this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at eight... theresa may's brexit deal — a senior minister suggests mps could have a ‘free vote‘, and rejects a further referendum. let me tell you that if there is another referendum, which i don't think there will be, people like me will be immediately demanding it is best—of—three. a 5—year—old boy becomes the third victim of a house fire in nottinghamshire. his mother and eight—year old sister died yesterday. bad weather is blamed for a fall in the number of high street shoppers — on one of the busiest days before christmas. environmental groups criticise the deal struck at a un climate conference in poland , saying it doesn't go far enough to curb greenhouse gas emissions. liverpool return to the top of the premier league with a 3—1 victory over man united — reaction to that, and the rest of the day's sport in half an hour.

and the travel show is in the lake district — meeting the volunteers who are helping to protect and preserve the national park. good evening. a leading brexit supporter in the cabinet has suggested that parliament will have to look at other options — if the government's withdrawal plan is rejected by mps. but the international trade secretary, liam fox, dismissed suggestions of another referendum, on the grounds that it would perpetuate divisions in the country. here's our political correspondent, chris mason. it is not hard to find divisions over brexit outside parliament. protesters with different views fight for attention. and it is not much different inside. at least the prime minister has found someone

willing to play ball today. and yes, she still hopes she will get her deal through parliament, but many are now discussing what happens if she fails, with growing talk of another referendum. the international trade secretary, liam fox, campaign for brexit and hates the idea. supposing we had another referendum, supposing the remain side won it by 52—48, but it was on a lower turnout — entirely possible. let me tell you that if there is another referendum, which i don't think there will be, people like me will be immediately demanding it is best—of—three. where does that end up? today, two of the prime minister's closest allies denied they were toying with another public vote, her chief of staff said he wasn't planning one and her effective deputy said he has long thought it was a bad idea and would be divisive. those hoping for another referendum say it might eventually be the only option.

if parliament is gridlocked and there is no way of resolving the impasse and no consensus can be met parliament, then how else do you resolve this other than referring it back to the people? but many senior labour figures are deeply uneasy about asking the people again, and don't know on which side they would be if it happened. look, we're going to have to discuss tactics if and when we come to that. you don't know. andrew, policy is decided by our members in a democratic and open way. in the last month, the prime minister has spent more than 12 hours on her feet in the commons defending her brexit plan, and there will be more of the same tomorrow. what we are now witnessing here is a noisy conversation on all sides exploring other possible options. or to put it another way, working out what on earth to do next. i spoke to our political correspondent chris mason about what might happen in 2019.

what is happening now, it is bursting out into the public consciousness because, for a while, there has been a lot of conversation in private on all sides about what could happen next year, on the sta nce could happen next year, on the stance that nobody knows and no single person is in charge of driving it but, as things stand, numbers look ropey for the prime minister in terms of getting her deal through. we are hearing from cabinet ministers, liam fox today, amber rudd, the work and pensions secretary in the daily mail yesterday, it's the beginning of exploration publicly about what could happen if the prime minister's dealfalls. a lot

could happen if the prime minister's deal falls. a lot of people, looking around the commons chamber in a hung parliament, are trying to work out if there is a majority for anything in terms of endorsing something. there probably is a majority to reject no deal, and at the moment it looks like there's a majority to reject the prime minister's deal. but then what? that is why there is a sense of buoyancy for those campaigning for what they call a peoples of. for a long time it was seen peoples of. for a long time it was seen by many, including those keen on it, as a marginal thing that stood little chance of happening. now, there is the sense that it might. there are plenty of critics of the idea of another referendum, including some who do not like brexit at all. they fear it does not look good and it is turning over the democratic decision of a couple of yea rs democratic decision of a couple of years ago, or offering people the chance of doing that. some talked about the danger of civil unrest but some are now saying, about the danger of civil unrest but some are now saying, look, it may be the only option left on the table if everything else is rejected. many

people are describing this as a stay of execution. as far as labour goes, they will not meet in the middle, will they? the talk of cross—party dialogue, they will not make theresa may's job dialogue, they will not make theresa may'sjob easier. dialogue, they will not make theresa may's job easier. where are they at the moment? that is not theirjob, they want to oppose and make things tricky for the prime minister, if they can bring down the government, and attempt to get a general election and win it, clearly that is what they are trying to do, but it would be quite hard to secure a general election. where are they on brexit? that's a good question. you are only on the television until midnight! we could be in danger of going on until dawn! at the moment, they are conflicted, like the conservatives. perhaps it's no surprise, these two parties got 40%

of the vote each in the last general election so they will represent communities that both love and hate brexit. they want to defeat the prime minister's plan, then try and secure a general election and if they achieve the first but not the second, then all options are on the table but, as you saw in that report, andrew gwen, the senior labourfigure, tying report, andrew gwen, the senior labour figure, tying himself report, andrew gwen, the senior labourfigure, tying himself in knots over where labour are. they are nervous. some would like another referendum but others are deeply uneasy. and a spat going on with past leaders of the country? yes, the current prime minister having a p0p the current prime minister having a pop at a previous prime minister. no surprise a conservative politician could criticise a labour prime minister but usually sitting and previous prime minister is have a certain decorum in how they interact publicly. not today, the prime minister saying strikingly that she thought tony blair, a labour predecessor, was using language and mounting arguments that were unbecoming of the office he once held and the people he wants

represented. this is his idea of another referendum. he hit back strikingly in a statement saying it was responsible and not anti—democratic to talk about another referendum and it should be something parliament was willing to entertain if, and it comes back to this, all other options are exhausted. a mother and two children who died following a house fire in nottinghamshire have been named as justine, isabella and harvey collison. the blaze in collingham broke out yesterday morning. gerry jackson reports. justine collison and her eight—year—old daughter isabella died in the fire at their home yesterday. today, five—year—old harvey died in hospital. husband and father gavin is fighting for his life. the flames broke out at breakfast time in this quiet village lane, leaving no time for most inside to escape. the child ren's grandmother was led to safety. close neighbours had battled to rescue the others. it's an adrenaline rush, to try and get in, to help them, because i saw my dad and his other bloke who are trying to get in so i thought, all efforts to get through the door and help them.

but obviously we couldn't. it wasn't until we saw the fire brigade, you know, open the front door that we saw the inside wasjust thick with smoke. from learning that they were first in a serious condition to what's happened today, got more and more upsetting, as today has gone through, it's got more upsetting. police and fire officers have spent a second day here at the property trying to work out what caused this tragedy. meanwhile, embers of this close—knit community have been gathering to pay their tributes in the wake of the tragedy so close to christmas. justine collison was a much respected teaching assistant at a local school. today, a colleague was among those paying their respects. she was lovely, could not meet a nicer woman. she was always smiling, and adored her children and her husband. a special service was held at the village church, all saints, this morning. it will remain open every day between now and christmas. johnnie jackson, bbc news, collingham in nottinghamshire. bad weather and an increase

in online buying are being blamed for shoppers staying away from the high street — on what is usually the busiest weekend before christmas. retail experts say numbers across the uk yesterday — were down almost 10% —compared with the same time last year. here's our business correspondent, joe miller. a bruising year has left many of britain's large retailers fighting for survival and more than ever, banking on a busy festive season. but heavy rain heaped more misery on the high street yesterday and prompted many to stay dry and shop online. there was a sliver of hope for retailers last week when footfall rose 6% on the year before. but figures from analytics firm springboard show a drop of 7% on saturday if you include retail parks and shopping centres and a drop of 9% on the high street, adding further gloom to one of the worst novembers on record. sunday saw better weather

and a small recovery on the high street. but overall footfall was still lower than in 2017 and analysts see few bright spots ahead. we've see consumer confidence drop, we've seen costs increase and in general, i think people are very nervous about spending. the british retail consortium predicts that sales will pick up in the next few days as more people rush to buy last—minute food and presents. the fate of one chain in particular may rest on such a surge. debenhams, which lost a record £500 million this financial year, has rebuffed an injection of cash from the self—styled saviour of the high street mike ashley. his company, sportsdirect, which rescued house of fraser, had a stark warning for its wounded rival. we've put this offer in to invest another a0 million, and it really is kind of the electric shock to wake them up to what is probably the last chance saloon. some suspect mr ashley, who was already debenhams's largest shareholder, wants the first claim on its assets if it collapses —

an allegation the company rejects. but well debenhams and other struggling chains mightjust be able to afford to keep the billionaire at bay, neither they nor mr ashley's retail empire can afford a disappointing christmas. joe miller, bbc news. earlier i spoke to diane wehrle from springboard, a retail analysis firm. i asked her how footfall has got so out of step. third full this year has been really hit. it is much poorer than we anticipated. we forecast for december a drop of 4.2 and it looks like it will be in line with that, possibly more. the first half of the

month was very poor with drops of -6% month was very poor with drops of —6% and —5% in the first couple of weeks. it's a really challenging time in retail. back in october, retail sales figures were not particularly impressive. that was put down to consumer confidence being poor with brexit approaching. nothing spectacular, come black friday. then we had storm deirdre, what is going on? i hate to use the phrase perfect storm but it has really been a culmination of u nfortu nate ci rcu msta nces really been a culmination of unfortunate circumstances this year. early in the year we had terrible weather in march. easter this year was in march, which is always poor for retail because the weather is not great. that turned out to be the case. april was hit because easter was in march. then we had a hugely hot summer which initially felt good for retail but people stop buying things and did other recreational activities which impacted on retail. finally, in the week leading up to christmas, the peak trading week, we had terrible weather again. it's been a real issue for retail but underlined that our economic issues that are affecting how much

consumers are willing to spend. consumer confidence is really low. wage inflation was outstripped by price inflation and customers had to resort to savings or credit cards to fund spending. consequently a lot of households are carrying an awful lot of debt which is really railing back their spending. combine that with their spending. combine that with the continuing increase online, albeit at a slower rate this year compared to last, even black friday did not bring online spending by more than 0.3%. it's the fact that people are reining back on spending. retail sales make up 20% of the total uk economy. how make or break is this pre—christmas spending spree? for our retailers? yes, christmas is a critical time for retailers. some, including toy retailers, it could represent a quarter of their turnover in a year.

in foot four, that is the activity and volume on the high street. 0ur stores account for 80% of all retail spend. in december, that full is around i! or 12% of the year which co m pa res around i! or 12% of the year which compares with an average of 7% in other months. much stronger in december, and if they are not spending, in december, it impacts severely on retailers viability. analysts described 2018 as the year of distress. we have another week of christmas shopping left. is there anything to look forward to? in some insta nces we anything to look forward to? in some instances we may see uplift in this week. we have a full trading week before christmas, which really helps. what we know from our springboard is that footfall tends to peak on friday, despite the fact we have another full weekend,

to peak on friday, despite the fact we have anotherfull weekend, people tend to do all of their shopping before the weekend and then go and do preplanned activities at the weekend. while some people are still shopping, the peak days are behind us shopping, the peak days are behind us by friday. if shoppers decide to make the most of this week and the weather is meant to be more mild, hopefully we will see a bit of an uplift. the headlines on bbc news... theresa mays brexit deal — brexiteer cabinet minister liam fox suggests mps could have a ‘free vote' — and rejects a further referendum. a 5—year—old boy becomes the third victim of a house fire in nottinghamshire. his mother and 8—year old sister died yesterday. bad weather is blamed for a fall in the number of high street shoppers on one of the busiest days before christmas. let's have a look at the sport. let's have a look at the sport. let's cross to the bbc sport centre. hello, damien. two late goals from substitute xerdan shaqiri gave liverpool victory over manchester united to take them back to the top of the premier league.

it means they remain unbeaten in the league and leaves united 19 points adrift of their big rivals. james burford reports. these two sides are used to running the gauntlet. it is a rivalry united have edged over the passage of time but this new wave of liverpool players is fully focused on the march towards history. midfielder fabinho was offered his first taste of the fixture and while his early shot flew inches wide dog it floated past may and was inch perfect. never before had liverpool's front three frown the net against manchester united. no longer. this was far from sealed, the beauty of the premier league is that a crown can slip at any moment. jesse lingard couldn't believe his luck. a finishing touch after something of a double fault from the goalkeeper. shaqiri has been used to coming off the bench this season but this cameo would

become more of a starring role. the change that changed the game not once but twice. a gem in this liverpool team andy thorn in united's side. this performance deserved the premier league is's top team. this was a performance that posed real questions, though. a fantastic game. the whole 93, 95 minutes, our boys were in charge of the game and dominated it. playing football against a physically unbelievably strong side. we had to stay in the game, which is what we did, and in the second half, be kind of annoying. do it, and do it. then shaqiri came and scored these two goals. it wasjust shaqiri came and scored these two goals. it was just brilliant. ralph hasenhuttle guided southampton to victory in his first home match in charge. substitute charlie austin scored the winner in the 85th minute to end arsenal's 22 match unbeaten run. the victory takes southampton out of the relegation zone and up to 17th.

meanwhile along the south coast, chelsea beat brighton 2—1. they were two up at half time thanks to goals from pedro and eden hazard. solly march pulled one back for brighton but it wasn't enough. chelsea stay fourth — they're now three points ahead of arsenal. rangers are back on top of the scottish premiership after a 1—0 win at home to hearts. daniel candeias scored the goal afterjust three minutes. rangers are ahead of kilmarnock on goal difference — earlier, defending champions celtic lost two — nil at hibernian which means they're a point behind in third. leicester's hopes of reaching the champions cup knockout stages are all but over after defeat by racing 92 at welford road. the french side remain unbeaten at the top of pool four after a bonus—point win. in pool five, edinburgh remain top after victory over newcastle falcons at kingston park. two second—half tries from james johnstone and this from duhan van der merve sealed the win, 21 points to eight the final score. that leaves newcastle third in the table but they can still qualify for the quarterfinals.

montpellier beat toulon in the days other game. there were two gold—medal winning performances for great britain on the final day of the track cycling world cup in london. katie archibald and laura kenny dominated the women's maddison, with kenny coming through to seal the win with this final sprint and take the team medal. matt walls then went on to claim gold in the men's omnium. walls won the final points race to claim top spot on the podium. that's all the sport for now. lovely, thank you. environmental groups have said a deal struck at a un conference in poland — does not go far enough in tackling climate change. delegates from nearly 200 countries did reach agreement on how to implement the landmark paris climate accord, and they outlined plans for collective rules

on cutting carbon emissions. but the commitments are not legally binding. here's our science editor, david shukman. for years, we have known how each cluster of smoke adds more carbon dioxide to the air and raises the global temperature. but only now has the world inched towards a deal to try to tackle this. the talks in poland ended with scenes of excitement and relief. the polish minister in charge had managed to overcome some very difficult arguments. and many governments see this as a breakthrough. we made a major step, and we also showed that european union is the frontrunner. we really tried hard to bring the parties together, work together, and we are quite satisfied with the outcome of this night. so, where does this leave us? most significant is a new set of rules for how countries cut the gases warming the planet. that was sorted. but the deal was voluntary,

so we will now have to see what individual governments actually do. 0n finance for developing countries, to help them go green and prepare for the impact of climate change, there was some progress but they say not enough. promises of much deeper cuts of emissions in future, which scientists say are needed very rapidly, that'll have to wait for another time. the small island nations say the deal does not go far enough. faced with rising sea levels and the threat of devastating floods, they say bolder steps are needed. we've got 12 years. this here today doesn't really solve anything. i think we've got to do practical things. we've got to cut down the emissions drastically, in terms of emissions. so i think, working together, i think we can achieve what we want. the real test now is whether the deal eventually leads to fewer warming gases entering the atmosphere. so far, all the talk over the past

25 years has failed to achieve that. david shukman, bbc news. a group of mps has said the roll—out of a type of ‘smart motorway‘, where the hard shoulder is permanently turned into a fourth lane, should be stopped. the all—party group backed campaigners who say having no hard shoulder — puts motorists and recovery workers at risk. england has more than 100 miles of ‘all lane running‘ smart motorways, with a further 225 miles planned. prosecutors in france say a fifth person injured in tuesday‘s gun attack on a christmas market in strasbourg has died. several hundred people gathered in the city earlier to honour the victims. the attacker, cherif chekatt, was killed in a shoot out with police on thursday. more than a0 people have been injured in a huge explosion and fire in a restaurant injapan. at least one person is said to be in a critical condition,

after the blast in the early evening in the city of sapporo — onjapan‘s north island of hokkaido. the cause of the fire isn‘t yet known, but local residents reported a strong smell of gas. gemma coombe reports. bright orange flames and thick black smoke. the immediate aftermath of a huge explosion in a busy japanese restaurant. it happened at 8:30pm local time in sapporo, the capital city of the northern main island of hokkaido. the japanese news outlets said the force of the blast was so strong, a number of nearby buildings collapsed. firefighters battled the flames, warning people there could be further explosions. video from the scene shows dozens of people gathered on the street, which was strewn with debris and shattered glass. authorities haven‘t revealed an immediate cause but witnesses have reported smelling gas in the area. more than a0 people were hurt, one of them critically.

staff at chester zoo say they‘re devastated, after revealing they were unable to save some species of insects, frogs, fish and birds, in yesterday‘s fire. the blaze ripped through the monsoon forest enclosure. many of the animals, including the critically endangered sumatran orangutans, were led to safety, and new homes within the zoo have now been found for them. juliet phillips reports. chester zoo has described it as one of the toughest days in its history. you can see why. the fire that ripped through the monsoon forest building has now been put out but the damage caused is still being

keenly felt. monsoon forest here at chester zoo is very complex, with snails, stick insects, frogs, some of those smaller animals perished in the fire but we are happy that we managed to save all the large mammals and it appears virtually all of the birds are fine as well. zoo workers bravely help to sue animals including endangered sumatran apes by guiding them into outdoor enclosures. they worked with the fire service, whose investigations into the blaze are already progressing. our investigators are confident that we know where the fire started, and we are confident it was an accidental fire. we are now trying to determine the exact cause, and that requires a lot more detailed examination of the areas that we have identified. the building itself was built three yea rs building itself was built three years ago as part of a a0 million project. it is the largest indoors of exhibit in the uk. the fire meant

pa rt of exhibit in the uk. the fire meant part of the zoo was closed today but it did not seem to put off visitors. we want to come more just to support everyone. it's good that it's been able to open. we hope they can rebuild and carry on doing what they are doing. gray it‘s a difficult situation, but at least we can still come to the zoo and it‘s open today, which is really positive. a fundraising page set up by the zoo reached its £50,000 target within hours. the rebuild here will take some time. investigations into the cause of the fire are continuing. for some time now, police have been warning of the growth of large urban gangs — who use violence and extortion to trap vulnerable teenagers into helping them deal drugs in rural areas. now dorset police has become one of the first forces in the country — to create a specialist unit to tackle the growth of so—called ‘county lines‘ drug dealing. sam everett reports... they carry big machete knives, knives out of my cupboard. they would be lying around the flat, all over the place. john was a victim of a county lines drugs gang. they use their mobile

phones to phone you, try to force their way into your place offering you money or drugs. so what is county lines? it is an operation run by gangs in large urban areas. they set up phone lines to take orders for drugs, then they coerce runners to take the drugs across counties are using then they coerce runners to take the drugs across counties using teenagers to avoid detection. in smaller towns, local dealers take over a vulnerable person‘s home, often by force, and bring the runners to get. the drugs can then be sold and distributed from a secure location. it is difficult when you are caught up in that sort of thing to say no — you want them out. but they just stick around. please go, kind of thing. they are ruthless, ruthless people. i let my family down, myself down. yeah, i am worried they will come back. john is now off drugs and received help to get rid of the gang,

but there‘s hundreds of other county lines still in operation. the lady who is the tenant there is now deceased, but the property is possibly being taken over by class a drug users. this flat in weymouth was found littered with needles and heroin. located nearby was this, a knife under the side of the bed. teenagers from a london drugs gang were found inside, they were detained and investigated further. the woman living there was a vulnerable drug user. as suspected, the gang had taken over the home after her mum had died. those persons that are living at those properties, sometimes they are vulnerable through class a misuse themselves, other times it could be through mental health, it could be through poor health, physical disabilities.

andy is part of one of the first specialist unit units set up to tackle county lines, using tactics to combat this highly organised form of crime. dedicated officers are stationed in towns where it becomes a problem. they carry out intelligence surveillance on drug gangs and thwart their efforts. that also identify vulnerable people in danger of being targeted and offer them support. even after that person has lost everything, it might be that they have their children taken away, they have lost their house, the drug gangs will continue to exploit them. the national crime agency estimate there are at least 1,500 other lines operating across england and wales. a serious problem new task forces want to end. sam everett, bbc news.