this is bbc news. i'm carole walker. the headlines at 2pm: theresa may fights back saying replacing her as conservative leader wouldn't make the brexit negotiations any easier, and warning of a crucial week ahead. and these next seven days are going to be critical. they are about the future of this country. it's about people's jobs. it's about their livelihoods. it's about the future for their children and grandchildren. the chairman of the 1922 committee, graham brady, indicates to the bbc that the threshold of 48 letters for a no confidence vote in the prime minister has not yet been reached. the rules are very clear that if the threshold were to be reached i would have to consult with the party. immediately? i think there is the intention that it should be an expeditious process. president trump visits northern california

following the most devastating wildfires in the state's history. and coming up at 14.30: the week in parliament, looking at the prime minister's brexit withdrawal agreement and the widespread opposition to it. good afternoon. the prime minister has said the next seven days are critical for the country, as she prepares to go to brussels to discuss the future relationship with the eu. theresa may said her brexit withdrawal deal was in the national interest. she warned members of her party seeking to remove her that a change of leadership would not make it any easier to negotiate or to win a vote in parliament. here's our political correspondent peter saull. out of the door but still in a job and sticking by her plan. theresa may has survived one

of the toughest weeks of her premiership, and she says the next seven days will be critical too. we won't agree the leaving part, the withdrawal agreement, until we've got what we want in the future relationship, because these two go together. so there is space to change it, then? the focus this week will be on the future relationship, and when we were in the house of commons a number of mps were saying we want some more detail on that future relationship. that's what we are working on this week. the prime minister plans to be back in brussels before a summit of eu leaders next sunday. she's seeking changes to the so—called political declaration, tagged onto the draft withdrawal agreement which sets out the objectives for a future relationship. the prime minister believes there is room for manoeuvre and needs to shows she's listening to her restless mps. the now former brexit secretary is proving a thorn in her side. i do think we are being bullied. i do think we are being subject to what is pretty close

to blackmail, frankly, for your viewers at home. i do think there is a point at which we just say "i'm sorry, this is the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, we cannot accept those dictated terms." he's not the only one the prime minister is trying to appease. the gang of five brexiteer cabinet ministers — michael gove, penny mordaunt, andrea leadsom, chris grayling and liam fox — are also applying pressure. there's more trouble brewing among backbench mps, but is a confidence vote imminent? the only man who knows has spent the weekend hundreds of miles from westminster in his leafy altrincham constituency, and graham brady seemed to suggest we aren't there yet. the rules are very clear that if a threshold were to be reached, i would have to consult with the leader of the party. immediately, graham? the whole thing is written with the intention that it should be an expeditious process. he may be pressed into action in the coming days. will more conservatives return

here carrying letters? for now, the prime minister soldiers on. peter saull, bbc news. meanwhile, the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has said his party would reject theresa may's brexit deal as it does not pass their six tests and he didn't rule out another referendum. the eu is very used to iith—hour stuff. look at the way the lisbon treaty was negotiated and renegotiated and renegotiated again. the issue has to be, you go back to europe and say, listen, our parliament doesn't agree with this and doesn't accept it. the people of our country don't accept it. there are jobs on both sides of the channel at risk. we need an agreement, a serious, sensible agreement, and i believe the labour options are the serious ones that could achieve that. so go back to the eu and ask them very nicely if they would give us a better deal?

they want an agreement as much as everybody else does, but the problem is this government has not negotiated an effective agreement. you think you could do it in three months? we could go there straightaway, and there is a transition period that has been agreed anyway, so there would be some opportunities there, but you have to go back and say, look, what has been agreed so far between our government and the eu is not acceptable to the british parliament or, i suspect, the british people, and it hasn't yet been tested in the eu parliament either. jeremy corbyn. the european research group of conservative backbenchers have today published a document outlining their objections to the draft brexit agreement. let's speak to their vice chair, mark francois, at westminster. thank you for talking to us. we will come to that document in a minute. first on the question of the number of letters seeking a vote of no—confidence in the prime minister, do you accept that you and your collea g u es do you accept that you and your colleagues have rather overhyped the number of letters that have actually gonein? number of letters that have actually gone in? well, the truth is that nobody knows how many have gone in.

graham brady does and he has told that he has not got 48. forgive me, i was about to say that nobody knows other than graham brady, and as you say, he has said he doesn't have 48. he is unimpeachable. the entire party completely trusts and respects graham brady. if he says he hasn't got them, he hasn't got them. what i think will probably happen is that collea g u es think will probably happen is that colleagues are back in their constituencies this weekend. they will, i think, constituencies this weekend. they will, ithink, if constituencies this weekend. they will, i think, if they are sensible, have consulted with their local associations, their local party workers, and asked them their view. we do know from conservative home, we have done a survey, that conservative members are overwhelmingly opposed to chequers, and having consulted their members, they will probably talk to their loved ones, go to bed tonight and sleep on it, and get up in the morning resolved to do one thing or another. they will come into westminster and then we will probably find out. do you accept

there are disagreements even within your own group? some of your colleagues, even if they don't like the deal, so this is not the moment to move against the prime minister? we are not a stalinist organisation. we are not a stalinist organisation. we believe in a bit of internal debate among friends. but i think the critical thing is that every conservative mp... in fact, to be frank, every member of parliament in the entire house of commons knows that there is absolutely no way that the withdrawal agreement will ever get through the house. now that labour have said they will vote against it and the liberals and the snp, and critically the dup, who are hopping mad with the prime minister, and the overrated tory backbenchers, it is mathematically impossible for it is mathematically impossible for it ever to get through and i think tory mps know that. i am told the prime minister in private has been told that numerous times. but she appears not to accept it. but don't you have to accept her point that a

leadership contest now is not going to make that negotiation, that parliamentary arithmetic, any easier? let me explain why we have done this report because it relates to that. this is the withdrawal agreement. it is 585 pages long. you can hold back the thick wooden door with this as a doorstop. we have now ploughed through this completely. i have read it, ok, but it is designed so have read it, ok, but it is designed so that most sensible and then people will never read it. we are called the european research group say we have done some european research. we have distilled this into this. it is seven pages long. it is written in plain english. we have published it on the website called brexit central so that any citizen of the united kingdom who wa nts to citizen of the united kingdom who wants to know what is in this, any journalist, any commentator, any member of parliament, can look up this document and in about 15

minutes can read in simple everyday language why this is such an absolutely appalling deal. 0k, language why this is such an absolutely appalling deal. ok, but your document does not offer any alternative solution. just a moment. it takes you through your objections to the draft withdrawal agreement. but all it proposes in its place is a canada style free—trade agreement. that would not address the issue of the backstop, of how you avoid the ha rd the backstop, of how you avoid the hard border in northern ireland. that would not address the concerns that were raised by so many parliamentarians on all sides last week. let's talk about the backstop directly. i saw the prime minister's interview earlier today and when she was asked about the backstop, she gave an extremely round the houses and hesitant answer. the reason for

that... if people don't know what the backstop is, we explain the technical terms in here very simply. it is essentially an arrangement that would keep the whole of the uk inside a form of customs union until another solution could be found. you don't have an alternative to that which would be remotely access the ball to the european union. well, with respect, we believe that super canada could be acceptable. why do i say that? because donald tusk, the president of the european council, has said on several occasions that they would actually favour of free trade arrangement. michel barnier in april said much the same. it is called super canada for a reason. it is based on an existing eu — canadian free—trade agreement signed between the two parties in 2016. it exists and it is legally binding today. the eu have already accepted it or they would never have signed it. if canada can have it, we don't

see why we in the united kingdom can't have it. i don't see how that addresses the issue of the northern ireland border, but let mejust ask you who you think would do a better job of leading your party and leading this country and taking on those negotiations, given the time we have got left? well, if it comes to it, that would be a matterfor my collea g u es to it, that would be a matterfor my colleagues to decide. a matter for you. you would have a vote. as indeed would every conservative mp. dominic raab who has walked out of the cabinet? carole, don't bother. if we have a leadership contest, we will decide at the time. i must before i run out of time comeback to the backstop because it is critical. it is one of the key reasons tory mps will not vote for this. because in simple terms, once you go in, you can't get out unless the eu allow you to get out. so it is the hotel california comparison. you can check in but you can only check out and evenif in but you can only check out and even if you do check out you can

only leave if the hotel owner lets you and that is completely an acceptable. one further final point, you seem to be struggling to get the 48 letters required to trigger a no—confidence motion will stop given the difficulty you have had reaching that, do you not accept that even if you get a no—confidence vote, the prime minister could simply win that pretty easily because so many in your party would not want a leadership contest now and she would then be in place for another year and could not be challenged again? well, i would say to you, if it is that straightforward, why was the whip's office summoning an emergency session on friday? remember that i used to be a whip. whips called back to london from all over the country in order to try and ring round my collea g u es in order to try and ring round my colleagues and stop them from putting in letters. if everybody is so putting in letters. if everybody is so confident about this, why did the whip's office do that? we have got

to leave that there. thank you very much for talking to us from westminster. emergency workers in california are still struggling to contain the wildfires that have devastated large areas of the state. at least 76 people are now known to have died. thousands of homes have been destroyed and the authorities say more than 1200 people are unaccounted for. president trump expressed his sadness as he visited the devastated town of paradise where many lives were lost. jenny kumah reports. ten days on, and the fires in some parts of california are still burning. more than 5,000 people have been involved in tackling what's become a national emergency with the blaze spreading over 149,000 acres. new footage has emerged showing the scale of what firefighters are up against. meanwhile, the death toll and the number of people unaccounted for continues to rise. since last night, an additional five remains were recovered, bringing the total up to 76 human remains.

four of those human remains were found in paradise. all four were found inside structures. president trump visited affected areas yesterday to see the destruction for himself. he sparked controversy last week when he criticised californian officials for what he claimed was poor forest management. but he struck a more conciliatory tone on arrival. nobody would have ever thought this could have happened. so the federal government is behind you, we are all behind each other, i think we can truly say that. a rainstorm is forecast to hit next week, which may bring some relief. although more than half the fire is contained, officials say they may not have it fully under control until the end of the month. jenny kumah, bbc news. germany is marking it's annual national day of mourning to remember its war dead, a week on from commemorations

of the armistice that ended the first world war. french president emmanuel macronjoined german chancellor angela merkel to lay a wreath at berlin's place of remembrance, which is dedicated to all victims of war and dictatorship. mr macron has also been speaking at the german parliament. some of britain's biggest companies are urging the government to honour a promise to give mental health in the workplace the same status as physical health. executives from 50 companies, including royal mail, wh smith and ford, have written to theresa may, asking her to follow through on last year's manifesto pledge to update health and safety legislation. the government says it will bring forward the recommendations of an independent review. the government has confirmed plans to allow universities to offer two—year accelerated degrees. they would be allowed to charge higher fees per year but overall students would save around £5,500.

0ur education correspondent sean coughlan reports. instead of studying for three years at 30 weeks a year, the government wants more universities to provide fast—track courses, with degrees taught in two years with 45 weeks of studying. these shorter, more intensive courses would mean savings of about £5,500 in tuition fees and a year's worth of accommodation and living costs. the universities minister sam gyimah thinks it will particularly help to reverse the decline in the number of mature students who might want to reduce the cost and to get back into work more quickly. even though the overall cost would be lower than studying for three years, each year would have tuition fees equivalent to about £11,000 per year, above the current maximum limit of £9,250. such a change to the fee system would have to be approved by parliament and that could prove a significant stumbling block. sean coughlan, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news:

theresa may fights back saying replacing her as conservative leader would not make the brexit negotiations any easier. the chairman of the 1922 committee, graham brady, indicates to the bbc that the threshold of 48 letters for a no confidence vote in the prime minister has not yet been reached. president trump visits northern california following the most devastating wildfires in the history of the state. president trump has said the us will determine in the next few days who it thinks was behind the murder of the saudi journalist jamal khashoggi. there have been reports that the cia believes mr khashoggi's killing was ordered by crown prince mohammed bin salman. saudi arabia has blamed rogue intelligence agents. 0ur arab affairs editor sebastian usher is in

the saudi capital riyadh and gave this update. essentially they're continuing with a policy of denial and deflection. the denial came almost immediately after the report appeared in the washington post. it came from one of the people named in that report. the cia had said it had got hold of an intercepted phone call from khalid bin salman, the saudi ambassador to washington who is also the crown prince's brother. it said he had called jamal khashoggi by phone and told him that he should go to istanbul to deal with his papers and that he would be safe. bin salman tweeted shortly after that that he had never called jamal khashoggi and he certainly never told him to go to istanbul. that was the way it was playing out yesterday in saudi arabia. this morning, what they've been looking for in terms of positives, the saudi media, is what president trump was saying, in the sense that he still has not made up his mind.

he has been told that crown prince mohammed bin salman was not involved. that essentially he has not come down one way or another. the us state department issued a statement saying that there were still numerous unanswered questions. the saudis are making a lot of that, saying essentially nothing is clear, even the americans are not sure about what's going on. sebastian usherfor us in riyadh. three men are in hospital after a shooting in north london. police say they were called to enfield yesterday evening, and two of the men are believed to have suffered gunshot wounds. no arrests have been made. a woman has died and 200 other people have been injured in demonstrations against rising fuel prices in france. more than a quarter of a million people joined the protests. the price of diesel in the country has risen by around 23% over the past year — the highest level for nearly 20 years. one of the most controversial

industrial projects built in the uk is closing down after nearly a quarter of a century. the nuclear reprocessing plant at sellafield in cumbria has already recycled its last batch of fuel. parts of the site will now be used to store waste, while the rest will be decommissioned, a process expected to take decades, as theo leggett reports. the fuel has been taken from the main area and transferred into this area. this is thorpe. for nearly 25 years, it's been recycling old nuclear fuel, separating usable uranium and plutonium from useless waste. a process once seen as a kind of alchemy. what kind of science could take a fuel, burn it and turn the ashes back into fresh fuel to burn again? but soon alarms were sounding. thorpe was meant to provide fuel for a new generation of super—efficient power stations, but they were never built and ambitious targets were never met.

the plant didn't operate as well as we had originally expected. there were a number of operational problems through its life. those lofty aspirations were built upon expectations around nuclear power, cost of uranium, and those assumptions did not prove to be valid. thorpe did make some £9 billion reprocessing waste from overseas, but now those contracts have dried up as well. although reprocessing has now finished here at thorpe, that isn't the end for this vast facility. parts of the plant will still be used to store old nuclear fuel. and the rest? that will become part of a growing industry — nuclear decommissioning. the most dangerous parts of the site will have to be decontaminated before being dismantled. sophisticated technology is being developed to go where humans can't. thorpe was once a key

target for environmental campaigners greenpeace. they now agree that decommissioning creates exciting opportunities. decommissioning has to be done well, with skilled people who know what they're doing and have experience of doing it. so we support decommissioning work and if sellafield wants to become a global leader of that, we are supportive. under there is nitric acid with a lot of radioactive substances in? yes. thorpe once symbolised ambitious plans for a future of cheap and clean nuclear power. its legacy though is a contaminated facility which will take decades to decommission. theo leggett, bbc news, sellafield. the actorjohn bluthal has died at the age of 89. he was best known for playing the likable but dull parish council secretary frank pickle in the vicar of dibley.

i need to do a little bit for levels so i need to do a little bit for levels so just tell us what you had for brea kfast. so just tell us what you had for breakfast. toast. i need to hear a little bit more than that to just make something up. let your imagination run wild. wild? great. two pieces of toast. dawn french paid tribute on social media, saying "cheeky, naughty, hilarious. bye darlin bluey." john bluthal also appeared in carry on films and worked regularly with spike milligan. they're meant to be quick and convenient, but could shopping at smaller stores owned by britain's best—known supermarket brands be costing us more? a survey carried out for the bbc‘s inside out programme found customers are paying much higher prices for exactly the same products in smaller outlets compared to the larger supermarkets. jonathan gibson explains. more and more of us are shopping in convenience stores. they now account for a quarter of the grocery market. but are we paying over the odds in the small shops run by britain's

biggest supermarkets? maggie, a birmingham pensioner, goes to tesco express twice a week. i think you would expect to pay a bit more. you buy quite a few bananas, don't you? yes. well, a single banana in tesco express is going to cost you 14p more. for one? for one banana. gosh! right, i know where i'll get my bananas from from now on. and that's kind of got me thinking because if bananas cost so much more in tesco's convenience stores than they do in their own supermarkets, then do other things cost more as well? and what about tesco's rivals? the bbc compared the cost of 50 items in supermarkets run by tesco, sainsbury‘s, m&s and waitrose, with what they cost in the same chains' convenience stores. 39 of the 50 products we bought in tesco express cost more than they did in a tesco supermarket. while in sainsbury‘s local, little waitrose and m&s simply food,

45 of the 50 products cost more than in the larger stores. but by how much? there were big differences across fruit and veg, in toiletries, and store cupboard ingredients. this fajita kit, for example, costs 20% more in sainsbury‘s local than it does in a sainsbury‘s supermarket. 0verall our survey found that prices in little waitrose were on average just short of 5.5% more expensive while in sainsbury‘s local, tesco express and m&s simply foods, the average difference was between 8% and 9%. in statements, the supermarkets told the bbc higher prices reflect higher running costs. without commenting on any specific retailer, generally there's a lot more costs that go into maintaining and operating a store like this and that to a degree is why you see the price difference. as for maggie, she is now doing more of her shopping online. but won't stop using convenience stores completely.

i think i'll still probably have to go for the odd banana! they might be dearer but they're also nearer and that's the cost of convenience. jonathan gibson, bbc news. viewers in the west midlands can see more on this on inside out on bbc one tomorrow at 7.30pm. the programme will then be available on the bbc iplayer. some of the world's best opera singers have lent their voices to a musical tribute to the late spanish soprano montserrat cabelle. the memorial service, held at the cathedral of barcelona, featured the dramatic symphony of verdi's requiem. cabelle was regarded as one of the foremost opera singers of the 20th century. she was thrust into the mainstream after recording the song barcelona with freddie mercury in 1987.

she died in october at the age of 85. it has been a glorious day for some of us at least today. what about the prospects of it getting colder? nick miller is across the newsroom and can give us the details. hello. you are absolutely right. colder weather is on the way. we have enjoyed glorious sunshine this weekend. hardly a cloud in the sky across much of uk this afternoon but all of thatis much of uk this afternoon but all of that is about to change. temperatures into double figures with a nagging easterly breeze out there. a bit of cloud in eastern parts of scotla nd of scotland and north east england but a lot of this has been thinning compared to earlier. look at the cloud in the east. this is what is

coming our way into tonight and tomorrow and hanging around for the first few days of the week. temperatures will drop away but not as much as if it wasn't so breezy. there will be a frost around in some areas into the morning. much more cloud around with bright and sunny spells and north west scotland will fa re spells and north west scotland will fare well with sunshine. who eastern scotla nd fare well with sunshine. who eastern scotland and eastern parts of england there will be some showers around from that cloud. temperatures have come down a few degrees with stronger winds as well which gets stronger winds as well which gets stronger tuesday into wednesday. which jill stronger tuesday into wednesday. whichjill will be a factor with cloud around and there will be showers with an outbreak of rain. —— wind—chill will be a factor. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: theresa may fights back against her critics, saying replacing her as conservative leader wouldn't make the brexit negotiations any easier. she warned that the next week would be crucial. and these next seven days are going to be critical. they are about the future of this country. it's about people's jobs. it's about their livelihoods. it's about the future for their children and grandchildren. the chairman of the 1922 committee graham brady indicates to the bbc

that the threshold of 48 letters for a no confidence vote in the prime minister has not yet been reached. president trump visits northern california following the most devastating wildfires in the state's history. at least 76 people are now known to have died and more than 1200 are unaccounted for. one step closer to accelerated degrees — as the government confirms plans to allow universties to offer two year courses in order to the reduce the cost of higher education. it was a big week in parliament, catch up on all the details now on bbc news.