hello and welcome to this bbc news special with me, christian fraser in westminster and ros atkins in brussels. our top story: in the last hour, theresa may says after a long, detailed and impassioned debate, her ministers have agreed to back the draft brexit agreement. cabinet ministers spent five hours studying the details of the draft agreement, with what was said to be difficult choices. the choices before us were difficult, particularly in relation to the northern ireland backstop, but the collective decision of cabinet was that the government should agree the draft withdrawal agreement and the outlined political declaration. here in brussels... eu ambassadors earlier were left waiting for hours to get their first sight of the document. and here it is — in the past couple of minutes, finally, after years of negotiation, the much anticipated withdrawal

agreement has been published. this is the scene live in brussels, expecting michel barnier to speak any moment. they are very good evening. a very good evening. it has been a day where europe has been waiting and watching, watching the black door at downing street and waiting for some news inside the cabinet. it was a three—hour meeting originally on paper but went way overscheduled. only five and a bit hours before we got word from inside number 10 that the cabinet, for all their misgivings, and there are misgivings about the text that has been put

before them, they have approved it, and so now it will go to the house of commons. that sets in train a process over the next few days. tomorrow, the prime minister will go to the hows of commons to make a statement on what she has been able to negotiate with the eu, but this evening, and in the next hour, we are expecting to hear from michel barnier, the european commission negotiator, who will tell us what the situation is from his side, the document which has now been published will be given to the 27 ambassadors of the eu countries, and at some point in the next 2a hours, the eu leaders will see it as well. in the last hour, theresa may has come out onto the steps of downing street to tell us what went on this evening in the locked room with the cabinet, and this is what she had to say. the cabinet has just had a long, detailed and impassioned debate on the draft withdrawal agreement and the outline political declaration on our future relationship with the european union. these documents were the result of thousands of hours of hard negotiations by uk officials and many meetings which i and other ministers held with

our eu counterparts. i firmly believe that the draft withdrawal agreement is the best that can be negotiated. it was for the cabinet to decide whether to move on in the talks. the choices before us were difficult, particularly in relation to the northern ireland backstop. but the collective decision of the cabinet was that the government should agree the draft withdrawal agreement and the outline political declaration. this is a decisive step which enables us to move on and finalise the deal in the days ahead. these decisions were not taken lightly but i believe it is a decision that is firmly in the national interest. when you strip away the detail, the choice for us is clear, this deal which delivers on the vote of the referendum which brings back control of our money, laws and borders, ends free movement, protectsjob security and our union or leave with no deal

or no brexit at all. i know there will be difficult days ahead. this is a decision which will come under intense scrutiny and that is entirely as it should be and entirely understandable. but the choice was, this deal which enables us to take back control and to build a brighter future for our country or going back to square one with more division, more uncertainty and a failure to deliver on the referendum. it is myjob as prime minister to explain the decisions... theresa may speaking earlier. and now we will crusty michel barnier. we will cross to michel barnier.

translation: of the united kingdom... the commented plan of the joint political declaration on the framework for our future relationship, and all that is the result of very intense negotiations, which started 17 months ago. and i would like to thank our two teams, the uk team and the team that has been working with me, for their commitment and hard work, and personally, i would like to say that it is an honour and a privilege to have been part of a quite exceptional team here. now, this agreement is decisive, a crucial step in concluding these

negotiations. it is also the achievement of a methodology of negotiation that has been carried out in transparency from the word 90, out in transparency from the word go, and fully in respect of our respective mandates. now, this draft withdrawal agreement, ladies and gentlemen, includes 185 articles, three protocols, and a series of annexes. this is the draft in my hand here. i have a draft agreement between the united kingdom and the european union. there are no more colours and here, you will notice. there are no more bits in green, like there were before. white is the new green, no? white is the new green, so new green, no? white is the new green, so to speak. and i certainly hope that each and everyone of you will take some time, some time to

read calmly and closely, to read the whole of the text. this is a very specific and very detailed document, as you would expect from an international agreement. at such an important time, of bringing legal certainty to all of those, and there are very many of them, to all those people and on all the subjects where we have to manage the consequences of brexit, and i'd likejust to mention five of those particular areas. first of all, citizen ‘s rights. citizen's right have always been our common priority. of course, the priority of the european parliament and member states as well. european citizens who live in the uk, but also, uk citizens who live in a european union country,

established before the transition period, will be able to live their lives as before in their country of residence. they will be able to live in their country of residence, to study there, to work there, to receive benefits there, or to be joined by their families there, throughout their lifetime. and then there is a financial settlement. we have agreed that the financial commitments entered into amongst the 28th the respected amongst the 28. all those financial commitments together, we wanted to reassure all those who have projects, the regions, supported by the european budget in the european union, and of course, in the united kingdom. and my third point, there are many other subjects, of course, on which we have had to reach an agreement, and

on which we have reached solutions to organise in each sector this orderly withdrawal. for example, those questions related to euratom, for example, the protection of existing intellectual property rights. the 3000 geographical indications, or some1 rights. the 3000 geographical indications, orsome1 million trademarks, drawings or community models, and then, of course, there is the use of an protection of personal data exchanged before the end of the transition period. but one fourth major area where i think we found a good solution is the governance of the withdrawal agreement. it is important for us, and it is important for the united kingdom, that this agreement be well implemented. it is all about the credibility of the agreement itself.

like for any international agreement, this draft agreement creates a framework with a first stage of political resolution for the disputes, and if there is persistent disagreement, the resolution of those conflicts by an arbitration panel, and where the disagreement concerns interpretation of the union law and european union law appears everywhere in the agreement, the court ofjustice of the european union will continue to play its role. and the fifth point we have agreed on a transition period. the united kingdom will leave the european union, as the united kingdom wished, and leave all the institutions, on march 20 nine, 2019. but for a period of 21 months from march until december 2020, we

have agreed to preserve the current situation with respect to the internal market, with respect to the currency union, and with respect to european policies and all the rights and obligations that go along with that. this will enable all the citizens, but also administrations, and also business and in particular, small and medium—sized undertakings, to prepare, and to adapt, but to adaptjust to prepare, and to adapt, but to adapt just the once to prepare, and to adapt, but to adaptjust the once to change. before the implantation of future relationship. we also have the possibility of extending this once for a limited period byjoint agreement. ladies and gentlemen, our agreement. ladies and gentlemen, our agreement also includes three protocols. one of those protocols is on gibraltar. that creates the basis for a cooperation on a series of subjects, the rights of citizens,

taxation, tobacco, the environment, fisheries, but also, police and customs cooperation. the gibraltar protocol is part of a broader package of bilateral agreements between spain and the united kingdom, which relate to gibraltar. i would like to take this opportunity to thank the two governments for that bilateral work. the second protocol relates to cyprus and the sovereign bases in cyprus. this enables the continuity of the existing agreement in and around these bases between cyprus and the united kingdom, in particular to enable the 11,000 cypriots citizens established on territories under british sovereignty to an able to live as

they do today. —— to enable them to live as they do today. the third protocol concerns ireland and northern ireland. we have now found the solution together with the uk to avoid a hard border on the island of ireland. first, we will use our best endeavours to solve this issue for the long—term through a future agreement. if we are not ready by july 2020, we could generally consider extending the transition to provide for more time, only if at the end of the transition, extended or not, we are still not there, with a future agreement, with the backstop solution that we agreed to date kick in. this backstop solution has evolved considerably from the

original eu proposalfrom february this year. over the last few weeks, we have worked with the uk on the basis of their proposal. in the backstop scenario, we agreed to create an eu — uk single customs territory. northern ireland will therefore remain in this same customs territory as the rest of the uk. in addition, northern ireland would remain aligned to those rules of the single market that are essential for avoiding of the single market that are essentialfor avoiding a of the single market that are essential for avoiding a hard border. this concerns agricultural goods as well as whole products. the uk would apply the eu's customs code in northern ireland. it would allow northern irish businesses to bring

goods into the single market without restrictions, which is essential to avoid the hard border. the text of the protocol also make s clear that the protocol also make s clear that the northern irish economy retains market accessed through the rest of the uk, and at the uk's request, northern ireland will apply all the rules of the single market. ladies and gentlemen, it is in the interest of the economy of northern ireland and ireland. this single eu— uk customs territory would mean that uk goods get tariffs and quota free access to the eu 27 market. for competition to be open and fair in

such a single customs territory, we had agreed provisions on state aid, competition, taxation, social and environmental standards. this will agree that both eu and uk manufacturing will compete on a level playing field. an essential condition for the single customs territory to cover agricultural products will be to agreed between the union and uk on access to waters and fishing properties. as a rule, the backstop shows that we have been able to find common ground and meet our common objectives. number one, to protect the good friday agreement in all its time —— in all its time

mentions. number two, to preserve the integrity of the eu ‘s single markets, and ireland's place in it. three, to respect the uk's territory and constitutional order. four, to protect the common area between ireland and the uk. finally, let me repeat, this backstop is not meant to be used. our objective remains to reach a new agreement between the eu and the uk before the end of the transition. and this leads me to my final point, which relates to the framework for the future relationship, which is pa rt the future relationship, which is part of the sort of annotated outline which we are publishing at the same time. we are preparing, and we will be ready to start that negotiation at the very day after

the united kingdom withdraws from the united kingdom withdraws from the european union on the 30th of march, 2019. what we have today is an outline of a political statement, and we are drawing the basis for an ambitious partnership, which we want, which is a free trade area, based on regulatory and customs cooperation, in depth and with a level playing field. our objective is to abolish customs duties" is for all goods —— and quotas for all goods based on the single customs territory agreement. of course, as the european council gave me a mandate, that will be the condition ofa mandate, that will be the condition of a new agreement on fisheries. then there will be sectoral agreements which are needed and

expected in transport and energy. third, cooperation on internal security, police and judicial cooperation, and of course, and this is an important point for the whole of europe, in foreign policy and external security and defence. of course, at this stage, as i said, it is an annotated outline, the basis ofa is an annotated outline, the basis of a plan. we are going to start working with the 27 member states, andi working with the 27 member states, and i will start tomorrow with the european parliament, on this chart political declaration —— draft political declaration —— draft political declaration, with the objective being, with the united kingdom, to finalise the declaration in order to present it to the european council. ladies and gentlemen, as you know, we have reached a crucial stage, an important moment in this extraordinary negotiation, which we

entered into at the request of the united kingdom. there is still a lot of work. i know that the path is still long and may be difficult to agree an orderly withdrawal, and beyond an orderly withdrawal, and orderly separation, to build something, to build an ambitious and sustainable partnership with the united kingdom. there is still work to be done here in this house under the authority of the president jean—claude juncker and with the couege jean—claude juncker and with the college of commissioners, and with all the commissioners' department, all the commissioners' department, all of whom i want to thank for their work, and then over the road with the president donald tusk and his teams, the austrian presidency, and all the different presidencies which have in the past, and in the future, and a27 governments, who have always shown me their trust. ——

the 27 governments. and of course, not least, mr their holster, the 27 governments. and of course, not least, mrtheir holster, of the 27 governments. and of course, not least, mr their holster, of the european parliament, and all of the members of the european steering group, who have always shown their trust and their vigilance in me. —— mr verhofstadt. i have always worked with my team, in the name of the european institutions, and i will continue to work in precisely the same way, methodically, and in the same way, methodically, and in the same respect, the same very great respect, that i have for the united kingdom. this negotiation has never been, in my mind, and neverwill be, one against the other. never. i have a lwa ys one against the other. never. i have always said that we are negotiating with the united kingdom, not against the united kingdom, and in respect of their sovereign choice, the choice they made to leave the

european union, and a night, as i said, it is a crucial step towards this orderly withdrawal, and in that step is a condition, the very basis for the trust which we need in negotiating a new partnership. the united kingdom will remain our friend, our partner, and our ally. theresa may this evening stated that we have taken a decisive step, a decisive step. and to night, within my own responsibilities, as the negotiator for the european union, ifi negotiator for the european union, if i believe that we have made decisive progress... as a european union negotiator, i consider that we have made decisive progress. we can now switch to your questions.

i will start with you. translation: i would like to ask about the negotiation of the future relationship. two questions. you have said just now you will continue to work. do you mean that you yourself are going to negotiate this future relationship, which is not the withdrawal agreement any more, but it is the next step? and further, will you continue to leave these negotiations, and to have more specific questions about business initiations and the objective, the time is less than two years after the end of the transition period. we haven't said, unless i'm mistaken, how long the transition period could last for in addition. so are you hopeful that the agreement can be concluded soon enough, or do you think this withdrawal agreement and

the outline we have today is sufficient basis for us to feel that agreement can be negotiated more quickly than other agreements in the past? translation: your last sentence provides part of the answer, in fa ct. provides part of the answer, in fact. i said that these were exceptional, extraordinary negotiations with a country to which we are very close. this is, after all, an ecosystem, the single market, which we have built up over the last 41 years. so we haven't a very distant starting point. agreements will constitute the future partnership. i don't think that these agreements will need as much time as we needed for other

trade agreements with countries which were much further away in regulatory terms, in terms of standards, and sometimes, also geographically. secondly, you are right to recall the point about the withdrawal agreement. there is perhaps a basis as regards the back style, but there will be a political declaration, which will be short, but precise, as regards the leaders of the european parliament and what they want. you have the outline of that declaration in this annotated plan. it is a document which is by no means artificial. it is the result of precise benchmarking we have carried out for months now. so i have my mandate, which flows from the marge guidelines of the european council. this is ambitious, and is

also the white paper resulting from the chequers meeting, the useful document on the basis of these two documents we have carried out this benchmarking, and we have found areas of convergence which i outlined earlier. negotiating directors will be drawn up. i mentioned that all the releva nt up. i mentioned that all the relevant commission dgs will be ball. there will be various groups, there will be coordination. —— will be involved. that is why i think it is feasible to construct the essentials for this view in a partnership within this short transition period, because we have got the basis. and my final reply is this: there is only one point which isn't fleshed out in my document

here. that is the time which it may ta ke here. that is the time which it may take for the transition period to be extended by common agreement. so this is an option. there could be an extended transition period, if that is agreed, but we haven't fleshed out that. that will be the next few weeks. use the mike, please. thank you very much. could you tell us thank you very much. could you tell us please what contingency plans or planning you might have up your sleeve if the uk parliament does not approve this deal, so you have a d raft approve this deal, so you have a draft deal now between the negotiators and the two sides, but what happens if the uk parliament votes it down? and if i may also, it says in the joint report that future uk— eu

relationship will be built on the single customs territory provided for in the withdrawal agreement. does this mean that the uk will stay inside some kind of customs union with the eu in the future? thank you. translation: what is written in this draft common declaration, this handmade plan, is the subject of an agreement. you have often heard me say here that i do, of course, along with my team, follow the political discussions in the united kingdom. my discussions in the united kingdom. my daughter has always been open to politicians who wish to express

their views, —— my politicians who wish to express theirviews, —— my door, politicians who wish to express their views, —— my door, who wish to listen to our views. i think that is only what is to be expected. the british discussion is very stimulating, but i will not make any comments. mrs maze said this is the best possible agreement in the current circumstances. —— mrs may. along with the united kingdom, and we have worked on the backstop scenario, which we need in order to avoid their ever being a hard border on the island of ireland, and there have been no tariffs, no quotas, on goods, and indeed, it is legitimate for that proposal to be flanked by a level playing field, that is a

volu nta ry, level playing field, that is a voluntary, deliberate agreements between two partners who respect each other. this agreement offers a basis for future negotiations, each other. this agreement offers a basis forfuture negotiations, and thatis basis forfuture negotiations, and that is in our common interest. wait until the mike comes please. wait until the mike comes pleasem i could ask you as politely as possible could you respond to this point in english that it is completely understood back in the uk that this is now a take it or leave it ideal for uk parliament, is there any possibility of coming back for further negotiation if it is rejected? to the renegotiating team have taken their responsibility, the british government have taken today, this evening it was possibility and

now everybody on both sides have to ta ke now everybody on both sides have to take their response ability. let's move on. but have a continental. translation:, would translation: , would it translation:, would it be a third country from the 29th of march onwards in the transition period? translation: the united kingdom voted in a sovereign fashion and decided to eat leave the european

union, that'll be the case if the ant is yes on the 29th of march. well it depends if we use summertime or british time, anyway on the 29th of march the uk will become a third country and if you read this carefully you will see the conditions set out, the conditions under which organising the orderly withdrawal of united kingdom from the european union. at the same time there are many third countries with which we and they wish to have a closer relation, their third countries in the european economic area which are members, full members of the singles market. and there are

governance relations and the court ofjustice is governance relations and the court of justice is not governance relations and the court ofjustice is not excluded from these governance relations they have with us so yet, uk will be a third country. however, and this is a deep conviction of mine, because i have immense respect for the united kingdom, that is final. we shall remaina kingdom, that is final. we shall remain a brisk, friends, allies and partners. so the whole point of this declaration which i have outlined is this, the government ministers and ambassadors and european parliament and uk have worked on this. this sets out the ways and means of establishing this feature partnership which is in our mutual interest. we have neglected the french press, i'll take a french

question now. translation: first, the 27 have been amazingly united considered all the divisions in the european union in other areas. why have they been so it united, what is the reason and what is your personal feeling, pride is, satisfaction, tiredness? translation: you will have observed this unity, i am at the heart of these negotiations. the unity is genuine, it is robust and it is by

no means artificial and it hasn't come down from heaven. i have had all sorts of contacts with government, european parliament and many other players and throughout these contacts, in 2016, in 2017, i felt that people took what was happening very seriously. brexit vote was a thunderclap and there was a new attitude on the other side of the atlantic, the american administration '5 relationship with the eu had changed and just think also of stability or instability as also of stability or instability as a long list of terrorist attacks

which hit so many european cities in particular and this instability all around the mediterranean and the middle east as well. i could add the exacerbation of natural disasters which are not all natural and consequences of which are not all natural and consequences of climate change. this is what we have observed bitterly so people take this very seriously, they are willing to shoulder the responsible at ease and this is what i have observed among european politicians and that is this there it which they took note of brexit in june 2016. if few days later in the first guidelines the expressed... i was not there yet at the time, i came into nurture this unity. first

of all, i proposed an unconventional method out of total transparency. so immediate revocation of negotiation documents, being available to talk to you and european politicians. and asa to you and european politicians. and as a result my team goes to to the ambassadors and ministers so in real—time, my team and i almost every day report on the state of negotiations and that produces trust and it enhances unity. the words

that there are more collective ownership and that we wanted people to take account of everything that is at stake, there is so much at sta ke. is at stake, there is so much at stake. and the same transparency applies to the european parliament and there is a press conference in strasbourg as well. sol and there is a press conference in strasbourg as well. so i meet ministers, the national parliaments, the trade unions, the employers in each country, there would be any national notification at this stage but ladies and gentlemen, many elements of future relationships whether the legal nature of the agreement, they will require

national ratification, unanimous ratification by 27 national parliaments and perhaps regional parliaments and perhaps regional parliaments to. so we are going to abide by that method because it is the key to trust and unity. and personally, i hope this unity that we have constructed in these negative negotiations can be used as a basis so as to work on a positive agenda which the european union needs. so how do i feel today? well, not self satisfaction, i do not feel smug which have to do with my regret about brexit, there is no value added their but we have done a lot of work, we have done it well which

is why i wish to thank the great team which i have led and other teams to but i feel this is a very important step, it is fundamental and it is a prerequisite to have an agreement on. so michel barnier speaking there about what he sees in this legal text. you might have noticed throughout that, incidentally he was sounding very confident. perhaps more upbeat than he sounded over the past 19 months because his political reputation was resting on the steel as much as theresa may ‘s. he has a mission is to be the future president of the european commission suffer him it was difficult circumstances, this is seen as a success as well. clearly, he sees the perils of the boat here in the british isles of commons, he knows there is still a long road ahead. let me tell you very briefly

what he said about that deal. it is 585 pa g es what he said about that deal. it is 585 pages long. users there was 185 different articles and three protocols relating to cyprus and the uk military bases in cyprus, to gibraltar and also to northern ireland. the document details how they are going to deal with the three issues. citizens' rights, the financial settlement and be tricky issue with bars and islands aye the position of altar where they were in salzburg if you weeks ago on the basis of the uk proposal. he said this is what the uk wanted and he agreed, he used the line which of theresa may, this is the best deal possible. he said it is a decisive moment in the negotiation. interestingly, he was pressed by our europe editor about whether in the future you saw this new uk customs agreement, temporary customs agreement, temporary customs

agreement as a basis for a future trade deal, he would not be drawn on it but earlier theresa may had a lwa ys it but earlier theresa may had always said the customs union and belonging to it was a red line for her. has that position evolved's that'll be part of the debate in the days and weeks ahead. but this is the you can you can see you can see there is no colouring on textile, white is the new green, there is no green and no red and no bits which i left unspoken. the text is there and it is now up to the uk parliament and also the eu parliament and of course the european council to get around the table and to make sure they can agree with this but of course, there are very agree with this but of course, there are very big question marks here within the house of commons and a lot of anger as we have already detected tonight on the brexit site. but go to brussels and get some reaction. well, you notice that

shift in tone from michel barnier, i think all of us watching noticed it. there was a crucial phrase in the middle of that press conference we should emphasise, he talked about decisive process. risotto to eat —— we saw a tweet being soup said that there was decisive process made and there was decisive process made and the summit was going to be called at the summit was going to be called at the end of the month in which the uk and the rest of the eu will come together to finalise the terms of this proposed settlement. but letters also focus on that line which a little bit further. mr barnier talked about reassurance and vulnerable to. as he said, in terms of the backstop we are a long way from the eu's proposal. in terms of

what can happen after the transition period, mr barnier used the term ambitious. i have the europe correspondence with me, it was quite a different tone wasn't a quiz? yes, he said 17 months of work has gone into it, he talked about how much this deal and this agreement was secure rights and secure the immediate future for citizens on both sides, millions of them, visitors and people who rely on it eu money so all these things are tied up in it and that is a message to anyone in the uk who might be thinking about putting this down in parliament. all of this is tied up in that, there is much uncertainty that you can have and so much certainty that this can bring. we have been hearing reactions from not just him at resident macron in france welcoming this, the danish prime minister working on it, a

couple of notes of caution, the dutch and i think the swedish government are saying they need to look at the details on this customs union thing. my ears pricked up at the possibility of extending the transition period and i had a look online and everyone has spotted that extension could be as long as you decide that should be. yes, there is a lot of detail in this, a lot of little things like this could be very big deal some people focus on them so there is a provision in there that the transition period that comes up, where everything stays the same, uk quits the next year if this to goes through but acts as of it is in the eu, this could be extended unilaterally. but interestingly, on the ireland issue that looks like the uk has to get the eu's agreement ever wants to quit any irish backstop arrangement and that is an eu beetle on that

happening and if it does quit, ilic like its provision is that northern ireland stays. a big thing. like its provision is that northern ireland stays. a big thingm like its provision is that northern ireland stays. a big thing. if you have any questions, send them our way and we will try to get you a nswe rs way and we will try to get you answers as we try to undertake what we have been learning in the last couple of hours. as you all know the irish border has been the single biggest obstacle to the still getting done, michel barnier have said that the eu and the uk have found accommodation. were joined said that the eu and the uk have found accommodation. werejoined by our political editor —— the political editor at the irish independent. will what are you seeing in this agreement? we have beenin seeing in this agreement? we have been in this unusual agreement where it is the opposite westminster weather has been so much coming and going, there has been more or less a media blackout from the parish government. the cabinet met this morning and they had their mobile

phones and ipad taken off them in case they weren't maybe texted —— tempted to text anyone on the outside. we will expect to hear from her when she arrives and some other people but the message will be positive. they will be happy when these negotiations start, more or less the day after the referendum in due 2016, the objective of the irish government was to get some sort of guarantee that there could not would not be a hard border and the three words in that 500 page document, just three words is what the irish will focus on tonight and that is northern ireland will effectively stay in the customs union unless another deal is agreed. now, it is not necessary for every national parliaments within the eu to vote on this. we know of course the british parliament will vote on it but today

we also learnt that the irish government will put this to a parliamentary vote, what was your reading of this decision? it is interesting and quite unusual to be honest but i think it is a strategic ploy by the government here because there has been so much fighting within uk politics on this and in when dismissed their document having a meaningful vote —— westminster. i think the message that it will send out is that irish politics is largely united, you will get the government party, you'll get the main opposition party, you'll get sinn fein, he they are likely to vote in favour of this deal and that is the idea of the government have your. on display of the eu unity that has been in dublin on this particular issue. thank you. joining

me here in brussels as someone from the centre of european reform. thank you. the eu always wanted to mitigate against the damage that brexit could do to its institutions, do you think this deal could do that? well i think it is the best deal that both negotiators could reach given in mind the red lines that theresa may has set. i think that theresa may has set. i think that was set already chewing the michel barnier conference but it is just the first step in a very long journey ahead of us. it is not over, it isjust the beginning. it was interesting to hear michel barnier thing the transition period, the temporary customs arrangement could bea temporary customs arrangement could be a basis for a future trading relationship. about what happens the uk would have to be in line with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds

of european regulations. absolutely, a level playing field is the key. it seems to me that member states have been pushing really hard for this level playing field to be out there. if there was a customs arrangement, if uk was in the union with the eu, but i think we will have to analyse the text very carefully. we will probably need another night or two to get through the nitty—gritty but i think that is one of the options on the table. i am being here in brussels on the days that followed the referendum in 2016, people were saying this result was a genuine threat to the existence of the european union in its current form. now that we are at this stage does that feel slightly exaggerated ?|j think that feel slightly exaggerated?” think people troubled we feel, we all feel the batik. i know this is

not what people want to hear —— the fatigue. written is not the top priority —— britain is not the top priority —— britain is not the top priority for european leaders. they will probablyjust trust michel barnier and two pieces that is significant progress and the best deal we can have a will probably give their political endorsement and move onto more important issues like eurozone crisis, migration crisis. thank you. what has been fascinating in the last couple of hours is to see the appetite that the european union now has in public to get this deal over the line. they are clearly largely happy with what michel barnier has agreed, yes there will be discussions about the nature of the backstop and if there is a level playing field, there will be discussions around issues like fisheries but on high—level, we're

seeing some of the biggest guns in the european union already lining up behind this idea. they want to get it over the line and crucially we are going to give theresa may a lot of public assistance and tried to do that. yes, we're going to cure a lot of excitement and enthusiasm from the main players in this negotiation but i think we have to temper some of that spend that we are getting. let me bring you this line from a cabinet meeting in downing street this evening. you are perhaps have noticed that when theresa may came out onto the steps of downing street she did not use the word that there had to be unanimous backing of this withdrawal agreement and what we are now hearing from sir iain duncan smith is that he says, he spoke to someone in cabinet who puts it that ten or 11 although bbc put at nine, members of the cabinet to not agree

to this deal. he says it was put to a vote but someone else said it was not put to a vote but it certainly wasn't unanimous. week you might think back to what went on post checkers when it wasn't until 48 hours after that borisjohnson checkers when it wasn't until 48 hours after that boris johnson felt that he couldn't support the deal that he couldn't support the deal that she was putting to the european union or the proposal i should say. he walked away from the job so just because there has not been revelations tonight it does not mean that others won't be thinking of it and perhaps we will get thoughts from tomorrow but certainly there are doubts. a third of the cabinet perhaps who are disgruntled with what they are reading and perhaps not reassured but what they just heard from michel barnier. we're bawdy heard of course from members of the house of commons who are talking, there are rumours that their baby will be a vote of no—confidence and added that process is already let's quickly go to

glasgow and speak to kenneth armstrong, professor of european law at the university of cambridge. good to have you with us. what did you make of what you heard from michel barnier in the last hour? were the any bits of what he set out the interested you ? any bits of what he set out the interested you? i think you have been reporting on a fairly up heat comment that he was making about the deal and clearly, the backstop part of it has been the key sticking point for the negotiations and the creation of the single common customs territory that applies to the whole of the uk in the event of there being any delay in negotiating a future economic relationship. it is clearly very important. clearly there is a focus on whether in the future pa rt of there is a focus on whether in the future part of this trade agreement whether the uk with stay in a customs union. you seem to duck the

question. it is interesting, it looks like it is a fairly comprehensive trade agreement but some of the language in the withdrawal agreement is interesting about building up on the customs arrangements for this future relationship and some have been talking about the weight which the backstop agreement is actually less ofa backstop agreement is actually less of a safety net and more like a trampoline as to the future relationship between the uk and the eu. quitea relationship between the uk and the eu. quite a deep relationship to regulatory alignment.” eu. quite a deep relationship to regulatory alignment. i am sorry to cut a short but we are out of time. thank you for your thoughts. high drama tonight at westminster. we will bring you that here over the course of the next few hours. you are watching bbc news.

rain pushed through at quite a pace moving through northern ireland and much of scotland and then we saw some sunshine coming through and it had quite an effect on the temperature cause we still have the south—westerly flow driving the milderair raid south—westerly flow driving the milder air raid across the country so with the sunshine and a little more shelter in parts of scotland and northern ireland today, we saw highs of 16 celsius. it is just the autumn that keeps on giving. as we go through the night tonight we could see a return to some patchy light drizzle from a weak weather front pushing into the extreme north—west. but more cloud elsewhere, we could see some patchy mist and fog. another mild night though generally, around eight to 12 degrees. we could see a pocket of clear skies but it will be a murky start but a quiet start. under the

influence of this high pressure into the new continent at will prevent this weather front from making any significant process across the uk. it will bring some showery outbreaks of rain into the far north—west and the mist of bog may well lead to low cloud and it could be a great morning. but we are fairly optimistic that should thin and break and allow for some sunshine to come through. ever happens temperatures will respond and it will be another mild day, if you keep the cloud those temperatures could be a little subdued but generally speaking england, central and southern areas could see highs of 16 degrees. that weather front pushes through but it is a weak affair as we pushes through but it is a weak affairas we bump pushes through but it is a weak affair as we bump into high pressure, nothing to worry about by then and now we will start to see ice change in wind traction, a su btle ice change in wind traction, a subtle change to begin with but it will bring a change to our weather as we go into the weekend. friday we could see a bit more in the way of mist and fog, listening to low cloud and slightly disappointing affair. the best of the sunshine for the

north, temperatures still around 11 to 15 degrees but the winds will start to really pushing from an easterly direction as we go into the weekend and that will make it feel a little bit cooler than we have seen out of late. there will still be plenty of dry, sunny weather to look out for but no difference in the feel of the weather. bear in mind we could see the return of some overnight frost. ticket. —— take care. hello and welcome to this bbc news special, with me, christian fraser in westminster, and ros atkins in brussels. our top story: a major milestone in britain's path out of the eu — theresa may says after a long, and impassioned debate, her ministers have agreed to back the draft brexit agreement. cabinet ministers spent five hours studying the details of the draft agreeement, with what was said to be difficult choices. the choices before us were

difficult, particularly in relation to the northern ireland backstop, but the collective decision of cabinet was that the government should agree the draft withdrawal agreement and the outline political declaration. here in brussels... eu ambassadors earlier were left waiting for hours to get their first sight of the document.