you're watching bbc news at nine with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines... a new study warns the government isn't ready for the prospect of the uk leaving the eu with no deal — in two months‘ time. more than 20,000 physios, pharmacists and paramedics are to be recruited to work alongside gps — to allow doctors to spend more time with the patients. plans to introduce new powers to control and monitor suspects thought to be carrying knives in england and wales temperatures in the uk plummet, making it the coldest night of winter so far — more snow is forecast. meanwhile, it's —30 in chicago, as cities across the us midwest come to a standstill in a deadly cold snap known as a polar vortex. and the heart—warming reunion — the chance to say "thank you" to the stranger who saved this woman's life. good morning and welcome

to the bbc news at 9. a study carried out for the bbc has warned that the government isn't ready for the prospect of the uk leaving the eu with no deal in two months‘ time. ministers are working to replace eu legislation which would no longer apply but the non—partisan think—tank, the institute for government, has concluded there's a very significant risk that new laws won't get passed in time let's go now to westminster where i'm joined by our assistant political editor norman smith. good morning, norman. it's difficult to prepare, isn't it, whatever its sector you are in, with two months to go, when you don't know the track the uk is going to be on, either a

deal or no deal? i think that's right and for this report suggests is that perhaps this was always going to be mission impossible. we are trying to pick a0 years of trade policy, legislative and regulatory cooperation, customs policy in the space of what, just a little over two years. draw the comparison with other huge government projects such as universal credit or the automatic enrolment of pensions are the london 0lympics. some of those had 12 years to get themselves sorted out. we are trying to do something much larger ina much trying to do something much larger in a much shorter time and the result, they say, is that with two months to go, we are probably not in a position to get all the necessary legislation through, something like six ills which still have to be got through, not in a position to get existing trade policies rolled over. there are questions over whether we have the new order arrangements in

place, whether we have adequate new information technology systems. training of staff, which is why there is talk in government that perhaps we are going to delay brexit, what was described at the foreign secretary jeremy brexit, what was described at the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt this morning as a technical extension. that would be a think, if early frank admission that we are not ready to depart on march the 29th but have a listen to what he said on the today programme this morning. but have a listen to what he said on the today programme this morninglj think that depends how long this process takes. i think it's true if we approved a deal in the days before the 29th of march then we might need some extra time to pass critical legislation but if we are able to make progress in then that might not be necessary. we cannot know at this stage exactly which of those scenarios would happen. but your senses it might go right at the end of march. it's difficult to know but what i would say is, for as a

week ago none of us really knew whether this was going to be possible we are now in a situation where it clearly is possible. there are lots and lots of hurdles, no wonder saying will not be challenging but he have a consensus in parliament, we can use that consensus. in parliament, we can use that consensus. mr hunter is talking about a technical extension of the few weeks to implement changes necessary after we leave to get legislation through. that's an idea that's been cooking around for some time at westminster because we know andrea letson, the leader of the house, mooted at a week or so ago. we note downing street has suggested the parliamentary recess in a fortnight‘s time, but might have to go out the window, mps might have to sit longer hours, they might have to go into the weekend to try and get this legislation through. that sort of extension, politically, probably bearable however if mrs may was to

say, actually, we are going to need months rather than weeks, then that becomes much, much more politically problematic and much harder to sell to tory brexiteers. 0k, norman, thank you. norman smith. with just two months to go until the uk is scheduled to leave the european union bbc news is taking a look at the preparations being made by businesses and consumers as the country awaits confirmation of a deal ahead of march 29th. our business presenter ben thompson is in greenwich looking at the construction industry and how they are preparing for brexit. i suspect people in construction, they know very well how to prepare for cold weather, lots of layers except but do they know how to prepare for march the 29th, that is the question? it is a big question and they are really worried about two main things. i've been on a road trip around the uk clicking a different sectors. today we are in

south london looking at construction. you get a sense of what they are contending with. the issues are skills and labour they need to build places like this and materials. a lot of this is imported from the eu. take a look. they are building 350 flats here, they will go on the market next year. they need about a50 workers on this site and they rely on the parts, materials, the plumbing and pipes and steel and glass to arrive on site exactly when the needed. there's not much space to store it and they need to make sure they have arrived things in the right order, if you try to put pipes in before the roof is on, it doesn't work. they are worried about access to all of that stuff after the end of march, particularly if there is no deal as far as the departure from the eu is concerned. zach from construction news is with me along with susanna from build uk. let's start with skills issue, a lot of workers here are trained with

specific skills and a lot of those skills come from the eu. we have shortages in key areas, we do not have enough bricklayers, electricians or roofe rs have enough bricklayers, electricians or roofers and of the people we have lots of those are coming in from the european union or outside. why can we not employ more british people, people here already, can't we train them up? you cannot train people but quickly, it takes a long time to get someone to be fully trained blick —— bricklayer or electrician. as a long—term solution toa electrician. as a long—term solution to a short—term problem. electrician. as a long—term solution to a short-term problem. and susanna we don't have much time here, especially when it comes to supplies. the parts this place needs, they come from the eu and any delay could be damaging. we have less than 60 days and 25% of our materials are imported, 13% of those come from the eu. it's really important we do not get problems at the ports, materials flow through onto construction projects. doesn't make that much difference, if we

talk about some hours extra in the ports or it takes a day or longer to get here, what different stores that? it makes a huge difference. sites don't have space to store material so we operate on a just—in—time delivery. it's important materials comment when they are used under something is delayed by a couple of hours or days it holds up progress across the site. zak i it holds up progress across the site. zaki suppose it holds up progress across the site. zak i suppose a lot of the projects are planned years in advance, to get to the stage you have to get planning permission, the releva nt have to get planning permission, the relevant permits, then the architect and all of that involved. how will it work, what are they looking at because we are talking about a long—term view and as far as we are concerned, not much time left. that is the big question, then lots of these projects were conceived we did not have this unexpected event and construction of brexit on the horizon. then all of a sudden we are dealing with costs could go through the roof on a key material you planned in advance to use. so yes,

it's coming up with contingencies such as. filing, buying in as much as possible but for smaller companies that's not a possibility. so many possibilities, thanks so much to both of you. really nice to see you. we've been getting views from various people, i was speaking to the boss of this place earlier and he says they want to do tomorrow what they can do today. the idea you can get things through ports and get access to can get things through ports and get a ccess to workers can get things through ports and get access to workers but of course, as we said, big firms have contingency plans in place, they made preparations and they are pretty confident they can enact them when they know what's happening. the real concern is smaller firms who do not have resources to deal with these things and again lots of questions they have that as yet have no a nswe i’s. they have that as yet have no answers. we will continue the road trip around the country. answers. we will continue the road trip around the countrylj answers. we will continue the road trip around the country. i will see you very soon. thank you very much and stay warm. all day we are going to be looking at the state of readiness for brexit and what preparations are being made both here and across europe.

later on this morning at 11.30 we'll be joining forces with radio 5 live in a special programme — putting your questions, about how you can get ready for brexit, to our experts. get in touch using the hashtag bbc ask this. you can also text on 6ii2a and email askthis@bbc.co.uk to the weather, a subject everyone is talking about at the moment and to the united states. at least seven people have died after a blast of polar air hit parts of the us and canada, with temperatures dropping as low as —a0 celsius in some places. the authorities are warning people to stay indoors as much as possible, and not to breathe too deeply or talk whilst outside. efforts are also being made to bring homeless people off the streets. kim gittleson reports. eerie steam over lake michigan, and a wall of white in illinois.

it is hard not to be cold just looking at the images out of the midwestern united states, where icy airfrom the north pole has led to the coldest weather in a generation, bringing life here to a standstill. the weather is frigid, blizzard—like. the wind is ridiculous. doesn't stop, you can't see anything. temperatures fell to —30 degrees celsius in chicago, colder than parts of antarctica, and a state of emergency is in place in illinois, wisconsin, and michigan. authorities have warned that the extreme temperatures are life—threatening, and thatjust minutes outside can lead to significant frostbite. and, after utility companies made an appeal to conserve energy, general motors said it would suspend operations at 11 michigan plants. businesses, schools and government offices have been shut, flights grounded and travel disrupted.

but it's not all misery. some use the extreme weather as an opportunity for experiments. yeah — stiff as a board, frozen shirt. and, at temperatures this cold, boiling water tossed into the air turns immediately to snow. although temperatures are expected to rise above freezing by the weekend, scientists have warned that climate change makes these extreme weather events likely to happen more often. kim gittleson, bbc news. 0ur north america correspondent chris buckler sent us this report from chicago where the overnight temperature dropped to minus 27 degrees. ican i can tell you it is painful to stand out here in the cold, your extremities feel it. at the moment

we believe temperatures are —27 celsius, temperatures expected to fall further, getting close to record lows in chicago and the truth is when you look around the streets, they are completely deserted this evening. it will have taken that advice and they have gone inside to try and get out of the cold. let me show you this, he hired me, the river is completely frozen over. if you shoot the sense ofjust how cold it is. and there is expected to be some more snow potentially to come. the truth is when you talk to people you get a real sense that they knew this was coming, they have heeded the warnings in many places and as things stand, businesses, colleges, schools have been closed to track and prepare people to make sure they stay at home and they don't come out in this kind of temperature. a state of emergency is in place, and in a number of different states across the midwest. and at the moment i can tell you temperatures are expected

to get down somewhere around —30 celsius tonight. the temperature is still falling as i talk to you now. there have been a number of people killed, obviously, not surprisingly in traffic accidents given the ice and snow. as we in traffic accidents given the ice and snow. as we were in traffic accidents given the ice and snow. as we were coming into chicago this evening and roads were pretty treacherous but at the same time, they were largely very quiet. as the result of people just staying off the roads but perhaps even people who have been killed as a result of just people who have been killed as a result ofjust being exposed to this court and is not being prepared for it. i can tell you we have sheltered not far from here and we are wearing all the clothes that you would need to survive in this kind of temperature but beyond that, you'd urologist are warning people that given the temperatures they are plummeting to already in chicago and a number of other cities around the midwest, if people are exposed to this kind of temperature even ten minutes that is the danger of frostbite and i can tell you all

ready in some of the hospitals here are people who have been treated for those kind of injuries. are people who have been treated for those kind of injurieslj are people who have been treated for those kind of injuries. i think that's a different clip from the one i thought it was going to be but you can see him throwing some boiling water over the fence and it turns almost immediately into ice crystals. well, here, the uk has had its coldest night of the winter so far, with temperatures dropping to minus ii celsius in aberdeenshire. yellow weather warnings are in place for snow, ice and fog with widespread travel disruption also expected. southeastern trains said 21 trains were being cancelled or altered and the rac has warned it's expecting at least five call—outs per minute. 0ur weather presenter nick miller is with me now. listening to chris we've said —27 or around that old park is the record for the lowest temperature ever hear in the uk, not as cold as that here but still the coldest night of the year. the lowest temperatures here

will be in rural areas but we are experiencing cool temperatures in urban areas as well, january going out on a cold nod. temperatures down to -1a, out on a cold nod. temperatures down to —ia, the latest reading from the highlands in scotland. difficult to keep up with temperatures, they have been dropping in the last few hours, we will get a final tally on how low they went in an hour or so. if anyone is watching in the scottish highlands feel free to throw boiling water in the air and go back and see what that looks like. if it has the same effect, perhaps not. what that looks like. if it has the same effect, perhaps notfi what that looks like. if it has the same effect, perhaps not. c it's someone manages same effect, perhaps not. c it's someone manages that, do take care of you manage that. we've had snow already and more on the way, tell us about that. indeed, plenty of cold here are around, ice and four this morning, here comes an area of low pressure, here that has moisture associated with it, targeting initially to the south—west of the

uk, slowly feeding the moisture into the cold air as we go through the afternoon into this evening. this is what it will look like. worth bearing in mind if you are going out now. also take care if you are coming back later and travelling into the evening. a general guide of that snow totals. the gold in south—west england, there will be rain, sleet and snow here, whenever people see snow totals i think they look at a higher number and think thatis look at a higher number and think that is what they will get but that is often with elevation and not necessarily down to low levels. and depending on whether the ground is wet and some of the snow is melting or whether it lies. exactly, if it sta rts or whether it lies. exactly, if it starts as rain and turns to snow. but this is a general guide. there will be differing amounts as well but you can see through some of the welsh hills, we are going to be seeing some high totals into the morning and parts of the midlands in southern england as well. clearly thatis southern england as well. clearly that is a recipe for some disruption in some areas. definitely a date to

frequently check the weather forecast. briefly, how long is the snow expected to last, through the weekend not? we will see the system continued into tomorrow morning. another weather system coming in from the atlantic on sunday. running into cold air, that will have sleet and snow on the leading edge as well. next week looking less cold. let's talk about the united states. and why its so cold. the weather pattern is have changed high in the atmosphere in the polar regions, the wind and flow and when that happens it can bring down anomalous cold air to where we live across northern parts of europe and north america. that is exactly what happened here and you don't see it very often, you are talking once in a generation cold having a huge impact. we know it's dangerous as well. things are going to change. it made the bitterly cold there right now but as you look into the future of the weekend in chicago temperatures come

back well above freezing but of course, is that process happens burst water pipes and all but certain thing, the transition will be difficult. quite a change in that pa rt be difficult. quite a change in that part of the states. thank you for that. the time is 19 minutes past nine. the headlines on bbc news... a new study is warning the government isn't ready for the prospect of the uk leaving the eu with no deal — in two months‘ time. twenty thousand more staff, including, physiotherapists and paramedics, are to be recruited over the next five years to work alongside gps in england. there are plans to introduce new powers to control and monitor suspects thought to be carrying knives in england and wales. in sport, liverpool as are held at home to leicester. manager murray to

sari says he can‘t motivate his players. joe denley makes his test debut at 32 for england. in the second test with the west indies in antigua. he replaces peterjennings. i will be back with more on those stories later in the hour. john, thank you. see you then. twenty thousand more staff, including, physiotherapists and paramedics, will be recruited over the next five years to work alongside gps in england. the nhs says this will allow doctors to spend more time with the patients who need them most and increase the range of services at local surgeries. our health correspondent catherine burns explains. so we‘re going to do your blood pressure now... gps in england see a million people a day, but they have been warning for years that they need extra support, that they are dealing with more patients with ever more complicated health problems,

and not enough doctors. it is estimated they are about 6,000 short. but now, nhs england has announced what it is calling an army of staff to help gp practices. it will be paid for as part of the £a.5 billion investment announced in the nhs longterm plan earlier this month. we‘re going to see see an opportunity for more physios, more pharmacists, more practice nurses, and that will in turn free up gp time, so that they have more time to spend with the patients who need their care most. and there is genuine optimism over this. the royal college of gps says it hopes this means we will finally turn a corner towards making general practice sustainable. but there is a question, too, about where these 20,000 extra staff will come from, as many other parts of the nhs are also having problems hiring and keeping enough workers. with me now is the chair of the

british medical association gps committee. is this a good plan for gps and patients? it is. as we know, gps and patients? it is. as we know, gps have been under a huge pressure over the past decade, many patients have struggled to get an appointment when they want one and hopefully by expanding the workforce with an additional 20,000 staff working alongside gps we will be able to improve their working lives of gps but also improve conditions for patients. as we mentioned at the end of the report questions over where are these staff will come from. has the bma any concerns? we are working with nhs england on this come over the next five years, so we can plan to train necessary staff and recruit staff and then gradually provide that support to practices. what will this mean in practice someone comes into surgery, they have a complaint,

will the receptionist said rather than seeing a gp you might need to see the physiotherapist, for example. yes, this is ready happening in some surgeries, pharmacists working alongside gps or physiotherapists are there and they can provide first contact with patients. a patient with back pain or knee pain might see the busy rather than the gp. you anticipate some patients might feel short—changed, they will insist on seeing the gp in the first instance. it's seeing the gp in the first instance. it‘s important the gp remains at the heart of the practice team and we wa nt to heart of the practice team and we want to see an increase in the number of gps. but we know many patients can get good care from a range of different health care professionals and that‘s what the intention of these changes will be. it sounds like quite a structural change. do you think this is going to be and make the nhs more fit for purpose and you think it might help problems in other sectors like we know there are big issues with accident and emergency waiting times and so on. do you think of patients seek the most appropriate

practitioner at an early stage it might help? it's really important to invest in the foundation of the nhs and that‘s general practice and by investing their and expanding the number of staff within the service to make it more sustainable we will be able to hop the rest of the nhs going forward. where is the money for all of this coming from? this is new investment we negotiated with nhs england. it will increase the investment going forward into community care and general practice, pa rt community care and general practice, part of the nhs long—term plan and that has been agreed with nhs england flew the next five years. thank you. police could soon be able to impose curfews and limit the social media use of individuals, to crack down on knife crime. that‘s according to plans announced by the home secretary, sajid javid. knife crime prevention 0rders could be imposed on anyone over the age of 12 who police believe to be carrying a knife. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani has this report. police rushing to a young man‘s aid. this was the scene in an ordinary north london street on tuesday. neither they nor paramedics

could save 17—year—old nedim bilgin, stabbed to death in the street. his father said his wonderful son had gone out on his bike and never came home. the eighth killing so far this year in london. detectives are interviewing teenaged suspects. and now, ministers are asking parliament to create a new power to take more knives off the streets. the proposed knife crime prevention orders would target suspects bases solely on detectives‘ suspicions that they‘re involved in knife crime. courts will be able to ban suspects from social media, used to whip up gang tensions. they‘ll be able to impose curfews and bar meetings with other suspects. and the suspect could be forced to sit anti—knife—crime courses to change their behaviour. the home secretary, sajid javid, meeting police in south london last night, said he has listened to their concerns. i want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to stop some of this senseless violence that is taking place

on our streets, traumatising so many communities, and ending too many young lives. and that means making sure, first of all, police have resources, and we‘re increasing that, making sure also they have the powers that they need, and this is a new power. this confrontation with a so—called zombie knife led to the attacker being jailed yesterday for 3.5 years, just one of the a0,000 knife crimes that led to a rise in violent crime last year. critics say that, if ministers really want to stop crimes like this, they need to go back to basics, and find the cash for more police on patrol. dominic casciani, bbc news. it‘s two months to go until britain is due to leave the european union — all today we are looking at the impact brexit could have on businesses and the economy on both sides. there have been warnings of empty shelves in supermarkets if britain leaves without a deal — but would that really happen? anna holligan reports now from the netherlands,

which exports fruit and vegetables worth 1.2 billion euros to the uk every year. fresh dutch onions ordered this morning — they will be arriving in the uk tonight. birmingham, manchester, liverpool, bradford, derby — trucks are being loaded same day they‘ll reach the market. if that process is going to be impacted, it will mean that, one, the speed of which we can deliver goods is going to lower. we will not have access to markets. secondly, the freshness of the product and, in the end, of course, the price. the uk is the netherland‘s second—most important export market. dutch producers want to ensure brexit does not disrupt this just—in time supplying chain. an hour away, they want to keep the traffic moving as well. they are looking at a green lanes concept, a digital pre—clearance system, suggested by dutch growers to fast—track perishable products

at the ports which would in theory allow customs procedures to be conducted before the trucks enter the terminal and uk customs officials could check the lorries loads remotely before they disembark. green lanes or fast lanes would be a good idea in order to speed up the process. are you able to implement them now? no, not at the moment. to be honest with you, we will not be able to do that before the 29th of march when brexit may be in effect. we only have three in gates which we really need now for the number of units we deal with every day. they are in the process of building extra capacity here. pro—brexit politicians have said warnings of delays are exaggerated but, of course, you have to tackle any tariff avoidance and maintain security. a spokesperson for the uk customs authority told the bbc... the existing customs free trade zone

has essentially enabled the netherlands to act as the uk‘s ack garden. the supply chain is so efficient that the retailers do not require high levels of stock. that‘s all been done here at source. the moment the retailers cannot have the product the same day or the next day deliberately or required to have stocks. a number of british supermarkets have warned they do not have the capacity to stockpile fresh food. and his dutch vegetables will become even more vital in march when uk produce is out of season. the eu believes the risk of the uk leaving without a brexit deal has increased in recent days.

planning for that outcome is being stepped up, with the european commission publishing the last in its package of contingency measures. belgium is one of the countries that would be hardest hit if there‘s no deal. particularly its fishermen, because more than half of their catch comes from british waters. adam fleming reports from the belgian coast. back to its home port in belgium after nine days at sea, sea currently shared among eu countries. the crew have been catching garnet and cuttle fish off the coast the crew have been catching gurnard and cuttle fish off the coast of cornwall and east sussex, which means every single fish being unloaded now has been caught in british waters. proof of belgium‘s reliance on the uk‘s rich fishing grounds. if there‘s no deal, the eu has said things can stay broadly the same until the end of this year, if the uk promises the same, but no—one knows for sure and the owner has nowhere else to go. the boat is too small to go to deeper water

and also to go north. so i really do not know what i am going to do. if a no—deal brexit means karel and his crew cannot fish, brussels has said it will provide some compensation. at the daily auction in 0stend, fish is bought and sold at the click of a button. the uncertainty is clear. if you are worried about a no—deal brexit — no deal — put your hands up. yeah, no deal. oh, wow, nearly everyone. they are worried about the rules for their boats using british ports and if no deal means extra paperwork. there‘s also a big question for the belgian government. if a belgian fisherman catches a fish in uk waters, is it belgian or british? if it is british, then in future it could be subject to more checks because it would count as an import

from a non—eu country. the industry here says things would be clearer with a 21—month transition period that‘s in the brexit deal. there is not much you can do within the eu and certainly without fisheries representatives know about this. i understand that prime minister may is opening up negotiations again. the eu there was already a response that there is not a lot of room for manoeuvring. how this is going to end up, we don‘t know, i don‘t know. 0n the belgian coast, if you pardon the pun, they feel they‘re caught in the middle. and do stay with us throughout the day, where we will have much more on brexit with two munster go. —— two months to go. in a moment, the weather but,

first, here‘s victoria derbyshire with what she‘s got coming up in her programme at ten. good morning, two years ago, liv pontin made the decision to take how alive. she was stopped by a trying driver called ashleyjohn. alive. she was stopped by a trying driver called ashley john. -- a train driver. he was so calm, so caring and that is the thing that makes the biggest difference with anyone in crisis, just having someone anyone in crisis, just having someone bad kind and that genuine. it kind of gives you that bit of hope again. on that night, he honestly saved my life. in our exclusive film today, our programme brings liv and ashley together, reuniting them for the first time since that day. join us at ten for the moving exclusive story on bbc two, the bbc news channel and online. that is on the victoria derbyshire programme at ten. now it‘s time for a look

at the weather with carol. i think you are getting updates on quite how low the temperatures have gone overnight. that is absolutely right, good morning. the temperature now in braemar is officially —13 celsius, pretty cold as it goes without saying and the coldest night of the winter so far, you can see how cold it has been in other parts of the uk. today, we have some freezing fog to live and when it does, some crisp winter sunshine but in the south—west already, a band of rain, sleet and increasingly snow at low levels coming our way, with strengthening winds, so i cold day in prospect. as we go through the evening, watch how much snow we are going to get. this chart showing not as much as expected, some part of the south—west will have 5—10 centimetres and a fair old dollop across the south—east, 5—10 across parts of wales, perhaps even more

with that with height, but especially so across south—east wales and west herefordshire. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: a new study is warning the government isn‘t ready for the prospect of the uk leaving the eu with no deal in two months‘ time. 20,000 more staff, including, physiotherapists and paramedics, are to be recruited over the next five years to work alongside gps in england. there are plans to introduce new powers to control and monitor suspects thought to be carrying knives in england and wales. temperatures in the uk reach —13, making it the coldest night of winter so far — with more snow forecast today. meanwhile, temperatures in the united states are again falling, with the prospect of a record low being recorded in the midwest overnight. time now for the morning briefing,

where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching, reading and sharing. the eu‘s chief negotiator michel barnier says the irish backstop is "part and parcel" of the uk‘s brexit deal and will not be renegotiated. the government is now comitted to significant and legally the government is now committed to significant and legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement that it had agreed with the european side. a few moments ago, we heard from the foreign secretary jeremy hunt, who was speaking on the today programme. he discussed what he thinks might be the way forward, as well as the protests in venezuela against president nicolas maduro‘s leadership. we‘re not ruling out any of these potential solutions but laura was absolutely right in her analysis just now, this is a very challenging situation but if we are going to solve it and if we are going to avoid the no deal scenario we have been talking about on the programme this morning, then two things have to happen.

first of all, we have to demonstrate that parliament can come together behind a particular solution. and, until this week, we weren‘t able to do that and that has happened this week and that is very significant. but, secondly, we have to show the eu that that solution isn‘t going to fail two tests. the first test is that it mustn‘t lead to the resetting of the hard border in northern ireland and we have to do show the eu and show ireland that our commitment to the belfast good friday agreement is absolutely unconditional. so the first thing we have to do is to demonstrate our commitment to the belfast good friday agreement is absolute and we will do that, but secondly we have to show that any solution that changes the backstop won‘t lead to us trying to access the single market by the back door. and we recognise the way that we access the single market, because we‘re not going to be embracing the free movement, will change.

if we can overcome those two issues, which i think can, then we will be able to have substantive discussions, but this is not going to happen in the next few days. there is a humanitarian catastrophe in venezuela. 3.5 million people have left the country, we have seen pictures on the news of people rifling through rubbish sacks to get scraps of food and both in the uk and the eu, we can‘t determine the outcome of what happens in venezuela, that has to be for the people of venezuela, but what we can do is support the president of the national assembly, who wants to uphold the constitution and is saying that there need to be elections in four weeks because there is not a legitimate president. and you have talked to him, haven‘t you, juan guaido? i spoke to him yesterday. what did you say to him? i said to him what is your message for myself and the other eu foreign ministers, who i‘m going to be meeting in romania this afternoon, and he said two things. he said please keep up the pressure on moduro,

who has done so much damage and, remember, this is about the humanitarian catastrophe that is going on at the moment and we have to find a way to stop it. a study carried out for the bbc has warned that the government isn‘t ready for the prospect of the uk leaving the eu with no deal in two months‘ time. ministers are working to replace eu legislation but the nonpartisan think—tank, the institute for government, has concluded there‘s a very significant risk that new laws won‘t get passed in time. the director of the institute for government, bronwen maddox, spoke on the today programme a little earlier. the fact is that we would have to do an enormous amount of stuff and the bald truth is there is way too much stuff to be done in two months than can possibly be done in two months. it isa can possibly be done in two months. it is a fair point to say that, actually, this of its very nature would take years and years and yea rs, would take years and years and years, so would take years and years and years, so it is not a question of lack of preparation or people not trying hard enough, this is a vast task. you reported as if it were

something like preparing for the 0lympic something like preparing for the olympic games, which would take a decade. the olympics took 12 years, and things like automatic recruitment the pensions got 12 yea rs. recruitment the pensions got 12 years. so let's start where you begin, asi years. so let's start where you begin, as i understand it, with the laws that they to be changed. what are they and which are ready? well, there is too much legislation to get through parliament by march the 29th, there would be five more significant pieces of legislation and there would have to be 600 statutory instruments, as they call, secondary bits of legislation, of which only 100 have been done, so and enormous amount and that is why people have begun talking quietly about whether of that could be done, in effect, after march the 29th. so not just the trade in effect, after march the 29th. so notjust the trade policy, immigration and agriculture and so on. yes, all this stuff, setting out the ways in which britain would govern itself out of the eu and reproducing some of the things that have happened under eu law and putting in our own version of it.

when you say it could be done after march 29, how so? if we have left without a deal, do we not need that legislation? we do need it all but there is a question of what can be done. mps have been told, they are probably going to have the february recess you usually have and can we rattle through a lot of this, but the pressure on this is really phenomenal. the key value of the institute for government is many of the people involved former civil servants, you have a lot of current civil servants who come in and out and talk to you. what is the mood, do you think, in the civil service now? the moody's. .. concentrated do you think, in the civil service now? the moody's... concentrated -- the mood is. i would not say depressed at all, i think you see people really throwing themselves into this and there is an immense sense of camaraderie, of people joining together to try and sort out all of these things. bronwen maddox from the institute for government. there have been hundreds of cases of children with learning disabilities and autism being physically restrained,

and sometimes injured in special schools, as we‘ll see in the following pictures which some people may find upsetting. in the uk, there is no legal obligation to report restraint, or notify parents that it has been used, but some are calling on the government to change that and be better at monitoring how the most vulnerable children are treated in the classroom. beth morrison, who is a campaigner and has a disabled son, spoke to bbc breakfast tis morning. cal has epilepsy, he has cerebral palsy, he is on the autistic spectrum and he also has severe communication disabilities and he was restrained by members of staff twice in three days back in 2010. and you knew this because? because he came home with bruises and i contacted the school and the school told me they had had to restrain callu m told me they had had to restrain callum because he didn‘t want to come off a bicycle he was riding in

the school and that led to four members of staff taking callum face down on the floor. he came home with his close soaked in urine in a bag. it was very distressing, for callum and for us. ridiculously distressing, one can only imagine how painful it was the you as a parent, let alone for callum. was that the first and only incident you we re that the first and only incident you were aware of in terms of that happening or did you feel that perhaps this was the way things were donein perhaps this was the way things were done in that school? i had absolutely no idea that they school could even do that, because callum had been in a mainstream school previously and he had never been subjected to that. and after those two days, he was never treated like that again and we actually removed callu m that again and we actually removed callum from the school and he went back into mainstream with a learning support base, and he was never treated like that. the school were fantastic. that was beth morrison.

let‘s ta ke let‘s take a look at what you are watching and reading on the bbc news app. very much a weather theme, if you look at number one, the uk angie was the coldest night of winter so far, as we heard from carol a few moments ago, with lots of weather warnings around for today and tomorrow. and number three, the city with no homeless on its streets, it is something we think about with this cold weather, talking about the capital of finland helsinki, where it has been government policy since 2007 to put people who are homeless or have been rough sleeping in a housing first principle, so that they are put into permanent housing as quickly as possible. that is different to the uk, where people who are homeless or have been sleeping rough have to go to a hostel or into temporary accommodation first of all before they can apply for permanent housing. and in helsinki, they are

providing support and back—up for those people, with training, education, help with addiction issues and so on. so that is a really interesting read and it is at number three at the moment. incidentally, we havejust had number three at the moment. incidentally, we have just had the latest figures from the department for housing for rough sleeping in england. broadly, it is down a little across england but it is up in london and we are going to be talking about that with michael buchanan in just a few talking about that with michael buchanan injust a few minutes, a la social affairs correspondent. let‘s ta ke social affairs correspondent. let‘s take a look at what is in the most watched, lots of weather stories, as i say. fire melts ice on the chicago train tracks. so claims from gas fed heaters are being used to melt snow and ice at railway intersections in chicago which, as you will know, is in the grip of a polar vortex. if you want to know more about what a polar vortex is, that is at number four, where tomasz schafernaker, in his woolly hat, explains what it is,

what has caused it. and at number three, this is interesting, this is from news beat, it is thruxton motor circuit, how to drive in the snow. many of us may not have experienced their drive —— experience driving in snow and icy conditions. the top three tips are take your foot off the throttle, don‘t hit the brakes and steer with the car, but that is worth a watch, at number three on the most watched. so lots of you are doing exactly that. that is it for today‘s morning briefing. it is time today‘s morning briefing. it is time to sport and let‘s get the random from the bbc sports centre withjohn watson. good morning to you and i guess the big question for liverpool this morning is how much of a difference that failure to capitalise on that premier league lead last night will make a difference. i know, we wonder and we will certainly see come the end of the season. it has been a packed week, a

full list of premier league fixtures this week and always exciting, plenty of talking points. the back pages of this morning‘s papers tell you everything you need to know about liverpool‘s result last night. klopp‘s cold snap is the headline in the mirror. the telegraph says klopp fuming over maguire. he said leicester‘s scorer should have been sent off. and it‘s well summed up in the sun, who say liverpool are skating on thin ice. the cold temperatures certainly had an impact last night, you can see the snow on the pitch, where liverpool drew 1—1 against leicester. sadio mane opened the scoring before harry maguire levelled. they missed the chance to move seven points clear. they‘re five points clear, but with man city losing on tuesday, you do get the sense that this was a missed opportunity. the ground staff did try and give liverpool an advantage by clearing the box they were attacking towards in the second half of sleet and ice,

but not leicester‘s. lots of debate about whether that was fair, but it didn‘t affect the result. elsewhere, chelsea had an absolute shocker. nothing to blame, the conditions, the pitch or the weather, just the manager himself conceding he was responsible for this thumping a—0 defeat to bournemouth. to put it into context, this was their biggest league defeat in more than 20 years. and having previously criticised his players for their performances, mauricio sarri said it was his fault this time. a couple of cracking goals in scotland too as celtic moved six points clear, as they beat stjohnstone 2—1. this was the first by callum mcgregor. you can decide if ryan christie‘s was better, take a look at this bit of a skill. the defence nowhere to be seen and a

finish to match. it was a little more route one finish to match. here as rangers reached the fifth round of the scottish cup, beating cowdenbeath 3—1. steven gerrard‘s side travel to kilmarnock next. staying in scotland, this is a great story — one of the most watched videos on the bbc website. 36—year—old stephen dobbie scored a hat—trick for queen of the south, to take him for 37 goals for the season. compare that with 19 for lionel messi, and 18 for kylian mbappe. 37. what a goal. when he is scoring that many, he must think everything he hits is going to go in. away from football, it‘s a big day for this man, joe denly. he‘s 32, and he‘s making his test debut for england in the second test against the west indies later. he replaces keaton jennings,

who‘s been dropped after that heavy defeat in the first test. he will certainly need to try and pick up and score those runs that they didn‘t manage in the first test. and if you want a demonstrtion of a big performance, i think menna fitzpatrick and her guidejen kehoe produced just that by becoming the first british skiers to win both paralympic and world titles after taking gold in the women‘s downhill for visually impaired skiers at the world para—skiing championships in italy. it was a british one—two as well, with kelly gallagher and guide gary smith taking silver. it‘s the super bowl this sunday, the la rams taking on one of the greatest teams that is the new england patriots. a huge game in world sport, but one that‘s really special on a personal level for two players who will have to put a great friendship to one side when they take to the field this weekend. caroline barker reports. sports is all about rivalries, right? in 1996, when the olympic summer games were here in atlanta,

there was an great rivalries on and off the track. this weekend, we see the ultimate, it is called the world championship game when it comes to american football, the new england patriot sub against the la rams, but some of those rivalries go back a long time. take two childhood friends turned punters. johnny and i have walked on together as freshmen and the punter position was open and all i knew at the time was open and all i knew at the time was there was this really big all—state quarterback from washington that was supposed to come and that is the other guy i would be competing against. he just kept his head down, kept working, pushed me a tonne in pursuit of that scholarship. now look at where both of us are right, which is crazy, but it is funny to think about where you came from and where you started and johnny is definitely at the beginning of it all. you say you

still talk to him, when was the last time? has it been radio silence?” text it him right after their championship game against the cheese andl championship game against the cheese and i congratulated him and steve gronkowski and told them i would meet upa gronkowski and told them i would meet up a cold beverage this week. we wa nt meet up a cold beverage this week. we want to win and i know he feels the same way but, like i said, our friendship is our friendship and hopefully i will get to hang out with him in the offseason while we are still on the west coast. amazing stuff, you can watch it live on bbc 0ne stuff, you can watch it live on bbc one on sunday night. sooner than that, transfer deadline day, a special on bbc news tonight at 6:30pm. back to you. and the headlines now. a new study is warning the government isn‘t ready for the prospect of the uk leaving the eu with no deal — twenty thousand more staff, including physiotherapists and paramedics, are to be recruited over the next five years to work alongside gps in england. there are plans to introduce new powers to control and monitor

suspects thought to be carrying knives in england and wales. more on those new figures we mentioned a few moments ago. the number of rough sleepers in england has fallen for the first time since 2010, according to official statistics. figures show that just over a,500 people were sleeping outside on a single night, down 2% from 2017. let‘s hear more about the stats from our social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan. michael, these are department for housing figures. this is for england. give us more of the detail. indeed they are and they are a single night snapshot, what is known asa single night snapshot, what is known as a single night snapshot, so they account for the number of people out ona account for the number of people out on a particular night, a mixture of counting and estimates. essentially, they have gone down by about 2% on

last year, the first ball since 2010. only a small fall but it will certainly be welcomed by the government. the fall in the number has been driven by what has been happening in the rest of england as opposed to in london. in london, the numbers have actually gone up by 13% this year and numbers have actually gone up by 13% this yearand in numbers have actually gone up by 13% this year and in the rest of england, they have gone down by 6% and so there is evidence people are coming to the capital, and if you look at the detail, coming to cities as opposed to leaving some of the surrounding areas. you mentioned that this counting is done on a single night. how accurate is it because of that? there are complaints about it and certainly some of the homeless charities and charities involved with outreach teams among rough sleepers say they are inaccurate, it doesn‘t matter, the numbers have consistently gone up the numbers have consistently gone up since 2010 and are 165% higher than they were in 2010 and every single year when they have gone up, the charities have said they are inaccurate and now they have gone down, they will maintain they are

inaccurate simply because they are a snapshot of what is happening at one point, one night in the year. so, for instance, if you are in a rural area, for instance, if you are in a rural area , you for instance, if you are in a rural area, you may not be able to find people. if you come across a tent and you can‘t engage with that person inside, sometimes the person is disqualified if the counters are not sure they are rough sleepers or just out for some other reason, so there are criticisms but these are official figures there are criticisms but these are officialfigures and there are criticisms but these are official figures and the way they have been counted since 2010, which is why we can say they are higher, the number of rough sleepers since 2010, but also they have fallen slightly in the last year. 2010, but also they have fallen slightly in the last yearlj 2010, but also they have fallen slightly in the last year. i have seen slightly in the last year. i have seenin slightly in the last year. i have seen in detail, 6a% of these people we re seen in detail, 6a% of these people were uk nationals. what is the government saying about what it is doing in terms of policy in this area? what they have been doing, for the past few months, they have sought power that this thing called the rough sleepers initiative, so in england they are spending tens of millions of pounds opening, in short

term, some hostels and shelters and things, hoping to move into some longer—term statutory to deal with the overlong —— overall problem, which is to aim to eradicate rough sleeping by 2027. thank you, michael buchanan. well, we are all talking about the weather and looking at the forecast, the coldest night of the year in the uk, so time to get right up to date with the latest details with simon king. good morning, everyone, we had the cold est good morning, everyone, we had the coldest night of the winter so far and we are looking at the next 12, 2a hours for significant disruption because of snow that is going to move its way and these are the temperatures we saw through this morning. every nation across the uk had the lowest temperature overnight so had the lowest temperature overnight so far this winter, but it is the snow we had to draw our attention to over the next 2a hours. snow and ice a big feature so disruption will be likely. this area

moving its way from the south—west at the moment pushing its way north and eastwards, some rain edging into the south—west of england but increasingly that will turn to snow as we head into this afternoon, initially across the moors and the tors and higher ground south wales. initially, head of that, some patchy fog, the central north part of england, some light winds but they will start to increase in the south—west as we go through the afternoon. let‘s focus in on this rain and the sleet and the snow, because, well, it is going to cause some disruption if you are heading home through the evening rush hour across the south—west of england, the moors and the tors getting that snow but lower levels increasingly getting snow and equally formidable and south wales, also getting snow as it pushes further north and eastwards into the west country, central southern part of england and into the south—east of england as well. edging its way further north

and across the midlands, still some uncertainty as to how much snow you will get anywhere from the north midlands up into norfolk and suffolk but these are the sort of figures we expect. 3—7 centimetres in the south—east overnight, up to 15 centimetres in the south—east of wales and south west midlands, so with those snow totals through friday morning, there could well be some problems. snow showers also moving into night across the north—east of england and north of scotland, cold nights to come, not as cold for england and wales because you have more cloud and you have the snow falling, so temperatures not likely to get as low. as we go through friday, still some residual snow, quite patchy and light initially but we are keeping a close eye on more snow potentially coming into southern coastal counties later on friday. snow showers into a north and the east. 0therwise on friday, brighter weather towards the north and the west and another cold day, temperatures 3—6d. so over the next

2a hours, stay tuned to the forecast, there could be some disruption. hello, it‘s thursday, it‘s 10 o‘clock, i‘m victoria derbyshire. today we reunite a young woman who had made a decision to take her own life with the train driver who stopped her. so calm, he was just so caring. and that‘s the thing thatjust makes the biggest difference when you are with anyone in crisis. just having someone that kind and that genuine. kind of gives you that bit of hope again. on that night he honestly saved my life. you 0k? you ok? i am all right, thank you.