you're watching bbc newsroom live — it's11am and these are the main stories this morning. mps who don't want to leave the eu without a deal will try to limit the government's ability to prepare for it without —— in the event of a no deal brexit. police say they'll deal robustly with anyone who commits a criminal offence outside parliament — after a conservative mp was confronted yesterday. crowd: soubry is a nazi! soubry is a nazi! well, apologies to you if you're offended by that. ijust think this is astonishing. the former first minister alex salmond arrives at court for a hearing, as part of his legal challenge against the scottish government over its handling of sexual misconduct complaints against him. some child victims of sexual assault are being failed by privately run forensics centres — that's according to a bbc investigation. and three—quarters of penguins that end up stranded on south america's coast every year are female — now scientists think they know why. good morning.

welcome to bbc newsroom live. i'm joanna gosling. cabinet ministers are at downing street this morning for their first meeting of the new year — and it's expected to be dominated by the latest developments over brexit. theresa may is still trying to drum up support across all parties for her withdrawal deal from the eu, with a crucial commons vote just a week away. let's take a look at the main events today. that cabinet meeting is still under way. this afternoon, the commons debates the finance bill. mps who don't want the uk to leave the eu without a deal have tabled an amendment that would limit the government's ability to raise taxes if it happened. later today, the prime minister is due to meet some of those 200 mps who signed a letter urging her to rule out no deal. and more than 50 mps have written to the metropolitan police commissioner cressida dick,

calling on her to take action against abusive protesters outside parliament, after confrontations following tv interviews yesterday. our correspondent norman smith is at westminster. those efforts today to try to put more pressure on theresa may to explicitly rule out no deal. are they likely to get anywhere? they may well do because today we get a symbolic trial of strength between mrs may and those mps on all sides of the house opposed to no deal. they will not be able to stop no deal but they can make it harder for the government to go down the road towards no deal without a parliamentary vote. it will be a symbolic show of strength and we will get indication of the level of opposition in parliament to the idea

ofa no opposition in parliament to the idea of a no deal. and we are beginning to see the formation of cross—party alliances between groups of mps unhappy with mrs may's approach, albeit the brexit secretary stephen barclay this morning insisting that if the deal is voted down, the only option is no deal. i think the amendment to the finance bill is illogical, because many mps, a clear majority of the house, voted to trigger article 50. they also voted to give the public their say in the referendum. and the consequence of article 50 is there is a two—year period, at the end of which we either leave with a deal, and the european leaders have been clear that the only deal on the table is that — after two years of negotiation — negotiated by the prime minister. or it is no deal. and so for members of parliament, the majority of whom voted to trigger article 50, have to accept that the consequence of their own vote is we either leave with the only deal available, or with no deal. therefore i think it is

an illogical amendment. iamjoined by i am joined by one of those mps, dominic grieve, who signed the amendment. what will it achieve if you victorious? it will ensure the government cannot use powers in the finance bill to deal with the fiscal consequences of a no—deal brexit without getting parliamentary approval first. it provides a mechanism by which the government would have to come back to parliament to get parliament's agreement and as there is anxiety about a no—deal brexit and a majority in the house of commons who believe it will be catastrophic for our country, it provides an extra check moment when the government would have to consult parliament. behind this, the real anxiety is the extent to which there have been attem pts extent to which there have been attempts at marginalising parliament's roll, attempts at marginalising pa rliament‘s roll, trying attempts at marginalising parliament's roll, trying to ensure the government does not have to get

the government does not have to get the house of commons' ascent. this isa the house of commons' ascent. this is a way which the house of commons puts doubt a marker —— puts down a marker and says this matters and if you move in that direction you have to get our agreement. do you believe theresa may is serious about no deal, or is this a game of bluff to get mps to back the deal?|j deal, or is this a game of bluff to get mps to back the deal? i have given up speculating on that. my hope is if the prime minister cannot get the deal through parliament she will consult the commons about the best course of action and i think if she does that i don't think no deal will be a viable option because i think parliament will oppose it and i have always been in favour of having a consultation with the public and asking them if they want the prime minister's deal and putting them to the alternative option of remaining because i think public opinion is evolving on this issue. whichever direction we go parliament needs to be consulted and

the anxiety in the house of commons is the idea we are on an inevitable down escalator taking us to no deal, and that is what you are seeing being reflected in the way which the house of commons is putting down these amendments. we heard from the business minister richard harrington suggesting that if theresa may went down the road towards no deal, he would resign and other medallist —— other ministers might do the same. what would be the consequences were theresa may were seen to be heading towards no deal? i do not see how the government would survive such a process , the government would survive such a process, i think it would founder andi process, i think it would founder and i think ministers would resign and i think ministers would resign and the government lose its parliamentary majority. this is not something i wish to see, i want to keep the government afloat in so far asi keep the government afloat in so far as i can and therefore it is important that if this deal, which the prime minister negotiated in

good faith. i acknowledge the effo rts good faith. i acknowledge the efforts she has made but i think it is flawed and if it is rejected, i wa nt is flawed and if it is rejected, i want the prime minister to come back and listen to what the house of commons collectively is saying on this matter. dominic grieve, thank you. an indication of the scale of opposition the government faces and i understand they are still considering whether to put this to a vote, whether to challenge the amendment or to accept it in the awareness that there is mounting support for this amendment. we will have to see how that comes out through the course of the day. thank you. that is the view from westminster. let's get the latest now from brussels — and from dublin — as theresa may tries to avert defeat on her withdrawal agreement in the commons next week. in a moment will talk to chris page in belfas. to adam fleming in brussels. there are reports there are

conversations about the possibility of extending article 50 but here the government insisting it has no intention to do that. what is the latest from there? the telegraph reports british officials, we do not know where and what level, maybe had tentative conversations about extending article 50, the time period for negotiations to take place. we do not know if that has d eftly place. we do not know if that has deftly happened. it is not government policy, although it is a possibility, because article 50 which governs the process says that a departing country can pass to extend the two—year period and the other 27 countries could agree to it. it has been discussed in public and private by the 27 since the process started. mostly along the lines of the facts they would be prepared to grant an extension of article 50 if more time was needed to wrap up the brexit deal in the uk, or if there was a massive change

in the political weather in the uk, like another referendum, election, a change of the government view of how brexit should be dealt with. the government focus is on getting more reassu ra nces government focus is on getting more reassurances from the eu about the brexit deal and in particular the backstop, back—up plan for avoiding a hard border in northern ireland. i asked about map to the brexit minister and about extending article 50 when he arrived in brussels this morning. delighted to be here for the first meeting of 2019, first under the romanian presidency. we have a number of important items on the agenda. with regard to the situation in london, of course, we are all focused in the government on winning parliamentary support in the vote that is coming up next week. the prime minister will be updating parliament tomorrow, and she will be talking about the existing clarifications, the reassurances that parliament is seeking, that the backstop will not be permanent. are there going to be

new reassurances and will that come in the form of a letter? well, let's wait and see what the prime minister has to say tomorrow. obviously she has had a number of important discussions over the christmas break, with other european leaders. i'm sure she will want to update parliament at the appropriate time. have you talked to anyone on the eu side about extending article 50, or the concept of extending it? no. we are very clear, the policy of the government is that article 50 will not be extended. we are leaving the eu on the 29th of march this year, because that is what article 50 says, that's what parliament voted for, and that's now what domestic british legislation says as well. the eu is prepared to reassure the uk about the brexit deal because thatis uk about the brexit deal because that is what they have done already ata summit that is what they have done already at a summit before christmas when theyissued at a summit before christmas when they issued written conclusions saying in their view the backstop would only be temporary and they

would only be temporary and they would still continue to negotiate a trade deal with the uk to get rid of the backstop even after it came into force and crucially that the backstop is not their preferred option. they do not want it to come into place. it is an insurer ‘s policy, that was the point made by a lot of eu leaders, such as president obama of france, repeated again today by his minister arriving in brussels. is there a new way you could prove to british members of parliament you do not want to use the backstop? we have said it repeatedly. the president said it at the end of the previous european council. indeed, we want to have a fruitful, profitable relationship with the united kingdom in the future. so the backstop is a last resort solution. there is no new insurance is coming? they are

political insurances but there is nothing more we can do. the withdrawal agreement is a good agreement for the uk and eu and we should stick to it. it's as like the eu will issue clarifications to reinforce aspects in the deal which they think may be have been misunderstood in the uk. there has been diplomatic activity in dublin. we can get the latest on that from chris page in belfast. it is all about brexit the border and backstop in dublin this morning. the german foreign minister is in town to speak ata foreign minister is in town to speak at a conference at which many foreign ambassadors have attended. every time you get a senior european politician in dublin, the message that tends to come out is that the other eu member states are behind ireland and the backstop and they are saying the backstop is an insurance policy and they do not

wa nt insurance policy and they do not want it to have to come in and that is something that has been consistent whenever you have had senior ministers speaking about this but they say the backstop is necessary and they will not budge on that. this morning in dublin there is no exception, no deviation from that message. we can hear what's the irish foreign minister had to say. the border in the island of ireland is an eu border with uk as well as an irish border with the uk. and so the compromises that have been achieved that come work for everybody, written, ireland and the rest of the eu, are those that i do not think will change —— in britain. we have felt no pressure to change them and it is important to reinforce that message in the context of the debate taking place in westminster this week. repetition of the position of the irish government that they are

prepared to provide written reassu ra nces to prepared to provide written reassurances to look at the political declaration, the non—legally binding document but the legally binding bit, the withdrawal agreement, they are not prepared to accept any changes ought to reopen negotiations on the content of that text. that is the problem for theresa may. the backstop has been a major reason there has been so much parliamentary opposition to this. it would mean the whole of the eu would remain ina would mean the whole of the eu would remain in a customs partnership... the eu would remain in a customs partnership which would mean the uk could not negotiate some trade deals and also northern ireland would continue to follow some parts of the single market which is not a cce pta ble single market which is not acceptable in particular to the democratic unionists. some breaking news. we are hearing the scottish government has admitted

it did not follow correct procedures while investigating sexual harassment claims against alex salmond. the allegations were made a year ago and he denied them. the government admitted it breached its own guidelines by appointing an investigating officer who had prior involvement in the case and as a result it admits defeat in its legal battle with alex salmond. this is happening at the court of session in edinburgh. it is still ongoing. we think, the hearing. maybejust about finished. we are waiting to hear from alex salmond's solicitor outside the court, as well as alex salmond himself and our correspondent has been covering these events. the legal challenge centred on an official appointed by the scottish government to investigate complaints against alex

salmond. the government said it did not accept claims by alex salmond's legal team that the officer who was investigating the allegations had effectively been assisting complainers and giving them encouragement, but it did admit the investigating officer had some contact with the complainers before being appointed to the case and as a result of that, the government accepted there was a failure in one aspect of the investigation, although the government's lawyer told the court the investigating officer was a dedicated hr professional. alex salmond's case focused on the fairness of the government procedures and so it now means a four—day hearing that had been due to start at the court of session in edinburgh next week will now not go ahead. the allegations against alex salmond dating back to

2013, when he was still first minister. he described the claims as patenting the ridiculous. —— painterly. lorna gordon, this case against alex salmond has effectively been thrown out? yes, this was a procedural hearing into the procedures used by the scottish government over allegations of sexual harassment by alex salmond backin sexual harassment by alex salmond back in 2013, allegations that he strongly denied. this was not a hearing to do with the substance of the complaints, but about the procedures followed by the scottish government. alex salmond was in court to hear the arguments made in a very dense hour of legal discussion. we heard why in the end

it was agreed that the probe into alex salmond was unfair and unlawful and the investigation report be struck down. in essence the arguments with this, alex salmond's legal team said the government handling of the case against him was unlawful, they said because it was procedurally unfair and tainted by apparent bias. their motion was the case be dismissed and the two sides agreed to it. mr clancy, mr salmond's qc, said the investigating officer in this case had prior involvement in the case before being appointed to investigate it. he said documents had shown there was a significant amount of direct personal contact with the complainers about the substance of the complaints before the investigating officer was appointed.", said this was bordering

on encouragement to proceed with formal complaints. he also said the investigating officer was actively involved in drafting the scottish government's new complaints procedure. these arguments were accepted procedure. these arguments were a cce pted by procedure. these arguments were accepted by the scottish government's lawyers in the sense that they said, they emphasised this had nothing to do with the merits of the complaints against mr salmond, a game complaints alex salmond denied but they accept in relation to this one specific aspect of the investigation, the arguments being made, were fair and on that sends the case must fall. they were keen to point out the investigating officer is they said a dedicated human resources professional. they said she was not employed by the government at the time of the alleged incident back in 2013 and they said there was no suggestion she acted in anything but good faith

but they conceded there was material contact between the complainers and individual before she was appointed. they did not accepted amounted to encouragement, but they accepted the contact encouragement, but they accepted the co nta ct was encouragement, but they accepted the contact was there. they did not accept this would result in any actual bias, but they conceded there had to be no impression of bias left. a significant ruling and we expect the former first minister alex salmond to make a statement here and in front of the court of session, within the next few minutes. there is considerable media interests. the courtroom was packed. a camera was allowed into film the proceedings. significant also i think that damages were... costs we re think that damages were... costs were awarded against him back could... awarded in his favour, rather, which could be as high as

half £1 million so we expect alex salmond comment on this within the next few minutes but the scottish government keen to say this is about procedure and not the complaints, dating back to 2013, the run—up to the scottish referendum. complaints that alex salmond has vigorously denied. where does this leave those allegations now? does it all go away? there is a separate police investigation into those allegations made of sexual harassment by two female civil servants working in the scottish government. alex salmond has robustly, continuously denied those allegations, back in august, when they first emerged, he said, i am no saint, but i am not guilty in any sense of what has been suggested. that police investigation

into those allegations continues. but, it seems as if the scottish government's investigation into those... and this will need clarification as we digest further what has happened in court this morning. but as part of the settlement, it seems the complaints against mr salmond, the investigation into those complaints by the scottish government, has been set aside. that is significant in the sense that the investigation was procedurally flawed, but how the scottish government setting aside of that investigation conducted over the past 12 months impacts on the police investigation, what seems unlikely, because they are parallel and distinct processes ongoing at this point. thank you. we will leave

for now but when alex salmond appears we will listen to what he has to say. scotland yard has said police will deal ‘robustly‘ with people suspected of committing criminal offences outside the houses of parliament. more than 50 mps had written to the metropolitan police commissioner to express their "serious concerns" about the "deteriorating public order and security situation" — after the conservative mp anna soubry was branded a "nazi" by protesters during a live tv interview about brexit yesterday. keith doyle reports. liar, liar! directly opposite the palace of westminster is an area where mps regularly come to do media interviews. it's a public place and often the scene of protests, protests which mps say are becoming increasingly intimidatory and even a security risk. soubry is a liar! this was the abuse faced by conservative mp anna soubry yesterday. i do object to being called a nazi, actually. crowd: soubry is a nazi! right, well, apologies to you if you're offended by what you're listening to, but...

sorry, ijust think this is astonishing. this is what has happened to our country. a leading voice for remain in the brexit debate, the mp faced further taunts on the way back into parliament. dozens of mps have now written to the metropolitan police commissioner, saying they are increasingly concerned about the deteriorating public order and security situation outside parliament. support for action has also come from cabinet ministers. we've got to make sure that mps and, indeed, all of us, can make these arguments about the future of our country, which people feel very strongly, and even if they disagree, disagree in a reasonable and a civilised way. it's absolutely vital that we solve that problem, and if that means measures by the police, then i'd be all in favour of them. after being called a liar and a nazi by some protesters, anna soubry has called on the police to do theirjob. scotland yard has said it now

is investigating whether any criminal offence has been committed. keith doyle, bbc news. the letter to the met police chief cressida dick was coordinated by the labour mp for cardiff south and penarth, stephen doughty. he told the victoria derbyshire programme about the kind of abuse he has had to endure. why should i put up with being called a batty boy? why should i be told i deserve to die, hang, be shot or stabbed, not least when a good friend of mine was murdered. this behaviour is not acceptable. if we are allowed to add caveats such as they are mps, celebrities, they deserve it. look at what happened to jo cox and jill dando and many people in the public eye and public service every week. the assaults on train workers, nurses and doctors

and police. if we accept it is fair game because you put yourself in the public eye, we are going to descend asa public eye, we are going to descend as a country into an ugly place. we have to take tough action. don't forget — you can let us know what you think about the verbal abuse and protests taking place at westminster — tweet us... every year, thousands of penguins become stranded on south america's coast — and most of them are females. why it happens has been a mystery for years, but now scientists believe they may have found the answer. our science reporter laura foster has the story. magellanic penguins mate for life but every year, when breeding season is over, they head to the water to feed. not much was known about where they went until recently, when a team of scientists used trackers to follow a small group and found the males and females went their separate ways. they found the males, who are bigger and thought to be stronger swimmers, would head to deeper water, whereas the females

travelled farther, preferring to search for food in shallow places. the researchers say that travelling further means they're more likely to run into trouble. they usually appear stranded on the beach once they die at sea. and other times they arrive to the coast in bad condition, because they were not able to get enough food, and so they go to the beach to die. it's not known exactly what causes these strandings but the fishing industry and man—made pollution is often blamed. although magellanic penguins aren't endangered, fewer females could affect future numbers. the team in patagonia are going to continue studying the same group to learn more about the routes they take to see what more can be done to assist the penguins. simon has the weather.

it is sunny across parts of the uk, welcome i imagine after a relatively cloudy start to 2019. this is the scene in warwickshire. plenty of sunshine across the uk. more cloud in eastern scotland and the odd shower here. cloud across wales, south—west england and northern ireland but for modes, dry and sunny. the win not as strong as yesterday. —— for most. it will feel colder compared to yesterday with temperatures about 6—9. tonight we continues to see cloud in western areas and the chance of a shower. cloud in northern ireland. it will keep up temperatures but you can see the parts where damages will fall below freezing. a bit of a frosty start to wednesday. plenty of sunshine but more cloud across

northern ireland, western scotland, eastern coasts of england and feeling colder with a high of 5—7. hello this is bbc newsroom live with joanna gosling. the headlines: mps who don't want to leave the eu without a deal will try to limit the government's ability to prepare for it without parliamentary approval. — — a ccess —— access to money in the wake of a no—deal brexit. police say they'll deal robustly with anyone who commits a criminal offence outside parliament, after a conservative mp was confronted yesterday. crowd: soubry is a nazi! soubry is a nazi! well, apologies to you if you're offended by that. ijust think this is astonishing. the scottish government admits it did not follow the correct procedures, while investigating sexual harassment claims against former first minister alex salmond. some child victims of sexual assault are being failed by privately—run forensics centres — that's according to a bbc investigation. and, three quarters of penguins that end up stranded on south america's coast every year

are female — now scientists think they know why. sport now, here's katherine. good morning. wolves will play either stoke or shrewsbury in the fourth round of the fa cup — that's after they knocked liverpool out of the competition last night. the premier league leaders fielded a weaker team for the tie — and that decision was punished by wolves — reuben neves with the superb winner. it's the first time wolves have beaten liverpool at home for 38 years. i think we did well against a very good team. we played well. that is how we want to play every game. sometimes it's difficult, but we showed again that we are a great group, a great squad, and we can do very good things. all my responsibility, really, no rhythm, so it looks sometimes like that.

you still expect a bit more, that would we did in the second half, scored and shot from a long range. the ball is in, 2—1. that is pretty much the story of the game. the draw for the fourth round produced one stand—out tie — arsenal against manchester united. arsenal are the most successful side in fa cup history — they've won it 13 times, most recently two years ago — but that's only once more than manchester united, so we should be in for a treat. there are a couple of other ties worth a mention — non—league barnet, the lowest—ranked side left in the competition, are at home to brentford. and newport county's reward for knocking out leicester is a trip to middlesbrough of the championship. yes, it is a long journey, a tough game. it would be good to see tony pulis, the newport man, who is in charge. it is a game we will look forward to. hopefully they are concentrating on going for promotion and getting back into the premier league. they are a big club and they take their eye off the ball and we have a very good day

and surprise them again. stoke city have sacked manager gary rowett, only eight months after he took charge. they're mid—table in the championship and that draw with league one side shrewsbury in the fa cup at the weekend seems to have been the tipping point. all members of his coaching staff have also left — stoke say they want to appoint rowett‘s successor as quickly as possible. england have named a 28—strong women's squad for the upcoming eight—day training camp in qatar. among those returning from injury is birmingham city striker ellen white, england's player of the year last season and the league's top scorer — she's been out of action for the past few weeks with a back problem. the lionesses travel to doha on tuesday to continue their preparations for next month's shebelieves cup in the united states and the world cup in france this summer. one of england's gold medal winners from april's commonwealth games returns to the netball squad for their last test before the world cup later this year. shooterjo harten was a core member of the side that beat australia to take the title and after three

months out with a knee injury, she's back for the quad series, which starts on sunday. england will be taking on the best sides in the world — south africa, new zealand and australia. serena guthrie captains the side, as ama agbeze is still injured. we're expecting padraig harrington to be confirmed as europe's next ryder cup captain this afternoon. harrington has been vice—captain for the last three contests and he's the overwhelming favourite to take over from thomas bjorn. europe face the usa at whistling straits in wisconsin, in september of next year. the announcement, at one o'clock, will be streamted live on all the major social media platforms and the ryder cup website. we will bring you that announcement on bbc news as soon as we can. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. £16 million of government money will be given to a charity to train 900 new children's social

workers in england. the department for education is handing over the cash to social work charity frontline over the next two years, to fund the places on its training programme for graduates and people changing their careers. i'm joined now byjosh macallister — he's ceo of the social work charity frontline. welcome, thank you for coming in. 900 new social workers, is that enough to deal with the workload that they are facing? it is no silver bullet, but it is an important part of improving social work, which is one of the most important professionals for working with vulnerable children and their families. it means that by 2020, which is when the funding that is being announced today will start, one in ten new qualified social workers in england will come through frontline, which is significant.

workers in england will come through frontline, which is significantm is an area that has had a bad rap, considering what has happened in previous cases involving kids. is it difficult to attract people into this difficult area for people to go into? it is a profession that isn't hugely well understood by the public. what we have found in the last five years since setting up the frontline programme is that we have been able to change the way in which people see and perceive a career in children and family social work. we are now one of the top graduate professions for graduates and career changes to going to. we are ranked above facebook, microsoft and the army, which is surprising to people, but i think... in terms of the number of graduates coming forward? in terms of the perception people have as a career choice, we are now number 26 have as a career choice, we are now number26 in the have as a career choice, we are now number 26 in the high—flyers

graduate careers list. how have you turned that around ? graduate careers list. how have you turned that around? we have gone to university campuses and speaking to career changers the last five years through a recruitment campaign we have been running. we have consistently at least ten applications for every place we have running. this all matters, because this is ruggedly one of the most important professions in the country, being able to build a relationship with the police, the courts, really build a great relationship with a family that is in difficult circumstances, to do things that are extremely difficult and rewarding and requires the best people to come into it. this is why we are delighted with this announcement. the chief executive of the british association of social workers and says she is concerned too many social workers are leaving early in their career. it is one

thing to attract people, it is another thing to get them to stay full stop this is why frontline is only one part of the answer. what we have seen is that there is a big difference between local authorities, which is where social workers work. when a local authority gives social workers a manageable number of families and children to be responsible for, when they got lots of supervision and support, when they are able to focus on doing the direct work with the family, rather than getting caught up with lots of process and bureaucracy, social workers and stick at it and enjoy it. what is positive at the moment is that we are seeing more and more local authorities and children services departments headed in that direction. what the turnover in the frontline graduates going into social work careers? of all the people who finish the frontline programme and qualify as social workers, 74% are still in children and family social work, we are

really pleased with this stop it doesn't tell the story of that the other one in four are doing work which is really aligned with supporting children and families. we have got a number of an online working with the department for education and employment on policy reform, working to set up their own social enterprises. thank you very much forjoining us. we are going straight to edinburgh, alex salmond is about to speak after his court victory. mr salmond raised this as a last resort in august. the scottish government has now conceded that it acted unlawfully, in circumstances which were procedurally unfair, and tainted with apparent bias against my client. they have agreed to meet the legal costs as part of their concession. on one hand, mr salmond is happy at his decision to bring this case to court has been

vindicated, but on the other hand, he is saddened that it had to come this far. this process has come at considerable cost to the taxpayer, which mr salmond finds troubling. he has been maintained a dignified silence, and makes it clear that he respects the decision of the court. he will now take time to digester this decision and consider his legal options. mr salmond will say some words and take some questions. thank you, david. iwould words and take some questions. thank you, david. i would firstly like to thank my outstanding legal team. i would like to thank my family and my friends for standing with me over the last few months. i would particularly like to thank the more than 4000 people who contributed to the crowdfund to make this court action possible. i will be writing to them this afternoon. i made it clear that if there was a surplus in

the fund, it would go to good causes in scotland, at home and abroad. given that there is rightly now to bea given that there is rightly now to be a surplus in the fund, given the concession of expenses by the scottish government to the maximum extent, that will now be done. i am thinking about three things. the la st thinking about three things. the last time i was in that court was to be sworn in as first minister of scotland. i never thought it possible that at any point, i would be taking the scottish government to court. therefore, while i am glad about the victory which has been achieved today, i am sad that it was necessary to take this action. the consequences are very clear. because the consequences are very clear. because the process has been agreed as

unlawful, as unfair, and tainted by apparent bias, then the scottish government have had to concede on the case and on the expenses to the maximum extent. that is going to raise a cost to the public purse of many hundreds of thousands of pounds. all of this was unnecessary, because throughout the process, we offered mediation, legal arbitration, so that this could be properly settled without having to come to the highest court in the land. at every stage, that was re—buffed land. at every stage, that was re— buffed by the land. at every stage, that was re—buffed by the permanent secretary. i noticed in their submissions that the advocate for the government said that the government accepted institutional responsibility, not personal, but institutional responsibility.

therefore, i suggest that the permanent secretary to the scottish government now accept that responsibility and considers her position. i will finish the statement, then i will of course ta ke statement, then i will of course take some questions. the second question is, lack of candour. this case turned and came to a conclusion by the total surrender of the government's position, because of the documents commission, bordered by lord pentland, which made between christmas and new year. for civil servants under oath, they had to produce hundreds of documents which the government had refused, before that, to provide to the court. i would have thought a public authority, given what these documents showed, and these documents, for now at least, are under the protection of the court. these would not have required a court order in order to have the transparency and openness, and to

allow the case to be settled on its merits. thirdly, i allow the case to be settled on its merits. thirdly, lam allow the case to be settled on its merits. thirdly, i am struck by this fa ct merits. thirdly, i am struck by this fact — i have been deeply troubled throughout the case by the leaking of confidential information by whoever. any complaints processed have to be transparent, balanced, and fair, and confidential. that is in the interest of the complainers and those complaint about. we have a process, or at least had one in the scottish government, called fairness at work. i know about it because i introduced it. thank goodness that is still in force, at least for civil servants, as opposed to the total mess which was introduced by the permanent secretary. but if confidentiality is breached, then it undermines the entire process and obviously that was done in terms of

leaks to tabloid newspapers, and also crucially, by a leak of the reported advice of the lord advocate reaching the essential requirement of the separation of criminal justice from politics, something which i have never seen it done in re ce nt which i have never seen it done in recent scottish history. presumably, these leaks were deliberate and malicious, yet, the permanent secretary for the scottish government has refused to hold an enquiry into where these leaks came from. all in all, my summary would be less, i am obviously glad, delighted by the results today. the government has made an abject surrender in terms of the case, before we even got to the first day of hearings before lord pentland. i am just sad that it was necessary to ta ke am just sad that it was necessary to take this action in this court of session to prove that point. back in

august, when i made my last comments on these matters, i said that the process used against me was unfair, an lawful and biased, tainted by bias. i also said that i was not guilty of any criminality. the first of these has been established, the second is to come. but a former first minister of scotland requiring to take the administration of the scottish government to court to establish that point should have not been necessary. the person who is responsible for that, that institutional failure, the permanent secretary, should consider her position and take the appropriate action. can i thank again my legal team, cani action. can i thank again my legal team, can i thank the game my family and my friends and the people who have supported this case. i'm glad to have won and sad it has been

necessary. inaudible should the police now drop this as well? i am certainly not guilty of any criminality, i am certainly not guilty of what the permanent secretary has suggested, i have never said i was an angel, but throughout this process, i have said that it throughout this process, i have said thatitis throughout this process, i have said that it is important that i didn't comment on a judicial review until it was concluded. i have now done that and i am now commenting on it. in the same token, i am certainly not going to comment on police enquiries. i will face that matter when we come to it. where does this leave the current first minister? my view is that the key phrase, apart from the obvious collapse of the government case, remember a case which they said would fight

vigorously across the courts are the key thing today was the phrase, institutional responsibility. i think that institutional responsibility lies with the permanent secretary. in the documents, it is clear that this process was under documents, it is clear that this process was under draft by the civil service weeks before it was even commissioned by any scottish government minister. my view of what's nicola sturgeon should do now is that she should concentrate on achieving independence for scotland, particularly in the current political circumstances. i'll go to jim matthews, since he was first in. you have spoken about objects are under, one thing the scottish government did not concede" is the credibility of the complainants on the complaints that they made. to that extent, you still stand accused, what do you say to that?

the scottish government has conceded that there process was unlawful, was unfair, and was tainted by apparent bias. everybody in court heard lord pentland read out... everybody, whether you are the person who is complaining or the person who is complained about, need a process which is transparent, fair, just, and above all, confidential. that hasn't happened in this case, so thatis hasn't happened in this case, so that is to the detriment of both complainers and complained about. i have always championed a proper complaints process. i introduced one in the scottish government called fairness at work, which in court documents, trade unions described as something we should be proud of, totally different from the botched mess which was introduced by the permanent secretary. it is important for people who have complained and those complaint about that these things are done fairly, properly,

and with justice. that is the institutional failing of the scottish government. inaudible i don't think the two cases are comparable. i have said why i think the permanent secretaries should ta ke the permanent secretaries should take response billy t ford two reasons. firstly, as this was not a failings of the investigating officer, but those who appointed her, those who acknowledged, when they allowed it to happen, it was an institutional failure. they allowed it to happen, it was an institutionalfailure. the procedure she tried to put in place was a civil service procedure. the ultimatejudge in these matters civil service procedure. the ultimate judge in these matters was the permanent secretary. let me finish the point. if you are setting yourself up as a judge, in contrast to the previous procedures which had a panel of people, but if you are

setting yourself up as a judge, then you should go through some of the training required to be able to sit and judge. that institutional failure is the responsibility of the planet secretary. lastly, this is crucial, this botched process and procedure was under many drafts from the civil service long before they brought a commissioning letterfrom any government minister. inaudible alex salmond there speaking to journalists outside the court of session in edinburgh. he said the last time he was there to be sworn in as first minister, and he never thought he would be taking on the scottish government in court. this morning in court, he won his legal battle against the scottish government, which admitted it did not follow correct procedures while investigating sexual harassment claims against alex salmond. it is a

failure that he was describing their as an institutional failing failure that he was describing their as an institutionalfailing of failure that he was describing their as an institutional failing of the scottish government. he has pointed the finger several times at the permanent secretary to the scottish government, saying that she should consider her position over her role in it. he said that he is glad that it has ended this way, but he is sad that it got this far. he said it will be costing the public many hundreds of thousands of pounds, because he has been awarded the maximum amount of costs. he said it was all unnecessary. separately, a police enquiry continues into the allegations that were made against him. allegations he denies, they we re him. allegations he denies, they were made in 2013, allegations that he is described as peyton the ridiculous —— has described as ridiculous. those will continue to be invested by police, and he said

he will comment on that at the appropriate time, but he is now commenting on this aspect, because this particular aspect, thejudicial review process that was under way is now over and has gone in his favour. he said i am not guilty of any criminality. in a moment we'll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news: the cabinet meets at downing street — as mps who oppose a "no—deal brexit" try and make it harder to leave without a deal. police say they'll deal robustly with anyone who commits a criminal offence outside parliament — after a conservative mp was confronted yesterday. the scottish government admits it did not follow the correct procedures, while investigating sexual harassment claims against former first minister alex salmond. speaking outside court, mr salmond insisted he is not guilty of any criminality. hello, i'm ben, here are your

business stories. sales at morrisons rose 3.6% in the last nine weeks to january — giving the supermarket its fourth consecutive christmas of growth. but growth at stores was just o.6%, the rest of the sales were from its wholesale business. morrisons supplies amazon with groceries to sell to amazon customers. sales at aldi rose by 10.4% over christmas, narrowly beating rival discounter lidl to the top spot. new figures show that two thirds of all households shopped at either aldi or lidl over the 12—week period — giving the firms their highest—ever combined christmas market share of 12.8%. samsung says it expects profits to fall nearly 30% as demand for smartphones and memory chips slows. the firm supplies a number of smartphone makers — and has been hit as their fortu res slow too. it's the first quarterly profit drop in two years as strong demand for chips had boosted earnings. good morning, let's get more on that

news from supermarkets this morning. shoppers spent a record £29.3 billion at supermarkets over the three months to the end of december, according to the latest figures from research firm kantar. we'll get a full update later in the week when we hear how sainsbury‘s, tesco and m&s fared, but today aldi, lidl, asda and morrisons have all published positive updates for the period. aldi and lidl were the big winners, two—thirds of households shopped at either of the stores over the christmas period. asda came out top among the "big four" supermarkets, as strong online growth of 12% helped push its overall sales up by o.7%. let's speak to an analyst with the research firm, kantar. good morning, it is interesting, we have got positive results, despite all of the forecasts this would be terrible for the retailers. but we will hear later in the week about tesco and sainsbury‘s. later in the week about tesco and sainsbury's. it is actually quite interesting to see that, despite all the news of off the high street,

that grocery sales were up during the christmas festive season. this is despite lower inflation impaired to last year. what are the supermarkets doing right? they have been caught in a price war, that has been caught in a price war, that has been with the rise of the discounters, but what are the other is doing to help? the price war has proved to be painfulfor is doing to help? the price war has proved to be painful for everyone involved, so for the last three yea rs involved, so for the last three years all of the big four have begun to rebuild their values, making the products more relevant, keeping the store engagement little bit more exciting, making the experience more hassle—free for the shoppers, and bringing in new digital solutions, both online and mobile apps. cynics would say that now is the time that the supermarkets will do well. we all buy the stuff for christmas, half of that probably goes in the bin. but it is january and february that are the tough job, isn't it?

that is why they generally have the prize promotions, the supermarkets are aware of that, it is a little bit tight for the shoppers. overall, when we look at year—on—year comparisons, it has been a good performance for the total market, but of course, individual players have their own strategies to win in the long term. thank you forjoining us. as i said, we will get sainsbury's and tesco later in the week. also marks and spencer and debenhams, ones to watch to give us an indication of how the high street fared, as well as the results later for you this week. now it's time for a look at the weather. it has been quite cloudy this week, but today, a welcome change and more in the way of sunshine at the moment. this is the scene in

warwickshire. now, we have some cloud affecting eastern scotland, some showers down the eastern coast, but a strong gusty winds down eastern areas this afternoon, making it feel quite cold. elsewhere, plenty of sunshine to be expected this afternoon, maximum temperature is getting up to around 7—9 degrees, perhaps ten in the south—west. through tonight, some cloud across eastern areas, maybe the odd shower, ploughed into northern ireland. where the cloud is, temperatures will stay above freezing, but we have a swayed into northern england and scotland, where temperatures could fall low freezing. for wednesday, it is looking dry and bright for many of us, just the cloud across eastern and western areas. best of the sunshine in the centre of the uk. it will feel a bit colder tomorrow again, temperatures about 5—7 degrees. you're watching bbc newsroom live — these are today's main stories: police say they'll deal robustly with anyone who commits a criminal

offence outside parliament, after a conservative mp and others were confronted yesterday. crowd: soubry is a nazi! soubry is a nazi! well, apologies to you if you're offended by that. ijust think this is astonishing. scotland's highest court rules the government didn't follow correct procedures while investigating sexual harassment claims against alex salmond. isaid i said the process used against me was unfair, unlawful, and biased, tainted by bias. i also said that i was not guilty of any criminality. the first of these has been established. the second is to come. three million new social homes much be built in england within 20 years to solve the housing crisis, according to a major charity. some child victims of sexual assault are being failed by privately—run forensics centres — that's according to a bbc investigation.

and three—quarters of penguins that end up stranded on south america's coast every year are female — now scientists think they know why. welcome to bbc newsroom live. scotland yard has said police will deal "robustly" with people suspected of committing criminal offences outside the houses of parliament. more than 50 mps had written to the metropolitan police commissioner to express their "serious concerns" about the "deteriorating public order and security situation" — after the conservative mp anna soubry was branded a nazi by protesters during a live tv interview about brexit yesterday — then pursued back to parliament. we have to be absolutely... i do object to being called a nazi, actually.

right. apologies to you if you are offended by what you are listening to. i think this is astonishing. this is what has happened to our country, actually. but, anyway, let's try and move on and be positive about things. the letter to the met police chief cressida dick was coordinated by the labour mp for cardiff south and pena rth, stephen doughty. he told the victoria derbyshire programme about the kind of abuse he has had to endure. why should i put up with being called a batty boy — a well—known homophobic slur — on the internet? why should i have a fake bomb sent to my office? why should i be told i deserve to die, or hang, or be shot or stabbed, not least when one of my good friends and colleagues was murdered. this behaviour is not acceptable. if we allow us to add caveats, such as they are mps, celebrities, they deserve it. journalists deserve it. well, look at what happened tojo cox and jill dando and happens to many people in the public eye and public service every week.

assaults on train workers, on nurses and doctors and police. if we accept it is fair game because you put yourself in the public eye, we are going to descend as a country into an ugly place. we have to take tough action. this morning the metropolitan police issued a statement — deputy assistant commissioner laurence taylor said police were still investigating — saying... and our correspondent danny shaw will be at scotland yard talking to the metropolitan police — we'll bring you that shortly. don't forget — you can let us know what you think about the verbal abuse and protests taking place at westminster. tweet us... all the ways to contact us on screen right now. in the last hour, scotland's highest court has ruled that he scottish government's handling of sexual misconduct allegations against former first minister alex salmond was unlawful. allegations against the former first minister, which he denies, were made to the scottish government

a year ago. the government has now admitted it breached its own guidelines by appointing an investigating officer who had "prior involvement" in the case. a separate police inquiry is taking place into the allegations which date back to 2013, when mr salmond was in office. he insists he's done nothing wrong. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon was in court. in essence, the arguments were this, alex salmond's legal team said the government's handling of the case against mr salmond was unlawful they said because it was procedurally unfairand tainted by said because it was procedurally unfair and tainted by apparent bias. their motion was the case be dismissed, and the two sides agreed to it. that clancy, mr salmond's qc, said the investigating officer in this case had prior involvement in the case before being appointed to investigate. he said documents had

shown there was a significant amount of direct personal contact with the complainers about the substance of the complaints before the investigating officer was appointed." said this was bordering on encouragement to proceed with formal complaints. he also said the investigating officer was actively involved in drafting the scottish government's new complaints procedure. these arguments were accepted procedure. these arguments were a cce pted by procedure. these arguments were accepted by the scottish government's lawyer team in the sense that they said, emphasised this had nothing to do with the merits of the complaints against mr salmond, complaints mr salmond denied but they are except in relation to this one specific aspect of the investigation, the arguments being made, were fair, and on that sense, the case must fall. they were keen to point out the investigating officer is they said a dedicated

human resources professional. they said she was not employed by the government at the time of the alleged incident back in 2013 and they said there was no suggestion she ever acted in anything but good faith, that they conceded there was material contacts between the complainers and individual before she was appointed. they did not accept it amounted to encouragement, but they accepted the contact was there. they did not accept this would result in any actual buyers, but they conceded there had to be no impression of bias left. there is considerable media interest in this. the court was packed. a camera was allowed into film the proceedings. signi also i think that damages were. . . signi also i think that damages were... costs were awarded against impact could be... awarded in his

favour, rather, which could be as high as half a million pounds. the scottish government keen to say this was about procedure and not the complaints itself. complaints that mr salmond has always vigorously denied. well alex salmond gave his reaction to the ruling as he left court this morning. iam i am obviously glad, delighted, by the result today. the government have made an abject surrender in terms of the case. before we even got to the first day of hearings. i am just sad that it was necessary to ta ke am just sad that it was necessary to take this action in this court to prove that point. back in august when i made my last comments on these matters, i said the process used against me was unfair,

unlawful, and biased, tainted by bias. i also said that i was not guilty of any criminality. the first of these has been established. the second is to come. but a former first minister of scotland requiring to ta ke first minister of scotland requiring to take the administration of the scottish government to court to establish that point should not have been necessary. and the person who is responsible for that, that institutional failure, is responsible for that, that institutionalfailure, the is responsible for that, that institutional failure, the permanent secretary to the scottish government, should consider her position and take the appropriate action. the housing charity shelter says that three million new homes will have to be built in england over the next 20 years to solve a "crisis" in social housing. the charity's report suggests it would cost up to £11 billion a year, but would save the government billions in housing benefit payments

because rents would be cheaper. john maguire reports. it's tea—time for single mum lola and her young family in bristol. put onion in it. they were living in private rented accommodation but were evicted, and have been housed by the local council as an emergency case. lola is thankfulfor a roof over their heads but says the uncertainty is stressful. people like us who just want a home, we don't want a six—month let, we don't want to be turfed out after a year, we need somewhere that's going to be a permanent home, and that's just not something that's possible nowadays, so it'sjust a constant kind of worry. i'm in limbo, basically. following the grenfell tower fire, the housing charity shelter brought together a panel of 16 independent commissioners to consider the crisis in homelessness. they admit their call to build 3.1 million social houses in england over 20 years is ambitious, but insist action is essential now. and that would great opportunity.

for many young people trapped out of ownership and many other people facing their years without a secure home. the commission claims that savings in housing benefit and increased tax revenue would help the scheme to pay for itself inside 40 years. in a statement, the communities secretary, james brokenshire, said... the prime minister has previously pledged to get a grip on the housing crisis. this report by shelter offers one solution to a problem that remains complex, but urgent. john maguire, bbc news, bristol. roads are blocked,

schools are closed. but, even so, people are trying to clear pathways to get out of their homes. with so much snow already on the ground and more on the way, officials say the chances of further avalanches are high. translation: the bavarian avalanche warning institute has issued a level four warning, the second—highest, which also poses a high risk of avalanches in unsecured skiing areas. in central and northern austria, up to 1.5 metres of snow has already fallen since the middle of last week. this greenhouse in salzburg collapsed under

the weight of the snow. in southern austria, it snowed all day. many roads are blocked. the situation is very difficult. people have been stranded in villages and the helicopters deployed for avalanche control have been grounded because of the bad weather. translation: more than 500 residents are cut off, but i've spoken with the mayor and he said everyone is calm. with around 80 centimetres of snow forecast in austria from tuesday, things look set to remain difficult. remember you can get in touch with us using the hashtag newsroom live — one viewer has already got in touch with us. seth farsides wrote on twitter: "if you ever wondered why more ‘ordinary people' aren't tempted to get into politics then look at what's happening outside parliament.

who watches that and thinks ‘i want to become an mp'? please keep your comments coming in. right now we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. the headlines. police say they'll deal robustly with anyone who commits a criminal offence outside parliament — after a conservative mp and others were confronted yesterday. scotland's highest court rules the government didn't follow correct procedures, while investigating sexual harassment claims against alex salmond. speaking outside court, mr salmond insisted he is not guilty of any criminality. three million new social homes much be built in england within 20 years to solve the "housing crisis", according to a major charity. sport now.

good afternoon. the football association is looking into claims that the wales and crystal palace goalkeeper wayne hennessey made a nazi salute. his club—mate max meyer, who is german, posted a picture on social media, showing hennessey at a team meal. hennessey says he was waving at the person taking the picture and shouting to them — he said that "frozen in a moment" it looked as though he was making a completely inappropriate gesture but he would never do that. stoke city have sacked manager gary rowett, only eight months after he took charge. they're mid—table in the championship and that draw with league one side shrewsbury in the fa cup at the weekend seems to have been the tipping point. all members of his coaching staff have also left — stoke say they want to appoint rowett‘s successor as quickly as possible. england have named a 28—strong women's squad for the upcoming eight—day training camp in qatar.

among those returning from injury is birmingham city striker ellen white, england's player of the year last season and the league's top scorer. she's been out of action for the past few weeks with a back problem. the lionesses travel to doha on tuesday to continue their preparations for next month's shebelieves cup in the united states and the world cup in france this summer. one of england's gold medal winners from april's commonwealth games returns to the netball squad for their last test before the world cup later this year. shooterjo harten was a core member of the side that beat australia to take the title and after three months out with a knee injury, she's back for the quad series, which starts on sunday. england will be taking on the best sides in the world — south africa, new zealand and australia. serena guthrie captains the side, as ama agbeze is still injured. we're expecting padraig harrington to be confirmed as europe's next ryder cup captain this afternoon. harrington has been vice—captain for the last three contests and he's

the overwhelming favourite to take over from thomas bjorn. europe face the usa at whistling straits in wisconsin, in september of next year. the announcement, at one o'clock, will be streamed live on all the major social media platforms and the ryder cup website. hopefully we will bring you that after the one o'clock news at 1:30pm. the business secretary, greg clark, has told mps in the house of commons that they should not contemplate leaving the eu without a deal. he said the only way to avoid a no—deal brexit was to vote for theresa may's withdrawal agreement when it comes to parliament next week. this morning, the prime minister's been meeting her cabinet for the first time this year. norman smith is at westminster > mps say they do not want no deal but they do not want her agreement. how

things stack today?” they do not want her agreement. how things stack today? i think we are seeing a hardening and widening of the opposition to no deal because we will probably have a vote in the commons this afternoon where i suspect the government may be defeated and will have to accept defeated and will have to accept defeat from mps opposed to no deal, but also the signs are that figures in government are increasingly restless about this idea of no deal. theresa may said no deal is better than a bad deal and has started to put in place no deal preparations. last night we heard from richard harrington saying he would quit if mrs may went down the road of no deal and he suspected other ministers would follow. this morning, we heard from business secretary greg clark saying no deal should not be contemplated. secretary greg clark saying no deal should not be contemplatedm secretary greg clark saying no deal should not be contemplated. it is essential we should be able to continue to trade, it is why i have

always been clear, representing stronger lead the views of small business and large business that no deal should not be contemplated. but the way we can avoid no deal is to do what the motor manufacturers, what the institute of directors, federation of small business, british chambers of commerce, all of the business organisations say, which is to vote for the agreement that will come before the house next week. interestingly, david gauke, another cabinet minister, has recently suggested he would not be prepared to remain in the cabinet if the government headed towards no deal and a short time ago when i spoke to dominic grieve, the former attorney general, he suggested that if mrs may decided to accept a no deal outcome, that could in effect lead to the fall of the government. the view i've always expressed is that i don't see how the government would survive such a process.

i think it would simply founder, i think ministers would resign and, ultimately, the government would lose its parliamentary majority. so this isn't something i wish to see happen, i want to try to keep the government afloat, insofar as i can. and therefore, it is important that if this deal, which the prime minister's negotiated in good faith, i acknowledge all the effort she has made, nevertheless, i think it's flawed, and if it's rejected, which i think it is likely to be, i want the prime minister to come back and listen to what the house of commons collectively is saying we will get a symbolic trial of strength in the commons this afternoon over the issue of no deal. ministers have not yet said whether they are going to push this to a vote, because they may take the view that so overwhelming is the opposition among mps on all sides to the possibility of no deal, there is no point in pushing it to vote, they

may simply accept the amendment, which will not stop no deal, but it will make it harder and will also be a sign of parliament trying to take control of the brexit process and also further evidence of the level of opposition now building to the possibility of no deal. thank you. let's get more now on the report from housing charity shelter that says three million new homes will have to be built in england over the next 20 years to solve a "crisis" in social housing. joining me now from westminster is miatta fahnbulleh — she's the director of the new economic forum and one of the commissioners of the report. welcome. 3 million new homes over 20 yea rs, welcome. 3 million new homes over 20 years, is that realistic? absolutely. we were a commission from all political parties and looks at the evidence and scale of the challenge we think is faced in housing, and we came to the

conclusion the only way we will tackle this crisis is to build huge numbers of social homes, 3 million, over 20 years. it is achievable, it isa over 20 years. it is achievable, it is a question of commitment and political will. currently the government plans to build 25,000 homes over the next three years, so something dramatic needs to change if your target were to be hit? we basically need successive governments to commit to a long—term programme. we need a huge injection of investment that we think is necessary , of investment that we think is necessary, and we need to pull the house—building sector, councils, housing associations, behind a big programme to deliver the scale of housing. but the alternative is not fathomable. we taught 31,000 people and heard unbelievable stories of families trapped in private housing, families trapped in private housing, families housing, families evicted, families housing, families evicted, families who are homeless. that is an untenable position and we think we need to build the homes. we need

to extend the social housing offer, so people in desperate need of social housing, but also, hundreds of thousands of young families trapped in private renting which is expensive and insecure, and people over 55 in the rented sector, facing retirement and insecurity, not knowing if they will have a home in ten, 20 years. a lot of taxpayers money has been spent on right to buy. 3.5 billion helping 60,000 te na nts buy. 3.5 billion helping 60,000 tenants buy homes. the number of people buying homes has gone up dramatically since 2012. five times more homes being bought under the scheme than in 2012. is that system now unsustainable? should be stopped? the right to buy is problematic but the big problem with it is homes that are sold are not replaced because we'll not putting enough investment into social

housing. as a minimum we need to ensure every time a home is bought, would put investment in place to build a new home, if we should build two, three times the number of homes for everyone we sell. but the question is whether there is a commitment to a big programme of social housing. we have 1.2 million on social housing waiting lists and last year we only build 6000 social homes. we need a huge uptake of this. we need a programme, investment, to deliver the homes we need. what if it doesn't happen? this has been talked about a long time, these issues have been clear. use say long—term planning is needed but it has not happened yet what is it still does not happen? successive governments have failed on social housing. for 30 years i do not think there has been another commitment to social housing. if you look at the post—war period, we used to build

125,000 social houses a year on average. since the 1980s, we have only built somewhere in the magnitude of 25,000. successive governments have failed the social housing sector. we need to call time on that and we need a commitment that goes across all political parties. the issue is too big to be owned by a particular political party. we need a cross—party approach that says this is a priority for the next 10—2o years, this will be the priority, and we will put in investment needed and put in place infrastructure to ensure we get the social housing we believe needs to be delivered. a roll up television, or a robot which folds up your laundry. they're just two of the products being unveiled at this year's consumer electronics show in las vegas.

there are also gadgets to help afflictions brought on by modern life, including the world's first glasses to help prevent so—called "text neck". our technology reporter dave lee is in las vegas for us welcome to ces. this event is something of a special preview before the main show, so that the press get a chance to see some of the new ideas. follow me. this is one of the more frightening things i've ever put on my face. tell me what this is. this is a robotic folder. it helps you fold your entire laundry load in underfive minutes. how lazy do you need to be to have one of these in your home? instead of just folding your clothes? it takes ten seconds to fold a shirt. i ask you how lazy do you need to be to have a dishwasher at home? washing the dishes takes a lot longer than folding clothes, though. i would beg to differ, i mean it takes quite a while and you need to get to that quality. what is the — apart from wagging its tail, i hope it's its tail, in my face, what is this for? it's for comfort, giving you a sense

comfort and to relax. the more you scratch, the more excited it gets. the more you scratch, the more excited it gets? yeah. tell me why someone should sleep wearing this because it's quite, i'm very aware this is on my face. it's not, surely that's not going to be very comfortable? the purpose is that it needs to be in your face because right now, in the modern life, there are so many distractions and when you're sleeping, you're thinking about everything that's going on and everything that's around you. this is a plank of wood, as far as i can see, but you are a technology show, so i assume there's something else within this plank of wood. so, this is, you know, looks like a piece of wood or a piece of furniture, but when you touch it, so you can interact with different features. you take that large factor, shrink it down to something this size, place it in the store, no distribution, it's frsh, no distribution, it's fresh,

no preservatives, and it's cheaper too because a lot — almost half the cost of it is the distribution. so how do you make sure that when someone grabs their bread, it's not going to be too doughy in the middle or something? so there's a constant loop, i mean down to the millisecond of development, proofer, mixing. all this stuff is constantly being evolving, we have eight different readings we are taking to make sure it's a quality loaf. i don't think it's unfair to say that a lot of what we've seen here is kind of half baked. many of the ideas that are at this show will never go sale. ces breaks down into two sort of groups. there's the fun gadgety stuff that you kind of write about and cover because it'sjust so bonkers, and then the other big sort of industry trends, like sort of 8k and 5g and speaker, voice—activated devices, which is not necessarily single device but a theme that will play out across the year. now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell.

a lot of sunshine today after cloudiness and yesterday. high pressure dominating. most places almost without a cloud in the sky. it isa almost without a cloud in the sky. it is a cold day. we have a northerly wind, clipping in down the dog scene. problems with the high tide to imports of norfolk and lincolnshire. it could bring showers here, also, that breeze. a cold day to day and overnight a widespread frost. not particularly severe. probably looking at lows of —3 in scotland. in towns and cities, just hovering above. tomorrow a cold day. the wind a little lighter. sunshine but hazy in the east. cloud coming in off the north sea and thicker cloud bringing rain to the

north—west later in the day. you have to factor in the wind and when you do that it will feel close to freezing. hello this is bbc newsroom live with joanna gosling. the headlines: police say they'll deal robustly with anyone who commits a criminal offence outside parliament — after a conservative mp and others were confronted yesterday. crowd: soubry is a nazi! soubry is a nazi! well, apologies to you if you're offended by that. ijust think this is astonishing. scotland's highest court rules the government didn't follow correct procedures, while investigating sexual harassment claims against alex salmond. i said that the process used against me was unfair, unlawful and tainted by bias. i also said that i was not guilty of any criminality. the first of these has been established, the second is to come. three million new social homes much be built in england within 20 years to solve the "housing crisis", according to a major charity. some child victims of sexual

assault are being failed by privately—run forensics centres — that's according to a bbc investigation. and, three quarters of penguins that end up stranded on south america's coast every year are female — now scientists think they know why. let's hear more now from former scottish first minister, alex salmond, after a court in edinburgh quashed the findings of a scottish government investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against him. the holyrood administration had admitted it didn't properly follow its own procedures. i'm thinking about three things. the last time i was in that court was to be sworn in as first minister of scotland. i never thought it possible that at any point, i would

be taking the scottish government to court. therefore, while i'm glad about the victory which has been achieved to date, i'm sad that it was necessary to take this action. the consequences are very clear. because the process has been agreed as an lawful, as unfair, and tainted by apparent bias —— unlawful, then the scottish government have had to concede on the case, and on the expenses to the maximum extent. that is going to raise a cost to the public purse of many many hundreds of thousands of pounds. and all of this was unnecessary. because throughout the process, we offered

mediation, legal arbitration, so that this matter could be properly settled without having to come to the highest court in the land. at every stage, that was re—buffed by the permanent secretary. i notice in their submissions that the advocate for the government said that the government accepted institutional responsibility, not personal, but institutional responsibility. therefore, i suggest that the permanent secretary for the scottish government now accept that response ability and considers her position. i will finish the statement, then i will of course take some questions. the second question is lack of candour. this case turned and came toa candour. this case turned and came to a conclusion by the total surrender of the government's position, because of the documents commission ordered by lord pentland, which met between christmas and the

new year. where civil servants, under oath, had to produce hundreds of documents, which the government had refused before that to provide to the court. i would have thought a public authority, given what these documents showed, and these documents, for now at least, are under the protection of the court, would not have required a court order in order to have the transparency and openness and to allow the case to be settled on its merits. thirdly, iam allow the case to be settled on its merits. thirdly, i am struck by this fa ct — merits. thirdly, i am struck by this fact — i have been deeply troubled throughout the case by the leaking of confidential information by whoever. any complaints process has to be transparent, balanced and fair, and confidential. that is in the interest of the complainers and those complained about. we have a

process , those complained about. we have a process, or at least had one in the scottish government, called fairness at work. i know about it because i introduced it. thank goodness that is still in force, at least for civil servants, as opposed to the total mess which was introduced by the permanent secretary. but if confidentiality is breached, it then undermines the entire process and obviously, that was done, in terms of lea ks to obviously, that was done, in terms of leaks to the tabloid newspaper, and also crucially, by a leak of the reported at advice of the lord advocate, breaching the essential requirement of the separation of criminal justice requirement of the separation of criminaljustice from politics, something which i have never seen it donein something which i have never seen it done in recent scottish history. presumably, these lea ks done in recent scottish history. presumably, these leaks were deliberate and malicious, and yet the permanent secretary for the scottish government has refused to hold an enquiry into where these lea ks came hold an enquiry into where these leaks came from. the victims‘ commissioner

says she is "shocked" by the findings of a bbc news investigation into poor care in some sexual assault referral centres run by private companies. four doctors say they're aware of cases of young children in the last two years who have not been forensically examined within 72 hours. they also say they saw incorrect recording of injuries and evidence contamination. nhs england — whojointly commissions services — said it had not been made aware of concerns "but called on doctors to report them to the forensic regulator" . faye kirkland — who is also a gp — reports. we have spoken to eight doctors who wanted to blow the whistle on the poor care in some sexual assault referral centres run by private companies. one doctor, who works across multiple centres and needs to remain anonymous, says she is aware of ten cases where young children were not forensically examined within three days of being assaulted because the staff were not available. ten children missing out on forensic samples is quite a significant number.

when you lose the forensics, that is something you cannot get back. probably a quarter of the statements i look at have something that concerns me. dr helena thornton reviews evidence, typically including videos of genital examinations. i have seen one dvd where gloves were not worn. i have seen one dvd which did not show the injuries that were documented to have been there. it's very distressing when, if... to feel that somebody out there, possibly most vulnerable ever, having been through a traumatic experience, has then been let down. do you think we are letting people down? i do, yes. the first three days of forensics are crucial for young children. but four doctors have told us that, in the last two years,

they have seen cases of young children who have not been forensically examined within 72 hours, because there has been no one who has been qualified to examine them. for nine months, the crown prosecution service refused to provide us with an audit of forensic evidence from a centre run by the company primecare produced in 2009. but the information commissioner has now ordered its release. all 13 cases went to court, but the audit reveals widespread failings. only one provided acceptable documentation of injuries. and there were just two cases when the correct forensic samples were taken. in one instance, where a victim was raped, no samples were taken from these areas. in a statement, the cps said the centre fell short of standards but, following the report, they worked alongside the police to formulate an improvement plan. primecare has since been incorporated into allied healthcare. it said the audit was historical and the centre was now run

by different provider. i think it is absolutely terrible to read the report. i am so shocked. the victims‘ commissioner now wants to see change. i would like to see proper training, not just a two—day training. and i think, more important, we need to have annual inspections. if we are not being inspected and accredited, that does not give confidence for victims. nhs england, whojointly commissions the services with police chiefs, said it had not been made aware of the concerns, but called on the doctors to report them to the forensic science regulator. it now says it plans to set up a whistle—blowing hotline for people with concerns. the cqc, the regulator for the health care, says it has now changed the way it inspects services, but we understand this still doesn‘t include reviewing forensic medical evidence itself. faye kirkland, bbc news. scotland yard has said police will deal ‘robustly‘ with people suspected of committing criminal

offences outside the houses of parliament. more than 60 mps had written to the metropolitan police commissioner to express their "serious concerns" about the "deteriorating public order and security situation" — after the conservative mp anna soubry was branded a "nazi" by protesters during a live tv interview about brexit yesterday — she was then pursued back to parliament. we have to be absolutely, i do object to being called a nazi, actually. crowd: soubry is a nazi! apologies to you if you‘re offended by what you‘re listening to. sorry, i think this is astonishing. this is what has happened to our country, actually. this is what has happened to our country. anyway, let's try and move on and be positive about things. there has been a lot of reaction to that. the cabinet have just agreed it is disgraceful and unacceptable. politicians need to be able to go

about their work without harassment and intimidation. our home affairs correspondent has been speaking to the deputy assistant commissioner of the deputy assistant commissioner of the met, lawrence taylor. commander for brexit preparations — who issued that statement this morning. it is important to recognise that policing with brexit is challenging for us stopped it is a contingent is history with opposing views from a number of people. our role as a police service is to facilitate people‘s right to protest, but do that to ensure the safety of our own staff, politicians, members of the public, and those who wish to protest, so that people can go about their daily business.” protest, so that people can go about their daily business. i think everyone would appreciate that unacceptable, but we would say yesterday crossed a line, wouldn't we? we take any allegation of a common sense seriously. we have taken the allegations from yesterday, we are looking into all

of those, and investigating whether yesterday met any common threshold, and then deciding what action we wa nt to and then deciding what action we want to take. service involves incidents relating to anna soubry and others? yes, we were made aware ofan and others? yes, we were made aware of an umbrella of allegations from yesterday, we are currently assessing those as to whether they meet the criminal threshold and what police action should look like on the back of that investigation. how does assessing the allegations that like? you does assessing the allegations that like ? you have does assessing the allegations that like? you have the footage there, don't you? we have to understand the evidence, we have to speak to those at the scene, we have to understand from a legal perspective whether the threshold is mad for any chronicle offences, then we need to make sure that we take the appropriate action in the circumstances to deal with the findings of that. is calling someone a nazi criminal offence? that is what we are assessing, whether that means the criminal threshold. what about harassing an

mp as she walks into house of commons, it looks like you were surrounded and stopped from getting to the place where she works. as pa rt to the place where she works. as part of the assessment, we are looking at that incident as to whether we believe that meet the criminal threshold. it is important that people have the right to protest, and people do have the right to voice their opinion. as i mentioned earlier, the critical role from the police is to balance that against the needs of everybody. politicians should be allowed to go about their work. my officers should be allowed to do their work, and my plea to people who wish to protest is by all means, come and protest, but please respect the views of others and recognise the boundaries within which you wish to voice your opinions. when you look back at yesterday, do you think honestly that it was well policed? or do you think officers should have stepped in earlier? we have reviewed the policing at westminster, i have given clear direction to officers that if substantial offences are witnessed at the scene, i do expect arrests to be made, and i do expect

us to intervene if people are prevented from going about their daily business. that would seem to be an indication that you seem to feel it wasn't as well police that should have been yesterday. feel it wasn't as well police that should have been yesterdaym feel it wasn't as well police that should have been yesterday. it is important that we are always able to review policing response and that we look to improve it wherever we can. we have put measures in place, where we will review our policing ability again. what can we expect to see out again. what can we expect to see out a pilot today? you can expect to see visible policing at parliament, as engaging with the protesters, and reassuring with policing presence to ensure that we are taking action there. and more officers there? more officers that it had before christmas. do you expect that to continue? we expect our policing with brexit to be continued, and we will review that is to make sure it is appropriate with what we have to

deal with. what kind of work is going on behind the scenes to look at some of the individuals who might be involved in the spread has? as always, we do a lot of work behind the scenes. we engage with people involved in protest, we love to talk to people, and we want to talk to people about what our policing activity is. we reckon with the and stakeholders within parliament so that we can reassure them and work with them so that they can continue their a business whilst we police activity outside. that is the reaction of the met police. well yesterday the pro—eu campaigner femi oluwole was also at college green, he came to the aid of anna soubry and faced some abuse himself. moved out of the way. did you just call me that? i think you just call me david lambie. laughing femi oluwolejoins us now from westminster.

thank you forjoining us. what was it like being in the thick of it? u nfortu nately, it like being in the thick of it? unfortunately, this is becoming more common. people seem to have forgotten there is a line. calling summary names is one thing, physically harassing an mp, getting in herface, shouting abuse in her face, and then physically stopping herfrom entering face, and then physically stopping her from entering parliament, herfrom entering parliament, her place of work, that crosses a line. what were the police doing? whether police around that you could see? yesterday, i went up to a police officer and shook his hand. this was before the incident, because i was grateful for the work he was doing and they all were doing in terms of keeping on top of the protesters. in fa ct, keeping on top of the protesters. in fact, when i arrived at parliament yesterday, they‘re repeating one of them into a police van. it was only that there were distracted that i got some abuse directed at me because they realise i was there. they used words i cannot repeat on

television. they were doing a good job, generally. however, given the fa ct job, generally. however, given the fact that anna soubry had been in an incident with james gothard, the people leading that group of thugs, given that they had shouted abuse at her on live tv, there was an increased security risk around anna soubry, when she stepped off the stage. so there should have been a degree of protection, but there wasn‘t. we can argue that more funding needs to go in police across the country, but we know that when there is a heightened security risk, there is a heightened security risk, there should be people making sure that that person is protected. did you literally stepped in to help her because you felt you needed some help and it wasn‘t forthcoming? there were about six of them crowding around her, getting up in herface, so i may try was crowding around her, getting up in her face, so i may try was as close as possible to them, trying not to escalate the situation by putting myself between them, but it was not

ideal, and i did feel that i couldn‘t leave her alone until she was in parliament. the police have said they take any allegations very seriously and they are looking at whether any criminal threshold had been met. is that a fair reaction? it is important... i would say there are three main possible issues, a public order offence, harassment, and assault. for harassment, it needs to be a continual process and given that there has been an incident with james gothard and anna soubry a few months ago, there is a pattern. as for assault, they need to do something which makes the other person feel like they will be attacks. that requires the police to review the footage. i understand why they want to take their time to get this right, given that it is an area outside parliament where they want to avoid clamping down on what the nation. i understand that. we have had viewers getting in touch with us on this, expressing... i have lost

the tweet, but people have been summing up what they are saying, why would you want to go into politics when you see that sort of thing happening? politicians don‘t exactly give a very good example with what goes on in prime minister‘s questions. what do you think is leading to this feed bridal atmosphere on the streets?” leading to this feed bridal atmosphere on the streets? i can speakfrom atmosphere on the streets? i can speak from experience, online, despite only starting twitter in 2016, right now, i get abuse every minute, racial abuse every day, threats of violence every two months, and last year, somebody posted my home address online. twitter accounts have been launching racist comments at me. this is the environment we currently live in. i think it is because, it is fuelled by brexit, but one point that i want to make really clear, these people that we saw yesterday, they‘d do not

represent brexit workers. the pro—eu campaigners have been speaking to brexit campaigners. these are people who voted at what they believe was the best interest for their country and the people around them. that is different to who we saw yesterday, tapping into existing frustrations with the political system that doesn‘t work for people, to say that the problem is the eu, migrants, minorities... those are two com pletely minorities... those are two completely different things. the people we saw yesterday want to shut down debate. even though we are in a situation when every like the brexit deal, we can‘t have a national dialogue how to move forward as a country. those people are the problem. in fact, country. those people are the problem. infact, if country. those people are the problem. in fact, if there is going to be division, there needs to be a division between a sensible leave and remain that voters on one side, and remain that voters on one side, and people who are trying to create division on the other. when you have experienced situations, have you

reported them to police? what reaction have you had? when suddenly posted my home address online, i reported it to twitter, twitter did nothing. i tried to call the met police, i was on hold for 40 minutes. perhaps more could be done on my part, but policing is difficult, there is a lot of abuse. it is every minute for me. thank you forjoining us. us president donald trump will make his first oval office speech early tomorrow morning in which he‘s set to argue that an immigration "crisis" requires his long—promised wall along the mexican border. his vice president mike pence has been speaking to major garrett from cbs news ahead of that address. when the president addresses the nation tonight, he will be laying out the facts to the american people to what is a genuine humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border. as we sit here today, nearly

60,000 people over the past several months have attempted to come into our country illegally. but for the first time, the predominant number of families and unaccompanied children, and it is overwhelming, the ability of our customs and border control, to deal with it. to that, human trafficking, the flow of narcotics, the apprehension in the last year of 17,000 individuals at our southern border with previous criminal histories, and the american people will hear from the president tonight that we have a crisis. apologies, we had a technical issue, so you came back to me prematurely. i have some breaking news at the moment from reuters. the netherlands has said that iran was involved in two political killings which led to new european union sanctions against iran. it says they have a strong indications that iran was involved in the assassinations of two dutch

nationals of iranian origin in 2015 and 2017. it is a letter sent from the dutch foreign minister to the parliament. every year, thousands of penguins become stranded on south america‘s coast — and most of them are females. why it happens has been a mystery for years, but now scientists believe they may have found the answer. our science reporter laura foster has the story. magellanic penguins mate for life but, every year, when breeding season is over, they head to the water to feed. sorry, we are having some technical issues, we will try to fix this and bring it to you when we can. let‘s talk about the horrors of single use plastics. now, after much publicity about the horrors of single—use plastics, our colleagues at bbc breakfast decided to try an experiment to find out how much a typical family throws away in a single month.

they asked one brave plastics family to be guinea pigs, and gave them a special bin for the trial. a month ago, in northumberland, we made a special delivery. hello. this is your breakfast bin. since then, all of this family‘s plastic rubbish has gone in the breakfast bin. christmas out of the way, i have come back for a catchup. i was the weird guy thatjumped out of your bin, do you remember that? i was kind of hoping that there would not be that much because we are trying to cut back, but it is quite a shock to the system really how much we get through, and then if you think every family is going through this much, over the country, it‘s astronomical how much plastic we are consuming. i can't believe how full it is. i wish you could just use plastic again, rather than throw it away. the last bit of plastic rubbish to go into the bin and my goodness, it‘s pretty full, isn‘t it?

yes, it is. there you go, one christmas, one month, this much plastic rubbish. how do you feel about that? not good. i can‘t quite believe it, really. no celebration should warrant this level of wastefulness, so i‘m really going to try hard to pull back next year. in a moment it‘s time for the one o‘clock news with ben brown but first it‘s time for a look at the weather with susan powell. we have seen more generous amount of sunshine across the uk today, but thanks to the clearer skies, which will stay with us through this evening and overnight, it will be a frosty start to tomorrow. however, wednesday promises to give us plenty of sunshine once again. high pressure is keeping things quiet across the uk, but we are in the

easterly flag of it, so we have northerly winds across the north sea, that will make things feel chilly temperatures through the evening rush—hour down into single figures. as the evening progresses, with clear skies, and with the wind lighter than last night, quite a ride spread frost will develop. nothing excessively severe in rural parts of scotland, we are looking at levels of —3. but everywhere perhaps catching a frost by the time we get into the first part of wednesday. however, the payoff is that the day will start with a lot of sunshine. here are the temperatures first thing on wednesday. the day as a whole similar to tuesday, light winds, still feeding in off the north sea, so we could see some coastal showers. cause of the day, a cold front will produce some rain in the north—west of scotland. it will bea the north—west of scotland. it will

be a cold day, in the wind, temperatures will feel quite close to freezing. i was talking about a warm front, here it is on the chart. it has some slightly one error coming in behind it, thatair it has some slightly one error coming in behind it, that air has come off the atlantic, so it is not quite as coal. that will come into scotla nd quite as coal. that will come into scotland and eventually northern ireland as we go through thursday. accompanied by some thicker cloud and perhaps some drizzly outbreaks of rain. a milder days for the northern half of the uk on thursday, still cold in this out. perhaps more cloud in general as we towards the end of the week. double figures for glasgow and belfast, a high of seven in london on thursday. still a lot of cloud on friday, but you can see the milder error does work its way further south. by the time you get to the weekend, it should be mild for both days. a reasonable weekend with a westerly breeze. a lot of cloud around at times, a few writers felt here and there. —— a few

brighter spells here and there. go on and why do you advocate for a people‘s vote when there‘s already been a people‘s vote? scotland yard investigates the protests outside parliament when a pro—remain mp was called a nazi. in the numberof in the number of allegations from yesterday and we are currently assessing those as to whether they meet the criminal threshold. —— we are aware of a number of allegations from yesterday. we‘ll have the latest from westminster and brussels, where there‘ve been reports that british officials are in talks to delay brexit. also this lunchtime...