but spain's prime minister has repeated his threat to veto brexit, saying spain and the uk were still far from agreement over gibraltar. president trump has threatened to close the us—mexico border if disorder breaks out there, now that 3,000 central american migrants have reached the frontier. he also said he'd authorised thousands of troops at the frontier to use lethal force if needed. the government in zimbabwe has outlined plans to compensate white farm owners whose land was seized under the former president, robert mugabe. the cash will come from next year's budget, which projects a huge deficit. now on bbc news, thursday in parliament. hello, and welcome to thursday in

parliament. coming up in the next half—hour: an upbeat prime minister says the british people want brexit said the old. and they want us to come together as a country and to move on, to focus on the big issues at home —— settled. labour said her brexit deal doesn't meet their test. this is the blindfold brexit we all feared, a leak in the dark. and some political food for thought after brexit. instead of peroni and pizza, wouldn't it be better for the information by the group to have something like somerset cider, jacobs and crackers? theresa may came to the commons to

make a statement on brexit negotiations. this time, no one resigned, although the prime minister still faced hostile questions from her own side after a breakthrough in brussels. she headed there on wednesday night for talks with the eu commission president, jean—claude juncker, and after all—night talks between officials, a d raft all—night talks between officials, a draft political declaration emerged on the future relationship between the eu and the uk. mr speaker, the draft text we've agreed with the commission is a good dealfor agreed with the commission is a good deal for our agreed with the commission is a good dealfor our country agreed with the commission is a good deal for our country and our partners in the youth. it honours the vote of the british people, by taking back control of our borders, oui’ taking back control of our borders, our laws and money —— eu. it protects the jobs and security of oui’ protects the jobs and security of our precious united kingdom. it ends free movement once and for all. instead, we will introduce a new skills based immigration system based on not on the country people come from but on what they can contribute to the uk. it ends the

jurisdiction of the european court ofjustice in the uk. theresa may will return to brussels on saturday to finalise the deal. ms, the british people want brexit to be settled. —— mr speaker. they wa nt to be settled. —— mr speaker. they want a good deal that sets us on a course for a brighter future, want a good deal that sets us on a course for a brighterfuture, and they want us to come together as a country and to move on, to focus on the big issues at home, like our nhs. the deal that will enable us to do this is now within our grasp. in these crucial 72 hours ahead, i will do everything possible to deliver it for the british people, and i commend this statement to the house. the labour leader said the government had promised a trade deal by now. instead we have 26 pages of waffle. cheering this empty document... this empty document could have been written two years ago. it's peppered

with phrases such as," the parties and will look at, the parties will explore. " what on earth has the government been doing for the past two yea rs 7 government been doing for the past two years? they've managed less than one page a month since the referendum. the prime minister said nothing is... the prime minister said nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. it's clear from this document that indeed nothing is agreed. this is the blindfold brexit we all feared, a lea k blindfold brexit we all feared, a leak in the dark. the snp said the plan betrayed the fishing industry. scotland's fishing rights thrown overboard as if they were discarded fish. so much for taking back control, more like trading away scotland's interests. this is an absolute dereliction of the promises

of scottish conservative members and the secretary of the state for the environment, food and rural affairs have made to scotland. shame on them. the former brexit secratary, who resigned last week, criticised plans to avoid border checks in northern ireland, the so—called backstop. the backstop ties the uk to the customs union and single market rules with no voice and an eu veto over our exit, while paragraph 23 of the political declaration makes that the political declaration makes that the starting point for future relations to build on. the top reason people voted to leave the eu was to take back democratic control over our laws. isn't it regrettable but inescapable that this deal gives even more away? it's now clear the eu are beginning to accept there are alternative arrangements that can be put in place without the need for the backstop. i would say to the prime minister that if she wants to have the support of my party for the withdrawal agreement, then we need to see an end to the backstop ambos

alternative arrangements put in place. cani place. can i regretfully point out to my right honourable friend, of course, nothing in this political declaration changes the hard reality of the withdrawal agreement, that gives the eu a continuing veto over the unilateral power of entire united kingdom to do free trade deals, or to take back control of out deals, or to take back control of our laws. can i therefore respectfully suggest that it would be better... we can except the generalities and the self—contradictions contained in this political declaration, that we should junk forthwith the backstop upon which the future economic partnership, according to this political declaration, is to be based, and which makes a complete nonsense brexit. can we be clear, mr speaker, what a deal is and what it is not. a deal is what we have at

the moment, i happen to think it's a good deal. this is simply a piece of paperfull of good deal. this is simply a piece of paper full of meaningless waffle, it is not legally binding, it doesn't have anything about frictionless trade in it, it has lots about the ecj in it, even though the prime ministers as it doesn't, and it cuts of opportunities for our youth. the benches are clearing out behind the prime minister, when will she realised the only way is a people's vote ? the honourable gentleman says what we have at the moment is a deal, what we have at the moment is membership of the european union and the british people voted for us to see is that membership and leave the european union. the prime minister, who may very well be back in the commons on monday to update mps on the weekend summit. now, the case of a british phd studentjailed for now, the case of a british phd student jailed for spying now, the case of a british phd studentjailed for spying in the united arab emirates was raised in the lord's. durham university's matthew hedges was researching the uae security strategy for his thesis when he was arrested in may. he's now been jailed for life. the

31—year—old denies spying but prosecutors said he had confessed. my prosecutors said he had confessed. my lords, we are shocked and deeply disappointed by the verdict on the zist disappointed by the verdict on the 21st of november, and we are raising it with the emirati authorities at the highest levels. the foreign secretary is urgently seeking a call with the foreign minister, abdullah bin zayatte, and the foreign secretary met the uae ambassador to the uk this morning and is meeting with mr hedges' wife, daniela, today. there will be national and international indignation at the process and subsequent ruling. isn't it the case that the primary purpose of government is for the protection of government is for the protection of citizens of the united kingdom? is the minister satisfied that the government has been sufficiently robust? will it bring to the fore all endeavours, equally in the best interests of the government of abu dhabi, but most particularly to mr

hedges and to the standing of the government? the united kingdom government takes very seriously the position of any uk citizens abroad, and we do intervene at the request of any family with a member confronting difficulties in another country where we can, if that is possible. as well as our ambassador constantly raising the issue, the foreign secretary, when he was recently in the gulf, raised the case with crown prince manage bin zayatte on the 12th of november, and with the foreign minister, abdullah bin zayatte, on three separate occasions and minister but has raised it with the deputy foreign secretary on a number of occasions. matthew's wife this morning expressed concerns about his health. can the noble lady the minister confirm if representations have been made about his health, and will they endure he has adequate access to medical support? the other thing is

120,000 uk citizens reside in the uae, and we have 11 universities represented there, can the lowball lady the minister tell us whether there's going to be any advice about there's going to be any advice about the current situation and any support given to those institutions? 0ne, support given to those institutions? one, i have no specific information about matthew's health, but i can reassure your lordships by saying that any requests are made by matthew and his wife and family, the diplomatic service will do its level best to allay these concerns and to seek whatever support may be required in the particular circumstances. in relation to the broader issues, the foreign office, of course, always monitors situations in other countries, and will advise anyone who seeks advice as to what the assessment is of travelling to these countries. in this particular case, as i said, at

the very highest level, the uk government is in contact with the united arab emirates and we are conveying in the starkest and blu ntest conveying in the starkest and bluntest terms possible what the reaction has been within the united kingdom to the situation of matthew. so often, british citizens who are convicted in golf course turned out to have signed confessions in arabic that they did not understand. given that they did not understand. given that they did not understand. given that the uae claims to have a transparentjudicial that the uae claims to have a transparent judicial system, given theira transparent judicial system, given their a friendly government towards their a friendly government towards the uk, is it not possible for the government to point out to the uae authorities in a quite friendly manner that british citizens facing trial in their courts require proper translation facilities and proper translation facilities and proper translation of dockery dollarmite documents. i'm sure my noblenoble friend's comments will be noted, i have no —— translation of documents.

when he was sentenced it was left to an interpreter to explain to him what thejudge was an interpreter to explain to him what the judge was imposing by way ofa what the judge was imposing by way of a sentence. i thank the noble lord for his comments. you're watching thursday in parliament with me, david cornock. don't forget, if you miss our daily round—up from the commons and the lord's, or if you simply want to watch this programme again, you can find us on the bbc iplayer. mps from across the commons have continued to complain loudly of rail delays and cancellations. ministers faced severe criticism earlier this yearin faced severe criticism earlier this year in the wake of timetable chaos that caused disruption on britain's railways. the government was accused of underinvestment in the north of england, with one mp accusing the transport secretary of having a ten year. to the lived experience of my constituents, one of whom took six hours to travel the 75 miles between wakefield and scarborough, a feat

with a good wind i could have achieved on a bicycle in the same amount of time. i accept there's been real issues with the trans—pennine express on the route to scarborough, that needs to be addressed and performance issues aren't good enough so the question of 18 here, we're working to improve things on a network delivering more services rather than fewer, and we want the substantial investment happening —— a tin ear. 0ne investment happening —— a tin ear. one in four northern are cancelled, one in three trans—pennine trains delayed or cancelled, isn't it time the secretary of state took control and took these franchises back so we can have a proper rail service in the north? we will continue to do everything we can in partnership with transport for the north to identify the ways of getting performance up. it's not a question of training ownership of franchise and control, there is no magic team waiting to work this better, we need to make it work better. passengers to and from scarborough have had to endure delays because

driver hours mean terminations at york, meaning an hour wait or the following services if there is not a dallape. when will we see it return to reality? you can say duck and dive, but it's a lack of strategic leadership in this parliament. what i'm finding in huddersfield, overnight they cancelled the link between huddersfield and wakefield westgate so you can't get a mainline train u nless so you can't get a mainline train unless you go to leeds and nobody in huddersfield would want to go to leeds anyway! but the fact in that is we want good strategy, we want policies that stop people living in chaos and let people get to work or their holidays. mr speaker, we want to invest money in the north. there's an added station and new trends to replace long out of date trains and provide more services for passengers. that's what we want to do and are doing. contrary to the impression he gave in this letter, the department for

transport had a significant role in the timetable in the last of. according to the 0rs interim report, the dft decision to phase in the introduction of thameslink stretch resources barely... it is not good enough to have network rail to focus on engineering and not focused enough on passengers. it's one of the problems in the rail industry. is why we've already started to work towards a more joined up railway through an alliance structure that it's why. as i said with the announcement of the railway review, that's an essential part of delivering much more substantial change necessary given what's happened this summer —— it's why. the complaints when confined to the north of england, one mp highlighted the chaos this week for train services on into london waterloo. —— weren't confined. my my constituents are furious about the situation on mayhem monday this week. with seemingly no contingency

plans and diabolical communication. will my honourable friend confirmed that south—western railway and network rail will be held to account and me to learn lessons from this mass? the new realm minister -- the new rail minister was next. that incident was unacceptable. there was no question about that. i am not surprised that my honourable friend's incisions are furious. although i had some pretty miserable experience on this line, it is as nothing as to how ghastly it must be to be the rail minister. does he think that it might have contributed to his predecessor's resignation? ministerjames. to his predecessor's resignation? minister james. that to his predecessor's resignation? ministerjames. that question is flawed, mr speaker. krishna is flawed. there is nothing ghastly about in the row minister. the business minister has come under

attack for saying that the game and has no role in the decision to cut 490 jobs from the bombarding aside in belfast. the canadian aircraft many factor and closed at 4000 people across northern ireland. richard harrington came to update mps on the latestjob losses. richard harrington came to update mps on the latest job losses. mr speaker, i recognise that this is unwelcome news for the elf asked workforce and their families. it is reg retta ble workforce and their families. it is regrettable that they faced further uncertainty at this time of year. pipe—bomb by the is a private company and the garment has no role in its commercial decisions. —— but bombardier. this announcement will bea bombardier. this announcement will be a devastating blow not just to be 490 families who will be directly affected by this in the run—up to christmas, but there are an estimated 20,000 indirectjobs throughout the uk supply chains and many of those families may also be

affected by the company's decision. does loading operations has significant ramifications of the whole of uk. it is therefore of national public policy importance. the ministers are said to the government has no role here is to be unacceptable. after a 5096, 5796 increase in profits since last year, this announcement is a kick in the teeth to the workforce, and a 490 employees and their families. not one single constituency is not impacted by this. to put this into perspective for members in this part of our nation, this would be like the equivalent of the minister standing at the dispatch box and announcing more than 15,000 redundancies. bombardier is a damned good company. we know it. i'vejust

beenin good company. we know it. i'vejust been in northern ireland and know that northern ireland is proud of it. but it is an integrated global business. and the fact is the disturbance of us coming out of european union has a deep, deep effect on a bus, on supply. michael ryan and his team are very unsettled about what this government is doing coming out of europe, are setting the supply chains. behind this is europe coming out of it. but this minister should take that on—board. the latest at the company said this is not a wretched related decision. they have said that very clearly. if anyone knows as they hit the right honourable gentleman does that the aerospace is a truly international business. fresh illustrators very much an important part of it and i

really believe the deal that the promised has been negotiating, which will provide for a frictionless trade to help manufacturing industry in the future will mean it will help bombardierand in the future will mean it will help bombardier and all other companies remain strong. i would like to say that the irish trade unions have issued a statement whereby they are urging for this deal to take place. richard harrington on the bombardier job cuts and the brexit deal. women born in the 19505 who have been told that they have to wait longer to do for their state pensions lob two lobby parliament today to coincide with the debate on the issue was installed. the so—called waspy women are angry that their pension ages been increased from 60 to 66 cars in the mud to 40,000 pounds in entitlements. —— waspi. the garments as they were given warning about the change. in my lifetime, mrjack, this would be the must make most

unjust government policies since the poll tax on a affecting 3.8 million women and 4800 women in my constituency of north ayrshire and ireland. deceleration of the timetable set out in the 2015 — in the 1985 pensions act, means these changes were made abruptly with little or no time to adapt and repair. the5e little or no time to adapt and repair. these women about pensions stolen from them. it is a —— it is as simple as that. they paid into their pensions to a lighter of work, raising families, and i think to make often acting as carer5 to other members of family, the right things only to discover when it came time to them to be paid out they were told the rules of the game had changed. none of these women has any intention of giving up until they get the result that they have earned and they deserve. if the government thinks that they will simply

disappear all give thinks that they will simply disappearallgive up, thinks that they will simply disappear all give up, they could not be more wrong. that the pensions minister rejected calls to change policy. surely if we are to address and red dress and rebalance any imbalance, it is farfairer to do so in my generation, darra said, where we have techie5 plan for the our pension retirement, rather than, i'll have to say, punish those women who have for decades work done at work and strive for a particular date that they expected they could retire. that is the debate that kelly has to be held and i would go back to — this decision was originally taken in 1993 by a very useful ken clarke and supported by a series of governments and series of ministers waiting more experienced myself who have been here for the la st myself who have been here for the last 20 something years, and i am merely continuing that debate and discussion as to where we progress.

the pensions minister guy 0pperman. in the laws there were calls for england and wales to catch up with scotla nd england and wales to catch up with scotland and allow humanist weddings. humanist weddings have been allowed in scotland since 2005. but in england and wales, couples had to have a civil ceremony as well, as humanist weddings are not legally recognised. the government i5 legally recognised. the government is commonly working with the law commission to drop the terms of a review marriage ceremonies. as a role as a good wedding, and this should be the happiest day of your life, but has been discussed, we never humanist marriage is not legally recognised and the couple as to have this separate civil ceremony. when the noble lady agree with me that it is a good thing at a good time for england and wales to catch up? i agree with the noble lady. everyone loves a good wedding, i have had to. —— as a two. as a

she. she says. but i take on—board exec who are the noble lady saying. all i am saying is all of these points are being taken into consideration. we understand the comments that are being raised in your lodger's our survey. obviously we re your lodger's our survey. obviously were making progress on this but we must wait for the law commission review. would my honourable friend not agree that talk about getting england and wales, the largest country of the united kingdom, into line with the others, is a lot of nonsense? line with the others, is a lot of nonsense ? devolution line with the others, is a lot of nonsense? devolution is there to provide that the various parts of the kingdom can go their different ways. so why should we have to come into line with the others? as another agree with my noble friend. how can the government that is in favour of joyce, that is how can the government that is in favour ofjoyce, that is in favour of fair competition, allowed the vested interests of those they conduct marriages at the moment is

way what will be fair competition for humanists and allow all those people who want to have this type of marriage to have it? my lords, i don't feel that there are vested intere5t5 don't feel that there are vested interests at stake here at all. returning to the issue of marriage law, and england and wales, it is more complete and it is in scotland, because we brace out marriage law around the building, not the celebrant, which brexit more complicated. that is why we are doing is review. i hope that all noble lord5 will bear with us while we did this review and i look forward to making progress in this area. now it is often said that an army marches on its 5tomach, area. now it is often said that an army marches on its stomach, and food has played its part in the brexit debate. the leader of the commons, andrea leadsom, and so gatherings of like—minded colleagues over pizza and beer. a labour mp had some dietary advice that may or may

not have been aimed at her fellow brexiteer, jacob ree5—mogg. not have been aimed at her fellow brexiteer, jacob rees-mogg. can we have a debate about the importance of british food and drink, because instead of perennial these, wouldn't it be better if the infamous five group had something like somerset cider, cheddar cheese, and jacobs crackers? i sincerely hope the honourable gentleman is not referring to the overt somerset when he makes his comments about jacobs. i wonder. that is it for thursday in parliament. thank you for watching. ido parliament. thank you for watching. i do hope that you have —— adjuvant to you will be jointly on friday for the week in parliament. —— joining me. goodbye to now. hello there. for many places, thursday started on a very cold note. some spots got almost down to —7 degrees. but for friday morning, not as cold,

because there's a lot more cloud around. it will be often cloudy for the day ahead. showers for some, but not all. the satellite picture shows quite a lot of cloud. this cloud across the north—east is thick, low cloud, producing the odd spot of rain and drizzle. this brighter, more speckled cloud down to the south—west is capable of producing some showers. so throughout friday, we have the potential for some heavy, thundery showers across the south—west. some of these drifting into east wales, the west midlands, maybe north—west england. also some patchy rain across the north—east of scotland. elsewhere, a lot of dry weather, but equally, a lot of cloud. now, if you're across the midlands, east anglia and the south—east, i'm hopeful that this cloud will break up a little to reveal some spells of sunshine. the odd brighter glimpse elsewhere, but hefty showers never too far away from the south—west. for north—west england, particularly cumbria, also northern ireland and south—west scotland, the best chance of sunshine for the day. for eastern and northern scotland, a lot of cloud.

misty, murky, drizzly and damp conditions for a lot of time. temperatures generally 6—10 degrees. going through friday night, we keep large areas of cloud floating around, stopping the temperatures from dropping too far. the showers rumble into the far south—west, these could be heavy and thundery and even cause a few travel issues. those overnight lows between 3—7 degrees in most places. we start the weekend like this. high pressure to the north, low pressure to the south. that brings us an easterly wind, which, at this time of year, will never be particularly warm. one in the system perilously close to southern england likely to feed some rain in here. uncertainty about just how far north it will get. really only spots to the south of the m4 are likely to be effected. otherwise, mostly dry. the best of any brightness or sunshine to be found in the west. those temperatures, 7—10 degrees, not feeling too bad. but on sunday, we are likely to bring some slightly colder air back in from the north—east. those temperatures taking a bit of a tumble. still a lot of cloud, still the odd spot of rain and drizzle. not as much rain at this stage to the south. but those temperatures back into single digits for most of us. and then into the start of next

week, a bit of a battleground for a time. high pressure trying to hold firm. this area of low pressure pushing in from the atlantic. it looks like most of us will have one more fine day on monday. it will still be pretty cloudy. then for tuesday, there's the potential for some wet and increasingly windy weather to push in from the west. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers

in north america and around the globe. i'm reged ahmad. our top stories: theresa may says britain and the eu have agreed how they want their post—brexit relationship to work, although spain remains unhappy. the british people want this to be settled. they want a good deal that sets us on course for a brighter future. that deal is within our grasp. president trump warns — create disorder and i'll close the border. a stark message to migrants who've reached the mexico—us frontier. a stark message to migrants who've reached the mexico—us frontier. the police officer who was poisoned in the salisbury chemical attack speaks about his ordeal for the first time. i was still very, very sweating. the sweat had gone down from my forehead down my back, and my neck... my whole body was just repeat with sweat.