this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 5pm... in iceland, three british tourists — including a child — have died after their vehicle crashed while crossing a bridge. four others are critically injured. an increase in hospital parking charges — new data suggests four in 10 nhs hospitals in england put up their fees in the last year. my friend's mum is dying. i've been in to drop some stuff off. and it has just cost me three quid. a woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the deaths of two young children in margate, kent. britain's most senior police officer says a no deal brexit would potentially put the public at risk. we would hope that we will have as much as possible of the instruments we currently have, or something very similar, as quickly as possible in order to be able to keep our public safe. the defence secretary voices grave concerns about the chinese firm huawei's involvement in upgrading the uk's

mobile network. and coming up in half an hour — a review of one of the most turbulent years for british politics in decades withjo coburn. three british tourists, including a child, have died after their vehicle crashed while crossing a bridge in iceland. four other people in the a—wheel drive have been taken to hospital with critical injuries. the car crashed through a barrier on a single—lane bridge and then fell eight metres onto a river bank. my colleague, simon mccoy, spoke to adolf erlingsson, a tour operator who was one of the first people at the scene. it happened on a ring road and this

isa it happened on a ring road and this is a river. it is about half an hour east of the small—time. is a river. it is about half an hour east of the small-time. and this is a one track bridge, i understand, and it crashed through the railings? yes. very strange, i think. and it crashed through the railings? yes. very strange, ithink. but somehow the driver must have lost control of the car and itjust somehow the driver must have lost control of the car and it just went through the railing and crashed down. yes, very strange, but somehow the driver must have lost control of the car and it just went through the railings, and crashed down onto the bank,

which is kind of sandy, there's no river, so it wasn't submerged in water or anything, itjust landed there on a sandy bottom and flipped over and was totally destroyed. i don't know how soon after it happened you got there, but there was obviously some sort of rescue operation to get those who had been injured out? well, just before i arrived at the scene, i was overtaken by a police car with flashing blue lights, high—speed, and when i got there, there were two police cars and i got out of my van and went to see if i could help. there were just two police officers and me to begin with. and we were trying to assess the situation, find out who was alive and who we could help, and so on, and try to get people out of the car. very difficult, and i appreciate you talking about it now, this only happened a few hours ago. how difficult was it to get the people out? how far down from the bridge was it where it came to rest? the fall from the bridge i would estimate something

like five or six metres. so about 15 or 20 feet. and the car was a total wreck. when i got there, four people were out of the car, one of them deceased, and then there were three people trapped in the car. i think two of them were deceased, the driver was alive, and trapped more or less under the dashboard. i couldn't see his face, but we were trying to get the people out of the car and help them. and it was a very difficult situation. we understand that we're talking about seven british people. were they able to talk? did you talk to any of them? yes, outside of the car, there was one adult and two children, more or less semiconscious.

i talked a little bit to the grown—up, and then i tried to talk a bit to the driver and calm him down. as i say, he was trapped inside the car, i was trying to tell him to save his energy and try to be patient, we would try to get him out of there. and he gave you no indication as to what had happened, why the car had come off the road? no, no, no. and is this a popular tourist area? oh, yes, this is the most popular tourist area. this road leads to, among other things, the glacial lagoon where i am right now. and my guess is they were on their way here. this is the most popular destination on the south coast, so probably they were on their way here.

a horrible thing for you to see, and clearly you did everything you could for those that were still alive. yes, of course. we just did what we could, and then more rescue people came, and when i had been there for about half an hour, there were enough rescue people and professionals there, so i left at that stage. but then they were starting to cut the car up and try to get the driver out. we had turned the car over a bit, soon after i arrived, we had an suv with a winch and we used it to sort of lift the car up a little bit to alleviate the pressure on the driver and try to get him out. and they were just continuing with that work when i left.

and presumably an area like this, an incident like this, everyone will be in shock. of course. the road is now closed and has been since the accident, and will be presumably for a couple of hours more. and i know they had two helicopters flying in to take people to hospital. the first news was that four people had died, but then they corrected it to three, fortunately. but yes, it was a horrible sight to come there and see the wreckage and the people there. aduu

adult earnings and speaking to simon mccoy earlier today. —— adolf erlingsson. more than a third of nhs hospitals in england have raised the cost of parking over the past year, with some patients and staff now paying double the price. several trusts have defended the higher costs, saying some or all of the money went back into patient care or maintaining car parks. in wales and most of scotland, car park charges have been abolished but still remain in england and northern ireland. our correspondent, duncan kennedy, has more. hospital car parks, a place for health or wealth? that is the question posed by today's figures showing many hospitals have raised their prices over the last year. this one in guildford tops the list in england, one of dozens of hospitals who made a total of over £226 million from parking fees. the hospital here says the money goes to front—line care and maintenance for all of the car parks, but what about visitors? what do you think about the parking charges here?

they are expensive but like everywhere else, you have to pay it. the system is complicated and you don't come here through choice. you know this is the most expensive hospital that there is in terms of parking? yes, typical surrey. 43% of hospitals admitted prices have gone up over the past year for visitors or staff or both. the royal surrey county hospital is already charging for stay of one hour making it the most expensive in england. —— charging £4. the airedale nhs foundation trust in west yorkshire saw the cost of a 24—hour stay more than double to £8, something locals have strong views about. i think it's atrocious. i have been into... my friend's mother is dying, i have been into drop some stuff off and it has cost me three quid.

it does work out expensive — it could be £10 per day. are the charges fair? i don't think so. they should be free because people turning up to the car parks cannot necessarily afford it. the department of health today said it is very clear that patients, their families and hard—working staff should not be subject to parking charges. the charges have been abolished in most of wales and scotland but they remain in england, bringing an additional pain that many people that come into hospital would rather do without. a 37—year—old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murdering two children. police say the young children were discovered at a property in margate in kent in the early hours of this morning. the woman remains in custody. britain's most senior police officer has said a no—deal brexit would be costly for her force and could potentially

put the public at risk. the metropolitan police commissioner, cressida dick, said the scenario would be very challenging in the short term but that efforts were being made to help forces cope post—brexit. we have set up an eu coordination unit, absolutely, so that is to help local forces to understand how to work most effectively across europe after we exit the eu, under whatever circumstances. of course, we would hope that we will have as much as possible of the instruments we currently have, or something very similar, as quickly as possible, in order to be able to keep our public safe, and at the same sort of cost. so you are saying clearly that the consequences of not having those things is that we will be less safe? the consequences are that we will have to replace — and if there was a no deal scenario, that would be very difficult to do in the short—term. we will have to replace some of the things we currently use in terms of access to databases,

the way in which we can quickly arrest and extradite people, these kinds of things. we will have to replace as effectively as we can. that will undoubtedly be more costly, slower and potentially, yes, put the public at risk. earlier i spoke to georgina wright — an independent brexit researcher who recently provided expert testimony to the ‘exiting the european union select committee' on the impact of brexit on security. i asked her what both sides had to lose if no agreement was reached. you are right that there are budgetary implications in this and obviously the uk provides quite a lot to the eu budget but the member states has said they have discussed their future states has said they have discussed theirfuture eu budgets, which does not can't uk british spending. and

they have been allocated that. it is not really financial concerns, it is more about that it is on both sides' interests to cooperate on satellite and alsojudicial interests to cooperate on satellite and also judicial and police interests to cooperate on satellite and alsojudicial and police matters and alsojudicial and police matters and lots of issues but how will that work? this is a very new form of negotiation, the first time any member state has voted to leave and if you have the red lines and the other side has red lines, you need time to see how you can make that cooperation work. at the moment, we are due to exit in march 2019. we need a withdrawal agreement in place to allow for the smooth exit and if we don't have that agreement in place, what are we going to do? we arejust place, what are we going to do? we are just losing place, what are we going to do? we arejust losing and place, what are we going to do? we are just losing and lacking place, what are we going to do? we arejust losing and lacking time because this has never been done before. that was georgina right. a man has been killed following an explosion which destroyed a house in hampshire. the blast happened in

the early hours of this morning in andover. rescuers are continuing to search the area and a number of neighbouring properties have been evacuated. gas engineers are working with the emergency services to try to identify the cause. the defence secretary has reportedly said he has "very deep concerns" about chinese firm huawei being involved in upgrading the uk's mobile network. gavin williamson's comments came after some nations restricted use of the firm's products in 5g networks over security concerns. our defence correspondent, jonathan marcus, says concerns about the company have been building. it is something which is causing concern in many countries — australia, new zealand and the united states have all moved to restrict the use of its technology in communications systems. here in britain bt confirmed that it was stripping out huawei equipment in a new communication system for the police and emergency services. so there are genuine concerns, this isn't fantasy. the defence secretary is raising growing concerns inside government, concerns which were raised

by the head of m16 only some days ago. just how embedded is huawei in britain's telecommunications system ? well, they are a huge global player now. china is fast becoming the united states of the 1960s and ‘70s in key areas of technology. the company, of course, was founded by an officer in the chinese army. it is widely regarded as having close ties to the chinese state. the company itself, of course, insists that it agrees with the need for the security and integrity of national communications infrastructures to be maintained. it says in a statement today that it is very willing to have a dialogue with the british government and with the industry here more generally. it notes that it is a major investor in the british economy. but it says that that dialogue has to be based on facts and demonstrable evidence.

the extent to which this is a statement designed to offer reassurance or is there just the hint there of a potential threat? it does underscore the problem that china is now both a major economic player, a major economic partner with many countries, as well as a potential strategic competitor. and that dichotomy, the balancing of those two aspects, is going to become more and more difficult, particularly for britain once it is on its own and it has left the european union. that was our defence correspondent. the headlines on bbc news... in iceland, three british tourists, including a child, have died after their vehicle crashed while crossing a bridge. four others are critically injured. new data suggests four in ten nhs hospitals in england have increased parking charges in the last year. a woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder

following the deaths of two young children in margate, kent. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's tulson. thank you. football and inter milan have been ordered to play two matches behind closed doors after the napoli defender koulibaly was racially abused yesterday at the san siro. the club is considering whether to appeal and the mayor of milan has apologised. the head coach said that he tried to have the game suspended. former chelsea manager said they asked the game to be stopped three times. the senegalese international was sent off with nine minutes to go and he says he was put on edge by the crowd's behaviour. translation: the state of mind of

one player was affected by racism and that is very bad. we are doing a campaign on this and everybody is involved, the federation, the referees, and we would like to know hammy times we have to complain before the match is halted and next time, we. match ourselves. arsenal manager unai emery has been handed an fa charge for improper conduct after he kicked a bottle which it brighton fan at the end of yesterday's drawer. he went to apologise to the supporter immediately afterwards and again at full time and he explain today what happened... i kicked the bottle in frustration but not towards a supporter, i kicked it for me. it went near the supporter and i sent my apologies. my apologies today also. i kicked the bottle because it was near me but not with this intention. to the manager mauricio

pochettino has said his side need to be consistent appear to challenge for the premier league title this season. for the premier league title this season. spurs have scored 11 goals in their last two matches and may two, ahead of man city, after the boxing day fixtures. there are six points adrift of liverpool and the argentine is not getting carried away. we need to show to ourselves and everyone that we can be a real contender. by being consistent... we are there because we have the belief and working so hard and we have the quality. it is difficult to be in the position we are today. but there are still a question... we will see. during the whole season, can we be consistent? krizia pochettino's former side, southampton, are consistent? krizia pochettino's formerside, southampton, are in action tonight, taking on west ham.

you can get across that on five live and on the bbc sport website. cricket and india hold the upper hand in day three of the third test against australia in melbourne after 170 run stand. the tourists resumed day two on 215—2 while pujara hit 106 and colleagues at 100 to maintain control. this truly is fired back to dig five wickets after lunch before india declared on 4004357. australia made eight runs before the close without loss. the format series is currently tied at 1-1. the format series is currently tied at 1—1. the favourite has won the welsh grand national at chepstow. trainer colin tizzard has now got a second success colin tizzard has now got a second success in three years. britain —— ridden by tom o'brien, and followed a late charge to win by over one neck. michael smith is through to the fourth round of the pdc world

darts championship. the number 10 seed came back and beat scotland's henderson at alexandra palace. elsewhere, there were victories for the countries and devon petersen. and that is all the sport for now. thank you very much. let's return now to our main story, 3 british tourists, including a child, have died after their vehicle crashed while crossing a bridge in iceland. 4 other people have critical injuries. earlier i spoke to our correspondent ben ando, who knows the area where the crash happened. he described the terrain to me. this is an area of the news by tourists making the journey around the island. we have video showing the island. we have video showing the bridge itself. the service is steel and it is ribbed, designed to give you grip. the police said it might have been icy, it was very cold in iceland, as you would

expect, and it is possible that the driver lost control. what we about those in the vehicle, it was that toyota land cruiser. they went through the barrier at the side of the bridge and fell around 40 feet and hit the river bank below, which was hard ground. there was another true guide following who described it as the vehicle being smashed to pieces. he tried to help two police officers to help those but we know the vehicle has been recovered, taken to a nearby town, it still has two of those who died inside and four others have been taken to hospital and are seriously hurt. going back to the bridge. when we saw the video, they are pretty well reinforced. iceland, because of its weather, must be well prepared for driving conditions? they are used to this. these four—wheel drive vehicles nearly all the time and this is the national rate, the biggest road in iceland, but it is

only single carriageway and at that particular part it was only one single track and as you approach the bridge you can see 200 metres to the other side and you wait to see if somebody is coming the other way and you only pass this is clear. we think it was dark at the time this happened, we don't know if somebody was coming the other way or if they lost control. we don't know why they went through the barrier in this way. that was ben ando. olivia colman, dominic west and lily collins — just some of the big—name actors starring in the bbc‘s new adaptation of les miserables. but not one of them is singing from the rooftops about it. the six—part drama leaves the songs from the musical to one side. asjohn maguire has been finding out, the series goes back to basics and explores the story of love and revolution. action. taking les miserables from the page, and there are almost 1500 of them, to the screen requires a huge number of people. it starts with the writer.

andrew davies' cv includes house of cards, pride and prejudice and war and peace. now he's recreating les mis. i've kind of got a taste for these great big books now. so, on set in brussels, is he nervous about watching his words come to life? yes, you can get a bit anxious hoping that they'll get it right. in fact, you're really hoping they'll do more than that, that they'll do something better than you even imagined, and a lot of the time that is happening here. the clothes help to tell the story. it is a costume drama, after all, and i'm shown items that are created new and then distressed to make them look old and worn by relentlessly tough lives. it needs hours. it really needs a long time to get this kind of texture into it. i think they've done an amazing job. it's beautiful. much of this new adaptation has been filmed in belgium. from high—society paris to toulon prison, the locations

help to transport the audience to the france of two centuries ago. so with the story, the script, the actors, the director, and vitally the costumes all in place, it comes time to choose the locations. what about this place? an original napoleonic jail. it's atmospheric and it's certainly quite spooky. of course, hair and make—up play a tra nsformative role. not a bad match at all. there you go. that's transformed you straightaway into a dandy. it didn't take much, did it? here you go. we reckon you are the most famous movie make—up artist in the world. why? because of that picture of you with aidan turner. that one? yeah, but i always get cut out of that, don't i? we've used facial hair quite a lot in this to show class distinction. beards are used more for beggars and the prisoners have often got lots of journeys. the icing on the cake is costume. i've just tacked that on but it's something like what you

would get, like that. very dignified. so from the beards to the barricades, les miserables is set to blow you away. john maguire, bbc news, belgium. now look at these extraordinary pictures of the eruption of a italian volcano. in a video filmed by the italian coastguard, streams of lava can be seen flowing down the flank of mount etna following its erru ption. the sicilian volcano — europe's most active — errupted yesterday sending a huge column of ash into the sky — causing the temporary closure of catania airport on sicily‘s eastern coast. a lot of volcanic action taking place around the globe at the moment. now it's time for a look at the weather. whilst many it has been another dry

and cloudy sort of day, have been real exceptions the weather with some sparkling jewels coming in from scotla nd some sparkling jewels coming in from scotland and towards the south—western quarter of the british isles. the subtle spell is thanks to high pressure doing it staff from much of the british isles although overnight this settled spell will be interrupted as a new weather front comes from the atlantic, spreading cloud and rain to the west of scotland, northern ireland and the north of england and further south, watch out for fog patches, particularly side of the m4. if the skies stay clear it will be quite a chilly night. friday? we will push this weather front across the top two thirds of the british isles and falling behind there is a better chance of seeing decent sunny spells and further south there is a lot of cloud still around and the fog will eventually left. most areas will be dry again the temperature is, 9—12.

bishop edward temperatures. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: three british tourists, including a child, have died after their vehicle crashed while crossing a bridge in iceland. four others are critically injured. four in ten nhs hospitals in england have put up their parking fees in the last year — the new data shows that, in some places, charges have doubled. a woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the deaths of two young children in margate. britain's most senior police officer, cressida dick, has suggested a no—deal brexit could put the public at risk if security cooperation with the eu is weakened. the defence secretary has said he has grave concerns about the chinese firm huawei being involved in upgrading the uk's mobile network. now on bbc news, it's

been one of the most turbulent years for british politics in decades. with brexit dominating parliament and no clear way forward, the bbc'sjo coburn looks back at a troubled 12 months in review 2018: the year in politics. a warning — this film contains some flash photography. it has been another incredibly busy year in politics, with one issue dominating the agenda over all others — you guessed it, brexit. that doesn't mean there haven't been other important

issues to grapple with — the windrush scandal, the row over anti—semitism, and many ministerial resignations. and we launched a new political show — politics live. first, theresa may reshuffled her government in a bid to change the face of the party. in were more diverse and younger chairs taken from the intake of mps in 2017. it didn't all go according to plan. are you confident of staying in government? theresa may had wanted to move justine greening from education to the work and pensions brief, but instead she quit the cabinet, saying she wanted to continue her work on social mobility. others tipped to be moved, like the health secretary, jeremy hunt, didn't budge, and all of the big beasts stayed in theirjobs — for now. ukip was battling its own internal issues, as the party's ruling

national executive committee unanimously backed a vote of no—confidence in the party leader, henry bolton, which led to his sacking. gerard batten replaced him. ukip has to continue because we are the only opposition. in march, the labour party extended its suspension of former london mayor ken livingstone over claims of anti—semitism. he went on to resign, but it wasn't enough to stop the issue dominating much of labour's year. jeremy corbyn was found to have posted a historic message about the removal of a mural in east london which was considered to be anti—semitic. the labour leader had expressed his opposition to the mural‘s removal, later admitting he hadn't realised what it was portraying. he apologised. shame on you! protesters also clashed

in parliament square on more than one occasion, angered by how the party was handling the situation. labour mps spoke of the anti—semitic abuse they have suffered over the years. denial is not an option. prevarication is not an option. chanting: oh jeremy corbyn! the row continued over the summer, with members of the ruling national executive committee being forced to resign over comments they had made, and an argument broke out over the party's adopted definition of anti—semitism. they finally accepted both the international holocaust remembrance alliance definition and their examples into the code of conduct, but only after lots of criticism from within the party. there were more casualties. both frank field and john woodcock, who were facing their own challenges, cited the party's approach to anti—semitism as reasons they could no longer support labour. jeremy corbyn hoped to draw

a line under the issue with his conference speech. i say this to all the jewish community — this party, this movement — we will always be implacable campaigners against racism and anti—semitism in all its forms. we are your allies. but hang on — we're getting ahead of ourselves. theresa may had to deal with a major incident in march when sergei skripal, a former military officer in russia, and his daughter yulia, were poisoned by novichok in salisbury. either this was a direct act by the russian state against our country, or the russian government lost control over this catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others. jeremy corbyn wasn't as quick to condemn russia, and asked for more evidence. we need to seek a robust dialogue

with russia on all of the issues currently dividing our countries, domestic and international, rather than simply cutting off contact and letting the tensions and divisions get worse, and potentially even more dangerous. theresa may went on to name the russian suspects as military agents, and along with other eu countries, she expelled russian diplomats. in march, snow forced theresa may to give her third major brexit speech in london instead of newcastle. the mansion house speech set out five tests for a uk—eu trade deal, and put a little flesh on the bones of her vision for britain's future relationship with europe. we know what we want, we understand your principles, we have a shared interest in getting this right, so let's get on with it. later that month, michel barnier and david davis agreed on a large

part of the withdrawal agreement, including the two—year transition period, and eu leaders formally approved guidelines for the negotiation of future relations with the uk after brexit. labour, meanwhile, set out their vision for brexit. they said they wanted to remain in a newly negotiated customs union, while still having a say in future trade deals. in april, theresa mayjoined forces with france and the us to order air strikes on syria after a suspected chemical attack there. but she didn't go to parliament and seek mps' approval, which angered many. the prime minister. she later went on to win a symbolic vote. the way we protect our national interest is to stand up for the global rules and standards that keep us safe. this statement serves as a reminder that the prime minister

is accountable to this parliament, not to the whims of the us president. the windrush generation came to national prominence when it emerged that some were facing deportation and being denied access to public services. one minute, i'm going back to a country which i know nothing about. you know, as far as i know, this is my home. home secretary, will you resign over windrush? amber rudd, the home secretary, resigned after claiming she didn't know about immigration removal targets in the home office. but documents later revealed she had been told. sajid javid replaced her, pledging to correct the windrush mistakes. a statue commemorating the life of the suffragist millicent fawcett was unveiled in parliament square. she campaigned for women's right to vote, and her statue marked the first woman to be commemorated there. local elections took place in may,

with labour gaining more than 70 councillors, but no change to the number of councils they control. the conservatives lost around 30 councillors. but it was ukip who suffered the worst defeats. they were almost wiped out, retaining just three councillors. objection taken. object. and, with just one word, a proposal to outlaw upskirting, where you take a picture looking up the person's skirt, was stopped. the private member's bill was proposed, but failed when conservative mp christopher chope blocked it. he said he didn't object to the bill, but didn't approve of the procedure. many of his colleagues disagreed with him. the government later introduced a bill outlawing it. injune, parliament voted to approve a third runway at heathrow. that prompted the resignation of the trade minister, greg hands.

borisjohnson, who was also against the expansion, flew to afghanistan to avoid having to vote on the plan. june also saw another ministerial casualty. have you told the prime minister why you are resigning? i'll be issuing a statement shortly. thejustice minister philip lee resigned over brexit, calling for another referendum. brexit was starting to cause theresa may a real headache, as another of her backbenchers, dominic grieve, proposed an amendment to strengthen the so—called meaningful vote. it required that the government follow directions from parliament if mps rejected her deal. got that? the european union withdrawal bill passed its second reading after dominic grieve found an 11th—hour compromise against the government and voted against his own amendment. sick mps were summoned to vote, and questions were asked whether parliament had lost its dignity. at the height of summer — it seems a long time ago now —

the cabinet met at the prime minister's country retreat, chequers, to agree her plan. the cabinet has agreed our collective position on the future of negotiations with eu. the chequers plan proposed an independent trade policy that allowed the uk the ability to set its own non—eu tariffs and negotiate its own trade deals, as well as an end to large annual payments to the eu and the acceptance of a common rule book for goods. but not all the cabinet had signed up to the deal. two days later, the brexit secretary david davis followed up on a threat he had made earlier in the year to resign. he was followed out of the door by borisjohnson, who said in his resignation letter that we appear to be heading for a semi—brexit. following them were another eight junior ministers or aides, and theresa may's backbenchers made theirfeelings known, too. within 48 hours of the prime minister's statement on friday,

i received 300 e—mails, disheartened, dismayed, and telling me that democracy is dead. brexit will no longer mean brexit. it will mean the commission, where we have no vote, regulating our business forever. theresa may reshuffled her cabinet, making dominic raab her brexit secretary and jeremy hunt foreign secretary. she'd barely had time to draw breath before the american president, donald trump, arrived for a long—awaited visit, but not the state visit he had initially been invited to. perhaps the uk has left the eu. i don't know what they're going to do, but whatever you do is ok with me, that's your decision. he arrived having made critical comments of the chequers plan and supportive noises about boris johnson. but there were protests, including this giant baby trump balloon, which london mayor sadiq khan approved to fly over westminster. before parliament broke up for the summer recess,

there were still some votes on the customs bill to get through. the european research group of conservative brexiteers had started to make life difficult for the prime minister by tabling amendments that they said would prevent the government pursuing what they saw as a soft brexit. the government supported those amendments and the bill narrowly passed, but they were accused of caving in to threats by the erg. some even talked about chequers being dead. never one to let things get her down, theresa may turned her hand to dance floor diplomacy on a trade trip to africa. not once but twice, she got her groove on, proving there was more to life than brexit. the green party elected a new co—leader. sian berry won the contest after caroline lucas stood down. jonathan barclay, the other co—leader, was re—elected. the former first minister of scotland and leader of the snp

alex salmond resigned from his party after claims of sexual misconduct were made against him. he denied the allegations, but said he would resign to avoid any potential tensions within the party, which had faced calls to suspend him. september brought a new parliamentary term and a new political programme, politics live. joining me today, former home secretary amber rudd... we made a splash with our first show, with an all—female panel and amber rudd's first major tv interview since resigning. with no major progress on brexit being announced over the summer, the conservative backbench erg group again started to pressurise the prime minister. they published an alternative plan for the irish border based on technological solutions. i commend it to you for its common sense, its practicality, its effectiveness. but there was also speculation

that they would try to force theresa may out. i have long said, and repeated again and again, that i think the policy needs to be changed, but i am supporting the person. theresa may headed to salzburg for a much—hyped eu summit to sell her brexit plan. but, after a heated meeting, she was told... everybody shared the view that, while there are positive elements in the chequers proposal, the suggested framework for economic co—operation will not work. throughout this process, i have treated the eu with nothing but respect. the uk expects the same. so it was back to the drawing board for theresa may. the conference season gave all the parties a chance to regroup. labour clarified its position on brexit once again. jeremy corbyn said his party would call for a general election if parliament voted down the deal agreed by the prime minister

and the eu, but he added that all options are on the table. but if you can't negotiate that deal, then you need to make way for a party that can and will. divisions emerged, and shadow brexit secretary sir keir starmer said he wouldn't rule out another referendum. our options must include campaigning for a public vote, and nobody is ruling out remain as an option. for the conservatives, it was boris johnson's fringe speech that drew the biggest crowds. he criticised the prime minister's brexit plans, and speculation mounted that it was the start of his leadership bid. there is time. this is the moment to chuck chequers. the surprise star of conservative conference was the attorney general,

geoffrey cox. we will leave the european union. he boomed his way through an eloquent introduction to the prime minister. music: dancing queen by abba. theresa may danced her way onto the stage to abba's dancing queen. after last year's speech, where everything seemed to go wrong, it could only be an improvement. she told her party that better days were ahead, and that austerity was coming to an end. because, a decade after the financial crash, people need to know that the austerity it led to is over, and that their hard work has paid off. but brexit was about to shatter theresa may's post—conference high. the dup, on whom she relies for votes in parliament, threatened to vote against the budget if extra checks were imposed on trade between northern ireland

and the rest of the uk. we have been telling people about our red line. so what is important for us is to say to her very clearly that any impediment on the two—way access in the uk single market would not be good for the union, and would not be good for the economy of northern ireland. tensions were also rising in the cabinet, and rumours swirled about more possible resignations. no—one is planning on resigning. we're all doing ourjobs, and we're trying to get the best deal for this country. then, at another eu summit, theresa may suggested a longer transition or implementation period may be required. it is an idea at this stage to create an option to extend the implementation period for a matter of months. the most common phrase to me is, "just get on with it". order. john bercow announced he would step down as the speaker of the commons next summer, following a report on the failure

of high—level figures to tackle bullying in westminster. in his budget, the chancellor, philip hammond, reiterated theresa may's conference speech. i can report to the british people that their hard work is paying off, and the era of austerity is finally coming to an end. he spent a windfall from better public finances on more money for universal credit and bringing forward planned income tax cuts by a year. november, and jo johnson, brother of boris, resigned as transport minister. he called for another referendum. at present, the deal is incoherent on its own terms, and that's why it's so important for the public to have a say. and then, after one of the longest and most significant cabinet meetings of modern times, ministers agreed to support theresa may's plans for leaving the eu. but the collective decision of cabinet was that the government

should agree the draft withdrawal agreement and the outlying political declaration. this is a decisive step. the prime minister warned that the draft withdrawal agreement was the best on offer, but not everyone was happy. it certainly does not appear that we will be able to support it, because it breaches the red line. the next day, theresa may lost her second brexit secretary. dominic raab resigned, saying he now could not support the deal. if you look at what has been proposed, it's not only damaging to the economy, but it's impossible to reconcile with the promises we made at the last election. good morning, minister. are you going to resign? he was closely followed by the work and pensions secretary, esther mcvey, and other junior ministers. prime minister, is it not the case that you are in office, but you are not in power? i am going to do myjob of getting the best deal for britain. statement, the prime minister. and it was then back to the commons,

for the prime minister to sell her deal to parliament. she received little support from her backbenchers or dup partners. she clearly doesn't listen. as what my right honourable friend says and what my right honourable friend does no longer match, should i not write to my right honourable friend the member for altrincham and sale west? this backstop is completely intolerable, and i feel confident that, even in the unlikely event that legislation for it reaches this house, it will be ferociously opposed. there seems to be a certain interest in today's proceedings. a group of tory brexiteers decided now was their moment, and tried to trigger a leadership challenge, by encouraging colleagues to submit letters to the chairman of the backbench 1922 committee. many claimed they no longer had confidence in theresa may. but the group failed to get the required number of mps to back their plan at this stage.

how's the newjob? stephen barclay was named as the new brexit secretary, and amber rudd returned to the cabinet as work and pensions secretary. and, finally, after more than 18 months of negotiations, eu leaders endorsed the brexit withdrawal agreement. but that didn't stop speculation around how long theresa may could continue as prime minister, or whether she would be able to get the deal signed off by parliament. she embarked on a tour of the uk to try and sell the deal to the public, but was criticised for not trying harder with her own mps. the ayes to the right, 311. the noes to the left, 293. the government suffered three successive defeats in parliament, something that hasn't happened for 40 years. in an unprecedented move, the government was found to be in contempt of parliament, and forced to publish the attorney general‘s legal advice to cabinet. mps were also given more powers if the government's plan fails in parliament.

theresa may then opened what was meant to be five days of debate on the withdrawal agreement. and, with my whole heart, i commend this motion to the house. but it was a struggle. promises of taking back control, from a government that is so out of control. beneath the camouflage, we find the same old eu institutions as the customs union and the single market. we should have a people's vote, with an option to remain in the european union, and we will campaign to remain in the european union. we believe that is in the national interest. i will not vote for this deal on any other basis than it goes to the people for their approval. the day before the meaningful vote was supposed to be held, theresa may decided to pull it, accepting she was staring defeat in the face. there was anger and outrage in parliament, and brussels said the deal was done and couldn't be reopened. if we held the vote tomorrow, the deal would be rejected by a significant margin.

as theresa may embarked on a whistle—stop tour of european capitals to try and get reassurances on the backstop, her backbenchers were plotting against her. in the last 20 minutes or so, it's been confirmed that theresa may is to face a leadership challenge, after enough mps backed a vote of no—confidence. it is for me to inform and consult with the prime minister, i did that over the telephone last night, and then to proceed with a ballot as soon as is reasonably practical. on the grass in front of parliament, pro and anti theresa may supporters lined up to make their pitches to the cameras. but, at 9pm on the dot, graham brady, chairman of the 1922 backbench committee, announced... the parliamentary party does have confidence in theresa may. applause. this has been a long and challenging day. but at the end of it, i'm pleased to have received

the backing of my colleagues in tonight's ballot. whilst i'm grateful for that support, a significant number of colleagues did cast a vote against me, and i have listened to what they said. as a major concession, theresa may had agreed not to go into the next general election as the conservative party leader. but even this wasn't enough for some. of course i accept this result. but the prime minister must realise that, under all constitutional norms, she ought to go and see the queen urgently and resign. for theresa may, it was back to business as usual, as she headed to brussels to try and get reassurances from eu leaders on the irish backstop. but, in a late—night press conference, she was slapped down by the eu. we can add some clarifications, as donald was explaining, to what has been agreed upon, but there will be no renegotiations. after having it out with jean—claude juncker, theresa may left the summit empty—handed.

the government said the debate and meaningful vote on the brexit deal would not be brought before parliament until january. the prime minister ran away... forjeremy corbyn, this was not good enough, and after some toing and froing, he tabled a motion calling for a vote of no—confidence in the prime minister herself. i'm about to table a motion which says the following — that this house has no confidence in the prime minister. but not the big parliamentary bazooka — a binding vote of no confidence in the whole government, which other opposition parties were calling for. downing street dismissed the move as a silly political gimmick and refused to make time for such a vote. another memorable 12 months, with brexit as yet unresolved, continuing into 2019 and probably beyond. politics live will be here to guide you through. until then, i'm off for a rest. the weather has been pretty quiet

through the christmas period is and has not cause too many problems if you have been on the move. the rest of the day and overnight will be quiet, minnie driver the most part. quite a bit cloud around, with some noticeable exceptions. having caps to the cloud on the eastern side of the pennines and to the south—west. this quiet spell is due to this area of high pressure. out in the atlantic, we are awaiting the arrival of a weather front which will begin to make itself known in

northern ireland and scotland overnight. the same the fog, which may not have gone away from one of two spot in the south—west, will be more expensive in the dawn in the southern counties. further north, you have to wait for the passage of this weather front. it will move away fairly smartly from mainland british isles to leave behind a brighter prospect. a better prospect of seeing some sunshine on friday, with temperatures getting on quite nicely up to 12 degrees. the fog may linger on in the southern counties. from friday into the weekend, the high pressure still doing of stuff for the southern half of the british isles, a different story for the north. we have these weather fronts bringing thicker cloud and a better chance of rain across the greater

pa rt chance of rain across the greater part of scotland, northern ireland, and coming into the western side of the pennines, maybe the top end of wales. quite a bit of cloud arrived at the best of the brightness to the eastern side of the pennines and again it will be quite mild, apart from the very north of scotland. someday, not a great deal of change. something of the west, east split. slides in western parts, the best of the brightness to the east. if you have plans, the weather should not get in the way. 13 degrees is very good with the time of year. on towards new year's eve, still dry, largely cloudy, but it will be mild. this is bbc news. the headlines: in iceland, three british tourists, including a child, have died after their vehicle crashed while crossing a bridge. four others are critically injured. an increase in hospital parking charges — new data suggests 4 in 10 nhs hospitals in england put up their fees in the last year.

my friends's mother is dying, i have been into drop some stuff off, and it hasjust cost me £3. a woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the deaths of two young children in margate, kent. britain's most senior police officer says a "no—deal" brexit would potentially put the public at risk. we would hope that we will have as much as possible the instruments we currently have or something very similar, as quickly