that they would kill her for renouncing islam, has arrived in toronto where she's been offered asylum. rahaf al-qunun, who's 18, barricaded herself in a hotel room in bangkok and used social media to highlight her case. theresa may has warned of a "catastrophic and unforgivable breach of trust" in democracy if mps reject her brexit deal and the uk remains in the european union. the prime minister has pleaded with parliamentarians to "do what is right for our country" and back her controversial exit plan. three people have died after a massive gas explosion in a bakery in central paris. two firefighters died after being called to investigate a gas leak, a spanish tourist was also killed. almost 50 people were injured. 10 are said to be critically ill in hospital. now on bbc news, the week in parliament. hello and welcome

to the week in parliament, our attempt to make sense of a fractious few days at westminster. the ayes to the right, 308. the noes to the left, 297. cheering. the prime minister loses two key votes. will it be third time lucky? the only way to avoid no deal is to vote for the deal. and the speaker takes on his critics. honourably and conscientiously in the firm and continuing conviction that i am right. all that and more to come. but first, downing street had hoped that mps would return to westminster from their christmas break

refreshed and ready to endorse theresa may's brexit plan. spoiler alert — it didn't turn out like that. the government was defeated twice in the commons over its brexit timetable, and there were bitter arguments over the rules of the game and how the referee, speaker bercow, chose to apply them. the first defeat on the finance bill makes it harderfor britain to leave the eu without a deal. the ayes to the right, 303. the noes to the left, 296. 20 conservatives, among them 17 former ministers, rebelled. it was the first time a government had been defeated on a finance bill for a0 years, and means parliament will have to vote again on any tax changes to pay for no deal plans. at prime minister's questions, the labour leader drew his own conclusions. the prime minister has been recklessly wasting time holding the country to ransom with the threat of no deal

in a desperate attempt to blackmail mps to vote for her hopelessly unpopular deal. prime minister. the right honourable gentleman can say what he likes about no deal, but he opposes any deal that the government has negotiated with the european union. he opposes the deal. he opposes the deal that the eu say is the only deal. and that leaves him with no deal. the only way to avoid no deal is to vote for the deal. if the right honourable gentleman... if the right honourable gentleman is uncertain about what i am saying, perhaps i can give him a tip — he might like to use a lip reader. it was almost as if they hadn't been away. but the stage—managed rows during pmqs were nothing compared to the arguments about the rules for the so—called meaningful vote, and what happens if the government loses.

the speaker's decision to allow mps a vote on an amendment that will force theresa may to return with a plan b within days rather than weeks sparked uproar. for many of us, we will now have an unshakeable conviction that the referee of our affairs, not least that you gave... not least that you gave your opinion and your vote on the issue of brexit publicly, that we will have an unshakeable conviction that the referee is no longer neutral. i have always been scrupulously fair to brexiteers and retainers alike, —— remainers alike, as i have always been to people of different opinions on a miscellany of other issues. that has been the case, it is the case, it will continue to be the case. mps spent longer raising points of order about the process than they had questioning the prime minister. i am absolutely hopping mad.

when i became an mp three years ago, i was determined that i would not become part of the establishment. do people in this house have any idea how out of touch the general public think we are most days? 0ne mp even raised a point of order to complain about the points of order. is there any means available to this house, mr speaker, to communicate to the conservative party we're now all bored, we're now all tired of all these points of order. the nation is increasingly embarrassed by them, and how do we, therefore, get on with today's debate? in politics, as in sport, the referee's decision is final. and the chair has to make his bestjudgement there and then. that is what i have done, honourably and conscientiously, in the firm and continuing conviction that i am right. and when it came to the vote, few were surprised by another government defeat. the ayes to the right, 308. the noes to the left, 297.

the actual debate that followed was rather muted in comparison. the calm after the storm. ministers did their best to sell the brexit deal to a sceptical audience. because we can say to france, to the netherlands, to denmark and to other nations, i'm afraid you're locked out of our waters, but at the same time, we have access to their markets without tariffs or quotas, and at the same time, we say your citizens can't come here under our rules, and at the same time we say we're not paying penny for these privileges, and at the same time we say we're outside the jurisdiction of the european court ofjustice. european nations will say to the european institutions, i thought you weren't going to allow cherry—picking. but why is it that britain has this bowl of glistening cherries? i thought you were going to say the brits couldn't have their cake and eat it. but they are having an array

of privileges and access routes and opportunities, while at the same time, not paying for it, not accepting our citizens and not allowing our boats into their waters. but controversial plans to keep the irish border open if there's no trade deal, the so—called backstop, remain a stumbling block with the dup. you've been in northern ireland, you've met the mps, you've met the unionist people, you understand their opinion. can i suggest to you, minister, that what you need to do now is remove the backstop, and that's the only way you will gain our support. there was, though, a glimmer of hope for the prime minister as some would—be rebels switched sides. mr speaker, i will, with a heavy heart, vote for this deal because we are in the dying stages, and no deal is unconscionable. but i beg colleagues to ask their frontbenchers to work together across the house in pursuit of something we can all be proud of. and some labour mps sought government support to protect workers' rights and environmental standards. as this amendment proposes,

the uk's goal, post—brexit, should be to ensure that workers' rights do not slip back, that the rights including workers' rights enjoyed by many british employees are protected. likewise, uk standards on water pollution, pesticides, emissions, energy conservation, on carbon reduction must all be protected. a uk commitment to not walk backwards. we stand ready to engage in those discussions. on this particular amendment, we, as ever, need to look at the implications and the drafting very carefully, but i'm hopeful this will be an amendment that it will be possible to accept. greg clark suggested that could be a totem of wider cross—party cooperation. but there was still some confusion over what happens if, as most people expect, the government loses the so—called meaningful vote. the media are reporting that number ten downing street is briefing that its interpretation of yesterday's vote and of the requirements

of the legislation is that if the prime minister's motion is defeated next tuesday, then the debate on a plan b that the government will be obliged to bring forward would, in their intention, be restricted to only 90 minutes, on an entire plan b, and that also, they would only allow for one amendment to be chosen and voted upon. given that the prime minister and the government have been saying that they want to listen, that they want to reach out, that they want to build a consensus, how, if this is the case, can we believe anything that the government is saying? that prompted something very unusual in the chamber, where the government chief whip is normally seen but seldom heard. just to confirm, no decision has been made along the lines of what the right honourable lady has said, and the government will do everything it can to ensure that the house is fully consulted in every eventuality next week, and the information that the right honourable lady has is not correct.

the lesser—spotted chief whip, trying to clear up the confusion. now, if, like me, you're occasionally a little bewildered by all the brexit shenanigans here at westminster, you may feel in need of a little expert advice. so, who better than jill rutter and anand menon? hello, both. and jill rutter, first of all, we know that mps have decided theresa may has to come back to the commons if she loses next tuesday's vote. what's the wider significance of that, of her having to come back in days rather than weeks? it really means that she needs to be working now on what her strategy is for if she loses, or as most people expect, when she loses next week. so, rather than have the luxury, though would it really have existed because she would have had to make a statement pretty quickly, and be facing pmqs the next day, she'll have to actually know what she wants to do next. so, there's some doubts about how quickly the commons gets to vote on this, and that will need to be sorted out.

it also reduces the amount of time she might have thought she'd have to go back to brussels and ask for some extra concessions. so, that would be pretty emergency phone call to mrjuncker and mr tusk to say, "i need this to be able to get it over the line." so, she's compressed that window, that's the real thing. the other significance, of course, is that this is an issue that the government decided to fight on and lost, so it again gives this sense that the government isn't controlling parliamentary procedures. and what will she have to do when she comes back? does she have to unveil a complete plan b, or does she just has to take note of yet another commons defeat? well, it's spectacularly unclear, as yet, and the government are saying we have not decided. whether or not she just has too come and lay a motion before the house, in which case she can do that, they have a 90—minute debate and it is all done and dusted. what is interesting, in the broader sense, going back to what jill was saying, is this is an amendment that was put down by someone that clearly doesn't want us to find a solution that leads to a deal being signed. i mean, dominic grieve has been very clear.

he wants a referendum. and it's very interesting that the reaction to this amendment from the eu has been negative so far, because it does constrain the options when it comes to trying to find a workable alternative to the withdrawal agreement. now, one of the concessions she has offered is for mps to have a vote before britain either enters the backstop or the transition period is extended. i mean, that contradicts a legally binding withdrawal agreement, doesn't it? yes, essentially. so, it's meaningless. it's pretty meaningless. well, you could say it is actually potentially damaging, because the european parliament still has to ratify the deal, and this is already giving us a bit of a notice of bad intent by the uk. and the uk has quite a track record so far in the negotiations of reneging on what appear to be commitments. it also doesn't add anything, because actually, in uk law, parliament could always decide to do that. it can always decide to breach international obligations if it wants. so, you could say it doesn't actually add anything to what parliament

could do anyway, but it actually gives early notice that we might do something. and moreover it doesn't seem to have taken a trick with the dup. so, at the moment, it seems to be a bit of a lose all—round strategy but will wait to see, maybe that will change when we finally get to the vote next week. there's a game of smoke and mirrors here going on at all sorts of levels, with people saying things that actually give you dig below the surface don't have much in the way of meaning. but it just speaks of desperation on all sides. desperation by the prime minister to get this deal over the line, desperation by some of her opponents to make sure she fails. and whatever happens, we know the speaker, john bercow, is going to play a pretty big role. yes, and we also know that the relationship between the government and john bercow are maybe not at their lowest—ever ebb, probably at their lowest—ever ebb. they haven't been great for some time. one of the really interesting thing is when the government finally gets around to having a vote, with amendments, the order in which you select those amendments starts to matter, because quite a lot of people will be waiting to see that their preferred amendment

falls before they move on to support their second or third preference. so, the speaker will play a very important role in deciding what order those amendments are voted on. and i won't ask you to make predictions beyond what you think will happen on tuesday, and perhaps in the few days ahead. it is remarkable to me how little seems to have changed since before christmas. i expected christmas to be a time of intense activity by the whips, by number ten, sweet—talking mps. there were signs before christmas that the dup was softening its tone. the tone is back to what it always was now. so i expect the prime minister will lose. i expect a few tory mps will have been convinced over christmas. i think she will lose by less than she would have lost by before the christmas break, but i think that will be scant consolation for number ten. i think pretty much the same, actually. i think the interesting thing is how much will she lose by? is it sort of within the margins, where people can then say she's got a basis to work on, she needs one more heave. maybe something where she can

go back to the eu and say, if you can just go there, then i can get it over the line. because i think the eu does not want to be basically negotiating with the very many factions that are now emerging in the uk parliament. they do not want to be salamied by a prime minister trying to sort of patch together her majority. if she can say it would take this one thing and i can guarantee that that will bring over the 30 extra i need, then that would put her in a very different position. thank you both very much indeed. as we've seen, a major stumbling block for the prime minister's deal remains the irish backstop. theresa may has suggested that politicians at stormont could be given a say in the future on whether eu rules should apply in northern ireland. but it's exactly two years since northern ireland had a government and an assembly. from stormont, here's jayne mccormack. you could hear a pin drop around this place these days. that is how quiet it is. it all started two years ago this week when deputy first minister martin mcguinness resigned

triggering the collapse of the assembly. at the time he cited the dup, sinn his partner in government at the time, and its handling of a flawed energy scheme known as rhi as the main reason. fast forward to now, past an assembly election, failed talks after talks, and dozens of decisions put on hold in the absence of ministers, little has changed. the deadlock now though isn't due to rhi but over sinn fein demands for an irish language act to enshrine the rights of irish speakers here. the dup has refused to budge and in the meantime the british and irish governments have continued to focus on brexit. that and what is happening in westminster in the next couple of weeks could make getting this assembly restored very difficult. jayne mccormack. time now for a breatherfrom brexit and a brief look at some of the other highlights from westminster and beyond. televised leaders' debates are a relatively recent addition to british election campaigns.

but there are often arguments over the format and sometimes one leader — usually the one with the most to lose — refuses to debate head to head with her — or his — rivals. an epetition calling for an independent body to be in charge of future tv leaders debates has attracted the signatures of 135,000 people — so triggering a debate in westminster hall. there is a very clear expectation amongst the public that politicians and particularly leaders of political parties are much more visible, much more accessible than they were previously. the public i believe want greater opportunities to see political leaders in action and interacting with one another an order to build up a more complete picture of who they are and what they stand for. british women forced into marriages abroad will no longer have to pay for their own rescue.

the announcement came after it emerged that victims were being made to take out emergency loans to cover the cost of their repatriation. the government had previously said it had an obligation to recover public money but in the lords a minister signalled a change of heart. the scottish government admitted acting unlawfully while investigating sexual harassment claims against the former first minister, alex salmond. the government breached its own guidelines by appointing an investigating officer who had "prior involvement" in the case. the current first minister, nicola sturgeon, said the settlement at the court of session in edinburgh had no implications — one way or the other — for the substance of the complaints or the credibility of the complainants. presiding officer, it remains my view that the government was right to begin an investigation when the series complaints were made, and not allow them to be swept under the carpet because of the identity of the person complained about. while in this one respect the operation and application of the procedure was flawed, the scottish government considered the procedure itself to be robust, and does remain in place. a police investigation continues. mr salmond, who denies the allegations made by two women, said the case had resulted in "abject surrender" for the scottish government.

he said the process used against him was unfair and tainted by bias and that he was not guilty of any criminality. and he called for scotland's most senior civil servant — leslie evans — to resign. for a former 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, the permanent secretary of the scottish government, should consider her position and take the appropriate action. nicola sturgeon said she had full confidence in leslie evans. a new army recruitment drive targeted at young people and using modern—day phrases such as "snowflakes", "me, me, me millennials" and "phone zombies" came under friendly fire from a former defence secretary. we now have the smallest army since the napoleonic wars. we have got a reduced target of 80,000, which we have failed to meet by several thousand. we havejust launched a campaign through newspapers and the media to recruit snowflakes, which must terrify the russians, i have to say.

snowflakes, your country needs you. in any other week, major changes to the government's flagship welfare policy — affecting millions of people — would dominate the headlines from westminster. this was, of course, no normal week but the changes to universal credit made by the new work and pensions secretary amber rudd are significant. she has postponed a commons vote to transfer three million existing welfare claimants to the new benefit. instead, a pilot involving 10,000 people will take place. and the proposal to limit payments to the first two children won't be made retrospective. but she chose to make the announcement outside the commons. the speaker wasn't impressed. let me say, for the avoidance of doubt, in terms so clear as to brook of no misunderstanding, that if a change in government policy is to be announced,

especially on a major matter that has been the subject of considerable controversy, it is proper for that announcement of a change first to be made to the house. but earlier in the week, after news of the changes leaked, one of amber rudd's junior ministers had been brought to the commons to answer an urgent question. all new claimants now receive universal credit. in the future we will move claimants who have not changed circumstances from legacy benefits to universal credit in an approach known as managed migration. it is right that the government should seek to align provision for all in order to eventually operate one welfare system. the department has long planned to initially support 10,000 people through this process in a test phase before increasing the number of those migrating. this first phase will give us the opportunity to learn how to provide the best support while keeping parliament fully informed of our approach. delaying the vote on managed

migration from legacy benefits to universal credit is a small acceptance from the government that things may not be well with universal credit. we have six years of evidence and lobbying to show the secretary of state that. the secretary of state knows she can't get away with kicking the can down the road. she knows that changes need to be made and that it isn't just her credibility that is on the line but the lives of recipients who rely on that support. the universal credit structure and the changes right from the beginning has been a disaster. it has been delayed. it has cost money. they are having to delay further because they are worried about the effect it will have. in my area there has been a 39% increase in food bank usage after the roll—out of universal credit. it is causing real distress and there are still £4] billion of benefit cuts between now and 2020 to be administered. will he now admit that this is a rolling disaster area and commit at that dispatch box to have a proper review and do the right thing? perhaps the honourable

lady wasn't listening. i already set out the extra funding that we have in bringing forward and i wish she would support this. and of course through this process we learn and we make changes as appropriate. but the reality is that we are now in a system which is much simpler, where people are able to get one—to—one support that they weren't able to get before, and that is something she should be welcoming. time for a look now at what's been happening in the wider world of politics this week. alex partridge has our countdown. at five, as the prime minister lost votes in the commons she also lost

a prominent supporter. kate bush released a statement saying she is not a tory supporter, as she made positive remarks about theresa may to a canadian magazine all the way back in 2016. at four, bad news for mps. there is no longer any alcohol on sale in the commons tearoom. they have to make do with the seven other bars that exist on the parliamentary estate instead. at three, speakerjohn bercow was accused of setting fire to a copy of erskine may with some of his decisions this week. actually setting fire to the bible of parliamentary procedure is a pastime only for the very rich though. a copy will set you back over £1100. at two, strange goings—on in australia where a photo on prime minister scott morrison's official website was edited to give him some shiny australian—made trainers and also two left feet. and at one, the scottish parliament now provides sign language interpretation of first minister's questions in the public gallery. which led to this appeal from the presiding officer. please, to keep your questions concise. alex partridge.

now, never mind erskine may, in a week when members argued over the precise meaning of "forthwith" the house of commons launched its first—ever mps' guide to procedure. the 326—page volume, also available online, is intended to complement erskine may and offer a guide in "plain english" to proceedings. so is this about keeping order in an unruly chamber? the initial feedback for the guide came from mps and staff who were keen to have a very practical, accessible guide in addition to the advice that they already got from the staff working in the house of commons and the books and rules that were already out there. 0bviously particularly at the moment there is a heightened interest in parliamentary processes and procedures. so although it is a coincidence, the fact that the book has come out now, it is obviously useful as well.

it makes procedure more accessible to a wider audience. so is this about keeping order in an unruly chamber? the book isn't about trying to stop unruly behaviour as such. it's about making the wide variety of ways in which mps can represent their constituents as effectively as possible accessible and easy to refer to, and just making it clear that there are a lot of processes out there that can be used to raise the profile of an issue on behalf of an mp's constituents. and after the speaker's latest rulings on parliamentary procedure, mps are joking that their new guide is already out of date. alicia mccarthy will be your guide on bbc parliament on monday evening as mps continue their debate on the brexit deal. thank you for watching. bye for now. hello there.

temperatures on saturday reached 12 degrees in strathallan. 6 celsius higher than the january average in this part of scotland. it was a very mild day. we have some rain for western scotland and that rain continues to edge its way southwards. if you are heading outside over the next few hours, it is worth taking wet weather gear with you across scotland, northern ireland and the far north of england. it will be quite blustery and very mild as well. temperatures between 8 and 10 degrees celsius to start day on sunday. on sunday itself, we have two weather fronts to look at. the first front will move southwards across england and wales and a more significant occluded front here across northern scotland will bring heavy rain to the north of scotland with colder air following that. so for sunday, a cloudy day for england and wales with a few patches of rain working southwards. brighter weather in the afternoon with showers working into northern western areas with more

persistent rain hedging into the far north of scotland. wherever you are, it will be a blustery old day weatherwise, and temperaturewise, there will be big contrast from south to north across the country. for much of england and wales, we'll see temperatures similar to that on saturday, 11, 12 degrees. notice it gets cooler further north and cold weather in shetland where temperatures just reached just 2 degrees. indeed, a fair few wintry showers with a little bit of sleet and a few flakes of snow mixed in with showers during the latter part of the afternoon. the week starts mild, rain in the north and west, often quite windy and it's set to turn much, much colder as we head towards the end of the week. now, monday, we will have quite a sharp frost to start the day across scotland and parts of north—east england as well. sunshine initially, but then it turns cloudier with showers working into western areas of scotland. the mildest air tending to be across western and southern parts of the country, but quite cold air across the north and east. temperature around 1 celsius or so.

tuesday and wednesday, we have a slow—moving weather front that's going to bring heavy persistent outbreaks of rain to western scotland, particularly into the highlands and western isles looking pretty wet. temperatures are rising again, 10 degrees widely and temperature is reaching around 7 degrees here. it will get milder for all of us. as we reach wednesday and thursday, we will start to see a more significant push of arctic winds moving down and replacing these milder westerly winds. so for all of us as we head through thursday, the temperatures will drop, even a little below normal for the time of year but at the same time, with that colder air arriving, it should be a little bit more in the way of sunshine. that's your latest weather. good morning, welcome to breakfast with rogerjohnson and louise minchin. 0ur headlines today: "back me or risk a catastrophic betrayal of democracy," warns theresa may as downing street fears losing control of brexit altogether if mps reject her deal this week. tough questions for britain's big gambling firms as the bbc reveals significant flaws in the schemes meant to help people stop betting online. and catch us if you can.

liverpool are back in the winning groove. mo salah's goal was the difference against brighton, and seven points is the difference once again at the top of the premier league. and singers dua lipa and anne marie lead the nominations at this year's brit awards.