says his panel will investigate allegations that the deputy attorney—general, rod rosenstein, considered constitutional measures to remove president trump from office. mr rosenstein has dismissed reports that he discussed getting rid of mr trump as a "joke." reports from syria sayjihadists have been blocking roads out of the last area the islamic state group holds, preventing hundreds of civilians from fleeing. president donald trump has urged europe to take back hundreds of is members captured in syria and iraq and put them on trial. rescue workers in zimbabwe have pulled nine people from a gold mine which has been flooded since tuesday. more people remain underground and are feared to have died. it's thought they entered the mine shafts illegally to look for gold, before heavy rain destroyed a dam upstream. now on bbc news, the week in parliament. hello, and welcome to

the week in parliament, the programme that scrapes the mould off the political jam at westminster and beyond. deja vu all over again as theresa may loses another brexit vote. the ayes to the right, 258. the noes to the left, 303. for the first time, the government admits a link between its flagship welfare reform — universal credit — and hardship. and 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. and mps prepare to get the builders in. you're dealing with asbestos, wiring next to planning next to sewage next to mains water.

you know, i mean it's unbelievable. in the words of one cabinet minister, it was a hiccup and not a disaster. theresa may's tenth commons defeat as prime minister followed a familiar pattern. a statement where she appealed for mps to hold their nerve and give her more time, only to find herself accused of blackmail and lying before losing another brexit vote. now stop me if you've heard this one before. a brexit negotiator walks into a bar. he — olly robbins — is overheard suggesting the prime minister's plan is to offer mps an 11th hour choice between a version of her deal and a delayed departure from the eu. does that mean the prime minister's ruled out leaving without a deal? mps tried to find out. notwithstanding brussels barroom chatter, will the prime minister rule out a delay of brexit beyond march 29 and will she also rule out a future customs union

arrangement which would prevent us doing those global trade deals which the bank of england governor says is a potential golden age? i'm grateful he has asked me that question rather than relying on what someone else overheard in a bar. it is very clear, the government's position is the same. we triggered article 50, in fact this house voted to trigger article 50, that had a two—year timeline, that ends on the 29th of march, we want to leave with a deal, and that is what we are working towards. but if she is working to leave next month, how will she get the legislation through parliament in time? just when you thought you'd heard every acronym going, up pops crag, the constitutional reform and governance act, a law that suggests any withdrawal

agreement would have to be laid before parliament for 21 days before being voted on. there are just 26 sitting days before we're due to leave. time is very short. can the prime minister explain to the house how we are going to comply with the provisions of the constitutional reform and governance act section 20, if there is a deal? how we are going to implement the withdrawal agreement implementation bill, and still leave on the 29th of march? theresa may said mps wouldn't necessarily need 21 days to study an agreement they'd already voted on. while we'll follow the normal procedure where we can, where there is insufficient time remaining following the meaningful vote, we will make provision in the withdrawal agreement with pa rliament‘s consent, ensure that we can ratify

on time to guarantee our exit in an orderly way. 0pposition parties say her strategy is obvious. it appears the prime minister has just one real tactic, to run down the clock, hoping members of this house are blackmailed into supporting a deeply flawed deal. this, mr speaker, is an irresponsible act. she is playing for time and playing with people'sjobs, our economic security and the future of our industries. the question is simple, have you done an economic assessment of the impact of your deal in the uk economy? a simple yes or no. prime minister, you are asking this house to vote on your deal and you can't even be honest about the economic impacts. he talked about the economic analysis, we did publish an economic analysis of the proposals the government put forward. that's not true! 0h! the snp leader's shout of "it's not true" was followed by a less audible one of "liar".

he may have inadvertently led the house on this matter. no, no. the government... what was that? i hope the word "liar" wasn't used but — order, order, order! i'm perfectly capable of handling this matter with alacrity and i shall do so. if that word, "liar," was used without equivocation or qualification, that word must be withdrawn at once. at once! order! and amid uproar, ian blackford did withdraw the l—word. by the time mps got to thursday's debate, there was a palpable sense of ennui among some old hands. we moved to yet another of these almost weekly engagements, where we are told historic decisions are about to be taken, a meaningful votes is on the verge of emerging,

and always going to be clear, and every time we do that, it immediately encounters an appalling shambles. mps were being asked to rubber stamp two votes from january. 0ne called for the backstop to avoid customs checks on the irish border to be replaced by "alternative arrangements", the other rejected the idea of leaving without a deal. many tory brexiteers hate the backstop but would leave without a deal. the brexit secretary was given the job of squaring that circle. he has set out why he is observing what the house has said in terms of alternative arrangements, why he isn't he enacting what the house has said in terms of the government ruling out no deal? the short answer to that is the house has said two different things, it has passed legislation that has said by a big majority on article 50 which many members on both sides of the house voted for, it passed legislation to say

that we are leaving on the 29th of march, it put that date on the face of the bill by a large margin, the house voted to give the people the decision through a referendum by a large margin, and the legislation takes precedence over that motion. that explanation infuriated opponents of a no—deal brexit. the government can't simplyjust pick and choose which votes it wants to support. that is fundamentally wrong and anti—democratic. it is totally the wrong way to handle such an important issue for this country. two motions carried that night, both of which i supported. i would like to hear from the right honourable gentleman that he gives equal respect to the opinions expressed by the house, or if he fails to do that, it is contemptuous of this house. well, firstly, i absolutely respect the votes of this house.

tonight, members need to give the government time to make good on this work. as a house, we need to hold our nerve. to deliver a deal that addresses the twin risks of no deal or no brexit. mr speaker, the secretary of state ended by saying we have to hold our nerve. he was all over the place this morning! all over the place on all of the important issues. order! when the key vote came, 66 conservative mps abstained. the ayes to the right, 258. the noes to the left, 303. a government defeat by 45 votes. tonight's vote shows there is no

majority for the prime minister's course of action in dealing with brexit. yet again, her government has been defeated. that government cannot keep on ignoring parliament or ploughing on towards the 29th of march without a coherent plan. mr speaker, this is a significant defeat for the government. at the end of that day, the prime minister should be here to accept her responsibilities on the back of this government defeat. where is she? well, theresa may certainly wasn't in the chamber to hear the result, which downing street said made leaving the eu without a deal more likely. the vote isn't binding on the government but may well make it harder to get concessions out of the eu. the prime minister's promised to give mps another chance to shape the next steps on february the 27th. but brexit isn't the only issue where she has problems with her own side. this is what happened when a proposed new law

with cross—party support faced its first commons hurdle. female genital mutilation bill... with the permission of the member in charge, i beg to move. object. objection taken. under parliamentary rules that single word, "object," effectively stopped the fgm bill in its tracks. the objection came from the conservative sir christopher chope, who also won notoriety for opposing a bill to outlaw upskirting, one that has just become law after the government intervened. and ministers plan to do the same with the fgm bill. i know we were very disappointed by the decision of one member to block a very important bill. i am delighted to tell the house that i have tabled a motion to be debated in a second reading committee in order that it can make progress. but how will the government overcome

this recurring spanner in the legislative works? peter walker is a political correspondent for the guardian, the snp mp alison thewliss sits on the procedure committee, which looks at these things. alison thewliss, won't voters be slightly puzzled how a single mp using one word can block a law that most people seem to think is quite a good idea? it is a pretty arcane bit of procedure but the house is famous for these kinds of things, i suppose, and they are slightly different rules for private members' bills than the rest of legislation. but it is hugely unfair when there has been a debate had and there is broad agreement that the bill should be supported that one single member can object, and this is not the first time that this has happened. no, it's not. peter walker, christopher chope‘s point is that these new laws are not getting any scrutiny, and therefore they shouldn't be approved at this stage without some sort of debate. that is the point he always makes

and he always stresses that he doesn't disagree with the bills he blocks, in this case he says he thinks this bill is a good thing, but the way it works is that the second reading isjust basically read out and that is it, and he thinks there should be scrutiny for a private members' bill at that point. others would say there is plenty of opportunity for scrutiny down the line. this bill is a reasonably technical one, changing the system as to which kind of court can help at—risk girls. the argument is perhaps less good that in different bills. but if it were a government law, a government bill, there would be a debate at this stage. yes, that is true, and parliament is full of these arcane rules. frankly, people like christopher chope, who have been in parliament a long time, are able to use and or exploit, depending on your view, better than most. alison, you are on the procedure committee, what is the answer? we're not sure what the answer is.

for my point of view, the balance of power is not right, that one single mp can object. we are going to look to see if there is a better way of getting around this because it can't be this one mp that continues to object. it is bringing parliament into disrepute in the way it is being used. although paradoxically, peter, it looks as though there is one idea that you want to get into law, the best thing is to get christopher chope to object to it. that's like a miniature running joke at the moment. he objected to the upskirting bill, he objected to the women's assembly at parliament and now with this, and in all cases, the government immediately steps in and finds the time. so, yes, there is this idea that if there is a private members bill you want to get through, you get christopher chope to stand up and shout. isn't it the case that any government, especially one with such a small majority, will

be reluctant to give mps more opportunities to scrutinise? we have seen this week that theresa may is ready to fast track the withdrawal agreement. i think more opportunities to scrutinise is a good thing and more opportunities for members to bring private members's bills is good as well. we've seen in the scottish parliament, the smoking bill came from a private member's bill, and other legislation has come from that source as well, and i don't think the procedures in place in the uk parliament necessarily allow for that to happen in such a good way. literally, you get a private member's bills by having your name drawn out of a drawer, like the football! so, i think we need to look at a better process so that good ideas are allowed to make progress and can't be shut down by one person shouting no. peter, are things going to change or are we stuck forever in this merry—go—round of christopher chope objecting to a bill and then ministers saying, ok, we'll take it up ourselves, and a lot of outrage, but nothing really changing? i mean, he himself is not showing

any signs of wanting to back down, even though a reasonable number of his local councillors in dorset wrote a letter very much distancing themselves from the things that he's doing, so he's not particularly popular in his local area, in some quarters, over this. in terms of getting it changed, brexit just uses up all the parliamentary bandwidth, so i think for now, i think we're at a slight impasse, the government does not have time to change procedures, which would take time anyway, and christopher chope is saying he will carry on doing this, so i'm not sure where we will end up. i knew we'd get back to brexit in the end. thank you both very much indeed. universal credit is the government's flagship welfare reform. it merges six benefits paid to people of working age and critics have said it's increased hardship. but for years, ministers have denied a link between its rollout and the increasing use of food banks. at question time on monday, the new work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, signalled a change of tune.

it is absolutely clear that there were challenges with the initial rollout of universal credit, and 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. 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 with food and security. a conservative mp raised amber rudd's remarks with the prime minister. i'd like to thank the secretary of state for work and pensions for acknowledging there's been a link between accessing universal credit and food bank usage, but it isn't the case that there has been a link. there is a link. will the prime minister please urgently review the 5—week wait and the benefit freeze? both must go. because the unpalatable truth is that our welfare safety net is no longer holding up those most vulnerable in society. it's tangling around their feet and dragging them under the water. shortly after i became

prime minister, we cut the taper rate, so people could keep more of the money that they earned. subsequently, we have of course ensured that we scrapped the 7—day waiting. we've introduced the 2—week overlap in relation to those in receipt of housing benefit. and, of course, we've also ensured that 100% of a full monthly payment is available to people at the start for those for whom that is necessary. so, we have been taking steps and we'll continue to look at universal credit, but universal credit is a system that encourages people into work and makes sure work pays. time now for a quick look at some of the other news from around westminster. mps debated a petition calling for teenagers to be allowed to go to school later because waking up early leaves them too tired. it's the most popular petition on parliament's instagram account. an education minister said schools in england could already choose their own start times, but he said the government

wouldn't be changing the rules. at present, there is insufficient evidence to suggest that allowing teenagers to start school at 10am across the board would necessarily be beneficial. a timely start to the school day in secondary school helps to prepare pupils for the world of work after they leave school. in the lords, another education minister warned pupils planning on taking part in friday's one—day strike to protest against climate change that they should go to school instead. they had 15 weeks of holidays and half—terms to demonstrate without incurring disruption and extra workload to teachers. an average primary school lesson costs £1,600, a secondary school lesson about £1,900. this is where they should be. and there were cross—party tributes to gordon banks, england's world cup winning goalkeeper, who died at the age of 81. best known for that save from pele

in the world cup, he was praised for his life on and off the pitch. he was one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, 73 caps for england, including playing in every single game during the victorious 1966 world cup campaign, which i remember with joy. from being part of that team to i think something else that people remember — the astonishing pele save in 1970 — he was regarded as one of the world's greatest goalkeepers. but i also know that he did a lot of great community work in his local area as well. memories of gordon banks. banks of england. the welsh assembly has published plans to allow votes at 16 in its next elections. james williams reports for us from cardiff bay. so, as has often been the case with devolution, wales is set to follow in scotland's footsteps by legislating to lower the voting age to 16 for the next election to this place in 2021. now, with that change in mind, the speaker has sent information

packs to schools, and she's planning to work with welsh government ministers on political education. now, the bill that was presented earlier this week would also see the name of this place change from welsh assembly to senedd, which means parliament in welsh. but it would also be known as the welsh parliament. that's the plan, although the name change is proving a tad controversial. now, if these changes are to be implemented, then there needs to be a two—thirds majority in this place. it is also worth noting what this bill doesn't include. it doesn't include a change to the electoral system and it doesn't include a change to the number of assembly members. those more politically sensitive issues could be legislated for in a future bill, but they would need cross—party consensus. james williams reporting. so, what's been happening in the wider world of politics this week? here's carol hall

with our countdown. at five, prisons minister rory stewart told the today programme he won't be sidetracked from his pledge to resign if targets to reduce drugs and violence in prisons are not met. i am currently focus on resigning over prisons, i'm not resigning over everything else as well. at four, mp chris ruane took an opportunity during prime minister's questions to espouse the benefits of mindfulness — although he hasn't always been so knowledgeable on the subject, according to the speaker. the gentleman is obviously a beneficiary of mindfulness himself. he seems a very calm and phlegmatic fellow these days, which wasn't always the case in the past. at three, the prime minister revealed in cabinet tht she will happily scrape mould from the top ofjam and eat what's underneath to avoid waste — a revelation angus macneill happily reminded us of during the brexit debate. it's jam tomorrow if you scrape

the mould off the top. shame that wasn't on the side of a bus. at two, what's in a name, juliette said to romeo? if you're the brexit secretary, you probably ought to be able to remember the name ofjean—claude juncker. it is to build on the engagement the prime minister had last week with jean—paul juncker. .. and at one, keeping with the romantic theme, pete wishart of the snp used valentine's day as an opportunity to express some passionately held views. labour is red, tories are blue, the message from scotland is we're staying in the eu! carol hall. tourists coming to westminster these days sometimes feel a little underwhelmed. the iconic elizabeth tower, which contains big ben, is shrouded in scaffolding and protective plastic as major restoration work is carried out. but that project is barely the beginning of the restoration

work that's needed to be carried out in the palace of westminster, a unesco world heritage site. mps and peers have agreed to move out by 2025 in order to allow the work to go ahead in the quickest and most cost—effective way. even so, it'll be many years before it's completed, and a while before it even begins in earnest. the leader of the house of commons, andrea leadsom, reassured a committee of mps and peers meeting in a rather gloomy room that they needn't worry about their safety in the meantime. the challenge that the project will have is the unknowns of, you know, it was described to me once by the — i think no longer the strategic estates programme director, but a very, very highly qualified engineer who said to me, "well, you wouldn't go down into a basement and start swinging "around a hammer because you don't know what you might do!" he was giving that as an example

of how incredibly important the planning is, and why the actual planning for the work that you want to do will take years to achieve because you're dealing with asbestos, you've got wiring next to plumbing, next to sewage, next to mains water. you know, i mean, it's unbelievable what's down in the basement. but some committee members were concerned that the cost would go up if the work included a car park under the ministry of defence in whitehall. let's be clear, so that we don't mislead anybody. we all know that there's been a bunkerunderthere. we've known that there's one in gloucestershire as well. i used to say when i was home secretary, the last place on god's earth i'd want to be, let alone take my family, would be the bunker under the mod! i mean, it isn't safe! so we've got to get real, and come into the real world. without compromising, you know, the details of security, and, by the way, lord blunkett,

when this was all made clear to me, there was no sense in which i would be allowed to take my family down into the bunker at all! two former ministers letting the cat out of the bag about what really lies beneath the ministry of defence. thank you for watching the week in parliament. as you may know, half—term has been cancelled for mps and peers, so dojoin keith macdougall on bbc parliament at 11:00 on monday evening for a round—up of the day at westminster. but from me, david cornock, bye for now. in the last few days we have had exceptionally mild weather. temperatures got up to six dean, 17

celsius in quite a few areas. monday looking a little cooler. the first half of the week will bring a lot more cloud, temperatures will ease back down again, but by thursday, they will be creeping once more up to the dizzying heights of the middle height teens. in the short term, showers and a forecast air. hedington scotland, northern ireland, showers in the western areas of well. very mild further south of that nine degrees first thing in the morning on monday. that is the average temperature during the day. monday its self will bring a lot of fine weather to england and wales bar a few showers briefly in the south. most of the showers will affect northern ireland and scotland. they could be brief and heavy. nothing overall, just a lot more cloud around on monday, and as a result, it will be cooler. tuesday, we are between weather fronts. one moving to the east and

another approaching us. but the wind is blowing at the south—west. you can see them here. yes, it will cloud over and the rain will arrive. it will probably reach northern ireland and western scotland. pretty sure the rain will go in this direction. the further south and east you are, the dry review will be. temperatures around ten, 12 degrees, which is higher than normal. wednesday, this is the picture. we have that mild airstrip in from the south, fell on wednesday, i think we will see those averages starting to recover at least in some areas once the rain, the weather front clear the way, there will be some sunshine developing. top temperatures probably around 13, maybe 14. voters around 12 degrees and 13 expected in northern ireland by wednesday as well. thursday and friday we start to see that much milder weather spreading nationwide, is notjust the south of the country, but way towards the north as well. in

scotla nd towards the north as well. in scotland it could be as high as 16 degrees. friday and into the weekend, temperatures could actually hit 18 degrees with this southerly jet stream drawing up the mild air. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. were there a high—level discussions to remove president trump? a top republican vows to investigate allegations made by a former acting fbi director. rosenstein was actually openly talking about whether there was a majority of the cabinet who would vote to remove the president? that's correct. as the battle against islamic state draws to a close, what will happen to captured is fighters? inside venezuela — we meet some of the people struggling to survive as the standoff over humanitarian aid continues.