mrs fails to come to a conclusion. mrs may, yes, she's got herself some time but probably only a narrow window of time. if she doesn't manage to get some sort of concession from the eu on the backstop, that parliamentary arithmetic will still be staring her in the face. thank you. time for a look at the weather — here's helen willets. it has been a reasonably bright start to the week but will have that age—old battle of the mild atlantic airand the age—old battle of the mild atlantic air and the cold continental weather giving us cloud. enjoy the sunshine, here it is with a dusting of snow on the mountain tops in the distance. it's a little cloudier in cumbria. we've had a few showers around through cumbria, north—west of england and into wales and the south—west. they are few and far between. we have quite a bright start for most of us to the working week but already, waiting in the winds, this mass of cloud advancing.

at the time being, this high—pressure system will tend to keep the weather fronts at bay. we've got that battle between the atla ntic we've got that battle between the atlantic and cold, continental air. atlantic and cold, continental air. a bit of drizzle coming into the west of scotland. eventually picking up west of scotland. eventually picking up more of a southerly wind in the west. it's 4—5 celsius even with the benefit of a little sunshine because we've got a north—west breeze. it sta rts we've got a north—west breeze. it starts to change overnight in eastern parts of england, it will again be cold. cold enough for a fairly widespread frost, while further west it won't be as cold as last night. but southerly breeze stopping the fall in temperature. as we moisten the air we are more prone to folk first thing tomorrow which at this time of year does take its time to clear. late in the day for northern ireland and western scotland, more cloud tomorrow with grey in many places. parts of east

anglia and northern parts of scotland, and temperatures lifting a bit but without the sunshine. in the breeze it will still feel really chilly but it is december after all. through the evening and overnight we see the weather front advancing, if few drizzly bits and pieces picking up. with more cloud it looks like we won't be frosty tomorrow night but where we did clear the skies, some fog around because the air moistening up. as we get into wednesday we start to see this colder air kicking back, bringing brighter skies into east anglia, bringing in some colder air as well. we've still got that weather system waiting in the wings. with all of that cloud around, feeling quite cool that cloud around, feeling quite cool. drizzly rain but largely dry for many of us through most of the working week. i think the end of the week will feel quite chilly. no sign of the atlantic air. at this stage, the end of the week, keeping that high blocking the weather systems but just a high blocking the weather systems butjust a hint high blocking the weather systems but just a hint late high blocking the weather systems butjust a hint late in the week it sta rts butjust a hint late in the week it starts to come in and we could have

that change with some hill snow. for the meantime, probably quite cold and cloudy. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime. the bbc understands theresa may has delayed the crucial commons vote tomorrow on her brexit deal. she'll address mps in the commons this afternoon. that's all from the bbc news at one, so it's goodbye from me, and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. good afternoon. it'si.30pm. i'm olly foster at the bbc sport centre. the professional footballers‘ association says clubs must take the strongest possible action if fans racially abuse players. manchester city's raheem sterling was the victim of alleged abuse at chelsea over the weekend. the pfa also backs sterling's criticism of some press coverage saying that they are in no doubt

that "negative narrative, influences public opinion and emboldens racist rhetoric". troy townsend is from the anti—discrimination organisation kick it out. u nfortu nately, unfortunately, it is always high profile incidents that will bring it to the fore. i am disappointed he has had to go through the series of incidents he has had to go through but proud the strength is there to talk up, to let people know how he's feeling, because everybody is judging at the moment and nobody asking him, how did this make you feel, did it impact on the way you are playing? we see pictures of him smiling and he's smiling because, you cannot hurt any more, i have had this on a number of occasions. his statement and word, the impact was amazing and that is what we need from professional players. river plate won the copa libertadores final 5—3 on aggregate against boca juniors. the match was played in madrid after the original tie was moved

from buenos aires following fan violence. the match went to extra time at the bernabeu, but river plate finally came through 3—1 on the night against their fierce rivals. it was the first time they had faced each other in south america's equivalent of the champions league final. 62,000 were at the game but these were the scenes on the streets of the argentinian capital. ronnie o'sullivan says he wants to keep breaking records. he won the uk snooker championship for a seventh time. he had been level on six with steve davis. he beat mark allen 10 frames to 6 in york last night and that also took him to 19 triple crown titles, he also has five world and seven masters crowns. it had been a joint record of 18 with stephen hendry. i played very well today, you know, and i'm still having to convince myself to believe that i could win, you know, because that's how hard it felt a match.

but, yeah, great to create history, great to beat the nugget‘s record. amazing to beat my hero's record, stephen hendry, who is the ultimate player. i've still got eight world titles to get, so i'll be chasing that one! that's another thing altogether. mark cavendish says he's looking forward to returning to competive cycling after taking time out to recover from illness. the british rider had been competing for over a year with the epstein—barr virus, which causes fatigue. you never know with the condition — it can hang around especially as it was not managed properly. idid i did myself more damage. i am back to training. hopefully it is behind me now. the whole point that it was mismanaged proves it is difficult. it takes a real expert to understand it. especially at high level sports. india beat australia by 31 runs in the first test in adelaide — it's only their sixth test win on tour there australia were chasing 323 for victory

in their first home test series since the ball tampering scandal. they had reached 291 when last man josh hazlewood was caught off spinner ravichandran ashwin. the next match in the four—test series startd in perth on friday. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk. and it includes more reaction to the raheem sterling racism row and allegations he was racially abused at chelsea at the weekend. and plenty more from him. welcome back. we understand that the prime minister has called off the vote on her brexit deal tomorrow in the face of what looked to be a significant defeat at the hands of mps. theresa may is due to give a statement to the commons in a couple of hours,

and she's expected to officially confirm it then with me is our chief politcal correspondent vicki young. from the outside it looks like a terrible mess. i think we have got used to unpredictable times over the last two and a half years but if we ta ke last two and a half years but if we take a step back, this is a prime biddestone not able to get her main policy through parliament and, of course, that is leading to allegations and suggestion she is not in control. the government cannot really operate in any true sense of the word. how she explains this to mp5 will be interesting. she cannot just delay this to mp5 will be interesting. she cannotjust delay it and not say what she will do in its place. i was in the commons as the news filtered out and most conservative mps said, and do what? the question is what is the next step and you imagine the only thing she can do is to say i have listened to the overwhelming feeling of the commons and it is clear the backstop is a problem and she will go back to brussels and

presumably try to get something out of them. we have had figures there saying the withdrawal agreement is over, we cannot reopen it. she is giving the image of a prime minister struggling to survive and there is a question about what others would do, if she says this afternoon i am delaying the vote but i will tell you why later, what with the labour party do? there is talk of perhaps this is the moment when there is a vote of no confidence, and what about her own party and the 48 letters ? about her own party and the 48 letters? several mps think it will bea letters? several mps think it will be a trigger point for more of those letters but we have heard that before did not happen. they have the same problem, they trigger the vote and if she wins it, she is safe for another year and they do not want the prospect of that happening. the other option is a vote of no confidence in the government. i'm not sure labour would do that at this point because they cannot guarantee they would win it. the dup

say they will support her in a confidence motion so there does not seem much point in doing that so we are in the position of waiting to see how she explains this. i think your point about survival, to me, thatis your point about survival, to me, that is what this is about. that is about her knowing it is day by day at the moment, her survival as prime minister. the reason she did not go ahead with the vote is the defeat looked so enormous she could not guarantee staying in herjob. a smaller defeat would allow her to be defeated and go back to brussels and say i told you so, but she could not risk it because it looked like the scale of defeat would be huge. she has spoken to donald tusk and angela merkel at the weekend and other senior figures, merkel at the weekend and other seniorfigures, and merkel at the weekend and other senior figures, and the merkel at the weekend and other seniorfigures, and the only merkel at the weekend and other senior figures, and the only way out of this is some sort of compromise from the eu? she also spoke to leo varadkar, and the irish backstop being the issue and he came out today and said there is no movement on this, you cannot do anything about it, we cannot put an exit date

on it because then it is not a backstop. there are suggestions from tory mps, some saying people from the top of cabinet should say she should stand aside and have an interim leader who could maybe go back and change the narrative slightly, to try to get through this but i do not think anybody thinks that would work in any meaningful way. at the moment, mps are in the dark about how she will explain what she is doing but i am sure she will say the backstop she recognises is the sticking point that needs to change. if this vote is delayed and there is a slight change to the proposal, do we have to go through the five days of debate again?” proposal, do we have to go through the five days of debate again? i do not think so, although i do not know the answer, i will get someone to check who knows better than i do! there is speculation about delaying the vote in the first place, which might need a vote, so nobody is

entirely sure. the worst of all worlds would be trying to get through the delay and losing the vote to get it delayed and then still has the vote gets defeated. the leader of the commons andrea leadsom will speak after the prime minister and she will explain how they will try to change the business for tomorrow. the broader picture is it looks chaotic, for those in the eu looking in, for voters, it looks as if they cannot operate. there was as if they cannot operate. there was a minister on airas as if they cannot operate. there was a minister on air as this are folded and he said we will have to beat the bushes and see what comes out of it. alan duncan? yes, it sounds like a strange policy. he says it looks like we might be going into a period of chaos. do not go far! the irish prime minister spoke to mrs may over the weekend and today he said the withdrawal agreement could not be renegotiated. the withdrawal agreement, including the irish backstop, is the only agreement on the table. it took over a year and a half to negotiate. it has the support of 28

governments and it's and it's not possible to reopen any aspect of that agreement without reopening all aspects. i think a lot of concession has been made along the way. most recently for example we agreed there would be a review clause. i do not think we should ever forget how we got to this point. the united kingdom decided to leave the eu and the uk government decided to take lots of options off the table, whether staying in the single market and customs union, or a northern ireland specific backstop. the reason why we ended up with the solution we have is because of the red lines which the united kingdom itself made them. let's speak to our europe reporter gavin lee, who's in brussels. that is the message from the eu, that the deal is the deal. the foreign minister ‘s of all eu countries are in brussels today for meeting ahead of the summit on thursday and are locked in talks, as

they were when the news broke that theresa may is having a press conference. early this morning, i suggested to some of the foreign ministers about the sense there could be a renegotiation that some wa nt could be a renegotiation that some want on the backstop and there was almost a copy paste response, we have done, this is the best deal that can be done, including the deputy for leo varadkar, the deputy prime minister in ireland who said that if there was renegotiation on the backstop, the whole thing would need to be looked at again and it is not feasible but if you look for other voices, the former president of the european commission and former italian prime minister who said if britain force the eu into a position when they would have to renegotiate he said they would have to because the other choices no deal at the end of barcham for the dutch, the french, those close to the uk with business ties, that would hurt. if we are going to hear that in the

speech, that there will be more time to talk, a delayed, we are hypothesising, that is brinkmanship for politics. the other thought is i do know the people in the building behind me, they are watching tv, and twitter, some are watching the bbc, iam twitter, some are watching the bbc, i am told by a senior spokesperson of the european commission, they are waiting to see what theresa may has to say and they will respond quickly. an hour and three quarters to go at everybody will be in front of the tv because there is a sense of the tv because there is a sense of not knowing. what can she stand up of not knowing. what can she stand up and say? where you while they will know it will be down to them because the first thing she will say is she's going back to brussels to have a chat. and what does that mean? when you think about michel barnier, the chief negotiator, who physically bound his copy of the political declaration and withdrawal

agreement, to say this is signed and sealed, it is waiting to be delivered. in march you go through the withdrawal period, and we hear from the european court ofjustice today, ruling that britain would not have to seek any permission to stop article 50 and ultimately to stop the process of brexit. that was brought on behalf of those campaigning for remain. jeremy hunt today, i asked campaigning for remain. jeremy hunt today, iasked him campaigning for remain. jeremy hunt today, i asked him about if it had an effect and he said those people who voted for brexit, that would be against what they expressed and voted for. the sense at the moment is they are not particularly shocked. they use the mantra it is not over until it is over, but they we re not over until it is over, but they were hoping for christmas, i know there are staff at the european commission in the middle of putting up commission in the middle of putting up decorations, commission in the middle of putting y commission in the middle of putting up decorations, happy as larry, pretty much getting on with it and suddenly, they are now putting on

the televisions. christmas is not cancelled, it still goes ahead, gavin! we will talk later. nigel dodds is deputy leader of the dup and says that postponing the meaningful vote would be a shambles. what she says today in the house will be absolutely critical. if this is another question of kicking the can down the road and hoping to get some tweaks and changes to some kind of political declaration or some statements out of brussels and so on, she knows now that won't work. let's have transparency, openness and honesty from everyone in government who has been telling is up to now it is the only deal and are now having to come to the house of commons and admit it is not the only deal. quite frankly it is a bit of a shambles and they need to realise that when they cross red lines, they are in trouble. i'm joined now by conservative mp and prominent brexiteer nigel evans. this is a shambles, he is right? it

would have been a shambles have the vote ta ke n would have been a shambles have the vote ta ken place would have been a shambles have the vote taken place tomorrow, so i think she has made a wise decision and i've met over 70 members of my association on saturday. in the conservative club, and the considered view was if she is going to be defeated, as she would have been, there are no two ways it would have gone to a big defeat, it would be humiliation, so by pulling it, and by listening, and i am not criticising my prime minister because she is listening. i want her to realise the real problem is the backstop. we are losing the support of the dup, even if the miracle happened, christmas is coming, it is not cancelled, as you said. for another miracle happening, and she managed to get the treaty through on tuesday, we have lost the support of the dup. how much authority after this morning does theresa may have? i think she has strong authority

from parliament to go to brussels and say to michel barnier, we simply cannot... that is a spin. you say she has the authority, she knows she has not got parliament that is the wea kness has not got parliament that is the weakness of her position. there is a problem in that building which is we have a remain parliament with the majority of members voting to remain and a lot of them are doing what they can, using their best endeavours to try to undermine the prime minister and undermine the people. when politicians take on the people, that is a very bad luck. we, the parliament, gave the opportunity and asked the british people to make the decision. they made the decision and now politicians over there are treating the people like naughty schoolchildren, saying get over it, we are staying in the eu and will use the device of a second referendum. that is a very bad luck. you have just pushed the case for

another vote. i have not, because the people have decided. when the politicians take on the people, that isa politicians take on the people, that is a very bad luck. it does not matter where in the world that happens, it is very bad, and undermines democracy. the danger of the situation you describe is that collea g u es the situation you describe is that colleagues in that building might be writing a letter to the 1922 committee. how sure can theresa may be that by the end of today there is not the required number of letters. the prime minister cannot be sure. a colleague said to me that is it, i am writing a letter. i am sure he told me that three weeks ago. who is that? i cannot tell you. he told me in confidence and under lobby terms. only one person knows how many letters are only one person knows how many letters a re in only one person knows how many letters are in and that is graham brady. i hope people rally behind the prime minister in order that she gets back to brussels, says to jean—claude juncker and donald tusk

michel barnier, we have got to renegotiate. they have to understand she does not have the wiggle room to get what they want through. just because brussels says no, that is not a negotiation. she gets up at 3:30pm. what do you want her to say that you think strengthens what many say is a weak position. that you think strengthens what many say is a weak positionlj that you think strengthens what many say is a weak position. i would like her to say what i heard from the clitheroe group on saturday, which is that i have listened to what people are saying, i have listened to the dup, on whom we rely to govern the country, i believe that trying to separate northern ireland as if it is a separate country, so in the backstop they stay in the customs union and single market while we leave, that is not acceptable, and that we need to be able to unilaterally leave, which we can do now, but via the treaty, we

give that power back to the european union and we cannot leave without their say—so, which undermines our position. at least the prime minister is now listening. give me your best guess as to the timetable over the next two weeks. we will hear from andrea leadsom as soon as the prime minister sits down. with the prime minister sits down. with the vote is cancelled, the debate stops. if theresa may comes back with a revised version, is... it is not another five days of debate. you can do it in one if you so wish, it is up to the prime minister in negotiation with parliament to say what would be suitable? you are a former deputy speaker. how important will the speaker be? i think he is very important, anyway. the most important person, i mean he is

important person, i mean he is important we know his views this, which i'm not so sure we should. but andrea leadsom, pulling tomorrow's business, perhaps, having something else, means clearly there will not bea else, means clearly there will not be a meaningful vote tomorrow. it buys the prime minister a little bit of time, not to save her skin, but to insure she completes the contract with the british people and goes back to brussels and says we are not separating northern ireland from the uk and we will have to leave unilaterally, you have to give me this, otherwise i will not push it to parliament. i am feeling of relief. we will talk again. let's speak to our business correspondent ben bland. how has the city reacted? a phrase we often talk about is uncertainty and there is some breaking news on crossrail which we will come to in a moment but let's look at the effect

of the goings—on in westminster on the markets. the prime minister's chances of getting the deal voted on have dipped, so too has the value of the pound. against the dollar the lowest since last year and also down against the euro, the lowest it has been since september. this is a sign of nervousness among investors because of the uncertainty about what will happen next. i am joined bya what will happen next. i am joined by a senior market analyst. why do we see in vesta angstrom reflected in the currency? the element of uncertainty isn't good from an investment. many of these things appear to be negative for the economy and for the currency and it is often the case the currency is the first to feel this pain before

it reverberates elsewhere. what impact does a fall in the value of sterling have on people at home? impact does a fall in the value of sterling have on people at home7m the near—term nothing dramatic but as we saw after the referendum when the pound fell 10%, it eventually has an impact on the cost of living, the weekly shop, fuel prices, because oil is priced in dollars. the inflation impact is the greatest impact but when people go on holiday, again, when the pound is worth less, that translate to less money to spend abroad. the falls have been sharp so far, both against the dollar and the euro, this morning. will it fall even further? absolutely, it depends on which way we head now. if we do see this lead to the downfall of theresa may, that creates political uncertainty and the direction of travel i think would weigh on the pound. anything

that leads us towards a no deal brexit, that would be negative for the pound, and there are other eventualities that also could drag on the pound, so the next few weeks will be a difficult time. to flag up the effect on the pound, people look at the ftse 100 the effect on the pound, people look at the ftse100 and say things look 0k, at the ftse100 and say things look ok, why is that? at the ftse100 and say things look 0k, why is that? it is because... the ftse 100 is a uk index and around three quarters of the revenue comes from outside the uk, so when you see the pound fawning, the revenues of these companies are flattered because sales come in dollars and euros and other currencies. thanks. it has been confirmed that funding has been agreed to deal with some of the delays to the crossrail project, funding between transport for

london, the government and the crossrail project company. the impact of that means that the start date for crossrail to operate the east—west line through london initially it was delayed from opening this winter to autumn 2019. they are now saying they cannot give a firm opening date in autumn 2019, until they know quite what the extent of the delays will be. that breaking news, funding to deal with delays to crossrail have been agreed, but more questions now over when it will actually start to operate. that news breaking within the last hour. time for the weather with helen. it isa with helen. it is a bright picture, dry for the most part, but i think through this week there will be cloud, grey skies, and it will feel quite cold.

you can see the sunshine at the moment across central and eastern areas. clarity in the west. showers around. this is bringing drizzle to the west of scotland. the cloud moves in german eyed and it means it will be slightly less cold in the —— as cloud moves in over night. later, another weather front comes in. as cloud moves in over night. later, another weatherfront comes in. it gets stuck and for most, a tri— picture. cold, particularly in the east. probably some brightness in east. probably some brightness in east anglia and north and scotland but another cold, largely cloudy day on wednesday. and perhaps colder by the end of the week. welcome to a bbc news special from westminster. i'm simon mccoy. the prime minister is preparing to make a statement to the house

of commons in an hour and a half's time — after deciding not to go ahead with a vote on her brexit deal in the face of almost certain defeat — but european colleagues say there is no chance of renegotiating of the deal it took over a year and a half to negotiate, it has the support of 28 governments, and it is not possible to re—open any aspect of that agreement without reopening all aspects of it. the democratic unionist party leader nigel dodds says the government's position is a shambles. quite frankly, it is a bit of a shambles, and they need to realise, that when they cross guidelines, they are in trouble.