good afternoon. members of the government have been publicly expressing their loyalty to the prime minister, and denying claims that she could be removed from office by members of her cabinet. david lidington, who is in effect theresa may's deputy, has said he is 100% behind her, and he's denied suggestions that he could take her place. the prime minisister is meeting senior colleagues this afternoon to discuss the brexit crisis. it follows an admission that she may not have enough support to put her brexit deal before mps for a third time. our political correspondent nick eardley reports.

what is theresa may thinking this morning? perhaps just days left to save her brexit plan, furious speculation about her future. are you prepared to resign to save your deal? no signs she intends to go just yet but some have suggested that could be the solution. theresa may goes and someone else takes over in the short term to help end the logjam in parliament. some are tipping this man, david livingstone, asa tipping this man, david livingstone, as a caretaker. i short—term prime minister to get britain through its current brexit crisis —— david worthington. but he says he has no intention of doing it.|j worthington. but he says he has no intention of doing it. i have no wish to take over from the prime minister who is doing a fantastic job. there is one thing working closely with the prime minister, it cures you completely of any lingering shred of ambition. in this volatile time the next few days are farfrom volatile time the next few days are far from clear. volatile time the next few days are farfrom clear. ministers are urging for calm. to be talking about changing the players on the board is self—indulgent at this time. we have

to decide how we want to proceed. this former tory leader said any minister suggesting theresa may goes now should be sacked. but what about inafew now should be sacked. but what about in a few weeks' time? this breaks into a second phase, assuming the withdrawal agreement got through, if it does get through the second phase needs to be tackled separately and differently. by somebody else? that isa differently. by somebody else? that is a possibility but it's not something i am seeing i recommend right here and right now. there are still huge decisions to be made here, it's not clear whether the prime minister's deal will be put to mps again and they are set to vote on alternative plans on wednesday. the brexit secretary says any decision will not be binding and warms if parliament backs a strategy the government will not implement it could mean a general election. ultimately at its logical conclusion the risk of a general election increases because you have a situation where parliament is instructing the executive to do something that is counter than what

it was elected to do. the prime minister is currently at her country retreat, she has invited some cabinet colleagues and senior brexit supporters for talks. her deal and perhaps a future hanging in the balance. and how big a week is this going to be for the prime minister when it comes to the brexit process? we have said this numerous times over the last few months but this is a really defining week for the brexit process. look at some of the core blocks, we are still not sure whether the prime minister will be confident enough to put her deal to mps this week are for that matter ever again. ministers this morning openly admitting they are not sure they have the numbers and they may well face defeat again if they were to do so. i think if they are facing defeat it's unlikely they will bring it back. parliament is going to try to wrestle control of the process away and hold these so—called indicative votes. what they would do is allow parliament to express its

opinion on a wide variety of potential other options, not the prime minister. the thing is, and here's the catch, it's not clear whether any of them would get a majority in parliament either. as you heard from the brexit secretary there the government does not think at hand would be bound by any decision made by mps. at hand would be bound by any decision made by mp5. the prime minister is meeting some senior tories cabinet ministers, david lidington, michael gove, her chief rep and key brexiteers, people like borisjohnson, dominic rep and key brexiteers, people like boris johnson, dominic raab, rep and key brexiteers, people like borisjohnson, dominic raab, david davis, to try and discuss what happens next. all of this ahead of a huge week where both the brexit plan and the prime minister's future hanging in the balance. hundreds of people have been winched to safety from a stranded cruise ship, after it lost all power in a storm off the coast of norway. 200 british people were among those on board — many of them elderly. 20 people are being treated in hospital. the viking sky is now being towed to safety — along with hundreds of passengers

who remain on the ship. caroline davies reports. falling parts of the ceiling, sliding tables and chairs and plants. passengers struggled to catch the balance as the storm surges around the ship. after the viking sky suffered engine failure yesterday afternoon the liner began to roll. what are all over the ground. this is said to be fitted inside the ship showing passengers filming water rushing past their feet. while others queue to be evacuated wearing orange life jackets. five helicopters were sent to winchell is on board to safety, over 400 people taken to show. among them george and his wife. one of the most frightening moments i've had

because the waves, we could not quite work out where the ship was going. the wind was terrible and it was freezing cold. viking cruises have said 20 people were injured, some taken to hospital. the company said arrangements had been made to five passengers home with some leaving today. meaning 900 people remain on board including chris. leaving today. meaning 900 people remain on board including chrislj am keen to stay on the boat, i worked out that as long as the boat was stable and under power we were safe. the idea of going, being hoisted up to a helicopter in those winds, idid hoisted up to a helicopter in those winds, i did not like that idea at all. as the storm begins to calm the liner has been able to restart three of its four engines and has begun its journey to the nearest port. the raf is to fly aid supplies to southern africa to help people affected by the cyclone that's caused

flooding and devastation across parts of mozambique, zimbabwe and malawi. almost two million people are in need of assistance. at least 700 people are known to have died, with many rural communities still to receive any help. the aid flights will provide basic shelters and water purification kits. the polls have closed in thailand's first election since the military took power in a coup five years ago. turnout is expected to be high for the election, with seven million first time voters. a new constitution is expected to keep the army in charge, whatever the outcome. a 19—year—old man's been charged with murdering a woman who was hit by a car at a caravan park near doncaster. the 52—year—old died from multiple injuries at whitegates caravan park on friday. costica mihai will appear at doncaster magistrates tomorrow. a special service is taking place in poland to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the prison break which inspired the film the great escape.

200 allied prisoners of war spent months digging a network of tunnels to escape the stalag luft iii prison camp. 0ur correspondent robert hall is at zargan in western poland. these ceremonies are going to take place close to what would have been the perimeter fence and place close to what would have been the perimeterfence and right alongside the root of the tunnel codenamed hardy, one dog through sunday style in total secrecy. in the end it ran short of where it was supposed to end in the forest beyond me and only 76 out of the 200 men got through. three got home, the rest are either recaptured or in the case of 50 men, executed by the gestapo. i spoke to richard churchill, the last surviving escapee, asking his memories of being down the tunnel which were still vivid, sadly he died just a few weeks ago.

when you get to the bottom of the shaft, you will be put on or tethered onto a trolley and you will be hauled up to the other end. you also know that there are people going out, steadily or not so steadily, according to what the goons are doing on the outside of the wire. this has been a very special place for the raf, of course, for many yea rs. for the raf, of course, for many years. this year they will be represented by a contingent from the raf police. that has particular resonance because after the war it was the raf police who led a very complicated and lengthy investigation to try and track down the men who had murdered the 50 escapees. in the end 21 were tried under number were executed. the raf police here to remember them but also the courage of the wider escape effort. there were thousands of men coming through these camps, many of them played a role and did not get

them played a role and did not get the chance to make escape attempt. just to remind you, i referred to the end of the tunnel, that's a clear illustration of how far it got, the slab represents the end of harry, those men had to dodge the guard one by one to make their way into the forest. it's a story that is often told and a very special place not just for the is often told and a very special place notjust for the raf but the polish people as well. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 5:35pm. hello. you're watching the bbc news channel.

let's get more now on the tensions in the conservative party over brexit and reports that the cabinet could force the prime minister to go. this afternoon, theresa may is meeting senior brexit supporting mps at her country estate chequers to discuss the next steps. some prominent conservative mps have told the bbc that mrs may's withdrawal agreement would have a better chance of getting approved in parliament this week, if she promised to quit. the former conservative leader and prominent brexit supporting mp iain duncan smith told the andrew marr programme, those who have been briefing against the prime minister deserve to be sacked. if i had anything to say about leadership, that will be said, if that is the case, to the prime minister herself. i am not like some of these cabinet ministers, running around with collective responsibility collecting their money and pursuing or having all their privileges but turning round and briefing against the prime minister in the papers. i think that is appalling and i think some of them should be sacked. the idea of a cabal, by the way a cabal that never wanted

to leave the european union, turning out to decide what should happen over our future would be unacceptable to my colleagues. do you think that is what is happening now? is it a remainer cabal who are talking about putting on a caretaker prime minister? is that constitutional or acceptable to the tory party? it is unacceptable to you, i think the whole of the conservative party on the backbenches. i do not care what their views were. it is appalling. it is appalling it should be done on the front pages. if the answer is a caretaker, whether it is mr liddington or anyone else, if that is the answer to the question, what the hell is the question? the question is, "how do we leave?" not whether we leave. and that is the debate that is going on. the idea you suddenly decide you can stitch this up. if there is to be a leadership change, that leadership has to be done, that change has to be done, through correct process with the membership out there deciding who will be their leader, not some ghastly five or six man and women cabal that decides things internally. we finished that years ago when we came into the idea of electing our leaders and we are not going

to return to that. she has had a very hard time but have authority is ebbing away at the moment, you appear to suggest. i cannot quite tell if you are backing her, saying she should stay on, or you think the time has come for her to move on. i think right now, any idea of a leadership election would create complete chaos because we are in the middle of trying to figure out over the next few weeks what we do. to suddenly change the argument is to say to the european union, we have lost control completely and to make us a laughing stock around the world. the prime minister has already said she will be stepping down. the question is about when and not whether. that is not something we need to deal with specifically at the moment. the reality for us is, all of this stuff in the papers avoids a simple point which is right now, these people in cabinet, who happily take the privileges happily take the money, and who have trashed collective responsibility, they need to be held to account. there is one simple question to be answered. if you accept all of that, then do you now back the government or not back the government? in which case, go, for heaven's sake. let's speak now to the conservative mp,

and former party chairman, grant shapps. thank you forjoining us. what is your message to theresa may today?” actually agree with what iain duncan—smith was saying. i do not think now is the time to put a ca reta ker think now is the time to put a caretaker i stitched up leader in place. 0ne caretaker i stitched up leader in place. one issue we have is the party wa nted place. one issue we have is the party wanted a leadership election last time which did not quite out to the circumstances. 0ne last time which did not quite out to the circumstances. one of the candidates withdrew. the party will not take back kindly if it were to happen again. we are at a very critical moment when switching leader this week next week while this process is going on with new deadlines in april and may would be unacceptable. the more important question is whether the deal has more of a chance going through if theresa may offered to stand down

and that is the point that a lot of collea g u es and that is the point that a lot of colleagues are wrestling with right now. you have been critical of her asa now. you have been critical of her as a leader on more than one occasion. how can she continue with this ritual bill, if the trusting hair is so diminished, if it has not gone completely? in 2017 i doubted whether she would be the right person to negotiate the deal. i thought she was in a difficult position. people were sceptical at the time but most would agree i probably had a point now. i had to say i think she has continued in a very tenacious way at a time when lots of people would have thrown in the towel sooner. i have respect for her tenacity and the way that she has pushed on. the biggest problem we have right now is the fact that withdrawal agreement was negotiated

separately to the future trade deal. that is an unnatural way to carry out a negotiation, a divorce. you do not carry out one part of it and then a second part of it, you do altogether. that has caused her all manner of problems. i spoke to her last weekend and had a discussion about all of this. i said i do not understand how he ended up in this position. she said, europe insisted on itand position. she said, europe insisted on it and we did not feel we could say anything. it has been a negotiation and the eu 27 have had their red lines and things get compromised in the mix. what is the way out for the government, the conservative party and the country? people are expecting brexit to be delivered.

it looks very likely to me that this week parliament, mps, will grab control of the timetabling within parliament. if you think it has been chaos this last few months, you have not seen anything yet. parliament tries to sequence business in the house and it will make the relative instability of having the government choosing what happens look like it was stable and it had a direction to it. i think that is not going to be the answer. what is likely to happen is we are going to come up with a longer extension. if that were to happen through the period, that would be time to change leader.

theresa may can help that position by showing how there would be a com plete by showing how there would be a complete change in the negotiating tea m complete change in the negotiating team for the next stage in her plan we re team for the next stage in her plan were to pass. that is the future agreement. she can help by setting out clearly how and why it is that her entire negotiating team will be replaced, so we do not get the same people who messed up the first stage testing at the second stage. thank you. thailand has been holding its first election since a military coup five years ago. after seizing power, the army promised to restore order and democracy, but it repeatedly postponed the vote. critics say a new constitution the army introduced will ensure it remains influential whatever the outcome. nick beake is in the thai capital, bangkok. what is the turnout been like?m looks like the turnout has been extremely high. today is the moment the ties were waiting for. the

military seized power in a coup in 2014. people had been promised a vote but it did not transpire. people in promised a say in the future of their country. there is excitement and scepticism. it is really difficult for the opposition parties to win an overall majority. we expect to get the preliminary results announced in the next hour oi’ results announced in the next hour 01’ so. results announced in the next hour or so. there have been exit polls which are widely varying from that i do not think we can put a great deal of trust in them at the moment. the party which was set up and is aligned with the military does appear to have done relatively well. there is some thinking that they would not, people would have been fed up with a military dictatorship over the past five years. early indications suggest that is maybe not the case and more conservative

thais have backed the person who has led the country over the past few yea rs. sport now. and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's richard askem. wales kick off their euro 2020 qualifying campaign in less than an hour, they play slovakia at the cardiff city stadium and gareth bale says he is "raring to go" with his national side. he's had a difficult season at real madrid. he's still scoring goals in spain, but hasn't played much and apparently doesn't get on with some of his real team—mates. but bale says he's excited about being one of the older players in ryan giggs' squad. it is a little bit different having a lot of new players in. with the last squad, we had all pretty much been together for ten years or more. obviously a bit of getting used to some of the new players and i suppose the different style of play of the manager. he has been in for a year and we are getting used to it. hopefully we can showcase what we can do and get the win.

scotland have the perfect chance to put their humiliating defeat to kaza khsta n behind them today. they play san marino who're bottom of the world rankings. and manager alex mcleish says they couldn't ask for a better opportunity to put things right. the only apology we can give the fans is to go out and win the next game. we are all hurting. we are fans as well. you know, i followed the team as a young man and always proud to wear the jersey and these guys are as well. tonight northern ireland play belarus in belfast. it's a big game for them in qualifying, with games against the netherlands and germany to come. as for england, they play montenegro tomorrow with spirits still high from that 5—0 win over the czech republic on friday. and the unicorns are back. remember these from the world cup in russia last year? good to see that they're very much still very much part

of the england set—up. couple of games in the women's super league today, one already under way, and arsenal's women will go top if they can beat liverpool and it's going to plan so far. they lead 2—0 — beth mead with arsenal's second. it was initially not given, as the referee thought it had hit the side netting but replays showed it was in and the goal eventually stood. it's been a good day for england's women, who've beaten sri lanka in the first international twenty20 of a three match series. henry moeran was watching in columbo. this first t20 followed the pattern of the previous one—day internationals. england were dominant and ruthless. they ensured victory in double quick time. they bowled the hosts out for 94. smith's 3—18 were

the standout figures. two wickets on debut for davies, who performed in england colours for the first time. england have two more games left in the subcontinent and they are on some run. this makes it eight out of eight for england since defeat in the first couple of 0dis in india last month. it is the best run they had been on since her 2017 world cup campaign. if they can make it ten from ten, it would represent a fine end to the winter and the perfect momentum going into an ashes summer. and tyson fury‘s getting back into the ring this summer to fight german heavyweight tom schwarz. there were rumours of a re—match with deontay wilder, or a super—fight with anthonyjoshua but fury‘s gone with the 24—year—old unbeaten german. they'll fight in las vegas injune, and it's the first of five bouts as part of a multi—million pound

deal that fury signed with an american broadcaster. that's all the sport for now. we shall have more for you throughout the day. hudreds of passengers have been airlifted from the cruise ship, the viking sky, after it lost power during a storm off the coast of norway. these are the latest pictures of the ship — it has been able to restart some of its engines and is trying to make its own way to port. authorities have said 460 of the 1,373 people on board had been taken off by five helicopters before the airlift was halted to allow the towing to start. we'll bring you any updates as we receive them. the main findings of the inquiry into alleged interference in the 2016 us presidential election are expected to be published later today. the special counsel, robert mueller, has not recommended

any further indictments, but the attorney general. who was handed his report on friday, is yet to decide how much of it will be made public. barbra streisand has apologised for comments she made about allegations that michael jackson sexually abused boys. the singer told a newspaper that she believed the allegations against the late superstar but said his actions "didn't kill" the accusers. ms streisand said she was profoundly sorry for any pain she'd caused with words which "did not reflect her true feelings." a man has died after being stabbed in north—west london. officers were called to an address on marsh road near pinner station early this morning and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. a large section of marsh road was cordoned off by police. 0ne resident described pinner as "lovely", but said she was not shocked by the news as such incidents are "happening in all areas." one of the uk 5 leading transplant surgeons says the current system for handling organ donations is at "breaking point." professor nizam mamode has told bbc five live investigates that he fears the system may not be able to cope when england moves to an opt out

system for donations next year. adrian goldberg reports. the professor paints a bleak picture of a system under stress, with teams working extremely long hours and surgeons regularly working 36—hour shifts without a break. he says patients sometimes face delayed transplant operations because of the lack of availability of intensive care beds or operating theatres, and, in rare cases, this has led donated organs going to waste. there has been a huge success in transplanting patients so the number of transplants has increased by about 50% over the last 8—10 years. that has been fantastic for patients but what it has meant is that the workload has gone up, the pressures are getting increasingly difficult and, in fact, people often use phrases like "we are at breaking point", "this is not" sustainable", "we can't continue". professor mamode fears that the nhs is struggling to deal with current demand and is concerned about the predicted

increases in donations when the law changes next year. under the new system, consent will be presumed unless people have opted out. the department of health say they are investing an extra £34 billion a year into the nhs by 2023—24. and that there will be a 12—month transition period to prepare. they say the new system of consent will save hundreds of lives every year. adrian goldberg, bbc news. and you can hear more on this investigation on the bbc sounds app. a former top civil servant at the treasury has said the new high speed rail line, hs2, should be scrapped. lord macpherson's comments come at a time of mounting concern about the cost of the project, which is expected to come in at £56 billion. hs2 says it will return double the investment and create hundreds ofjobs. rising mental health problems in children has professionals asking

themselves what is the best way to treat them. but what if treatment didn't involve adults at all? that's an approach being trialled in bradford where children are being trained to offer mental health support to their classmates. ashleyjohn baptiste has visited to find out more. hi, what is your name and how are you doing? i'm gemma. i am all right but i have got a little of exam stress. students in bradford speaking about exam pressures. i have to revise and revise because my mum and dad want me to do well. they are mental health campaigns and trained to help students with their mental well—being through one and one chats. are you proud? yes, it makes us happy when we see somebody who may be does not always feel great and we have helped them. when they grow up they start helping other people and that makes it better. what makes this pilot unique is that young people are trained to supporting each other.

they can empathise with each other. an adult would care but they not have that lived experience. there are some things that have changed from when i was at school with social media. there is no downtime. primary schools are also been taking part. this year four‘s mental health board so every morning they get their name and put it on the board with the feeling they are feeling. they can come to somebody and talk about their feelings. when young people come to speak to you what sort of advice do you give them? you have to tell them you should always feel good about yourself and you should keep trying your best. also the faces stand out. this pilot is one initiative but there are others in place across the city aiming to get young people to open up. we are at a park in bradford to find out a about another scheme that helps young people with their mental health. it is by a charity called emerge.

it is a chance to de—stress and come and hang out with your friends. i had a person in my life pass out last year so if anything happened in school could not think. —— pass away. you cannot get over the trauma but it helped me live and cope with it. it helped me a lot with school life, i have got my gcses coming up, i can focus on that instead of other things at home. and with the range of pressures on young people face in bradford it is important for them to know there are safe spaces where they can go to have a chat. you can take a look back at the bbc‘s we are bradford week later today in a special programme at 12:30pm on bbc one yorkshire and later on the bbc iplayer. time for the weather. the weather is