the judiciary committee of the us house of representatives has voted to hold the attorney—general of the united states, william barr, in contempt of congress, for refusing to hand over the full, uncensored report on russian election interference. and the senate intelligence committee has subpoenaed donald trump junior to testify, in its own russian investigation. the first detailed study of the world's longest rivers show that most of them have been choked by human development. the researchers found that only 21 of the 91 rivers with a length of more than 1,000 kilometres still have free—flowing access from their source to the sea. football — and in the second extraordinary comeback by an english team in the space of two days, tottenham hotspur have beaten ajax by three goals to two in amsterdam. it books them a place in next month's european champions league final against liverpool, in madrid. now on bbc news,

wednesday in parliament. hello, and welcome to wednesday in parliament. as a conservative mp challenges the prime minister. isn't it time to step aside and let someone new lead our party, our country and the negotiations? but theresa may says it's not about her. if it were an issue about me, and how i vote, we would already have left the european union. and mps demand answers on government plans to tackle crime. but if you don't have an estimate of the number of young people who are at risk of being involved in knife crime across the country, but in the case that you don't, tell us that you don't.

all that to come and more. but first. the prime minister has rejected a call from one of her own mps to resign. can i say to my right honourable friend, the prime minister, she has tried her best, no one could fault or doubt her commitment and sense of duty, but she has failed. she has failed to deliver on your promises, we have lost 1300 ha rd—working counsellors, sadly the public no longer trust her to run a brexit negotiation. isn't it time to step aside to let someone new lead our party, our country and the negotiations? the prime minister did later agree to meet senior conservatives next week to discuss her future. when it came to brexit, the labour leader thought there was a lesson to be learned from football and liverpool's stirring comeback against barcelona

to reach the champions league final. i have been a counsellor. i have stood in an election against this is —— against a difficult background. i know what it feels like. i thank all those counsellors for their hard work and i congratulate those conservative counsellors who won their seats for the first time across the country as well. can i also say to my honourable friend actually, this is... wait for it, wait for it. actually, this is not an issue about me and it is not an issue about her. if it were an issue about me and howl issue about her. if it were an issue about me and how i vote, we would already have left the european union. the prime minister did later agree to meet senior conservatives next week to discuss her future. when it came to brexit, the labour leader thought there was a lesson to be learned from football and liverpool's stirring comeback against barcelona to reach the champions league final.

in view of the amazing performance of liverpool last night, perhaps the prime minister could take some tips from juergen klopp on how to get a good result in europe. when we look at the liverpool win over barcelona, what it shows is that when everyone says it is all over in under european opposition of got you beat, the clock is ticking down and it's time to concede defeat, actually, we can still secure successive if everyone comes together. i think that's what they call a score draw. the prime minister and other mps were wearing white roses to mark world ovarian cancer day. and the labour leader chose to highlight the government's record on the nhs in england amid reports of a shortage of doctors and nurses. theresa may said labour's record running the nhs in wales was worse. jeremy corbyn said she should apologise to patients for her running of the nhs. mr speaker, the reality is,

under a tory government, spending on the nhs and investment is less than it was under labour and still with the funding announcement, remains the same case. mr speaker, the complacent attitude and platitudes hide the reality that under the tories, our health service is going through the longest funding squeeze in history. 20,000 jobs in mental health units are unfilled, public satisfaction and gp services is the worst on record. cancer treatment delays are the worst on record. and a&e waiting times, the worst on record. and tragically, infant mortality is rising. will the prime minister admit the government has failed the health service, failed nhs staff and therefore, failed the patients who rely on the nhs. football analogies aside, both leaders tried to avoid brexit. later, seniorfigures from labour and the government met for the latest round of talks designed to break the deadlock. with the snp watching from outside.

there are more people alive today because of our cancer treatment has improved than would have been in 2010. at the last general election, somebody said the following. they said that an additional £7 billion for the nhs would give our nhs the resources it needs to deliver the best possible care for patients. i wonder who that was? it was none other than the leader of the opposition. is this government giving the nhs 7 billion? no. is it giving it twice that? 14 billion? no. it is giving the nhs £20 billion. i am proud, i am proud of this government and the conservative party's record on the nhs. it is a conservative party that is giving the nhs its biggest cash boost in history, a conservative party that is giving it a sustainable tenure long—term plan to ensure that it is therefore people in the future. it is a conservative party that has seen more nurses, more doctors in our national health service, dedicated to caring for patients. and that is only possible

because it is a conservative government that manages our economy, manages our public finances and a labour party and government would crash our economy, meaning less money for the nhs less money for its staff and less care for its patients. football analogies aside, both leaders tried to avoid brexit. later, seniorfigures from labour and the government met for the latest round of talks designed to break the deadlock. with the snp watching from outside. scotland doesn't want a labour tory brexit. scotland voted to remain. and once again, with no scottish representation and the talks, our nation is being ignored. does the prime minister think this is good enough for a supposed union of equals? the prime minister must confirm today that any deal will be put back to the people for a final say. can i say to the right honourable gentlemen,

as he knows i have had talks with him in the past issue of the brexit deal and also the first minister of scotland. it has been made clear that any discussions on this matter should be with the first minister for scotland. and in relation to the question of a second referendum, i remain absolutely of the view is i have always been and i am not going to change my answer to him. we should be delivering on the first referendum result. this was the first time theresa may had faced her mps since she sacked gavin williamson as defence secretary over a leak from the national security council. she told him there was compelling evidence he was the source he has said he was the victim of a "shabby witch hunt". at question time, there were only warm words. can i first of all take the opportunity that my honourable friend is giving me to commend the former secretary of state for his commitment

to the armed forces. the leak had suggested some ministers were less keen then the prime minister on the involvement of the chinese company huawei in the uk's sg communications networks. should we be grateful to all those good ministers present and former who have opposed this reckless recommendation? we are taking a robust risk based approach that is right for our uk market and network and addresses the national security needs. the uk is not considering any options that would put our national security communications at risks, either within the uk or within our closest allies. no one takes national security more seriously than i do. and i say to my honourable friend,

i think my record speaks for itself. well a short time later, up on the committee corridor, the secretary of state for culture, digital, media and sport, jeremy wright was asked about the huawei decision. there is already a substantial amount of huawei equipment within the telecoms network, so we are not starting from a standing start. there is already huawei equipment and that applies to the telecoms network more broadly, it does not apply to critical national infrastructure from which huawei equipment has been excluded for some time. i will not trade off and i am sure neither with the prime minister, economic benefit with security risk. i will not do that. we will find a way in which we can deliver 85 g network safely. but it is important also to say finally, that there is a reason we are keen to deliver a 56 network. for some people, they say let's not bother, because it is terribly risky.

but there is a reason why we need 56 and why we should want to be globally competitive. and when you want to do that, you have to take the market and the suppliers and the network of the equipment that exists as it is. would we all like the supplier to be a british firm that we could all be absolutely confident and, yes of course. to such a firm exist? no, i'm afraid. there are other factors, close relationships with china following brexit? no that is the straight answer to that. the parameters of the review from my point of view and the bases and which will take decisions. as i said earlier on, we have not taken decisions yet, so there has been no exclusion yet, it is also worth saying that we look around the world, what you find is a good deal of huawei equipment and many other countries as well and they are going through very similar processes to us.

jeremy wright. you're watching wednesday in parliament, with me, david cornock. still to come: a new temporary home for mps and peers. after question time, the prime minister held a meeting of the serious violence taskforce, which brings together the police, local authorities and voluntary organisations. earlier, the chair of the home affairs committee labour mp yvette cooper, warned that the government hasn't got a grip on the scale of the challenge posed by serious violence. she was questioning a home office minister on how many children are at risk of being drawn into crime. if you don't have an estimate of the number of young people who are at risk of being involved in knife crime, in which case if you don't, tell us that you don't. we tend to look at the causes or the factors that lead to a child being the victim or the perpetrator

of knife crime and they do vary enormously across the country. we know for example that domestic abuse is at a huge indicator of a child. i understand that. i am stilljust trying to understand whether or not the home office has any grip on the scale of the problem and the scale of the risks that we are dealing with. how many young people have access to an outreach youth worker? i do not have access to that number. how many young people are involved any kind of youth diversionary afterschool activity? i do not have the numbers of that because those numbers would be figures that the local authorities may know but also charities will have those numbers. so does that mean the home office has made no attempt to assess the number of young people who are in some way, engaged in youth services or youth diversionary activities

of some kind? i would not say that we've made no attempt. if you look at the range of charities that we support, for example, two of the charities that were set up by the parents who gave evidence to the committee, we would not necessarily expect them to feed into us the number of children that they are working with. and so... why not? why don't you need to know, how many young people are at risk and how many young people are reaching? it would be perfectly reasonable for you to say to me, look, we have a series of different measures, we have this assessment of young people who we think might get drawn into carrying a knife stop that is one group. we might have another assessment of the number of young people

who live in areas where knife crime has been escalating. there may be another group and another measure. you do not seem to have any of those measures and instead, just basic assessments at the scale of the challenge that you are dealing with. forgive me if we have not explained this, but for example, the £100 million that was announced in the spring statement to deal of violence, that is being three quarters has been allotted to the forces that have seen the highest increase in admissions to a&e, with knife injuries. so we are assessing and using the data to assess where the money should be spent. yvette cooper set out what she saw as the "biggest challenge" for the home office. you have no grip on the scale the problem. this is notjust an issue for you, but for the home secretary in the prime minister. but i'm getting nothing you today that gives me any sense that you've actually got a grip even on the scale of the problem that

you are trying to deal with. and therefore, that there is any way for us to measure whether your strategy actually matches the scale of the challenge. well, we know that there are around 2000 county line gangs, that is the most recent estimate from the national crime agency. but she said gangs did not reveal their recruitment methods. the criminal underworld is not — they aren't minded to help the police or us understand what they're doing and how their recruiting children, which is an extra obstacle and how we try to find those children who may be affected. victoria atkins. and staying with crime, mps and peers have been told there's been a considerable increase in the number of threats to politicians which are now at "unprecedented levels". the metropolitan police commissioner, cressida dick, said recent attacks, including the murder ofjo cox three years ago, added up

to what she called "an extraordinary set of circumstances". the commissioner was one of two senior police officers who gave evidence to thejoint committee on human rights. we do believe that the current context is, in our policing term at least, unprecedented. and some of the recent events, including the ghastly murder that you referred to in relation tojo cox, and of course the attack on parliament and other attacks on parliaments, add up to an extraordinary set of circumstances. and what we are also seeing, which no doubt we will come on to later on, is polarised opinions and having a big impact on the scale and nature of protest activity. notjust in the environment of parliament, but beyond. it is quite right to say that this has been an under reported crime in the past, largely because people have an expectation and high

threshold, and high tolerance. so there's definitely been an increase in the reporting as we put all communications out. but that doesn't underline the fact that there is clearly should we be grateful to all those good ministers present and former —— increased volume here. in 2017, we had 151 crimes reported by members of parliament and in 2018, an increase of 267%. and just in the first four months of this year, january to april, we have had a 90% increase, compared to the same period in 2018, to 152 crimes. so you can see that if that were to continue, we would be somewhere in the region — certainly over 450 crimes in here. it's either a large concentration of mps who are female,

or black or minority ethnic who live in areas where there is a certain political driver. brexit has been a huge driver for some of this, post— referendum has been a huge driver. we see a relatively even split between people who have been targeted because they're pro—brexit, and people who have been targeted because they voted remain. neil basu. labour has accused the government of breaking a promise in its 2017 election manifesto to preserve all benefits for pensioners, including free tv licences for people over the age of 75. funding of the concession will be transferred to the bbc next year. the bbc has been consulting on whether to make any changes to the scheme, which is estimated to cost £745 million from 2021. a minister said the government expected the bbc to "honour" the concession. this debate today is about keeping a promise. a promise made by the party opposite on page 66 of their election manifesto just two years ago.

and the minister hasn't got a copy, i've managed to find a rare copy of that manifesto. one that wasn't shredded. laughter. it is in the library, and it makes for interesting reading. it's called, for your information, "forward together". and it claims to be a plan for a stronger britain and a prosperous future. and on page 66, it says, "we will maintain all of the pension or benefits, including free passes, bus passes, prescriptions, and tv licenses for the duration of this parliament". the government can say they will protect the over 75 free tv licence. does he agree with me that they should end the prevarication and do that today? i do. i made a commitment

to her constituents, it was clear. they promised that the free tv licenses would last for the duration of the parliament. and what we seek to do today is to get the minister to honour that promise. mr watson said important social policy should not be outsourced to the bbc. the bbc makes some of the best tv content in the world. it is not a political body. it is not an arm of the department for work and pensions. nor should it be. it is not elected, nor should it be. i acknowledge the manifesto commitment was made, but i draw the honourable gentleman's attention to the fact that parliament had already voted in favour of passing this responsibility to the bbc. and the bbc did have a responsibility to consult, should they wish to make any change to the concession, as it was the government because my expectation that that bbc would continue to honour the concession.

the minister also said the bbc‘s income had increased. the bbc were able to enjoy a significant increase in their income following the last licence fee settlement. they received the benefit of iplayer users having to pay a licence fee, they had built in inflationary increases year through year through the duration of the five—year licence fee agreement. and there have been a growth in the number of licence fee payers over that time by at least 300,000. all this has increased the income available to the bbc. margotjames. the government has said that police and prosecutors will have further discussions with victims' groups about the handing over of mobile phones in sexual assault cases. digital consent forms ask victims of crime in england and wales, including rape complainants, to hand over their phones so officers can look for evidence. the association of police and crime commissioners say the forms should be withdrawn. a former police chief told peers

that proportionality was the key. if social media indicates consent to sexual activity between the two individuals concerned, both before and after an alleged sexual offence, then surely it would be proportionate to examine it and disclose it. trawling social media for patterns of behaviour would surely not be proportionate, as it does not tend to prove or disprove the matter at issues, namely whether consent was given on the occasion in question. for years now, it has not been permissible for defence lawyers to cross—examine complainants about the clothes they are wearing or their sexual history without there being a clear evidentiary basis for them to do so. should we not be consistent and make sure we protect the privacy of complainants after gross violation may have taken place of their essential privacy, and only allow patrolling of electronic material only

when there is a basis for doing so? having your mobile phone taken from you, albeit with consent, feels like a huge intrusion. i think it's very clear in the guidance that it should not be in all cases or as a matter of course. and sometimes your mobile phone should not be taken away from you at all. so i think these further conversations will start to develop the thinking about how we can be consistent in this area. lady williams. the first images have been released of the proposed temporary home for mps during restoration work in parliament. mps voted last year to leave the palace of westminster, which houses the commons and the lords, while the multi—billion pound repairs take place.

architects plan to recreate the current commons chamber, including the green benches on which mps sit, at richmond house, the current home of the department of health and social care in whitehall. but the plan is not without its critics. today the government introduces the parliamentary buildings restoration and renewal bill. is my right honourable friend aware of the growing concern at the demolition of the award—winning listed richmond house to make way for a permanent replica house of commons, where mps could be parked for many years? given the decant may be delayed until 2028, will the government ensure that, for the reasons of safety, we get on with the work as quickly as possible? and when the decant becomes necessary, it is just for as short a time as possible into a temporary cost—effective chamber? my right honourable friend has raised an important issue, because obviously this palace of westminster is recognised over the world as a symbol of democracy.

and obviously the decision that was taken by parliament to approve the restoration and renewal programme was a huge step towards its protection. i understand that, although richmond house will be substantially redeveloped, the proposal will retain the whitehall facade. and i'm sure, as was indicated by my right honourable friend at the end of his question, that he will agree with me that it is imperative that parliament keeps the total bill as low as possible. the decant, as it's known, isn't due to begin until the mid 20205. by which time, brexit may have been resolved. perhaps. thank you for watching wednesday in parliament. i do hope you canjoin me at the same time tomorrow. bye for now.

hello there. wednesday was a thoroughly wet, cold, windy day for many areas. further south we did see the sunshine appear through the afternoon, but that gave way to showers and some thunderstorms with hail. all tied in with this area of low pressure, which is slowly moving out into the north sea, although its weather fronts will continue to affect parts of the country as we head through today. now, early on today it's going to stay quite damp across parts of scotland, northern england, with persistent rain, still quite a breeze blowing in off the north sea there. but northern scotland will start dry with clear skies. so here another cold one with a frost out of town. but further south, because of more cloud and rain around, then it should be a less cold start. so for thursday, it will be a damp start for many. a lot of cloud around. the best of the sunshine across the northern half of scotland. winds will be generally lighter across the uk as that area of low pressure continues to pull out. but into the afternoon, i think it will be a mixture of sunshine and showers for northern ireland, for much of england and wales. though the far

south—west to stay dry. we'll see top temperatures of 111—15 degrees in the south. as we head on into friday, the low pressure continues to pull away. although this weather front will continue to bring showers mainly to central parts of the uk. but winds will be lighter still on friday, so we'll start off on a fairly cool note. there will be some sunshine around. but as those temperatures rise then showers will also develop, some of them could turn out to be heavy ones. again, southern scotland, northern ireland, into the midlands, northern england as well. i think the south—west should stay largely dry. highs of 15 or 16 degrees. and a little less cold across scotland. now into the weekend, it looks like high pressure is going to start building in, although there will be northerly winds on its eastern flank for a while, so it will stay quite chilly into the weekend. but then as that high pressure moves a little bit further eastwards we'll start to draw up some warmer southerly winds. so it's a slow process but this

weekend looks like it will be turning drier and it should turn a little bit warmer as well, particularly beyond sunday. now for saturday, it's a chilly start in those northerly winds, quite bright with some sunshine around. but we think showers will develop — mainly across eastern areas. and some of these could be quite heavy. the best of the sunshine further west. and in the sunniest sports across the south—west we could see 16—17 celsius. but a little bit warmer further north too. 0n into sunday then, i think we will start off chilly again with some sunshine. a bit of cloud will develop here and there. probably the best of the sunshine again further west, probably closer to that area of high pressure. but it should be a little bit warmer across the board, with highs of 17—18 celsius. and then beyond sunday into next week with that high pressure building in, southerly winds, it will be turning warmer with some places seeing the low 20s celsius.

welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: held in contempt — us democrats vote to officially condemn the attorney general for refusing to release the full mueller report. the first detailed study of the world's longest rivers show that most of them have been choked by human development. another footballing fightback for an english team. tottenham beat ajax to join liverpool in the champions league final. and after the world's first glimpse, now a name for britain's new royal baby, archie harrison mountbatten—windsor.