hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at two... the environment secretary michael gove says he wont resign over the prime minister's brexit deal — following speculation he would be the third cabinet minister to quit. do you have confidence in the prime minister, mr gove? i absolutely do. i think it's absolutely vital that we focus on getting the right deal in the future and making sure that in the areas that matter so much to the british people, we can get a good outcome. theresa may has been on radio this morning defending her leadership position and brexit plan. i want to be able to say to all parliamentarians, every mp, i believe, truly believe, this is the best dealfor britain. the number of people missing after the california wildfires more than doubles to 630. guilty of genocide — the historic court verdict against two former leaders of the khmer rouge. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with olly foster. it has been a really good day for

england's cricketers against sri lanka, details of the captain giroud's century later, live. chris fawkes has all the weather... the weather is pretty dull and gloomy today, looking ahead to weekend weather prospects, sunshine is on the way. beyond that, the weather is set to turn really quite cold next week, we will be looking at that later on. a painting by david hockney sets a new record — ‘portrait of an artist — pool with two figures‘ has fetched over 70 million pounds. hello everyone — this is afternoon live, i'm simon mccoy. michael gove insists he has confidence in theresa may as she pursues her brexit deal. the environment secretary was rumoured to be considering resigning from the cabinet but has decided to stay on to help the cabinet to

get "the best future for britain". this morning the prime minister once again defended her brexit withdrawal agreement — answering calls from members of the public in a phone in on lbc radio. it comes amid speculation that a leadership challenge to mrs may is about to be launched by tory backbenchers. let's talk to steve baker of the european research group. you quit at the time david davis quit as brexit secretary, do you believe that those who want to see theresa may out have the numbers? well, that's a very good question. it is 48 to get a vote of confidence, then you need a majority either way. it is two bows, two sets of numbers but this is about doing research, we do parliamentary activity related to it, we don't have a collective view on this, i'm the deputy chairman, is the case that i've reached the point where we cannot separate policy from the

person. i cannot tolerate the policy, it will not go through the house of commons which leaves just one choice, to test whether the conservative parliamentary party has confidence in the prime minister. do you believe by the end of today there will be 48 letters with so graham brady? i think it's next week, many of my colleagues on a decision this big would want to see the association president, chairman, political members, key members of the association and get their opinion. it is a democracy and their choice but they will want to test opinion. right now, they are where i wa nt to opinion. right now, they are where i want to be witches in their constituencies. it doesn't sound like —— where i want to be, which is in their constituencies. the only person who knows the number is so graham brady. people say they have put their letters in when they haven't, they say they happened when they have, they put them in and then ta ke they have, they put them in and then take them out. only graham knows, sufficient people have told me that

we are very close. but exactly when? it isn't for me to say. i would say if colleagues don't want to wait for that policy, to be brought to the commons and voted down, they need to think and say they want a vote to test the world. what is your understanding and procedure? there are quitea understanding and procedure? there are quite a few myths... let's deal with a couple of them. so graham brady, will he have two ring around? so, he couldn't possibly ring us all because it would leak and go to press. i think if a person was to put a point in several years ago, they would test whether they were standing by that view. unlikely given that she has been prime minister only 18 months ago. but the reality is, he certainly won't. i would not expecting to do that. he will not be showing letters to the pps, that is nonsense. they are

confidential under the constitution. they are stringy confidential, people can text graham or scan their letter in and send it to him —— strictly confidential. i won't give out his number! it is a serious matter but i'm afraid the myths are there. but beyond that, he has to go to the prime minister first. sorry, this gentleman, i want to answer his question. yes, it is worth it. i know we disagree but you followed me around. thank you for protesting and upholding our democracy. he follows us upholding our democracy. he follows us all around. let's talk about what happens when you have all of the 48, there is a much bigger issue, really. that is persuading people in this place, 158 of them, that they wa nt to this place, 158 of them, that they want to move on and change prime minister. it is a secret ballot and

every member of parliament is to ask themselves what they think is in the national interest and what they are willing to live with for the rest of their lives. this will go one for generations. in a secret ballot they will reflect upon the discussion we have had where they thought the poll to leave was so high that the danger was a 1—party state but this was thrown away and we've got the misery of this minority government. i think most members of government will not wa nt to most members of government will not want to repeat that performance which makes it a grave time. you put that down to the leader rather than the atmosphere here and the issues? the immediate problem is the prime minister's policy for exiting the eu isa high minister's policy for exiting the eu is a high alignment policy which leads us shackled as a satellite of the eu, not fulfilling our most recent manifesto on the customs union. she denied it on the radio this morning? the papers say it will bea this morning? the papers say it will be a single customs territory and as far as be a single customs territory and as faras i'm be a single customs territory and as far as i'm concerned, that's in the customs union. with an out time? in

order to leave those backstop arrangements, we would need to have the consent of the eu. the eu have a veto. as iain duncan smith pointed out, these arrangements, the backstop, will be harder to leave, for institutions like the united nations or nato, the eu itself. we would risk being indefinitely shackled into arrangements that some people have called vassalage and i think that is right. so, if you want theresa may out, you must have an idea who you would like in? what i wa nt idea who you would like in? what i want is for one eurosceptic who has beenin want is for one eurosceptic who has been in the cabinet to be our candidate. i was closely involved in the last leadership election, we cannot afford to tumble forward with multiple candidates. i would be strongly encouraging, if it comes to it, plausible candidates to get in a room and decide among themselves who the candidate will be. that would include members of the cabinet now? there are eurosceptics in there like

penny mordaunt, and chris grayling? it is difficult to see, no matter how noble their intentions are, with brexit preparedness, which is very important with defra, however noble they are, it's difficult to see how they are, it's difficult to see how they can be plausible if they have not left the government. if you were a betting man, i've no idea if you are, is there a name you think... everyone would love for me to name someone. everyone would love for me to name someone. in all sincerity the national interest would be served by the plausible eurosceptic candidates coming together and choosing amongst themselves the one candidate we all back. i'm not going to name anybody because it isn't a game. it's not going to be jacob rees—mogg, for example? it will not be him, i admire him enormously and we work closely together but however popular he is, there's no getting away from it he does not have experience in

government. did he fire a shot too early? would he be better off making the press conference outside...? sincejuly the press conference outside...? since july we've been the press conference outside...? sincejuly we've been warning the prime minister, i've had a number of these media brands giving everyone and we conceivably could, that the policy was intolerable and we have waited months but we have reached a fork in the road where it is clear the prime minister is inseparable from policy. we object to the policy. it is not about her but it does boil down to having a confidence vote in the prime minister because we cannot tolerate the policy. the alternative is to go forward a few more weeks and voted down in the commons. i've got to let you go, but borisjohnson? he is a talented and charismatic man, david davis is a good leader, i've worked with him closely. any is a good leader. one of the great blessings of the conservative party is if we've got to replace the whole of

government, we can do it and still have a talented team but i will not namea have a talented team but i will not name a single person i am backing. national interest will be served by deciding we back theresa may and if we cannot, we eurosceptics have to decide on a single candidate. thank you. we mentioned him in that conversation... the international trade secretary liam fox has said he still supports theresa may depsite yesterday's slew of resignations. i back the prime minister. she has led the country with tremendous dignity and quite a lot of resilience in difficult times. she is doing a brexit settlement with no parliamentary majority, and in a parliament where even if we had a majority, we probably would have a majority of remainers into parliament, so it's a very difficult balance for her to get. i think that ultimately the worst outcome would be no brexit at all because with the public having voted for brexit, with the two main parties saying they would respect the result of the referendum, with parliament passing article 50 and the withdrawal act, for parliament to vote down brexit i think would so damage faith in the democratic process that it would be dangerous. we will have to make a choice

about what they want going forward, whether they want certainty for business or whether they want to risk losing brexit altogether. it is up to every member of parliament... i don't prejudge and nor do i criticise them for the judgments they come to. we will all make our own judgments depending on what we believe to be the national interest. there will be different perceptions of that but ultimately that is what parliament will have to do, and parliament will have to carry the consequences either way. let's talk to our political correspondent alex forsyth who is with me. i was just talking to steve baker there and reading between the lines, we'd have not get —— they have not

got this 40 a number yet. he thinks they are close to it but if they we re they are close to it but if they were there we would have heard quickly. but they've been saying they were effectively urging mps to go back to constituencies over the course of the weekend to take soundings. i think they know there isa soundings. i think they know there is a level of discontent among the conservative grassroots over this withdrawal agreement. i think he hopes that that will sharpen some minds when the mps come back on monday. and there are a lot of constituents out there who think any deal at that stage is better than no deal. it's interesting, when you speak to members of the european research group, typically brexiteer backing tories, but more widely there are two close schools of thought. the steve baker school of thought. the steve baker school of thought which is theresa may has got this policy and if we want to shift it we need to change the person, hence these letters of no confidence. but there are even people who do not like this withdrawal agreement who think if we challenge theresa may now, if she

winds the no—confidence vote, they cannot challenge her again for a year. it may strengthen her hand. there are a lot of people weighing up there are a lot of people weighing up their options. if they do not like the policy, some would ask whether it is the right thing to do to ask the prime minister, what if she winds? looking at the papers this morning and speaking to people around here there is a sense that jacob rees—mogg fired his gun to early yesterday? he is so influential among that research group but he bolsters himself as an mp who has spoken for brexit for some time now. i know was that huddle in the corridor in parliament with that room of mps, we thought he would say about putting in their letter, people thought that would be the watershed but he does it with the watershed but he does it with the influence he wields in the party and maybe this whole load of people followed and we get there quickly. this triggered the magic 48, that hasn't happened. you get the sense that as time runs on, is that good

for the prime minister? it will not stop the people really against this deal. it will not stop the headlines about the damaging few days she has had and that next week is not going to be hard. you get the sense that momentum for today may slowly ebb away. her appearance on the radio this morning, where once again she showed that eye for detail, winning a lot of praise, whatever people's view of her, three hours in the house of commons and that news conference, she has steely determination that some people in the country may say, she mightjust carry her through here —— carry us through here. some people would see real resilience, she has not had the easiest run as prime minister, and some people think, do you not feel sorry for her? but this tactic, she is almost going above the heads of the mps for this direct public

appeal. in this press conference yesterday, it was a message about every fibre of her being where she believes it is right. she spoke about national interest and doing the lbc thing, which is unusualfor theresa may to subject herself so publicly like that. if she feels she can get the country, take the country with her, perhaps she can force enough minds in this place to stick with her and back the deal? this weekend is important for mps? hugely important to take the measure of feeling in constituents. but hour by hour it is important. don't go too far! see you later on. earlier our brussels reporter adam fleming spoke to us from outside the european parliament and outlined how the political uncertainty in westminster is going down on the other side of the brexit negotiations. they are in no mood to intervene in britain, they think they could make the situation worse and they are in no mood to reopen the treaty which has been agreed on both sides. one

of the negotiators, michel barnier from the european commission, was speaking to ambassadors from other 27 states in brussels today, in a private meeting. we heard about what he had to say and he paid tribute to theresa may. he says the eu should not be compromising its principles just because of the political situation in the uk. he saysjust because you want a withdrawal agreement across the line, it does not mean you should engage any last—minute haggling. the message is clear, they do not want to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement, the terms of divorce. where there are still negotiations going on is the separate document that will go alongside the withdrawal agreement, the political declaration which will sketch out, in broad terms, maybe with some detail, the shape of the future relationship over decades to come. that will be hammered out over the weekend by the uk and eu negotiators and approved by ministers on monday.

the whole lot will be signed off by eu leaders a week on sunday and then the process in brussels is basically finished. don't forget — you can let us know what you think tweet us using the hashtag afternoonlive ....all the ways to contact us on screen right now. michael gove you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines... michael gove says he wont resign from the cabinet over the prime minister's brexit deal — following speculation he would be the third cabinet minister to quit. the prime minister has been on radio this morning defending her position and arguing for the brext deal to be passed by mps. the number of people missing after the california wildfires more than doubles to 630. a picture by the british painter, david hockney, sets a new record — fetching more than 70 million pounds.

in the sport, the england captain joe root made a century against sri la nka joe root made a century against sri lanka which means they have a chance of winning the second test in kandy. they lead by 278 with two games left to play. wales face denmark in the nation ‘s elite decided tonight, in cardiff the winner will be promoted to the top tier of the competition. tommy fleetwood is three shots off the lead after the second round of the lead after the second round of the season ending tour championship in dubai but he has to win to have any chance of ending the year as the european number one. i'll be back in 15 minutes. the number of people missing after wildfires destroyed the californian town of paradise has now doubled — to more than 630. so far 63 bodies have been discovered there, but the death toll is expected to rise considerably. after the worst wildfires in california's history,

president trump will travel to the state tomorrow to see the damage for himself and meet some of those affected. dan johnson has the latest from paradise. the air here is still really thick with smoke. everyone has a mask. and there are still places where the ground is smouldering, more than a week after the fire tore through here, burning pretty much everything to the ground, and this sort of destruction is typical. you can see this right up the main street. shops and businesses like this completely burnt to the ground. and it's not a case of coming in here and making repairs or rebuilding. they're going to have to start again, build from the ground up. but there's a big question, a serious question, about whether that can be done, whether people will even want to come back and live here again, amongst these trees on the hillside, in the forest, where this fire spread so quickly. there are questions about how it started and suspicion that an electrical fault in the power network could have been to blame. there are lots of engineers here, trying to rebuild that power network and make it safe, but those questions will have to wait because the priority is working out exactly how many people lost their lives in this

fire, and accounting for those who are missing. the number of people who we're still looking for, who are unaccounted for, has increased to 631, and this number increased by 501 people. there are teams going through neighbourhood after neighbourhood, house by house, delicately searching, trying to provide those answers, but every day, the death toll keeps increasing. danjohnson, bbc news, in paradise. a woman who accused a senior peer of groping her says it's a disgrace he isn't being immediately suspended from the house of lords. jasvinder sanghera claims lord lester, a former liberal democrat front bencher, also offered her a peerage in return for sex. a parliamentary committee recommended his suspension, but that's been blocked by the house of lords. ms sanghera, an author and women's rights campaigner, says it makes her feel likes she‘s been ‘abused all over again.‘ lord lester strongly denies the claims against him. lucy manning reports. jasvinder sanghera has

fought for women‘s rights, but she didn‘t expect she‘d be fighting so hard for her own — accusing lord lester, a member of the house of lords and human rights lawyer, of harassing her 12 years ago. he sexually harassed me. he bullied me. he exerted his power and influence over me. he said to me, if i was to sleep with him, he would make me a baroness within a year. he... ..physically groped me. a house of lords investigation decided lord lester, who says it‘s all completely untrue, should be suspended for nearly four years — the longest suspension since the second world war. but his colleagues in the lords blocked that yesterday. if you are accused of serious misconduct, and the issue turns on credibility and you face a serious sanction, you are entitled, you have a legal right to cross examine the person making these allegations against you. how did it leave you feeling?

angry. ifelt bullied, to be quite honest with you. i felt bullied by them. what happened yesterday in the house of lords was not fair. i did not have the right to respond. these individuals voted on a sanction and these individuals were his peers. a few days after, you wrote in an inscription of a book to lord lester, "with love and admiration". questions have been asked about that. he dictated to me what i should write in that book, so i wrote it. just to get rid of him. lord lester thanked his fellow members of the house of lords who supported him, and says he now looks forward to restoring his reputation. but the lords‘ authorities say they are deeply disappointed he wasn‘t suspended and will look at the case again. jasvinder sanghera is now reluctant to advise others to come forward when parliament is still able tojudge its own. lucy manning, bbc news.

two former leaders of the murderous khmer rouge regime in cambodia have been found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity at a un—backed tribunal. in the 19705, the fanatical rule of the khmer rouge is believed to have killed some two million people — a quarter of the entire population. the former leaders — one of whom was pol pot‘s deputy — have both been sentenced to life in prison. our south east asia correspondent jonathan head reports — it contains pictures some viewers may find distressing. few cambodians today remember the terrible years of the khmer rouge, yet many queued up to watch this historic verdict. inside the courtroom, two elderly men accused of responsibility for some of the most appalling crimes ever committed. one of them known as brother two, second only to the notorious

pol pot, and the other, a head of state for the fanatical regime. we find the accused to be guilty... both men had already convicted of crimes against humanity for years ago but this is charges and this is the trial had been in two stages. there was no need for transport and communications. when the khmer rouge seized power in 1975, they tried to build a revolutionary society based on communes and limitless brutality. they called it year zero. enemies of the revolution were slaughtered in huge numbers. the presiding judge found the defendants guilty on multiple charges of crimes against humanity and genocide against two ethnic minorities. the verdict pleased those who had come to watch the trial. they will end their lives

in captivity but this complex judicial process has been slow and expensive and has only convicted three people. most of those responsible for cambodia‘s killing fields will never be called to account. jonathan head, bbc news. a picture by the british painter, david hockney, has set a new record for a work by a living artist sold at auction. ‘portrait of an artist — pool with two figures‘ — fetched 90 million dollars — around 70 million pounds. david sillito reports. portrait of an artist... christies, new york and expectations were high... the painting hockney‘s portrait of an artist, a pool with two figures and the bidding began at $18 million. 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 35, 38, 40... within seconds it was at 40 million. to understand why we need to go back to the 70s. the painting was the subject of a famous film about hockney, a bigger splash, a landmark moment

in his career and his personal life. the figure in the painting was hockney‘s partner the artist peter slazenger, a painting of water and the end of a relationship. this one is actually their personal story because it‘s about his love and his loss of love and the love he is about to lose. it‘s also the culmination of this most famous series of paintings image after growing up in the gothic room of bradford, he embraced the sun glamour of los angeles. but quite why they became so sought—after is even to hockney something of a mystery. it‘s always an interesting thing, how do you paint water, how do you paint something transparent? i like to think it might be the space in the pictures. you don‘t know why things become memorable. if there was a formula for them there‘d be a lot more of them.

back at the auction and was now reaching its climax. finally bidding for the hockney is... sold! applause and with the auction fee, the final price was more than $90 million, what took david hockney two weeks of 18 hour days in 1972 has 46 years later, broken all records for a living artist. grey and miserable, but enough about me, time for a look at the weather. chris fawkes has that and it is very similar. good afternoon. a lot of grey weather, as simon says, today. low cloud lurking out and about. it continues to be mild. it comes all the way up from spain and africa, temperatures at 17.6 degrees in the

highlands of scotland. that moves into the arctic. the arctic throws a lot of cold air into europe. next week, temperatures are struggling. five or six celsius for some. a cold blast is on the way. the weather is great today. this is the shard, the ukippers tallest building, hidden in the cloud, 150 metres above street level —— the uk‘s tallest building. in northern scotland, the loch ness monster has surfaced to provide this shot. it will be sunny in scotland through the rest of the afternoon. we have cloud overhead, that is going nowhere fast. it stays grey and gloomy. looking at the weather, overnight night, the club will thicken up and we have some mist and fog, hill fog in northern and western areas, some drizzle falling

from the cloud. 7—12d, it could get colder in the highlands if we keep clearer skies here. at the weekend, high pressure builds across the uk this weekend which will kill the cloud. as well as that, we drag in dry airwhich is cloud. as well as that, we drag in dry air which is another thing that will kill that cloud. although we start mignardi note, quickly we see sunny weather pushing into england —— start on a cloudy note. i think most areas will see some sunshine at least as we go through the day. the longest duration of sunshine towards the south—east. in scotland and northern ireland, quite a bit of cloud. some breaks in western scotland, some cloud in eastern areas and in northern ireland, you may be stuck with cabral day. temperatures close to average for this time of year. highs of 10—12d on saturday. similar weather on

sunday. a lot of dry weather and sunshine. temperatures of 10—12d widely. next week though, as that cold arctic blast comes in, 5 degrees next week. you‘ll notice the change it‘s going to feel cold. there‘s your latest weather. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. michael gove says he wont resign from the cabinet over the prime minister‘s brexit deal — following speculation he would be the third cabinet minister to quit. and the prime minister question mark

i think it‘s absolutely vital that we focus on getting the right on getting the right deal in the future and making sure that in the areas that matter so much to the british people, we can get a good outcome. the prime minister has been on radio this morning defending her position and arguing for the brext deal to be passed by mps. i want to be able to say to all parliamentarians, every mp, i believe, truly believe, this is the best dealfor britain. the number of people missing after the california wildfires more than doubles to 630. two leaders of the khmer rouge regime in cambodia have been found guilty of genocide. sport now on afternoon live, with olly foster. england‘s cricketers are in a strong position in the second test against sri lanka, they laed by 278 runs with two days to play in kandy after a brilliant century from captain joe root. jo currie was watching. after sri lanka‘s batsmen dominated yesterday

today it was the turn of england‘s batting order to show their mettle. starting the day 46 runs behind the hosts the tourists offered an almost instant setback. jack leach the early victim to sri lanka‘s spin. but rory burns was made of tougher stuff. alongsidejoe root he reached his half—century in quick time. the partnership wasn‘t to last though, burns was out shortly afterwards. given. ben stokes looked bemused after he was out for a duck as england found themselves 131—4 by lunch. step forward joe root. the captain calmly brought up a majestic century. to put england in control before he fell lbw for 124. there‘s still time for ben foakes to make his mark, chalking up his 50 before bad light intervened. england will start day four 279 runs ahead, within touching distance of a series win. we said we would play in a certain manner in these conditions

and i think the temptation with a deficit like that going into the second innings is to play within your shell and be a bit insular, but the guys went out and really set the tone at the top of the order. it was pleasing to see inexperienced test cricketers really set a benchmark for the rest of the group and set a good platform for us to go on, and hopefully still stretched this lead further, which should be a good chase on the surface. england‘s women play south africa in the world twenty20 in st lucia this evening. there‘s coverage on radio five live sports extra and in—play video on the bbc sport website. england beat bangladesh quite comfortably last time out, but south africa are likely to be a tougher prospect. they have got dangerous batters and outstanding bowling team as well but they are not only dangerous but unpredictable. you never know what you will get from them and the most important

thing is we do ourjob is right and play to our capabilities, and we know we can beat any team. tommy fleetwood is three shots off the lead at the season ending tour championship in dubai. he made 5 birdies in a second round of 67 to finish on 8 under. he needs to win the tournament and hope that francesco molinari finishes outside the top five, to finish the year as european number one. the italian is on 3 under a long way back. englishman matt wallace currently leads on 11 under. wales face denmark in cardiff tonight. it‘s a nations league decider, the winner will gain promotion to the top tier of the competition one when it‘s next played and they will also get a play off spot for the 2020 euros if they fail to make it through the normal qualification process that starts next year. they‘ll be boosted by the availability of gareth bale who has recovered from an ankle knock. that it's a new tournament, we

wanted to win the first one, the first nations league. and it's in our hands now. it‘s not going to be easy because we‘re up against a top—class side, very good manager, a group of players who bring together a long time and have proved over a period of time that they are tough to beat and they are a very good team. the final place in the last four of the season ending world tour finals in if london will be decided today. alexander zverev is playing john isner right now. that‘s live on bbc two. if he wins this he goes through to the semifinals with novak djokovic. novak djokovic is sure of a last four placed before he faces marin cilic tonight. that is over on bbc

two. that‘s all the sport for now. welcome back to westminster — another turbulent day for the prime minister. hanging in the balance, notjust mrs may‘s fragile agreement setting out the terms of britain‘s departure from the european union, but her own political survival. she remains defiant, in spite of attempts by members of her own party to remove her. joining me now are henry zeffman, political correspondent from times and laura hughes, political correpondent for the financial times. laura, the prime minister went on radio this morning in a tactic clearly to address the public directly. yes, i think she did it quite deliberately to send a message to her mps quite deliberately to send a message to hermps and quite deliberately to send a message to her mps and to parliament, you are not listening to me so i will go back to the people that voted for this, it is them that matter here, it is them who count. and that is quite a clever way of doing it. and

of course she had some quite difficult questions. she was told by samantha is of the public that they thought she should resign, but she carried on answering the question is, as she always does. her resilience over the last 48 hours, whatever you think of how you can‘t fail to see it‘s pretty extraordinary. and the chances are that plays quite well out in the country. this fee broil bubble of westminster, as in the country people are worried and looking for leadership, and this is what we seem to see. i was struck, listening to her this morning that even the most antagonistic questioners, the people who said she should resign, preface what they said by saying, obviously i respect you and understand you have tried your best, and i think that message has really got through over the last few days as cam members have quit, asjunior members have quit, as backbenchers have called the her to quit. there has

been the sense that she is there a mink amidst the maelstrom, soldiering on and trying to do her best. the last couple of days have been quite remarkable. if you had said to me two days ago we would be here and things would not have moved on and! here and things would not have moved on and i would have said the momentum is moving. so what has happened in the last 24 hours, because jacob rees—mogg‘s moment yesterday seems to be fizzling out, this call for 48 names. where are they? we thought we were on the brink of her demise last night. there were rumours that they would get the 48 letters, there would be a vote of no confidence as early as monday or tuesday next week. but now the ringleader of these eurosceptic mps is suddenly saying maybe the 48 letters will be in next week, not today. and i think now is the moment they would and should move if they really wa nt they would and should move if they really want to. it looks quite embarrassing, frankly, if they can‘t

get 48 letters in this period of time. given the number of people publicly declaring they want her to go. and the fact you had major cabinet resignations. if they can‘t get48,... cabinet resignations. if they can‘t get 48,... and if cabinet resignations. if they can‘t get 48, . .. and if they do they still need a to actually unseat her. exactly, and the fact it is taking them so much longer than they obviously expected to get to 48 doesn't bode well for the idea that one is that threshold is hit the ground swell will come over behind them. but if they do get there it isn'tjust a question of them. but if they do get there it isn't just a question of not them. but if they do get there it isn'tjust a question of not having the confidence vote, it starts to get quite embarrassing for steve bakerand get quite embarrassing for steve baker and jacob rees—mogg and a hard brexiteers who have held mrs may to ransom for the last two years by telling her berries this large block of opinion which really wants her to not backslide on any red lines. well, she has, and they don't seem

able to force her out. and that is quite serious but what it means how she can keep going and try to get the deal through. she can keep going and try to get the dealthrough. if she can keep going and try to get the deal through. if she lost michael gove liam fox she would be held under the water line. she must be quite relieved this afternoon that this loss of key people seems to have stopped. yes, i think the eurosceptics are very frustrated with michael gove for not going, because they know if he stays then she manages to hang on a little longer. i think the reason she went on the radio as well this morning is that most members of the public would think it was crazy to change leader at this point, having come so far in the negotiations, there is no alternative candidate being put forward by any members of the e r g, i haven‘t heard of any serious contenders, and i think if michael gove had gone that would have been a game changer but we said that about dominic rapp. i would have said that

he was key, and it looks like not eve ryo ne he was key, and it looks like not everyone else is following. it is one thing to say we want to change here, it is another when you ask people who they want as a replacement. david davis, boris johnson, michael gove... where is the money going? it feels today like much of the momentum is moving towards dominic raab. he was an enthusiastic michael gove supporter in 2016. but i don't know if we should get ahead of ourselves by saying that because these people have stayed she is safe. she still is to get the deal through the commons is quite hard to see how shall do that. it is possible that michael gove is staying because he sees she is in trouble so they might as well let the arithmetic take its course and see what happens. there

is also an argument that if you stay in cabinetand is also an argument that if you stay in cabinet and have a core group of brexiteers, michael gove, fox, led some, they can put pressure on her that they might be able to shape the deal, that they will stay and maybe could resign later. that would be a huge blow if you had another round of resignations, but now they have decided better to be in the room, pa rt decided better to be in the room, part of the conversation to give the brexiteers a voice in those meetings. but here we are and it looks as though she is safe until monday. we don't think there will be a no—confidence vote today. graham brady hasn't announced a 48 but it could happen. it is so hard to predict anything any more. only 23 tory mps have admitted in public that they have sent in letters. that requires another 25. who feel

strongly enough to write letters but not strongly enough to admit it in public. well, try to have a nice weekend. thank you, both of you. there‘s a strong possibility now of a vote of no confidence in the prime minister. the 1922 committee are the ones with the power to call that vote — but only if they get enough letters and support from conservative mps. here‘s chris cook to explain exactly what‘s at stake. if 15% of the conservative mps write to the chairman of the 1922 committee saying they no longer have confidence in the party leader, there is a confidence vote among tory mps. right now, 15% means 48 mp5, and the current chairman is sir graham brady. now, if the prime minister wins a confidence vote that follows that, she can stay, and there can be no fresh challenges for one year, but if the prime minister loses a confidence vote, she is obliged to stand aside. then, there is a leadership contest she cannot take part in.

that is a leadership contest where, normally, mps expect to choose two candidates to be put forward to the party membership, but that could take weeks at least — more time than the party feels they have, with the brexit clock ticking away. but it‘s also hard to see how mps could be prevailed upon to impose one candidate on the party, as they have done in the past, given the divisions inside the conservatives. a leadership election could split them down the middle. there are so many questions remaining, about what the uk‘s future relationship with the eu will be after brexit, so it‘s time once again to take your questions in ‘ask this.‘ with me isjill rutter — programme director at the institute for government, and in brussels, our europe reporter adam fleming. note. georgina. let‘s look at the

first question. a lot of people have asked this, if we have no deal what will the trade relationship be with other non—eu countries that have an agreement with the eu? that is a key question. is a very good question. essentially they will cease to apply. the uk at the moment is an eu member start and as such has special trade arrangements with those 17 non—eu countries. that means better market access, you can trade at a better discount, and all of that would cease to apply. what would happen is unclear. would we continue to trade on not the same terms, we

would face tariffs, cost, but it‘s unclear whether those countries would ask us to increase our market access to their products. is unclear. let‘s go to adam. how long would a new referendum take to organise? 24 weeks. that is the timetable that has been calculated by boffins at university college london who looked into it. the 24 weeks is made up of the time it would take to pass legislation in parliament to lay the groundwork for the referendum to take place legally, then the statutory period where the electoral commission would have to test the question with the public to make sure it was widely understood, then you would have the period it takes to get the logistics ready, the polling stations and the cards and stuff, and making sure people got their voting cards, and many would have the referendum campaign itself as well which would

have to be mandated ten week period. if you add that all up you get 24 weeks. there are some theories about bits of that that could be made shorter. but there is one massive hurdle to a second referendum which is the subtext of this, the prime ministerand is the subtext of this, the prime minister and the government do not wa nt minister and the government do not want to have one. it doesn't matter if you could organise it in five days or five months of five years, if the prime minister and the government ain't having it, it ain't happening. thank you. that's put the kibosh on that. you‘d better explain what those bodies are. the european economic area is kind of norway, iceland and lichtenstein, which participate in the single market but not the customs union. it's market but not the customs union. it‘s sort of as close as to eu membership as you can get. after is

the european free trade area. they have better trade deals. so all of those countries can actually strike their agreements. the problem is the kind of trade agreement has certain limits. if you want to trade as closely as possible with the eu, you kind of have to abide to their rules, which means, say, if switzerland were to strike a deal with the eu as it probably wouldn‘t wa nt to with the eu as it probably wouldn‘t want to import chlorinated chicken because if it used that in any of its pies and try to export them to the eu then suddenly it would create tension and they don‘t want to run the risk, they don‘t want the headache, so they try to adopt eu rules that restricts their ability to import certain products from elsewhere. thank you. adam... ifeel

like bamber gascoigne. 0h, oh, that is a controversial one. during the transition period the uk's financial obligations to the eu stay the same so we will pay into the eu budget until the end of the transitional period, and that period is extendable so it could last longer and there's a whole separate mechanism to calculate how much the bill would be in the extension of the transition period. anyway, rememberthe the transition period. anyway, remember the figure on the bus? that was question because it was a gross figure so didn't take into account the rebate on the original budget contributions and the fact that uk received money back from the eu budget projects in the uk. so it was actually less than 350 million. it was but wine nine and 12 billion a

year to the was but wine nine and 12 billion a yearto the eu was but wine nine and 12 billion a year to the eu which once we are out well technically comeback to be spent by the british treasury. took the two economists they say there's beena the two economists they say there's been a hit to the economy because of the brexit vote, is quite likely in their view to be a permanent hit the economy if the relationship with the eu is less close than now. so you have to discount that from any debts it -- have to discount that from any debts it —— brexit dividend. but the government say they are planning to put £394 million a week in the nhs because of brexit but that's because tax receipts have improved. what i'm getting at is it's almost impossible to work out what an actual real brexit dividend could be as a number. is related to so many more factors thanjust number. is related to so many more factors than just what was the check that we sent to brussels every year when we were in. she came out with a 394 million figure on the radio this morning, didn‘t she? from amanda...

no, we won‘t need a visa. i can‘t say travel went been disrupted. if ryanairor say travel went been disrupted. if ryanair or british airways have a strike that is their problem. if the transition period goes ahead, that‘s a big if because the withdrawal agreement would have to be approved by the uk parliament and the eu, but let‘s say we do enter the transition period, we are a nonmember, still pa rt period, we are a nonmember, still part of the single market and the customs union, so we can still operate the way we do now, then by the end of the transition period thatis the end of the transition period that is when those questions of these as to the eu will apply or not. but that is the future relationship. in the transition period we are a nonmember and so can benefit everything we have now. amanda doesn‘t need to worry right now. back to brussels and adam. this

is from peter... are you sure that's not you using a false name, simon? during the transition period everything stays the same so by as much as you want and at supermarket in calais and bring it here. though actually you can't because if you go over a certain amount you might get stopped by customs. and they will search your car because they think you are smuggling, if they think you are running a business rather thanjust drinking a lot. after that it will come down to what kind of customs relationship is negotiated between the two sides. if that is a customs arrangement that has an exemption for large quantities of booze for personal use, you will be fine. if the negotiations that don't go in a direction it could be a case that there's a direction it could be a case that there'sa limit direction it could be a case that there's a limit to what you can

bring in on a booze cruise. i'm not sure what the future holds for that. although the uk's policy in their customs document they published last summer was customs document they published last summer was that this could continue, you could still take as much booze as you wanted from an eu country and bring it into the uk. that is the government's aspiration, that the booze cruise should continue. very good news for peter. adam, thank you. one last question to georgina. this is from elaine... it's it‘s something that worries me as well. if the transition period goes ahead everything stays as it is. we will still be part of the single market and customs union, we will still be benefiting from that. it‘s a regulation that is part of the single market. at the end of the transition period, it‘s a big

question. it will depend on the agreement with the eu. perhaps we can agree something that would allow us to benefit from eu roaming charges. lots to be negotiated which is why i think the transition period may have to be extended a little longer. but good news for data. thank you very much. georgina and adam, thank you very much. time for a look at the weather — here‘s chris fawkes. hello there. for most of us today the weather is going to stay pretty cloudy, but we are going to see some significant changes over the next few days. look at yesterday‘s top temperature, we got up to 17.6 celsius in the highlands of scotland, mild southerly winds. that warm air is moving into the arctic, cooler air moving out of the arctic into northern europe. that is going to be spreading across to our shores, really dropping temperatures, particularly into next week, so a real cold snap is on the way. for today though it‘s been pretty cloudy, a lot of that cloud has been quite low with rather misty

conditions over the hills. you can see the extent of the cloud here on the satellite picture, but notice the north of scotland sticking out. and here we have seen quite different whether already this morning, with plenty of sunshine, for example, across parts of aberdeenshire. and the north of scotland will be the best place to see the sunshine, continuing through the rest of the day today. at otherwise,. continuing through the rest of the day today. otherwise, temperatures are still on the mild side generally, we are looking at 12 to 14 degrees for most of us, something like that. as we go through this evening and overnight we will keep that sheet of low cloud, it will turn rather misty, some hill fog patches particularly across western and northern hills. there may be some spots of drizzle as well developing in one or two spots. temperatures overnight range from around seven to 11 celsius for most of us. then we will see some changes as we look at the weather picture into the weekend. high pressure builds across the united kingdom, that will grill the cloud from above. but coupled with that we are going to see drier air moving in from the continent and that will evaporate the cloud.

so it is a two pronged attack. although many areas start of the day cloudy, notice how those sunny skies work in quite quickly from the south—east of england and east anglia across the rest of england and wales as we head in to the afternoon. so there will be plenty of sunshine around as we go on through the day — you mightjust have to be a little patient before the sunshine arrives where you live. it‘s a similar story further north as well. however, there could be some bits and pieces of cloud left over across some of the eastern coast of scotland, and northern ireland perhaps keeping quite a bit of cloud for most of the day. now, temperatures are coming down, closer to normal for the time of year, with highs typically between ten and 12 celsius. a similar weather forecast for sunday but then it gets much colder next week, temperatures struggling — for some, at around five or six celsius towards the middle of the week. that‘s your weather. hello, you‘re watching afternoon live — i‘m simon mccoy. today at three. two leading brexiteer cabinet ministers — michael gove and liam fox — give their support to theresa may — michael gove says he wont resign following speculation he would be the third cabinet minister to quit.

do you have confidence in the prime minister, mr gove? i absolutely do. i think it‘s absolutely vital that we focus on getting the right deal in the future and making sure that in the areas that matter so much to the british people, we can get a good outcome. theresa may has been on radio this morning defending her leadership position and brexit plan. i want to be able to say to all parliamentarians, every mp, i believe, truly believe, this is the best deal for britain. the number of people missing after the california wildfires more than doubles to 630. guilty of genocide — the historic court verdict against two former leaders of the khmer rouge. coming up on afternoon live... all the sport with olly foster. joe root hit a brilliant century for england to put them in a strong position in the second test against sri lanka, and we‘ll also and we‘ll also hopefull hear from claudio ranieri, who is just about to give his first

fulham news conference. chris fawkes with the weather. we will be looking forward to the weather prospects and beyond when the weather is set to turn really cold. join me for the full forecast later. good afternoon and welcome to westminster. where they have just started chanting. joyce(!) michael gove insists he has confidence in theresa may as she pursues her brexit deal. the environment secretary was rumoured to be considering resigning from the cabinet but has decided to stay on to help the cabinet to get "the best future for britain". this morning the prime minister once again defended her brexit withdrawal agreement — answering calls from members of the public in a phone in on lbc radio. it comes amid speculation that

a leadership challenge to mrs may is about to be launched by tory backbenchers. our political correspondent leila nathoo reports. will you be resigning today, mr gove? in the event, the answer was no. the environment secretary, a key brexiteer in the cabinet, has decided to stay in post after two of his colleagues walked out yesterday. though he declined the job of brexit secretary, michael gove has clearly calculated it‘s better to fight for the brexit he wants from the inside. i‘m looking forward to continuing to work with all my government colleagues and all my colleagues in parliament to make sure that we get the best future for britain. i think it‘s absolutely vital that we focus on getting the right deal in the future and making sure that, in the areas that matter so much to the british people, we can get a good outcome. some good news then for the prime minister, on her way this morning to a radio phone—in to try to sell her brexit deal to the country and to mp5. when this vote comes back, every individual member of parliament will decide how they vote — whether they are a member of the dup, conservative, labour, all the parties within the house of commons. myjob is to persuade,

first and foremost, my conservative benches, those who are working with us — the dup are working with us, obviously confidence and supply, but i want to be able to say to all parliamentarians, every mp, i truly believe this is the best dealfor britain. john bercow: the prime minister. but the numbers are against her in parliament. opposition parties and plenty from her own side are determined to see her ditch the brexit deal. and there are now prominent tory backbenchers openly calling for a change of leader, waiting to see if they have a critical mass to move against her. the policy is totally intolerable, and we have to test whether the parliamentary party not only wishes to back the prime minister now she‘s sticking with this policy — and there can be no doubt about it whatsoever, there is no scope for improvement, this is the policy. to trigger a vote of no—confidence in the prime minister, 15% of tory mps need to write to the chair of the committee of backbenchers — that is sir graham brady.

he is the only person who will know when the magic number of 48 has been reached. theresa may says she will fight the vote, and if a majority of mps support her she can‘t be challenged again for another year. i hope that those mps who are contemplating this do draw back, but i think if those letters were to go in i think she would win any such vote decisively, and she would deserve to do so. so the prime minister stays where she is for now. but her critics are still circling, and her hold on her party could still soon be swept away. leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster. the international trade secretary liam fox has said he still supports theresa may depsite yesterday‘s slew of resignations. i back the prime minister. she has led the country with tremendous dignity and quite a lot of resilience in difficult times. she is doing a brexit settlement with no parliamentary majority, and in a parliament where even if we had a majority, we probably would have a majority of remainers into parliament, so it‘s a very difficult balance for her to get. i think that ultimately the worst

outcome would be no brexit at all because with the public having voted for brexit, with the two main parties saying they would respect the result of the referendum, with parliament passing article 50 and the withdrawal act, for parliament to vote down brexit i think would so damage faith in the democratic process that it would be dangerous. we will have to make a choice about what they want going forward, whether they want certainty for business or whether they want to risk losing brexit altogether. it is up to every member of parliament... i don‘t prejudge and nor do i criticise them for the judgments they come to. we will all make our own judgments depending on what we believe to be the national interest. there will be different perceptions of that but ultimately that is what parliament will have to do, and parliament will have to carry the consequences either way.

let‘s talk to our political correspondent nick eardley who is with me. this morning, there was the feeling in westminster that the 48 letters we re in westminster that the 48 letters were in. now, it isn‘t looking so sure? it is still possible but it looks like the momentum has gone. we know for sure that there are more than 20, we know that there may be more that people have not told us. but steve baker said an hour ago that it could be monday before brexiteers definitely think they‘ve got the numbers to push the no—confidence vote. got the numbers to push the no-confidence vote. if that is the case, a lot of people would have heard the prime minister on the radio and constituents would have heard this morning, those who are thinking of putting in a letter may have second thoughts. maybe but it could go the other way. i spoke to a minister this afternoon who said that mps will go back to their

constituencies and speak to their associations, and get a feel for how the events since last week have gone down locally. if their members are saying to them, we don‘t like this deal, we do not like what is on the table, they may come back here on monday and go straight up to graham brady ‘s office in that building there and say, here is my letter. it is still possible it could happen today. we know that they could probably e—mail a letter in. today. we know that they could probably e-mail a letter in. you can a p pa re ntly probably e-mail a letter in. you can apparently text. there are many multimedia ways of expressing your frustration these days! but it feels that the moment that it is slowing, whether there is a steady trickle that will speed up or whether bpm can win over some of the waverers. and there was a thought that michael gove may quit, that would have been very damaging for theresa may. when you contrast how she was 48 hours ago, she may get to the weekend as

unscathed as she could have hoped two days ago. yes, if you are in downing street this afternoon you are probably fairly content with what has happened today. that said, it is not as though they are in the clear. there will be some discussing with constituencies over the weekend what to do. we also understand that some of those ministers who have not resigned, they expressed some reservations in the cabinet meeting on wednesday and talking about meeting this weekend to talk about concerns they have. the biggest one, i understand, is how to get out the backstop... and these are brexiteer ministers? andrea leadsom, leader of the house, liam fox, who wejust heard from, michael gove too. they are slightly concerned about the deal and still want to say to the prime minister that they can get something slightly better. they are

trying to meet with the weekend to discuss it. simon, you are right, we are not in the fee brawl atmosphere we saw last year. it feels like rings have calmed down a little but i don‘t know how long i will continue for. we will keep up our position here. thank you. you heard nick mention steve baker there — he is the deputy chairman at the european research group — a group of pro—brexit conservative mps. and earlier he talked me through the requirements for a successful vote of no confidence in the prime minister. it is 48 to get a vote of confidence and you need a majority either way. it is two bows and two sets of numbers. we do parliamentary activity related to it, we do not have a collective view on the subject. it is the case that i have reached the point where i think you cannot separate policy from person. i cannot tolerate the policy, i think it will not go through the house of commons which leads us one

choice, to test whether the conservative parliamentary party has confidence in the prime minister. do you believe by the end of today that there will be those letters with so graham brady? i think next week. many colleagues with the decision this big, they will want to see their association president, and key associations asked their opinion. it isa associations asked their opinion. it is a democracy and our choice but they want to test opinion and do it themselves when they are here. now, they are where i want to be come in their constituencies. it doesn't sound like you‘ve got the number yet. there‘s a lot of speculation, the only person who knows the number is so graham brady. the only person. people say they have put their letters in when they haven‘t and haven‘t when they have. only graham knows. what i think is, sufficient people have told me that we are very close. but exactly when? that isn‘t for me to say. what i would say is

if colleagues do not want to wait for that policy to be brought to the house of commons and be voted down, they need to think seriously this weekend about putting in a letter and say they want to vote to test the world. and what about procedure? there are quite a lot of myths. let‘s deal with a couple. also graham brady need to ring round those? he could not ring us all because it could go to the press. i think if a person were to put in a letter several years ago it would be common sense to test whether they are still standing by that be. unlikely given that she has only been prime ministerfor a short time. i think that the reality is, he certainly will not. i would not expect him to be ringing around. you will not be showing letters to the prime minister‘s pps. letters are confidential and the conservative party constitution. there is a lot of nonsense. they asked ridley

confidential, they can text graham or scan confidential, they can text graham orscan in their confidential, they can text graham or scan in their letter. i‘m not going to give out his phone number! this is a very serious moment and matter. let's talk about beyond that. say he goes to the prime minister first. sorry, ijust want to a nswer minister first. sorry, ijust want to answer this question for this gentleman. it is worth it. i know we disagree but you‘ve been following me around. thank you for protesting and upholding our democracy. he follows us all around. now, let‘s talk about what happens once you have got the 48. there is a much bigger issue really. that is persuading people in this place, 158 of them, that they want to move on and change prime minister.m of them, that they want to move on and change prime minister. it is a secret ballot. every member of parliament will have to ask themselves what they think is in the national interest and what they are

willing to live with. it can go one for generations either way. if they think of the secret ballot, they will think upon the election we had whether poll lead was so high the danger was a 1—party state and that was thrown away. now we have the misery of a minority government and i think most members of parliament will not want a repeat. that makes this a grave time. you put that down to the leader rather than the atmosphere and issues? the immediate problem is the prime minister‘s policy for exiting the eu is a high alignment policy which leads us shackled as a regulatory satellite of the eu, not even for pulling our recent manifesto. she denied that this morning on the radio. the papers say it is single customs territory, as far as i am concerned thatis territory, as far as i am concerned that is different language for in the customs union. but for an out

time? in order to leave the backstop arrangements, we would need consent of the eu. as iain duncan smith pointed out in a statement, these arrangements, the backstop, would be harder to leave that institutions like nato and the eu itself. so, we would risk being indefinitely shackled into arrangements that some people have called vassalage and i think that is right. we‘ve lost the man with the banners, we now have a choir. let‘s talk to frances o‘grady, the general secretary of the tuc. we will speak loudly. i spoke to you the other day and here we are, theresa may. her authority, the other day and here we are, theresa may. herauthority, has the other day and here we are, theresa may. her authority, has it been damaged in the last 24 hours? she‘s been on the radio and spoken to the public. it is draining away, that‘s the truth. we‘ve heard that she is trying to appease brexiteers. it is supposed to be our map for the future. we have said it is not worth

the paper that it is written on. that has been proven today. i think people out there in the country are still wondering what all this means for our jobs still wondering what all this means for ourjobs and our rights at work. a lot of them pins will go back this weekend, and i want a sense of what people out the westminster bubble may be making of where we are, if the choice, this seems to be the gamble theresa may is taken, if the deal, the best one that she can get, or no deal, that is the choice? deal, the best one that she can get, or no deal, that is the choice7m isa or no deal, that is the choice7m is a false choice. she would say that. it is understandable that she is trying to martial people towards her deal by frightening them with the prospect of no deal but i think the prospect of no deal but i think the reality is, if the bill does not get through the house of commons, she will have to go to the eu and they will ask for an extension to find more time. but the reality is, the real choice will be, in the end the real choice will be, in the end

the people will have to decide. either through a general election or a people‘s vote stop but the people must have the final say if parliament cannot sort this. and what about those who say there is so much going on in the country other than brexit? that there are things they want politicians to address but they want politicians to address but they cannot. get this out the way and we can move on. i've been speaking to someone today, their autistic teenage child has had their benefits removed by what i believe isa benefits removed by what i believe is a pretty cruel assessment process that strips people of dignity and money, and often dependence as well as respect. a lot of people out there will be worried about so many issues like cuts to schools and hospitals, and kids going on 20 hours contracts. quality ofjobs and wages rising, i think there is a frustration in the country that until we get this sorted, we cannot

talk about some of those other issues that matter to all of us, whichever way we have voted. in the end, the only way we get this sorted is if people get the final say. interesting listening on the radio this morning, those calling up to say she should go, they admired her resilience. do you admire it? it is a toughjob resilience. do you admire it? it is a tough job for anyone, resilience. do you admire it? it is a toughjob for anyone, we resilience. do you admire it? it is a tough job for anyone, we always said at the start that the priorities were more important. too much of this has been about business and the whole referendum campaign felt like it was being run by business and the banks. start with what matters to working people and what matters to working people and what matters to working people and what matters is people being able to earn a decent livelihood. and, be treated fairly at work. maternity rights and holiday pay, they are what matter to people. if you start with the right priorities, instead of appeasing her own conservative party colleagues, it‘s cabinet

careers rather than the jobs of people in the country. that is where she went wrong. will they say look, back to you, we cannot sort this out. is a people‘s vote likely? back to you, we cannot sort this out. is a people's vote likely?m looks more likely. we will see what happens with the bill going through the house of commons. it looks like the house of commons. it looks like the votes are stacking up against the votes are stacking up against the prime minister and in that case, the prime minister and in that case, the only choice we will be left with isa the only choice we will be left with is a people‘s vote or a general election. frances o'grady, good to talk to you. earlier our brussels reporter adam fleming spoke to us from outside the european parliament and outlined how the political uncertainty in westminster is going down on the other side of the brexit negotiations. they are in no mood to intervene in britain, they think they could make the situation worse and they are in no mood to reopen the draft treaty which has been agreed on both sides.

one of the negotiators, michel barnierfrom the european commission, was speaking to ambassadors from other 27 states in brussels today, in a private meeting. we heard about what he had to say and he paid tribute to theresa may. he says the eu should not be compromising its principles just because of the political situation in the uk. he says just because you want a withdrawal agreement across the line, it does not mean you should engage any last—minute haggling. the message is clear, they do not want to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement, the terms of divorce. where there are still negotiations going on is the separate document that will go alongside the withdrawal agreement, the political declaration which will sketch out, in broad terms, maybe with some detail, the shape of the future relationship over decades to come. that will be hammered out over the weekend by the uk and eu negotiators and approved by ministers on monday. the whole lot will be signed off by eu leaders a week on sunday

and then the process in brussels is basically finished. adam fleming in brussels. you can get in touch... to those of you who have complained about my use of language yesterday, i referred to remainers with a word i know they do not like, i apologised on cut twitter —— i apologised on cut twitter —— i apologised on cut twitter —— i apologised on twitter last night and i apologise now. it was a mistake and i acknowledge that. you‘re watching afternoon live, these are our headlines... michael gove says he won‘t resign from the cabinet over the prime minister‘s brexit deal — following speculation he would be the third cabinet minister to quit.

the prime minister has been on radio this morning defending her position and arguing for the brext deal to be passed by mps. the number of people missing after the california wildfires more than doubles to six hundred and thirty tommy fleetwood is three shots off the lead after the second round of the seaaon ending tour championship in dubai, but he has to win the tournament to have any chance of end the year as european number one. wales face denamrk in their nations league decider tonight in cardiff. the winner will be promoted to the top tier. i‘ll be back with more on those stores later. the number of people missing after wildfires destroyed the californian town of paradise has now doubled — to more than 630. so far 63 bodies have been discovered there, but the death toll is expected to rise considerably.

after the worst wildfires in california‘s history, president trump will travel to the state tomorrow to see the damage for himself and meet some of those affected. dan johnson has the latest from paradise. the air here is still really thick with smoke. everyone has a mask. and there are still places where the ground is smouldering, more than a week after the fire tore through here, burning pretty much everything to the ground, and this sort of destruction is typical. you can see this right up the main street. shops and businesses like this completely burnt to the ground. and it‘s not a case of coming in here and making repairs or rebuilding. they‘re going to have to start again, build from the ground up. but there‘s a big question, a serious question, about whether that can be done, whether people will even want to come back and live here again, amongst these trees on the hillside, in the forest, where this fire spread so quickly. there are questions about how it started and suspicion that an electrical fault in the power network could have been to blame. there are lots of engineers here, trying to rebuild that power network and make it safe, but those questions will have to wait because the priority is working out exactly how many people lost their lives in this

fire, and accounting for those who are missing. the number of people who we‘re still looking for, who are unaccounted for, has increased to 631, and this number increased by 501 people. there are teams going through neighbourhood after neighbourhood, house by house, delicately searching, trying to provide those answers, but every day, the death toll keeps increasing. danjohnson, bbc news, in paradise. a woman who accused a senior peer of groping her says it‘s a disgrace he isn‘t being immediately suspended from the house of lords. jasvinder sanghera claims lord lester, a former liberal democrat front bencher, also offered her a peerage in return for sex. a parliamentary committee recommended his suspension, but that‘s been blocked by the house of lords. ms sanghera, an author and women‘s rights campaigner, says it makes her feel likes she‘s been ‘abused all over again.‘

lord lester strongly denies the claims against him. lucy manning reports. jasvinder sanghera has fought for women‘s rights, but she didn‘t expect she‘d be fighting so hard for her own — accusing lord lester, a member of the house of lords and human rights lawyer, of harassing her 12 years ago. he sexually harassed me. he bullied me. he exerted his power and influence over me. he said to me, if i was to sleep with him, he would make me a baroness within a year. he... ..physically groped me. a house of lords investigation decided lord lester, who says it‘s all completely untrue, should be suspended for nearly four years — the longest suspension since the second world war. but his colleagues in the lords blocked that yesterday. if you are accused of serious misconduct, and the issue turns on credibility and you face a serious sanction, you are entitled, you have a legal right to cross examine the person making these allegations

against you. how did it leave you feeling? angry. ifelt bullied, to be quite honest with you. i felt bullied by them. what happened yesterday in the house of lords was not fair. i did not have the right to respond. these individuals voted on a sanction and these individuals were his peers. a few days after, you wrote in an inscription of a book to lord lester, "with love and admiration". questions have been asked about that. he dictated to me what i should write in that book, so i wrote it. just to get rid of him. lord lester thanked his fellow members of the house of lords who supported him, and says he now looks forward to restoring his reputation. but the lords‘ authorities say they are deeply disappointed he wasn‘t suspended and will look at the case again. jasvinder sanghera is now reluctant to advise others to come forward when parliament is still able tojudge its own.

lucy manning, bbc news. two former leaders of the murderous khmer rouge regime in cambodia have been found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity at a un—backed tribunal. in the 19705, the fanatical rule of the khmer rouge is believed to have killed some two million people — a quarter of the entire population. the former leaders — one of whom was pol pot‘s deputy — have both been sentenced to life in prison. our south east asia correspondent jonathan head reports — it contains pictures some viewers may find distressing. few cambodians today remember the terrible years of the khmer rouge, yet many queued up to watch this historic verdict. inside the courtroom, two elderly men accused of responsibility for some of the most appalling crimes ever committed. one of them known as brother two, second only to the notorious pol pot, and the other, a head of state for

the fanatical regime. we find the accused to be guilty... both men had already convicted of crimes against humanity for years ago but this is charges and this is the trial had been in two stages. there was no need for transport and communications. when the khmer rouge seized power in 1975, they tried to build a revolutionary society based on communes and limitless brutality. they called it year zero. enemies of the revolution were slaughtered in huge numbers. the presiding judge found the defendants guilty on multiple charges of crimes against humanity and genocide against two ethnic minorities. the verdict pleased those who had come to watch the trial. they will end their lives in captivity but this complex judicial process has been slow and expensive and has

only convicted three people. they committed such big crimes, i am they committed such big crimes, i am the only child who survived the regime. we are happy that the government prosecuted the khmer rouge. in 1975 they forced us all to work without food to eat or medicine. nuon chea and khieu samphan will end their lives in captivity. but this complex judicial process has been slow and expensive and has only convicted three people. most of those responsible for cambodia‘s killing fields will never be called to account. jonathan head, bbc news. a picture by the british painter, david hockney, has set a new record for a work by a living artist sold at auction. ‘portrait of an artist — pool with two figures‘ — fetched 90 million dollars — around 70 million pounds. david sillito reports.

portrait of an artist... christies, new york and expectations were high... the painting hockney‘s portrait of an artist, a pool with two figures and the bidding began at $18 million. 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 35, 38, 40... within seconds it was at 40 million. to understand why we need to go back to the 70s. the painting was the subject of a famous film about hockney, a bigger splash, a landmark moment in his career and his personal life. the figure in the painting was hockney‘s partner the artist peter slazenger, a painting of water and the end of a relationship. this one is actually their personal story because it‘s about his love and his loss of love and the love he is about to lose. it‘s also the culmination of this

most famous series of paintings image after growing up in the gothic gloom of bradford, he embraced the sun glamour of los angeles. but quite why they became so sought—after is even to hockney something of a mystery. it‘s always an interesting thing, how do you paint water, how do you paint something transparent? i like to think it might be the space in the pictures. you don‘t know why things become memorable. if there was a formula for them there‘d be a lot more of them. back at the auction and was now reaching its climax. finally bidding for the hockney is... sold! applause and with the auction fee, the final price was more than $90 million, what took david hockney two weeks of 18 hour days in 1972 has 46 years later, broken all records for a living artist. david sillito, bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes.

hello. for most of us were going to keep the low cloud we‘ve had all day well into the evening. the only real exceptions will be across western areas of england and wales, around the coastline. the best of the sunshine has been across the north of scotland. overnight night the cloud will thicken further for a time. it will become quite misty with hill fog patches across western and northern areas. there could be some drizzle around as well. clear skies may see temperatures tumble but elsewhere were looking at those of between seven and 12. big changes on the way tomorrow. although we start cloudy we will see that breaking up quickly across east anglia and south—east england before sunnier skies extend northwards and westwards. northern ireland may well stay cloudy and there may be patches of cloud towards the east coast of

scotla nd of cloud towards the east coast of scotland but most will see sunshine eventually, temperatures close to average for the time of year. that‘s the weather. this is bbc news — our latest headlines: michael gove says he won‘t resign from the cabinet over the prime minister‘s brexit deal — following speculation he would be the third cabinet minister to quit. do you have confidence in the prime minister, mr gove? i absolutely do. i think it‘s absolutely vital that we focus on getting the right deal in the future and making sure that in the areas that matter so much to the british people, we can get a good outcome. the prime minister has been on radio this morning, defending her position and arguing for the brext deal to be passed by mps. i want to be able to say to all parliamentarians, every mp, i believe, truly believe, this is the best deal for britain. the number of people missing after the california wildfires more than doubles to 630. two lea d e rs of the khmer rouge regime in cambodia have been found guilty of genocide. sport now on afternoon live,

with olly foster. there was a brilliant knock from joe root today — the england captain making 124 to put them in a strong postion in the second test against sri lanka, they lead by 278 runs in kandy with two days left to play. they lost four down before lunch but were rescued by a root with his 15th test century. he was one of six wickets for akila danajaya. ben foakes was unbeaten on 51 before a lightning storm forced an early close. england reaching 324 for 9 in their second innings, thanks to that captain‘s knock. i certainly enjoyed myself today. there were a few filthy acts in there at times but i think the way you have to think about batting and the sort of mental approach and game

plan and is different strategies against different bowlers makes it really good fun. and that is what he should be about, you know? you shouldn‘t feel like a pressure is too much for you, you should really enjoy the occasion make the most of the opportunity in front of you. and i thought the whole group managed to really harness that today and make the most of it. england‘s women play south africa in the world twenty20 in st lucia this evening. there‘s coverage on radio 5 live, sports extra and in—play video on the bbc sport website. england beat bangladesh quite comfortably last time out, but south africa are likely to be a tougher prospect. they have got dangerous batters and outstanding bowling team as well but they are not only dangerous but unpredictable. you never know what you will get from them and the most important thing is we do ourjobs right and play to our capabilities, and we know we can beat any team. tommy fleetwood is three shots off the lead at the season ending tour championship in dubai.

he made 5 birdies in a second round of 67 to finish on 8 under. he needs to win the tournament and hope that francesco molinari finishes outside the top—five, to finish the year as european number one. the italian is on 3 under, a long way back. englishman matt wallace currently leads on 11 under. claudio ranieiri has been holding his first news conference at fulham. he replaces slavisa jokanovic, who was ascked earlier this week after a run of six defeats in a row, ranieri won that miraculous premier league title with leicester in 2016 — but has a very different job at craven cottage with the club bottom of the table. now i have to choose the players who will show me the fighting spirit. because with a quality and fighting spirit and a union, and when the

players help each other and when the fa ns players help each other and when the fans understand this, we are all together. we are in the same way, and now i need the support of our fa ns to and now i need the support of our fans to try to do our best. wales face denmark in cardiff tonight. it‘s a nations league decider, the winner will gain promotion to the top tier of the competition when it‘s next played and they will also get a play off spot for the 2020 euros if they fail to make it through the normal qualification process that starts next year. they‘ll be boosted by the availability of gareth bale who has recovered from an ankle knock. it‘s a new tournament, we wanted to win the first one, the first nations league. and it‘s in our hands now. it‘s not going to be easy because we‘re up against a top—class side, very good manager, a group of players who have been together a long time and have proved over a period of time that they are tough to beat and they are a very good team.

the final place in the last four of the season ending world tour finals will be decided today. these are live pictures from london‘s o2 arena. alexander zverev is a set up againstjohn isner. the afternoon match has just concluded. alexander zverev has secured the semifinal spot. he has just beaten is an. —— beatenjohn isner. alexander zverev goes through. novak djokovic is also through. novak djokovic is also through to the semifinals. he is now playing what is effectively a dead rubber against marin cilic. i wish i could do that to the camera lens every time i finished a bulletin. i

wouldn‘t be very popular though! news from the united states, cnn has won a ruling from a usjudge temporarily restoring the white house pass for the cnn correspondent john acosta —— jim acosta. you may remember the bad tempered affair between jim acosta remember the bad tempered affair betweenjim acosta and donald trump, where he described a correspondent infairly where he described a correspondent in fairly derogatory terms. he then had his pass was drawn. it looks as though had his pass was drawn. it looks as thouthim had his pass was drawn. it looks as though jim acosta had his pass was drawn. it looks as thouthim acosta will be back in the white house after that ruling from a judge in the us. we‘ll have more reaction to that later on. welcome back to westminster — another turbulent day for the prime minister. hanging in the balance — notjust mrs may‘s fragile agreement setting out the terms of britain‘s departure from the european union, but her own political survival. she remains defiant, in spite of attempts by members of her own party to remove her. let‘s get the thoughts

of jessica elgot, political correspondent for the guradian, and the sun‘s political editor, tom newton—dunn. this morning the sense was there would be 48 letters in the hands of sirgraham would be 48 letters in the hands of sir graham brady would be 48 letters in the hands of sirgraham brady and would be 48 letters in the hands of sir graham brady and theresa may was in trouble. what is happening now? we have seen a steady flow of letters throughout the day, probably maybe ten over the 24 hours and there are now just maybe ten over the 24 hours and there are nowjust over 20. that is a long way away from the 48 that there needs to be, but there could be plenty more people who don‘t fa ncy be plenty more people who don‘t fancy saying it in public. but the feeling as we go into the afternoon seems to be that maybe we won‘t get there today and maybe the people who we re there today and maybe the people who were briefing that we were might have been premature. and perhaps jacob rees—mogg jump the gun. have been premature. and perhaps jacob rees-mogg jump the gun. it's fascinating what happened yesterday. drg simply don't have the numbers,

they don't have 48 letters. i estimate it is higher than the low 20s came into the 30s, but still significantly short of the magic number. who knows what happened yesterday. someone ordered a cavalry charge without looking to see whether horses were. it did look a bit like that with jacob rees—mogg. he was on his own front of the cameras but he'd just come from a room of drg members. but not all the people in the meeting have put in letters so far, and the number one rule of politics is learn how to count. people are now taking a little more time to think carefully about the decision, because it is potentially an enormous one, you are potentially an enormous one, you are potentially changing a prime

minister, a government and an entire brexit deal. so those thinking about writing a letter this morning, what will they have made of premier mister‘s appearance on lbc? will they have made of premier mister's appearance on lbc?” will they have made of premier mister's appearance on lbc? i think it was quite brave of her to take questions from the general public. and tough ones, someone compared her to neville chamberlain. she seemed slightly ta ken aback to neville chamberlain. she seemed slightly taken aback by someone suggesting that she just let jacob rees—mogg have herjob. but how many of them are now thinking is it worth the leadership challenge? do they need to potentially provoke a backlash by looking like we are selfish enough to topple the premise for our own ends? how does that look for our own ends? how does that look for us? i think that will be going through the minds of some people. and whilst there may be relief in downing street, it might be short lived, but in the meantime she has some vacancies to fill. she has a

reasonably sized reshuffle on the table. notjust reasonably sized reshuffle on the table. not just the two cabinet jobs but that cascades down. to mid—ranking ministers, to pps 's and trade envoy to pakistan. the two cabinet posts will be vaccinating. she offered brexit secretary to michael gove, which he turned down. and i think that will reflect in people putting in her letters. if you are a tory mp and you hate this deal, you don't want theresa may because you think she won't do anything but push the deal through, if you remove her what is the plan? what is the alternative to get a better deal because if you can't think of one you will think twice about calling for her to go. michael gove is the best brexit rain, if he has taken the decision and we know he doesn't like the deal, but if he has said i cannot think of any other way to stop this deal apart from to

carry on with it and try to make it better, this will give pause for thought. so are there any levers left she can persuade it? and the work and pensions secretary, universal credit is an enormous problem, it's not anywhere near being fully introduced, someone pretty confident has to go in and get it right. who would your money beyond for brexit secretary? geoffrey cox. i'm told it won't be him. he is very much wanted. as attorney general. there's an awful lot of fine print to go through with this deal and future trade deal after that. so frankly the mind boggles. there are no brexiteers left in cabinet that we know prepared to go on stations like this. you have to go on, put your

heart and soul into explaining to people for four months why it works. so if you don't pick a brexiteer, then who? you are nodding. i agree with tom. if you are already in the cabinet and with tom. if you are already in the cabinetand are with tom. if you are already in the cabinet and are a brexiteer and are staying, what is the benefit of moving up into a position where it‘s yourjob to sell moving up into a position where it‘s your job to sell the moving up into a position where it‘s yourjob to sell the deal you‘re so sceptical of? i don‘t think liam fox well. if they go to plan his job will become more important than the brexit secretary of the next couple of years. why would he then want to ta ke of years. why would he then want to take it shepherding the legislation through parliament when it will have a terrible time? and work and pensions will be more difficult to fix the many people think. here is a reward for your loyalty, here‘s universal credit for you to deal with. it is not an attractive proposition. a lot of people have

moved on from thatjob, it shows what a terrible mess universal credit is in because of that. so we‘ll have to see who ends up with that. so we're obsessed with politics, but this weekend the mps will go back to their constituencies and talk to the people. how important is the next 48 hours going to be? i think when people have time to be? i think when people have time to sleep on what has been happening in this crazy bubble of the last few days, if they might start to think how close the brexit day really is and how quickly a deal really needs to be done to stop us crashing out without a deal. i think there is a significant majority in parliament for one thing only, which is against no deal. that is a significant number of mac tories would want to block and pretty much all of labour. does that mean people‘s vote is more or less likely now? marginally more likely. anything that destabilises

the government and the deal makes a second set referendum more likely. i still think odds are against it. how you get it through, you need government time, you need an intense political crisis to do that. theresa may's deal would have to be voted down by the house of commons to stand any chance of a second referendum. 48 hours ago you would have said that mass was totally against it. but there is now a sense that anything can happen. against it. but there is now a sense that anything can happenlj against it. but there is now a sense that anything can happen. i think it is now, at 3:45pm on a friday afternoon, that she will get the deal through. after the general election last year which lost the majority, this was obvious to jess, to me, to all of us is tedious westminster watchers, there would be an awful trouble mess trying to pass her deal, so i looked at the odds

and put £10 on a second referendum. the odds have changed from 5—1 to 2-1. we learned quite a lot there! thank you both very much. we‘ll be talking about that process in 1922 committee. if there is a vote of no—confidence it is the 1922 committee with a parrot called the vote but only if they get enough letters of support from conservative mps. but only if they get enough letters and support from conservative mps. here‘s chris cook to explain exactly what‘s at stake. if 15% of the conservative mps write to the chairman of the 1922 committee saying they no longer have confidence in the party leader, there is a confidence vote among tory mps. right now, 15% means 48 mp5, and the current chairman is sir graham brady. now, if the prime minister wins a confidence vote that follows that, she can stay, and there can be no fresh challenges for one year,

but if the prime minister loses a confidence vote, she is obliged to stand aside. then, there is a leadership contest she cannot take part in. that is a leadership contest where, normally, mps expect to choose two candidates to be put forward to the party membership, but that could take weeks at least — more time than the party feels they have, with the brexit clock ticking away. but it‘s also hard to see how mps could be prevailed upon to impose one candidate on the party, as they have done in the past, given the divisions inside the conservatives. a leadership election could split them down the middle. let‘s get some business news now. jamie robertson joins me from our central london office. i think what you have to look at

really the big reflector of investor confidence is the pound. i wouldn‘t look so much at the footsie, the stock markets. the pound took a real dive yesterday and that was really a show of no—confidence in what was going on and the fragility of the government. since then it has recovered a little, so perhaps a little more confidence coming back. asa little more confidence coming back. as a result, you see the stock market going in the opposite direction as the pound falls, generally quite good for the ftse 100. all the big countries which make —— big companies which make money in dollars, that benefits the footsie. but if you drill down further and look at house—builders, retailers, there‘s retail stokes really badly yesterday and no sign of recovery there today. some have

fallen seven, eight, 9% yesterday. that is worrying because the fear their isjust that is worrying because the fear their is just about a general slowdown, a general domestic slowdown, a general domestic slowdown which will hit them badly. the big companies have not been affected that badly. that‘s all the business news. the first few hundred migrants in the caravan travelling through mexico have reached the us border. many want to apply for asylum but are ill—equipped to negotiate the us immigration system. will grant has been travelling with the caravan through mexico. the us is now tantalisingly close. the first members of the caravan are at the border crossing in tijuana after a journey of over 2,500 miles, but, having made it this far, many run the risk of being immediately turned back. misinformation is so widespread among migrants, most aren‘t aware of their rights or the basics of immigration law. during their recent stop

in mexico city, human rights groups tried to explain the process of gaining asylum in the us. the problem for many families in this caravan is that their main reason for leaving central america, namely that their home nations are poor and violent, may not be enough on their own to gain asylum in the united states. as such, many are now trying to decide whether their stories amount to what‘s known as credible fear among the us authorities, or if they would be better off trying to remain in mexico instead. this baby was born in mexico. his parents ran a bakery in el salvador and fled after gangs began to extort them for money. they believe they‘d qualify for asylum in the us under credible fear, but this man has been deported once and admits he isn‘t sure what to do next. translation: i don't know what the consequences are of handing myself in. that‘s what i want to ask my lawyer.

lawyers who know the us immigration system fear many migrants will arrive so poorly informed, they‘ll simply be sent back. we‘re trying to just give out general information without giving legal advice or taking on people‘s specific cases, but we think it‘s really important for people to understand their options. a small taste of home. it‘s been weeks since these travel—weary migrants enjoyed baleadas, traditional honduran tortillas filled with refried beans and cheese. this cook is a honduran migrant, too, who settled legally in mexico 30 years ago and is urging her countrymen to do the same. i don‘t believe in the american dream, she says. in mexico you‘re not going to become a millionaire, but by working hard like i did, you can build a good life here. still, it‘s the dream of america that keeps the migrants streaming north. only a tiny fraction of them will actually gain asylum in the us,

yet, with nothing to lose, most intend to try, in the hope that this vast trip hasn‘t been in vain. will grant, bbc news, mexico. scientists from around the world have agreed to change the way the kilogramme is measured. since the 19th century, it‘s been defined by the weight of a platinum—based cylinder locked in a safe in paris — but the weight has changed as the metal has degraded over the years. our science correspondent palab ghosh reports. inside this building, south—west of paris, is a small platinum and iridium cylinder weighing exactly one kilogram. in fact, it‘s the kilogram. since 1889, it‘s been the object by which all other kilograms in the world are measured. people call it le grand k. copies of it are kept all over the world, including at the national physical laboratory in teddington. this one has a more prosaic name, kilogram 18. it‘s hard to imagine that the entire

system of international weights is based on a single piece of metal like this that was made 129 years ago. in all that time, it‘s been contaminated by the atmosphere and cleaned several times. so in all likelihood, its weight will have changed ever so slightly since it was first made. we know from comparing the kilogram with all the copies of the kilogram around the world at all the national measurement institutes, there are discrepancies between the national standards and the kilogram itself. this is not acceptable from a scientific point of view so, even though it is fit for purpose at the moment, in 100 years the kilogram will definitely have changed. at a meeting in versailles, those in charge of the world‘s weights and measurements voted to scrap le grand k. the vote was unanimous, yes. applause i'm a little bit sad that the kilogram is being redefined. but, it is important and it is going to work a lot better after, but changing into the new system

is a really exciting time. the new system is based on the force generated by an electric current. it will be more accurate and never need to be changed again. but there will be those that miss the little piece of metal that has defined our system of weights for so long. time for a look at the weather — here‘s chris fawkes. hello there. for most of us today the weather is going to stay pretty cloudy, but we are going to see some significant changes over the next few days. look at yesterday‘s top temperature — we got up to 17.6 celsius in the highlands of scotland, mild southerly winds. that warm air is moving into the arctic, cooler air moving out of the arctic into northern europe. that is going to be spreading across to our shores, really dropping temperatures, particularly into next week, so a real cold snap is on the way. for today though it‘s been pretty cloudy, a lot of that cloud has been quite low with rather misty

conditions over the hills. you can see the extent of the cloud here on the satellite picture, but notice the north of scotland sticking out. and here we have seen quite different weather already this morning, with plenty of sunshine, for example, across parts of aberdeenshire. and the north of scotland will be the best place to see the sunshine continuing through the rest of the day today. otherwise, temperatures are still on the mild side generally — we are looking at 12 to 14 degrees for most of us, something like that. as we go through this evening and overnight we will keep that sheet of low cloud, it will turn rather misty, some hill fog patches particularly across western and northern hills. there may be some spots of drizzle as well developing in one or two spots. temperatures overnight range from around seven to 11 celsius for most of us. then we will see some changes as we look at the weather picture into the weekend. high pressure builds across the united kingdom, that will grill the cloud from above. but coupled with that we are going to see drier air moving in from the continent and that will evaporate the cloud. so it is a two pronged attack. although many areas start of the day

cloudy, notice how those sunnier skies work in quite quickly from the south—east of england and east anglia across the rest of england and wales as we head in to the afternoon. so there will be plenty of sunshine around as we go on through the day — you mightjust have to be a little patient before the sunshine arrives where you live. it‘s a similar story further north as well. however, there could be some bits and pieces of cloud left over across some of the eastern coast of scotland, and northern ireland perhaps keeping quite a bit of cloud for most of the day. now, temperatures are coming down, closer to normal for the time of year, with highs typically between ten and 12 celsius. a similar weather forecast for sunday but then it gets much colder next week — temperatures struggling, for some, at around five or six celsius towards the middle of the week. that‘s your weather. hello, you‘re watching afternoon live — i‘m simon mccoy at westminster. today at four... two leading brexiteer cabinet ministers — michael gove and liam fox — give their support to pm theresa may —

michael gove says he wont resign following speculation he would be the third cabinet minister to quit. do you have confidence in the prime minister, mr gove? i absolutely do. i think it‘s absolutely vital that we focus on getting the right deal in the future and making sure that in the areas that matter so much to the british people, we can get a good outcome. theresa may has been on radio this morning defending her leadership position and brexit plan. i want to be able to say to all parliamentarians, every mp, i believe, truly believe, this is the best deal for britain. we arejust we are just hearing confirmation that amber rudd returns to the cabinet, replacing esther mcvey as the work and pensions secretary. that news just coming in and we will be speaking to our correspondent iain watson about that. other headlines now... the number of people missing after the california wildfires more than doubles to 630.

guilty of genocide — the historic court verdict against two former leaders of the khmer rouge. coming up on afternoon live all the sport with olly foster. a brilliant century from joe root today has given england a good chance of winning the series against sri lanka. the details coming up. and chris fawkes has the weather. there is a lot of cloud around at the moment, that stays with us overnight. through the weekend, sunny skies work in. next week, the weather is set to turn significantly colder. that‘s later on. a painting by david hockney sets a new record — ‘portrait of an artist — pool with two figures‘ has fetched over 70 million pounds. good afternoon and welcome to westminster.

michael gove insists he has confidence in theresa may as she pursues her brexit deal. and theresa may now beginning to fill those gaps? yes, she is very much still in charge of putting in her allies. amber rudd from the dwp, she resigned over the windrush scandal, saying there were not targets for removals but it turns out that well. it‘s an internal investigation that effectively said there had been some misinforming by officials, she was not —— she was exonerated and could come back. amber rudd is an ally when it comes to this deal she tries to get through parliament in the face of opposition from her own mps. in her

own campaign during the referendum, but unlike others, they think the deal should be voted down and people should have the opportunity to vote again. amber rudd has coming from behind a compromise and i hope there will be others in that camp like nicky morgan, the former education secretary, they will do the same. it isa secretary, they will do the same. it is a strong and loyal ballast for the prime minister. some would say she is perhaps too loyal at the home office, and did not differentiate herself from her predecessor.‘ office, and did not differentiate herself from her predecessor. a big hitter there. there is a yawning gap, which is the brexit secretary? the poisoned chalice position, isn‘t it? if you take it, and you are a brexiteer, in effect you have to argue for something you may have strong doubts about. people are not lining up from that side of the party to take it. a remainer could

add fuel to the flames where people say, my goodness, we are getting a remainers deal here. it is not necessarily a career enhancing move. . . necessarily a career enhancing move... it could be temporary. this could be the making of somebody.- the breaking of somebody. there is some further movement on that in the next few minutes. we will hear more from downing street on appointments but i‘m not sure whether we will have confirmation of who goes into that position. the dwp is not a bed of roses but easier to fill than the position of brexit secretary. when you have a range of people inside the conservative party arguing against this deal, and the opposition as well. and fears that the real negotiator is the prime minister, or ollie robinson. the question is how much power you have and we understand michael gove would have not had enough leeway had he stayed where he was. there is the

sense that downing street are consolidating. there is a huge sigh of relief this friday evening? certainly there is no confirmation yet that the 48 letters necessary to trigger a vote of no—confidence have gone in. she is trying to create an impression of business as usual in unusual circumstances. there more arguing fora unusual circumstances. there more arguing for a deal but also saying she is in charge and putting together the cabinet. but there is a huge sense of relief, that there has not been any scarpering yet. but whether it comes in until next week, steve baker, one of those organising for it, it may not be known until next week. no confirmation yet, she has breathing space, everyone can ta ke has breathing space, everyone can take a step back. she will be hoping that the message from the grassroots is unity at a difficult time. let's see! uni breathing space too. either

side, running across the green with breaking news, that‘s going to take mea breaking news, that‘s going to take me a while to get over. more breaking news, as we have been talking about... michael gove insists he has confidence in theresa may as she pursues her brexit deal. the environment secretary was rumoured to be considering resigning from the cabinet but has decided to stay on to help the cabinet to get "the best future for britain". this morning the prime minister once again defended her brexit withdrawal agreement — answering calls from members of the public in a phone in on lbc radio. it comes amid speculation that a leadership challenge to mrs may is about to be launched by tory backbenchers. our political correspondent leila nathoo reports. will you be resigning today, mr gove? in the event, the answer was no. the environment secretary, a key brexiteer in the cabinet, has decided to stay in post after two of his colleagues walked out yesterday. though he declined the job of brexit secretary, michael gove has clearly calculated it‘s better to fight for the brexit he wants from the inside.

i‘m looking forward to continuing to work with all my government colleagues and all my colleagues in parliament to make sure that we get the best future for britain. i think it‘s absolutely vital that we focus on getting the right deal in the future and making sure that, in the areas that matter so much to the british people, we can get a good outcome. some good news then for the prime minister, on her way this morning to a radio phone—in to try to sell her brexit deal to the country and to mp5. when this vote comes back, every individual member of parliament will decide how they vote — whether they are a member of the dup, conservative, labour, all the parties within the house of commons. myjob is to persuade, first and foremost, my conservative benches, those who are working with us — the dup are working with us, obviously confidence and supply, but i want to be able to say to all parliamentarians, every mp, i truly believe this is the best dealfor britain. john bercow: the prime minister. but the numbers are against her in parliament. opposition parties and plenty from her own side are determined to see her ditch the brexit deal.

and there are now prominent tory backbenchers openly calling for a change of leader, waiting to see if they have a critical mass to move against her. the policy is totally intolerable, and we have to test whether the parliamentary party not only wishes to back the prime minister now she‘s sticking with this policy — and there can be no doubt about it whatsoever, there is no scope for improvement, this is the policy. to trigger a vote of no—confidence in the prime minister, 15% of tory mps need to write to the chair of the committee of backbenchers — that is sir graham brady. he is the only person who will know when the magic number of 48 has been reached. theresa may says she will fight the vote, and if a majority of mps support her she can‘t be challenged again for another year. i hope that those mps who are contemplating this do draw back, but i think if those letters were to go in i think she would win any such vote decisively, and she would deserve to do so. so the prime minister stays

where she is for now. but her critics are still circling, and her hold on her party could still soon be swept away. leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster. the international trade secretary liam fox has said he still supports theresa may depsite yesterday‘s slew of resignations. i back the prime minister. she has led the country with tremendous dignity and quite a lot of resilience in difficult times. she is doing a brexit settlement with no parliamentary majority, and in a parliament where even if we had a majority, we probably would have a majority of remainers into parliament, so it‘s a very difficult balance for her to get. i think that ultimately the worst outcome would be no brexit at all because with the public having voted for brexit, with the two main parties saying they would respect the result of the referendum, with parliament passing article 50 and the withdrawal act, for parliament to vote down brexit i think would so damage faith in the democratic process that it would be dangerous.

we will have to make a choice about what they want going forward, whether they want certainty for business or whether they want to risk losing brexit altogether. it is up to every member of parliament... i don‘t prejudge and nor do i criticise them for the judgments they come to. we will all make our own judgments depending on what we believe to be the national interest. there will be different perceptions of that but ultimately that is what parliament will have to do, and parliament will have to carry the consequences either way. more you know that amber rudd is backin more you know that amber rudd is back in the cabinet replacing esther mcvey who resigned over the brexit deal. amber rudd she resigned over

the windrush scandal. that was it claims she had not been properly briefed when she spoke in the commons about windrush. she is back in the commons in the cabinet, and in the commons in the cabinet, and in the last few minutes, support from a couple of colleagues, liz truss and sajid javid, both on twitter, welcoming her back to the cabinet. this comes on a day where we are awaiting news as to who will replace the brexit secretary dominic raab, a key position. one that was offered to michael gove. he has turned it down but is staying in cabinet. he says he absolutely has confidence in mrs may and is not going to be following other ministers out the door. on wednesday morning, before the dramatic events of this week, amber rudd spoke to emma barnett on bbc five live about the draft brexit agreement. is this d raft the draft brexit agreement. is this draft deal better than the eu

membership we have now? well, since we had the eu membership, since we have eu membership, we have had the referendum. we have to deliver that andl referendum. we have to deliver that and i think this version sounds to me like it does deliver on the things that are important to many of us who were in parliament and to me, thatis us who were in parliament and to me, that is making sure we protect the jobs, businesses and manufacturing in our communities but we take the opportunity is leaving the eu has. i represent a fishing town in hastings, and it is a great opportunity for them and us to be outside of the common fisheries policy. that is better and everyone will tell you, and those committed to the eu, that the common fisheries policy has not been a success for uk fishermen. i'm looking forward to making sure we can have real improvement when we leave the eu for the fishermen. this proposal is quite exciting and i hope the cabinet backed it. you sound like you will unequivocally backed it?|j

haven't actually read it, unless there is something i'm really upset about i am likely to back it. it is about i am likely to back it. it is a compromise, everybody knew it would need a compromise. people throwing mud at it on either side, looking for something perfect, that was never going to be on offer. people say this is worse than both options, that theresa may has managed to unite both brexiteers and remainers into hating this?|j managed to unite both brexiteers and remainers into hating this? i would say that is because they are both looking for the perfect. the brexiteers have their own vision and that would have the support of a numberof that would have the support of a number of brexiteers that there are in parliament. they may want that, there are 40—80 and they are the only group who know what that is they are trying to focus on, a version of the canada plus deal or free trade deal, whatever it is. and colleagues want to have the people's vote, they were concerned that this deal was on offer when people voted to leave. i am sympathetic to that

and nevertheless i feel that if the government can pull together, which are believe theresa may has, and offer that. it takes advantage of some of the elements of leaving, like the common fisheries policy and common agricultural policy, and allows us to look at immigration at some stage, it's a good thing to be doing. what do you make ofjustine greening standing on a podium in westminster hall last night, saying she wants another referendum? is she putting her in politics before country? it is very tempting in this debate to throw mud at other peoples views. one of the sad things about this debate is there has been a tribal hunkering down, and people lobbing insults at each other. i knowjustine lobbing insults at each other. i know justine and i lobbing insults at each other. i knowjustine and i respect her, and she has taken a different view to me but that does not mean i do not respect it. i just but that does not mean i do not respect it. ijust don‘t think it is the right thing do. amber rudd speaking on radio five live. that was before her returning to the

cabinet. she replaces esther mcvey as the work and pensions secretary. any more developments, we will bring them to you. let‘s join gavin lee now, our reporter in brussels. what do they make of what we don‘t know over here? we have had things going on today, michel barnier, the negotiator, meeting with ambassadors from 27 countries. i think for what she has been going through in the last few days, trying to hold up this dealfrom last few days, trying to hold up this deal from an last few days, trying to hold up this dealfrom an eu side, they do not believe there is a real victory here because the baseline is they do not want the uk to leave the eu, this is stretching the parameters of what they could do. the idea that some of britain‘s‘s proposals, if they could not avoid having a border between the north and the republic of ireland, they have temporary customs arrangements that the eu described as magical thinking.

today, limits to what the eu believe, and angela merkel, the german chancellor, said in her speech yesterday is that they‘ve gone as far as possible. the consensus of the 27 ambassadors is to keep calm and don‘t provoke. a deal that you get with an angry bear at the moment. they know how unpredictable it is in the uk. this newspaper talks about trench warfare in the uk. the feeling is, the other thing to bear in mind on the feeling of being quiet, a couple of years ago after david cameron negotiated changes to the eu before the referendum, jean—claude juncker started making comments about how important it was for a deal and brexiteers, people like nigel farage lapped on that, saying they would never leave. with that political rhetoric, the eu don‘t want to slip up. rhetoric, the eu don‘t want to slip y rhetoric, the eu don‘t want to slip up. say anything that would stabilise theresa may even more now. and what about those who suggest there could be tinkering done to the

deal that theresa may is trying to push through? i‘m thinking about things like the date on the customs union. is there still room for more negotiation? i think the message is loud and clear. nothing. we have gone as far as we can on that. michel barnier, the eu chief negotiator, suggesting that they had stretched the length they can go to, that this isn‘tjust stretched the length they can go to, that this isn‘t just a stretched the length they can go to, that this isn‘tjust a compromise to the uk but also the eu. one of the german foreign ministers yesterday was talking about how they had ultimately got the best of a lose lose deal. they did not want it to go this far. any sense from the uk publicly at least, the eu collectively for now are pushing back and saying, you‘ve got as much as you will get. take it to the summitand take as you will get. take it to the summit and take it from there. gavin, thank you. you‘re watching afternoon live, these are our headlines... the former home secretary, amber rudd, is returning to government as work and pensions secretary. michael gove says he wont resign

from the cabinet over the prime minister‘s brexit deal — following speculation he would be the third cabinet minister to quit. the prime minister has been on radio this morning defending her position and arguing for the brext deal to be passed by mps. and in sport: captainjoe root hit a brilliant century against sri lanka to give them a good chance of winning the second test and the series in kandy. they lead by 278 runs with two days left to play. tommy fleetwood is three shots off the lead after the second round of the season ending tour championship in dubai, but he has to win the tournament to have any chance of end the year as european number one. wales face denmark in their nations league decider tonight in cardiff. the winner will be promoted to the top tier of the competition. we will return to political events

later on. but one of our other main stories now. we‘ll come back to this story through the hour, but let‘s get some other news now and the number of people missing after wildfires destroyed the californian town of paradise has now doubled — to more than 630. so far 63 bodies have been discovered there, but the death toll is expected to rise considerably. after the worst wildfires in california‘s history, president trump will travel to the state tomorrow to see the damage for himself and meet some of those affected. dan johnson has the latest from paradise. the air here is still really thick with smoke. everyone has a mask. and there are still places where the ground is smouldering, more than a week after the fire tore through here, burning pretty much everything to the ground, and this sort of destruction is typical. you can see this right up the main street. shops and businesses like this completely burnt to the ground. and it‘s not a case of coming in here and making repairs or rebuilding. they‘re going to have to start again, build from the ground up. but there‘s a big question, a serious question,

about whether that can be done, whether people will even want to come back and live here again, amongst these trees on the hillside, in the forest, where this fire spread so quickly. there are questions about how it started and suspicion that an electrical fault in the power network could have been to blame. there are lots of engineers here, trying to rebuild that power network and make it safe, but those questions will have to wait because the priority is working out exactly how many people lost their lives in this fire, and accounting for those who are missing. the number of people who we‘re still looking for, who are unaccounted for, has increased to 631, and this number increased by 501 people. there are teams going through neighbourhood after neighbourhood, house by house, delicately searching, trying to provide those answers, but every day, the death toll keeps increasing. danjohnson, bbc news, in paradise. joseph metcalfe, from thousand oaks, california evacuated his home with his wife and three children on friday morning. welcome to the programme. just

explain what happened at that process , explain what happened at that process, where you had to make that decision and get your family out? the evacuation order, we had two evacuation orders, one is voluntary and the other is mandatory. the volu nta ry and the other is mandatory. the voluntary came in at about 11:34pm, i had just got to bed, and the phones started buzzing and they put out alerts and e—mails, that was a volu nta ry out alerts and e—mails, that was a voluntary one. we began to pack our bags but within 17 minutes‘ time difference, the mandatory order came in. we looked out the front door and you could see plumes of black smoke against the sky, with reflections of orange. the flames coming in behind, that was blocks from our neighbourhood. we knew it was a short space of time to get out in. terrifying for you, and i would imagine you did not want your kids to see how friend you were? well,

yeah. in the moment, you have one priority, and that is life but also making sure you don‘t sky your children for life. we tried to make it into an adventure. as we were driving out, we pretended it was pa rt driving out, we pretended it was part ofan driving out, we pretended it was part of an adventure. you could see back to the houses and there were 30 foot fla m es back to the houses and there were 30 foot flames rising up above and the hillside was on fire. it is difficult to mask. people will note that there is a very english accent there. you are originally from bournemouth and have lived in california for 12 years, have you ever seen california for 12 years, have you ever seen anything like this before? we have seen fires, this is our third evacuation from our home, because we have grassland behind our house. this was completely different. i think it was a mix of humidity and high winds. the speed and the ferocity of the fire was different. it was a different kind

of fire. the figures that come out by the hour, almost, they add to the horror of what has been going on. the number of missing keeps going up. what is the latest you are hearing about those over to —— those areas that have been devastating? hearing about those over to —— those areas that have been devastating 7m paradise, it‘s much worse than thousand oaks in terms of loss of life, we had an excellent system which moved us out quickly. the priority of emergency services was to get lives saved above protecting buildings, but we had people we know personally, i cannot count how many people i know personally who have lost their lives or businesses, shutdown from the economic impact of the fires. in our school district alone, there are over 100 families who have lost their homes. it will be far—reaching for years to come. and of course, thousand oaks, days

before, they had witnessed that horrific shooting? it was almost dodge. it was surreal. 24 hours earlier, our house is amal away from the shooting, where that took place, we saw swat teams going in. on the friday, it was just this very uneasy feeling through the whole city anyway. we were trying not to discuss around the children, they we re discuss around the children, they were doing drop—offs. then, you know, within hours of that, the whole place was... it‘s a whole different story. and for you and yourfamily, you different story. and for you and your family, you are different story. and for you and yourfamily, you are all ok. you must look at the news every night and realise how lucky you have been? we still are not back in. they have released the evacuation order and we are able to go back but the

conditions of the smoke are not good, my son has cystic fibrosis so we are staying away until the air clea ns u p we are staying away until the air cleans up as much as it can. joseph metcalf, thank you very much for joining us from thousand oaks. in the last hour, a judge in washington has ordered the white house to return cnn reporterjim acosta‘s press pass after it was revoked by the us secret service when he argued with president trump during a news conference. our senior north american reporter anthony zurcher is in washington for us. that next news conference will be an interesting affair! it should be. one of the things the judge said when he temporarily reinstated the press pass ofjim acosta was that the white house did not have to call on him if they did not want his questions, they could call on somebody else. the key to remember is this is a temporary order. the judge did not rule on merits of the case, the freedom of the press issues. hejust said case, the freedom of the press issues. he just said that the white

house did not follow procedures, and did not provide sufficient justification for revoking the press pass. there will be further hearings down the line to get more of that but meantime, the harm done tojim acosta, he ruled, was greater than any potential harm done to the white house by having jim acosta in there in the press conference and access to the white house press room. this judge was appointed byjohn update —— appointed by donaldj trump? judge was appointed byjohn update -- appointed by donald] trump? yes, this is a relatively new federal judge at the district court level, the lowest level in the judiciary. he took at least an early temporary order going against the administration. people view that as administration. people view that as a good sign that even though donald trump was appointed over 80 federal judges, it doesn‘t mean that the independent branch of the us government will march along with him. and what is the mood? is there

real anger at what happened tojim acosta ? real anger at what happened tojim acosta? i was in the press room at the white house last week, there was a certain amount of mixed emotions. on one hand, members of the media do not like it when members of their own privileges revoked, they could be next but some people look atjim acosta and how he conducts himself at press conferences, how he draws attention to himself and persists in asking multiple questions. they do not particularly like that. he has a reputation as a bit of a showboat but when it comes down to it, you saw pretty much all of the major media outlets fall in line behind cnn and support this lawsuit. as i said, if the white house can decide who does and who doesn‘t have press access based on their opinions of the journalist, then anyone could get their credentials revoked and any administration or target ——

could target particular people and move them around. that's the latest from washington. thank you for that. a picture by the british painter, david hockney, has set a new record for a work by a living artist sold at auction. ‘portrait of an artist — pool with two figures‘ — fetched 90 million dollars — around 70 million pounds. david sillito reports. portrait of an artist... christies, new york and expectations were high... the painting hockney‘s portrait of an artist, a pool with two figures and the bidding began at $18 million. 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 35, 38, 40... within seconds it was at 40 million. to understand why we need to go back to the 70s. the painting was the subject of a famous film about hockney, a bigger splash, a landmark moment in his career and his personal life. the figure in the painting was hockney‘s partner the artist peter slazenger,

a painting of water and the end of a relationship. this one is actually their personal story because it‘s about his love and his loss of love and the love he is about to lose. it‘s also the culmination of this most famous series of paintings image after growing up in the gothic room of bradford, he embraced the sun glamour of los angeles. sorry, we will return to that story later. but norman smith is here, breaking news. we have a new brexit secretary, i guess it will not be a household name to everyone, steven barclay is the health minister. before that, he worked in the treasury. he is the new brexit secretary and that may surprise many people because he is not one of the front line cabinet brexiteers. he did campaign to leave that he is not one of the well—known

high profile brexiteers. he is not in the same category as michael gove or people like chris grayling, andrea leadsom, so one. what is interesting is that mrs may has chosen to, or had to, appoint a less well—known politician, let‘s say, for what is a pretty high profile job. that suggests she was unable to get any of the main well—known brexiteers to take on the job. we know that michael gove said no thanks. it looks like others may not have been willing to take up the job. it points to an emerging move by brexiteers in the cabinet to try and get theresa may to shift, rethink elements of her brexit deal, particularly around the so—called backstop. they may have said to her that actually, no, we don‘t want this, if we have to campaign for your deal. she‘s gone for someone, a big promotion from health minister to brexit secretary. stephen barclay

was brought into government by theresa may, became an mp and a david cameron in 2010. i am told he has never rebelled. he is an uber loyalist, as well as being a leave campaign but also the new brexit secretary. the message being sent out by downing street is, here we are, on friday evening at half past... i don‘t even know! are, on friday evening at half past... i don't even know! shalli have a look? it‘s 31 minutes past four! here we are, friday evening, we are trying to put an end to this evening of mayhem and difficulty and the message is, she moves on. in in quickly and went on to the weekend it would look as if she was struggling to find someone. we know

amber road is going to work and pensions, i think there is a desire to present as business gradually returning to normal so we have had those cabinet voices coming out and backing mrs may, the brexit critics have failed to amass the 48 letters, so mrs may goes into the weekend, she has suffered an almighty storm but she is still there. there is no more ‘s resignations, there is not a leadership challenge and she has her full cabinet back together again. there were those who suggested this morning that those 48 names would be there today. by tonight. not happening, is it? i think it suggests that some of the european research group opposite perhaps a little less gung ho in private that they are in public, so they may talk a good game in public but in private they might be much more cautious. and i think two things will play on our minds, one, how is your local party going to respond if they see

you firing off letters demanding the prime minister‘s head, and two, michael gove‘s rubble, the fact that he decided despite the fact he didn‘t want the brexitjob and despite the fact he wants mrs may to doa despite the fact he wants mrs may to do a better deal, to stick it out. so if he, one of the leading brexiteers, is going to hang on in there, does it not cause some of the european research group rejects to think if he is going to hang on with theresa may perhaps i ought to hold fire a bit? albeit they are still saying they think they will get the 48 letters by next week. this weekend, we‘ve just seen the picture, many mps will go back to their constituencies and many of those constituents may have heard theresa may on the radio this morning, and all this talk about a ‘s vote... mps will be listing to the people this weekend, won‘t they? one of downing street‘s a few trump

cards is the sense of sheer blooming weariness with brexit. people are fed up to the back teeth of day after day of brexit news. they want it done, they wanted over with, they would like the government to get on with other things such as social care, universal credit, you name it, there is a long list of things that need to be addressed. and i think downing street a half calculating the fact that that will percolate into the membranes of mps and they will get the idea that if you‘re going to facts about instigating a leadership contest that is seriously going to annoy large numbers of the public who just want this over with! so let‘s get it over with argument isa so let‘s get it over with argument is a big trump card the team made. thank you very much, norman. let‘s catch up with the weather. for most of us were going to keep the low cloud we‘ve had all day well into the evening.

the only real exceptions will be across western areas of england and wales, around the coastline. the best of the sunshine has been across the north of scotland. overnight tonight the cloud will thicken further for a time. it will become quite misty with hill fog patches across western and northern areas. there could be some drizzle around as well. clear skies may see temperatures tumble but elsewhere we‘re looking at those of between seven and 12. big changes on the way tomorrow. although we start cloudy we will see that breaking up quickly across east anglia and south—east england before sunnier skies extend northwards and westwards. northern ireland may well stay cloudy and there may be patches of cloud towards the east coast of scotland but most will see sunshine eventually, temperatures close to average for the time of year. that‘s the weather. this is bbc news, live from westminster.

our latest headlines: stephen barclay is the new brexit secretary. he takes overfrom dominic raab, who resigned yesterday. the former home secretary, amber rudd, is returning to government as work and pensions secretary. two leading brexiteer cabinet ministers — michael gove and liam fox — have given their support to theresa may — michael gove says he wont resign following speculation he would be the third cabinet minister to quit. the prime minister has been on radio this morning, defending her position and arguing for the brext deal to be passed by mps. the number of people missing after the california wildfires more than doubles to 630. on. i‘m joined now by politco‘s chief uk correspondent, tom mctague. on wednesday there was confidence

initially once the deal had been brokered, then everything seemed to fall apart. on friday evening, is mrs may getting back on track? yes and no. today feels calmer, yesterday we had jacob rees—mogg out here and it all looked like it was kicking off and it would be minutes or hours before the 48 letters needed would be in. and they are still not in. and we are waiting. my lobby colleagues are eagerly watching and counting the names. but we are way near 48. do we know where we are way near 48. do we know where we are? we have 20 or so confirmed but those i spoke to in the european research group which is coordinating this effort, they believe they are very close to 48 and it should happen on monday or tuesday. very close to 48 and it should happen on monday or tuesdaym terms of what the prime minister has been doing to try to shore up that

support, the appearance on radio this morning, how important was that? it shows you how much trouble she is in, she is really getting out there and trying to fight for her career. for her position. she reminds me of the king who is trapped in chess, the pieces are moving around her and she is moving one step, one step, side to side, trying to stay in position because she needs to do that and by time until the european council in two weeks‘ time and then the big parliamentary vote in december. she will be more confident this evening that that vote will take place that she might have been this time yesterday. absolutely, and that should not be underestimated. she is now living day by day. she wants to get through tomorrow, through sunday, and then next week is another fight. she is sunday, and then next week is anotherfight. she is in a really bad spot here, and the appointment of steve barclay tonight, and

interesting appointment, he‘s a young minister, he is ambitious and well thought of by his colleagues, but honestly not that many people know who he is. it shows you she has struggled to fill the position. what is the return of amber rudd tell you? it shows she is still very highly thought of by the prime minister and others in parliament. it took awhile but there were revelations not too long ago that actually it was her civil servants that were to blame for what happened when she was forced to leave the cabinet as home secretary. some would say she didn‘t have a grip on the department and that is a legitimate criticism, but this is a woman who has eyes on the top still. this has been a breathless few days here in westminster. how would you assess as we go into the weekend, and on the basis that there will be no more earthquakes for theresa may in the next 48 hours, but she has retained michael gove, which was clearly crucial, can she afford to

just take a breath and feel slightly relaxed about things?” just take a breath and feel slightly relaxed about things? i wouldn't have too many gin and tonics if i we re have too many gin and tonics if i were her! she needs to be pretty vigilant. we had a story this afternoon from bloomberg which talked about how the brexiteers michael gove and liam fox want to rewrite the deal she has agreed with brussels. my colleagues in brussels would raise more than one eyebrow at that story because they would say it is impossible, it won‘t happen, they won‘t reopen the withdrawal agreement. they may reopen or there is more room to agreement. they may reopen or there is more room to manoeuvre on agreement. they may reopen or there is more room to manoeuvre on the political declaration on the future relationship that is the trade deal that will be struck, but on the withdrawal deal, i don‘t think so. but do you leave the mps going back to their constituencies this weekend may be considering adding their names to that list to make it 48, how likely is it that on monday the back figure will be reached?“ how likely is it that on monday the back figure will be reached? if you we re back figure will be reached? if you were a betting man you would say the

figure will be reached. those in the erg figure will be reached. those in the er g that are behind this campaign are very er g that are behind this campaign are very confident. jacob rees-mogg yesterday clearly thought we would be talking on the basis that that number had been reached on friday evening. that is true, but it would be very embarrassing for them if they cannot reach 48. it would be such a boost to the prime minister and her authority, and her chances of getting a deal through if they don‘t get a 48, because to remove her ina don‘t get a 48, because to remove her in a vote of no confidence they need 100 and 58, not 48. this is an important moment for her. she needs a majority of one to pass her brexit deal in parliament. that is 326. that is a lot of mps and she is nowhere near that at the moment. tom, thank you very much. well, let‘s get some business reaction now, and jamie robertson is in the newsroom. reflecting what has been happening

in the political scene, as the earthquakes have disappeared, so they have in the markets. we are coming toa they have in the markets. we are coming to a nice quiet end to the week. we saw the pound, the thing you ought to watch, reflecting people‘s feelings about the economy are, particularly in terms of investors. yesterday we saw a sharp fall in the pound down to about 127.5 against the dollar. in the context of the last two years it‘s not nearly as low as in 2016, nowhere near the 122 we saw them. it was weak, it was awful but not collapse. at the same time we saw the ftse100 moving up, gaining ground, because as the pound falls it makes all the big companies in the ftse100 which make their money abroad more profitable. however, as

things have got better people have felt more optimistic, the pound has recovered a little, about a cent against the dollar. and the ftse fell back a little. but not much. i think very much what you are sitting ina think very much what you are sitting in a political sphere, wait and see, we will see what happens over the weekend. that is what people are feeling on the market at the moment. thank you. you‘re watching afternoon live — these are our headlines: stephen barclay has been promoted to brexit secretary from a ministerial role in the department for health. he takes overfrom dominic raab, who resigned yesterday. the former home secretary, amber rudd, is returning to government as work and pensions secretary. michael gove says he won‘t resign from the cabinet over the prime minister‘s brexit deal, following speculation he would be the third cabinet minister to quit. there are so many questions remaining about what the uk‘s future relationship with the eu

will be after brexit. we‘ve received questions from viewers spanning a wide range of topics — from how much money the government will be saving, to how holidays and travel will be affected. earlier, i put those questions to georgina wright, from the europe programme at chatham house, and our brussels reporter adam fleming. i began by asking georgina: if we have no deal, what will our trade relationship be with other non—eu countries which currently have a trade agreement with the eu? the how long would a new question take? 24 weeks. that is the timetable calculated by boffins at university college london who looked into this. the 24 weeks is made up of the time it would take to pass legislation in parliament to lay the groundwork for the referendum to take place legally. legally, then the statutory period where the electoral commission

would have to test the question with the public to make sure it was widely understood, then you would have the period it takes to get the logistics ready, the polling stations and the cards and stuff, and making sure people got their voting cards, and many would have the referendum campaign itself as well which would have to be mandated ten week period. if you add that all up you get 24 weeks. there are some theories about bits of that that could be made shorter. but there is one massive hurdle to a second referendum which is the subtext of this, the prime minister and the government do not want to have one. it doesn't matter if you could organise it in five days or five months of five years, if the prime minister and the government ain't having it, it ain't happening. thank you. that‘s put the kibosh on that. next... cannot wait or any country in the eea or es cannot wait or any country in the eea or e5 t8 cannot wait or any country in the eea or es t8 negotiate trade deals with other countries? you‘d better explain what those bodies are. the eea, the european economic area, is kind of norway, iceland and lichtenstein, which participate

in the single market but not the customs union. it‘s sort of as close as to eu membership as you can get. efta is the european free trade area. they have better trade deals. so all of those countries can actually strike their agreements. the problem is the kind of trade agreement has certain limits. if you want to trade as closely as possible with the eu, you kind of have to abide to their rules, which means, say, if switzerland were to strike a deal with the eu as it probably wouldn‘t want to import chlorinated chicken because if it used that in any —— a deal with the us. of its pies and try to export them to the eu then suddenly it would create tension and they don‘t

want to run the risk, they don‘t want the headache, so they try to adopt eu rules that restricts their ability to import certain products from elsewhere. thank you. i feel like bamber gascoigne. jack has asked, how much my will government really be saving for the nhs, schooling, housing, etc, after the transition period ? oh, that is a controversial one. during the transition period the uk's financial obligations to the eu stay the same so we will pay into the eu budget until the end of the transitional period, and that period is extendable so it could last longer and there's a whole separate mechanism to calculate how much the bill would be in the extension of the transition period. anyway, remember the figure on the bus? that was question because it was a gross figure so didn't take into account the rebate on the original budget contributions and the fact that uk received money back from the eu budget projects in the uk.

so it was actually less than 350 million. it was but wine nine and 12 billion a year to the eu which once we are out well technically comeback to be spent by the british treasury. talk the two economists they say there's been a hit to the economy because of the brexit vote, is quite likely in their view to be a permanent hit the economy if the relationship with the eu is less close than now. so you have to discount that from any debts it , brexit dividend. but the government say they are planning to put £394 million a week in the nhs because of brexit but that's because tax receipts have improved. what i'm getting at is it's almost impossible to work out what an actual real brexit dividend could be as a number. is related to so many more factors than just what was the check that we sent to brussels every year

when we were in. she came out with a 394 million figure on the radio this morning, didn‘t she? from amanda... how will holidays and travel be effected between march 2019 and the end of the transition period, will lead a visa ? no, we won‘t need a visa. i can‘t say travel went been disrupted. if ryanair or british airways have a strike that is their problem. if the transition period goes ahead, that‘s a big if because the withdrawal agreement would have to be approved by the uk parliament and the eu, but let‘s say we do enter the transition period, we are a nonmember, still part of the single market and the customs union, so we can still operate the way we do now, then by the end of the transition period that is when those questions of these as to the eu will apply or not. but that is the future relationship. in the transition period we are a nonmember and so can benefit everything we have now.

amanda doesn‘t need to worry right now. back to brussels and adam. this is from peter... what about my booze cruise? can i still bring into the uk as much as i wa nt still bring into the uk as much as i want the personal consumption? are you sure that's not you using a false name, simon? during the transition period everything stays the same so by as much as you want and at supermarket in calais and bring it here. though actually you can't because if you go over a certain amount you might get stopped by customs. and they will search your car because they think you are smuggling, if they think you are running a business rather thanjust drinking a lot. after that it will come down to what kind of customs relationship is negotiated between the two sides. if that is a customs arrangement that has an exemption for large quantities of booze for personal use, you will be fine.

if the negotiations that don't go in a direction it could be a case that there's a limit to what you can bring in on a booze cruise. i'm not sure what the future holds for that. although the uk's policy in their customs document they published last summer was that this could continue, you could still take as much booze as you wanted from an eu country and bring it into the uk. that is the government's aspiration, that the booze cruise should continue. very good news for peter. adam, thank you. one last question to georgina. this is from elaine... will we be able to still use our mobile minutes and data without incurring additional charges on holiday in the eu? it‘s something that worries me as well. if the transition period goes ahead everything stays as it is. we will still be part of the single market and customs

union, we will still be benefiting from that. it‘s a regulation that is part of the single market. at the end of the transition period, it‘s a big question. it will depend on the agreement with the eu. perhaps we can agree something that would allow us to benefit from eu roaming charges. lots to be negotiated which is why i think the transition period may have to be extended a little longer. but good news for data. thank you very much. georgina and adam, thank you very much. that was simon live from westminster. more from him to come. a woman who accused a senior peer of groping her says it‘s a disgrace he isn‘t being immediately suspended from the house of lords. jasvinder sanghera claims lord lester, a former liberal democrat front bencher, also offered her a peerage in return for sex.

a parliamentary committee recommended his suspension, but that‘s been blocked by the house of lords. ms sanghera, an author and women‘s rights campaigner, says it makes her feel likes she‘s been ‘abused all over again.‘ lord lester strongly denies the claims against him. lucy manning reports. jasvinder sanghera has fought for women‘s rights, but she didn‘t expect she‘d be fighting so hard for her own — accusing lord lester, a member of the house of lords and human rights lawyer, of harassing her 12 years ago. he sexually harassed me. he bullied me. he exerted his power and influence over me. he said to me, if i was to sleep with him, he would make me a baroness within a year. he... ..physically groped me. a house of lords investigation decided lord lester, who says it‘s all completely untrue, should be suspended for nearly four years — the longest suspension since the second world war.

but his colleagues in the lords blocked that yesterday. if you are accused of serious misconduct, and the issue turns on credibility and you face a serious sanction, you are entitled, you have a legal right to cross examine the person making these allegations against you. how did it leave you feeling? angry. ifelt bullied, to be quite honest with you. i felt bullied by them. what happened yesterday in the house of lords was not fair. i did not have the right to respond. these individuals voted on a sanction and these individuals were his peers. a few days after, you wrote in an inscription of a book to lord lester, "with love and admiration". questions have been asked about that. he dictated to me what i should write in that book, so i wrote it. just to get rid of him. lord lester thanked his fellow members of the house of lords who supported him,

and says he now looks forward to restoring his reputation. but the lords‘ authorities say they are deeply disappointed he wasn‘t suspended and will look at the case again. jasvinder sanghera is now reluctant to advise others to come forward when parliament is still able tojudge its own. lucy manning, bbc news. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello there. for most of us today the weather is going to stay pretty cloudy, but we are going to see some significant changes over the next few days. look at yesterday‘s top temperature — we got up to 17.6 celsius in the highlands of scotland, mild southerly winds. that warm air is moving into the arctic, cooler air moving out of the arctic into northern europe. that is going to be spreading across to our shores, really dropping temperatures, particularly into next week, so a real cold snap is on the way. for today though it‘s been pretty cloudy, a lot of that cloud has been quite low with rather misty

conditions over the hills. you can see the extent of the cloud here on the satellite picture, but notice the north of scotland sticking out. and here we have seen quite different weather already this morning, with plenty of sunshine, for example, across parts of aberdeenshire. and the north of scotland will be the best place to see the sunshine continuing through the rest of the day today. otherwise, temperatures are still on the mild side generally — we are looking at 12 to 14 degrees for most of us, something like that. as we go through this evening and overnight we will keep that sheet of low cloud, it will turn rather misty, some hill fog patches particularly across western and northern hills. there may be some spots of drizzle as well developing in one or two spots. temperatures overnight range from around seven to 11 celsius for most of us. then we will see some changes as we look at the weather picture into the weekend. high pressure builds across the united kingdom, that will grill the cloud from above. but coupled with that we are going to see drier air moving in from the continent and that will evaporate the cloud. so it is a two pronged attack.

although many areas start of the day cloudy, notice how those sunnier skies work in quite quickly from the south—east of england and east anglia across the rest of england and wales as we head in to the afternoon. so there will be plenty of sunshine around as we go on through the day — you mightjust have to be a little patient before the sunshine arrives where you live. it‘s a similar story further north as well. however, there could be some bits and pieces of cloud left over across some of the eastern coast of scotland, and northern ireland perhaps keeping quite a bit of cloud for most of the day. now, temperatures are coming down, closer to normal for the time of year, with highs typically between ten and 12 celsius. a similar weather forecast for sunday but then it gets much colder next week — temperatures struggling, for some, at around five or six celsius towards the middle of the week. that‘s your weather. today at 5: a new brexit secretary is announced. steve barclay will take over at the department after dominic raab quit yesterday in protest

at theresa may‘s proposed deal. are you happy to be back in cabinet, secretary of state? amber rudd returns to cabinet as work and pensions secretary to replace esther mcvey. the appointments follow news that leave supporter michael gove will stay in government to support the proposed agreement do you have confidence in the prime minister? i absolutely do, it is vital that we concentrate on getting the right deal in the future and making sure that in the areas that matter so much to the british people we can get a good outcome. we‘ll bring you all the latest from here in westminster.