now it's time for newswatch. samira ahmed looks back at a busy week of news coverage. hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed. no shortage of drama in this week's use coverage, but has there been more speculation than fact? actor andrew neil deletes the controversial tweet about a female journalist, has the controversial tweet about a femalejournalist, has the bbc the controversial tweet about a female journalist, has the bbc got a problem with its presenters on social media? problem with its presenters on social media 7 first, problem with its presenters on social media? first, i wake up i drama in westminster began with the challenge for journalists. drama in westminster began with the challenge forjournalists. it drama in westminster began with the challenge for journalists. it was clear that something important was about to happen, but no one quite knew what that was. this was high political correspondence chris mason responded on monday morning's brea kfast. responded on monday morning's breakfast. 50, where are we in this brexit process? people like me are

paid to have insight and foresight and hindsight about these things and be able to project where we are going to go. to be quite honest, looking at things right now i don't have the foggiest idea what happened in the coming weeks. will the prime minister get a deal with the eu? i don't know. will she get through the commons? i don't know about that either. you might as well get mr blobby back on to offer his analysis because i think his will probably be not as good as mine. don't do yourself down, chris mason! was that an embarrassing admission of defeat oi’ an embarrassing admission of defeat ora an embarrassing admission of defeat or a welcome outbreak of honesty? it may have been pseudo— analysis,

but in the absence of mr blobby, bbc journalists over the next couple of days chewed up to offer their versions of what was going on inside the brexit negotiations and inside government and what would happen next. for nikki porter, much of this was not news. i was watching the six o'clock news on tuesday and became concerned when in response to rumours about the deal on brexit, bbc decided it was justified in spending almost ten minutes on the subject using more than one reporter and interviewing several people, but what they were discussing was all speculation. at that point, no hard factual information was available. the bbc mission statement from its website is to inform, educate and entertain. on this occasion, the bbc has failed miserably on all three points. the following night's use at six got a similar reception from bruce clark. since when has

uninformed speculation merited the word news? this evening's use, for more than ten minutes was dominated by what can only be described as dish by the chatter in the form of ill informed nonsense about what could happen over brexit. i don't know who select these articles, but my message to them is clear, please shape up and present only hard, validated unquantified news of national significance. derek also picked up on that web is the addition of the new z six, podcast while the cabinet meeting to sign off on the agreement was taking place. of course, live broadcasting while you're waiting for an important

announcement isn't necessarily that easy and forjohn, thirsty‘s news at six rows to the challenge. if there was unintentional comedy in some broadcast, newspapers myjohn swinney went for a more deliberate version on tuesday night, channelling his inner noel edmonds to ask any politician t could find whether there was a deal or no deal? deal or no deal, minister? deal or no deal? whoever you are. deal or no deal, chancellor? deal or no deal?

will brexit work for the country? well, that's no reply, too. barry bernstein was unimpressed. the practice of shouting questions without really expecting an answer has been the subject of previous complaints on news watch and it was much on display again elsewhere this week. we have had a steady trickle of ministers going in this morning, not just of ministers going in this morning, notjust ministers, of ministers going in this morning, not just ministers, but of ministers going in this morning, notjust ministers, but iain duncan smith, have prominent brexiteer. are you expecting more designations, prime minister? to make ministers have the chance to read through the hundred pages of legal text that will shape our country for years to come. are you confident you can get

the cabinet behind this? andrew whiteman said this. mark eaton added. there has been quite a lot of shouting this week and not all of that from reporters. protesters in couege that from reporters. protesters in college green in westminster, from where much of the bbc live coverage has been broadcast, also made themselves heard again across the output. here is christian fraser struggling with some noises off on thursday evening. at the heart of today's trammell is the draft withdrawal agreement. that is about hide the uk leaves the eu. not about any permanent future relationship. what is in that has caused so much controversy? fed speak to our

correspondent chris morris. he has been reading the detail of the 585 pages of the withdrawal agreement. dorothy edwards had this reaction. the bbc‘s director general, lord hall, spoke at this week against what he called the disgraceful attacks made on social media against journalists. he said they were getting constant anonymous threats on twitter puts on the reporting on opinions that some people might not wa nt opinions that some people might not want a year. but it was at tweet sent by a bbcjournalist which caused a big crowd on tuesday. at

3:15am andrew neil joined caused a big crowd on tuesday. at 3:15am andrew neiljoined in the twitter discussion about the award—winning investigative journalist carol cadwallader, describing her as a madcap woman and calling her carol codswallop. after widespread criticism on social media he deleted the tweet later that day and the bbc press office issued this statement. that wasn't good enough for a number of newswatch viewers, two of whom recorded videos for us it's spinning wide. first. as an employee of the bbc, andrew neil is required to demonstrate impartiality. by the personal slur and by the use of the words codswallop he has joined that he is unable to be impartial about carol as a person. but he has also a more importantly implied that he is

unable to be impartial about her work. that is my comment. given all of that, here is my question to the bbc. why is andrew neil still, air? andrew neil's tweet about carol cadwallader was deeply offensive and i have no doubt at all it was misogynistic, but i think it also raises some deeper concerns about the way in which neal in particular reduces the bbc as a platform to promote his own views. i think it also raises questions about the bbc's also raises questions about the bbc's culpability for its presenters's twitter feeds. the bbc claims that these are the personal views of the presenters, but there is no doubt that those people have thousands of followers on twitter because of their positions as a bbc presenter and present themselves as a bbc presenter in the profiles. the bbc needs to look very carefully at the personal opinions expressed in

public by its presenters. we asked foran public by its presenters. we asked for an interview in response to those criticisms with andrew neil war with the bbc editor, but our requests were declined. instead we we re requests were declined. instead we were given the statement. finally, on monday evening, ed thomas reported on the increased use of isolation booth is used in schools when to stop pupils need to be removed from a classroom during the school day. we have learnt that more than 200 children spent at least five consecutive school days in isolation boots last year for a single punishment. we have found out that 5,000 pupils with special educational needs attended isolation and dozens of those had education,

health and care plans. pupils with complex needs. we have obtained the rules of hundreds about religion unit, to which include kathryn stone to life children to leap of the entire day, not even to go to the playground or canteen. a number of viewers thought the report didn't tell the whole story. jane wrote. thank you for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions on bbc news and current affairs will even appear on the programme you can call us or e—mail newswatch. you can find us on

twitter and do have a look at our website. that is all from us, we will be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. it has been another mile day across the country today. well some of us have had blood and drizzle, there has been some sunshine. we will see the clear spells in the north and west tonight, but for most places there will be cloud. things will turn cooler from the south—east with some drier air moving in on saturday. that should clear the cloud away towards the north—west. many of us see the sun chang by saturday afternoon. a bit more cloud lingering for northern ireland, north—east england and eastern scotland, too. temperatures between

9-13d scotland, too. temperatures between 9—13d on saturday. sunday promises not a bad day, try across the country with a good deal of sunshine. one to mrfog country with a good deal of sunshine. one to mr fog patches country with a good deal of sunshine. one to mrfog patches in the morning but they should clear away. not as warm as it has been over recent days, with temperatures between 9—13 on sunday. goodbye. this is bbc news i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 8. theresa may is backed by cabinet ministers, after a wave of resignations, leading brexiteers pledge support for the prime minister. keep confident in the prime minister? i absolutely do it's vital we focus on getting the right deal in the future and making sure any areas that matter so much to the people we get a good outcome. stephen barclay is appointed brexit secretary, and amber rudd returns to the cabinet, at work & pension. but more conservative backbenchers have written no confidence letters today — we'll have the latest. also this evening... the number of people missing after the california wildfires more than doubles to 1,630.

the united nations accuses the government of being in a state of denial about the extent of poverty in the uk.