the focus will be on what she has to say to uk —— e —— eu leaders, isn't it? yes i suspect she will be speaking to any reader she can find of the european union who she can convince to cut her some slack on the backstop. she has that meeting with jeremy corbyn. the backstop. she has that meeting withjeremy corbyn. it the backstop. she has that meeting with jeremy corbyn. it seems the backstop. she has that meeting withjeremy corbyn. it seems to me, yes, of course, mrs may faces an awful lot of questions, but so, too, oui’ awful lot of questions, but so, too, our opponents. mr corbyn obviously pressed for a general election, that did not happen, then he supported moves to delay brexit and that didn't happen. then he said he would not take part in talks, no he is doing that. there are questions about what he does next. similarly, there are questions for mrs may's tory opponents, who did not the press for a referendum, then tried to give parliament the power to

thwart mrs may and that did not work. so we must think about what they do next. and we have learned there are a clutch of labour mps to seem prepared to support mrs may and certainly did last night. so, questions for mrs may but also questions for mrs may but also questions for mrs may but also questions for her opponents. norman, thank you. norman smith. let us get the weather. here is chris fawkes. thank you, simon, this weather watcher picture shows you a beautiful canal with snow on the banks. this is taken from station road bridge, that is where i come from. the snow has been causing problems for manchester airport and liverpool airport, both runways were shut earlier and schools in the greater manchester area, summer, are closed. we have showers coming in from the irish sea. for most that stays dry with sunshine. a cold day coming up. showers for the south—west of england and showers for the highlands of scotland. there

will be a mixture of sleet and snow mixed in as well. overnight tonight clear skies and it will be a very cold night, there could be mist and fog patches around but for many, it is the frost and eyes that is of more concern. temperatures in the towns and cities down to minus six celsius, colder in the countryside. more trouble on the way on thursday. an area of low pressure running into that cold here and obviously some snow again. targeting the south of england, wales and the north of england. this band of precipitation moves on to the south—west of england and through the afternoon it will tom bristow across the south—west of england and wales. that is the first place like criticism localised destruction. it is not the only place, because as we go through the evening that band of snowy weather extends further northwards. we could see between five and ten centimetres of snow. the amount varies north and eastwards. the

places with the most noble bidder brecon beacons, five, up noble bidder brecon beacons, five, up to ten celsis —— centimetres, perhaps even more. trouble on the way for the latter part of this that afternoon into thursday evening and continuing through friday night. the main hazards will be further falls of heavy snow, widespread ice and the risk of some disruption. looking at the weather picture into friday, still the potential for a bit at the weather picture into friday, still the potentialfor a bit of wintriness across the south, still some snow in the forecast and it will continue to be snowy in the east of england, wraps and showers for the west of scotland as well. temperatures struggling, highs of three, four celsius but the ongoing federal ice and snow that is of major concern for the next few days. that is the latest weather. thank you. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime theresa may will hold talks withjeremy corbyn and eu officials this afternoon — to try to renegotiate her brexit deal.

but the eu says it is "united" and stands by the existing withdrawal agreement. that's all from the bbc news at one, so it's goodbye from me, and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. it's advantage liverpool, who can move seven points clear at the top of teh premier league if they beat leicester city later. that will be a huge boost to jurgen klopp, who said in an interview with our sports editor dan roan that while he loves the dayjob, he's getting no enjoyment from the intensity of the title race. let's enjoy the moment, let's enjoy the ride as much as possible, and let's go for everything. are you able to enjoy it? never. i

enjoy the work, but not the situation or whatever, that you can go for this oi’ whatever, that you can go for this or that. football is not the most important thing in the world, but it provides enjoyment for us. i love what i do, but it is intense as well. paris—st—germain forward neymar will be out for 10 weeks with a broken metatarsal, which means he will miss both legs of the club's champions league tie against manchester united. the brazilian suffered the injury in the french cup victory over strasbourg last week. the french champions say they have opted for what they call a conservative treatment. psg travel to old trafford for the first leg of their last—i6 tie on the 12th of february. menna fitzpatrick and her guide jen kehoe have become the first british skiers to win both paralympic and world titles. the pair took gold today in the women's downhill for visually impaired skiers at the world para—skiing championships in italy, to add to their gold medals at the winter games in pyeongchang last year. silver went to kelly gallagher, who won britian‘s first ever paralympic gold medal at sochi in 2014, and her guide, gary smith. tomos williams will make his first six nations

appearance for wales when they play france in their tournament opener this friday night at the stade de france. williams starts at scrumhalf ahead of gareth davies — and is partnered by his cardiff blues team mate gareth anscombe in the half backs. only three changes have been made from the team that beat south africa in november, as wales, who finished second in last year's competition, aim to build on their nine—match winning streak. france centre mathieu bastareud has not been named in france's matchday 23. he's been replaced by 19 year old romain ntamack, who will make his debut against wales. super league champions wigan warriors will begin their title defence on thursday against st helens on minus two points after being found guilty of breaching salary cap rules in 2017. the penalty, which includes a £5,000 fine, relates to payments totalling £14,700, which were not declared to the rugby football league. at an independent tribunal, the warriors admitted the sums should have been included in their cap valuation.

wigan have the right to appeal the decision. police in australia have arrested three men afterfinding devices used to deliver electric shocks to make horses run faster during a raid of one of the country's top trainers. the illegal equipment, sometimes called ‘jiggers', were found at the stables of melbourne cup winning trainer darren weir, along with a firearm and cocaine. police have not yet released the names of those arrested. double olympic champion nicola adams has been speaking of her delight at having the chance to follow in the footsteps of her hero muhammad ali. adams will take on the wbo flyweight champion arley mucino for her first shot at a professional world title in march at the royal albert hall, the venue where ali boxed twice in the ‘70s. this is the reason why i turned professional. i have achieved everything there is to achieve as an

amateur, and i wanted to go on and get the world title as a professional boxer, just like my hero, mohammed ali, and to think that he has boxed in the same arena that he has boxed in the same arena that i am going to be boxing in, is unbelievable. i'll have more for you in the next hour. if you keep hearing about the backstop and are wondering what on earth it is, here's chris morris from our reality check team to explain. you may have heard about the backstop. it is a baseball term, really, so what does it have to do with brexit? think in terms of a safety net, and you get the idea. it is key to the irish border after brexit. because this line between the irish republic and northern ireland will be the only land border between the uk and the european union, and that matters for trade, because in theory, there should be checks

on staff crossing the border after brexit. ——stuff. but nobody wants new inspections at the border. they bring back memories of 30 years of conflict in northern ireland. and checkpoints could become a target. so the uk and the eu hope to agree a trade relationship in the future that keeps the border as open as it is now. but if they cannot, or if there is a delay, that is where the backstop comes in. it is a legal guarantee to avoid a hard border under all circumstances. the government and the eu have come to an agreement about how it should work. but theresa may's critics aren't happy. they say there is no get out clause to allow the uk to leave the new customs relationship it sets up. the eu says, we do not like it either, and it was only designed to be temporary. the government wants to tweak the backstop to get it through parliament, but the eu insists that renegotiation is not on the menu, so they are looking for a compromise before time runs out. the eu says the backstop has to be part of the withdrawal agreement,

which needs to be ratified before brexit is due to happen on the 29th of march. and without a backstop, there would be no brexit deal at all. in the last few minutes, the irish deputy prime minister has been speaking. here his what he had to say. we in ireland are essentially being asked, as is the eu, to replace legal certainty, having negotiated that over two years around british red lines, and to replace it with the hope of something that has yet to be proven. and in fact, something that has yet to be proven. and infact, it something that has yet to be proven. and in fact, it is worse than that, because these hopes have already been tested in the negotiations, and have come up short. we have less than two months to go now until brexit happens on the 29th of march. we are quite simply running out of

road. and so, as donald tusk was quick to spell out last night within minutes of the vote, and as had been indicated to the british government numerous times prior to the vote, including from ireland, the withdrawal agreement, including the protocol on ireland and northern ireland, is not open for renegotiation. we are at a ratification process now. we are not still in negotiation. the solidarity across europe on this, i think speaks for itself. i want to make one final observation on the debate in the house of commons and the recent days, and it is this. there are two very large communities in northern ireland. one of which is unionist, and one of which of course is nationalist. there is a diversity of views, within those

communities, just as there are many people who do not consider themselves defined at all by one constitutional outlook or another. it is vitally important that politicians in westminster understand the overwhelming wish across society in northern ireland not to return to the borders and divisions of the past. and anybody who allows that to happen will be judged harshly in history. and rightly so. and this government in dublin is not going to allow it. and i want to be crystal clear on that point. there are some things that are more important than economic relationships. and this is one of them. that is why the resolver in dublin, and the disappointment in dublin, and the disappointment in dublin, on the back of the vote last night, which essentially signals a turning point of a british prime minister to this issue, has had such

an impact here. and dare i say, has had an impact in northern ireland amongst many people who do not feel represented by the debates that have taken place at westminster in recent days. that was the irish deputy prime minister speaking a little earlier. as expected, prime minister's questions has been dominated by brexit. theresa may insisted she can still secure a brexit deal, despite the eu ruling out a demand for the irish backstop, which is designed to prevent a hard border if there's no trade deal, to be amended or scrapped. our assistant political editor norman smith is in westminster for us now. the big question is, are be in brick wall country? or to put it another way, is mrs may walking into a brick wall in terms of eu refusal to consider any movement on the backstop. she outlined some ideas she has got, suggesting a

unilateral exit mechanism, or an end date, or there could be some sort of technology to get around a border in northern ireland. all ideas which have been floated before, and got nowhere. so does the brick wall in? iamjoined by nowhere. so does the brick wall in? i am joined by the conservatives' pauline latham, emma's emma reynolds, and the snp‘s stuart posey. obviously you want the eu to give you something on the backstop, but realistically, you must fear thatis but realistically, you must fear that is not going to happen. we have got to try. if we do not, we have no chance of succeeding. the people of the country expect us to try, and the country expect us to try, and the people of europe want us to try, because they want to continue to sell goods over here. if they cannot, there will be many more unemployed in europe than currently. that is interesting, so you could accept something less than the very high expectations mrs may it has raised, so long as she was seen to be trying to get

something, maybe not reopening the withdrawal agreement, but something out of europe? no, i would like agreement, but something out of europe? no, iwould like to agreement, but something out of europe? no, i would like to see the withdrawal agreement reopened. that is part of the reason i voted for ed la st is part of the reason i voted for ed last night, because i think she has an opportunity. it may not be a big opportunity, but she has got to try, because this country does not want the backstop. emma reynolds, you know european leaders, and given where we are, nobody wants no deal. is there not some temptation for them just to back off a bit over the backstop? we do not really know what is going to happen yet, but what i would say is that the prime minister did a massive u—turn yesterday on her own negotiated deal, which c said, the backstop was an essential pa rt said, the backstop was an essential part of. she also said six months ago that the so—called maximum technology solution was not something that the technology

existed for. so she did not answer questions yesterday, and i also put a question to stephen barclay the brexit secretary, what are these alternative arrangements that the government gained a majority for la st government gained a majority for last night? and if they do not meet the requirements of her hardline brexiteers, than when she comes back in two weeks, she could be back where we were before, which is a majority of perhaps 230 against her deal. we do not know, but she is playing a very difficult game here, and it remains to be seen what the eu will do and what the european research group will accept. isn't the likelihood, stewart hosie, that mrs may will get something? it might not be a huge renegotiation, but it might bea not be a huge renegotiation, but it might be a legal amendment, a legal protocol, which offered some reassu ra nces protocol, which offered some reassurances on the backstop. do you think that would be enough to enable mrs may to get this over the line? no, i don't think it would. the big methanol of this is that the reason her deal to deliver brexit field by 230 votes was because of the

northern ireland backstop. i do not think that is the case, i think the deal to deliver brexit failed because the deal, as it stands, is economically damaging, and many mps know in their heart that brexit is a fundamentally daft idea. so unless she gets a significant reopening of the agreement, which will not happen, i cannot see, other than simply for the unity of the tory party, how on earth she could overturn a 238 loss only a few weeks ago. where do you go now? where did theresa may pass opponents now, the snp were not, but others were too frightened to put down a motion for a referendum. labour have tried calling for a general election. you sought to get mrs may to rule out no deal, all failed. they certainly failed last night. i think last night was more about conservative unity rather than practical solutions. so all of the

options, an election, another referendum, a genuinely renegotiated the deal, all of these options are still on the table, andl of these options are still on the table, and i still suspect even at this late stage, they will have to be an appeal to extend article 50 to allow something substantial to be done. my option, stick a fork in it, revoke article 50. in the absence of that, have people pass vote and let the people choose in changed circumstances. mrs may said she will come back by the 13th of february at the latest. there will be another vote. at that moment, do you think, emma reynolds, that there will be a further attempt to try and get her to either delay article 50 or to accept that parliament must have a much greater role in constraining the timing of brexit? even if she can geta the timing of brexit? even if she can get a deal through on the 13th of february, i think she herself will have to ask for an extension of article 50, because she needs to get the six major bills through the house of commons, and she needs to get 600 statutory instruments. we will have about six weeks left to do

all of that work, and i do not see how that can be done. but i would like to agree with something that stewart said, i voted against her deal on economic grounds, because her own analysis suggests we will be worse off in the economy will be smaller as a result. she chose to reach out to the rest of her party yesterday, rather than reaching across the political divide, and thatis across the political divide, and that is regrettable, because i would have liked to have seen some movement on the customs union, which is so vital to manufacturing jobs up and down the country. is so vital to manufacturing jobs up and down the countrylj is so vital to manufacturing jobs up and down the country. i will come to you in the second, polling. let me ask you about your colleagues, labourmps,14 ask you about your colleagues, labourmps, 1a of ask you about your colleagues, labour mps, 1a of whom voted with the government on the critical amendment, 17 of whom abstained, five frontbenchers. it is clear there is a fairly large segment of labour mps who will in all probability back mrs may's deal, cometh the hour. i think it is irresponsible of the prime minister

to use the clock ticking down to try and put pressure on mp5. i would rather we come up with a deal slowly, deliberative lay, and the best possible deal, we are talking about the livelihood of my constituents, jobs and prosperity, and food prices, which we had from the big supermarkets this week. if we had no deal, prices would go up. we are talking about people's lives here, andl we are talking about people's lives here, and i will be voting on that basis, not on blackmail that says my deal or no deal. and polling, would you be prepared to consider more time if that was what was needed? no, we have had the time, we know that the european union always negotiate at the last minute. so now at crunch time for the european union, as well as for us, i think a deal needs to be done, and they need to recognise that they are damaging their own people, not damaging as, any more than they are their own, and they need to sell products

to us. and they need to sell products to us. we can buy cars from japan, we do not need bmw, but i think they would like to sell them to us. thank you very much indeed. this afternoon, in about an hour, jeremy corbyn and theresa may will have their first tete—a—tete about mrs may's brexit deal. how will that go? hard to think that will be much of a meeting of minds. it will be fascinating to see. norman smith, many thanks. in a moment, we'll have all the business news, but first, the headlines on bbc news. the prime minister wants to propose alternatives to the so—called irish backstop, which is designed to avert a hard border in ireland, following last night's vote by mps. a teenager is jailed for three years for attacking a car with a "zombie knife" in broad daylight. an arctic freeze in the us. don't take deep breaths outside, say officials in one state i'm maryam moshiri. in the business news —

sterling fell sharply last night, after british lawmakers voted down a proposal in parliament that could have prevented a "no—deal" brexit. investors are nervous about what leaving the uk without a deal could mean for the economy. but it's won back some of those falls this morning. the pound is up around 0.2% against the dollar. uk companies are likely to speed up plans for a no—deal brexit after last night's votes, according to the head of the cbi. carolyn fairbairn says a plan to renegotiate the uk's withdrawal deal does not give business the certainty it needs. sa ntander announced its latest results this morning for the fourth quarter, with the bank reporting a 4% increase in profits. but last week, the bank anounced would it close up to a fifth of its uk branches, as it looks to cut costs. let's get more on what business makes of what it's heard from westminster over the last 2a hours. as we said, the pound took a hit as investors worry about the prospect of a no—deal brexit , and businesses are closer

than ever to enacting their no—deal preparations. earlier we spoke to hannah essex, co—executive director of policy and campaigns, at the british chambers of commerce. we have been warning about this for many months at the chamber of commerce. we did a survey in september that showed in an ideal situation, one in five businesses would move some or all of the operation into some other part of the eu. ——in a no—deal situation. and we are really close now to the 29th of march, so businesses are taking prudent steps to prepare for the worst, which means that some of them have already enacted their contingency plans. and that means that some of them are moving jobs and operations out of the uk already. for some, that will be a permanent move even if we end up with a deal. and as the day we leave the eu

moves ever closer, a warning today from the royal academy of engineering. it says the uk education system cannot produce enough engineers to support the economy, especially with increasing reliance on home—grown talent post—brexit. joinings us now is dr hiartan sillem, chief executive of the royal academy of engineering. ido i do think not enough is being done? the uk still faces a shortfall of up to 59,000 engineers each year. engineering plays an important role in underpinning the uk economy, accounting for over 20% of uk gross value added to turnover, and underpins half of our exports. it is very problematic that despite a great deal of effort, we are still facing significant shortfalls, and the number of able pursuing careers. but also the diversity and range of people coming into engineering concerns. it is enough

being done right now? do you think it is just a matter of time before the effects trickle down, are not enough is being done? today's report has been produced as an academy between —— a collaboration between the royal academy of engineering and our partners right across the engineering profession. it has been really positive to see the engineering profession come together to ensure that we tackle this long—standing challenge in a more effective and coordinated way. but the data shows that we are just not making progress fast enough. we have a profession that is today 12% made up a profession that is today 12% made up of women, 2019, 12% women, 8% black and ethnic minorities. and we have a skills shortfall right across many areas of engineering. businesses are telling us this is having real impacts on their productivity, and as we expect the needs of the economy to grow, in relation for example to digital skills, we have got the fourth industrial revolution, digitisation of many parts of our economy,

including engineering. we will see increasing skills needed, notjust in those coming into the profession but also into retraining and upscaling those already in the profession. thank you very much indeed. -- unskilling. in other business news, german industrial giant siemens has reported wea ker—than—expected first quarter profit blamed on a slowdown in its power business. profits fell by 49% to $1.6bn — that's down from $2.5bn in the same quarter last year. the firm's power and gas business has been hit by collapsing demand for traditional power plants with the move towards renewable sources like wind and solar. france's economy grew by 0.3% in the final three months of last year, according to official figures. a rise in exports helped make up for a fall in consumer spending. the figure is better than the 0.1% that had been forecast for what is europe's second largest economy. former nissan motor chairman carlos ghosn says he has "no doubt" that the charges against him were the result of "plot and treason" by nissan executives. he says they're opposed to his plan

for deeper integration between renault and its two japanese alliance partners. it was his first interview since his arrest in november for financial misconduct. that's all the business news. breaking news from the air accident investigation branch looking into what happened to the plane carrying the footballer emiliano sala and his pilot. they say that on monday morning, they were advised that part ofa morning, they were advised that part of a seat cushion has been found on a beach off the coast. a second cushion was found in the same area later that day, and they say from a preliminary examination, they have concluded it is likely the cushions we re concluded it is likely the cushions were from the missing aircraft. that news from the air accidents

investigation branch. time now for a look at the weather. more snow to come in the forecast over the next couple of days. this is one of our weather watcher pictures, showing the peak forest canal. this photo was taken from station road, which is where i am from. snow showers have been causing problems as well, with both liverpool and manchester airports shut earlier in the day. and we have still got snow showers working on across parts of merseyside and also the north of wales. could continue to cause some localised problems, but not the only place that will see showers. most of us have a dry, sunny and cold day, but further showers across south—east england and across the far north—west of scotland. quite a bit of rain in the showers in both areas, but some sleet and snow possible as well. overnight tonight, showers fading in across the north, so things could turn i see here. a risk of icejust about anywhere as temperatures take

about anywhere as temperatures take a dive. lows in the towns and cities down to —5, minus six celsius, but in the countryside, even colder, and then here comes the trouble. through thursday, tomorrow, this area of low pressure pushing a weather front into the cold air, and we see snow. for most of us, a cold and frosty start to the day, but that is about as exciting as the weather will get. fine, sunny and cold. but towards wales and south—west england, snow arrives through the afternoon, and turning heavy, so a risk of disruption across south—west england and southern wales as we go through thursday afternoon. the amount of snow we see will vary significantly from one place to the next, but not out of the question that we will see as much as five to ten centimetres of snow building and across parts of south—west england. as the weather front south—west england. as the weather fro nt m oves south—west england. as the weather front moves into south—east england and also the midlands, the amount of snow will vary quite a bit from place to place, but something between one and five centimetres of snow possible here. high ground in wales, five to ten, perhaps more across parts of the brecon beacons,

which is where the heaviest snow was going to be, so a risk of disruption through thursday night, into the early hours of friday morning. a combined effect of the heavy snow in the forecast but notjust combined effect of the heavy snow in the forecast but not just that, combined effect of the heavy snow in the forecast but notjust that, also the forecast but notjust that, also the widespread ice that will be around as well. some quite dangerous conditions for driving. there might be some snow left over on friday, wintry showers likely across the south of england, and still a risk of some snow showers coming in across eastern parts of england, bringing a risk of some icy stretches. temperatures around or five celsius, but it is a combination of snow and ice that could cause problems over the next of days. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy at westminster. theresa may will meet labour leader jeremy corbyn this afternoon, to discuss the government's attempts to renegotiate her brexit deal. well, what this house voted for last night is to leave the european union with a deal, but it also crucially showed what it

will take to see support in this house for a deal in the future. but eu leaders say they won't revise the withdrawal agreement — and ireland's foreign minister says there are no alternatives to the backstop to prevent a hard border. less than two months to go now until brexit happens on the 29th of march. we are quite simply running out of road. a teenager who attacked a car with a zombie knife has beenjailed, afterjudges overturned his lenient sentence. an arctic freeze in the us — don't take deep breaths outside, say officials as temperatures fall to minus 30. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with reshmin. hello there. liverpool have the chance to go seven points clear at the top of the premier league tonight when they take on leicester. we hear from tonight when they take on leicester. we hearfrom jurgen