. and that is because what people were promised during the referendum has not come to pass. we‘re not getting greater control, we are giving up our existing c in the rules. we are not getting a future trade agreement, we are getting a leap in the dark. and the problem with this, she initially set then the red lines that couldn‘t be delivered. i don‘t even agree it has been a negotiation, it has been a slow realisation that if we don‘t wa nt to a slow realisation that if we don‘t want to ruin our economy we have to stay close to the eu. nobody has seen this withdrawal agreement yet, nobody is denying passionate views on brexit across the house of commons, all the parties. what the

prime minister has been seeking to do entire circumstances is to get a deal for the national interests. people like liz would say she would never get to this point but mikel never get to this point but mikel never said that, i always thought should come to an agreement. in a way, jacob rees mogg for example has simply said this is not going to work. as i said, the prime minister and the cabinet at the moment are considering this withdrawal agreement. i haven't seen it, jacob rees mogg hasn't seen it, liz kendall hasn't seen, and we need proper time to reflect on what has been agreed. the prime minister said today that she has achieved on winning the result of the referendum on securing the long—term economic prosperity of the uk because withdrawal means we have a smooth transition. how does giving up our say bring back control? is no deal better than this deal? now. that is

not the choice. it may well be the choice. it is not the choice because parliament can put forward alternatives and that is not a choice between her terrible deal and no deal because parliament will assert its future. it will assert what we want for the country in the future. that is something we can all agree on. that is a nice way to end at! thank you very much for that. the irish prime minister leo varadkar has been speaking in the irish parliament about the draft agreement earlier this afternoon — let‘s hear what he had to say. we do have a very important and sensitive cabinet meeting happening in london starting at 2pm today and i don't want to say anything here today that might up in that cabinet meeting and make things any more difficult than they are already for the prime minister and difficult than they are already for the prime ministerand i know difficult than they are already for the prime minister and i know that you don't want to put me in a position where i have to do that. if the good friday agreement isn't

damaged by this, and it is protected, should the uk cabinet be ina protected, should the uk cabinet be in a position this afternoon to say with the text that has proposed that the commission task force would be ina the commission task force would be in a position perhaps tonight to publish the text with the possibility of probability of an eu council meeting around 25th november. the text would have to be ratified, as we all know, by westminster and also the european parliament. so how‘s the agreement going down in the rest of the eu? let‘s speak to our brussels reporter adam fleming. whilst the focus is very much your right now it will switch to where you are tomorrow if the cabinet agrees. and maybe even tonight because the speculation here in brussels amongst all the journalists waiting for eu ambassadors to come out of a meeting where they are

briefed on the latest progress and waiting on action from london is that the denoument from this will be dominik coming to brussels this evening to stand on stage with michel barnier where they will jointly announced that decisive progress has been made in the brexit cox and decisive progress of the target they are aiming for four donald tusk, president of the repeating council to then press the button on preparations for an extraordinary brexit summit on the weekend of 25th november. and as we have learned, if you hold an eu summit there is a whole load of build—up to make it happen, so you have meetings of ambassadors and officials who work on brexit, then you might have european affairs ministers of the eu 27 coming to brussels for another preparatory meeting, then the ministerial advisers and the summit in november when all 27 other leaders will then

signed off, and it is worth remembering what paperwork we are likely to get tonight, if it is tonight and may slip into tomorrow. it will be the worst brawl agreement, the latest draft of that, 500 pages plus of the divorce terms, accompanied by an outline of the political declaration of the shape of the future relationship, so a sort of preview summary of the agreement will be done, sketching out the future relationship, and i am told there might be a document which we arejoint am told there might be a document which we are joint report that frames the whole package, so a lot of paperwork coming our way or perhaps not if the cabinet doesn‘t do it the thumbs up in london, and thatis do it the thumbs up in london, and that is hilarious because the ambassadors are sat in a room with no phones, no assistance and no information from london. they are waiting like all the rest of us are. back to him later. mps will be looking closely at how the draft agreement might affect the food and fishing industries after brexit. i‘m joined by bertie armstrong, from the scottish fisherman‘s federation, and ian wright,

from the food and drink federation. ifi if i could start with you, the prime minister saying this is as leaving the eu and leaving the fisheries policy. are you comfortable with what you had to say today? wear co mforta ble what you had to say today? wear comfortable we are leaving the common fisheries policy. we would like some clarity as to how that is interpreted. we would like an allied sovereignty over our fishing grounds, some of the best fishing grounds, some of the best fishing grounds in the world. that is the right thing for the maritime nation sitting right in the middle of the best fishing grounds in the world to do, so to is the practical details and the interpretation of the words. the clock is ticking. they cabinet agrees, it comes to parliament tomorrow, and on the face of it it is either this is the deal or no deal, would you be sufficiently co mforta ble

deal, would you be sufficiently comfortable with what you have heard so far to accept its? we haven't seen the text but we do know that the secretary of state for scotland than the number of mps wrote to the prime minister today seeking some clarity. the contents of that letter of exactly what we have been seeing for the last two years. an allied sovereignty, taking back control of our waters. anything less than the demands in the letter, that is not enough. anything less than that frankly would make no deal a better option. red lines for you? i think this is better than no deal because no deal is catastrophic for the food and drink industry. it would be u nalloyed and drink industry. it would be unalloyed chaos to use your words. but we don't have enough clarity on this and one of the concerns i have is that our members will have to go on planning for no deal right the way through christmas, right into the new year, because it is the prudent thing to do. doing that means they are incurring huge costs

which have to be passed on at some point. but the prime minister says tomorrow this is the deal and that is voted for in parliament, doesn‘t that remove the uncertainty and you can that remove the uncertainty and you ca n start that remove the uncertainty and you can start to work on the six months, one yearfrom can start to work on the six months, one year from now. can start to work on the six months, one yearfrom now. i don‘t think can start to work on the six months, one year from now. i don‘t think we can be absolutely certain given all the twists and turns over the last two and a half years until the worst brawl bell has got royal assent.” don't think that would be prudent. this is a step in the right direction. are you saying a deal at any price, that is where we are that? the government has done a good job in lowering expectations to source subterranean level about any type of paper that seems to move us forward will be welcome. this only moves the uncertainty about what our trading relationship with our biggest trading partner will be 21 months from now, and devon how slow the negotiations have been, you would put a lot of money on that being the point where areas of the

lot of the key issue is. the issue of the customs union, clearly the two words may not appear in this d raft, two words may not appear in this draft, but we do you think we will be left. where would your industry be left. where would your industry be left. where would your industry be left under what we think we know what the moment? seafood, as ian would attest, is a global product. we stand, if we get the opportunity the command oversees would give us, to step up to be a real player on the world stage. that would be enough opportunity there, plenty of challenges, as ian pointed out, enough opportunity for us to progress, so we see a bright future. if we end up with wto tariffs, that isa if we end up with wto tariffs, that is a paper prepared by the scottish government that indicates even with the bto tariffs there would be a premium of some £250,000 and 5000

jobs, so we want to look forward to the future to meet all these challenges that ian mentions but we see a bright future. what am i right in getting the sense that you give what you have heard so far a cautious welcome? it is the details you are waiting to hear, but what the prime minister said in parliament today, it seemed to give you what you want to? that gives us some comfort but the contents of the c clarity and we haven‘t seen the document or the wording, so it is that clarity we are looking for, and it is pretty easy stuff. another lloyd sovereignty overseas would a lwa ys lloyd sovereignty overseas would always the see of opportunity and give us the opportunity of doing that. i have been speaking of politicians all afternoon. is there a frustration with the fact this is a frustration with the fact this is a political decision now, we are concentrating on the politics of this, where everybody else, the two of you, your industries, you‘re just

having to wait? yes, and that has been the problem all along. the fact that it been the problem all along. the fact thatitis been the problem all along. the fact that it is very late in this process. we have been at this for two and a half years but it seems much longer. it is getting to the point now where we will not be ready for almost any of the options that may arrive, so businesses are having to scramble, they are having to think about all sorts of remote possibilities. this is a chink of light, but some of the possibilities that remain, we simply don't know what the trading relationship with biggest partner, are fluid comes from or via the eu, that is a really serious worry for all of us. a chink of light, a long tunnel, visit the train coming at us? the reaction from our european colleagues is exactly what to did expect. the bargain ofa exactly what to did expect. the bargain of a lifetime per 45 years and they would like to continue. that cannot be allowed to happen and would be the wrong thing for us to

do. thank you both forjoining us. tom is continuing to show us it‘s mild side, certainly in the short term. —— autumn. rain and blustery winds for northern ireland and western fringes of scotland. north eastern parts of scotland seeing the best of temperatures. 17 celsius. this evening, dry for a time. low cloud, mist and fog for the southern pa rt cloud, mist and fog for the southern part of the uk. rain in northern ireland and western parts of scotland. mist and low cloud may be an issue first thing tomorrow morning. it may linger for some areas and the rain may become more persistent. it was still be mild.

temperatures tomorrow, the highest focused in the south—east of the country. we are looking at highs here of 16 or 17 celsius. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. the prime minister is holding an emergency meeting of her cabinet at downing street as she seeks their backing for the draft agreement which she says will deliver on brexit. downing street are expected to make an announcement on progress. we will take back control of our money, laws and borders. we will deliver brexit and the united kingdom is leaving the european union on the 29th of march 2019. does the prime minister still intend to put a false choice to parliament between her botched deal or no deal? as the cabinet meeting gets under way over the draft agreement — there‘s speculation some ministers could resign over the issue — elsewhere others criticise mrs may saying it won‘t work.

i understand the desire to take the thing off the table and do a deal at any thing off the table and do a deal at a ny cost. thing off the table and do a deal at any cost. this will not work. it will not satisfy the people who want to break free from europe and will not satisfy the people like me who wa nt to not satisfy the people like me who want to remain. the government is to cut the maximum stake on fixed odd betting terminals from a hundred pounds to two pounds. the changes will come into effect from april. dozens of people are still unaccounted after california‘s worst wildfires in history, as the death toll rises to 50. prince charles is celebrating his 70th birthday today. theresa may led tributes to the prince of wales praising his total commitment to public service. sport now on afternoon live with catherine. hello, catherine. and you very much.

good afternoon. the former chelsea and leicester boss claudio ranieri is the new manager of fulham. that‘s after they became the first premier league club this season to dismiss their manager — slavisa jokanovic was sacked this morning with the club bottom of the table. 0ur football reporter is simon stone, he says it was only a matter of time before fulham‘s owner took action. they spent £100 million. it was a record for a newly promoted team in the summer. nine games without a win in the premier league. they have lost their last six. they are at the bottom of the table. they have a game after the international break against southampton, who are only three points better off than them. the owner thought he had to do something. yes, it is an air of inevitability about this one. a surprise to who they have brought in. they have moved quickly, haven‘t they? i think they are patting themselves on the back about the

speed and the fact it was not leaked. yes, ranieri is the man who will forever be known that the man who delivered that premier league title to leicester. that amazing title. within nine months of that, he had been sacked. he had a less than an impressive time in france. he has got to hit the ground running and deliver them to safety. england‘s jadon sancho says more young players should follow his lead and play football abroad. he‘s at borussia dortmund in germany‘s bundesliga — the team he left manchester city for last year. the 18—year—old‘s done so well there that he‘s expected to make his first start for england at wembley tomorrow, and says that moving away from the premier league has given him new opportunities. personally i think if you feel you‘re ready, then i think you should take a shot at it, you know? just try something different. obviously if english clubs aren‘t giving you a chance, then abroad is always an option and they‘re always open to see your ability, and hopefully if you‘re good enough, you get your chance. that‘s how i felt. england posted a decent score

on the first day of the second test against sri lanka. they were in a bit of trouble earlier this morning, giving away some easy wickets. but a half—century from sam curran gave them a boost. england all out for 285, sri lanka 26 for! in reply — jack leach with the wicket. and former england bowler ryan sidebottom says the visitors are on top. i think they will be really pleased with the score. it is a serious scholar. you look tonight, bowling the last six to eight overs, it was spinning profoundly. jack leach was getting a spin. that delivery is a serious delivery. to tennis now and novak djokovic has beaten alexander zverev in straight sets at the atp tour finals in london this afternoon. the world number one won in straight sets 6—4, 6—1 to take a big step towards the semi—finals. djokovic is looking for a first atp finals title since 2015 — he will reach the last four ifjohn isner beats

marin cilic tonight. (pres) former world number two agnieska radwanska has annoucned her her retirement from tennis. she reached the wimbledon final in 2012 but was beaten by serena williams — she says at the age of 29, and after 13 years of competitve tennis — her body can‘t live up to her expectations, and she can‘t play or train the way she used to. scotland have made six changes for their test against south africa at murrayfield this weekend. head coach gregor townsend has brought hquones back into the side at centre — even though his performance was criticised after the loss to wales earlier this month. prop gordon reid and lock jonny gray will also start. let‘s have a final look at that brilliant snowboarding. it‘s the most watched video on the bbc sport webiste this morning. this is austrian anna gasser landing

what‘s known as a cab triple 12—60 — which is three and a half full rotations. she‘s the first women to ever land the trick. she‘s the first foughti she‘s the first fought for which was destroyed by a wildfire last week. 50 people are now known to have died in the state‘s deadliest wildfires but forensic teams are searching for more victims. firefighters say they‘ve now contained the worst of the fires but they don‘t expect to get them fully under control until the end of the month. 0ur correspondent dave lee sent this report from california. this devastating fire has now scorched indiscriminately through approximately 200 square miles of northern california. 0n the ground in the worst—hit town, called paradise, search teams are using advanced forensic

techniques to find and eventually identify the dead. some trapped in their homes, some not able to escape quickly enough. in the south of the state, a separate blaze has destroyed more than 400 structures, but firefighters there at least feel they‘re beginning to see some progress. this is how it looked to those trying to escape the inferno in paradise, in what is now the deadliest blaze in california‘s history. this footage was filmed by a 16—year—old who was fleeing with his mother. that was six days ago. now the community is trying to start the rebuilding process, including where its children will now go to school. students from paradise high were welcomed into a school in the nearby town of chico. it was the first time many had seen their classmates since the fire. it‘s tough. all of us have lost our homes, and our community‘s been wiped out. i was driving home to try and evacuate, get things and i got about a quarter mile from my house

and there was just fires erupting everywhere, so my husband called me and just said, "wherever you are, turn around and get out of there." students from paradise high school may not have any more school buildings to call their own but they‘re meeting here in order to make sure their school community stays very much intact. teachers have promised the class of 2019 that they will graduate together. dave lee, bbc news, in northern california. prince charles is celebrating his 70th birthday today. gun salutes were fired before a party held at the queen at buckingham palace. the government has made a u—turn

over the timing of a cut to maximum stake on fixed—odds betting terminals, following a revolt that saw a minister quit. sports minister tracey crouch resigned after the chancellor said plans to cut maximum stake from £100 to £2 had been pushed back by six months, after talks with the betting industry. but following pressure from mps, the prime minister today confirmed the cut will now take place in april as originally planned. earlier, tracey crouch told afternoon live that "a collective voice of dismay" had forced the government to act. let‘s return to westminster and simon mccoy can bring us up to date with what‘s happening on this crucial day in the brexit process. it is quite an atmosphere. thank you very much. welcome back to westminster. the cabinet are more than two and a half hours through what is expected to be a three—hour meeting, discussing that draft agreement. i‘mjoined now byjohn longworth —

he is the former director—general of british chambers of commerce — who backed leave in the referendum — he‘s now co—chairman of the pressure group leave means leave. do you agree with tony blair who says this is not brexit, this is not leaving the european union?” says this is not brexit, this is not leaving the european union? i think tony blair agrees with us, this is the worst deal in history. it is not fulfil the brexit vote in 2016 and it will effectively hamper any of the benefits of brexit flowing to the benefits of brexit flowing to the economy and will make britain and effective colony of the european union. the prime minister says we are leaving the european union, we are leaving the european union, we are leaving the agricultural policy, leaving the fisheries, getting control back, she says. she is repeating this the actions and the deals that she does do not reflect what she is saying. the fact that the matter is, this deal will cause us to be trapped in the customs union, we will not be able to make

trade deals around the world, be in control of our tax policy. our regulations will be controlled by brussels without any say. we will pay £39 billion for the privilege of getting nothing. £600 for every man, woman and child in the uk. a bad deal, that number states, is what you‘re saying. is a note deal better? it is better, no deal, no problem. it is the best deal now. it will give us complete freedom to make deals around the world. we will not pay the £39 billion. we can boost the economy instead, cutting tax, employing more nurses, doctors and teachers. we will then have the freedom to have our own laws and get our fisheries back. you know with your business head on, business want certainty. i have heard the views expressed today that at least we now have an idea, we know roughly what the planners. that gives us a sense

of what we can deal and how we deal with this. the sort of businesses that are saying that our multinationals who do not really ca re multinationals who do not really care about what the uk does, what they want is to gain the system for themselves. what will happen is we will have uncertainty. who are you talking about? i will come back to that. we will be trapped in the customs union for two years. if we elect now to go for world trade towers in march next year, we will have complete certainty. the business will be able to appear. —— world trade terms. nissan which is french owned, we have got siemens coming up saying this sort of things. they are all franco german companies that are following the interests of france and germany. when you talk about world trade terms and that is a good deal, no one else had this gap that we are going to have. we do not have those

trade terms at the moment so what happens on day one? that is com pletely happens on day one? that is completely on. we trade mainly on world trade terms. most of our exports are on world trade terms rules. it is only the trade with the eu is not, the majority of trade is an world trade terms. it happens freely and profitably. the uk can tra nsfer to freely and profitably. the uk can transfer to those rules easily. we can reduce tariffs and reduce the cost of food and the supermarkets will go down. john, good to talk to you. thank you very much. there is something going on in downing street. something going on in the sense that things have been delayed. we understand the cabinet is running late. there was never any set time for this. it started at 2pm. we were expecting two or three hours but these things i never set in stone.

it does seem they are not making as much progress as quickly as they had hoped. everyone has a lot to say. it does not look likely to finish by 5pm. it could be six o‘clock or later. reports that there would be a statement from the prime minister, that may not be as quickly as would have thought. this does not tell as much apart from the is it lawful lot of detail that people want to go through. people want clarification and she was clearly going around the table allowing everyone to speak. 0ne cabinet minister says she always does that. it is a huge moment in this brexit process and they want to get it right. and, vicky, just hearing from tony layer earlier —— tony player earlier. if it does end up tony player earlier. if it does end up in parliament, this is going to bea up in parliament, this is going to be a straight choice between a deal

and eight no deal, that is going to be at. i think this will also be the big choice that mps have to make if it gets that far if cabinet to give the backing to theresa may tonight, then at some point it will go to parliament, probably in early december. what is the alternative? this is a disputed issue. the prime minister has always said it will be her deal that she has worked to negotiate, or the other option is no deal at all. there are many who think that is not the case. they feel they can force another referendum. some think they would be the option of staying in the european economic area, they could ta ke european economic area, they could take control of the process to avoid the note deal scenario. there is not a majority for that in parliament. —— note deal scenario. before that, the cabinet will have to sanction

all of that. they are looking for a lot of clarification and from the attorney general. thank you for that. i‘m joined now by the broadcaster and journalist michael cockerell — who has made a number of behind the scene documentary films about british politics. i bet you wish you had a camera on that cabinet meeting. have you ever known a cabinet meeting to be as crucial as this one? one of the interesting things it is a cabinet meeting. if you went back to the suez crisis, the prime minister did it in secret. the planned secretly against the egyptians with the israelis and the french to invade jet and seize back the suez canal. did not tell his cabinet. he did not only not tell his cabinet, he told

the cabinet secretary to destroy the documents and burn them. sometimes a prime minister does not use the cabinet in that way. mrs that show herself famously said, when i am prime minister, i would not have time to have serious disagreements. it would just be me saying my handbag and getting my own way. that is what her cabinet meetings often wear. in the end, her own cabinet turned on her and one by one they tripped in and told her that she was finished and she should not run in a leadership election for a second time. she said it was treachery with a smile on its face. what does theresa may face today? she needs their support. clearly she is aware of the unhappiness individually they have because she has spoken to them

in the last 24 hours individually. what would you assess the mood is like at the moment? the mood is extraordinary and comfortable. especially for people who want to leave, people who support brexit. do they now support the cabinet, the deal which mrs may has got, which a number of people are saying is worse than no deal and many are seeing is worse for people who want to leave than staying in the european union. there will be questions that are putting on these people who want to leave. if you imagine if there is a vote on it, when they are queueing up vote on it, when they are queueing up in the division lobbies and they see their friends and allies and they have gone into support the government, they may say, which lobby are you going in? come on. it is not a secret vote when you vote in the votes, there is a list of who

voted in what way. they cannot cover up. this is raw politics, isn't it? it is raw politics. it is what a cabinet should be for. tony blair gave us an idea, he would have small groups of ministers deciding things ona groups of ministers deciding things on a sofa, a sofa government rather than a cabinet government. thank you very much. susannah will be bringing us the business news in just susannah will be bringing us the business news injust a moment. now offer the headlines... the prime minister is holding an emergency meeting of her cabinet at downing street as she seeks their backing for the draft agreement which she says will deliver on brexit. as the cabinet meeting gets underway over the draft agreement — it‘s believed it could it could last for another half an

hour or so. dozens of people are still unaccounted after california‘s worst wildfires in history, as the death toll rises to 50. thank you. just keeping up—to—date with all of the developments on that brexit story. let‘s go back to westminster where arlene foster of the dup is giving a news conference. let‘s listen in. the dup is giving a news conference. let's listen in. he recognises that. we went to see the text for ourselves. we will make our own judgments and we will not be led by anyone else. we will not be led by the irish government, who have sought to be the aggressor people in the process and not looking for a solution. that is what is so frustrating, people looked for a pragmatic solution in relation to

the irish border, there were solutions out there. unfortunately that was not the attitude that came from the irish government ordered the european union. will you vote against it? will you have a note deal or perhaps a jeremy corbyn government? we looked to the prime minister on the 1st of november is setting out the position. if she decides to go against herself, because on many, many occasions she has stood on this very place and said she will not break up the united kingdom, there will be no difference between northern ireland and the rest of the united kingdom, she goes against all of that, there will be consequences. we could not as unionists support a deal that broke up the united kingdom. will you be hoping for the conservative party to change the leader? that is not what i said at. i am looking

forward to meeting the prime minister later on today and hopefully we will see the text and get some clarity in relation to these matters. if you knew back in 2016 what you knew now, would you have supported brexit? of course. there are huge opportunities out there. that is what is so frustratingly this has become a negative process instead of positive. i was at a meeting today about innovation in agriculture and what that could mean outside of the european union. because of all of the noise around leaving the european union, we‘re not talking about the advantages. i wish, and i know my colleagues wish, though we could spend more time doing that. that is arlene foster of the dup, who played a critical role in propping up the conservative government. she says she‘s hoping to meet the conservative prime minister

later tonight. she is also making it clear she could not support any deal that would break up the united kingdom. more to come about the cabinet meeting taking place at westminster. that is take a look at the markets. susannah is here with us. yesterday we saw the month highs, when it seemed a breakthrough had been made between the uk and the eu. this draft agreement is before cabinet, we do not know whether they will agree. the stirling did dip back at lunchtime and it has risen recently. it is still fluctuating. we have had numbers out today, showing price rises are still pretty steady. the same as we saw the previous month. the consumer prices index being at 2.4%. brexit is the elephant in the room as far as

inflation is concerned. it could mean prices could be more expensive for goods imported into the uk. the former director general of the british chamber of commerce spoke to simon earlier and he thought under some rules, prices could be cheaper for some things. lots of dissenting views on exactly what the impact could be. let‘s talk first of all about the impact on all of this discussion on the financial markets today. how do you think investors are reacting? think it is interesting. it depends what you trade. if you are trying to make money out of currency, days like this are a gift because as you said, sterling has been going up and down throughout the day. actually, given where we are in the scenario, that

will carry on into the middle of next week before we get a clearer idea as to how the agreement is going to be accepted by the cabinet and the wider mps and parliament. that is extraordinary. markets have shrugged it off generally and looked to independent companies and how they are performing. the inflation number at 2.4% is pretty good. it is a notch lower than the expectation, 2.596. it depends on what you are trading. interesting, that inflation number. it seems rises in fuel costs and energy... we have seen oilfall off, haven‘t we? that is likely to change next month, isn‘t it? off, haven‘t we? that is likely to change next month, isn't it?” off, haven‘t we? that is likely to change next month, isn't it? i think it is. we are looking at a mild winter so far as well, things like that will end up using less energy and those things feed through to the inflation numbers and the costs of living numbers. longer term, we do

not really know what the cost of brexit is going to be to the individual household. john may well be right, it may well be a benefit. 0ther be right, it may well be a benefit. other parts of the economy may see food prices will have two increased. it isa food prices will have two increased. it is a difficult one to figure out. in btl, problems continuing to house of fraser because it seems that agreements have not been made with landlords. this seems like it is a drip, drip, drip for house of fraser. mike ashley lames it on the landlords. we do feel between now and christmas, things are going to be difficult. and also for the whole high street. thank you very much for talking to us. a quick look at how things are happening on the financial market. the footsie dipped

into the negative territory. that is all the business news from me. we will be keeping a close eye on all of these developments. we will also be keeping an eye on downing street. that cabinet meeting has been going on for three hours. we have been hearing it could continue to go on for a while yet. let‘s pause and catch up on the weather. hello. autumn is continuing to show us it‘s mild side, certainly in the short—term. we are under the influence of mild air working its way up from the south west. blustery winds for northern ireland and western scotland. north eastern parts of scotland seeing the best of

the temperatures. 17 celsius today. this evening, dry for a time. we drag in low cloud, mist and fog through the southern part of the uk. more rain for northern ireland and western fringes of scotland. mist and low cloud may be an issue tomorrow morning. it may lingerfor a real and the rain maybe, persistent for northern ireland. it will still be mild. the highest temperatures in the south—east of the country. 16 or 17 celsius here. welcome to this bbc news special —

we‘re at westminster — where the cabinet has been meeting to give its verdict — on theresa may‘s brexit plan. the prime minister — chairing the most important cabinet meeting of her premiership — had already told mps that the deal on the table was the best one available. as ministers arrived for the meeting they were reflecting on the prime minister‘s assurances in the commons at question time. we will take back control of our money, laws and borders. we will deliver brexit and the united kingdom is leaving the european union on the 29th of march 2019. does the prime minister still intend to put a false choice to parliament between her botched deal or no deal?