but if you want to really see something, go outside. tens of thousands of people are watching screens outside. cheering. and we we re screens outside. cheering. and we were all challenged by a young man who lost and that ——an election... booing. and then they said, you know what? hey, you are supposed to win in order to run. by the way, we, i, we, we had one ill action —— election and we won one. we are going to win again. it has to be said, from dallas, ——. going to win again. it has to be said, from dallas, --. donald trump speaking from el paso. it has to be

said, speaking. he promised mexico would pay for the wall. breaking news there is word from republican senators that there may be an agreement in principle on a border security deal. you are watching bbc news. now on bbc news, monday in parliament. hello and welcome to monday in parliament. the main news from westminster... mps pile the pressure on chris grayling over his handling of plans for freight services if there's a no—deal brexit. shouldn't we now, at long last, do the decency and go? well, mr speaker, i have to say that honourable gentlemen officer brings well, mr speaker, i have to say that honourable gentlemen opposite brings

a new meaning to the word utter hogwash. a conservative backbencher is berated for blocking measures to prevent female genital mutilation. it is disgraceful that we have seen this bill blocked. and it's becoming extremely frustrating in this house to have the will of the house circumvented by one male member, who it will not affect, standing in the way of progress. and the work and pensions secretary accepts there's a link between universal credit and the use of food banks. the main issue that led to an increase in food bank use could have been the fact that people had difficulty accessing their money early enough. but first, the transport secretary chris grayling has defended his handling of a government contract with seaborne freight to provide ferry services across the english channel in the event of a no—deal brexit. when the deal was first announced, it was criticised and ridiculed when it emerged that seaborne did not own any ships. mr grayling has now announced that the deal with seaborne has been terminated. he told mps it was because the irish firm backing seaborne, arklow shipping, had pulled out.

late last week, despite previous assurances, arklow shipping suddenly and unexpectedly withdrew their backing from seaborne. in the light of this and after very careful assessment, i took the decision to terminate this contract. my department concluded that there were now too many major commercial issues to be resolved to enable seaborne to establish alternative arrangements in finance in the time needed to bring ferries and ports into the operation. mr speaker, as i have repeatedly made clear, not a penny of taxpayers' money has gone and will go to seaborne. i repeatedly warned the secretary of state that this was the wrong decision at the time as did industry, yet he chose to ignore those warnings. he told the house last month that this procurement was done properly. it has since emerged that the dft took short cuts on the seaborne freight procurement. the deal was signed off by a subgroup of the subgroup, and the main form of oversight,

the board, never looked at it. he points the finger at arklow for that contract cancellation. mr speaker, is it really a good time to further the insult the irish? this transport secretary's approach to transport and wider brexit contingency planning is off the richter scale of incompetence. and for the good of the nation, and for the sake of some resemblance of faith to be restored in this shambolic government, shouldn't he now long last do the decency and go? well, mr speaker, i have to say that the honourable gentlemen brings a new meaning to the words utter hogwash. does my right honourable friend share my disappointment that arklow shipping, a very major irish shipping company of port and main backers of seaborne, have pulled away from this contract? but can he give assurances

to counsel and local taxpayers that the cost of brexit contingency planning by keeping a state of readiness, that we are all happy to do, will not fall upon local taxpayers? mr speaker, i have to say that i share my honourable friend's disappointment. we are spending a lot of money on contingency planning in kent and resilience in kent. i personally regard the ports of ramsgate as an important part of that. he knows i have committed to continue to work with the council. i would like to see ferries come back to ramsgate. and whatever happens, we must make sure that we keep open the opportunities of ourfuture in my view. it is argued that seaborne accounts for 10% of services. if they didn't deliver, it didn't matter. especially when confronted with rules. a stunning new incompetence, as we have said, when will he go? last month, the minister came to this house and waxing lyrical

about how he was going to be supporting start up businesses, and this was seaborne freight. is he not even remotely embarrassed that this has fallen to pieces despite the government's support? isn't he just going to come to the house and at least say "sorry" for the mess he has made at this? mr speaker, this is a start up business that did not succeed because its principal backer changed its mind. that is to be regretted, it is a great shame, but i am never as a minister going to make an apology for government trying to work with small businesses. again, the party opposite party does not like small business. doesn't want us to work with ball business and when it —— when we do, they shout at screens. it's not eccentric to make a weight that has two band a contract that it was supporting a fortnite ago and is there any question

that the irish government involvement in order to help or hinder the businesses? mr speaker, i do not think it would be for me to transcribe any motivations to what they have taken. it's interesting to see this minister rely on the goodwill of irish shipping company and a dutch shipping company which is the dredging, find that dredged the point of ramsgate. can he tell us was that dredging carried out under the appropriate licenses? who will pay for that dredging? he talked about doing due diligence, arklow have told channel 4 news that they did not agree to the contract seaborne, and they blamed that uk government for moving too fast. if they did that due diligence on seaborne, why could he not? well, i can only refer the honourable lady back to what i said earlier,

which was i will be working closely with the team at seaborne to make sure that they deliver on their commitments. there is in black and white. the conservative mp sir christopher chope has been condemned for objecting to a bill giving the courts greater powers to protect girls from female genital mutilation. the legislation is a private member's bill, which means it's being sponsored by a backbench mp. on friday, it was stopped from progressing through parliament when sir christopher shouted "object". sir christopher caused a stir last year when he objected to a bill outlawing "upskirting", taking photos under a woman's clothes. at the time, he said his aim was to stop legislation from backbenchers being passed with inadequate scrutiny. but his objection to the fgm bill on friday angered many mps, including some members of the cabinet. the government has now stepped in to support the bill. it is disappointing that the bill was objected to on friday. i am pleased to say that we are breaking to bring back the bill in government time. —— we are working to.

that means the bill is now likely to get through the commons. but a liberal democrat said fgm was on the rise and prosecutions remained rare. the sexual prosecution of a mother who did this to her daughter ten days ago. for the protection is needed to ensure that young girls do not have to go through this brutal life changing and sometimes life—threatening trauma of female genital mutilation. since 2015, we have brought in a number of measures to protect women and girls from female genital mutilation. protecting and bringing in a number of offences, including failing to protect a girl from fgm is now an effect. —— is now an offence. we have introduced several protection part is for fgm and a mandatory reporting duty to known cases in under 185.

mps across the house welcomed the news that the government would find time for the bill, but there was fury that it had been stopped in its tracks by sir christopher chope. its repetition by objecting important bills proceed time. —— proceeds him. but today, i am not using that time honourable when addressing our colleague, as honourable implies principle. and the member of christ's church displayed no such principal last friday in this chamber. his objection to the fgm bill sent to new depths. —— sunk. i like everyone else in this building are disgusted by this honourable member of the christ church. as i was admitted to have been charged of the political party, i certainly would not be allowing him to keep his whip should he ever be able to do anything like this again. it is a total disgrace. it is disgraceful that we have seen this bill blocked.

the wealth of the house circumvented by one male member who it will not affect, standing the way of progress and to go on and do good things to prevent women and girls being harmed. several mps called for the bill to be debated next week, while others wanted changes to the private members bill system. it is a pity that the honourable member is not here, perhaps that is a perfectly good reason for this. will my honourable friend, the minister, refer to those who manage procedure and manage the government business that many of us are just fed up with this kind of behaviour. we want a different system about this but i think does not happen. the government has to make a little change to the children's act of 1989 to include these fgm amendments. but it has relied in the private members bill introduced in the other place two years ago to get this through. just the other week, the government had not yet committed

in this house to delineating private members days. so it is completely inappropriate to rely on a private member 's to rely on a private member '5 bill. the government says that is going to allocate government time to take get this through. you should have done this and the first place. the minister said the government had taken action to make sure fgm was identified and prosecuted. now to the lords where there was a call for new laws to stop people parking on pavements. there's already a general ban in london, but elsewhere in england, it's down to local authorities to make the rules. the department for transport has just carried out a review of the current regulations. peers wondered if it had reached any conclusions. can i ask whether the government accepts the views of the guide dogs

and the living streets charity campaign of all wheelchair users, of all parents pushing chair is a lot the pavement, along with the authorities preparing the pavements after damage, —— repair — that the government has built a default position by london of no parking on pavement and designate otherwise, rather than just a discouragement which is currently the case? a recent survey from an organisation cited that 95% of them have collided in the last three months, and vehicles parked in the pavement was the single most reported obstacle. that our cost of the government to introduce a lot that beds all pavement cracking in england. —— parking. and we want to make it as simple as possible, but before seeking new legislation, we are looking at the effectiveness of the legislation. it isa

it is a curious alice in wonderland situation. the pedestrians would have to go into the road because the cars are already on the pavement. 69% of the public, 78% of local counsellors support a new life. —— a new law. are they right? we are trying to understand the effectiveness of the current legislation. we are considering those findings and we will do due course. there was also concern about people riding vehicles or cycling on pavements. her colleague wrote a letter to authorities in the autumn, praying about penalties from persons committing nuisances for riding on foot paths, that people should not have any horse, as, you'll on any highway to suffer. my lords, this came from the 1835 highways act. isn't it about time that that legislation was updated ?

my lords, i was interested to find the cycling on the floodway is also a section two of the highways act of 1835. it has been updated with the various different pieces of secondary legislation, and as i say, we are looking carefully at the issues around vehicles on pavement and will be responding in due course. you're listening to monday in parliament with me, kristiina cooper. coming up... an eye catching item of clothing. but first, mps have been considering a petition to allow teenagers in england to go to school later because of concerns they're not getting enough sleep. it was started by hannah kidner, an a level student from devon. it has over 180,000 signatures and is the most popular ever petition on pa rliament‘s instagram account. the petition said teenagers

were tired as a result of having to wake up early to get to school. it calls on the government to require secondary schools to start later because it will lead to increased productivity at school. the labour mp daniel zeichner, said he supported the change after reading some of the comments by those who signed the petition. clearly, this is an idea which has captured both hearts and minds. ijust wanted to read one of the contributions that came in from one of the parents. i think it puts the point very well. this parent tells us, i have three teenage children and have been having a nightmare getting them ready for a 9am start every day. in order to start at nine, they have to leave the house at 8am, get up at 6:30 am. that echoes the point. she carries on, i would defy anyone to try to get five teenagers out of bed at 6:30am and not feel

as i do that it is far too early. having to wake up five teenagers that early is like having to raise the dead. it is not that they don't want to get pu, they genuinely can't get up. their health and well—being suffers usually and moreover, so does mine. school is the most stressful time of the date for children and parents. i have some sympathy for that account, and i am sure some others will recognise it too. the schools minister said schools in england could already choose their own start times, but said the government wouldn't be changing the rules. there is insignificant evidence saying that allowing teenagers to start later across the board will be beneficial. a timely start to the school day

in secondary school helps to prepare people for the world of work after they leave school. workplaces expect their employees to start and finish their work at a set time and demonstrates the value of hard work and application. delaying the start of the school day for teenagers might also cause difficulties for working parents, which was acknowledged by the honourable member for cambridge. parents who have young children with start times that are different from secondary schools, and finishing times ending differently, will present problems for working families. staying with education, labour has said english universities are facing a financial crisis. it was reported at the weekend that the university of reading had referred itself to the regulator, the office for students, or ofs, over a £121 million loan. the university has said it's in a "sound position" and has robust plans in place to deal with any challenges. but the news prompted the shadow education secretary, angela rayner, to raise reading's situation in an urgent question. serious concern were revealed this weekend about the financial

situation of reading university, and there are reports of at least three other universities facing significant risk of insolvency. i hope the minister will tell us in a little bit more detail what steps he is taking to address that situation at redding, as well as across the sector. because mr speicher, the consequences of such a failure would be disastrous, for students and staff and for the economies. isn't it time that they face the fundamental fact that education is best provided as a public service by the public good? and if this government won't change, then mr speaker, i think it is time for a new government. i don't think it is appropriate for the government, nor the ofs,

to comment on the position of individual providers. when it comes to looking at the role of financial sustainability, as i've stated, the new regulatory framework brings this risk—based approach for sustainability in order and above all to protect student interest. this means that if they can pay greater attention and provide specific action, ultimately, vulnerability. leaders and providers are responsible for ensuring that they are not part of the public sector. they are autonomous institutions, and when taking through that higher education research, that was a key point voted on by labour that members would remain independent and autonomous. mr speaker, universities's financial sustainability depend on being able

to compete with international students around the world. would my honourable friend agree with me that we should put a competitive offer for international students by restoring the post study break visa that we mistakenly abolished in 2012? i would like to start by thanking my honourable friend by the way that he ran the office as one of my predecessors. the establishment of the office of students, and i remember the higher education research being the most amended piece of legislation in this place. he made sure we had that in place in order to ensure that we protect against financial failure in the market. when it comes to international students, absolutely, the government is determined to press forward, to look internationally at what we can do

for our universities with world—class organisations. we have 140,000 applications internationally. we are publishing and educational strategy later this spring. universities in the uk are extremely concerned about the issues that they are facing, like pensions and the brexit strategy being pursued by this present government. will the uk government look at universities and look at the place that they hold into society across the uk and the amount of cash they generate for the uk economy and help them get through this real and immediate crisis? the minister replied that the government didn't intend to bail out any independent institutions, such as higher education providers. now the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, has accepted that problems with the introduction of the new welfare payment, universal credit, was one of the reasons for an increase in the use of food banks. universal credit merges six different benefits for working age people into one. it's being gradually rolled out across the uk, but has been plagued by problems along the way.

research released by the trussell trust charity this month showed the use of food banks had increased by 52% in areas where universal credit had been in place for a year or more. it is absolutely clear that there were challenges with the initial roll—out with universal credit. and the main issue that led to an increase in food bank use could have been that the fact that people had difficulty accessing their money early enough. we have made changes to accessing universal credit so that people can have advances, so that there is a legacy run on after two weeks of housing benefit, and we believe that that will help food insecurity. over the last year, i've heard from families, charities, and most importantly, young people themselves about their experiences with food and security. it is complex.

what they are telling me is that universal credit is making their situation worse, not better. will the ministerjoin me at the launch of this report, and let's tackle this? i would like to reassure the honourable lady who i know she chairs the committee with school meals, that i am as committed as she is about food insecurity, obviously particularly for children. i think accessing elite fines will have reduced food insecurity. but of course, i will take an early interest in the report she is producing, and i look forward to seeing it. surely she'd recognise that the fact that people are not entitled to any money for the first five weeks is a very big contribution to the problems that we're seeing. as i say, i have acknowledged the fact that people have had difficulty accessing

the money on time, as one of the factors, but we have to do that. one of the principal ways of doing that is ensuring that every applicant will have advanced payments on the date that they apply. just before christmas, i visited a job centre and they told me about a number of claims on the friday before christmas who came in for the first time and got those advance payments. we know from a series of academic reports, that the rise in insecurity could be put down notjust to the implementation, the secretary of state has acknowledged that for the first time this afternoon. we also note that higher than expected inflation means that the benefit freeze will receive £1.2 billion the upcoming year. for the sake of those low income families being driven

don't they deserve a break? and the benefit freeze should stop this year. can ijust point out that by 2020, the payments that had been made i expect to reach 62 billion, compared to the 6 billion. so if the honourable member did raise that, the amounts are larger on the universal credit. than they would have been with the previous changes in place. amid the exchanges about the welfare state, there was a moment to consider fashion choices. the speaker's eye had been caught by the flamboyant tie being worn by the labour mp barry sheerman. john bercow thought it was "magnificent". i had thought that it didn't take that, but i am told that it would be more accurate to say that it depicts tropical foliage. mr speaker, this is a magical mystery tie, a beatles tie. i feel at the present moment in this country,

i earned a magical mystery tie. well, that's it for monday's tour through the mysteries of parliament. david cornock will be rolling up for the rest of the week. but from me, kristiina cooper, goodbye! hello there. we have got some reasonably quiet and mild weather on the cards throughout the remainder of this week. many of us season sunshine once again on tuesday that there will be a bit of rain around the north—west of the uk that after a chilly start, i think your best bet of getting spells of sunshine will be across southern and eastern parts of england. more on the web are generally across the north—west of the uk, some rain especially across scotland, which will push into northern england the afternoon. top

temperatures are tense 12 degrees, little above average really for the time of year. moving to tuesday evening and into wednesday, we keep the bulk of our rain, a few spots of rain again in the north—west and temperatures, generally fuss free to start off your morning. quite cloudy picture to start wednesday, the best of the sunshine towards the south and east. a few bits of rain in scotla nd and east. a few bits of rain in scotland but mostly dry and highs of around ten to 12 degrees. goodbye for now. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: president trump comes to texas to rally support for his border wall, a potential deal may have been agreed. heading home — the bahraini footballer freed from a thai jail arrives back in australia where he has refugee status. one of brazil's best known political journalists ricardo boechat dies in a helicopter crash. small creatures — big problem — why the threat of insect extinction could have catastrophic results for us all.