this is bbc news, i'm martine croxall. the headlines at seven. there'll be no renegotiation — but theresa may leaves the eu summit in brussels insisting she can win further assurances to get her brexit deal through parliament, if we are going to leave with a deal, this is it. but my discussions with colleagues today have shown that further clarification and discussion following the councils conclusions is in fact possible. but a tense exchange between mrs may and jean—claude juncker as she accuses him of describing her latest efforts as nebulous. he denies it. i did not refer to her, but to the overall state of the debate in britain. and that's why i was saying that this was nebulous, foggy, in english. a baby has died after being attacked by two dogs in the family home when he was just five weeks old. —— two weeks old.

donald trump's former lawyer says the president is a liar and knew about hush money paid to women on his behalf. (and back on dry land at last — a british yachtswoman arrives in chile after being rescued two thousand miles off shore. after a trying week for the prime minister we will be discussing the tone of the coverage from the bbc and asking political correspondent ben wright what it is like in the eye of a political storm. watch after bbc news. after a bruising encounter in brussels, the prime minister says she still believes she can get extra assurances from eu leaders to get her brexit withdrawal agreement through parliament. eu leaders say they'll offer no renegotiation but will offer

what they call ‘further clarifications' on the irish backstop which aims to avoid barriers to trade on the island of ireland. theresa may was filmed having a heated discussion with the european commission president, jean—claude juncker, during which she accused him of saying her latest proposals are nebulous — something he has denied. our political editor laura kuenssberg has the latest. a bad omen? a bitter morning, for more than one reason. the prime minister came to brussels hunting concessions from the eu. does the eu like your plan, prime minister? but they did notjust say no, one of their top politicians said she did not even know what she wanted, she was nebulous. leading this private, careful politician to show real angen did you call me nebulous she seems to say to jean—claude juncker. he, grasping her arm, the microphones may be off but you can see exactly

what went on — the dutch prime minister comes along to try to make peace. later, she had not forgotten the accusation. i was crystal clear about the assurances needed on the backstop having heard the views of mps in the house of commons. i reiterated that it is in the interests of the eu as well as the uk to get this over the line. eu leaders had said she would not get those concessions on the so—called backstop. she begged to differ. my discussions with colleagues today have shown that further clarification and discussion following the council's conclusions is in fact possible. you looked very angry when you were speaking to jean—claude juncker earlier today, what did you say to him and did he admit he called you nebulous? and secondly, the conclusions suggest the eu is not willing to budge but you appear to suggest they might, can you tell us more about what they

have said to you about their willingness to move? because if parliament will not budge and the eu will not budge is it time for you to budge? first of all i had a robust discussion with jean—claude juncker, that's the sort of discussion you can have when you have developed a working relationship and you work well together. and what came out of that was his clarity that actually he had been talking when he used that particular phrase about a general level of debate. we can look at this issue of further clarification, and that has been something i have been discussing with a number of eu leaders so we will be working expeditiously over the coming days to seek those further assurances that i believe mps will need. you might wonder what exactly has been going on with these negotiations. what are the misunderstandings in the relations between the eu and the prime minister? what has the president of the european commission really been up to since that row? laughter we were not dancing.

she thought that i did criticise her by saying yesterday night that the british position was nebulous. i did not refer to her, but to the overall state of the debate in britain. in the course of the morning, after checked having what i said yesterday night, she was kissing me. laughter we have treated prime minister theresa may with much greater empathy and respect than some british mps, for sure. we have to bring down the temperature. these attacks coming from westminster against europe, against the european commission, will not be responded the same way by the european commission.

although i would like to do it. on and off the stage the message from the eu is clear, they promised they will do a trade deal as quickly as possible so the backstop is never needed. but that cannot mean changing what has already been agreed. we will not renegotiate it and we do not want to reopen it. but theresa is a tough negotiator and there is a lot of understanding also for what to the uk wants. but i think we have to find a way to deal with each other. i think the current deal is a good one for both sides. and hearing what has been said in brussels back in westminster, that just will not wash with mps who are demanding new legal guarantees. to coin a phrase it was a bit nebulous. she has not provided any new guarantees at all about the withdrawal agreement. or specifically the backstop. so she's been to the european council, she's expressed her concerns, and they've

given her absolutely nothing. we know the answer to the question of whether there will be changes and it is no. what we need is for this vote to be put next week, is to vote on it and for parliament to take control of the process. the prime minister leaves her with a big leaves here with a big problem, remember she kept herjob in part this week because she promised she could get more compromise from her fellow eu leaders. but she's left tonight with assurances that there could be more conversations, and that simply might not be concrete enough to protect her in a hostile environment at home. expectations, even yesterday were of more positive promises, but bumpy late—night talks diluted those.

the cold truth is the lack of trust at westminster is felt 200 miles away. what do you think she achieved with this trip to brussels? not a lot as it is widely interpreted at westminster. as you had mark francois say there there was an expectation she might get a little more although for some time brussels has been emphasising they would not do anything substantive, that they weren't going to add anything to the legally binding withdrawal agreement and the prime minister has the prospect of returning here to westminster and to the house of commons on monday for another one of those epic sessions in the chamber where she faces pretty hostile questioning from almost every conceivable side say to those conservatives who think that the deal is continuing, is worth

continuing to flog and get over the line. i was doing some sums this afternoon and i think she has been on herfeet in afternoon and i think she has been on her feet in the afternoon and i think she has been on herfeet in the house afternoon and i think she has been on her feet in the house of commons chamberfor ii on her feet in the house of commons chamber for 11 hours and 58 on her feet in the house of commons chamberfor 11 hours and 58 minutes in the last month excluding prime minister's question time, defending her withdrawal agreement. she will do it again on monday without, frankly, a vast amount more to say about the reassurances that she has sought. at what point does she have to bite the bullet and put the steel to bite the bullet and put the steel toa to bite the bullet and put the steel to a vote? pretty soon and we are told it will happen next month but not before christmas. she will hope she can extract a little more from brussels and the time between now and then. there are those who support who will point to some shifts in the language from brussels, nowhere near as much as some might have hoped, from the d raft some might have hoped, from the draft summit conclusions published before the summit versus those that we re before the summit versus those that were published at the end of it. it clearly was not as favourable to the british at the end as it was at the

start. but there is a suggestion that the eu would be bound by this international arbitration panel to try and get out of a backstop situation if the two find themselves in that scenario in a few years' time if there is a deal. but she will hope there can be something, a little something, between now and the vote scheduled in all likelihood for the middle of january. the vote scheduled in all likelihood for the middle ofjanuary. but as things stand that does not seem to be anywhere near enough for her to be anywhere near enough for her to be able to get the whole thing through parliament. we know that she survived the confidence vote amongst their own mps but the labour party had the option of having a similar vote in parliament. what has happened to that? the option open to labour was a vote of confidence in the government as opposed to the conservative vote of confidence in having theresa may as their leader. labour continue to have talk about the prospect of doing this but they are very honest in saying they will

do it but they do not think they will win it. debbie at the moment is that they cannot because if conservative mps and the democratic unionists bought on the same direction then they can defeat the rest of the mps on the opposition benches put together. i think the calculation up until now amongst labour mps of the labour leadership has been it is perhaps only one thing on planet earth that could unite parliamentary conservative party that was the prospect of a vote of confidence in the government which could lead to a general election. so for the time being labour is holding back even though the record number of voices within labour and beyond it who said they should get on with it. we were told last night that the eu 27 will put their values far a no—deal brexit before christmas. so next week at some point. how is the planning going in the uk for a no—deal brexit? the government say they are

working hard on preparation and have churned out lots of sector by sector specific advice and preparation as far as individual industries are concerned. that process started back in the summerand concerned. that process started back in the summer and was a whole series of other documents that were published. as you say, the european union said specifically last night it will publish a whole tranche of staff next week before christmas. they are making the admin the taking the prospect of the no—deal brexit are the prospect of the no—deal brexit a re pretty the prospect of the no—deal brexit are pretty seriously. i think we can be relatively certain, a law that this pretty much nothing we can be certain about, we could be relatively certain that the will of the house of commons is not to see no—deal brexit. there are some very few who would be willing to entertain the idea of a no—deal brexit. it could happen by accident, not least because that is not a majority as things stand for anything else. yes we can assemble a

lot of opposition to individual things that finding a majority that will coalesce as a single idea they are willing to support, that is what is particularly tricky at the moment. what on earth is going to happen in the first few months of next year? our europe correspondent damian grammaticas is in brussels. theresa may still says she can one further assurances from the eu 27. what is the view there on that claim? i think the leaders were very clear on what they said. they said no new negotiations that would in any way fundamentally alter the legal texts that they have spent almost two years agreeing with the uk. what they might do is offer some clarifications that, and it is a big but here, there is no ongoing process to address that in no

negotiation or upcoming plant summit of eu leaders that would have to sign that off and in fact the summit that we have just had, it considered the question of opening up some way of trying to address these questions the uk has and they decided not to proceed because they spent an hour talking with theresa may directly and as the first time in the entire brexit process that she and the 27 eu leaders have sat face—to—face and discuss things back and forth and they are some very direct questions. they asked what she was seeking and how that would help get a deal through parliament and crucially what sort of relationship she envisaged in future for the uk, how close it would be with the eu. would it bea close it would be with the eu. would it be a customs union? would it be something different? they did not feel her answers were sufficiently clear so i think they're feeling was

that there was little point in them giving what they would view as concessions at this point. with hard going back to parliament without any guarantee that would secure the deal because what they don't want to do, as the irish feminist amid very clear, he said we can't carry out an international negotiation by green something a fortnight ago which is what they did here in brussels, have the prime minister back two weeks later seeking concessions and have that chipping away process going on. so at the minute the eu simply saying it is now up to the uk to put new proposals on the table, if it wishes to it can, that the eu will wait and see. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me tonight are joe twyman, the director of the polling organisation, deltapoll, and political correspondent from the london evening standard, kate proctor. a baby has died after he was attacked by two

dogs at his family's home in cambridgeshire. reuben mcnulty, who was five weeks old, was taken to hospital after the attack in yaxley last month but has died of his injuries. jon donnison reports. reuben mcnulty was only born last month. still just tiny and vulnerable. on 18th november, the police were called to this flat on a quiet suburban estate in yaxley near peterborough. police officers say reuben had been attacked by two staffordshire bull terriers. he was treated for head injuries at addenbrookes hospital in cambridge, but died yesterday. reuben mcnulty was just two weeks old when he was attacked by the two dogs in the upstairs flat behind me. neighbours have described the dogs as being docile. 0ne neighbour said it was a freak accident. police say a 31—year—old man and a 28—year—old woman who were arrested on suspicion of child neglect have been released under investigation.

locals say that reuben's parents, daniel mcnulty and amy litchfield, are the two people questioned and released by police. officers say the death is not being treated as suspicious and the two dogs have been destroyed. the headlines on bbc news... theresa may insists she's confident she can still steer her brexit deal through parliament — despite leaving the eu summit in brussels without the assurances she needs. a baby has died after being attacked by two dogs in the family home when he was just two weeks old. donald trump's former lawyer says the president directed him to pay money to two women who alleged having sexual affairs with him. a fourth person has died following the gun

attack in the french city of strasbourg on tuesday. a fifth victim remains in a coma and 11 others have been wounded. the killer, cherif chekatt, was shot dead last night after opening fire on police officers who'd tracked him down. chelsea have condemned fans who were heard singing anti—semitic songs during their europa league match against vidi in hungary last night — saying they have "shamed the club". it comes just days after four fans were suspended for the alleged racial abuse of the manchester city and england player raheem sterling in chelsea's previous match. our sports presenter hugh wozencroft takes a look at the wider issues of racism in sport and the media. what could this moment do to british sport? raheem sterling facing alleged racist abuse as a side faced chelsea last weekend. his response in social media says there are is an unseen amount of people promoting racism.

iam not i am not sure if this was a fight player whether i would received this from the papers. -- this was a white player. what would you say to raheem sterling? some thought things like this were a thing of the past but the organisation kick it out says it is still on the rise. you hope it is something that does not escalate. sometimes when times are hard they can become more prevalent but racism holds no place in our game and it holds no place in our game and it holds no place in our game and it holds no place in society stop and u nfortu nately holds no place in society stop and unfortunately there are always going to be instances. the words of raheem sterling have got me and many in the

sports journalism sterling have got me and many in the sportsjournalism industry sterling have got me and many in the sports journalism industry thinking about the state of play.|j sports journalism industry thinking about the state of play. i asked some of my fellow black sports journalist to examine the state of the industry. i think the narrative around football is they work hard and black footballers is they are naturally gifted. the difference between the two is hugely problematic because one suggests you what to really get to another suggests you are just given it. everyone says we understand and we are diverse but you see them three years later and repeat the same thing to you and nothing has changed. this discomfort white journalists are feeling about this conversation is the discomfort that many of us are black sports journalists and journalists have felt just journalists and journalists have feltjust going into white environments to do ourjobs every day. that is a lack of diversity in oui’ day. that is a lack of diversity in our industry that needs to be addressed and we need to see some action. if you love football and you love sport and you want sport and

foot ball love sport and you want sport and football to be better, make the industry more diverse because the more diverse the footballers and the more diverse the footballers and the more diverse the footballers and the more diverse football media is the better it will be. so now notjust sport of football but all the media is starting to look at itself closely despite presenting itself is visually as being racially diverse. there has never been a black sports editor at mainstream national newspaper. could it be the words of raheem sterling have led to some uncomfortable conversations in newsrooms and changing rooms and even living rooms across the nation? now, would you change the way you eat if you knew the impact your food was having on the environment? scientists are calling for mandatory labels that spell out food's carbon footprint. and that includes everything from meat to chocolate. they say it would help consumers to make more informed choices. danny savage has been to bury market to see what they make of the idea there. food, glorious food, and at this time of year we're stocking up big—time.

but do we think about the environmental impact of its production and getting it here? i think when you mention carbon footprint i'm pretty vague that and production and getting it here? i think when you mention carbon footprint i'm pretty vague on that and i think a lot of people are, to be honest. how h ow ofte n how often do you need checking? —— chicken? once or twice a week. we showed john and helen the new calculator. would you be prepared to meet more vegetarian food like tofu instead of meat? i think we'd probably need persuading on that. at the cheesemonger next door, local delicacies when demand. details about their carbon footprint, though, weren't. do you ever look at this cheese and think what is the carbon footprint of what i sell? absolutely not.

and do you think your customers think of that? absolutely not. all the other fruit and veg stall comes from all over the world. the idea of local in—season produce only does not fly. this time of year i reckon that the fruit is all imported so that was only the vegetables that are local and seasonal. but sue and dan do think about the environmental impact and want to see labels. if it was on their showing up that it was red for carbon or green then i think it would make a difference and people would start looking. dan and sue are typical of very people we have talked to here today. they would like more information about the carbon footprint of their food. labels would create the information about greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss and put that on products — that means that consumers can change what they are purchasing. coffee a day over the course of the year uses as much co2 as heating an average home for 2h days. farmed fish a couple of times a week emits the same as driving a petrol car 372 miles and if you need to beef once or twice a week it is

the equivalent of a return flight from london to malaga. although this butcher is not too worried. when the weather gets cold and the colder sunday roast is always going to be very popular. and if you'd like to see how your food choices affect your climate footprint, you can find the food calculator on the bbc news website. donald trump's former lawyer says the president directed him to pay money to two women who alleged having sexual affairs with him. in an exclusive interview with abc news' george stephanopoulos, michael cohen, who's been sentenced to three years in jail, said mr trump acted because he was very concerned the allegations would become public. he directed me to make the payments, he directed me to become involved in the matters, including the one with mcdougal, which was really between him and david pecker, and then david pecker's counsel. ijust reviewed the documents in order to protect him. i gave loyalty to someone who, truthfully, does not deserve loyalty. he was trying to hide what you were doing, correct? correct.

and he knew it was wrong? of course. did you know what you are doing? i'm angry at myself, because i knew what i was doing was wrong, i stood up before the world yesterday, and i accepted the responsibility for my actions. the actions that i gave to a man who, as i also said, i was loyal to. i should not be the only one taking responsibility for his actions. so he is still lying? yes. we can speak to our washington correspondent gary o'donoghue. clearly still coming out fighting. yes, he doesn't go to prison until march so he has a bit of time to get

the stuff off his chest and public should he want to. it may not help them in terms of early release but he's doing that. it is worth bearing in mind he is a convicted liar himself so it is one liar accusing someone himself so it is one liar accusing someone else of being a liar. having said all that some of these allegations are pretty serious and is effectively saying that donald trump can but is dated —— participated in conspiracy which turns, a civil matter and criminal matter is why michael cohen was prosecuted. he is saying the president was in the middle of it which is something the president has denied. his explanations for the payments up with a beard from saying i don't know anything about it at all to sing this was a private arrangement nothing illegal about that to seeing even if it is a campaign contribution it is only civil matter and that happens all the time will stop so the president has had trouble at times getting his

story straight. and how was the president reacting to this particular interview? usually takes to twitter. complete with silent at the moment. absolutely nothing in this today. we had a bit of a cloudy earlier in the week from him. —— a flurry. after the interview today nothing. i wonder if the lawyers have taken his phone or something like that because he must be seething at someone who is turned on him like that. he values loyalty and expects loyalty, absolute loyalty, from people around him and this is ina from people around him and this is in a sense the biggest betrayal as far as he's concerned and he will not like it one little bit. after a lull in the weather, we have to be prepared for some very active and potentially very hazardous weather affecting parts of the uk

during saturday and early sunday. a met office warning for ice and snow caused by freezing rain. widespread ice could be very dangerous for some on saturday and heavy snow especially in scotland north and central belt. rain pushes into northern ireland and wales in south—west england going into saturday morning accompanied by strengthening winds of 50 to 60 mile an hour gusts. all this weather pushing eastern to call the after a frosty start and the setup for freezing rain, rain freezing insta ntly freezing rain, rain freezing i nsta ntly o n freezing rain, rain freezing instantly on contact with any frozen surface is particularly across the midlands and northern england and scotla nd midlands and northern england and scotland during saturday afternoon into the evening. very dangerous travel with heavy snow in scotland. north of the central belt very messy travel situation as saturday comes toa travel situation as saturday comes to a close. hello, this is bbc news with martine croxall. the headlines... theresa may has insisted she's confident she can steer her brexit deal through parliament

despite leaving the eu summit in brussels without the assurances she needs. i have reiterated that it is in the interests of the eu as well as the uk to get this over the line. a disorderly brexit would be good for no one. a baby has died after being attacked by two dogs in the family home when he was just two weeks old. president trump's former lawyer, michael cohen, has said the president knew it was wrong to order the illegal payments of hush money to two women who alleged affairs with him. mr trump denies asking cohen to make the payments. susie goodall — the british yachtswoman whose boat capsized in a solo round the world race — has arrived back on land in chile. let's get more on today's main story — and theresa may appears to have had a challenging day in brussels. she was filmed having what she described as a ‘robust‘ conversation with jean claude—juncker and she was

told there would be no renegotiation of her brexit deal. nevertheless, she told a press conference that she thought it would still be possible to get the assurances mps need to back her brexit deal. at this council meeting i have held a series of discussions with fellow leaders on the brexit deal. i was crystal clear about the assurances that are needed on the backstop, having heard the news of mps in the house of commons. i reiterated that it is in the interests of the eu, as well as the uk, to get this over the line. a disorderly brexit would be good for no one. at 27 level the eu have published a series of conclusions. the eu made clear that it is theirfirm conclusions. the eu made clear that it is their firm determination to work speedily on a future relationship or alternative arrangements which ensure no hardboard at arrangements which ensure no ha rdboa rd at by arrangements which ensure no hardboard at by the 31st december

2020 so the backstop would not need to be triggered. if the backstop was ever triggered it would apply only temporarily and the eu would use its best endeavours to negotiate and conclude expeditiously a subsequent agreement that would replace the backstop. that the eu stands ready to embark on preparations so that negotiations on the future partnership can start as soon as possible. as formal conclusions, these commitments have legal status and therefore should be welcomed. as i've always said, the guaranteed way of avoiding the backstop is to have the future partnership in place by the future partnership in place by the time the implementation period is over. the eu is very firmly committed to this course. but mps will require further assurances, and i have discussed that this morning with my eu partners, including presidents donald tusk, jean—claude juncker and others. i notice there has been reporting that the eu is not willing to consider further clarification. the eu is clear, as i

am, that if we are going to leave with a deal, this is it. but my discussions with colleagues today have shown that further clarification and discussion following the council's conclusions is in fact possible. there is work still to do, and we will be holding talks in coming days about how to attain the further assurances the uk parliament needs in order to be able to approve the deal. i say again, it is in the overwhelming interest of all our people, in the eu and in the uk, to get this done and as quickly as possible. how is this scene across europe? let's speak to some journalists across europe now to find out how politicians, the media and the public in some of the eu27 countries reacted to recent events. mary minihan who is a reporter for the irish times, bartosz wielinski — foreign editor at polish newspaper gazeta wyborcza and anne—elisabeth moutet, the paris based columnist

for the daily telegraph. welcome, all of you, in the various partner countries you are in, but it might not be like that for much longer. starting with poland. what's the view of brexit there, because not all politicians were against the idea. yes, the polish national government was blaming the eu for brexit, saying the eu caused brexit by alienating itself from the needs of its citizens. the polish government has tried to convince the people that brexit could happen again in other countries, who could trigger a chain reaction. but u nfortu nately trigger a chain reaction. but unfortunately the polish government was wrong, and now we are having the discussion in poland, is this government tries to trigger a polish

exit from the european union, which the government denies, but we are seeing some changes in poland which means such a scenario in poland is also possible in the future. how sarri are the french going to be to see the uk leave given the extra special treatment we have seems to have had from the eu at times. are not terribly sorry, i'm sorry to say myself. but the reaction from day one after the vote two years ago, was they never wanted to be completely in, they kept on asking for opt outs, for different conditions. i was absolutely struck when brexit was voted in. i was talking with people, with the level of almost animosity about this, which is very strange. there was an idea that britain was not playing with the team and therefore good

riddance. which isn't terribly helpful because those people who, like the uk and many of us, think that the brexit for you is a complete own goal. because it will end up in a situation in which your economy, which was doing so well, is going to lack for years, while new deals are negotiated one by one painstakingly. all those things that europe brought. mary, in ireland, how much sympathy is there, particularly for theresa may, but for politicians in westminster generally who can't seem to find a way through this and have concerns about the very potential for the break—up of the uk? about the very potential for the break-up of the uk? many are looking on in disbelief at the chaos in westminster. ourtaoiseach, leo varadkar, has said today that he and other eu leaders, are more than willing to do what they can to help theresa may get her deal across the

line. but the problem is not in dublin four stop the problem is not in brussels. the problem is in westminster. it seems from the perspective of an island that theresa may could jump through hoops of fire, but there is nothing she can do in westminster that would satisfy the hard brexiteers, or her government partner is the dup. so she is in a very difficult situation and there is some sympathy for her ona and there is some sympathy for her on a personal level. but britain and ireland are so closely associated, joining europe at the same time. we wa nt joining europe at the same time. we want to stay in, and that's the general consensus, you want to go, but we have to protect ourselves and be careful we don't get dragged down economically when britain leaves. how inclined are polish politicians to try and throw a lifeline to mrs may over her deal? they have no left in europe. due to all the conflicts

with the european commission about the rule of law, democracy, the judiciary and so on. the polish prime minister demanded the eu to be more flexible with mrs may but his voice doesn't have any weight within the european union. how enduring has the european union. how enduring has the anti—eu, the euroscepticism we during your elections been? it's nowhere like the constant anti—europe sentiment in britain, including the time when it was a very good joke. there's not that much concern with it because the french are founding members of the eu, signatories of the rome treaty. france and germany, basically, if

you want to be cynical about it, france was able to bat above her average by being one of the powerful duo within the six and then the nine, the 18 and then the 28. the feeling is that we are getting enough from europe. if you look at the deal french ministers have been negotiating, mrs thatcher negotiated it for french farmers, you can imagine it hasn't worked out so badly. there is continuity. there is also a feeling that we have things in common with the rest of the european nations, we have culture, even though the constitution wanted to mention the christian religion, and it was kindly batted away, you have 15 centuries of cathedrals, you have 15 centuries of cathedrals, you have art and a great deal of things will stop like in england, all the young people in france are taking the opportunity when they can to

study abroad thanks to programmes like erasmus. at the moment, how much airtime is brexit getting in your bulletins in france, when there are so many other domestic issues that are probably further forward in peoples minds? it was getting more before the yellowjackets revolt. that turned us inwards, a bit like your brexit has. so less of it now. but there is increasing incomprehension because i think we pay more attention to our politics than we do. i have just done a talk show here in paris and was asked about brexit. the minute i quoted any other politician than theresa may and boris johnson, any other politician than theresa may and borisjohnson, there was complete disinterest. people said, please, no names, and that included jacob rees—mogg. it was impossible to explain who jacob rees—mogg is to a french audience, and that was

supposed to be a bit like our bbc four, it was a bit ambitious as a programme. so there's this fascination because it's notjust that you decided to do this and it shocked us. it's that having done that, there is a feeling in france that, there is a feeling in france that for those who have been watching carefully, that you have been doing this, i'm sorry to say, ina very been doing this, i'm sorry to say, in a very inept way. i have spoken to french people working in brussels and they say the british have fantastic civil servants at the commission in brussels. when we negotiated certain regulation, the french are very statist and the germans turn towards business and patterns. the british bring their experience of markets, the world of finance and free trade. it was very useful to have them to balance so at the end of the day the regulation of we wrote was consistent with various aspects of the economies of europe and we will miss that. what amazed

the french is that none of these extremely competent people were part of the teams sent by your government to negotiate with michel barnier. what are the domestic concerns about the impact that britain leaving will have on ireland, given we are now fixated on the border issue? yes, i hear a lot fixated on the border issue? yes, i heara lot in fixated on the border issue? yes, i hear a lot in the british media, vox pops hear a lot in the british media, vox pops and so on, people saying they are bored by brexit. the fact of the matter is, in ireland, although it dominates a lot of media, we can't afford to be bored by it because the sta kes afford to be bored by it because the stakes are so high for us. because we share a land border with yourselves. i think there is a sense in ireland that people would like to see british politicians step up to the mark for the people of northern ireland and the border. and very briefly before we say goodbye, donald tusk will come back to domestic politics at some point. what might the impact of the

negotiations have on his future? donald tusk is supposed to run for the presidency in 2020 in poland. if brexit ends catastrophically, with no deal, and a huge crisis in the uk and europe, because although brexit would cause a lot of harm to europe, his ability would be harmed and the polish ruling party would be harmed. they would do everything to use that to blame him for that catastrophe, and to attack him and deprive him of credibility. it would be used for internal political purposes so donald tusk, if you want to come back to polish politics then he must at least not to lose in this brexit confrontation and scenario. so many ramifications and unforeseen consequences. mary minihan who is a reporter for the irish times,

bartosz wielinski — foreign editor at polish newspaper gazeta wyborcza and anne—elisabeth moutet, the paris based columnist for the daily telegraph. thank you to all of you. now it's time for newswatch, with samira ahmed. after a dramatic few days for the prime minister, political correspondent ben wright has been discussing what it's like reporting from the eye of a news storm. hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed. after a trying week for the prime minister with portentous metaphors being made after getting locked in the car, we will be discussing the tone of the bbc‘s political coverage. and what's it like being a bbc political correspondent at the heart of a storm? we will be talking to ben wright. it was one of those weeks when an avalanche of breaking news all seemed to be coming from one place. turmoil in westminster as the prime minister delays the crucial vote on her brexit deal at the 11th hour. there will now be a vote of confidence in my leadership.

the prime minister has eight hours to save herjob. we are live at westminster with a bbc news special as prime minister theresa may fights for her political survival. you're watching a bbc news special. live at westminster. good morning and welcome to breakfast with naga munchetty and charlie stayt, live at westminster. there was certainly advantages to reporting from the heart of where the story was happening, allowing programmes like victoria derbyshire to capture the divisions in parliament live on our screens. i'm going to talk to your colleague now, james cleverly, conservative mp and vice chair of the conservative party. i gather that you don't necessarily want to talk to each other, so if you want to go... are you happy to? i will go, that's fine. ok, all right. mr cleverly, please do join us. good morning to you. and the coverage extended beyond regular programmes. viewers on bbc one were offered not

just one but two live bbc news news specials this week. on monday evening, nick robinson explored what theresa may's brexit deal could mean for the uk. while andrew neil hosted a prime time news special on wednesday