this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 4: the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, says it's time to build a cross—party consensus on brexit as the church of england calls for national reconciliation. talks at the un climate conference in poland continue as countries struggle to agree on how to limit global warming. water cannon and tear gas are used on the streets of paris as protesters clash with police in a fifth weekend of of anti—government demonstrations. chester zoo is evacuated as firefighters tackle a huge fire in one of the main enclosures. freezing rain, ice and snow hit parts of the uk as forecasters warn storm deirdre will bring hazardous conditions. and we look at this week's tumultous political events at home and abroad with correspondents from the british and foreign media in dateline london. that's in half an hour. good afternoon.

the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, has appealed to mps across the political divide to "forge a consensus" over brexit, acknowledging that the prime minister's deal might not be approved by parliament. her comments in a newspaperfollow another difficult eu summit for theresa may, in which she failed to win concessions that might make her withdrawal deal acceptable to mps. the church of england has urged the country to debate brexit with more grace and generosity, saying it's time for national reconciliation. here's our political correspondent tom barton. what can the prime minister do to get her brexit

deal approved by mps? the answer, according to one of her ministers today, appears to be not a lot. writing in the daily mail, the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, says the government needs to acknowledge the risk that pursuing the deal as it stands could lead to no compromise, no agreement, and no deal, so, she says, politicians must abandon outrage and accusations and try to forge a consensus. but that assessment is rejected by her cabinet colleague, the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt. he insisted today that it will be possible to get a version of the deal through parliament. let's be clear, the deal on the table is what we have, but the thing that the house of commons will not accept is any risk of us being permanently trapped through the northern irish backstop in the customs union. and despite all of the difficulties of this week, i think it is possible to get this deal through with those guarantees that

we need on the backstop. one former minister who resigned from the government last month to push for another referendum says the commons vote on the deal, delayed last week, must take place before christmas. i've got absolutely no doubt that if the vote is deferred again when we come back on monday, that very serious conversations will be had by members of the cabinet and members of the parliament, asking what is the strategy? it is simply unacceptable to run out the clock and face the country with the prospect of being timed out. we still don't know when mps will get to vote. and clearly, today, there are cabinet disagreements about exactly what they should get to vote on. tom barton, bbc news. let's speak to anne perkins now, who is a freelance journalist and a former deputy political editor of the guardian. thank you forjoining us.

essentially, amber rudd is calling time on what she describes as outrage and accusations. is it really as simple as that? it is certainly not simple and i do not expect for a moment that amber rudd thinks it is simple either. i think soundings are definitely being taken, perhaps below cabinet minister and front bench level, but definitely there are efforts i have —— efforts of cross—party working going on. the question is what the commons can agree on, if anything, and what device may be used to try to establish what it is? the problem for mrs may is if she tries to work out what that is, it would involve relinquishing leadership of her battle to get her run delaet accepted, or at least that is one way of interpreting it, and it is undoubtedly what she fears. so you

have division within the cabinet and there is this lack of consensus across the commons. there are working is going on in terms of cross— party working is going on in terms of cross—party consensus, but what exactly would it take? cross—party consensus, but what exactly would it take ?|i cross—party consensus, but what exactly would it take? i think there isa exactly would it take? i think there is a lot of energy coming behind the idea that there are now two choices that mps might be persuaded to consider and accept, and one is mrs may's on deal, if, for example, she was prepared to offer a free vote, perhaps, jeremy hunt would argue if she can get some kind of amendment, some kind of legally supportable amendment to the backstop, which did eu has made it clear is not going to

be available, then perhaps she could get it through with the dup and their support, but there is also more and more torque —— discussion and a sense of urgency about taking this out of the house of commons altogether, trying to have a second referendum, and of course that is easier to say than it is to do. it would require, for example, at the very least, suspending article 50 and there would be legislation is —— legislation and questions about the questions, and a campaign that people would fear would be very divisive, although there is a counter argument that says, that properly presented, it could be a way of unifying opinion in the country. there is lots of discussion know about the second referendum. we heard comments from nigel farage as well. is that the way that things

could go, because jeremy well. is that the way that things could go, becausejeremy corbyn is saying that the deal, the current deal, mrs may's current deal, is already dead in the water. amber rudd saying it is a version, sorry, mr hand saying it is a version of the deal, that is the way to go. —— mr hunt. amber rudd supports the plan, but something different. does there need to be a complete change in direction, and is the way to reach consensus is second referendum? it is no guarantee that you can reach consensus referendum? it is no guarantee that you can reach consensus on referendum? it is no guarantee that you can reach consensus on it, but it has to be one of the options on the table. it is not an easy option. the way you run through the different opinions is merely another reflection of how extraordinary rally —— another reflection of the

extraordinary divisions in politics. cabinet cannot agree on a line to take, it cannot agree on whether to support the prime minister, the commons is equally divided, and the prime minister herself has very little confidence left in her own party, and may well find the idea of appealing beyond the commons to the country, where she actually does have considerable respect, and it is a definite appetite for simply getting on with it, and if may is the deal that will deliver brexit quickest, then let's go for it. she may find that is an irresistible life after too, as another prime minister said many years ago. thank you very much. this morning the church of england issued a joint statement on behalf of its bishops, calling for a change of tone in the brexit debate. in the statement the bishops said they will "pray for national unity and courage, integrity and clarity

for our politicians". they say a spirit of national reconciliation is needed after a week of what they call ‘deep divisions'. we can now speak to nick baines, bishop of leeds and the church of england's lead representative of europe in the house of lords. what is the assessment from the bishops of what they are seeing?” think you can answer that into microwaves. the bishops are very well connected through their parishes around the country to what is going on locally, notjust in relation to brexit, but in relation to the social needs, so we pick up what is happening at that level of conversation, but also, at another level, just watching the division, listening to the language, seeing party interests of individual

ambition taking over from a focus on the national interest. how do you break the logjam ? the national interest. how do you break the logjam? that is the question. carrying on the way we are with the current discourse, it looks set to play to their zero—sum game agenda, rather than seeing, set to play to their zero—sum game agenda, ratherthan seeing, how set to play to their zero—sum game agenda, rather than seeing, how do we ta ke agenda, rather than seeing, how do we take a step back and have a different sort of conversation that is characterised by respect, and honesty about the complexity of what we are faced with? do you really think it is the place of the church to comment on politics? if it is not, whose places it? the church is made up of real people. if you're going to cut out the church, who else do you want to cut out? other organisations have a particular worldview. this is a statement made by the bishops which is put out to represent what our position is at the moment. sorry, just very

quickly, you said the charges made up quickly, you said the charges made up of real people. amber rudd acknowledge that there needs to be something done in the real world that politicians are unable to do. she says that is to engage with others and be willing to forge a consensus. if you have got real people in your congregation, the referendum really did split the country. what are they saying to you and how on earth do you go about changing the tone of what is going on at the moment? you can change the nature of the discourse on the language used. you can speak with people and to people with respect rather than simply going into trenches and lobbing verbal grenades at them. always suspecting motive rather than giving people the best chance. this is much more serious, it is not a game we're playing, and i agree with amber rudd in that respect, that it is possible to change the discourse by the using

different language, or by setting the conversation in a different context. it is really complicated, what we have got, but while people are facing each other and being fractious, we are not likely to get any consensus going forward. bishop, thank you very much. a mother and her eight—year—old daughter have died in a house fire at collingham in nottinghamshire. our reporterjake zuckerman is in collingham for us. jake, what's the latest? well, the firefighters were card appear at about seven o'clock in the morning by neighbours. —— the firefighters were called here. a firefighters were called here. a fire was spotted in the conservatory and they told me they tried to break in the door to rescue people but they were unable to. when firefighters arrived he did take five people from the house, all believed to be from the same family.

at 34—year—old man and his five—year—old son are still in hospital with serious injuries, and as you say, a 33—year—old woman and her eight—year—old daughter have sadly died as a result of this house fire. another occupant of the house, 53—year—old woman was led to safety and looked after at the scene. at the moment, police and fire officers are still here in collingham, examining the scene of the fire in an attempt to discover how it started in the first place. the road is cordoned off and police say it is likely to remain that way until tomorrow, while the investigations are continuing. thank you very much. climate talks in poland have gone into an extra day, with nearly 200 nations trying to agree on how best to tackle rising temperatures around the world. progress has been made, but there are problems over the question of compensating poorer countries for the damage caused by global warming. let's get more on this from dr david rose, who's

an environmental geographer at the university of east anglia. we have gone into this extra day of discussions. how on earth do you get 200 nations to agree on an issue that many nations, for example, the us, do not agree on? it is difficult. if you look at the latest ipcc special report that argued that we need far more rapid transitions, unprecedented changes in society, a move to 45% cuts in carbon editions by2030, move to 45% cuts in carbon editions by 2030, zero carbon emissions by 2050, that strong action that needs to be taken will be inconvenient for some countries who are lined on fossil fuels, some countries who are lined on fossilfuels, orfor developing countries who quite rightly able to the —— to develop like we have. it is inconvenient for them to make those transitions, as they should be

allowed to do. this is more of a wish list than to do list. who are the countries that really forging ahead with the goals of the paris accord? there are lots of countries we can lead to his great examples. lots of the scandinavian countries, sweden, denmark, finland, they are making massive transitions in terms of moving towards renewable energy. there are countries we can look to making these transitions, great exa m ples we making these transitions, great examples we can making these transitions, great exa m ples we ca n follow, making these transitions, great examples we can follow, however there are countries you have mentioned, america, brazil, the president thinks climate change is a marxist plot, scott morrison in australia who shows no desire to honour the paris pledges, so big developed nations are letting the side down

because it is politically inconvenient to take action. what are your hopes for a deal being reached? i are your hopes for a deal being reached ? i spoke are your hopes for a deal being reached? i spoke about this last week and i was more optimistic, but tensions have arisen. i had hoped that the paris climate change agreement, those pledges would be honoured and i argued that we needed to go beyond it. if you look at the latest ipcc special report, for climate breakdown, we need to do more than paris but it looks like it will be difficult to honour the pledges we made at paris, so we have gone into the extra day and there we re gone into the extra day and there were four countries, america, russia, saudi arabia, kuwait, who did not want to welcome the special report, they only wanted to note it. the report, and try to say that we need to do something quickly. but as you said before, finance does need to be put into those developing nations, who quite rightly want to

develop. developed countries cause the problems, and those developing countries need to be helped develop, but perhaps in a greenaway. that is easier said than done. lots of people are saying, ok, you can point the finger of blame, but it is not going to move us forward? i suppose what i want to ask is in reality are we really going to be forward on climate change?” reality are we really going to be forward on climate change? i hope so, ithink forward on climate change? i hope so, i think you have to be optimistic and i think environmentalists are really good being pessimistic, finger—pointing and blaming and thinking, we're not moving as quickly as we should do and we are not for climate change but if you look at some of the progress that has been made, if you look at some of the countries i have mentioned such as costa rica, we can make those transitions and those developing countries can develop in a greenway and if developed nations

change attitude and commit to helping them do so because it developing countries and indeed developed countries you started developing a greenaway that is not just good for them, it is good for us just good for them, it is good for us in this country as well. electorate in this country might say, where we paying for developing countries to develop in a greenway —— greenway, if they continue to put money into the nhs why are we paying money into the nhs why are we paying money for another country to develop? but if we do not take action and all living conditions in this country will dramatically worsen so this country will dramatically worsen so it is in our best interest to to provide finance for developing countries back but you very much. -- thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news: the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, says it's time to build a cross—party consensus on brexit— as the church of england calls for national reconciliation. un climate talks in poland go

into an extra day as countries struggle to agree the way forward for the paris agreement. water cannon and tear gas are used on the streets of paris as protesters clash with police in a fifth weekend of anti—government demonstrations. in sport manchester city are back on top of the newsweek, two clear after beating everton 3—i top of the newsweek, two clear after beating everton 3—1 in the early kick—off. elsewhere, crystal palace, others didn't, both the role head in their matches. wasps are 22 — 281 their matches. wasps are 22 — 281 the ——... england hockey will now play for third place against australia. i will have more sport real tough past five, join us then. there has been more chopping

and changing in washington as president trump loses his interior secretary, but takes on a new chief of staff. let's talk to our washington correspondent dan johnson —he joins us now. first, discos but the changes that have been taking place? is the new interim chief of staff but we do not know exactly how long he is going to be filling the void, he is not the permanent replacement is about is a role that still needs to be properly in the new year. the president said many people were interested in the job but the current one was certainly not his first choice, probably not his second. the president says he wants someone who is chief of staff who could impose that order and discipline on the white house and who will be around for the next election in 2020 and it seems like people are having

difficulty giving that sort of commitment but that is another role temporarily filled but still to be found a permanent replacement for and today we learned that the interior secretary is to be the demonstration at the end of the year to subvert is anotherjob to be felt. he had been facing a number of investigations into the wiki was conducting his business in office, some of the deals it overseen in government land for drilling and mining, some of the property deals here been involved in, potential conflicts of interest and some of his travel expenses. he was a p pa re ntly his travel expenses. he was apparently allowing his wife to use government cars and is spent $12,000 chartering a plane just get him to a hockey game and it was certainly last week that the president support for him was starting to diminish. we are also hearing that there has been are also hearing that there has been a significant development with obama ca re a significant development with obama care or the affordable care act to. its third challenge, tell us more. the obama care programme wasjudged

unconstitutional by a judge in texas last night. that makes no difference in the interim, nothing is going to change because an appeal is expected that everything is on hold until the new year wonder robbie another set of legal hearing about that but it is at least onejudge of legal hearing about that but it is at least one judge ‘s opinion that the obama care programme does not meet with the requirements of the constitution. something that resona nt the constitution. something that resonant trump has been celebrating on twitter, he said, as i have been predicting all along obama care has been struck down as the unconstitutional disastrous. he has been trying to replace it because he thinks it cost americans too much. the intention of the scheme was to roll out medical care for people who we re roll out medical care for people who were not insured. to date was the deadline to apply whether you want to be covered by obama care over the next year, whether that will hit the number of people who sign up whether the scheme has a future or not, we will have to find the democrats have

said this was able to —— democrats is that this was the ludicrous calling. thank you for that. "yellow vest" protesters have gathered in paris and other cities for a fifth consecutive saturday of demonstrations. about 69,000 police have been mobilised across france to prevent a repeat of the violence of previous weeks. in paris, several hundred people marched along the champs—elysees, from there, hugh schofield, sent this update. so we are at the bottom end of the champs—elysees, mid—afternoon, and as you can see, there are a few hundred yellow vests down there front of the police cordon. they certainly cannot go any further in that direction because that leads to the elysees palace, and as on previous saturdays, it is very much blocked off by police. up and down the champs—elysees, again, ido not know, a few hundred, maybe a couple thousand yellow vests wandering up and down, not really with any great sense of direction. there have been moments of tension

during the day, sporadic tear gas firings, little movements, mini panics of the crowd and so on, and about a mile from here, there have been similar scenes, but i have to say, it is nothing like the atmosphere of last saturday or the saturday before. the numbers are smaller, there is no great sense of dread or expectation of violence so far, and a number of shops are even open here in the champs—elysees. whether that is because of the concessions macron made during the week or because some people are staying away because it is the festive season, and they feel it is time to wind down for a bit, whether it is because the violence of previous weeks have kept people away, whether it is just the cold, we do not know, but it does not feel today like the tension has gone up at all. it feels like it has gone a long way down. firefighters have been tackling a large fire at chester zoo. visitors and animals were evacuated, as firefighters fought the blaze

in the monsoon forest habitat. our correspondent gerry jackson is at the scene, and he updated us on the latest. chester zoo is one of the most popular tourism venues in the north of england and certainly the most visited zoo outside of london. around 11:30am this morning fire crews were called here as flames fanned by today's very strong winds were racing across the monsoon forests enclosure there. it has only opened in 2015 and is billed as britain's biggest zoological building. as hundreds of visitors were being evacuated from the wider premises of the zoo, zoo staff were leading threatened animals to safety and this afternoon, north west ambulance service told us one person has been treated for the effects of smoke inhalation and taken to hospital but otherwise there are no people reported hurt and all the animals have been accounted for. the zoo has closed,

we have no indication when it might reopen and of course, an investigation has begun into the cause of the fire but we have no idea of when the number of visitors here might recommence. there's a warning that freezing rain will bring treacherous conditions to parts of the uk this weekend, as storm deirdre hits on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year. the met office has issued amber warnings for some areas. our weather presenter philip avery told me more. what we had in place before deirdre came over the horizon from the west was a flow of cool continental air, and that you will have felt if you have been out about this week, it has dropped the temperatures quite significantly, widely across the british isles. the problem that deirdre has put into the mix is that we have got a combination of mild air from the atlantic coming in

wrapped in the circulation of storm deirdre, which, because it has been named by the met air and the irish authorities, it was always going to bring a combination of very wet and windy weather. that is the experience that many across parts of wales, the southwest of england, northern ireland, the irish sea coast, 60—70 mph gusts or so. we are looking as though we are going to have a combination of wet and windy weather for the southern half of the british isles. it is when we get that little bit further north that we start running into the wintry mix of problems that you flagged up that the met office have felt constrained to issue amber warnings about. it really is a mix. i would like to give you an indication ofjust how cold things are. this is somebody‘s garden pond, no expense spared here. the water is still flowing. you will notice on the mesh that there is quite a deal of ice. the temperatures across the cenral

and eastern parts of the british isles, were at about one or 2 degrees at best. different kettle of fish. if you take a line from anglesea down, west of that, some spots devon and cornwall, it was 12 or 13 degrees or so. that is an indication of how mild the air is coming in towards the british isles. as i say, the met office have had this real problem in that they have put out a number of amber warnings in relation to storm deirdre, and the fact that it has been so cold across the british isles. so we have ice and snow, widespread ice problems simply because, as we drop the moisture from the atlantic into that cold atmosphere across the british isles, once it comes through the atmosphere, it falls onto those cold suraces, that is where we get the widespread problem with ice. anywhere from about the north midlands northwards, this is where we have got this prospect, certainly through the north midlands, much of north england,

away from the coast, into southern parts of scotland, we have this prospect of a widespread ice problem. from now into the wee small hours. north of that, there is already snow falling. the usual suspects, it is the woodhead pass, it's the rest and be thankful in scotland north, where the snow is alreadt lying. in the central belt, where it is snowing at the moment, we are looking at tens of centimetres lying by the end of the night. in the central belt and across the southern scotland and high ground of north england, it is around two to about five or seven centimetres or so. the met office are going so big on this because the area is so extensive, quite a lot of people live there, and it is the first time this winter that we have been in this territory. so that is why we have wanted to keep a very close eye, and to heighten people's awareness. the day started quite decently, but it has gone downhill very rapidly. just to give a mechanism on how the freezing rain

issue comes about, once we have had the cold air in place, the fronts associated with storm deirdre have pushed the mild air in, but the cold air sits close to the surface, the warm air rises up over the top. so snow falls into the warm air in the atmosphere, it turns into rain, but as it comes back into the cold atmosphere that we are enjoying at the moment, one or 2 degrees, that is where it hasn't got time to get back into snow or anything more wintery, so it stays as what we call super cooled water, water in a cold form, but with a temperature below zero. it is hard to get your head around, but that is the truth of it, and as soon as it hits the cold surface, that is when we get that almost instanteous creation of ice. those temperatures across the north of england, southern scotland,