hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. theresa may has cancelled tomorrow's parliamentary vote on her brexit deal. this is why. if we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow, the deal would be rejected by a significant margin. here's the opposition‘s reaction. the government has lost control of events and is in complete disarray. the prime minister has been forced to pull tomorrow's vote in a stunning display of pathetic cowardice. theresa may says she'll go back to eu leaders to try here's the opposition‘s reaction. theresa may says she'll go back to eu leaders to try and address mps' concerns. but this is the message from brussels. this deal is the best and only deal possible and we will not re—negotiate. the debate is still going on in the house of commons, but what happens next is not clear at all. if you've got questions, you're not alone.

rob watson and christian fraser will be with us to try and make sense of all this. evidently theresa may realise what eve ryo ne evidently theresa may realise what everyone had been saying for days, that she simply could not win that vote scheduled for tuesday on the brexit deal, so it is off at least for now. here is what she said earlier. i have listened very carefully to what is being said in this chamber and out of it... laughter. ..to what is being said in this chamber and out of it by members from all sides. from listening to those views it is clear that while there is broad support for many key aspects of the deal... on one issue, the northern ireland backstop, there remains

widespread and deep concern. as a result if we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow, the deal would be rejected by a significant margin. we will therefore defer the vote scheduled for tomorrow and not proceed to divide the house at this time. jeremy corbyn, the leader of the uk's opposition labour party, was first to respond to the prime minister. mr speaker, this is a bad deal for britain, a bad deal for our economy, and a bad deal for our democracy. our country deserves better than this. the deal damages our economy and it isn'tjust the opposition saying that. the government's own analysis shows this deal would make us worse off. if the prime minister cannot be clear that she can and will re—negotiate a deal, then she must make way.

theresa may says her deal can get through, but first she says she needs to address concerns that some mps have about the backstop. that's the term being used to describe the arrangement that will ensure there are no border checks between ireland and northern ireland in the event that the uk and eu can't agree a trade deal by the end of 2020. here's theresa may on that particular point. on the 30th of march, the northern ireland—ireland border will for the first time become the external frontier of the european union's single market and customs union. the challenge... the challenge this poses must be met, not with rhetoric. but with real and workable

solutions. businesses operate across that border, people live their lives crossing and recrossing it every day. i have been there and spoken to some of those people. they do not wa nt some of those people. they do not want their everyday lives to change asa want their everyday lives to change as a result of the decision we have taken. they do not want a return to a hard border. they do not want a return to a hard border. critics of the current backstop are worried that if no trade deal is agreed with the eu, the uk could end up having to follow eu regulations indefinitely while having no say over their nature. well, now mrs may says she'll discuss the backstop again with the eu at a summit in brussels at the end of the week. here's evidence that she's looking ahead to that. the sunday times eu correspondent spotted theresa may's eu advisor returning to brussels early this morning. lee robbins with a big backpack on

his back. lee robbins with a big backpack on his back. but this clip of the irish leader may not make for comfortable viewing inside number 10. the withdrawal agreement, including the irish backstop, is the only agreement on the table. it took over a year and have to negotiate, it has the support it took over a year and a half to negotiate, it has the support of 27 governments and it is not possible to reopen any aspect of that agreement without reopening all aspects of it. rob watson has been covering this all day in westminster. another quiet day in westminster! let's start with the practicalities. if there is no vote tomorrow, when does there is no vote tomorrow, when does the vote have to happen in orderfor the vote have to happen in orderfor the uk to get out by the end of march? i am glad you started off with an easy one, we do not know. the only fixed date we have eyed 29th of march, when britain is

supposed to leave the european union, and the 21st ofjanuary whether government let's parliament know what its plan is if there is to be no deal. i have spoken to one conservative politician in the last few hours and he said he thought this can picking exercise by theresa may would only give her four days of negotiation and she would have to come back to parliament next week. another senior member of the government said maybe the vote would not come until christmas or after new year. you pay your money and ta ke new year. you pay your money and take your choice. do not go away. worth highlighting that this morning senior ministers were still claiming that this vote would go ahead on tuesday. in fact for several days now the government has been adament that there would be no delay. it is going ahead and that is because it is a good deal, it is the only deal. so where will this vote go ahead, will it go ahead? i certainly hope so. the prime minister has confirmed that so i look forward to supporting her as it goes ahead tomorrow.

we will be voting tomorrow evening on the withdrawal agreement and that withdrawal agreement allows us to leave the european union, to honour the democratic mandate that 17.4 million people gave this government. remember the eu signed off this deal over two weeks ago and has repeatedly said renegotiation is not an option. theresa may herself has told us this. this clips from six days ago. the eu 27 member states have made it clear that this is the best deal available and there is neither the time nor the inclination to reopen negotiations and ensure we leave in good order on the 29th of march next year. the choice before parliament is clear, this deal, no deal or at the risk of no brexit. the eu tends not to say much when british politics gets this complicated, taking the view that saying almost anything can be unhelpful. we do have this though from guy verhofstadt, brexit coordinator for the european parliament. "i can't follow anymore.

after two years of negotiations, the tory government wants to delay the vote. just keep in mind that we will never let the irish down. this delay will further aggravate the uncertainty for people & businesses. it's time they make up their mind!" and we have this from a spokesperson for the european commission. box 3 we have an agreement on the table which was endorsed by the european council on the 25th of november. as presidentjean—claude younger said this deal is the best and the only deal possible. we will not re—negotiate, our position has not changed and as far as we are concerned the united kingdom is leaving the european union on the 29th of march 2019. leaving the european union on the 29th of march 2019. then we've had this from the president of the european council. rob, realistically what do you think

theresa may hopes she can get in brussels? realistically not very much. what makes her position so... iam much. what makes her position so... i am trying to think of the right adjective, so painfully awkward. you played the clip where she told parliament, the country, the whole world, i have got the best deal. to suddenly turn around and say maybe i can geta suddenly turn around and say maybe i can get a bit more is unfortunate to put it mildly. frankly, the most she can hope for are some helpful words, helpful noises, helpful mood music. ido helpful noises, helpful mood music. i do not think there will be any radical re—negotiation, that is simply not possible. that leaves to

the next question. if that is all she gets, would it be enough? we will find out. stay with us. and while there are all these questions about brexit, along with them come questions about theresa may leadership. this is the leader of the the liberal democrats in parliament today. the fiasco today, the government really has lost all authority and let me just say that i and my colleagues will fully support the leader of the opposition if he now proceeds to a no—confidence vote as duty surely calls. the leader of the scottish national party, nicola sturgeon, has made the same call. let's get rob's view on this. some

people will be wondering why is labour are not going in harder today? one theory is why go on the attack, why do very much when your opposition as performed the proverbial circular firing squad? if you are in the labour leadership you could be saying, if the governing party wa nts could be saying, if the governing party wants to absolutely go to war with itself maybe we should let them stew a bit and let the country see what a mess the conservatives are making of government, as labour would see it. you can sort of understand that tactic. people will be thinking, hang on a minute, i thought the conservatives were at least, some people would say, the natural party of government and administration. many opposition mps will be thinking they do not look like that now, do they? there's talk about theresa may's two main problems. you would expect the

opposition to vote against, but there are a number of her own party who do not like this deal and members of the dup who also do not like it. i have a optimistic she can get something in brussels which will change their mind? no, they are not. they are thinking there is not very much she can get. but for people who are watching, and who are thoroughly mystified over what is going on, it is worth going back to basics. yes, theresa may has a problem in her own party, but it is broader than that. first of all, the majority of the voters voted for something in brexit that the majority of politicians do not think is a great idea, to put thatis not think is a great idea, to put that is an understatement. secondly, the mess we are in now. there is no consensus among those politicians, particularly in the conservative party, as to what to do about the referendum in 2016. in many ways the

problem is that basic and simple, but at the same time that seismic. rob, for the moment, thank you very much indeed. i am not running out of questions in brexit because the whole thing is baffling. if you have got particular questions you would like rob and christian fraser to answer, send them my way. bbc outside source is the #timesup we will work on some of the questions. the european court ofjustice has ruled that britain can cancel brexit without having to ask other eu members. you can read the whole ruling online. here it is. it says the uk would be able to stay in the eu on its existing terms. the people who brought this case are a mixture of lawyers and members of the uk, scottish and european parliaments. they wanted clarity on eu rules for mps and for the public. but this is the reaction of the british foreign secretary. it is irrelevant because just

imagine how the 52% of the country who voted for brexit would feel if any british government were to delay leaving the eu on the 29th of march. i think people would be shocked and very angry and it is certainly not the intention of the government. another tweet from nicola sturgeon. whether it is open or not we will have to see because they are not voting on that option. let's get the analysis of our correspondent. this case was brought by mps and msp ‘s who wanted clarity on the exit

clause for departing member states which explains what happens if you wa nt to which explains what happens if you want to leave, but does not explain the conditions under which a country could change its mind. the court fast tracked this case and they ruled the uk would be able to withdraw its notification to leave the eu unilaterally, as long as it followed a democratic process at home. in other words another referendum, a parliamentary vote or another election. key for the campaigners who brought this case, thejudges said the uk campaigners who brought this case, the judges said the uk would be able to keep the existing membership terms. there would be no strings attached, they would not have to join the schengen area, the passport free zone, or the euro, and it would not have to give up its cherished budget rebate. a blow to the eu whose lawyers argued if they did go down this cause, the judges would be creating uncertainty in the exit clause of the eu treaty and a blow to the uk's lawyers who said it was

a hypothetical question and an issue they have no intention of pursuing. there is more available on the website. we will be turning away from brexit for a few minutes. we have to talk about emmanuel macron who has gone on to tv to offer changes in policy in the hope of diffusing those violent protests. in new zealand, a 26—year—old man has appeared in court charged with the murder of the 22—year—old british packpacker grace millane. the country's prime minister jacinda ardern earlier apologised to grace's family. my thoughts and prayers are with her father david who is in the country, her mother gillian who cannot be here, and her wider family, friends and loved ones. from the kiwis i have spoken to there is this overwhelming sense of hurt and shame that this has happened in our country, a place that prides itself

on our hospitality. especially to those who are visiting oui’ especially to those who are visiting our shores. and so on behalf of new zealand i want to apologise to grace ‘s family. your daughter should have been safe here and she was not and i am sorry been safe here and she was not and i am sorry for that. i have advised the family through the police that if there is anything we can do to assist, we are here to help with that. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is? theresa may has cancelled tomorrow's vote on her brexit deal to avoid a humiliating parliamentary defeat. an eu report says anti—semitism is getting worse and jews are increasingly worried about the risk of harassment. the report surveyed people in 12 eu countries countries. that is from bbc world service

radio. russia's most prolific mass murderer in modern times has been given a second life sentence. former policeman mikhail popkov murdered 55 women and a policeman between 1992 and 2007. he was already in jail for 22 other murders. bbc russian. a kangaroo called roger who became internationally known due to his enormous size has died at the age of 12. he was over 2m tall and weighed 89kg. he died from old age at the weekend at the sanctuary where he'd lived all his life. emmanual macron has addressed the nation after weeks of protests in france. he's promised to boost the minimum wage and is offering tax concessions. here's some of what he said. translation: i take my share of the

responsibility and i am aware that there is a feeling that i am not worried, that i have other priorities. i also know that i have caused issues for some of you with my reforms. but let me be clear tonight, if i have fought to reform the political system, the bad habits, the hypocrisy, it is because i love and i have faith in this country above all else. president macron has abolished plans to increase taxes for low—income pensioners and he's asked employers to pay a tax—free end of year bonus to employees. le parisien newspaper said mr macron‘s speech was his ‘moment of truth‘. too early to tell if he's come through it. the protests started over fuel tax rises but have become about broader frustrations with the government. this was paris on saturday. these are pictures from paris. windows were smashed, cars were burned and shops looted.

more than 1200 people were arrested. there's also been economic impact. the bank of france today predicted the french economy would grow 0.2% in the last quarter of 2018, that's down from an earlier estimate of 0.4% — the bank says this is a direct result of the protests. the french finance minister says it's a "a catastrophe for business, it's a catastrophe for our economy." i guess the question is whether mr macron has done enough to placate his opponents. here's the paris correspondent for the daily beast the president definitely had a softer, more humble tone tonight during his address. he has been accused before of presenting himself as distant and out of touch, the president of the rich. some of the comments that he has made, he has been accused of being disdainful

when speaking about certain persons of the electorate. he definitely was more humble. will that be enough to quell the anger? i think it depends on what segment of the protesters you are speaking to. unions have nothing to do with it, they do not control the protests at all, and thatis control the protests at all, and that is what has made these movements so unique. france is no stranger to protest, as you know, they are the grandmasters of protests, but it is usually backed bya protests, but it is usually backed by a political party or a union. in this case it was very random and came out of nowhere. it started as a loosely organised thing on social media and it is a portion of the electorate that is out there. you have been sending in questions and here is one. what happened with the mace in parliament? a labour mp, has

been ordered out of the house of commons for the rest of the day after he removed the mace. he was holding it in protest at the government's decision to delay the vote. it is a ceremonial club which represents loyal authority and if it is removed it cannot debate or pass laws. after he took it he walk towards the main doors and was stopped by commons officials who took it off him and returned it to its place in front of the speaker's chair. he was politely asked to vacate for the rest of the day. let's get more of your questions. we are going live to westminster and we have got christian and rob standing by. are you ready? i am nervous. what is labour's precise position on brexit? a few people have got a bit confused by this one. so, they would

rightly be confused. that is partly the point. keir starmer would say we wa nt the point. keir starmer would say we want to be in a single market with the european union, but he does not wa nt the european union, but he does not want freedom of movement. the eu has made it clear you have to have the four freedoms, capital, people and... and freedom and movement of people. the four freedoms and services. you cannot split those and you have to be clear about that from the get go. and he wants to be in a customs union which would limit the trade deals they could do with other countries around the world. it is a very confusing picture that labour has at the moment. maybe intentionally so because they do not have to put the answers forward. you could sum it up by saying both parties have really been saying we wa nt parties have really been saying we want everything we liked about the european union and none of the things we did not like. labour's

position has been mocked on twitter as something as being compared to the conservatives with our unicorn is prettier than yours. this is another one. i can turn that around and take on the backstop what i the democratic unionists and the more ha rd democratic unionists and the more hard brexiteers thinking of as a workable plan? the first bit, a nerdy answer. i recommend people go and have a look at the foreign affa i rs and have a look at the foreign affairs select committee report 2016. you can find it on the website. what would happen if there is no deal? the commission has got very clever people from the law society and the cambridge law professor to look at this and they summed up there would be a danger that britain would be in breach of international law if there was no border. you are supposed to enforce

differences and tariffs and taxes and regulations. i could go into more detail. there would be the idea that what kind of a reliable partner would britain be if it did not comply with international law? there would be the possibility of lawsuits from international companies because this would be a lawless opportunity for smuggling. as to the dup and the ha rd for smuggling. as to the dup and the hard brexiteers in the conservative party, they are saying this is all a fuss about nothing and it could be solved by technology. but nobody has yet seen this technology and it does not appear to work anywhere else.- both of you, thank you for the moment. we are almost at the end of oui’ moment. we are almost at the end of our first half an hour. christian and rob will be back later. if you have got more questions, send them to us and we will work through them in the next half an hour. we will take a look at some of our

weather stories from around the world and we start off in the united states were a big winter storm went through over the course of the weekend. in north carolina we had heavy falls of snow. the amount of snow varied significantly, but some communities had well over a foot, over 30 centimetres, in places. that led to significant power cuts to hundreds of thousands of people. on monday there was a mixture of light snow and freezing rain. generally temperature is below par across a swathe of the east of the united states, and very cold weather for easter and canada. the risk of icy conditions will continue into tuesday. maximum temperatures will be —6 in montreal. despite the sunshine in new york it stays chile. now central areas of vietnam, and look at the thunderstorms, they are

not moving at all. 195 millimetres of rain fell within 2a hours bringing local flooding of rain fell within 2a hours bringing localflooding issues. further north there is an area of low pressure that will bring heavy rain tojapan and low pressure that will bring heavy rain to japan and heavy snow ball in the forecast. the cloud across the southern bay of bengal is because the north eastern monsoon season is with us and an area of low pressure is enhancing the downpours. in a number of computer models this area of low pressure is forecast to intensify and it may well become a cyclonic storm towards the end of the week heading towards sri lanka and eastern areas of india. this is ex—storm o and which has been walking its way across queensland bringing sometimes 50 millimetres of

rain in places. in the middle part of the week it is expected to get more strength and we will see further torrential downpours developed over the next few days. for skiing fans developed over the next few days. forskiing fans in developed over the next few days. for skiing fans in europe we have got cold air in place, north—westerly winds bringing huge falls of snow to the alps. saturday, sunday and into monday some ski resorts will see over a metre of snow in places. on tuesday with cold air still with us further east we will see snowfall in poland, getting down to pretty low levels. further west of the temperatures are nearer normalfor west of the temperatures are nearer normal for the west of the temperatures are nearer normalfor the time of west of the temperatures are nearer normal for the time of year. in east— west split for our weather as well. western will be rainy and eastern driver chile. the eastern areas are dry but cold. hello, i'm ros atkins, this is outside source. theresa may has cancelled

tomorrow's parliamentary vote on her brexit deal. this is why. if we went aired and held the vote tomorrow, the deal would be rejected bya tomorrow, the deal would be rejected by a significant margin. and this was the opposition‘s reaction. the government has lost control of events and is in complete disarray. the prime minister has been forced to pull tomorrow's vote in a stunning display of pathetic cowardice. theresa may says she'll go back to eu leaders to try and address mps concerns. but this is the message from brussels. this deal is the best and only deal possible. we will not renegotiate. to state the obvious, there are many questions about this brexit process. if you have some that you think we have a good chance of answering, let

us have a good chance of answering, let us know. if you've got questions — you're not alone. rob watson and christian fraser will be with us to try and make sense of all this. send your questions to us — the hashtag is bbc os. so all of last week, we were covering the five—day debate leading up covering the five—day debate leading up to covering the five—day debate leading uptoa covering the five—day debate leading up to a vote on tuesday night on theresa may's brexit deal. that vote is now not happening because it was clear to the prime minister and eve ryo ne clear to the prime minister and everyone is that it was not going to get through the house of commons. this is what theresa may said earlier. on the 30th of march, the northern ireland— ireland border will for the first time become the external frontier of the european union and customs union. the challenge this poses must be met, not with

rhetoric, but with real and workable solutions. as we have discussed many times, the irish border has been the single biggest obstacle in brexit negotiations. the backstop is the term being used for the arrangement that will ensure there's no hard border between the republic of ireland and northern ireland — in the event that the uk and eu can't agree a trade deal by the end of 2020. the attorney general noted last week that the uk could get stuck in "protracted and repeating rounds of negotiations" — and that it's possible that "the protocol would endure indefinitely". and that is what some brexiteers fear — that a trade deal with the eu might not arrive for years, and all the while the uk would be bound by eu regulations. but, today ireland's deputy prime minister, said this. it isa it is a last resort insurance

mechanism that only kicks in if we are unable to resolve the border issues through negotiating a comprehensive future relationship to which everybody believes is possible. the eu has reaffirmed his support for ireland — with guy verhofstadt, brexit coordinator for the european parliament tweeting "just keep in mind that we will never let the irish down." i also want to bring you this from bbc‘s adam fleming. "i've heard the pm is trying to get more legal oomph behind the language in the withdrawal agreement of using "best endeavours" to reach a trade deal which removes the need for the backstop." but — to that point — the irish taoiseach leo varadkar said this. what i can say is that the withdrawal agreement, including the irish backstop, is the only agreement on the table. it took over agreement on the table. it took over a yearand a agreement on the table. it took over a year and a half to negotiate, it has the support of 28 governments, and it is not possible to reopen any aspect of that agreement without

reopening all aspects of it. tony connelly, who is the europe editorfor rte, ireland's public broadcaster, he's in brussels. he isa he is a regular on outside source. tony, good to see you again, thanks for your time. ireland wants to avoid a no deal here, so might it be willing to offer something for theresa may to help her out?|j willing to offer something for theresa may to help her out? i don't think they can offer anything, by way of reopening the withdrawal agreement. remember, theresa may is not the only leader in europe who is pa rt not the only leader in europe who is part of a minority government. leo varadkar is is a part of a minority government in dublin, and it would be absolute political suicide for him to suddenly buchel at this point in the negotiations and in the brexit process, and to make any substantial changes to the backstop. i think what we're going to see at the very most is some kind of clarification that the backstop is designed to be temporarily. nobody wa nts designed to be temporarily. nobody wants it to be there permanently.

but that's probably as far as it is going to get, and i think while member states and eu leaders are fully aware and cognisant of the difficulties theresa may faces, they don't want to get involved in another protracted negotiation for something which she simply can't get through the house of commons. so there are real limitations to what she can get now from europe as she in on this tour of capital with the dutch primaries tomorrow. we don't know who she will meet after that but time is short between now and thursday. i was going to say, she can have meetings in advance of the european summit, then there is the summit itself, but realistically given this is not the only issue on the european agenda, how much space does the you're have to talk through the steel with theresa may? they don't have a lot of space, this european summit was supposed to talk about other issues, brexit was not supposed to be on the agenda, but

donald tusk has announced today he will call what is called an article 50 summit on thursday, which means the eu 27 will meet separately on the eu 27 will meet separately on the brexit issue. there are some rumours and hints about a possible political declaration that would clarify something. if you go to the political declaration for example, paragraph 19 of that political declaration which accompanies the withdrawal agreement spells out that all sides want to make sure the backstop is not necessary, that they will strive to negotiate this future free—trade agreement, which would obviate the need for the backstop. so you could have something which reconfirms, if you like, something like that. there is again other talk about a declaration that the dutch government got in december 2016. they had a referendum on the eu— ukraine satiation agreement. they lost that referendum but the eu was able to draw up a declaration saying

vista is not guarantee ukraine's membership of the european union, and nor does it by and the dutch government into any military assistance for ukraine. but the difference is that mark rutter, the prime minister, who theresa may will meet tomorrow, he was able to deliver a pact where he said to the eu if you give me this declaration i can get the parliament on my side, and that is what he did. theresa may can't really make that promise to european leaders. i understand the irish government, the eu is concerned with the backstop and the state of the irish border but it also has profound concerns about no deal and the consequences of that happening. brexiteers within the conservative party would argue that theresa may has not been looking the eu in the eye and daring it to imagine what no deal would mean, and if she were to do that, she might get more. well, if you mean by that that the british government or theresa may code, through this negotiation process, but pressure on

ireland, because of the risk of no deal to the irish economy, to food supplies and so on, well, that was something that was put forward last week by former cabinet minister priti patel, and it triggered universal condemnation in ireland, given irish history, and any sense that food shortages or the risk of a no deal scenario would be used to put pressure on ireland, that would not be countenanced at all by the irish government. of course the irish government. of course the irish government. of course the irish government is frankly worried about a no deal scenario, but that doesn't mean they would suddenly step back and unwind the withdrawal agreement again. that would be political suicide for leo varadkar, given that he is in a minority government in dublin. tony, we a lwa ys government in dublin. tony, we always appreciate your time, thank you very much, tony from our te live in brussels. from thisjulia just by the european commission to christian, live with us by the houses of parliament in westminster.

i want to talk about theresa may and her personal situation, because all the way back to the election of 2017, people have been saying her situation is perilous, but here she still is and even after a day like today she is still the prime minister, she is still in power. which is because the conservative party doesn't have many options at this moment in time and you are right to flag up the fact they have tried to get rid of her before. after that disastrous election result in 2017. after chequers when of course two of her senior cabinet ministers resign, and then when this withdrawal agreement came back, they try to get the requisite letters from backbenchers to force a vote of no—confidence in her and they were not able to raise those letters. i was just discussing with rob, do you see a scenario through the course of this week where she goes to europe, doesn't really get what they want, in terms of meaningful legal text that can be added to the withdrawal agreement, does she come back next week and is conservative party going to sit tight on its hands until 21st

of january when she is slating the vote on her deal, or do they say enough is enough, this deal is the prime minister's deal and if we can't get this through the parliament, she has to go. ijust wonder whether through the course of the next couple of weeks that this leadership contest is going to come back to the fore, in the absence of a vote on the deal she has returned with from brussels. and looking at this from the remaining point of view, you have been speaking to some very prominent remainers through the day on bbc news channel and world news, are they more optimistic they can geta news, are they more optimistic they can get a second referendum than they were 2a hours ago? can get a second referendum than they were 24 hours ago? there certainly isn't a majority in the house of commons at this moment in time for a second referendum, so i don't think they are confident about that, although we have seen much more talk about it today, was all of the options are lied at moment in time. no deal, this deal, the referendum again, or a general election, but none of them really a nswer election, but none of them really answer the fundamental question: how are you going to get a majority in

the house of commons for one route 01’ the house of commons for one route or the other. as ken clarke said today, the parliament is split into factions, and at the moment there is nothing on the table that seems to get us out of this political crisis that we are in the here in the uk. so it is going to be a bumpy few months, and i think the thing that will concern some people, don't forget that the withdrawal was passed this year, the date that the uk will leave is on the front page, thatis uk will leave is on the front page, that is statute, and you need statute to replace statute. probably there are enough mps on the labour side and the conservative party to stop no deal happening, but it is a process to get to statute, and there is that risk that no deal becomes an accident in march, because they can't get things through the house quickly enough. i mean, that is an outside chance, but nicky morgan who was with me tonight, senior conservative mp, says the chaos that

ince use at the moment in the house of commons is intentional, it suits the erg on the conservative backbenchers and it suits some labour mps as well. we are trying to work through all of the main issues of the brexit story but if you feel we are missing one, let me know, because the steel and rob watts will because the steel and rob watts will be live to the end of a programme to ta ke be live to the end of a programme to take five or six minutes of merchants. —— of questions. this graph shows how the british pound has faired against the us dollar today. that drop was fairly substantial for an exchange rate, and it happened just after thersea may told parliament that she was postponing their chance to vote on the deal she's agreed with brussels. our economics correspondent andrew walker can explain. sterling started the day's trading in london flagging somewhat, as rumours were going round that the prime minister was going to delay the vote on her deal with the

european union, and then it actually felt really quite quickly when she actually began speaking in the house of commons. total losses in the session were of the order of 1.5%, and against the dollar, the pound has been at its lowest level since april 2017. what is going on here is that investors are taking the view there is an increased risk of a no deal departure from the european union, and they take the view that would be bad for the british economy, and so it would make it less attractive to invest in british assets across—the—board. worth looking briefly at what happened in the stock market. the main 100 share index with the largest companies on the london market did fall by about 0.8%, and there were biggerfalls in the 250 index, which is the next largest group of companies. why the biggerfall largest group of companies. why the bigger fall of largest group of companies. why the biggerfall of about largest group of companies. why the bigger fall of about 2%? because those companies are much more exposed to the british economy. the 100 share index, the biggest of all,

many of those companies, the ones that don't do very much business here in london, theyjust have a london stock market listing but because they earn a lot of their revenue in foreign currency, it is actually worth more in sterling terms if the currency declines. stay with us on outside source — still to come... a mind—bogglingly story from nasa. the voyager 2 probe is now 18 billion km from earth — what will it tell us about interstellar space? a convicted paedophile has been found guilty of murdering two schoolgirls, found strangled and sexually assaulted near brighton 32 years ago. at the old bailey, new dna evidence helped convict russell bishop who's 52. he'd been acquitted of the killings, which became known as the "babes in the woods" murders, at an original trial back in 1987. sarah campbell reports. the families of karen hadaway and nicola fellows never doubted the ship was the killer. today they finally got the verdict they had

fought for more than 30 years. on october nine, 1980 six, two friends, karen and nicola, had gone out to play in the local park. a reconstruction showed their final movements before they went missing. the following day, their bodies were found in dense undergrowth underneath the trees, one lying across the other in this makeshift den. both had been strangled and sexually assaulted. russell bishop, then aged 20, knew both of the girls, and quickly went from witness to suspect. he was charged with their double murder. on december 1987, a jury took less than two hours to acquit him. karen and nicola's families tried to keep the enquiry into their daughter's death open. maybe one day somebody will realise there is a murderer out there on the street. just two days after their warning, russell bishop attacked and almost killed another young girl. in1990, attacked and almost killed another young girl. in 1990, russell bishop was convicted of the kidnapped and attempted murder of a seven—year—old girl. he looked her in the boot of

his carand girl. he looked her in the boot of his car and driven her to devil ‘s dyke, a beauty spot around ten miles from brighton. miraculously, she survived and was able to identify her attacker. bishop was sentenced to life in prison, and in 2016, 30 yea rs to life in prison, and in 2016, 30 years after the murders, he was taken from his cell to be told he was being rearrested. forensic scientists using the latest techniques had found his dna on karen's forearm, tying him to the mellish seen. justice has been a long time coming but finally the man who took these two innocent lives will have to pay for his crimes. sarah campbell, bbc news. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. no prizes for guessing our lead story. theresa may has cancelled tomorrow's vote on her brexit deal to avoid a humiliating parliamentary defeat.

she knew she was going to lose it. for the second time in history, a human—made object has left our solar system. nasa says the voyager two probe is now in a "space between the stars" after exiting the sun's protective bubble — called the heliosphere. the probe has been in space since it left earth in 1977. the voyager 2 was launched 16 days before its twin, voyager 1. they were initially sent to study the outer planets — jupiter, saturn, uranus and neptune. they completed that task in 1989 — and then just kept going. they're now in interstellar space — about 18 billion km from earth. it's a new unexplored domain of space — and, while the voyager 2 wasn't first to reach the boundary, nasa says it has an instrument onboard that will give them "first—of—its—kind observations of the nature of this gateway into interstellar space".

victoria gill explains. both of these probes left earth just a few days apart in 1977, so 41 yea rs a few days apart in 1977, so 41 years later, this particular probe, voyager ii, has been the second object to leave what we call the heliosphere. it is a little bit nuanced as to whether it has left the solar system. the scientists involved are very careful not to use that phrase, although we use it because it has left the bubble that is contained by our son, this protective bubble of particles emitted by the sun and the magnetic field that protects us from all the cosmic rays from interstellar space. so it is now exploring the space between the stars, it has headed out into interstellar space, followed its twin voyager one probe into that blackness. so it is doing just brand—new science, and even though this is a 41—year—old veteran craft,

this is a 41—year—old veteran craft, this is a 41—year—old veteran craft, this is farfrom this is a 41—year—old veteran craft, this is far from the end. susan dodd, the project manager on voyager, said she hopes both these probes would last until 2027, keep talking to unearth for 50 years, a 50 year long space mission, still phoning home, still picking up new signals about just what phoning home, still picking up new signals aboutjust what is emitted around the rest of our galaxy, all of those cosmic rays that are trying to get in through that protective bubble that our planet is contained within. so a few more years of the voyager mission to go yet. back to brexit, you have been sending ina back to brexit, you have been sending in a lot of your questions. second out, round two, which is watching us, he says if there is no deal in march, does this automatically mean a hardboard in ireland? you take that one, christian. i don't think so, i think the irish government has already committed to not having a hardboard evenif committed to not having a hardboard even if there is no deal. the way it was explained to me in brussels, if

there was a no deal it would be a negotiated hard deal in the final few weeks and days running up to march 29, so if you will, we would go over the cliff edge, and who knows what would happen at the other end, but it wouldn't be a hard landing, there would be some mattresses, the eu source put at the bottom, to soften the landing. aeroplanes would still fly, there would be something done to try to get emergency medicines into the country in those few weeks but things would slowly begin to get much harder, is the way it was portrayed to me. there is as far as i know no example of anywhere in the world where two countries who are not ina world where two countries who are not in a customs union do not have a border between them, so that is what they will be up against in northern ireland. another question from dean smith, with all this talk of a no—confidence vote in parliament with the opposition potentially backing it, if parliament was dissolved, how long would it take for a general election, given that march and brexit is just around the corner? i think that used to be a

minimum ofabout corner? i think that used to be a minimum of about 21 days, so if there was going to have to be a general election after a vote of no—confidence... general election after a vote of no—confidence. .. you are general election after a vote of no—confidence... you are looking about for weeks. it has changed under the fixed parliament act, if there was a vote of no—confidence, there was a vote of no—confidence, there would have to that 20 odd day cooling off period, in which point they would have to get a government together that could get a vote of confidence in it, and if that didn't happen, you would go for a general election, i think i've got that right. but the point about a vote of no—confidence in the house at the moment, you have the dup and nigel dodds saint wyatt family wouldn't vote for this deal but he would vote for the government in a vote of confidence, so if you put the ten dup confidence, so if you put the ten d u p votes confidence, so if you put the ten dup votes with the conservatives, and unless turkeys vote christmas, you would expect conservatives to back their own government, they wouldn't want a general election, i think it is unlikely. but there is a lot of pressure for labour to call

it, we spoke to chuka umunna, and he is adamant that labour should do that in any case. malcolm would like to say do we think the european union would accept a norway plus model and if so would labour support it? this is a close line with the european union single market. is labour interested ? european union single market. is labour interested? some in labour are, but the question is whether party more generally. the opposition labour party would really be put in the spot if that became an emerging reality, well, the leadership of the labour party would have to be put on the spot, because if you accept something like a norway arrangement, then you have to accept the free movement of people, which the labour leadership has said it is not happy about. and if you have a plus, then the plus is the customs union, which limits what you can do in terms of the trade deal, and you have to pay m, the trade deal, and you have to pay in, and you have freedom of movement, which some labour mps say

we can't sell on the doorstep. and it is not certain, having heard from the norway prime minister, that they would not want a big brother is using it as a platform to something else on a temporary basis. if they we re else on a temporary basis. if they were going in full—time, but certainly not on a temporary basis. on article 50, the european court of justice said the uk could turn its back on this process and keep its status within the european union without losing any of its current arrangements. rebecca says why can't you just revoke article 50 and stop this madness? of course, lots people don't call this madness, but if parliament wanted to go back, is that process relatively straightforward? yes, it is, and in one way this was a big win for people on the remain side of the argument because they can turn around and said two things, look, if there is another referendum, it is not going to be a problem if remain win, because the eu 27, we don't need to persuade them, and secondly,

let's say britain did decide to stay in the eu, it would be underthe same rather beneficial terms it has now, with its opt outs from things like the single currency and its monetary rebates. but answer the question head—on about why not just revoke it, seeing as brexit, the whole process obviously looks like the most frightful mess you can imagine, certainly in peace time, the answer is 17.4 million people voted in favour of it. it is a political issue now, isn't it? that is the point, it is able to be revoked as long as you are acting in good faith. you can't use it to threaten the european union but there is a democratic process to go back in, that will do it. we should do this again, that has been very useful, we will do it again later on in the week. see you tomorrow. hello. it is approaching that time of year when you can get a house

guest who, how shall we say this, stays longer than you expected them to. there may be similarities with how the weather plays out into the weekend. right now weak weather front from the atlantic trying to move in but being blocked by putting high pressure in scandinavia which will bring ever colder air allies will bring ever colder air allies will stop there are big question marks about how long the cold air will stay. they by day, this is tuesday. one area of cloud, some drizzle may be, a weak front from the atlantic being blocked from moving any further east. another one will bring some rent was northern ireland going into the evening. some sunny spells, northern scotland, may be used angry, temperatures at the moment still fairly close to average for the time of year. here comes the next front, tuesday night into wednesday, here comes the next front and really doesn't make much progress further east. underneath it you get cloud and some outbreaks of rain, weakening as we go on through wednesday. elsewhere, mainly dry, it will be rather cloudy, and where we

saw double—figure temperatures for many of us in the west on tuesday, they are starting to come down a few degrees. that is a process that continues into thursday. again, atla ntic continues into thursday. again, atlantic weather fronts are beinfi atlantic weather fronts are being blocked by the high pressure but notice the isobars are closer together, so the cold air starting together, so the cold air starting to moving around that area of high pressure is carried on a stronger win. although we are tapping into a dry airflow of airfrom the south—east that may increase the sunny spells across much of the uk on thursday, but it does nothing for the feel of the weather, particularly in that strengthening south—easterly wind. temperatures into single figures for most of us can able feel quite cold, especially to the east of the uk, and we are still in the same setup for friday. we are in the blue, though if anything on friday the wind looks to bea anything on friday the wind looks to be a little bit lighter, there will still be some sunny spells around, a few showers to the north—east, patchy in the south—west, close to those atlantic weather fronts, which aren't getting any further in, but for most of us it will be dry, but just remember it is high—pressure in

control. for 5 degrees at best on friday. into next weekend, if it goes how the current plan is looking, it may not, but the current plan would suggest that the atlantic does fight back, high—pressure out the door, but it will turn wetter and windierfrom the door, but it will turn wetter and windier from the south—west as that happens. so a mess on saturday. remember all of this moving into colder air so we could well see some snow maybe not just colder air so we could well see some snow maybe notjust on the hills of scotla nd snow maybe notjust on the hills of scotland for a time, a risk of gales, milder air moving scotland for a time, a risk of gales, milderair moving in scotland for a time, a risk of gales, milder air moving in from the south—west. and then it looks as if the rest of the weekend into next week it will be the low pressure that stays close by. there are gaps between weather systems. here one on sunday, here's the next one for the start of next week. when they come in it will be wet and windy but around these weather systems, low pressure systems in the atlantic, it is not that cold south—easterly, it is not that cold south—easterly, it isa is not that cold south—easterly, it is a milder south—westerly, that looks as if it is low pressure, which will hang around the west of us which will hang around the west of us for much of next week, giving us that atlantic influence. that means

u nsettled that atlantic influence. that means unsettled spells of wind and rain, gaps between weather systems, dry and brighter and crueller overall, fairly mild, with that air from the atlantic. but quite often high—pressure plays the role of that guess that stays longer than you thought they might, so it may be a bit longer yet before the low—pressure, the atlantic wet windy weather takes over. it is a transition we will watch very closely for you. can you improve your deal, prime minister? mrs may had to admit there was widespread disagreement on parts of her plan, especially on the question of the backstop guarantee for the irish border. let me be clear that while there is broad support for many of the key aspects of the deal... laughter. ..on one issue, the northern ireland backstop, there remains widespread and deep concern. the government has lost control of events and is in complete disarray. it's been evident for weeks that the prime minister's deal did not have the confidence of this house. watching closely are the other 27 eu member states who warn

that the current deal can't be renegotiated.