we re the north—westerly winds were dragging cold air across the country. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at 2... the prime minister warns no brexit is more likely than leaving the eu without a deal, if she loses tomorrow's vote in parliament. it's now my judgment it's now myjudgment that it's now my judgment that the it's now myjudgment that the more likely outcome is a paralysis in parliament that risks there being no brexit. that makes it even more important that mps consider very carefully how they will votes tomorrow night. meanwhile, a government whip resigns — gareth johnson says he is stepping down because he cannot back?the prime minister's brexit deal. trying to clean up the air we breathe — ministers publish their clean air strategy for england record—breaking snow continues to blanket parts of europe — at least five people were killed as avalanches hit skiing areas over the weekend. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. that is with ollie. andy murray has

been knocked out in the first round of the australian open but he has hinted it might not be his last game. talk to you later. and with the weather it is louise. hi, there. hope you have your thermals later on this week. you will need them. for the rest of the afternoon, sunny spells and scattered showers in the east. cloudy in the west. more details coming up. thanks, louise. also coming up, getting the ball rolling — zoe ball has begun her tenure as bbc radio 2's first female weekday breakfast host on the nation's favourite radio show i loved it. i really enjoyed it. it does not stop. those three hours flew by. i managed to sleep last night, which are think out a bit. this morning i kept saying, brive. breathe. i had so many messages from people saying, brive. —— brive.

hello, everyone. this is afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. at the start of a crucial week for brexit, the prime minister has made a last ditch attempt to get mps to back her deal when the commons votes tomorrow. speaking to factory workers in stoke—on—trent, theresa may said pressure from backbenchers meant if her plans were rejected, no brexit would be more likely than leaving without a deal. this morning, eu leaders sent a letter to the prime minister, offering further reassurances about the withdrawal agreement. but mrs may is still predicted to face a heavy defeat tomorrow. and in the last hour, the conservative mp for dartford, gareth johnson, has resigned as a government whip in order to oppose theresa may's brexit deal, saying the deal will be detrimental to the nation's interest. nick eardley reports. chanting: what do we want? people's vote... deal or something else? this week mps will

finally vote on the government's brexit plan, but it's hard to find anyone here who thinks they will back it. the prime minister continues to fight for her vision. this morning in stoke—on—trent, which voted almost 70% to leave, theresa may had a warning for brexit supporters, that if they oppose her plan, they might get know brexit at all. while no deal remains a risk, having observed events at westminster over the last seven days, it's now myjudgment that the more likely outcome is a paralysis in parliament that risks there being no brexit. a fresh attempt to address concerns on the irish backstop, too. some tory mps are worried the uk could end up stuck in the arrangement. but the presidents of the council and commissions sent a letter saying they do not want the backstop in force. they add they want to see the future relationship in place as quickly as possible. the letters published today have legal force and

must be used to interpret the meaning of the withdrawal agreement, including in any future arbitration. they make absolutely clear that the backstop is not a threat or a trap. but so far, nothing theresa may has secured has changed enough minds. there is no sign that today's offering will be a game changer, and so there are a plots aplenty in parliament with different groups of mps fighting for their own brexit visions. some brexiteers say there is no fear on leaving the eu with ourfuture relationship in place. we should vote down this deal with absolute confidence. it is the right thing to do. there are tories who think senior mps may have to take control of the process and allow parliament to decide on a brexit plan b. we are in the very, very final stages of the endgame here, and what we need to do is find a solution, and if the government can't find a solution, and we want them to do so, and we will be voting for her solution, but if it can't then parliament needs to.

labour, meanwhile, wait. its leadership is reluctant to back a second referendum. they may move a step closer with a no—confidence vote macro this week. all the information so far is that theresa may's deal will go down. it would have gone down a month ago. she has delayed to pick up more support. she has delayed it to get more assurances. that hasn't worked. vote this thing down and we will consider oui’ this thing down and we will consider our position with regard to the no—confidence motion. our position with regard to the no-confidence motion. mps will walk through these lobbies tomorrow evening, to finally pass judgment on theresa may's brexit plan. if they rejected, it is far from clear if they can agree an alternative. vicki young is here. she needs a seismic shift in terms of numbers. is there any evidence it

is happening? no, there is a small number, four or five mps, is happening? no, there is a small number, four orfive mps, who have said they are willing to change their minds or back the deal. a lot of them are referring back to what happened last week in the house of commons when john bercow happened last week in the house of commons whenjohn bercow said he would give all —— do harley kemp to give mpsa would give all —— do harley kemp to give mps a say in the brexit process. some of those on the brexit side think this is a remain parliament. they feel it will be an attempt to thwart brexit. it is a matter of thinking that the deal is still pretty bad, a bad deal, as one of those tory mps said yesterday, but still thinking, i have got to vote for it because we can't riske brexit not happening at all. that is a message very clearly from the prime minister. she is making a pitch to brexiteers in her party jese, you wanted this, now is your chance to vote this through. if you don't, the uncertainty could mean

anything. you have the likes of borisjohnson anything. you have the likes of boris johnson saying anything. you have the likes of borisjohnson saying no deal is probably a better option? there are still some who do think that. the problem is in the house of commons there are clearly a majority of mps who will do everything they can to stop that. it is still argued about whether they can or are not. there isa whether they can or are not. there is a political reality, although things are very uncertain. if theresa may were to say my government's policy is a no deal scenario, i would say there are about 30 ministers who would resign at that point. it becomes a most impossible to govern. that is the other side of it. the other problem is that everyone thinks she is going to lose tomorrow. they think she is going to lose pretty badly. if you area going to lose pretty badly. if you are a conservative mp who is not sure, you are probably thinking there may be another vote next week. i will probably not vote for it this time around. labourmps i will probably not vote for it this time around. labour mps are not going to put their necks on the line and votes with the government if they think it is going down by a huge number anyway. all of that is

not really helping theresa may. the other thought is that the eu won't give any significant concession until there is a defeat, although —— until there is a defeat, although —— until they can see clearly the numbers in the house of commons. they may decide... the prime minister will be talking later? yes, she will give a statement of the house of commons. she is due to wrap up house of commons. she is due to wrap up the debate tomorrow. the last words mps will hear on the issue would be from the prime minister. she is not brilliant at selling the deal herself. some people think michael gove did a betterjob as a brexiteer himself, appealing to those on his own side, saying there is no perfect brexit, this is the best you're going to get. this affects the referendum result and the make—up of the house of commons. thank you. so what happens tomorrow in parliament, and what are the possible outcomes? our reality check correspondent, chris morris, has been plotting out all possible permutations for us.

so this is where we start. a vote in parliament tomorrow — with all the political manoeuvring surrounding it — on theresa may's brexit deal. the legally binding withdrawal agreement and the non—binding political declaration on what the future relationship might look like. if it's accepted — which is looking highly unlikely tomorrow, but if it is — the path ahead is a bit more straightforward. the agreement would have to be turned into uk law with new legislation, and there'd be further parliamentary battles about that. then it would need to be ratified in the european parliament and get eu approval. if all that happens in time, then the uk would leave the eu on schedule with a deal on the 29th of march. but back over here, if it gets rejected, what then? well, the default position — if nothing changes at all — is down there. the uk still leaves on march the 29th, but with no deal and probably numerous resignations from the cabinet. but, as we know, there are many, many people determined to prevent that happening. so what then? well, the government

will probably seek even more reassurance from brussels, especially on the irish backstop. and there could then be a second — or even a third — vote in parliament on the deal as the government tries to ramp up the pressure. if it is accepted, we are back to leaving the eu with a deal on march 29. but if the prime minister can't get her deal through the commons, well, we know that mps have already made plans to seize the initiative. they'll debate alternatives and try to prevent no dealfrom happening. that could mean trying to extend the article 50 negotiating period to buy a bit more time. but the rest of the eu would have to agree to that. and then what? well, first of all, there could be a different deal for leaving that the majority of mps can support. that could mean staying in the single market and the customs union — known by some as norway plus — or a different variation of that, advocated by the labour party — a permanent customs union and closer links with the single market. or even a cleaner break, a basic free—trade deal —

a bit like canada has. it's worth pointing out that none of these would really change the withdrawal agreement itself, but mps might vote for a deal that sets out a clearer future direction. but if none of that works, well, we know that labour wants an election. and it says it will at some stage demand a vote of no—confidence in the government to try to get one. but there are also growing calls for another referendum to give the people another say now they know what the options are. that could of course lead to no brexit at. but again, the default position in uk and eu law is that, if mps can't agree on any alternative, then — deal or no deal — brexit will happen on march the 29th, in just 75 days' time. conservative mp sir edward leigh here. you have been a eurosceptical your political life and yet you have changed your mind and you will back

the prime minister? i am because i fear this is no longer a choice between mrs may's admittedly inadequate deal. it is a choice between her deal and from a brexit point of view, something far worse, probably permanent membership of the customs union. is there any doubt in your mind she will lose tomorrow? we all assume she will lose. if she loses very badly she may not even be able to go back to the eu. the remainers in parliament will take control. they have the support of these speaker. they will impose something far worse. today could be the high point of brexit. we could have a second referendum or anything. how will tony blair want me to vote tomorrow? he would want me to vote tomorrow? he would want me to vote against theresa may. i will not oblige him. there are those, you have heard it said, you

have changed your mind? 18 months ago, from my chairman of the office of public commissions... i give you an assurance that has been no deal, no transaction. i just an assurance that has been no deal, no transaction. ijust believe in my heart of hearts that the safe thing for a brexit, to deliver what my constituents in lincolnshire want, brexit and an end to free movement of people, is to vote for the prime minister tomorrow. that is what i will do. if she loses tomorrow night, what then? that is a problem my face and fellow brexiteers face. people like me, who are sanguine about no deal, are probably a quarter of no parliament. —— parliament. can we ignore parliament? i suspect the remainers, 20 to 30 tory mps, willjoin with labour and with the speaker and impose probably a prominent single market and customs union on us and that would be a disaster. very briefly, theresa may, was it a

massive mistake not to get this vote out of the way? i don't think it was a massive mistake. she has done her best. she has got further assurances today. both the eu and she are determined the backstop is not permanent. i have put down an amendment to say the government macro can it —— issue a letter of resignation. there are also to things you can do under international law to get rid of the backstop and i think we will. thank you. a little earlier i spoke to our europe correspondent — i asked him if there was anything new in the letters to the prime minister what it does is it restates first of all that there is no change to the existing withdrawal agreement. there is no time limit on that backstop. mrs may insists there are a couple of new things. she says there is a new determination from the eu to push on quickly with an immediately, with a new clarity about the fact

that northern ireland would not be trapped in new laws. that northern ireland itself could have a veto itself over any laws from the eu if itself over any laws from the eu if it was in the backstop. some reassurance therefore northern ireland. the problem is that fundamentally she says although there is legal force to this letter, it doesn't give the bigger reassu ra nces it doesn't give the bigger reassurances that the somme on her side want. interestingly, what we are hearing here is that everyone watching, and as you have been hearing, the crucial thing now is the outcome of those votes tomorrow. what position does that leave mrs may in? does it leave her in a position where she could come here and ask for more? would eu be prepared to consider rethinking things? the crucial thing may be, will there be some clear direction given from parliament about the sort of deal she could get through? if there is, the eu might consider even

extending the time available for negotiations, that article 50 extension that she could bring here to request, and it may be willing to consider some of the ideas that come out of that process. i'm joined now by dan sabbagh, associate editor at the guardian. and by sam coates, deputy political editor at the times. sam, the feeling seems to be across the board she is not going to get this through? yes, cabinet ministers, other members of the government, except she's not going to win tomorrow. that is not the question being discussed today in westminster. it is all about the nature of her defeat. is it going to be massive or are there things that could happen in terms of amendments? and what happens next? it is a busy week. when she loses, three things will happen. she will probably look to brussels for some more. it looks

as if labour will put down a motion of no—confidence to be voted on on wednesday or thursday. and thirdly, those conversations that we have been hearing of today about what happens next out of control amongst mps will also step up. lots will go on this week. nothing will be decided this week. down, in terms of the figures, what is a workable figure for a theresa may? we have talked about 100 tory rebels as roughly the sort of number we talked about in the past. downing street will be hugely disappointed if it can't chip away at that number at least a bit. on the other hand you would think there are maybe 30 to 40 mps, diehards, boris johnson, dominic raab and others, who would definitely vote against. then you start to look at a number between 30 to 40 and 100. if it as much as 80 rebels, that is bad for theresa may.

people were talking about the resignation of the prime minister at that point. less than that, bit closer, she will have the option to go to brussels and try to renegotiate. it has got to be a sort of number closer to 54 her to have a chance. here is the thing that hurts your head about tomorrow, we may not clea n your head about tomorrow, we may not clean the get a vote in parliament on the deal tomorrow. before her vote is put to the vote a series of amendments will be voted on. some will kill her deal, or those in others. the hilary benn amendment rules out no deal. that would result in the majority of her defeat being lower. maybe that is a good thing for the government, maybe not. you actually have this discussion about numbers but until we know what we are voting on, you can't begin to gain that out. the speaker's role will come to the fore once again?

the deadline for amendments as close of business tonight. people have already put down amendments. the hilary benn amendment has a fair chance of proceeding, being the one thatis chance of proceeding, being the one that is carried. we'll hilary benn stick to his guns? another amendment could emerge. we still see people scampering around with bits of paper as we speak. yes, tomorrow morning the speaker selects the amendments and only then do we know what we are voting on. we have seen with the speaker can do. he has a wide power of discretion. having said that, he has got to select amendments...m is not just has got to select amendments...m is notjust the opponent has got to select amendments...m is not just the opponent to has got to select amendments...m is notjust the opponent to play has got to select amendments...m is not just the opponent to play the amendments came. the government are doing it, the whips are doing it. an amendment went down over the weekend. it approved the deal. but it sets a hard expiry for the backstop in december 2021. and i

know, because i've just backstop in december 2021. and i know, because i'vejust been backstop in december 2021. and i know, because i've just been told, backstop in december 2021. and i know, because i'vejust been told, a number of government figures are trying to get tory mps to vote for that. that will be voted on before her deal. if that happens, there will be a big class. if deal goes through, but it has got a hard expiry date that britain has not negotiated with the eu, the ball is backin negotiated with the eu, the ball is back in the eu court. initially, they will almost certainly throw it out. that could be one way this discussion goes. it will be a long week. thank you both very much. the mayor of the polish city of gdansk has died after being stabbed on stage during a charity event on sunday. pavel adamowicz, underwent five hours of abdominal surgery but died of his wounds. his 27—year—old attacker has been detained — he claimed he'd been wrongfully imprisoned by a political party mr adamowicz used to be a member of. wood—burning stoves, open fires and the use of chemicals in farming will all face restrictions under new government plans to tackle air pollution. england aims to halve the number of people

breathing in harmful particles, and to save the nhs billions of pounds a year. but environmentalists say the plans don't do enough to reduce pollution from cars and planes, and have called it a "missed opportunity". roger harrabin reports. in britain's big cities, the air people breathe is often toxic. this haze is caused by tiny airborne particles, and it is bad news for people with lung problems. oh, i'll cough a lot. breathing sometimes can be quite difficult, which means i can't walk very far. in the court case over nine—year—old asthma victim ella kissi—debrah, it's alleged that air pollution from london's south circular road actually contributed to her death. air pollution is the single biggest environmental impact that leads to early deaths, and so it's incumbent on us to take action across the board. take the burning of wood and coal, which bringsjoy to people like michelle from bristol. dark winter's night, i wanted

something to kind of, you know, cosy on round, really, as a family. but polluting too. sales of wet—wood fuel will be banned. if you use a wet log, then it tends to not be as clean so it's quite dirty, and you can actually see it smoking. stoves will have to meet higher standards, and they'll face local restrictions in polluted areas — but no national ban. farmers face changes too, because ammonia gas released from fertilisers drifts into cities and harms people's health. new rules should curb the pollution. meanwhile, previous government decisions will slowly reduce emissions from diesel vehicles. campaigners say the changes are happening too slowly. their strategy doesn't go nearly far enough on transport, in particular the road transport. the government have got plans to expand aviation — heathrow — and also a multi—billion pound road—building programme, which would just make traffic and air pollution and climate emissions worse.

but there are so many sources of pollution — notjust outdoors but indoors. scented candles, new furniture, toiletries, earfresheners — they can all imitate the lungs. even electric vehicles produce particle pollution from their brakes and their tyres. the truth is that in some of britain's most polluted cities it may be almost impossible for the government to give citizens air that is deemed truly fit to breathe. roger harrabin, bbc news. detectives investigating historic allegations of child sex abuse in kirklees have arrested 55 men, as part of an arrest operation. the individuals were arrested from addresses in dewsbury, batley and bradford over the last few months. the investigation centres on allegations made by seven women of sexual abuse committed against them as children, predominantly in the dewsbury and batley area 2002 and 2009. all 55 men have been interviewed and released under investigation. the police commander

at the hillsborough disaster david duckenfield has gone on trial, charged with the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 liverpool fans. 96 people were killed as a result of crushing on overcrowded terraces at the sheffield ground in 1989. one man, who died four years afterwards, is not included in the prosecution. david duckenfield has pleaded not guilty. officials in indonesia say they've found the cockpit voice recorder from a passenger plane which crashed off the coast of indonesia in october, killing 189 people. investigators have already concluded the lion airjet wasn't airworthy, and should have been grounded. a mother has been killed — and her baby left with life—threatening injuries — after they were hit by a car in south london last night. the woman and her son, who is thought to be eight—months—old, were struck by the vehicle in penge. the driver of the car stopped at the scene and has not been arrested. record—breaking snow

has continued to blanket parts of europe. over the weekend, at least five people were killed as avalanches hit skiing areas, and over 20 people have died in the region during the last month. the situation is particular severe in the austrian alps, from where bethany bell reports. the —— this ski resort in the central austrian alps is sinking in snow. it was evacuated a week ago because of the danger of avalanches. now, soldiers and firefighters are trying to dig it out. it is going to ta ke trying to dig it out. it is going to take a long time. the snow is several stories high. translation: this is the ground floor. on the second story it actually looks pretty much the same. this happened over the last six to seven days. it started to snow and really didn't stop. in the nearby

town, the streets are deserted. getting around is difficult. people are staying indoors if they can. some of the snow piles here are taller than i am. it has been a very long time since this region has had such a hard winter. and it's an uphill battle to try and keep the roads clear. this street near the school will have to be cleared again soon. over the weekend three skiers from germany died in an avalanche in western austria. they were found on his ski route that had been closed off. a fourth person is still missing. rescue workers had to call off their search as it was too dangerous to continue. let's look at the weather. louise is with us. you have been monitoring this for the last few days. is there any sign of a letup?

yes, actually. it looks as if we are starting to go back to the seasonal norm across the alps. they will see some dry weather in the next few days. still some snow. it looks as if the areas that haven't seen snow across the southern alps could see more, and the western alps as well across to france. in some ways that is good news for all concerned. closer to home, a showery rainbow picture. we have got a few showers coming in off the north sea. quite a lot of cloud generally across the country today. there have been some brea ks country today. there have been some breaks across eastern scotland, the north—east of england and just that played very well broken down the spine of the country. it is producing showers of the north sea. they will continue to affect parts of north eastern england. some of them filtering inland. this is the story at the moment. high—pressure slipping down towards the

south—west. these weather fronts will pushing through tonight. we will pushing through tonight. we will see a bit of a change. for the rest of the afternoon, scattered showers across central and eastern areas of england. more thicker cloud to the north and west. a milder afternoon. cooler along the east coast. those weather fronts will start to push in overnight tonight. they would bring wetter weather to the extreme north of scotland. they will also bring a breeze as well. tomorrow, in north—south divide. the heaviest of the rain in the north—west of the great glen. showery breaks elsewhere. across much of england, wales and northern ireland, it is a case of chasing the sunshine as the cloud breaks up. a milder afternoon for all of us. as we move out of tuesday into wednesday, that weather front will continue to sink its way across northern ireland, through the scottish borders and into the north of england. by the time we get into wednesday morning it would be

sitting across wales and northern ireland and slipping south and east. that will be interesting. we keep the cloudy and mild conditions in central and southern england. the northerly wind kicks in. foot—dragging wintry showers further north and a cooler feel. it is that cooler feel that will continue into the end of the week. this frontal system allows the doors to open for the milder air to be cleared through by the northerly wind. we use the yellow and the blue pushers from the north—west. by the end of the week called for all and at increased risk of snow showers. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: the prime minister warns no brexit is more likely than leaving the eu without a deal if she loses tomorrow's vote in parliament. it is now myjudgment that the more likely outcome is a paralysis in parliament that risks there being no brexit. that makes it even more important that mps consider very carefully how they will vote tomorrow night.

meanwhile a government whip resigns. garethjohnson says he is stepping down because he cannot back the prime minister's brexit deal. trying to clean up the air we breathe — ministers publish their clean air strategy for england. sport now on afternoon live with olly foster. are we talking about andy murray? decision time for andy murray after getting knocked out of the australian open. he is going to decide in the next week whether or not to have more hip surgery. that would improve his future quality of life but he may not be able to play at all after having it. the other option is to rest up for four months and then bow out at wimbledon. he lost in five sets to roberto bautista agut in melbourne but came from two sets down against the spaniard in a thriller in melbourne. murray revealed last week that retirement would be this year because of the pain he's

in following hip surgery and though he would prefer to bow out at wimbledon he said he might not be able to make it that far. he dug very deep in the third set, coming from a break down to take it on a tie break. he celebrated that like winning one of his three grand slam titles. the fourth also went to a tie break and he breezed through that to level the match. but his efforts to force the decider seemed to catch up with him, agut taking it 6—2. the crowd gave him a great send off, it is almost certainly his last australian open but will it be his last match? i don't know. maybe i will see you again. i'll do everything possible. i'll do everything possible to try. ifi i'll do everything possible to try. if i want to go again, i'll have to have a big operation which there is no guarantee i will be able to come back from anyway, but, you know, i will give it my best shot and thank

you, thanks again. we will hear more from him in the next hour. the british number one kyle edmund is also out. he reached the semi—finals in australia last year and was seeded 13th but he struggled from the off against the former world number four thomas berdych. he went down in straight sets to the czech veteran. edmond managed only one break point all match. but dan evans is through to the second round, after a straight sets win over japan's tatsuma ito, his first win in the main draw of a grand slam for two years. he's going to face roger federer next though. and katie boulter claimed one of the best wins of her career, knocking out ekatarina makarova in three sets and taking the decider on a tie—break, the first woman to do so under the new australian open rules. but other british players heather watson, harriet dart and cameron norrie are all out. martin o'neill is expected to become

the new manger at nottingham forest the club parted company with aitor karanka last week. o'neill had five years as manager of the republic of ireland, that ended in november. before that he had management roles with wycombe, leicester, celtic, villa and sunderland. he enjoyed great success at forest as a player in the 70s, winning the league and the european cup. world record holder and defending champion eliud kipchoge will take on britain's sir mo farah at the london marathon in april. kipchoge won on the streets of the capital for the third time last year, with farah finishing third. the kenyan went on to break the world record at the berlin marathon, while farah won his maiden marathon title in chicago. seven—time champion ronnie o'sullivan is about to go 3—1 up

against stuart bingham at the masters — it's one of snooker‘s triple—crown events with just the top 16 players in the world taking part. let's cross live now to alexandra palace in london. he isjust he is just clearing he isjust clearing up he is just clearing up there he isjust clearing up there in he is just clearing up there in the fourth frame to goal 3—1 up. all made a big century. i cannot see what is break is but he had been at the table for a long time, making it look very easy. defending champion mark allen and two—time winner john higgins are both out. ronnie going very well there. that's life over on bbc two, but why watch one of the greatest sportsman in the world when you could be riveted by simon mackay and everything about brexit. 0h brexit. oh it was fine until you mentioned the b word. we've been looking at the possible effects of withdrawal from the eu on different communities in the uk.

15 years ago, thetford in norfolk was transformed by the arrival of thousands of europeans, many of whom came to work in poultry production. now that industry, which relies on migrant labour, is finding the future uncertain. david whiteley has this report it's early morning and gregory is getting ready for the day. he arrived from poland 15 years ago. he lives in thetford. 0k, arrived from poland 15 years ago. he lives in thetford. ok, i'm ready. but the upheaval around brexit has had a big impact on his home town with the number of polish people leaving. i'm really concerned at that and at the same time very upset. not enough workers can help us upset. not enough workers can help us out, not enough manual labour coming in. and its farms like traditional norfolk poultry were gregory works that have been hit. 7596 gregory works that have been hit. 75% of their workforce are eu migrants. the company is owned by mark. he has run the business year

for over 30 years. since brexit, we've never been fully staffed. we cannot fill every position in this business. are you paying enough? yeah, we pay competitive wages to the industry, we offer people a chance to come and work here and go up chance to come and work here and go up the chance to come and work here and go pay chance to come and work here and go des chance to come and work here and go up the pay grades so we are not just looking for basic minimum wage people dash supervisors, line leaders, managers, people can have a career here. but that could all change. under the latest government proposal, if someone now comes into able skilled job, they may struggle to move into management. the government's proposals make a strict distinction between high skilled work and low skilled work and someone who initially comes into able skilled job will not be able to swa p able skilled job will not be able to swap into the high skill path under these proposals. it would affect

anyone trying to move upwards. i'm not fussed where my workforce come from but i need enough people to man my lines, to look after my birds on the farms, to run the business efficiently and successfully. os you can see more on how brexit will affect where you live tonight on inside out, that's on bbc one in england at 7:30. all the episodes will also be available on the bbc iplayer. an artist whose vision deteriorated after lens replacement surgery is one of dozens of people considering legal action against the manufacturer, oculentis. denise de batista said she developed blind patches in one eye after having lens replacement. the bbc has been told that there have been 800 cases of patients who received oculentis lenses experiencing opacification, a clouding of the lens due to calcium deposits. our legal correspondent clive coleman reports. for artist denise di battista, her vision is her life and her livelihood. in 2010, she had a routine eye operation to replace both her natural lenses and improve her sight. but a few years later,

the vision in her right eye unexpectedly started to deteriorate. i got almost blind patches. when i look with my right eye, i really can't see at all. denise doesn't have a problem with black and white contrast, but she does with colours and tones. this picture of hers represents what she can see in low light with her good left eye in contrast to the vision in her affected right eye. when she learned the problem was called by an issue with the lens, it was devastating. i was very, very shocked. when i came out of the consulting room, my daughter was waiting for me and she said i looked white. i was ever so shocked. the lenses denise received were made by the european manufacturer oculentis but reports emerged that a small of patients were experiencing what is known as opacification, a kind of mistiness cause by calcium deposits on some of the lenses.

while this is a known risk with lens replacement, oculentis investigated and decided to recall unused stock of the type of lens denise had. there is no suggestion that any of the company's lenses currently available are affected. sheraz daya is a leading eye surgeon who has tried to help patients like denise. a percentage of lenses have had problems with deposits of calcium on the surface that only become evident five to seven years later, when they accumulate enough to obscure vision. oculentis has paid for surgeons like sheraz daya to replace the lenses concerned. it says half of all patients affected have had lenses exchanged. cataract operations are the most common operation in the uk, with hundreds of thousands of us having them every year. oculentis has withdrawn the affected batch of lenses, but the problems of opacification

in their lenses have occurred in some 800 cases and that's a very small proportion, but it does representjust the ones that the company knows about. in a statement, oculentis told the bbc that it regrets any complications following implants of its lenses, and said: denise is nervous about having her lens replaced, as the procedure's not routine and not all eye surgeons will do it. so the land and seascapes that she loves and paints are, for the moment, clouded and obscured and she's considering legal action. the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, has summoned

the iranian ambassador to the uk for talks to discuss the imprisonment of nazanin zaghari ratcliffe. she was sentenced to five years in jail in tehran for spying charges, which she denies. mrs zaghari—ratcliffe, who's british—iranian, has begun a three—day hunger strike in protest at being denied specialist medical care. richard galpin reports. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe's health has deteriorated significantly during her time in prison. she has lumps on her breasts, problems with her neck and severe depression. but treatment has been denied. at a news conference in london this morning, her family and colleagues expressed concern at her now going on hunger strike in protest. she has been in very poor health for a number of years now. and she has been refused proper treatment. so on someone already very poor physically, and mentally, a hunger strike can have devastating effects.

this is the moment nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe was arrested in tehran airport in 2016. she and her daughter about to head home after visiting relatives. she was convicted of spying and given a five—year prison sentence. she has always vehemently denied the charge. now, to add to the stress she is under, iranian revolutionary guards have been trying to recruit her to spy for them. specifically, to spy on dfid, the department for international development, and an organisation called small media, which the revolutionary guard keep trying to link her to, like in the film of last week, but which she has no connection to. she was told that it would be safer for her and safer for her family afterwards if she agreed to do this. the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt was in iran late last year, in part to push for nazanin's release from prison. but it's not worked. and there's now more pressure on mr hunt to give her

diplomatic protection, which would create a formal dispute between the two countries. whether that's going to have any impact is farfrom certain — and meanwhile, as the news conference here in central london has heard, nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe is becoming so desperate that she is prepared to starve herself. richard galpin, bbc news. some restaurants and takeaways listed on thejusteat website and app are providing incorrect allergy information to customers which could be life—threatening, an investigation by the bbc‘s panorama programme has found. one restaurant was unable to provide even basic, legally required details when asked. tina daheley reports. in the uk, the biggest takeaway delivery app by far is just eat. just eat, summon up your favourite takeaway tonight. in 2017, just eat became one of the uk's100 most valuable listed companies, worth £5.6 billion. while you order on thejust eat app,

the restaurants deliver the food to your door. but how safe is the food? none of the big online takeaway sites display hygiene ratings when you order. and panorama put it to an environmental health expert that over 100 zero—rated restaurants and takeaways listed onjust eat have the lowest hygiene score. restaurants that had cockroach infestations, rat and mice infestations, and really bad hygiene standards. yeah, and that's extremely worrying from a public health point of view. because, at the end of the day, we all want to be able to go on a just eat website, buy food, and have a reasonable expectation, a strong expectation, that the food we are buying through there is safe. what's more, just eat don't require restaurants to provide any allergen information on their site. they say the customers should ask the restaurants themselves.

posing as a customer with an allergy to wheat and gluten, i followed just eat‘s advice and phone around a number of restaurants, one of them mamma mia pizza in birmingham. a takeaway with a zero—hygiene rating. i ordered a burger without the bun. hi, there. i've come to pick up my orderfrom just eat. no bun, yeah? no bun. so is that a burger and chips? yeah. can i just check? because i've got a wheat and gluten allergy. is there any wheat and gluten in that? you what, sorry? wheat and gluten? no. we sent away the burger for testing. there was in fact gluten in the burger. in a statement to panorama, just eat told us... they added that the poorly—rated restaurants that we found should not

have been promoted on their site. mamma mia pizza told us they believe staff didn't understand our question, and add that they display allergy information in store. tina daheley, bbc news. lets get more on the arrest of men on non—recent child sex abuse. let's get more on this from our correspondent danny savage, who's in leeds for us. it seems another investigation is under way being carried out by west yorkshire police. they say they carried out these 55 arrests over a period of several weeks starting in november last year and carrying on through until the new year but they are now in a position to make that investigation public. they say the

allegations are that the mac os x ted on allegations made by seven women of sexual abuse, allegations of sexual abuse against them when they were children which happened between 2002 and 2009. all 55 men have been questioned and released while investigations continue, but what west yorkshire police are saying is that safeguarding and protecting children remains its top priority and that this demonstrates a commitment to the investigation of the sort of offences against young people. they are also appealing for anyone who may have suffered from the sort of abuse to come forward, but this is a new investigation, if you like, focusing on a seven year period on the allegations of seven women of sexual abuse when they were children in the dewsbury and that the areas of west yorkshire between 2002 and 2009, simon. thank you for that update. ben is

here to bring us the business news ina here to bring us the business news in a moment. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live: theresa may warns that the uk might remain in the european union if brexit supporters do not vote for her deal. the conservative mp garethjohnson has resigned as a government whip in order to oppose theresa may's brexit deal. he says the deal is detrimental to the national interest. record—breaking snow continues to blanket parts of europe. at least five people were killed as avalanches hit skiing areas over the weekend. here are your business headlines on afternoon live. doubts about the future of a £20 billion nuclear reactor in wales. reports suggest hitachi will suspend work on its horizon division's wylva nehweth plant this week. if the project is scrapped, 400 jobs could go. and it would leave the hinkley point power station in somerset as the only new uk reactor still being built. it was a happy christmas period forjd sports. britain's biggest sports retailer reported a consistently strong performance over black friday

and the festive season. the positive news comes against a backdrop of the worst christmas in a decade for retailers, according to the british retail consortium. chinese exports fell at the fastest rate for two years in december, according to the latest trade figures. the numbers indicate that the world's second biggest economy is weakening further. that sent asian stock markets lower on monday. in the us, the engines are revving for the start of the annual detroit motor show. but there are some spanners in the works, threatening to put

the brakes on the entire industry. many companies have been relying on china for growth. it's the world's biggest car market. but sales went into reverse last year, for the first time since the 1990s, falling 2.8%. sentiment isn't being helped of course by trade tensions with the us. michelle fleury — our north america business correspondent — is at the show. is there any sense of doom at this show are already putting a brave face on it? you have to put it in context. general motors were speaking on friday about things being challenging right now in china but in the long term, they still expect this to be a car market which ultimately... it is already the biggest in the world, but it will ultimately go from vehicle sales in the 20s to vehicle sales in 13 million. in the us, they are coming off record sales. the forecast we are hearing for 2019 shaul deceleration here in the united states with higher interest rates making it more costly for car buyers to go out and get new wheels, that

the same time, this is still not a bad place. where the gloom comes in is the fact that car are forced to make very difficult choices at the moment, choices about how to use the profits from today to fund the future. i'm talking about autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, ride sharing, all the buzzwords we keep hearing about at shows like this. some notable absences though. no sign of bmw, mercedes—benz or audi at the show this year. what to be read into that? well, one person said to me that part of the reason behind this is that car—makers are going whether customers are. that may sound strange but in detroit, for example, this is the backyard of the hometown big three, ford, general motors, chrysler, so unsurprisingly, they are bidding on the big shows here. chryslerjust won track of the year with its ram truck. ford is just won track of the year with its ram truck. ford isjust now won track of the year with its ram truck. ford is just now are unveiling the new shelby mustang gt

five with a virtual reality headset to show off their tech credentials there as well as the real horsepower. that is why you are seeing the germans staying awake because the luxury car market is not really here in the backyard of the midwest, it tends to be on the coasts and that is why you see them ramping up their presence there and not really paying so much attention to destroy it. that being said, there is an exception as volkswagen are here and there are rumours circulating that perhaps the chief executive of the company may make an appearance today. 0k, michelle, thank you very much indeed. there's been a fall in demand for some financial services in the uk for the first time in five years. that's according to the latest industry survey. the confederation of british industry and accountancy firm pwc found that investment managers have had less business coming their way while there was little or no growth for banks, building societies and lenders. on the other hand, the insurance industry did grow. earlier, i spoke to ray newton smith

about what this tool is about economy and about our behaviour.|j think economy and about our behaviour.” think what is assuring us is that the banking sector is a bellwether for the wider economy, so the fact that business loans to start new businesses for investment have slowed over the last quarter for the first time in five years really reflects the fact that we are seeing slower growth across the wider economy and i think the other thing that comes through from this survey is notjust brexit uncertainty, which is undoubtedly having a direct impact on the sector, but i think it also businesses are concerned about what is that wider uncertainty is affecting growth at the moment is of the investment decisions we are seeing now. on the markets, british shares wobbled, as exports data from china missed expectations and rekindled fears of slowing growth in the world's second—largest economy. investors dumped stocks they deemed

more exposed to china. hsbc fell as did mining shares in response to signs of weakness in the world's top metals consumer. debenhams shares fell after reports of plans to close more stores amid difficulties for the retailer. investors also braced for a crucial vote on brexit. home—builders were among the fallers. they are the most exposed to concerns about a cooling economy amid uncertainty over brexit. that's all the business news. thank you, then. zoe ball hosted her first breakfast show on radio 2 this morning. she's taken over from chris evans on the most popular slot on the uk airwaves. she's the first woman to host the show, and to mark the occasion she kicked off with aretha franklin's respect. i spoke to zoe ball after her first show and asked how she felt. do you know what? i loved it. i

really enjoyed it. it does not stop. those three hours flew by, but i have managed to sleep last night which i think helped a bit and this morning ijust kept thinking breeze, breed. i had so many messages from people just saying breeze, breed. i had so many messages from peoplejust saying breeze, time check, breathe. you are falling in the footsteps of chris evans, terry wogan, what will you offerfor this very important show? the key with the breakfast show is you want to feel part of a family. terry and chris made you feel like they were talking to you, directly to you, so you feel part of a family, included in the gang, but you also want to be informed with what's going on in the news and the weather and the travel, important things to get us to our data and then a bit of— this with kids on the phone and guests. john cleese came in today and was glorious along with nadia hussain and fun features that are jovial but

lots of music because people are on the move and i think it is knowing that some people might tune in for ten minutes on theirjourney orjust in the carand ten minutes on theirjourney orjust in the car and it is knowing who's listening when and hopefully keeping its moving, keeping its lively, a bit of daftness and i am really proud of the team today. i thought tina and mike and richie and the whole team, they worked really hard andi whole team, they worked really hard and i really enjoyed it. got to do it again now! your first record was respect. a lot has been made of the fa ct respect. a lot has been made of the fact you're the first woman to have this slot. how does that change things? i was the first woman on radio one as well and i do not think it is because... chris and terry we re it is because... chris and terry were so good at doing this job that there wasn't room for anyone else to come in at that time, man or woman. and i feel really honoured to be the first woman here and i think it is great. there are a lot of women in broadcasting. i think the bbc really

do support women across all the programmes and i have always felt supported like that is, so it is an honour and a privilege and i am very proud to be the first, but there are a lot of other great women in radio already around the place, so long may that continue. fingers crossed. i had to play aretha franklin, i wa nted i had to play aretha franklin, i wanted to play a woman first. it felt right and it felt the message in that was what he wants, we've got it, what you need, hopefully we've got it. we just need a chance to his bed in and it's a great record and a short intro which is key because of the nerves. that was only talking to mejust as she the nerves. that was only talking to me just as she finished her first show. time for a look at the weather with louise lear. a chance of seeing some sunshine this week but we could see a return to select and frost as well. but the time being, relatively quiet with high—pressure drifting off to the south—west and these were the front

starting to slowly push in from the atlantic. that is definitely bringing more cloud in from the west and sheltered eastern area seen the best of the breaks this afternoon under sunny skies and by the end of the day, scattered showers. top temperatures of six to 10 degrees. moving as of monday into tuesday, it looks likely that we are going to see that weather front bringing some more wet weather into the north and west and earning quite heavy with it as well. the wind is also picking up in the far north, so some of that rain quite heavily on tuesday. clouding over into northern ireland and western fringes, but again, sheltered eastern areas chase sequences of sunshine through the afternoon and it will be mild for all with top temperatures of nine to 11 degrees. make the most of it, called by the end of the week. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2... the prime minister warns no brexit is more likely than leaving the eu without a deal, if she loses tomorrow's vote in parliament. it's now myjudgment that the more likely outcome is a paralysis in parliament that risks

there being no brexit. that makes it even more important that mps consider very carefully how they will vote tomorrow night. meanwhile, a government whip resigns — gareth johnson says he is stepping down because he cannot back the prime minister's brexit deal. trying to clean up the air we breathe — ministers publish their clean air strategy for england. record—breaking snow continues to blanket parts of europe — at least five people were killed as avalanches hit skiing areas over the weekend. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with olly. hi, there. andy murray was knocked out of the australian open today. he will now decide in the next week whether or not to have more hip surgery. if he does we have probably seen him play for the last time. thanks, olly. and louise has the weather. hi, there. hope you have your

thermals with you. you will need them later this week at westminster. sunny spells and scattered showers across much of the east, showery in the west. more details coming up. thanks, louise. also coming up, getting the ball rolling — zoe ball has begun her tenure as bbc radio 2's first female weekday breakfast host on the nation's favourite radio show. i loved it. i really enjoyed it. it does not stop. those three hours flew by. i managed to sleep last night, which i think helped a bit. breathe." this morning i kept saying, "breathe. breathe." i had so many messages from people saying, "breathe, breathe." good afternoon and welcome to westminster, where tomorrow mps will finally vote on the prime minister's withdrawal agreement.

here are some of the key developments so far today. in a speech to factory workers in stoke this morning theresa may warned of a possible parlysis in parliament — suggesting that the risk of no brexit now outweighs the risk of no deal. number 10 then published letters sent between theresa may and eu leaders in which the eu gave assurances over the irish border backstop arrangement, stating that it didn't want to use the backstop but, if it did, it would be for "the shortest possible period". and this lunchtime, a junior government whip, garethjohnson, has resigned, saying in his resignation letter to the pm that her brexit deal would be "detrimental to our nation's interests". nick eardley reports on what's been yet another busy brexit day. chanting: what do we want? people's vote... when do we want it? now! deal — or something else? this week mps will finally vote on the government's brexit plan, but it's hard to find anyone around here who thinks they'll back it. the prime minister, though, continues to fight for her vision.

this morning in stoke—on—trent, which voted almost 70% to leave, theresa may had a warning for brexit supporters — that if they oppose her plan, they might get no brexit at all. while no deal remains a risk, having observed events at westminster over the last seven days, it's now myjudgment that the more likely outcome is a paralysis in parliament that risks there being no brexit. a fresh attempt to address concerns on the irish backstop too. some tory mps are worried the uk could end up stuck in the arrangement. but the presidents of the european council and commission say in a letter they do not want to see the backstop enter into force. to remove the need for it, they add they want to see the future relationship in place as quickly as possible. the letters published today have legal force and must be used to interpret the meaning of the withdrawal agreement, including in any future arbitration. they make absolutely clear that the backstop is not a threat or a trap.

but so far nothing theresa may has secured has changed enough minds. there is no sign that today's offering will be a game—changer, and so there are a plots aplenty in parliament, with different groups of mps fighting for their own brexit visions. some brexiteers say there's nothing to fear from leaving with no deal on our future relationship in place. i think we should vote down this deal in the absolute confidence that it's the right thing to do. take care, everybody. see you. there are tories who think senior mps may have to take control of the process and allow parliament to decide on a brexit plan b. we're in the very, very final stages of the endgame here, and what we need to do is find a solution, and if the government can't find a solution, and we want them to do find a solution, and we will be voting for her solution, but if it can't then parliament needs to. will later hold a vote of no—confidence this week, mr corbyn? labour meanwhile waits. its leadership is reluctant to back a second referendum,

but it may be a step closer with a no—confidence vote later this week. all the information so far is that theresa may's deal will go down, and it would have gone down a month ago. she has delayed it to try to pick up more support — that doesn't seem to have worked. she has delayed it to get more assurances — that hasn't worked. so let's just get on, vote this thing down, and then we'll consider our position with regard to the no—confidence motion. mps will walk through these lobbies tomorrow evening to finally pass judgment on theresa may's brexit plan. but if they reject it, it's far from clear if they can agree an alternative. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. so, what happens tomorrow in parliament, and what are the possible outcomes? our reality check correspondent, chris morris, has been plotting out all possible permutations for us. so this is where we start. a vote in parliament tomorrow — with all the political manoeuvring surrounding it — on theresa may's brexit deal. the legally binding withdrawal agreement and the non—binding

political declaration on what the future relationship might look like. if it's accepted — which is looking highly unlikely tomorrow, but if it is — the path ahead is a bit more straightforward. the agreement would have to be turned into uk law with new legislation, and there'd be further parliamentary battles about that. then it would need to be ratified in the european parliament and get eu approval. if all that happens in time, then the uk would leave the eu on schedule with a deal on the 29th of march. but back over here, if it gets rejected, what then? well, the default position — if nothing changes at all — is down there. the uk still leaves on march the 29th, but with no deal and probably numerous resignations from the cabinet. but, as we know, there are many, many people determined to prevent that happening. so what then? well, the government will probably seek even more reassurance from brussels, especially on the irish backstop. and there could then be a second — or even a third — vote in parliament on the deal as the government tries to ramp up the pressure.

again, if it's accepted, we're back to that line along the top, leaving the eu with a deal on march the 29th. but if the prime minister can't get her deal through the commons, well, we know that mps have already made plans to seize the initiative. they'll debate alternatives and try to prevent no dealfrom happening. that could mean trying to extend the article 50 negotiating period to buy a bit more time. but the rest of the eu would have to agree to that. and then what? well, first of all, there could be a different deal for leaving that the majority of mps can support. that could mean staying in the single market and the customs union — known by some as norway plus — or a different variation of that, advocated by the labour party — a permanent customs union and closer links with the single market. or even a cleaner break, a basic free—trade deal — a bit like canada has. it's worth pointing out that none of these would really change the withdrawal agreement itself, but mps might vote for a deal that sets out a clearer future direction.

but if none of that works, well, we know that labour wants an election. and it says it will at some stage demand a vote of no—confidence in the government to try to get one. but there are also growing calls for another referendum to give the people another say now they know what the options are. that could of course lead to no brexit at. but again, the default position in uk and eu law is that, if mps can't agree on any alternative, then — deal or no deal — brexit will happen on march the 29th, in just 75 days' time. i'm joined by ruth fox, director and head of research for the hansa rd society, a charity which focusses on promoting democracy and strengthening parliaments around the world. this parliament has never looked weaker. let's look at the timing tomorrow. the amendments will be crucial. they have to be tabled by

tonight. how many can there be? there is no limit. there is no limit on the number speaker has to select. it will be a matter for him to decide how many and in which order they should be voted macron. that could prove to be controversial. he already proved last week. his role is vital tomorrow, isn't it? already proved last week. his role is vitaltomorrow, isn't it? it is. speakers make these kind of important decisions every week in terms of legislation. it is just we don't have the attention on parliament the way we do this week. speakers in the past who have faced difficult political situations have also faced criticism. you can look to the 1970s when we had a government with a weaker majority. his decision was overturned. the speaker is not in a unique position. previous speakers have experienced these difficulties. tomorrow there will be a lot of pressure. everybody is assuming she loses the vote

tomorrow. the amendment which gave three days one—way or the other, where are we with that? the drafting of that amendment was unclear, so it requires the government to table a motion and it doesn't explicitly stipulate what that motion might contain. there is no requirement for it to be debated. it would be a question of whether the government accepts whether it should be debated in the spirit of the arrangements, or it simply could sit on the business papers of the house and wait for a business papers of the house and waitfora up business papers of the house and wait for a up to 21 days under the terms of the withdrawal agreement. it could sit there. with or without that amendment, frankly if the government does lose the vote tomorrow, it is inconceivable, particularly if we are talking about the scale of defeat people are speculating, it is inconceivable theresa may gets up out of the house of commons and walks out and nothing

further is set for up to three weeks. something will have to be said and the government will have to indicate what they are going to do. more inconceivable is a vote of no confidence tabled by the labour party? that has been suggested. it may come sooner rather than later. if that is tabled, the government macro has to facilitate that as soon as possible. any government wants to assert its control of the house so i would imagine they would try to do that within a maximum 48 hours if possible. then it would depend on the outcome. much of that will depend on the position of the dup. have you ever known a time like this in terms of people's sudden interest in what goes on with the process, but it really is a living thing, isn't it? it is. those around parliament longer than i have, i have been around for 20 years, but those who have been here 40 to 50 yea rs, have never those who have been here 40 to 50 years, have never known it like this, particularly the predictability and the uncertainty.

whether you are in the house or outside, nobody knows what is good to happen. thank you. a little earlier, i spoke to our europe correspondent and asked him if there was anything new in the letters to the prime minister. what it does is it restates first of all that there is no change to the existing withdrawal agreement. there is no time limit on that backstop. mrs may insists there are a couple of new things. she says there is a new determination from the eu to push on quickly with a new clarity about the fact that northern ireland would not be trapped in new laws. that northern ireland itself could have a veto over any laws from the eu if it was in the backstop. some reassurance there for northern ireland. the problem is that fundamentally she says although there is legal force to this letter, it doesn't give the bigger reassurances that some on her side want.

—— legal reassurances. interestingly, what we are hearing here, the crucial thing now is the outcome of those votes tomorrow. what position does that leave mrs may in? does it leave her in a position where she could come here and ask for more? would the eu be prepared to consider rethinking things? the crucial thing may be, will there be some clear direction given from parliament about the sort of deal she could get through? if there is, the eu might consider even extending the time available for negotiations, that article 50 extension that she could bring here to request, and it may be willing to consider some of the ideas that come out of that process. chief political correspondent, vicki young is in central lobby. yes, a few points to pick up and.

those letters of reassurance which don't seem to have done much to have that effect certainly on conservative mps or the dup. the second point about whether parliament can show some direction. indicate to the eu what would be required to get this deal through. let's speak to sammy wilson from the dup. first of all, those letters from the eu and the european commission, are you reassured at all about their suggestion? they are reiterating the backstop solution, they don't want it and it would be temporary? annie one who has looked at the history of these negotiations would see how transparently dishonest that response from the eu is. they have spent two years negotiating an agreement. they have 585 pages of legalese to ensure there is no loopholes by which the

uk can escape from the terms of the backstop. they then said this has to be the basis of any future relationship with the eu. and if that future relationship does not suit the eu, they will not release the uk from the backstop. all of that, i think, the uk from the backstop. all of that, ithink, shows the uk from the backstop. all of that, i think, shows that the words of donald tusk in this letter are totally meaningless. and anybody who would take them as a guarantee or and assurance would be very foolish. what about the idea that parliament could say it would agree theresa may's deal, but on the proviso that the backstop solution would expire on the 31st of december, tooth —— 2021? again, you have to consider the nature of this agreement. this agreement will be between the eu and the uk. the amendment would only be a commitment by the uk government. it would expect the backstop to end.

you could ask the eu to move? the eu already know what is required. any eu negotiator would have steeped themselves in what has been said in these debates, what has been said by spokespersons of different parties. they do not need an amendment in the house of commons to show what is required. you would not consider voting for that? no, we wouldn't. if it is only to give a signal to the eu, they know what is required. any commitment would be one—sided. a commitment would be one—sided. a commitment made by one party but not binding on the other party. what would be binding on both of them would be binding on both of them would be binding on both of them would be the terms of the —— of the withdrawal agreement internationally agreed if it went through this house tomorrow. on a no-confidence vote, jeremy corbyn says edward come soon, if the deal is voted down what is your thinking about that the mac we

have made it quite clear we don't wa nt to have made it quite clear we don't want to change the prime minister, we don't want to change the government. we want to change the policy being pursued by the government to make sure it coincides with the people of the united kingdom in the referendum. if this agreement is turned down tomorrow, we would have no reason not to have confidence in the government. we would want to see the government go back to europe and negotiating with a bit of beef in their negotiations to make sure we get the right deal for the united kingdom. thank you very much. that is the view still of the dup. maybe a crumb of comfort for the prime minister. at this point they do not feel they could vote against her government if it came to a no—confidence vote. you're watching afternoon live. these are our headlines: theresa may warns that the uk might remain in the european union if brexit supporters do not vote for her deal. the conservative mp, gareth johnson, has resigned as a government whip in order

to oppose theresa may's brexit deal. he says the deal is detrimental to the national interest. ministers published their clean air strategy for england. and in sport, andy murray has been knocked out in the first round of the australian open, going down in five sets. he says he will decide in the next week whether to have further hip surgery. katy balls is through to the second round. dan evans was the only other british player to win. martin o'neill is set to take over at nottingham forest. his five—year speuin nottingham forest. his five—year spell in charge of the republic of ireland came to an end in november. that is all your sport for now. more later. wood—burning stoves, open fires and the use of chemicals in farming will all face restrictions under new government plans to tackle air pollution. the clean air strategy for england aims to halve the number of people breathing in harmful particles, and to save the nhs

billions of pounds a year. but environmentalists say the plans don't do enough to reduce pollution from cars and planes, and have called it a "missed opportunity". our environment correspondent, roger harrabin, reports. in britain's big cities, the air people breathe is often toxic. this haze is caused by tiny airborne particles, and it is bad news for people with lung problems. oh, i'll cough a lot. breathing sometimes can be quite difficult, which means i can't walk very far. in the court case over nine—year—old asthma victim ella kissi—debrah, it's alleged that air pollution from london's south circular road actually contributed to her death. air pollution is the single biggest environmental impact that leads to early deaths, and so it's incumbent on us to take action across the board. take the burning of wood and coal, which bringsjoy to people like michelle from bristol. dark winter's night, i wanted

something to kind of, you know, cosy around, really, as a family. but polluting too. sales of wet—wood fuel will be banned. if you use a wet log, then it tends to not be as clean so it's quite dirty, and you can actually see it smoking. stoves will have to meet higher standards, and they'll face local restrictions in polluted areas — but no national ban. farmers face changes too, because ammonia gas released from fertilisers drifts into cities and harms people's health. new rules should curb the pollution. meanwhile, previous government decisions will slowly reduce emissions from diesel vehicles. campaigners say the changes are happening too slowly. this strategy doesn't go nearly far enough on transport, in particular the road transport. the government have got plans to expand aviation — heathrow — and also a multi—billion—pound road—building programme, which would just make traffic and air pollution and climate emissions worse.

but there are so many sources of pollution — notjust outdoors but indoors. scented candles, new furniture, toiletries, airfresheners — ‘s they can all irritate the lungs. even electric vehicles produce particle pollution from their brakes and their tyres. the truth is that in some of britain's most polluted cities it may be almost impossible for the government to give citizens air that is deemed truly fit to breathe. roger harrabin, bbc news. detectives investigating historic allegations of child sex abuse in kirklees, have arrested 55 men as part of an arrest operation. the individuals were arrested from addresses in dewsbury, batley and bradford over the last few months. the investigation centres on allegations made by seven women of sexual abuse committed against them as children, predominantly in the dewsbury and batley area, between 2002 and 2009. all 55 men have been interviewed and released under investigation. for the fourth monday in a row,

hundreds of thousands of us government workers are on the job without being paid or remain at home waiting for congress and the president to strike a deal to end the partial shutdown. a border wall between mexico and the us remains the central issue keeping democrats and republicans far away from a resolution. as he left the white house for a trip to louisiana donald trump told reporters he did not agree with republican senator lindsey graham's proposal to reopen the government for three weeks. here's what he had to say. are not looking to call a national emergency. this is so simple, you shouldn't have to. i have the right to college but i am not looking to do that because this is too simple. the democrats should say we want border security, we have to build a wall, otherwise you can't our border security, and we should get on with our lives. the democrats are stopping us and they are stopping a

lot of great people from getting paid. all they have to do is say, we wa nt paid. all they have to do is say, we want border security, that automatically means a wall or a barrier. thank you. i will see you in new orleans. the mayor of the polish city of gdansk has died, after being stabbed on stage during a charity event on sunday. pavel adamowicz underwent five hours of abdominal surgery but died of his wounds. his 27—year—old attacker has been detained. he claimed he'd been wrongfully imprisoned by a political party mr adamowicz used to be a member of. the police commander at the hillsborough disaster, david duckenfield, has gone on trial, charged with the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 liverpool fans. 96 people were killed as a result of crushing on overcrowded terraces at the sheffield ground in 1989. one man, who died four years afterwards, is not included in the prosecution. david duckenfield has pleaded not guilty. officials in indonesia say they've found the cockpit voice recorder from a passenger plane which crashed off the coast of indonesia in october, killing 189 people. investigators have already concluded the lion airjet wasn't airworthy,

and should have been grounded. a mother has been killed — and her baby left with life—threatening injuries — after they were hit by a car in south london last night. the woman and her son, who is thought to be eight—months—old, were struck by the vehicle in penge. the driver of the car stopped at the scene and has not been arrested. record—breaking snow has continued to blanket parts of europe. over the weekend, at least five people were killed as avalanches hit skiing areas, and over 20 people have died in the region during the last month. the situation is particular severe in the austrian alps, from where bethany bell reports. the ski resort of hochkar in the central austrian alps is sinking in snow. it was evacuated a week ago because of the danger of avalanches. now soldiers and firefighters are trying to dig it out. it's going to take a long time. the snow is several storeys high.

translation: this is the ground floor here, but on the second storey it actually looks pretty much the same. this happened over the last six or seven days. it started to snow, and really didn't stop. in the nearby town of annaberg, the streets are deserted. getting around is difficult. people are staying indoors if they can. some of the snow piles here in annaberg are taller than i am. it's been a very long time since this region has had such a hard winter, and it's an uphill battle to try and keep the roads clear. this street near the school will have to be cleared again soon. over the weekend, three skiers from germany died in an avalanche in lech in western austria. they were found on a ski route that had been closed off. a fourth person is still missing. rescue workers had to call off their search as it was too

dangerous to continue. bethany bell, bbc news, annaberg, in the austrian alps. zoe ball hosted her first breakfast show on radio 2 this morning. she's taken over from chris evans on the most popular slot on the uk airwaves. she's the first woman to host the show, and to mark the occasion she kicked off with aretha franklin's respect. i spoke to zoe ball after her first show, and asked how she felt. do you know what? i loved it. i really enjoyed it. it does not stop. those three hours flew by, but i'd managed to sleep last night which i think helped a bit and this morning ijust kept thinking "breathe, breathe." i had so many messages from people just saying "breathe, time check, breathe." you are following in the footsteps of chris evans, terry wogan. what will you offer that maintains that sense of this very important show? the key with the breakfast show is you want to feel part of a family. terry and chris made

you feel like they were talking to you, directly to you, so you feel part of a family, you feel included in the gang, but you also want to be informed with what's going on in the news and the weather and the travel, the important things to get us through our day and then a bit of daftness with kids on the phone and great guests. john cleese came in today and was glorious and nadiya hussain and fun features that are jovial but lots of music because people are on the move and i think it's knowing that some people might tune in for ten minutes on theirjourney orjust in the car and it is knowing who's listening when and hopefully keeping it moving, keeping it lively, a bit of daftness and i'm really proud of the team today. i thought tina and mike and richie and the whole team, they worked really hard and we really enjoyed it. got to do it again now! for however long. forever. your first record was respect. a lot has been made of the fact you're the first woman to have this slot.

how does that change things do you think? i was the first woman on radio one as well and i don't think it is because... i think chris and terry were so good at doing this job that there wasn't room for anyone else to come in at that time, be it man or woman. and i feel really honoured to be the first woman here and i think it is great. there are a lot of women in broadcasting. i think the bbc really do support women across all the programmes and i have always felt supported like that, so it is an honour and a privilege and i'm really proud to be the first, but there are a lot of other great women in radio already around the place, so long may that continue. fingers crossed. i had to play aretha franklin, i wanted to play a woman first. it just felt right and it felt the message in that was what you want, we've got it, what you need, hopefully we've got it. all we're asking for is a chance to bed in and it's a great record and a short intro which is key because of the nerves. zoe ball talking to me earlier after

her first show. time for a look at the weather with louise lear. good afternoon. the greater chance of seeing some sunshine this week but we could see a return to night—time frost as well. for the time being it is relatively quiet with high—pressure drifting to the south—west and weather fronts slowly pushing in from the atlantic. that is definitely bringing more cloud in from the west. sheltered eastern areas seen the best of the breaks this afternoon and the sunnier skies. scattered showers by the end of the day. six to 10 degrees. as we move into tuesday, it looks likely that we are going to see that weather front bringing some more wet weather front bringing some more wet weather into the north and west and turning quite heavy. the winds picking up in the far north. some of the rain quite heavy on tuesday,

clouding over into northern ireland and western fringes. sheltered eastern areas should see glimpses of sunshine in the afternoon. mild for all with top temperatures of nine to 11. calder valley end of the week. —— colder. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: the prime minister warns no brexit is more likely than leaving the eu without a deal if she loses tomorrow's vote in parliament. it is now myjudgment that the more likely outcome is a paralysis in parliament that risks there being no brexit. that makes it even more important that mps consider very carefully how they will vote tomorrow night. meanwhile a government whip resigns. garethjohnson says he is stepping down because he cannot back the prime minister's brexit deal. trying to clean up the air we breathe — ministers publish their clean air strategy for england. sport now on afternoon live with olly foster. news from the other side of the

world. yes, andy murray was knocked out in the first round of the australian open. we saw flashes of the old murray today, roaring back from two sets down before losing in five sets to roberto bautista agut now — decision time. he knows that he needs more hip surgery for long—term quality of life, but does he delay that for one last hurrah at wimbledon this summer. it is difficult because i always wa nted it is difficult because i always wanted to finish playing at wimbledon. tonight was my last match, like i said, it would be a great way to finish. it was an amazing atmosphere, it was a really good match against equality opponents. but then there's a bit of me that loves playing. i want to keep playing tennis, but i can't do

it with a hip that i have just now, so the only option is if i want to do that is to have the surgery but i know that, you know, there is a strong possibility that i would be able to come back and play after that but it's my only option if i wa nt to that but it's my only option if i want to try and play again for longer thanjust one want to try and play again for longer than just one event at wimbledon, so that's kind of the decision that i have to make. the british number one kyle edmund is also out. he reached the semi—finals in australia last year and was seeded 13th but he lost in staright sets to the former world number four thomas berdych. dan evans is through after a straight sets win over japan's tatsuma ito — his first win in the main draw of a grand slam for two years. he's going to face roger federer next though. katie boulter claimed one of the best wins of her career, knocking out ekatarina makarova in three sets, taking the decider on a tie—break, the first woman to do so under the new australian open rules. the tie—break goes to ten points. but other british players heather watson, harriet dart and cameron norrie are all out.

martin o'neill is expected to become the new manager at nottingham forest. the championship club parted company with aitor karanka last week. o'neill had five years as manager of the republic of ireland, that ended in november. before that he managed wycombe, leicester, celtic, aston villa and sunderland. he enjoyed great success at forest as a player in the 70s, winning the league and the european cup. world record holder and defending champion eliud kipchoge will take on britain's sir mo farah at the london marathon in april. kipchoge won on the streets of the capital for the third time last year, with farah finishing third. the kenyan went on to break the world record at the berlin marathon, while farah won his maiden marathon title in chicago. seven—time champion ronnie o'sullivan is about to go 3—1 up against stuart bingham at the masters. it's one of snooker‘s triple—crown events with just the top 16 players in the world taking part. let's cross live now

to alexandra palace in london. you can follow this over on bbc two if you so wish. the rocket is back at the table and he has 5—1 up. he lost the first set but it has been com pletely lost the first set but it has been completely in control since then, including a break of 144. we had a couple of upsets on the first day yesterday. defending champion mark allen and two—time winner john higgins are both out. it doesn't look as though the rocket will be. sam sunderland's hopes of winning the motorcycle category at the dakar rally have suffered a blow. the briton, who won in 2017, had mechanical problems on the sixth stage in peru. he's now more than 21 minutes behind race leader pablo quintalla of chile. that's all the sport for now. there will be more for you in the next hour. a shortage of workers has

forced a devon seafood company to send some of its crab to vietnam to be processed. 60% of the blue sea food com pa ny‘s 150 staff are from the european union, and the firm says it doesn't believe it can find enough workers to cope with expansion. the government is consulting businesses about immigration rules after brexit, and says its proposals will boost the uk economy while ensuring companies can get the workers they need. jemma woodman reports. it's not something that people want to come and do. we try to get people from the local community and have gone to the extremes of putting up notices in local shops, but it is really, really tough getting people through the door. 60% of really, really tough getting people through the door. 6096 of the staff here have come from eu countries. iron hello. the government is

proposing that after brexit, low skilled workers will only be able to come to the uk for 12 months at a time. that worries bosses here. we wa nt to time. that worries bosses here. we want to add value to that person and hopefully they will add value to our business, so it worries me as well, the thought that people cannot bring theirfamilies, because the thought that people cannot bring their families, because surely what yourfamily their families, because surely what your family around you to be their families, because surely what yourfamily around you to be happy and hopefully stay in the uk and bring money into this country. the company is having to send work abroad because of the difficulty getting enough staff. we should be landing another 30,000 tonnes of gravel and we need more staff in the country's leg factory. to mitigate that risk, we have had outsourced production to vietnam. the government says its immigration proposals will boost the economy by issuing the best and brightest can work and study in the uk and will consult businesses to make sure they get the staff they need. as today's boxes of crab leave for restaurants and shops, this company will be watching closely to make sure it has enough people for the capture is still to come.

you can see more on how brexit will affect where you live. tonight on inside out, that's on bbc one in england at 7:30. all the episodes will also be available on the bbc iplayer. an artist whose vision deteriorated after lens replacement surgery is one of dozens of people considering legal action against the manufacturer, oculentis. denise de batista said she developed blind patches in one eye after having lens replacement. the bbc has been told that there have been 800 cases of patients who received oculentis lenses experiencing opacification, a clouding of the lens due to calcium deposits. our legal correspondent clive coleman reports. for artist denise di batista, her vision is her life and her livelihood. in 2010, she had a routine eye operation to replace both her natural lenses and improve her sight. but a few years later, the vision in her right eye unexpectedly started to deteriorate. i got almost blind patches. when i look with my right eye, i really can't see at all. denise doesn't have a problem

with black and white contrast, but she does with colours and tones. this picture of hers represents what she can see in low light with her good left eye in contrast to the vision in her affected right eye. when she learned the problem was called by an issue with the lens, it was devastating. i was very, very shocked. when i came out of the consulting room, my daughter was waiting for me and she said i looked white. i was ever so shocked. the lenses denise received were made by the european manufacturer oculentis but reports emerged that a small of patients were experiencing what is known as opacification, a kind of mistiness cause by calcium deposits on some of the lenses. while this is a known risk with lens replacement, oculentis investigated and decided to recall unused stock of the type of lens denise had. there is no suggestion that any

of the company's lenses currently available are affected. sheraz daya is a leading eye surgeon who has tried to help patients like denise. a percentage of lenses have had problems with deposits of calcium on the surface that only become evident five to seven years later, when they accumulate enough to obscure vision. oculentis has paid for surgeons like sheraz daya to replace the lenses concerned. it says half of all patients affected have had lenses exchanged. cataract operations are the most common operation in the uk, with hundreds of thousands of us having them every year. oculentis has withdrawn the affected batch of lenses, but the problems of opacification in their lenses have occurred in some 800 cases and that's a very small proportion, but it does representjust the ones that the company knows about. in a statement, oculentis told

the bbc that it regrets any complications following implants of its lenses, and said: denise is nervous about having her lens replaced, as the procedure's not routine and not all eye surgeons will do it. so the land and seascapes that she loves and paints are, for the moment, clouded and obscured and she's considering legal action. some restaurants and takeaways listed on thejust eat website and app are providing incorrect allergy information to customers which could be life—threatening, an investigation by the bbc‘s panorama programme has found. one restaurant was unable to provide even basic,

legally required details when asked. tina daheley reports. in the uk, the biggest takeaway delivery app by far is just eat. just eat, summon up your favourite takeaway tonight. in 2017, just eat became one of the uk's100 most valuable listed companies, worth £5.6 billion. while you order on thejust eat app, the restaurants deliver the food to your door. but how safe is the food? none of the big online takeaway sites display hygiene ratings when you order. and panorama put it to an environmental health expert that over 100 zero—rated restaurants and takeaways listed onjust eat have the lowest hygiene score. restaurants that had cockroach infestations, rat and mice infestations, and really bad hygiene standards. yeah, and that's extremely worrying from a public health point of view. because, at the end of the day,

we all want to be able to go on a just eat website, buy food, and have a reasonable expectation, a strong expectation, that the food we are buying through there is safe. what's more, just eat don't require restaurants to provide any allergen information on their site. they say the customers should ask the restaurants themselves. posing as a customer with an allergy to wheat and gluten, i followed just eat‘s advice and phone around a number of restaurants, one of them mamma mia pizza in birmingham. a takeaway with a zero—hygiene rating. i ordered a burger without the bun. hi, there. i've come to pick up my orderfrom just eat. no bun, yeah? no bun. so is that a burger and chips? yeah. can i just check? because i've got a wheat and gluten allergy. is there any wheat and gluten in that? you what, sorry?

wheat and gluten? no. we sent away the burger for testing. there was in fact gluten in the burger. in a statement to panorama, just eat told us... they added that the poorly—rated restaurants that we found should not have been promoted on their site. mamma mia pizza told us they believe staff didn't understand our question, and add that they display allergy information in store. tina daheley, bbc news. we shall be getting all the business news in just we shall be getting all the business news injust a moment we shall be getting all the business news in just a moment with we shall be getting all the business news injust a moment with ben. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live theresa may warns that the uk might remain in the european union if brexit supporters

do not vote for her deal. the conservative mp garethjohnson, has resigned as a government whip in order to oppose theresa may's brexit deal. he says the deal is detrimental to the national interest. trying to clean up the air we breathe — ministers publish their clean air strategy for england. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. doubts about the future of a £20 billion nuclear reactor in wales. reports suggest hitachi will suspend work on its horizon division's wylva nehweth plant this week. if the project is scrapped, 400 jobs could go. and it would leave the hinkley point power station in somerset as the only new uk reactor still being built. lloyds bank has been criticised for introducing new overdraft charges on monday ahead of a proposed crackdown later this year. an mp described the fees — which will equate to an annual interest charge of up to 61% — as "unacceptable".

the financial conduct authority wants to scrap overdraft fees and replace them with a single interest rate. lloyds banking group said: "the changes were announced prior to the fca's latest recommendations." it was a happy christmas period forjd sports. britain's biggest sports retailer reported a consistently strong performance over black friday and the festive season. the positive news comes against a backdrop of the worst christmas in a decade for retailers, according to the british retail consortium. here in the uk, around 2.7 million extra jobs have been created in the past decade. this is from a report by the resolution foundation, a think tank. they conclude that low income households and disadvantaged groups have benefited most. but young people have suffered morejob insecurity with the rise of zero hours contracts and agency work. and some parts of the uk — like the north west and yorkshire and humberside have not benefited as much as other regions.

stephen clarke is the senior economic analyst at the resolution foundation. he's in our london studio. what kind of jobs what kind ofjobs have been created mostly? mostly a lot of higher skills, higher paid professional jobs and it's a bit of a myth that we have seen a lot of low—paid jobs created over the course of the last decade. there's been a lot of occupational upgrading in the uk which is really good news and as you pointed out, there is a lot of good news around occupation of group for people who tend to find this difficult such as with health problems with low skills and qualification. the bad news is that we have had a poor decade for pay andi we have had a poor decade for pay and i think that is why the economic feel—good factor is perhaps not felt keenly as these figures would suggest. my question to you also is, is this as glossy as it appears? is one thing to create lots of

full—time, permanentjobs, one thing to create lots of full—time, permanent jobs, it one thing to create lots of full—time, permanentjobs, it is quite another if some of these jobs are perhaps temporarily or as you our contracts. i think you have picked up on another one of the concerns about these figures and thatis concerns about these figures and that is that we have had strong drops growth but we have seen a rise in the number of a secure, nontypicaljobs. there are more people working on temporary contracts or through agencies and therefore we have higherjob insecurity in the uk than we did a decade ago and that is worse for younger people, but on the other hand, the last year has been particularly good for the creation of full—timejobs particularly good for the creation of full—time jobs through and employer so we need to be slightly nuanced in how we interpret these figures. why is there the inequality region by region? what is behind that? used to be thought that the real division in the uk in terms of employment growth over the course of the last decade was london and the south—east versus the rest. actually, if there is a new division emerging it is that large cities and

urban areas have done particularly well out of the last decade in terms of rising employment rates including places like liverpool, manchester and sheffield. smaller urban areas particularly out of the south—east and also smaller urban areas and rural areas in particular have not done so well. ok, thank you very much. on the markets, british shares wobbled, as exports data from china missed expectations and rekindled fears of slowing growth in the world's second—largest economy. investors dumped stocks they deemed more exposed to china. hsbc fell as did mining shares in response to signs of weakness in the world's top metals consumer. debenhams shares fell after reports of plans to close more stores amid difficulties for the retailer. investors also braced for a crucial vote on brexit. home—builders were among the fallers. they are the most exposed to concerns about a cooling economy amid uncertainty over brexit.

that's all the business news. is there a ray of sunshine or is it just that high? just the tide, nothing else, i can assure you. malala yousafzai was 15 years old when she was shot and nearly killed by the taliban in pakistan. six and a half years later, she's a nobel peace prize winner, and has now written a book called we are displaced in which she tells her own story and shares the journeys of other young female refugees who have been forced from their homes. here she is talking to our arts correspondent rebecca jones. i have met many refugee girls in my trips around the world. i have been to refugee camps, informal settle m e nts to refugee camps, informal settlements and i security is inspiring stories from these refugee girls and on the other hand i would hearin girls and on the other hand i would hear in the news a different kind of story about refugees just in numbers and figures. we hear about refugees

and figures. we hear about refugees and immigrants but we never hear from them, especially from young women and girls. you know what it is like to be displaced. you were shot by the taliban in 2012 for speaking out about girls' education. you were brought to birmingham for treatment and you have been in the uk ever since. can you give us a sense about how difficult it was to adjust to life in a different country? in school, talking to friends, i found it so difficult. they would laugh at slightly different jokes than it so difficult. they would laugh at slightly differentjokes than i would and i would say something and they wouldn't laughed because it was a cultural difference and i would say, you know, iwould be quiet a cultural difference and i would say, you know, i would be quiet and pretend i was reading, but i was finding it difficult to have a conversation and now it is com pletely conversation and now it is completely different. i have lots of friends and i am proudly brummie as well. but in the beginning, it was very difficult. what is proudly brummie intel? i am just

very difficult. what is proudly brummie intel? i amjust proud of birmingham. ilove brummie intel? i amjust proud of birmingham. i love the city. it is welcoming, a diverse place and i love the people of birmingham as i call myself brummie. as well as writing a book, running a foundation and campaigner for girls' education, you are alsojuggling and campaigner for girls' education, you are also juggling your own education. you are in your second year at oxford, so i must ask you how you fit it all in? it is a lot of work. i am studying in oxford. politics and economics. as i am enjoying it. you are not a machine, you must switch off sometimes. how do you relax? do you watch tv programmes? yes, we do watch tv programmes. i recently watched is a good place and also other comedy shows. i recently watched the blackadder. i am a big fan of british comedy, i love it. i also

enjoy yes minister. and there is an old one called mind your language. that does go back a long way!” old one called mind your language. that does go back a long way! i find it funny. i know it wouldn't be welcome in the same way as it was then, but i find it very funny. in terms of your university room, how do you fear i'm keeping it tidy?” try my best. i try to keep it as tidy as i can, but when my mum comes to the university and sees my room, she tells me off. i think it is tidy, yes. thank you so much, it has been lovely to talk to you. courtney boden, from lancashire, was four months old when she was attacked by her father, leaving her severely disabled. courtney needs someone to look after her every day, so the criminal injuries compensation authority awarded her £500,000 back in 2007 for her welfare and support. but the organisation also barred her mother, beverley neal, from benefitting in any way from the money, as a judge had ruled

she failed to protect courtney. now the government's official solicitor has barred courtney and beverley from buying a home for them both to live in because beverley would also benefit. it means they have been left officially homeless, and they've had to use food banks. a little earlier, beverley and courtney spoke to my colleague victoria derbyshire and beverly spoke about some of the challenges they've faced. we've had an electric wheelchair off them which we had to fight tooth and nailfor, we had to get school to write they couldn't push courtney any more because she was getting too heavy to take out on outings. they also had to do a health and safety check, you know. as if i benefit from it. what would be your plea to the government officials solicitors then? i would try to take it back to court truthfully and have the deed, the trustee, looked at again because it's been made in 2007 so it was 11 years ago, she would have been home

with the six years having an amazing life when the trust was finalised and nobody looked into where she was, who she was living with so the trust is not workable now. it has put us in a state where we are homeless. we are vulnerable people, it is not fair any more. i could handle being homeless, i'm strong enough, but not courtney. we're having to live in a room at the foster carers, the original foster carers. that's the only thing that has come out of this that is good is that we have two wonderful people that have been there for us because we would not have had anything else. you moved in there i think a week ago. you did have privately rented accommodation at the landlord wanted to sell it and the council said there was nothing suitable for courtney in the foreseeable. we have been on the council register and housing register so local government registers and they do like calico, it's like a housing association, so all

the different companies go into one. we have been on there since august 2014 for a disabled house and we even had a meeting with the local authority council and he said, as you are aware, there is nothing available. that's predicament we are in. what are you going to do? i haven't got a clue. unless they change this deed and give courtney the proper help. if they bought her a bungalow, i wouldn't be benefit because they are saving thousands on caring. i'm caring for her and i don't charge for caring, i'm doing it for my own love and attention for courtney because i want what is right for her and what is the best life for her and i can give her that. i have already given her that. i can see that you are really trying to hold it together now this is so tough. it's horrible. it's your worst nightmare, it's like one of the councillors said, it's like living in a nightmare and there is no end of it at the moment. it is totally not fair any more.

they are playing god with people's lives in my eyes. not many would sit there and help courtney to have a normal life, they said it's just caused problems, serious problems, and to me somebody needs to act now because she has already been suffering through her life. we have built the bridges of that and got through that and now we are being punished again 21 years on. the official solicitor and the criminal injuries compensation authority said they wouldn't comment in detail on an individual case, but a ministry ofjustice spokesperson said: this was an awful case, and we have every sympathy for what courtney has been through. the official solicitor can act as a trustee of funds for vulnerable victims, typically where there is no one suitable to take on responsibility themselves. a trustee will allow a carer access to a fund to ensure daily expenses related to the welfare of a victim can be met. the spokesperson added: it is their duty to administer trusts in a lawful manner, and in accordance with the terms of the compensation settlement. pendle borough council said

they have been trying to find the right accommodation for beverley neal and her daughter courtney, but it has been very difficult. we will continue to provide support as she tries to find suitable rehousing for her and her daughter. time for a look at the weather with louise lear. good afternoon. returns and light and frost. at the time being, relatively quiet with high—pressure drifting in from the north—west and these weather fronts starting to slowly pigeon from the atlantic. that is definitely bringing more cloud in from the west, sheltered eastern areas deemed the best of the breaks this afternoon and the sunnier skies and by the end of the day, we could see scattered showers. top temperatures of six to 10 degrees. as we move out of six to 10 degrees. as we move out of money and into tuesday, it looks likely that we are going to see

weather front bringing some more wet weather front bringing some more wet weather into the north and west and earning quite heavy with it as well. the wind is picking up on the far north, too. some of that rain quite heavy on tuesday. crowding over into northern ireland and western fringes, but again, sheltered eastern area should sequences of sunshine through the afternoon and it will be mild for all with top temperatures of nine to 11 degrees. make the most of it. colder by the end of the week. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at four: the prime minister warns no brexit is more likely than leaving the eu without a deal if she loses tomorrow's vote in parliament. it's now myjudgment that the more likely outcome is a paralysis in parliament that risks there being no brexit. that makes it even more important that mps consider very carefully how they will

vote tomorrow night. eu leaders release a letter saying they do not want to enter the irish backstop, in an attempt to provide assurances to those concerned about the brexit withdrawal agreement. here's the scene live in the house of commons, where theresa may will shortly address mps, as they continue to debate the eu withdrawal agreement. in other news, sales of the most polluting wood burning stoves will be banned under the government's new clean air strategy for england, but environmentalists say plans are a ‘missed opportunity‘. unusually heavy snow continues to blanket parts of europe. at least five people were killed as avalanches hit skiing areas over the weekend. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with sarah. andy murray has been knocked out of the australian open in the first round. that could be his last match. he will not decide in the next week when to have more hip surgery. —— now decide.

i hope you are coping with the temperatures there at the moment because it will get much colder with each day this week, returned to night—time frosts and even the potential for some showers turning increasingly wintry. more details coming louise, thank you. also coming up: getting the ball rolling... zoe ball has begun her tenure as bbc radio 2's first female weekday breakfast host on the nation's favourite radio show. i loved it. i really enjoyed it. it does not stop. those three hours flew by. i managed to sleep last night, which i think helped a bit. this morning i kept saying, "breathe. breathe." i had so many messages from people saying, "breathe, breathe." hello everyone — this is afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. good afternoon and welcome

to westminster where tomorrow, mps will finally vote on the prime minister's withdrawal agreement. theresa may is expected to address the house shortly ahead of that debate restarting, but here are some of the key developments so far today. in a speech to factory workers in stoke this morning, theresa may warned of a possible paralysis in parliament, suggesting that the risk of no brexit now outweighs the risk of no deal. number ten then published letters sent between theresa may and eu leaders in which the eu gave assurances over the irish border backstop arrangement, stating that it didn't want to use the "backstop" but, if it did, it would be for "the shortest possible period". and this lunchtime, a junior government whip, garethjohnson, has resigned saying in his resignation letter to the pm that her brexit deal would be "detrimental to our nation's interests". our political correspondent nick eardley reports on what's been yet another busy brexit day. chanting: what do we want? people's vote... when do we want it? now! deal — or something else? this week mps will finally vote on the government's brexit plan, but it's hard to find anyone around here who thinks they'll back it.

the prime minister, though, continues to fight for her vision. this morning in stoke—on—trent, which voted almost 70% to leave, theresa may had a warning for brexit supporters — that if they oppose her plan, they might get no brexit at all. while no deal remains a risk, having observed events at westminster over the last seven days, it's now myjudgment that the more likely outcome is a paralysis in parliament that risks there being no brexit. a fresh attempt to address concerns on the irish backstop too. some tory mps are worried the uk could end up stuck in the arrangement. but the presidents of the european council and commission say in a letter they do not want to see the backstop enter into force. to remove the need for it, they add they want to see the future relationship in place as quickly as possible. the letters published today have legal force and must be used to interpret the meaning of the withdrawal agreement, including in any future arbitration.

they make absolutely clear that the backstop is not a threat or a trap. but so far nothing theresa may has secured has changed enough minds. there is no sign that today's offering will be a game—changer, and so there are a plots aplenty in parliament, with different groups of mps fighting for their own brexit visions. some brexiteers say there's nothing to fear from leaving with no deal on our future relationship in place. i think we should vote down this deal in the absolute confidence that it's the right thing to do. take care, everybody. see you. there are tories who think senior mps may have to take control of the process and allow parliament to decide on a brexit plan b. we're in the very, very final stages of the endgame here, and what we need to do is find a solution, and if the government can't find a solution, and we want them to do find a solution, and we will be voting for her solution, but if it can't then parliament needs to. will labour hold a vote of no—confidence this week, mr corbyn?

labour meanwhile waits. its leadership is reluctant to back a second referendum, but it may be a step closer with a no—confidence vote later this week. all the information so far is that theresa may's deal will go down, and it would have gone down a month ago. she has delayed it to try to pick up more support — that doesn't seem to have worked. she has delayed it to get more assurances — that hasn't worked. so let's just get on, vote this thing down, and then we'll consider our position with regard to the no—confidence motion. mps will walk through these lobbies tomorrow evening to finally pass judgment on theresa may's brexit plan. but if they reject it, it's far from clear if they can agree an alternative. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. joining me now is the labour mp ben bradshaw. what is your best guess in terms of numbers tomorrow night?” what is your best guess in terms of numbers tomorrow night? i do not know, i'm not a predictor of numbers but i think it is when rather than if theresa may losers at the vote. i

think it is important parliament moves quickly as possible to end the uncertainty and consider and vote the other options. jeremy corbyn said you will not have to wait long for a vote of no—confidence. said you will not have to wait long for a vote of no-confidence. when will it be? i will expect it will be immediate. i do not think we can stand back or sit back as the official position and not do anything, the country is crying out for leadership. the time to dominate and constructive and ambiguity is over. i think it is inevitable it will come. otherwise people will look at us and say what is in opposition for at this time of national crisis? c what happens. if it does not succeed, as i suspect, i do not see the tories all dup voting for it, or we move on to parliament looking at the other options. you say on lockett, what are the options that will unlock it? we seem to be facing a period... some collea g u es

to be facing a period... some colleagues are arguing inside of norway brexit, the least damaging economical. i am sceptical that would get a majority in the house andi would get a majority in the house and i think when parliament is facing gridlock and when mps are faced with the choice between rushing over the cliff with no deal giving this position back to the people, we will then get a majority the labour front bench people, we will then get a majority the labourfront bench is in the right place on this for another referendum. where do you think the leadership will be in that place? logically speaking, we should move quite quickly. we have a clear policy, we appealed with —— oppose the deal. in practice, that is the only other option. we have not got time for a renegotiation or anything else before the end of march. i suspect that will happen quite quickly. do you know where your leader stands on this? i thinkjeremy supporting the party's wallasey. we are a democratic party, he based so leadership credentials on listening andi

leadership credentials on listening and i am confident that is where we will end up. i think labour were to enable all be convicted in a conservative brexit, i think it would be damaging to us as a party. if you lose that vote of no—confidence, the damage to theresa may, where does that leave her? theresa may does not need to go anywhere constitutionally. the sensible thing to her is to say she has tried her best, parliament has rejected my deals i will put it back to the people. bring it back to parliament, make it conditional, that would save her deal. at issue is not prepared to do that, parliament will have to take control of this process. we already have, if you like what happened last week. if there's not a majority of the norway, the only majority i think there will be voiced if the decision back to the people. the other issue goes back to the eu, a legally binding concession which may just loosen the numbers a legally binding concession which mayjust loosen the numbers a bit. i think that is highly unlikely. i have seen no evidence that the european union is prepared to offer had illegally binding concession or

commitment that the dup or the hard brexiteers have been demanding. if thatis brexiteers have been demanding. if that is the case, i think the only way out of this mess and to end the uncertainty and so we can move on the country and focus on the really big issues that we face of the country is to give this decision back to the people and let us make the decision and for all. ben bradshaw, thank you forjoining us. thank you. so what happens tomorrow in parliament and what are the possible outcomes? our reality check correspondent chris morris has been plotting out all possible permutations for us. so this is where we start. a vote in parliament tomorrow — with all the political manoeuvring surrounding it — on theresa may's brexit deal. the legally binding withdrawal agreement and the non—binding political declaration on what the future relationship might look like. if it's accepted — which is looking highly unlikely tomorrow, but if it is — the path ahead is a bit more straightforward. the agreement would have to be turned into uk law with new legislation, and there'd be further parliamentary battles about that. then it would need to be ratified in the european parliament and get eu approval.

if all that happens in time, then the uk would leave the eu on schedule with a deal on the 29th of march. but back over here, if it gets rejected, what then? well, the default position — if nothing changes at all — is down there. the uk still leaves on march the 29th, but with no deal and probably numerous resignations from the cabinet. but, as we know, there are many, many people determined to prevent that happening. so what then? well, the government will probably seek even more reassurance from brussels, especially on the irish backstop. and there could then be a second — or even a third — vote in parliament on the deal as the government tries to ramp up the pressure. again, if it's accepted, we're back to that line along the top, leaving the eu with a deal on march the 29th. but if the prime minister can't get her deal through the commons, well, we know that mps have already made plans to seize the initiative. they'll debate alternatives and try to prevent no dealfrom happening. that could mean trying to extend the article 50 negotiating period to buy a bit more time.

but the rest of the eu would have to agree to that. and then what? well, first of all, there could be a different deal for leaving that the majority of mps can support. that could mean staying in the single market and the customs union — known by some as norway plus — or a different variation of that, advocated by the labour party — a permanent customs union and closer links with the single market. or even a cleaner break, a basic free—trade deal — a bit like canada has. it's worth pointing out that none of these would really change the withdrawal agreement itself, but mps might vote for a deal that sets out a clearer future direction. but if none of that works, well, we know that labour wants an election. and it says it will at some stage demand a vote of no—confidence in the government to try to get one. but there are also growing calls for another referendum to give the people another say now they know what the options are. that could of course lead to no brexit at. but again, the default position in uk and eu law is that, if mps can't agree on any

alternative, then — deal or no deal — brexit will happen on march the 29th, in just 75 days' time. there's a debate on universal credit in the commons at the moment. when that finishes we expect theresa may to stand up and deliver a statement updating the house following the assurances provided in a letter by european council president donald tusk and european commission presidentjean—claude juncker. our chief political correspondent, vicki young, is in central lobby. and he's waiting to hear what our message will be from theresa may, she tries to persuade more on her inside to get behind her deal. —— and mps. one mp has decided he will back a plan that theresa may is looking to put in front of commerce, but i think that is a rather

relu cta ntly. but i think that is a rather reluctantly. let us speak to him now. what has made you go from a waiver letters man who is willing to back deal? it was very finely balanced, but what made it over the line for me was the shenanigans and the house of commons last week over busy tour and the house of commons last week over busy tourand i'm the house of commons last week over busy tour and i'm now extremely concerned that we may not actually get brexit over the line. it seems to be looking at the various options that the withdrawal agreement is the best chance for getting brexit on the 29th of march, and that is what has informed my decision over the weekend. you think the speaker's role in all of this, plus some of your collea g u es of this, plus some of your colleagues could stop brexit happening altogether?” colleagues could stop brexit happening altogether? i don't you underestimate the force of the speaker, the remainers and the labour party who are trying to secure the overturning of the government in a general election. all of those things are very powerful, given this is a government with no majority. i think it is quite possible indeed likely that

brexit will be derailed unless we vote for the withdrawal agreement which is what is informed my thinking is theirs. you have put down an amendment for tomorrow, this is all about the backstop, you think it should be time limited. why have you done that and are you getting support?” time limited. why have you done that and are you getting support? i have been consulting colleagues for several weeks now because i am chairman of the northern ireland select committee, i take particular interest in the so—called northern ireland backstop, it is the major hurdle for many of my colleagues. my amendment would have the effect of limiting that backstop and it will fall on the 30th of december, 2021. it will bring it in line with all other international treaties. —— 315t other international treaties. —— 31st of december. if this unamended treaty is passed, then that is exactly what it will do. my mmo will make sure we

regulate the withdrawal agreement. __ my regulate the withdrawal agreement. —— my amendment. regulate the withdrawal agreement. -- my amendment. it goes against the withdrawal agreement, if there is a date on it, if it is time limited, it can't be in assurance policy. i disagree that we need this in order to ensure we have no hard border in ireland. my select committee has heard evidence that puts that beyond adventure. there are solutions to make sure that boredom looks and feels very much as it does today without this backstop. have you had any indication from colleagues, from the dup that they would support this movement? i have had lots of support from colleagues. i am getting signatures for my amendment it will be published tonight before the close of play here. i'm getting a lot of support also from across the house. i think that is a good sign. i hope very much that the speaker would look favourably on the amendment and

have time for debate on it tomorrow. we would put this deal through if the happiest time limited backstop, it is to send a signal to the eu, presumably, to say this is required? -- if presumably, to say this is required? —— if there is a time limited backstop. we note the eu is unlikely to finalise their position until the 11th hour, it is the way they always behave in any negotiation, understandably so. if the prime minister is though they did tomorrow, she will be able to go back to the european union and say we have not been able to get the cross the line, but it is the opinion of the house the problem is this backstop. can we do something about it, please? what would you say to colleagues who backed brexit, who are still thinking about how they should vote tomorrow? i think we need to think about what is possible to deliver on the will of the people expressed injune

2016. i sincerely believe that is at risk right now and we have to take responsibility for the way that we vote tomorrow and i hope very much that my colleagues who voted to leave the european union and campaign to leave the european union are thinking very hard at the moment about any opposition that they may place in the way of the government in its withdrawal agreement tomorrow because i think they will live to regret. and what really worries me is that the reputation of this place will be dragged through the mud in the event that we go against the clearly expressed will of the british people. that is a place that no democrat wants to be. andrew morrison, thank you very much indeed. that is likely a message we are likely to hear from theresa may coming from the house of commons very shortly. we will go to the house of commons when she gets to her feet about. —— for that. you're watching afternoon live,

these are our headlines: the prime minister warns no brexit is more likely than leaving the eu without a deal — if she loses tomorrow's vote in parliament. eu leaders release a letter saying they do not want to see the irish backstop in force, in an attempt to provide assurances withdrawal agreement. sales of the most polluting wood burning stoves will be banned under the government's new clean air strategy for england andy murray has been knocked out of the australian open. he says he will decide in the next week whether to have further hip surgery. dan have further hip surgery. da n eva ns have further hip surgery. dan evans was the only other british win on the first day. martin o'neill is said to take over a champion side where he enjoyed great success. player. that is all your small daily max bought for now. wood—burning stoves, open fires and the use of chemicals in farming will all face

restrictions under new government plans to tackle air pollution. the clean air strategy for england aims to halve the number of people breathing in harmful particles, and to save the nhs billions of pounds a year. but environmentalists say the plans don't do enough to reduce pollution from cars and planes, and have called it a ‘missed opportunity‘. our environment analyst roger harrabin reports. in britain‘s big cities, the air people breathe is often toxic. this haze is caused by tiny airborne particles, and it is bad news for people with lung problems. oh, i‘ll cough a lot. breathing sometimes can be quite difficult, which means i can‘t walk very far. in the court case over nine—year—old asthma victim ella kissi—debrah, it‘s alleged that air pollution from london‘s south circular road actually contributed to her death. air pollution is the single biggest environmental impact that leads to early deaths, and so it's incumbent on us to take action across the board. take the burning of wood and coal, which bringsjoy

to people like michelle from bristol. dark winter‘s night, i wanted something to kind of, you know, cosy around, really, as a family. but polluting too. sales of wet—wood fuel will be banned. if you use a wet log, then it tends to not be as clean so it‘s quite dirty, and you can actually see it smoking. stoves will have to meet higher standards, and they‘ll face local restrictions in polluted areas — but no national ban. farmers face changes too, because ammonia gas released from fertilisers drifts into cities and harms people‘s health. new rules should curb the pollution. meanwhile, previous government decisions will slowly reduce emissions from diesel vehicles. campaigners say the changes are happening too slowly. this strategy doesn‘t go nearly far enough on transport, in particular the road transport. the government have got plans to expand aviation — heathrow — and also a multi—billion—pound road—building programme, which would just make

traffic and air pollution and climate emissions worse. but there are so many sources of pollution — notjust outdoors but indoors. scented candles, new furniture, toiletries, airfresheners — they can all irritate the lungs. even electric vehicles produce particle pollution theresa may has just risen to her feet. asa feet. as a proud union is, i share the concerns that mothers who want to ensure that leaving the european union, we do not undermine the strength of our own union in the uk. that is when the eu try to insist on a protocol that would carve out northern ireland from the rest of uk's northern ireland from the rest of uk‘s customs territory, i said no. i secured instead a uk wide temporary customs arrangements, avoiding both are hard border on the island of

ireland and customs border down the rsc. i also negotiated substantial commitments in the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration to do everything possible to prevent the backstop of being needed and to ensure that if it were, it would be a temporary arrangement. listening to the debate before christmas, it was clear that we needed to go further. so i returned to brussels to faithfully and affirm the concerns of this house. they included reaffirming the eu‘s determination to work speedily, to its established by the 31st of december, 2020 alternative arrangements so that the backstop will not need to be triggered. they underline that of the backstop were to be triggered, it would indeed apply temporarily. they committed that in such an event, the eu would use their best endeavours to continue to negotiate and conclude as soon as possible a subsequent

agreement that would replace the backstop. and they gave a new assurance that negotiations on the future relationship could start immediately be the uk‘s withdrawal. since the council and throughout the christmas and new year period, i have spoken to a number of european leaders and there have been further discussions with the eu to seek further assurances alongside the council conclusions. and today i have published the outcome of these further discussions with exchange of letters between the uk government and the presidents of the european commission and european council. the letter from commission and european council. the letterfrom president commission and european council. the letter from president task confirms what i said the house before christmas, namely that the assurances in the council conclusions have legal standing in the eu. -- conclusions have legal standing in the eu. —— president donald tusk. the eternal general has also written to me today confirming that in the light of the joint response from the presidents of the european council and the commission, these conclusions, which have legalforce in international law. and setting

out his opinion... and setting out his opinion of reinforced by today‘s might add that the balance of risk favours the inclusion that it is unlikely that the eu were washed to rely on the implementation of the backstop provisions and further that is therefore his judgment that the current d raft is therefore his judgment that the current draft withdrawal agreement now represents the only political practicable and available means of securing our exit from the european union. mr speaker, i know that some members would ideally like a unilateral exit mechanism or a hard time limit to the backstop. i have explained this to the eu and tested these point in negotiations. but the eu would not agree to those because they feared that such a provision could allow the uk to leave the backstop at any time without any other arrangements in place and require our hard border

to be erected between northern ireland and ireland. i have been very clear with them that that is not something we would ever countenance, that the uk is steadfast in its commitment to the belfast agreement and would never allow a return to our hard border. but it is not enough simply to see this. both sides also need to take steps to avoid a hard border when the uk is outside of the eu. failing to do so would place businesses on the island of ireland in an impossible position, having to choose between casting new checks and procedures that would disrupt their supply chains or breaking the law. we have the backstop as a last resort. but both the taoiseach and i have said consistently that the best way to avoid the hard border is through the future relationship, thatis through the future relationship, that is the sustainable solution and that is the sustainable solution and that neither of us want to use the backstop. since the council, we‘ve

been looking at commitments that would ensure we get our future relationship or alternative arrangements in place by the end of the implementation period so there will be no need to enter the backstop and no need for any state that there will be hard border. and that there will be hard border. and thatis that there will be hard border. and that is why in the first of the further assurances they have provided the eu has committed to begin exporting talks on the detailed legal positions of the future relationship as soon as this parliament has approved the deal and the withdrawal agreement has been signed, and they have been explicit that this can happen immediately after this house votes through the agreement. if this house approves the deal tomorrow, it would give us almost two years to complete the next phase of negotiations. and, of course, we will have the option to extend the implementation period if the third time when needed for either one or two years. —— further time. it is my conviction that we can turn the political declaration into legal tags in that time, avoiding the need for the backstop

altogether. the letters also make clear that these talks should give particular urgency to the use of all available arrangements and technologies for replacing the backstop with permanent arrangements. and further that those arrangements. and further that those arrangements are not required to replicate the backstop provisions in any respect. contrary to the fears of some honourable member is, the eu will not simply insist that the backstop is the only way to avoid a ha rd backstop is the only way to avoid a hard border. they have agreed to discuss technological solutions and any alternative means of delivering on the subject and get on with this other priority in the next phase of negotiations. second, the eu has now committed to a fast track process to bring our future trade deal into force once it has been agreed. if there is a delay in ratification, the commission has now said they will recommend provisionally applying the relevant parts of the agreement so that we would not need to enter the backstop. such a provisional

application process saved for years on the eu career deal and it would prevent on the eu career deal and it would p reve nt a ny on the eu career deal and it would prevent any delays in ratification by other eu member state parliaments from delaying our deal coming into force. third, the eu has provided absolute clarity on the explicit linkage between withdrawal agreement and the political declaration and made that link clear in the way the documents presented. i know some colleagues are worried about an imbalance between withdrawal agreement and the political declaration because the eu cannot reach a legal agreement with us on the future relationship until we are a third country. but the link between them means the commitments of one cannot be banked without the commitment of the other and the eu have been clear they come as a package. bad faith by either side in negotiating the legal instruments that will deliver the future relationship laid out in the political declaration would be a breach of their legal obligations under the withdrawal agreement. fourth, the exchange of letters confirms that the uk can you

actually deliver all of the commitments we made last week to safeguard the interests of the people and businesses of northern ireland and their position in our precious union. it gives clear a nswe rs precious union. it gives clear a nswers to precious union. it gives clear answers to address some questions that have been raised since the deal was reached. that the deal means no change to the arrangements that underpin north and south corporation in the belfast agreement. that stormont will have a lock on any new laws should be added to the backstop and that the uk can give a restored northern ireland executive seat at the table on the joint committee overseeing the deal. presidential curse says in his letter that this would be a reciprocal dealfor curse says in his letter that this would be a reciprocal deal for both sides. we have said why we want to avoid the backstop but it is not in the eu‘s interest either. this backstop gives the uk tariff free access to the eu‘s market with no free movement of people, not

financial contribution, no requirement to follow most of the level playing field rules and no need to allow the eu bought any access to our waters for fishing. furthermore, under these arrangements, uk authorities in northern ireland with clear goods for release into the eu market for no further checks and controls. this is unprecedented and means the eu will rely on us for the functioning of its own market. they will not wa nt of its own market. they will not want this back forced to come into force on the exchange of letters today shows that if it is they would do all they could to bring it to an end as soon as possible. nevertheless, i fully understand that these new assurances still will not go as far as some would like. i recognise that some members wanted to see changes to the withdrawal agreement, a unilateral exit mechanism, and n date or rejecting the backstop altogether. this would have risked other eu member states attempting to row back on the significant wins we have already won such as control over our waters and the sovereignty of travolta. the

simple truth is that the eu was not prepared to agree to this and rejecting the backstop altogether means no deal. whatever version of the future relationship you might wa nt to the future relationship you might want to see, from norway, to canada, to any number of variations, all of them will acquire a withdrawal agreement and any withdrawal agreement and any withdrawal agreement will contain the backstop and that is not going to change however the house of lords tomorrow. to those who think we should reject this deal in favour of no deal because we cannot get every assurance we want, i ask what would assurance we want, i ask what would a no—deal brexit do to strengthen the hands of those campaigning for scottish independence or, indeed, those demanding a portable in northern ireland ? those demanding a portable in northern ireland? surely this is the real threat to our union. mr speaker, with just 74 days until the 29th of march, the consequences of voting against this deal tomorrow are becoming ever clearer. with no deal, we would have no

implementation period, no security partnership, no guarantees for uk citizens overseas and no certainty for businesses and workers like those i met in stoke this morning. and we would see changes to everyday life in northern ireland that would put the future of our union at risk. if rather than leaving with no deal this house blocked brexit, that would be a subversion of our democracy, saying to their people we we re democracy, saying to their people we were elected to serve that we were unwilling to do what they had instructed. so i say to members on all sides of this house, whatever you may have previously concluded, over these next 24 hours, give this deal a second look. no, it is not perfect and, yes, it is a compromise, but when the history books are written, people will look at the decision... jeering people will look at the decision of this house tomorrow and ask did we

deliver on the country‘s vote to leave the european union? did we safeguard our economy, our security and ourunion? or safeguard our economy, our security and our union? or i did we let the british people down? i say... i say we should deliver for the british people down? i say... i say we should deliverfor the british people and get on with building a brighter future people and get on with building a brighterfuture for our people and get on with building a brighter future for our country by backing this deal tomorrow and i commend this statement to the house. jeremy corbyn. thank you, mr speaker. i would like to thank the prime minister for an advanced copy of her statements. she shamefully pulled a meaningful vote on her deal with the promise that she would receive legal assurances from the eu that the backstop would be temporary. the leader of the house confirms this, saying the prime minister is determined to get the legal reassurances that members want to see. while the foreign secretary

told as the prime minister would find a way to win tomorrow's commons vote by getting assurances with legal force that the irish border backstop is only temporary. on receiving this letter today, the prime ministercup... receiving this letter today, the prime minister cup... immers now be clear to all members across this has yet again that the prime minister has completely and utterly failed to do that. today's letter is nothing more than a repetition of exactly the same position that was pulled more than one month ago. it is categorically does not give the legal assurances this house was promised and contains nothing but warm words and aspirations. mr speaker, isn't it the case that absolutely nothing has changed from the attorney general's letter of advice to the cabinet? his advice, which the government tried to hide,

explained with great clarity the reasons why the uk could find itself locked into the northern ireland backstop protocol with no legal escape route. today's letter means nothing. the truth remains that by the end of 2020, the uk will face a choice of either extending the transition period, which comes at an unknown financial cost, or we will fall into the backstop which the attorney general has said injuries indefinitely until such time as an agreement supersedes it. he has himself updated his legal advice today as the prime ministerjust said and he clearly says, and i quote, they do not alter the fundamental meanings as advised in november. if there were legally binding assurances on the temporary nature of the backstop, then surely they would have been written into they would have been written into the withdrawal agreement itself. the letter published this morning is

clear that this is not possible, saying, we are not any position to agree to anything that changes or is inconsistent with the withdrawal agreement. mr speaker, this morning's joint agreement. mr speaker, this morning'sjoint letter agreement. mr speaker, this morning's joint letter does say negotiations can start as soon as after the withdrawal from the uk, but my question to the prime minister is how is that possible when the cabinet cannot agree amongst themselves? that is why the political declaration is so vague? actually i believe the right word is nebulous. given the prime minister has failed to secure the promised changes, there can be no question of once again ducking accountability and avoiding tomorrow's no more playing for time, no more running down the clock into scaring people into accepting this damaging shambles of a deal. i am sure members across the house will not be fooled i what is being produced

today. it is clear that what we are voting on this week is exactly the same deal we should have voted on in december. i same deal we should have voted on in december. lam same deal we should have voted on in december. i am sure the prime minister knows this. that is why today she is trying to blame others for this chaos. given the lack of support for the prime minister's deal, you might have thought she would try to reach out to mps. instead, the prime minister is claiming that by failing to support her botched deal, members are threatening to undermine the fate of the british people in our democracy. the only people who are undermining faith in our democracy is the government itself. mr speaker, i can think of no greater example balfe democracy in our auction then for this house to rejected deal that is clearly bad for this country. during the past two years of shambolic negotiations, the prime minister has

failed to listen. she hasn't once tried to work with parliament to construct a brexit deal that this house and the country can support and now she is left facing a humiliating defeat and is blaming everybody but herself. mr speaker, if this deal is rejected tomorrow, andl if this deal is rejected tomorrow, and i hope it is, the blame will life firmly at the government and firmly at the feet of the prime minister. there is a deal that could command support in the house which would include a new and comprehensive sustenance union, a strong single market relationship and a guarantee to keep pace with european union rights and standards. instead, the prime minister still chooses to take the most reckless path. mr speaker, as we entered the week of the meaningful vote, we should remember the meaningful vote only happens because of pressure from the opposition in this house. let us remember the incompetence we

have been forced to injure. we have seen two years of shambolic negotiations, red lines announced, then cast aside. we are now on our third brexit secretary, all of whom have been largely excluded from the vital stages of the negotiations. we we re vital stages of the negotiations. we were promised the easiest trade deal in history, yet we have seen a divided government deliver a botched withdrawal deal with nothing more thana withdrawal deal with nothing more than a vague outline for what our future relationship with the eu will be. meanwhile, conditions in this country for millions of people continue to get worse. we just had an urgent question about universal credit and the disaster that is for millions of people in this country. mr speaker, the government is in disarray. it is clear if the prime minister's deal is rejected tomorrow, it is time for a general election. it is time for a new government. mr speaker, i am not

sure that there were any questions to me in the response that the right honourable gentleman gave, but let me respond to some of the points of fa ct me respond to some of the points of fact that he referenced, some of which were not as correct as they might have been. he said there is no legal termination mechanism in the withdrawal agreement on the backstop. there is, but the point is that it backstop. there is, but the point is thatitis backstop. there is, but the point is that it is not a unilateral termination mechanism but one which requires agreement between the two parties. he says that in december 2020 we would face either having the backstop or the limitation period extension. the point is we are negotiating to ensure at that point that no such choice will be necessary because we will have the future arrangement in place. he says that it future arrangement in place. he says thatitis future arrangement in place. he says that it is not possible to start the negotiations as soon as the withdrawal agreement done at the meaningful vote has been held and agreement has been given to the withdrawal agreement and the

withdrawal agreement and the withdrawal declaration. indeed, whitehall starts ready to start those negotiations. we know all the bases of those negotiations, it is in the political declaration, and eve ryo ne in the political declaration, and everyone is ready to start those as soon as possible. he talked about universal credit. can i just soon as possible. he talked about universal credit. can ijust remind the right honourable gentleman that under this government, 3.4 million morejobs have been created. that means all those people able to earn a regular wage to help support their families. and under universal credit, we see a system which is helping people to get into the workplace rather than leaving them living on benefits for nearly a decade as happened under the last labour government. and finally, he calls, as he does regularly, for a general election and here i think we

saw yesterday that the right honourable gentleman is not thinking about the national interest, he is merely playing politics. because yesterday when asked whether there was a general election he would actually campaign to leave the european union, he refused to answer that question five times. we know where we stand. we are leaving the european union and this government will deliver it. kenneth clarke. i congratulate the prime minister on getting rather further than i thought she would with the assurances and the letters that she has obtained, but i fear it will do no good because she is up against two bodies of opinion. one of the hardline brexit two bodies of opinion. one of the ha rdline brexit supporters two bodies of opinion. one of the hardline brexit supporters on this side and the leader of the opposition and his front bench to think if they call crisis and deadlock it will result in leaving with no deal and the other is a lot

of hardline remainders, largely on the backbenches of the labour party, who think if they cause chaos and deadlock it will lead to second referendum. one of them is wrong. the problem is she is up against both of them. does she accept that if we lift our eyes to the present chaos and look to what the country needs beyond our leaving the eu if the house of commons can insist on doing that, we need a permanently open border in ireland for treaty and security reasons and we need a permanently open border for economic reasons across the channel for our trade and investment and does she acce pt trade and investment and does she accept that it is difficult to proceed until there is some consensus for that across this house of commons and it doesn't look as though are going to get there by

march the 29th which is a date that should obviously be delayed?” march the 29th which is a date that should obviously be delayed? i thank my right honourable and learned friend for his point and for his question. i do not believe that the date of the 29th of march should be delayed. i think my right honourable and learned friend set out that there are those who want to see no deal and those who want to see a second referendum and potentially frustrate brexit. the inexorable logic of that, if this house wants to ensure that we are delivering on brexit for the british people, is to back the deal that will be before this house tomorrow. on the issue of the borders and the question... obviously, we want to make sure there is a consistently and sustainably into the long—term open border between northern ireland and ireland. that is our commitments, to ensure there is no hard border there. there would be economic advantage to an open border frictionless trade between the uk and eu and that is the proposal that

the government put forward. can i thank the prime minister for an advance copy of her statements? but lam asking advance copy of her statements? but i am asking myself, is that it? is that all you have got, prime minister? nothing has fundamentally changed. it is a wish list. there is little more than 24 hours until this house votes on the prime minister's deal and the prime minister has come back completely humiliated. the letters published between the uk government and the european union reveal that the prime minister has utterly failed to get the concessions she promised. the eu letter explicitly insists that there cannot be any be negotiation of the backstop or the withdrawal agreement. mr speaker, the eu letters states, we are not in a position to agree to anything that changes or is inconsistent with the

withdrawal agreement. the prime minister is simply in fantasyland presenting her statement as bringing changes when they are not. mr speaker, this government must start threatening no deal. it is time to face reality, extant article 50 as let the people decide and let me say this to the prime minister, in scotland is, people know that it is the tory government dragging scotland out of the european union against their will. it is the tories treating the scottish parliament with contempt. and it is this prime ministerand with contempt. and it is this prime minister and this tory party that continues to silence scotland's's voice and sideline our interests. mr speaker, the prime minister this morning said, what if we found ourselves in a situation where parliament tried to take the uk out of the eu in opposition to the remaining votes? people's faith in

the democratic processes and the politicians would suffer catastrophic harm. and yet, she is demanding precisely that to scotland, taking scotland out of the eu in opposition to an overwhelming remain vault. two people in scotland, the prime minister has made it clear that time and time again, our voices are made it clear that time and time again, ourvoices are not made it clear that time and time again, our voices are not to be listened to. the prime minister thaksin listened to. the prime minister tha ksin about listened to. the prime minister thaksin about respecting the results of referendums. the same prime minister who voted against welsh devolution, voted to wreck the scottish devolution referendum as well. mr speaker, this is a defining moment. the people of scotland no more than ever what comes for a tory government that we did not thought for, so why does the prime minister continue to ignore scotland's voices and interest? why is the prime minister is so petrified of allowing the people to decide, now we know the people to decide, now we know the facts? will soon outdo the right exta nt the facts? will soon outdo the right extant article 50 and let the people

decide? —— will she now do the right thing? that people across the united kingdom did suicide. they decided in june 2016. they decided we should leave the european union and i think it is absolutely right that this government is intent on delivering and intent on delivering the vault of the british people. he talks about the interests of scotland. as he knows, the interests of scotland are best served by ensuring that scotla nd are best served by ensuring that scotland remains as part of the united kingdom. as if the snp are so clear that politicians should listen to the voice of the people, then the snp should listen to the voice of the scottish people expressed in the referendum in 2014 and abandon the idea of independence. given that the eu intends to take huge sums of

money and powers from us in return forjust 21 or 45 months of more talks of massive uncertainty, why should we ever believe the eu would give usa should we ever believe the eu would give us a good deal when they pocket all they want upfront?” give us a good deal when they pocket all they want upfront? i thank my right honourable friend ‘s. throughout the negotiations, we have ensured that the european union has had to concede to the united kingdom government in a whole range of areas on which they did not wish to concede. if we look into the future, i believe we do have a difference of opinion on this in that he believes the beauty all times are right for our future trade and i think a more ambitious free trade agreement between us and the european union is what is right. that is what it set out and that is what i believe is a good dealfor the out and that is what i believe is a good deal for the uk out and that is what i believe is a good dealfor the uk in leaving the eu. the prime minister has confirmed today that under her deal, britain will remain between two and four

years, possibly longer, in a customs union. the leader of the opposition is supporting brexit with a somewhat longer period in the customs union. that relatively small difference, are they not two peas in a pod? no, definitely not. will my right honourable friend confirm what she said at stoke today, namely that she will never extend the date of our leaving beyond the 29th of march this year and never, leaving beyond the 29th of march this yearand never, in leaving beyond the 29th of march this year and never, in any circumstances whatsoever, allow the repeal of the withdrawal act and the european communications act under that act? i did indeed confirm that i believe it is our intent and what we are working for, to leave the european union on the 29th of march. there are those who may try to find

ways to prevent that from happening. i think that is a real risk that the government is thrown in his commitment in terms of leaving the european union and in relation to theissued european union and in relation to the issued that my honourable friend has raised on the withdrawal act, we have passed the act through this house, through this parliament. it does repeal the communities act. further period of the limitation period, it will be necessary to ensure we are still able to maintain the rules that we need to operate by in order to abide by the negotiated agreement on the limitation period, but i can assure him that it remains the commitment of this government to leave on the 29th of march.” the commitment of this government to leave on the 29th of march. i know all the prime minister is totally sincere in hersense all the prime minister is totally sincere in her sense of duty to this country and in her belief in her deal. but i want to turn her attention to something she does not wa nt attention to something she does not want to contemplate which is defeat tomorrow night and i say to her in the strongest terms that the tone and substance she strikes in the

wa ke and substance she strikes in the wake of that eventuality will define her legacy to this country and i wa nt her legacy to this country and i want to urge her not to succumb to this absurd argument is that this is a war between this house and the government when the government is a servant of this house and i would like to urge her also that if she loses tomorrow night, give this house and open and honest process where it can express its view and she and the government then become the servant of this house in the negotiation. the government is a servant of the people. we are delivering what the people want in relation to brexit. now, we have negotiated what i believe genuinely isa negotiated what i believe genuinely is a good dealfor the united kingdom and that is why i will continue to encourage members of this house to support it. it's

absolutely clear the british government, the irish government and the european union always said there will be no hard border between northern ireland and the republic and today's border works perfectly satisfactorily through electronic means. it is extraordinary and exasperating that we are still stuck on the question of the backstop when the prime minister has met technical experts who know that existing techniques and processes that could deliver smooth delivery of the border. what meetings have been held and she met those experts prior to pulling the vault in december?m and she met those experts prior to pulling the vault in december? it is exactly those kinds of technological solutions that we are committed to pursuing. asi solutions that we are committed to pursuing. as i have said to my right honourable friend when he brought a proposal to me, the proposal he brought to me did not fully address all of the issues in relation to the border between northern ireland and ireland but we are continuing to look and will look actively and with the european union at the ways in

which we could ensure that those alternative arrangements would deal with the issues we are addressing. i would also say that it is not the case the european union has said there will be no hard border between northern ireland and ireland. then no deal plans published in december and make clear that there will be no flexibility on border checks in no gales of the irish government will be expected to apply eu checks in full. to be fair to the eu, they have made it clear that there will be no changes to the withdrawal agreement and there is nothing in these letters that is inconsistent with the withdrawal agreement. to be fairto the with the withdrawal agreement. to be fair to the attorney general, he says in his letter to date that the letters do not alter the fundamental meanings of its provisions, so five weeks since the prime minister pulled a vote that said there had to be legally binding assurance, will she admits that nothing has fundamentally changed? she admits that nothing has fundamentally changed ? that

she admits that nothing has fundamentally changed? that is the reality, let's not kid ourselves about that. and will she not recognise that in pulling the vault, she must have realised that there needed to be legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement in order for it to have any chance of getting through this house, and even at this late stage, was he not accept that the problem with the backstop is that it effectively defines the future relationship for northern ireland because the whole of the uk is not aligned for a single market and a customs union, but northern ireland will be. it was right that i took the views of this house, the overwhelming view of this house on the backstop which was that people wa nted the backstop which was that people wanted to ensure that the backstop would not carry on indefinitely or bea would not carry on indefinitely or be a permanent arrangement. the gentleman has indicated he thinks thatis gentleman has indicated he thinks that is what the case is for the backstop. what we have received from

the european union articles further assurances and the recognition that the european council conclusion that those assurances are referred to under has forced in international law and sits alongside the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration package and would be part of any consideration on any challenge to that withdrawal agreement in relation to those particular issues. i recognise that what i have brought back, as i said in my statements, is not what some members wanted from the european union. but it is not the case that this has not gone further than when we initially discussed the debate. there have been some further assurances from the european union, but i accept that those are not the same level of assurance that some members of this house wished. the prime minister is right when she says that she is a servant of the

people. there are 2 million young people. there are 2 million young people who were not able to vote backin people who were not able to vote back in 2016, two .5 years ago. i'm so sorry that honourable members seem on this site to be in some way dismissing those young people. they are the future of our country. the treasury's on analysis shows that whatever way you cut it, brexit will make our country poorer. why shouldn't they have a right to a say in theirfuture, given shouldn't they have a right to a say in their future, given they will bear the brunt of brexit? why, tomorrow, when the prime minister's deal fails, why can't is go back to the british people so that everybody, especially young people, can have their say on their future, their say on brexit? my right honourable friend has asked me questions in relation to putting a decision back to the british people in the past, as have other honourable and right honourable members of this house and referred toa members of this house and referred to a new generation of young people who were not able to vote in the

2016jenna who were not able to vote in the 2016 jenna referendum. who were not able to vote in the 2016jenna referendum. but this house and this parliament were very clear that this was a decision to be taken in that referendum and that the government would abide by the decision that was made in a referendum and 80% of the votes cast at the last general election were for parties that said they would respect the razzle of the referendum. i believe we should respect the result of the and ensure we deliver leaving the european union. we will find out tomorrow evening whether the house is willing to support the prime minister's deal, but what is now clear is that the eu will not be able to offer any further help because as long as it continues to say we are not in a position to agree to anything that changes the withdrawal agreement, a numberof her changes the withdrawal agreement, a number of her backbenchers will not be reassured. so while the prime minister will argue that we back her

deal, can i invite herto minister will argue that we back her deal, can i invite her to date to commit, if she loses, to reach out across the house in order to try to find a way out of the crisis that is facing our country that can command the support of parliament and that is, if necessary, in order to do that, she should be willing to seek an extension to article 50. cani can i say that of course the house will give its due tomorrow night. lb encouraging digg tell the ministers of this house to vote for what i believe is a good deal. i have been hearing from members across all of the house in relation to this particular issue. i will continue to believe this is a good deal because it delivers on the referendum and it is crucial that this house delivers on the referendum but it also does so in on the referendum but it also does soina on the referendum but it also does so in a way that protects people‘s jobs and securities, and gives certainty to businesses and that is why i believe it is a good deal. no

one is ever going to get what they wa nt one is ever going to get what they want in the negotiations but the very simple fact is that all the leaders of our major industries including rolls—royce and to utah is that this deal is the right deal for them to continue employing people in this country. is that not one of the most important decisions to change right in trying to protect manufacturing jobs and our country's future? my right honourable