the prime minister's brexit proposals, along with her and other party leaders. but, it's not happening, why not? how to keep broadcasting when the world is collapsing behind you. no question where most of the news focus was this week — in the house of commons. where the governement suffered three defeats on tuesday. much of the action was britain's live on the news channel and all of it on the parliament channel, education which it some people. can you tell me why, when you have a channel dedicated to mr dobinson and may not have been a potential viewer of the planned leaders debate on brexit, which bbc one

and itv had hoped to show this weekend. but, instead of the spectacle of theresa may and jeremy corbyn arguing over the finer points of the eu withdrawal agreement, audiences of regular sunday evening broadcasting can enjoy their usual programmes as planned. some though, thought the failure of broadcasters and politicians to agree on a format was a real loss for the democratic process. a snp mp suggested: and harry hayfield wondered: the bbc said, it's disappointed to have dogged the planned programme, which would have involved, what are they called, a substantive head to head debate. as well as contributions from other

voices, including other political parties. reflecting the wide range of views on brexit. neither that nor any other format proposed by broadcasters met with the agreement of both theresa may and jeremy corbyn. if that's a shame for some, it's not a surprise. after all, the history of tv debates between political leaders in the uk is a rather tortured one. after many failed attempts to get off the ground, the 2010 general election finally saw the party leaders debate together for the first time. david cameron and gordon brown famously spent a lot of time agreeing with nick clegg — but not with each other. sorry, can ijust try and move beyond the political point scoring? competition between broadcasters and calls for other parties to be represented meant the format had become far more complex by 2015. the bbc hosted this debate between the five opposition parties, while the prime minister took part in

a seven—way debate on itv. the eu referendum campaign saw the great debate, organised by the bbc at wembley arena. borisjohnson and sadiq khan were among the two teams of debaters, representing the leave and remain campaigns. there was also a second stage, where a panel of ten people represented voices beyond the official campaigns. all seven uk parties were back on the stage for the 2017 general election — but not theresa may. she chose not to take part in this bbc debate, sending the then home secretary, amber rudd, in her place. but, with so many voices taking part, the politicians sometimes struggled to make themselves heard. joining me now to discuss this is former editor in chief at itn and

the relic of course, he's now a board member of the channel 4. did you attempt to get a wii debate that itn? i tried and failed many times. that is is, you haven't got a debate on mice the debate with turnovers they've all the cards. if they've all the cars. it didn't turn up for the debate, there would be a debate. that talk about what has happened in this case. the busy debate, the one that didn't happen, why didn't it happen? we don't have all the details. as i understand it, the offers from itv and bbc were quite similar. there would be a head—to—head section and then a other voices section. on bbc, this was good to beat one programme. 0n itv, there was good to be a debate

before and after i misled to get the others you. are you surprised that they've fallen through? we knew to reason they didn't want to do a debate during the last election. we knew that is not the best way of doing things. many more one—to—one is with people around the country, but appears to be her strength i was a bit surprised it came forward. i'm a bit surprised it came forward. i'm a bit surprised that the itv four, which was still on the table until late in the day, did not meet most of what she wanted. that's the point of what she wanted. that's the point of view of what the leaders might have wanted. given that the public would not have any views on this, it was all about mps voting in parliament. what was even the point? from the broadcaster ‘s point of view, this would be a goofy. in the

national occasion. not a many people would have watched it, compared to regular sunday programming. i don't know if many people would have much out of it, in terms of information. it is probably most important for broadcasters to get on record when there is a moment of debate between two national leaders. that has still not been established over many years i'iow. not been established over many years now. after the prime minister initially accepted the invitation to doa initially accepted the invitation to do a brexit debate, jeromy, refused and called the bbc the government's preferred broadcasters. the does seem to be a perception issue that this idea came from someone at the bbc. 0ften this idea came from someone at the bbc. often what happens is that people think, you may want one organisation tojoin people think, you may want one organisation to join but your heart

remains well you came from. looking back at 2010, the breeders debate we re back at 2010, the breeders debate were popular. it was clear who would be on this debate and why. no, it seems that i see many more voices and opinions on who should be on them. have broadcasters got them into an unwinnable situation about representation? i think there is some truth in that. if you look back at 2010, there was an oddity about that. why will they see the display and no one else? the answers given by the broadcasters was that the only three people with chance of becoming prime minister. it would like, let's take the status quo parties and ignore the rest. since then, the liberal democrats have dropped dramatically. the snp are the third biggest party in the uk parliament, where did this it into thisjigsaw? parliament, where did this it into this jigsaw? that is the problem. the days of two and three party

politics have gone. sky have proposed as a independent commission to set the rules for tv debates. is that the way forward? i looked at this closely. i came away pretty sceptical about it. the truth is, this is not like a competition where you enter and they‘ re this is not like a competition where you enter and they're what the rules are. do cannot—mac force political parties do something if they don't wa nt to parties do something if they don't want to do. do you think viewers get anything out of the debates?” want to do. do you think viewers get anything out of the debates? i think viewers deserve a more expensive way of proving issues that they currently get. broadcasters have struggled to do that. they have to balance the requirements of the use with rules of impartiality. they are not under pretty clear on that. i have sympathy with both the audience

and the broadcasters who are trying to find the right way of doing things for the nation at like this. president george bush senior was laid to president george bush senior was la id to rest president george bush senior was laid to rest on wednesday in a state ‘s middle, with most of the service being shown live on the bbc news channel. katy kay was commentating on channel. katy kay was commentating o n eve nts channel. katy kay was commentating on events in washington. this is the casket of george hw bush, the 41st president of the united states. for the next hour or so, katy kay and her guests stayed quiet while the ceremony preceded. that had already been too much talking over events for this viewer. the commentators are talking nonstop. can't we just listen to the service and music? they just never stop listen to the service and music? theyjust never stop talking. it's a real intrusion and really annoying.

last week, we discussed the presence of anti—brexit protesters in the background of cover shots outside the palace of westminster. in a sta ble the palace of westminster. in a stable environment, sometimes what appears behind isn't really better. artificial backgrounds can have problems of the urban. the martial law in the border areas of the ‘s owner, mike. the background has just gone crazy on the screen. you willjust go to tell lies that there was no martial law in it is very cold and tear. a test of calm, cool and collected presenting skills! as we were saying, as the knight returns to others shortly. there were bodies

from his conclave on twitter. thank you for all your comments this week. join us next week for our last programme of the year. it promises to bea programme of the year. it promises to be a busy easy. if you like ours to be a busy easy. if you like ours to quit your opinions, or even appear on the programme. do is an colour. you have a look at previous discussions on our website. that's all from us. will be back next week. goodbye. believing. it's been a pretty onset of day. storming in the fast north

of day. storming in the fast north of the country. things are starting to quite dull, slowly. an aerial low— pressure to quite dull, slowly. an aerial low—pressure sitting across the north of scotland. the wind still very much a feature of the next he was. we could see cost of wind 50—60 mph. some of the shah was fairly persistent. it will be able to the rich end to friday. elsewhere, the sheu rich end to friday. elsewhere, the shell was few and far between. it will be in relatively quiet night to come. still relatively windy across england and wales. temperatures holding up — around 5—8d. saturday morning starts on a quieter note. the winds will still be a featured as you go through the morning and three from charles pitching in from the west. simulating the driest of the west. simulating the driest of the days of the weekend but it could be covered with the wind is coming from the north. 0n

be covered with the wind is coming from the north. on saturday, a quiet start, but the early bird will get the best of the weather as the showers mesh together and push for a time. high temperatures of mine — and degrees. it is a subtle change in the field of the weather, because the winds are starting to push down from the north. as we go through the night, you could see cost going down the channel coast — 50—60 mph, possibly stronger for your time. the channel coast — 50—60 mph, possibly strongerfor your time. a rush of shell was being driven down from the north of the country. the first thing morning, we could see showers across england and wales. the bill is away, northerly winds ta ke the bill is away, northerly winds take over. a dry, bright afternoon for most of us. in a sudden dip to the fuel of the weather. getting colder as the day goes on. sunday night into monday morning, we keep those clear skies. with the clear

skies and the air from the north, temperatures will fall away. three scotla nd temperatures will fall away. three scotland and the north of england, we will field a single figures. the touch of frost to great as first thing on 20 morning. it will be a chilly start to the new working week. this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 8pm. warnings that channel ports could face six months of disruption if britain leaves the eu without a deal. it comes as 30 government ministers tour the country, trying to sell theresa may's brexit plan. police in new zealand say a missing british backpacker was last seen with "a male companion." grace millane's father appeals for help in finding her. we last had contact with on saturday first december and as a family we are extremely concerned for her welfare. a bbc investigation reveals how black and arab university academics are paid less than their white colleagues. british yachtswoman susie goodall is rescued after being stranded

in the southern pacific for two days. her boat had capsized during the golden globe race.