this is bbc news, i'm carole walker. the headlines at three o'clock. 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. the 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. safe for now — 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 leader the party... immediately, graham? immediately? i think the whole thing is written with 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 3.30pm —

click looks into robo—surgeons and movie star sean bean, appears in a video game. 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". and 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 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 is 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, and 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 would be reached, i would have to consult with the leader of the party. immediately? 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 leaderjeremy 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. 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, and 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 ask the eu 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,

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. i've been speaking to the conservative mp and vice chair of the european research group, mark francois over whether he's confident the 48 letters needed to trigger a vote of no confidence in theresa may will be reached. we're not a stalinist organisation. we believe in a bit of internal debate amongst 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 go through the house. now that labour have said they are going to 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 to ever get through and i think tory mps know that and i'm told the prime minister in private has been told that numerous times but she appears not to accept it. don't you accept her point that a leadership contest now is not going to make that negotiations, is not going to make that parliamentary arithmetic any easier? well, let me explain why we've done this report. it relates to that. this is the withdrawal agreement. it is 585 pages long, you can hold back a thick wooden door with this as a doorstop. we have now ploughed through this completely, i've read it, but it is designed so that most sensible and sane people will never read it. what we have done, we've called the european research group so we've done some european research. we have distilled this into this,

sorry, which is seven pages long. it is written in plain english. we've published it on a website called brexit central so that any citizen of the united kingdom who wants to know what's in this, anyjournalist, 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 certain 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 a hard border in northern ireland. that will not address

the concerns that were raised by so many parliamentarians on all sides last week. well, let's talk about the backstop directly. because 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. and the reason for that is, if people don't know what the backstop is, we explain all 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 acceptable to the european union. with respect, we believe super canada could be unacceptable. why do i say that? donald tusk, the president of the european council, has said on several occasions they would actually favour a free—trade arrangement. michel barnier in april even said much the same.

it's called super canada for a reason. it's based on an existing eu canadian free—trade agreement which was signed between the two parties in 2016. it exists, it is legally binding today. the eu have already accepted it or they would never have signed it. so if canada can have it, we don't see why we in the united kingdom don't have it. i still don't see how that addresses the issue of the northern ireland border. let me just ask you, mr francois, who do you think would do a betterjob of leading your party, leading this country and taking on those negotiations given the time we have left? well, if it comes to it, that would be a matter for my colleagues to this site. it'd be a matterfor you, you'd have a vote. well, as indeed with every other conservative mp. dominic raab, he's walked out of the cabinet. don't bother, we will actually... if we have a leadership contest then we will all decide at the time. i must, before i run out

of time, come back to the backstop because it is critical. it is one of the key reasons tory mps won't vote for this because, in simple terms, once you go in, you can't get out unless the eu allow you to get out. it is the hotel california comparison, you can check in but you can only check out, and even if you do check out, you can onle leave if the hotel owner lets you and that's completely unacceptable. earlier, my colleague ben brown spoke to the conservative mp sheryll murray, who is also in the erg, about her decision to write a letter of no confidence in the prime minister. this policy the prime minister is pursuing, we have seen to brexit secretaries of state resign. she has been taking control of the negotiations and those negotiations

haven't satisfied anyone. many members in my party, the labour party have said they are going to vote it down, the dup have said they are going to vote it down and it's not commanding majority in parliament. actually, if negotiations don't work because you've got one negotiator, then you change that negotiator. you're in a minority of conservative mps. not even 48 have called her to be toppled. most tory mps do is abort their prime ministers. the decision itook their prime ministers. the decision i took two weeks ago wasn't taken lightly. i did give my association officers, my association members and some constituents the benefit of actually telling them what i did as actually telling them what i did as a matter of courtesy and listening to their views. they completely and utterly backed me. that is when i submitted my letter. i utterly backed me. that is when i submitted my letter. lam pretty sure that some of my colleagues are

doing exactly the same thing this weekend. they haven't done yet is because graham brady has told us, he hasn't reached the 48. we're not backin hasn't reached the 48. we're not back in westminster until tomorrow andl back in westminster until tomorrow and i have no doubt that some of my colleagues will have consulted in their constituencies this weekend and when they return tomorrow more letters will be sent mr barclay. you are stabbing your party leader, you'll prime minister, not even in her back but in her friend. i've asked the prime minister on many occasions to give me a guaranteed that the british fishing industry will not be sacrificed. the only answer i get back is, we're leaving the common fisheries policy. the few leave the document —— if you read the document, it doesn't say that. it says that we are going to come in the economic situation at the

moment, we are going to look at negotiating access to waters and resources. with the member states. that's not taking back control. i saw it before, i saw it 40 years ago andl saw it before, i saw it 40 years ago and i was one person who did vote in the last referendum, i saw it then andl the last referendum, i saw it then and i will not stand by any deal that has the potential to sacrifice the fishing industry that took my late husband in 2011. i the fishing industry that took my late husband in 2011. la the fishing industry that took my late husband in 2011. i a width to the fishermen to stand up for them. 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 1,200 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. the government has confirmed plans to allow universities to offer two year or "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. england are facing croatia at wembley in their final nations league group match. the winners will top the group and qualify for next summer's finals. they are into the second half and croatia have just scored. england have won the series against sri lanka, taking the three wickets required to win the second test in kandy. they are 2—0 up with one to play. englishman danny willett has won the season ending tour championship in dubai, his first title since winning the masters two years ago. francesco moilinari was confirmed as european number one i'll be back with more on those stories later. 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 are 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 the report, the cia 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 it 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 have been looking for in terms of positives, the saudi media, is what president trump was saying, in the sense that he has not made up his mind. he has been told that crown prince mohammed bin salman was not involved. 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. 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 macron joined german chancellor angela merkel to lay a wreath at berlin's places 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. 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 wastes, 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 expectations 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. the ingenuity that we are going to have to apply 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? correct. 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. 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. next month, world leaders meet

in poland for the united nations yearly conference on climate change. now thousands of young people have found a rather unique way to make sure their message is heard, whilst trying to set a record for the world's biggest postcard. lebo diseko has more. on a glacier high up in the swiss alps, something unusual unfolds. 125,000 drawings and cards from children all around the world, each with a message on climate change. they're put together to make one giant postcard which organisers say, at 2500 square metres, is the largest ever. next month, the governments of the world are going to get together in poland for the next conference of the parties on climate change.

this is going to be the place where the actual plan of action to implement the paris agreement on climate change is going to be negotiated. we need ambition. we need ambition from every government that is going to be there. 1.5 degrees celsius is a message that is hard to miss. that's what scientists say the limit for global warming needs to be if we want to keep the earth habitable. last month, a un report warned without drastic action, there will be even sharper temperature rises. but with doubts over whether countries can even meet the two—degree cap agreed at the paris climate conference three years ago, activists are demanding global leaders do more. we expect acts. decision. and urgent actions. we are done with the talking. we don't want to wait any more. we want to do, we want to do this transition, we want to decarbonise the economy and the societies

in order to save the climate and all live on this planet in peace. the glacier this giant postcard was put together on is also significant. it is melting at an alarming speed. it could disappear altogether within the next 80 years. activists say it's just another example of the increasing threat posed by global warming. lebo diseko, bbc news. 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 hear little bit for level. what did have a breakfast? toast. just make something up, let your imagination run wild. great. two pieces of toast.

its star 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. now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. if you have enjoyed the sunshine this week in, you won't be that pleased to find out that there are cloudier skies on their way this week and much colder airfor a time. temperatures dip quite quickly this evening under clear skies, cloud increasing from the east will stop that drop in temperature across eastern areas. there will be some frost around in places of northern ireland as