air so ferocious they are being warned they risk frostbite if they stay outside for more than ten minutes. at least seven people have died in several states as a result of the polar vortex. many businesses and schools are closed. european union negotiators are insisting they won't reopen britain's brexit deal, despite the vote in the uk's parliament seeking changes to the so—called backstop. they want it in place to ensure there is no return to a hard irish border when the uk leaves the eu. more street protests in venezuela. president maduro is still refusing new elections, but says he is willing to sit down to talk to the opposition. president trump has offered his personal support to the opposition leader, juan guaido, in a phone call. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, with me, zeinab badawi, in rome.

being a politician anywhere in europe can be tough. but being a left—of—centre woman in frontline politics in italy can be especially hard. my guest is mp laura boldrini. until last year, she occupied the powerful position of speaker in the lower chamber of the italian parliament. she has regularly received many threats online wishing her dead, tortured or raped. what does her experience tell us about the current political scene in italy? laura boldrini, here in rome, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much. so, you really had a meteoric rise in politics. you were only elected to parliament in 2013 as part of a very small party, the ecology freedom party,

and then literally 48 hours later you'd become speaker of the lower chamber. how did that happen? well, it was a shock. it was unexpected. it was a shock for me, but for the entire country, basically, it was the first time that the speaker, the presidente, we say, was elected the second day, with two days of experience in parliament. it was because, you know, the centre—left coalition had the necessity to show new faces. the five star movement entered the parliament in that election, and therefore there was a need to compete with them in terms of, you know, fresh people. they thought you were a fresh, appealing face? well, actually, i had no political experience at all. yeah, but exactly... i was fresh! no political experience. no.

why didn't you say no, because that is a very important position... i said no, zeinab, i tried to say no... you didn't have the experience for it? yeah, that's what — i tried, i tried. but there are occasions where you cannot, your "no" is not accepted. and my "no" was not accepted. really? because constitutionally it is the third most powerful position. according to the constitution, the president and then the speaker of the senate, and then it was you out of nowhere. yes, the president of the camera dei deputati. it was an amazing experience, i have to tell you. very challenging. at the beginning i had nightmares, i couldn't really resist that anxiety, you know? it was really challenging. but i thought it was also a great occasion, also, to launch some important themes, issues, like the rights of women, equal opportunity for men and women. it was the occasion to also address issues like hate speech or other issues which are very important nowadays. so i took it as an occasion

to speak to the country. but was it fair to say you personally, as well as your supporters, used you as a vehicle to kind of advance their liberal agenda? definitely, liberal agenda. and in fact in those days, i represented certain values, like the respect of human rights, the respect of women's rights. i am anti—fascist. so all these values were considered so important that they decided i had to be the third in office. but not appreciated by everybody. because you very quickly became the subject of online threats of the most despicable nature. yes, yes, because i was outspoken. is that why? because you were outspoken? yeah, because i am outspoken, because i do not hide myself,

because i think it is needed to provoke reactions and to have a real debate on certain issues. and because, you know, i am an independent figure. so it was very easy to take me as a target, a woman. who was targeting you? well, i think it was, at the beginning, the five star movement, you know, the leader... that's what we call the populist coalition that came into being several years ago, around 2013. yeah. so the leader, beppe grillo, one day came out with a very simple question on his blog. "what would you do with boldrini in a car?" so, the comments were just awful. sexist, violent, they werejust outrageous, i mean... so, that was the beginning of me as a target. then, along the years, there were also others who joined the club, like matteo salvini, now he is the deputy prime minister and minister of the interior.

he's leader of — he's from the league, what was the northern league, but is a far—right party. yes, in fact, just to give you an example, there was a rally and he went to this rally to speak to his followers, and at a certain moment he took an inflatable sex doll and he said, "here we have the speaker of the house, laura boldrini." if you compare an inflatable sex doll with a woman... but he apologised for that, didn't he? no, no, no, no. he didn't apologise. he just tried to make fun of it. which is different. you have said very strong things about matteo salvini.

you said that he has pursued a terrifying campaign of sexist attacks against you. "salvini uses sexism as a political weapon, instigation to rape as a political weapon." these are very strong words and he would categorically deny all that. no, no, no, he never denies it, he is proud of it. he wouldn't accept the fact that you would say that he instigates rape against women. he can't say anything, this is what's happening. one mayorfrom the league party has been convicted just a few days ago... in liguria. ..in liguria, because he wrote a post, a facebook post, saying "let's send a rapist to boldrini's house in order to make her smile." a mayor can write something like this. this is appalling. it is a despicable thing to have done, but... but he was convicted.

yes, he was convicted, he was fined 20,000 euros, about $17,000. yes, right exactly. and that's the point, isn't it? you can't make these kinds of attacks and get away with them in italy, can you? no, this is like, instigation to rape is a crime. i've worked, and in all my... yes, but it's recognised as a crime. yes, but i worked in the former yugoslavia, in rwanda. i have seen this kind of strategy, you know? to advocate for rape against the other group, the opponents, you know? but in those occasions there was war. in a democratic country it's not acceptable, and if somebody comes out with such a post or a statement, has to be brought to justice. but regrettable as it is, do you think this is part of the territory, sadly now, for female politicians, wherever they are? i mean, we have women in the uk, they say similar things, we had australia'sjulia gillard, the prime minister, saying she received terrible

sexist comments about her, hillary clinton in the united states. is itjust part of the deal, as it were, forfemale politicians? we cannot accept this as part of the deal. i'm sorry. this is done on purpose to discourage women to be in politics. it is a form of intimidation, 0k? and i think we have to react, we have to report, we have to sue people who dare to use certain wordings. this is absolutely unacceptable, i think. but is it worse in italy? the point i am making to you is that it is terrible what happened to you, but it's not a unique experience for women politicians. no, it is not unique, but i think, also in other countries, it happens, it doesn't mean that here it is not something

to refuse, you know? i think all women have to join forces all over the world, we have to be more united, we have to refuse. we made so many battles to get our rights, to get equal opportunities, and now what do we do? we accept to be humiliated in order to be kept farfrom politics? no. we have to, you know, combine... you say to be kept far from politics, but actually, the figures suggest a different picture, don't they? because incrementally, with every election in italy, you've got more female representation, if you look at the figures between 2008 and last year's figures. yes, this is true. you've now got more than 35% of members of parliament are women in italy, which is even more than in the united kingdom, at 32%. yes, i know, but look at the government, look at the figures of the government. there are, i think, more than 60 people in government, ministers, deputy ministers, secretaries of state, only 17% of them are women. meaning that they don't consider women so much, because they call themselves the government of change... this is now, but you have had enrico letta, a former prime

minister who appointed 7 of 21 cabinet ministers were women. well, that is good. so there is progress. but we are going back, zeinab. we are going back to the past, you know? having so few women in the executive, it's a very negative point. so in the legislature you have made progress but in the executive, you think that italy is now going back? yes, definitely so. you say that women like you should speak out. yes. why should you be intimidated into silence? and you do speak out. now, there is a very hot issue, of course, which is preoccupying a lot of people here in italy as it does in other parts of europe, and that's the issue of immigration, be it asylum seekers, be it refugees, be it irregular migrants. polls consistently show here in italy that 60%—80% of italians put this as one of their top priorities. and yet you seem to be going against public opinion by advocating a more open policy towards refugees and migrants. how do you justify that?

in fact, i don't advocate for a more open policy. i just advocate for the respect of human rights. i think this is the basis where we have to agree. so what, you know, the liga wanted me to be perceived, it's like one of the open door policies. this is the fake news they put into the debate. i always said that we have to get access to the territory, to those who are in need of protection, because this is written in our constitution and in ourlaws. i also say that those who don't have, you know, the permit to stay, in order to enter, the migrants, economic migrants, they should be expelled. but respecting their rights, because they are human beings. but i mean, mario borghezio of the league said of you in 2013, because you were chief spokesperson

for the united nations high commission for refugees, for 1h years until 2012, so you're very steeped in this issue of refugees. and he said you are "a perfect example of the global lazy bleeding hearts that dispense advice left, right and centre without having a clue what's actually going on with immigration and asylum seekers. " mm—hmm, i have no clue. yes, i have no clue, working 1a, 15 years for the unhcr. i don't see how they are to speak of — this is? mario borghezio of the league. borghezio, hah, he is very well—known. no, i think i know what i am talking about. i am talking about the respect of our constitution and the respect of our laws. but it puts you out of touch with public opinion. doesn't it put you out of touch with public opinion, if people are saying

we don't want any more? yeah, fair enough. even now, matteo salvini, the interior minister, has said of these 47 migrants who are heading towards sicily, they're not going to be allowed to disembark in italy because "we have been," as he sees it, "the dumping ground for all these irregular migrants coming into europe." matteo salvini is every day speaking about migrants, he is obsessed by migrants. he is not doing hisjob... it's a top priority, isn't it, for voters, and they voted him in. and with every comment he makes and every month, he becomes more and more popular with the italian electorate. zeinab, please. fair enough, good strategy, but if you are a minister of interior, you have to do something else. he's not doing hisjob as a minister of interior. he is not tackling mafia, penetrating the italian economy, he is not focusing on exploited workers, he's not focusing on violence in the stadium, he's not working in so many issues. but he is responding to...

he is just concentrated on migration. but it's what reflects voters‘ concerns. and he says, in answer to your point about human rights and so on, he says, "i am willing to host women and children who are escaping from war, but all the others, no." i mean, that's fair enough, isn't it? migrants, irregular migrants coming to italy and europe for economic reasons. they're very different from refugees. he's saying, "i won't turn away refugees fleeing persecution." that's all he's... 0k, matteo salvini is very good at inventing an emergency every time there is a boat with rescued people at sea, which has two land. every time, he's so good at creating an international crisis, but is it normal that in a continent of 500 million people, you have to spend two weeks in negotiating with prime ministers, ministers, european institution in order to allow 49 people to disembark? isn't this ridiculous? so, we're losing the sense of reality. this is not a way to manage, to give answers to migration. this is just a way to make propaganda. but you are failing

to get your message over, aren't you, to the electorate? because public sympathy lies with the arguments by salvini. and for example, when you say italy, with its ageing population, needs migrant labour, we need migrant labour here to care for the elderly and so on and so forth, tens of thousands every year we need to absorb. but people are not buying that argument — why? why are they not? i mean, you've got the figures on your side. but there are reasons why we are in this situation. because, you know, ithink people fear the future, people fear those who come from far away, and salvini was very good to exploit that fear. he is erasing fear every single day. despite the fact that the arrivals decreased by 80%, every day he's putting anxiety into the debate.

there is no innovation. during the electoral campaign, he promised to send out from italy — that's his wording — to expel 600,000 irregular migrants, he said it in front of me in a tv debate. in a few weeks, i will send home 600,000 migrants, so none of them were expelled, because it's very difficult, it's very difficult. yes, but you have had your... so, he has to divert the attention to the landings. but your immigrant population has doubled from 2.5 million to 5 million in the last ten years, so now, immigrants form about 8.5% of the italian population, so, you know, people look around them and see. but nevertheless, the point i put to you is why you are losing the argument when you say, look, the italian economy needs migrant labour, people are not listening to you.

why not? what i try to say, it's — i give reasonable — i give reasons, i try to put this into the context. so, you need to think about it. while salvini is just making a slogan — very simplistic slogan. why don't you make a slogan, a simple slogan that advances your argument? no, because when things go bad, you need a scapegoat, and the scapegoat for salvini is migrants. we are in a time when — we are in a period of the hate in politics, and the policy of hate — the politics of hate — the politics of hate needs a scapegoat, and the scapegoats are migrants or european institutions. alright. but the fact is it's not only on migration that you're losing the argument. centre—left politicians such as you, be they the social democrats in the czech republic,

the social democrats in germany, in the netherlands, the socialists in france are all losing ground to the antiestablishment parties, the populist parties, whatever you want to call them, and they are the ones who are really on the march. why are you losing the battle with the electorate? yeah, i think there are responsibilities here, which can't be ignored. inequality — inequality is raising in various countries in europe, and it was really underestimated, the impact of inequality into the society, you know. so, i think that there was not a proper management of the globalisation and the consequences of the globalisation, so the markets were left alone, i mean, to do whatever they thought was fair, but they don't have to take care of the social equality. this is the politician work. so, i think the left—wing forces really lost a lot of time before

understanding that there was need to react against inequality. so, you were too slow — people like you were too slow? slow, and, yes, ineffective. but still ineffective, still ineffective. but you know, the austerity measures, zeinab, when we were in 2008, the crisis arrived in 2009... the financial crisis, yeah. the financial crisis, 0k. so, the governments of the eu and institutions of the european institution, this treatment ended up to kill the passion, because austerity measures, where they really had a terrible impact. but why are they blaming the traditional left? because it is the traditional left in different countries were in power... didn't protect them. ..didn‘t protect them. but you're derelict of ideas...

public spending — when you cut public spending, when you cut pensions, when unemployment goes up and you don't do enough... and the populists and the antiestablishment are now entering that, they're saying, "let us reform capitalism to make it more responsive to everybody‘s needs," they're taking your clothes. i tell you what dr danielle albatazi, political scientist, says there's a crisis of the left in italy, the current coalition government has introduced a basic citizens income for some of the poorest in italian society, an initiative which will cost them 10 billion euros, to introduce a basic payment of 780 euros a month. that's the kind of thing that you would traditionally be doing. yeah, we had already a kind of allowance for poor people, but of course more money was needed to cover all the needy people. so, the previous government — i was not in government, i was the speaker — but the previous government in the last legislature tried to cope with this, but it was too little and too late. 0k.

so, now, we have the european parliamentary elections in may. yes. and more than 700 seats in the european parliament and, at present, the populist parties, antiestablishment parties have about 20% of the seats. looking at the polls, they're projected to do a lot better, perhaps 25% or so, they may get of the seats. so, what do you think will happen now in this kind of debate that we're having about inequality, who's going to be the mantle bearer of the greater equality? well, these elections are going to be crucial for the future of europe, because it is the first time where you have anti—european forces, which are quite popular in various countries. so, i think we can, as progressive forces, consider this election business as usual. we have to organise ourselves, because i see these populists

and nationalists, they've tried to organise themselves at an international level. salvini is very active with 0rban. that's viktor 0rban, the hungarian prime minister. yes, and with others. so, i think what — at least as far as italy is concerned, i made a proposal, we have to join forces. all the left—wing parties have tojoin forces. but organising a new project, so giving those who are disappointed, those who didn't consider themselves represented anymore, there a lot of segments of society, which abandoned the left—wing parties, 0k, we have to put their issues at the centre of our european agenda, their issues, and give them representation. and will that happen, do you think? do you think this will happen in the next election?

i think this, realistically, should happen if we want to survive, if we want to put a bit of hope, because otherwise, if we go each party for itself, we already know we have lost. we know that there is no hope, so... no hope for the centre—left in europe? if — if the centre—left doesn't understand the importance of this election, and if it doesn't understand the importance, it has to make a new project with new faces, fresh faces, fresh blood, new issues, and put at the centre tackling equality. this is the core of the issue. we have to understand that if we don't act to reduce inequality, there is no future for the left—wing parties. laura boldrini, thank you very much for coming on hardtalk. thank you very much. thank you. hello there.

we've got a potentially disruptive snowy spell of weather on the way. we've got very cold air locked in place and an area of low pressure developing over the atlantic. and it's a perfect breeding ground for a snow event as this moisture moves in across the country, bumps into the cold air — some of us are likely to see some pretty heavy sleet and snow through thursday into friday. so of course some yellow warnings are in force for snow, ice, and also the risk of freezing fog overnight through thursday into friday, it's likely to cause some disruption so stay tuned to bbc local radio and keep tuned to subsequent weather forecasts. but we start this morning on a very cold note, largely clear skies. so many places will be dry. a few wintry showers continue

across the north of scotland. we'll also see some freezing fog patches developing. something else to watch out for. we could be looking at temperatures as low as —12 to —15 celsius in some of the scottish glens. so we could have ice and also risk of freezing fog to start this morning. but, on the plus side, plenty of crisp winter sunshine. now, things start to go downhill across the south—west of england across wales and that weather system arrives, initially bringing rain and turning increasingly to snow across this part of the country. further north and east it should be relatively dry. the sunshine continuing. but it will be a cold day with increasing easterly winds. now this sleet and snow will gather force and become more widespread, pushing northwards and eastwards all the while through thursday evening and overnight. some heavy snow likely across the downs of the south—east into the midlands and certainly across southern and eastern parts of wales. by early friday this is the lying snow, a map. we could be looking at significant accumulations across parts of wales, the south—west, and the south downs, 1—4 centimetres to lower levels. a lot more than that further north.

so a significant risk of ice through friday night. rain, sleet, and snow will continue to fall, become lighter and patchier, but it'll still continue to accumulate in places. we'll see wintry showers across the north—east of england and further wintry showers across the north of scotland. it's going to be a very cold night again, a significant risk of ice. now, our area of low pressure gives to migrate southwards, taking its weather fronts with it. so we'll start to see a slow improvement across the south of the country. but we could still see some rain, sleet, and snow continue for a while throughout friday. this easterly breeze will bring more wintry showers into eastern england and eastern scotland, further wintry showers across the north of scotland. but in between we should see plenty of sunshine around, but that really won't do much for the temperatures. it is going to be another cold day.

but stay tuned to the weather forecast. this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top story: the record breaking freeze in america's midwest — at least seven people have died as temperatures drop below those in antarctica. as a brexit deal hangs in the balance, we have a special report on the belgian fishermen who stand to lose their livelihoods. if you are worried about a no—deal brexit, put your hand up. nearly everyone. and we hear about the rescue mission to save thousands of flamingo chicks abandoned by their parents during south africa's drought. in business: like it or not — facebook earnings surge despite a year of scandals, as users and advertisers shrug off concerns about privacy and fake news.