this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11:00pm: the prime minister, facing a possible leadership challenge, has pledged to fight on with her widely criticised plans for leaving the eu, saying it is the best on offer. i believe with every fibre of my being that the course i have set out is the right one for our country and all our people. earlier, dominic raab became the second brexit secretary to resign from the cabinet, saying he could not support the prime minister's approach. i think she needs a brexit secretary that will pursue the deal that she wa nts to that will pursue the deal that she wants to put to the country with conviction. i don't feel i can do that in good conscience, but i respect her, i hold her in high esteem. i think she should continue, but i do think we need to change course on brexit. and, piling on the pressure, the leading brexit supporter, jacob rees—mogg, who's written a letter of no—confidence in the prime minister. what we have voted for should be implemented, and the prime minister

is not doing that, and that is why i have no confidence. and at 11:30pm, we'll be taking another in—depth look at tomorrow's papers, with our reviewers owen bennett, who's head of politics at city am, and david wooding, the political editor of the sun on sunday. stay with us for that. good evening and welcome to bbc news. after a day of brexit turbulence for the government, when the prime minister set out to answer her many critics inside the conservative party, she insisted she was determined to carry on, promoting her widely—criticised plan to take britain out of the european union. two cabinet ministers are among those who've resigned from the government today. it all started at nine this morning when dominic raab became the second brexit secretary to leave the job, saying there were fatal flaws in mrs may's plans. his departure was followed by the work and pensions secretary, esther mcvey, who also said she could not support

the draft withdrawal agreement. a number ofjunior ministers also stepped down, including suella braverman from the brexit department and shailesh vara. at 10:30am, theresa may went to the commons, where she spent three hours defending her plan. but she was roundly criticised, not least by mps on her own side. and, following that statement, the leading brexit supporter, jacob rees—mogg, submitted a letter of no—confidence in mrs may's leadership. the prime minister then held a news conference, insisting her plan was the best available and that she would see it through. we'll have all the latest developments and reaction, with more details of the prime minister's plan, and what it could mean for households and business. but we start with this report on a day of turmoil from our political editor laura kuenssberg. there seems to be a certain interest in today's proceedings.

on exactly the spot where theresa may took on the job as prime minister, the march of the brexiteers, trying to walk her to the exit. what we need is a leader who will say to the european union, "it is impossible to divide up the united kingdom, it is impossible to agree to a situation where we have other perpetual customs union." what do you say to some of our viewers and listeners who think this is self—indulgent, you are complaining about a practical compromise? it is nothing to do with ambition of brexiteers, it is about brexit and the country. leaving the european union is the most fantastic opportunity for the united kingdom. the ugly fight over how we leave the european union. now an open battle in the tory party girl who runs the country. what are we all to make of this warfare playing out in front of our eyes?

those who still back her, exasperated. stop rocking the boat, stop wrecking, otherwise this will prove an historic, disastrous period, notjust for the government, but for the country more widely. haven't we passed the point where it is credible for her to be able to turn this around? no, i think she remains our only hope. that hope dashed by this man, the brexit secretary who quit and did not make the journey to work today? morning, minister, are you going to resign? do you have confidence in the prime minister? or this woman, the work and pensions secretary who gave up her ministerial folders. seven members of the government have gone today. we re were you in tears last night? in protest at the brexit compromise. but she's still there, even with resignations and open revolt. can she stay? she'll try. serving in high office is an honour and privilege will stop it is also —— serving in high office

is an honour and privilege. it is also a heavy responsibility. that is true at any time, but especially when the stakes are so high. negotiating the uk's withdrawal from the eu after a0 years and building from the ground up a new and enduring relationship for the good of our children and grandchildren is a matter of the highest consequence. my approach throughout has been to put the national interest first. i do notjudge harshly those of my colleagues who seek to do the same, but who reach a different conclusion. i'm sorry they have chosen to leave the government and i thank them for their service. but i believe with every fibre of my being that the course i have set out is right for our country and all our people. prime minister, is it not the case that you are now in office but you're not really in power? i'm going to do myjob of getting

the best deal for britain. i'm going to do myjob of getting a deal in the national interest. when the vote comes before the house of commons mps will be doing theirjobs. and am i going to see this through? yes. she has made it plain that she may have to go. some are organising to try to shove herfrom office. this decision is not theresa may's alone. the could be a gale that sweeps through in a couple of days could be a storm to bring the prime minister and her government down. she cannot ignore this, listen to the now—departed brexit secretary condemning the deal. dozens and dozens of his colleagues hold this view. i fought very hard to get a good deal, a deal i could take to the country and my colleagues. what has been proposed in my view is damaging to the economy but it's impossible to reconcile with promises we made at the last election. would you forgive some of our viewers, including those

who voted for brexit, who would be really angry at people like you who campaigned for brexit, now it gets difficult, now it gets really hard, and you walk away? there are risks in what measures we take but the worst outcome when you balance the risks is to give into the eu's blackmail and accept a deal bad for the economy and devastating the trust in our democracy. speaker: statement, the prime minister. beyond departed colleagues, is it realistic to expect theresa may can get her version of brexit through parliament? i do not pretend this has been a comfortable process or that either we or the eu are entirely happy with all of the arrangements that have been included within it. mr speaker, when i first became prime minister in 2016, there was no ready—made blueprint for brexit. many said it simply could not be done.

i have never accepted that. but watch her colleagues, half of them cheering, half of them arms crossed, hardly knowing where to look. then 57 minutes of bitter complaint after bitter complaint. this is not the deal the country was promised and parliament cannot and i believe will not accept a false choice between this bad deal and no deal. the government must now withdraw this half—baked deal, which is clear does not have the backing of the the cabinet, this parliament, or the country as a whole. the prime minister is well— known for her dancing. sadly, having seen the withdrawal agreement and it is clear who isjune she is dancing to. sit down, you disloyal twerp. not what you would normally hear in the house of commons. i could take the prime minister

through the list of promises and pledges she made to this house and to us privately about the future of northern ireland and the future relationship with the eu. i feel it would be a waste of time since she clearly does not listen. would she at least today undertake not to rule out taking this back to the british people? would honourable members put their hands up if they do support the prime minister on this set of proposals? not one. then eventually, after an hour, some messages of support, but far from congratulations. i want to pay tribute to the fact that the prime minister to get —— i want to pay tribute to the fact that the prime minister did get agreement in cabinet. can she reassure us that, no matter how many ministerial resignations there are, the agreement will come

to parliament, away from the westminster bubble. we must consider these fast communities when we consider the outcomes today and we know that it is no deal that will be most damaging to them. but, like it or not, it is in this circus that the government's future will be decided. in a moment of the absurd, theresa may cracking a joke joining an intense crisis. the prime minister is at the mercy of others but still in place. our political editor laura kuenssberg reporting there. let's get more now from westminster and our political correspondent, ben wright, is there. ben, just how secure is the prime minister's position tonight? still in place, as laura said. and that was an inevitable this morning. if dominic raab‘s resignation had been followed by several others from the cabinet, if it dominate through senior ranks of her critics around the cabinet table, she could have been finished. her authority would have been shredded quite quickly

actually. but it didn't happen. sure, there were a couple of other resignations at junior ministerial level and a couple of pbss, but then it stopped and she did then battled through the day. she endured the long session in the house of commons, fielding a load of critical questions from every corner of the house about the draft withdrawal deal that she still hopes to somehow get through the house of commons after getting a signed off by the eu. and then that defiant press conference in the afternoon, which showed that she is a prime minister absolutely determined to fight on. and she was asked about the possibility of a confidence vote being triggered if the 48 letters go into the 1922 committee and she gave every indication of intending to fight that if it happened. so she is resilient and the ministers and mps i have spoken to today in the corridors of westminster are all quite admiring of that. whether they

think are plant is the right one or not, or whether they think she can get this deal passed or not, there is admiration for her pluck, her grittiness, there is no question about that. and i think she is more secure at the end of this day than it seemed she would be at this time. tim clark things if there were to be a vote, whether there was confidence in her, it would probably do her good. i spoke to a cabinet minister earlier on who said that it could be the bloodletting in the party that they actually need. it would be the moment for the brexiteers to put up and fighta moment for the brexiteers to put up and fight a contest and actually then have this showdown. it is very ha rd to then have this showdown. it is very hard to predict, but i think that the majority view of the tory party could be that they would back her, you know, rather than add their weight to the brexiteer critics who wa nt to weight to the brexiteer critics who want to replace with one of their

own. it is a showdown that has been brewing for a very long time, years, in fact. and i think ken clarke is probably right. my hunch would be that there is a large quiet majority in the tory party who are not brexiteers who just want this to be done and over sensibly, somehow. and they rather admire theresa may's resilience. and they don't see an obvious alternative. there is no other person i can see who i think would easily manage to sort or somehow bridge this really, really fractured party. and in the absence of alternative, my hunch is, if there was a confidence vote in the tory party, that she would probably win the contest if she contested it, which i think she will. because for a confidence vote, the first vote, she only has to win by one vote to stay in place. what will tomorrow bring? ben, thank you very much. at the heart of today's heated debate is the draft withdrawal agreement agreed by london and brussels, and published by the eu last night. that agreement is specifically about the manner in which the uk leaves the eu, it's not about any

permanent future relationship. our correspondent chris morris, of the bbc‘s reality check, has been studying the 500—page draft withdrawal agreement in detail. amid all the political turbulence, it is this hefty legal document that has prompted so many resignations from the government, especially over issues related to the irish border. this draft withdrawal agreement sets the terms of our departure from the eu and provide for a transition period after brexit which would apply until the end of 2020. but it is what happens after that which is causing all the bother. if a long—term trade deal isn't ready and transition isn't extended, you are left with the so—called backstop. that is the guarantee of last resort that there will be no return to a ha rd that there will be no return to a hard border in ireland under any circumstances to be no hard border

plan, if it were needed, would create a temporary customs union with the eu, covering the whole of the uk. they call it a single customs territory with no customs checks between great britain and northern ireland and none with the eu. but northern ireland would be even more deeply intertwined than the rest of the country, both with eu customs rules and with the rules of the single market. that specifically is one of the reasons why dominic raab resigned as brexit secretary. the government argues northern ireland would enjoy the best of both worlds. frictionless trade with the eu and with the rest of the uk. but that has prompted the scottish government to ask why it can't have the same. scotland can't because the backstop wouldn't get rid of all border checks will for trade with the eu from elsewhere in the uk. the truth is no one really likes the backstop, but neither the eu nor the uk could get rid of it on their own. this draft says it would have to be a joint decision, and

that fear, that the uk's hands could be tied, is another because for concern in resignation statements. it is also worth remembering that the withdrawal agreement doesn't really focus at all on the uk's long—term relationship with the eu after brexit. but there is a separate outlined political declaration, just a few pages long for now, that styles to do that. behind the scenes, a lot of progress has been made on issues like security and foreign policy. pinning down a comprehensive free—trade deal, though, will take time. now, the political declaration says ambitious customs arrangements in the future would build on the controversial single customs territory set out in this withdrawal agreement. but that is just creating further suspicion among brexiteers, which the government says is totally unfounded. and the prime minister has warned that if her deal is voted down no brexit at all could be the possible outcome. all along, one of the biggest

disputes has been the future of the border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland — this would be uk's only land border with the eu after brexit. it's a dispute that's resonated both north and south of the border, as our ireland correspondent emma vardy reports. who is scoring here? it was a goalless draw as northern ireland took on the irish republic in dublin tonight. but theresa may has been trying to present the draft brexit deal as a win for both sides. it is not really dublin's problem so yeah, they could sit and watch it all unfold in westminster. the best case scenario for northern ireland would be the hong kong of the uk, a place to do business if you want to do business with europe easily, but at the same time without feeling like you have difficulties actually within the united kingdom. the brexit deal could keep northern ireland more closely tied to eu rules so trade can flow freely between the north and south

of this island. some northern ireland businesses believe that is a benefit. from first impressions we thought it was business friendly. we welcomed the fact that we had open access to but the gb and the europe markets. one of theresa may's closest allies came to rally support for plan. when people actually sit down and go through the detail and it is incredibly technical detail and base the safeguards that have been put in place and see the way that the people of northern ireland have been put at the heart of this, they will see this is the right deal for the united kingdom. but she is not cheering, the dup leader arlene foster believes the draft deal severs the united kingdom itself. and the decision to sign off on the irish backstop has led to a political crisis at westminster. today player after player and theresa may's team happening today player after player in theresa may's team have been quitting their positions. many saying it's those arrangements for the irish border that they can no longer support.

it is a relationship between these two sides that is continuing to define brexit. emma vardy, bbc news. the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon, and the first minister of wales, carwynjones, have written a joint letter to theresa may criticising the chaotic approach to brexit and demanding a much greater involvement for the devolved administrations in the negotiations. ms sturgeon says the plans put scotland at a competitive disadvantage, because they would take scotland out of the single market, while northern ireland would in effect stay inside. our scotland editor sarah smith reports. nicola sturgeon says the proposed brexit agreement is unfair to scotla nd brexit agreement is unfair to scotland because it gives northern ireland this sort of deal she has long been arguing. the snp has a lwa ys long been arguing. the snp has always said they want scotland to stay in the single market and customs union even after the rest of the uk has left. the prime minister has always said that is some possible but the snp says if you can

have separate arrangements the northern ireland why can't scotland operate under those rules? it is a case the scottie —— the scottish tories have long feared. they will not accept any deal which undermines the integrity of the united kingdom. theresa may was spared any resignations from the top scottish team. senior conservatives say they are satisfied this deal does protect the union but this did not stop nicola sturgeon saying she might $0011 nicola sturgeon saying she might soon announce a date for another referendum on scottish independence. she signed a joint letter with the first minister of wales, carmen jones, in which they are complaining about any meaningful engagement with the devolved governments and the uk government through the brexit process and are demanding a meeting next week to have some input into the process before the final political declaration is actually finalised. the director of the us emergency

agency says paradise, the town ravaged by fire, will take years to rebuild, describing the destruction as one of the worst disasters he has ever seen. as one of the worst disasters he has ever seen. 56 have been found dead and 134 are missing. these are the teams that must answer the painful questions that hang in this acrid air. where is my family member? what happened to my loved one? how many more people are dead? team five starting search on location. house after house, street after street, the ashes of this community are slowly revealing the lives once lived here. this work is difficult in the conditions, can be dangerous and the scale of the task is almost impossible to comprehend. more than 10,000 properties ruined, and more than 100 people still missing. there's no good news here.

only another name to add to the lives lost. they sift through the rubble with respect. and they are trying to preserve some dignity. they're special people. i don't think humans are intended to see this out to be honest with you. but i think everybody that does this, they come in with the intent of trying to provide closure to the families. because right now they are missing. so there's still more for them to do, and as they look further, it only gets worse. danjohnson, bbc news, paradise. now for the final part in our series "children on the margins" on how behaviour is tackled in the education system. tonight, we look at informal exclusions, that's when a child is sent home without it being formally recorded. it's illegal and has been recently described by the education select committee as a "scandal" and part of an alarming increase in ‘hidden' exclusions. the bbc has spoken to the parents of children who've been informally excluded, and a number of schools who have admitted using the practice,

even though its unlawful. our special correspondent, ed thomas, has this exclusive report. my my daughter has been informally excluded from school on many occasions. their head teacher started to call me at work on a daily basis asking me to pick up. go in fora daily basis asking me to pick up. go in for a meeting, daily basis asking me to pick up. go in fora meeting, no daily basis asking me to pick up. go in for a meeting, no letter. we've spoken to dozens of parents who claim their children were informally excluded last year. received a phone call saying he wasn't to attend for the rest of the week. most acknowledged that child was disrupted but some say it meant they had to leave theirjobs and home—school their kids. had to leave theirjobs and home-school their kids. he deserves to belong to a school we don't have to belong to a school we don't have to re m ove to belong to a school we don't have to remove him during break times because they can't meet his needs. far too many children are being failed by this. towards the end, i was doing two hours a day in the centre. charlie says he was also repeatedly sent home from school

without it being officially recorded. i got carried away at the misbehaving. instead of dealing with this situation, they would kick you like —— did you like it was nothing, come home tomorrow. his family says the school admitted they failed him. we can't check the school's record—keeping because it's closed. you feel worthless, no meaning in life, it makes you want to give up more. we've been given evidence from mums and dads which shows their child has been formally excluded. this email recommends two days from school to calm down, to avoid an exclusion and this letter asks pa rents to exclusion and this letter asks parents to agree to withdraw their child on behaviour grounds, to prevent an exclusion. the school, rated as standing, says it hasn't been used for years. a dozen schools in england, wales and northern ireland says they have admitted to us ireland says they have admitted to us that they informally excluded pupils last year after we asked more than 1000 schools about the practice

under information requests. this week, would also showing the extensive use of isolation rooms and the challenge of educating excluded children. we took our findings to the school's minister. why are teachers doing this? formal exclusion. it's a very small number of people that are engaged in unlawful activities and inspector ta kes unlawful activities and inspector takes this very seriously and the complaints procedure. you understand the damage done? i do recognise the damage done. it disrupts their education and opens up to other vulnerabilities. 5000 children with special needs in isolation rooms. how concerning? children with autism. it's very concerning. it bad special needs if they are put in unsuitable conditions. we have shown that more and more deprived children disproportionately are ending up in

alternative vision. how is that fair. disadvantaged backgrounds, two or three times more likely than children from affluent backgrounds. eating something might be going wrong? overall, the numbers of children being excluded permanently is 0.1% on my concern is that every one of those 8000 children who are excluded go to a high quality centre. this year, the education select committee warned the increase in exclusions was a scandal and said too many pupils are being forgotten. time for a look at the weather with sarah. as we head into the last two weeks of autumn, one of the two main themes to the season has been our milder weather has been, particularly over the last few days but on thursday, a lot of cloud in many parts of the country. this is the scene in lincolnshire. contrast that with where we saw the sunshine

come out, the blue skies in cumbria and parts of scotland. temperatures as high as 17.6 degrees. things are still quite mild. turning colder on into next week and there could be a few wintry showers. friday morning, many parts of the country, particularly in the south and east. temperatures by the afternoon will be around 12—14. heading through friday night, we keep cloud. clearer skies sweeping in from the south—east. a change in air masses we head through the weekend so slightly lower temperatures. still to be mild further west through the weekend, the cooler air will sweep in from the east and will bring plenty of sunshine by david also a return to some chilly nights. we

haven't seen widespread frost were quite awhile. the card gets pushed away to the north—west. a return to sunshine. it won't be quite as mild. temperatures still above average. we have weather fronts in the atlantic. that will be sat across scandinavia. drawing the winds in the miss easterly direction. not a bad day after a quite cold and frosty start, plenty of sunshine. things are dry across the country. then it's great to be turning colder. we have this cold frontier. it will introduce more cloud. one of two spots of drizzle, particularly around eastern close is. your best bet at seeing

sunshine break through. temperatures in the mid—teens this week but we are looking at a tarkyn 10 degrees. it could bring more on the way of showery rain. over the mountains of scotland, the pennines. a cold down tuesday, just six or seven degrees. through the middle of the week, this is how things are looking. cold air mass with the wind generally coming in from mass with the wind generally coming infrom an mass with the wind generally coming in from an easterly direction. some snowfall across the hills and the mountains, normal parts of the uk possible but it looks like a bit of a change later next week into next weekend. we could see low pressure developing across parts of spain and france and that could well move into southern parts of the uk. we could see the weather turning more u nsettled see the weather turning more unsettled but slightly milder to

enter next week. we could see pictures like this. rain arriving in the south after what has been quite a cold spell of weather. it looks like things will turn a little bit milder by next weekend. hello. this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment. first, the headlines: the prime minister, facing a possible leadership challenge, has pledged to fight on with her widely criticised plans