all going to be hearing over the next few weeks in the run up all political advertising to december‘s election? from next month. prime minister's questions saw in a series of tweets, jeremy corbyn challenge boris johnson over the future its founder and chief executive, of the nhs and other party leaders jack dorsey, said the reach question him on brexit. of a political message should be the labour leader started earned by gaining followers with a familiar concern. the prime minister's planned sell—out deal rather than being bought. with donald trump means... means yet more national health service money being siphoned off into profit. the us military has published the first images of the raid in which the leader of the islamic state group was killed. channel 4 dispatchers reported... the video shows troops targeting militants on the ground as they flew reported that the cost of drugs and medicines has repeatedly been towards the compound where abu bakr al—baghdadi was hiding discussed between us before they moved in. and uk trade representatives. —— dispatches. firefighters in the suburbs why did the prime minister of los angeles are battling previously say, "the health service wasn't on the table in any a new wildfire that erupted early on wednesday. the blaze in california's simi valley tripled in size in around two hours and almost engulfed post—brexit trade deal"? the ronald reagan presidential library. mr speaker, the answer to that is very simple, its director said the building because it is not on the table. and i pay tribute — by the way, i pay tribute was out of danger. to the officials of the nhs who have just done a brilliantjob in reducing the cost of orkambi, so that cystic fibrosis — now on bbc news, made in america, by the way —

so that cystic fibrosis sufferers in the country get the treatment they need at a cost that is reasonable to wednesday in parliament. the taxpayers in this country. and he repeated that vertex — the company that make the cystic hello, and welcome to fibrosis drug orkambi, which was last week made wednesday in parliament. available on the nhs on this programme: in the last pmqs before the general election, in england — was american. is he seriously suggesting — mps rehearse their is he seriously suggesting the nhs should not engage in negotiations to ensure that british patients get campaign arguments. the drugs they deserve? despite his denials, the nhs is up for grabs by us corporations. drift and dither under is he so phobic of american the labour party, or taking britain companies that he would forbid them forward to a brighter future from having those discussions? under the conservatives! mr speaker, not for the first time, the prime minister mps debate the findings of the first is talking nonsense! report into the grenfell tower fire. those people had been genuinely raising matters about safety and felt that those matters — and in some cases, they were — were completely ignored. also on this programme: tributes are paid to the speaker, of course we need to import medicines from various places, john bercow, as he prepares to stand down. ijust want it to be done... i've been in parliament for 32 ijust want it to be done in an open years, and i've seen many speakers in the chair. and i must say, and transparent way. you've been the best. 00:01:58,482 --> 2147483051:37:43,956 but first: fancy a little warm—up 2147483051:37:43,956 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 for the arguments we're

the exchanges continued, covering cancer survival rates and gp numbers. borisjohnson said it was time to differentiate between the politics of protest, and the politics of leadership. whilstjeremy corbyn hammered home his point. despite his denials, the nhs is up for grabs by us corporations in a trump trade deal. isn't it the truth — and the government may not like it — isn't it the truth that the government is preparing to sell out our nhs? our health service is in more danger than in any other time in its glorious history because of his government, his attitudes, and the trade deals he wants to strike! mr speaker, i do indeed agree that there is a stark choice facing this country at this election, and it is between economic catastrophe under the labour party — under the labour party,

£196 billion programme taking away money from programmes and putting on a pointless re—nationalization programme, putting taxes on corporations, people, pensions, businesses — the highest level in the whole of europe, mr speaker! that is the economic catastrophe, but it is worse than that, because it's also awful an economic disaster. drift and dither under the labour party, or taking britain forward to a brighter future under the conservatives, that is the future this country faces! this prime minister's extreme brexit will take a wrecking ball to the economy and cost scotland and the united kingdom up to £70 billion a year. you know, mr speaker, we can talk about the impact of brexit, and they howl and complain because they know the reality that it will damage people's lives. is it the truth that the prime minister is willing to throw scotland under his big,

red bus to deliver his brexit, no matter what the cost? borisjohnson said the biggest damage to scotland's economy would be breaking up the uk. and they would throw all that away, mr speaker, with their crackpot plan for borders at barrick and creating a new scottish currency, mr speaker, orjoining the euro, or worse still, going into the european union and handing back control of scotland's fisheries, scotland's spectacular marine wealth, at the moment they've been won back by this country, handing back control of those fisheries to brussels. that is their policy, mr speaker, and i look forward to contesting it at the barricades. we are coming to the close of nine years of tory misrule and misinformation, and broken promises. leading us in this merry dance is the prime minister, a sort of misrule in this shambolic

christmas election. but mr speaker, my party has long been prepared for this election. in wales, we have a simple choice — we can back our country by voting plaid cymru, or let our country down once again by electing one of these deeply divided westminster parties, who offer nothing more than brexit chaos. will the prime minister be honest for once with wales? there's only one way out of this chaos, isn't there? and that is to remain in the european union. the most important point that she might bear in mind is that her constituents, the people of wales, voted to leave the european union. the lib dem leader challenged him over any televised election debates, arguing she should be included. people deserve to hear from a leader who wants to stop brexit and build a better future. so will the prime minister commit today to take part in those three—way debates, or is he going to run scared

of debating a girlish squad? what the people of this country want as their promises kept. i'm not disposed to believe in the promises of a liberal democrat when their leaflets in london say they want to revoke the result of the referendum. there are leaflets in the south—west of the country that don't mention brexit at all, mr speaker! that's the liberal democrats, that's the bunch of hypocrites, the whole lot of them! they stand for nothing but a policy of dither and delay. after pmqs, the mood in the chamber changed, as mps turned their attention to the first report into the grenfell tower fire. 72 people died as a result of the fire on iajune, 2017. the report concluded that the tower did not comply with building regulations, and criticised the handling of the blaze by the london fire brigade. in the commons, mps stood for a minute's silence to reflect

on the tragedy and on the people who lost their lives. an inquiry began in september 2017 and is chaired by sir martin moore—bick. the i,000—page report is the outcome of the first phase of the investigation. the prime minister called the fire a "national tragedy" and paid tribute to the survivors who had suffered an "unimaginable trauma". but he said the whole world was finally "hearing the truth". the fire that shocked the nation in the world thatjune morning took the lives of 72 men, women, and children. the oldest, known simply as sheila, was a poet, artist, and great—grandmother who had brought joy to many

and seen and experienced much in her 84 years. the youngest, logan gomes, had never even seen his own parents. he was stillborn hours after his mother made a narrow escape from the choking, noxious smoke. many who lived together died together. husbands and wives, parents and children were found in each other‘s arms. he said sir martin identified the single biggest cause of the tragedy. it was the cladding that turned a routine and containable kitchen fire into a disaster of unprecedented proportions, and cost 72 people their lives. david lammy lost a friend in the fire. it is still the case that there are men, women, and children up and down the country sleeping tonight in buildings with that cladding.

and so many years after the tragedy, does he not think in this sixth richest democracy in the world, that we could not have done more to get rid of people sleeping in furnaces across our country? the labour leader called it an avoidable tragedy. gre nfell tower would not have happened, mr speaker, to wealthy londoners. it happened to poor and mainly migrant londoners. the report criticised the handling of the blaze by firefighters, including use of the stay put policy for tower blocks. it was not firefighters that deregulated building safety standards. it wasn't firefighters who ignored the concerns of tenants. it wasn't firefighters who ignored the coroner's report and failed to put sprinklers in high—rise blocks. and it wasn't firefighters who put flammable cladding on grenfell tower.

theresa may, who was prime minister at the time, praised the grenfell community. i think one of the most shocking features that has come out from the consideration of what happened at grenfell tower is this issue of the way in which those people had been genuinely raising matters about safety and felt that those matters — and in some cases, they were — just completely ignored. also what contributed to this preventable tragedy, madame deputy speaker, was those who gutted the fire safety regime of the united kingdom, who ignored the warnings from previous fires, and who didn't hear the pleas of a community who were worried for their safety. emma dent coad, whose constituency includes grenfell, was disappointed by the report. one of the worst disappointments moments is naming the firefighters we've been talking about already who risked their lives in a bonfire created by corporate greed and politicians' interests over many years.

so to create some balance and point the finger of blame as i personally see it, i'm naming some of those at the top of the pyramid of responsibility. and she went on to name several very well—paid individuals. the next phase of the inquiry will examine in—depth where responsibility lies for the outbreak of the fire. you're watching wednesday in parliament, with me, alicia mccarthy. don't forget, you can find all our programmes via the bbc iplayer. a general election on the 12th of december moved a step nearer, as the house of lords approved a bill to hold an early poll. the leader of the lords told peers than an early election would give the public the opportunity to decide how to resolve the political stalemate, and to give a new government the time to act before the next brexit deadline. my lords, i share the frustration

of many around this house. we have sat and watched over the past few months whilst the house of commons has repeatedly been unable to achieve consensus on a way forward. however, a december election has now been supported by the leadership of all major parties in the other place. this presents a chance to resolve the impasse this country has endured for too long. the prime minister was present on the steps of the throne to see labour say they would not stand in the way of an early election. our doubts have only been about the timing rather than the event itself which we have been calling for and planning for for so long. and i was sorry that our amendment in the other place for an earlier date was rejected. my lords, i do wonder how tolerant a politics—weary electorate will be about interrupting their christmas preparations to consider party manifestos. a church of england bishop said it was debatable whether a december election would resolve the deadlock.

however, it is the way decided by the elected members of the other place. it is i am sure not our place to stand in the way of such a decision. we all recognise that there is an impasse. a way forward has to be found. i hope and pray that somehow an election will break this impasse. a labour peer wondered if the election would be free and fair. for a number of years, it's been clear that our election laws of not been able to keep pace with technological change. as a result of the cambridge analytica scandal, messages could be placed online with no information as to who pay for them, which candidate they support and why. it has become increasingly easy for campaigns to use micro—targetted messages to use prejudices of certain individuals that the wider electorate won't be aware of. two former mps dismissed fears that the winter weather might put off voters.

it is not the weather or the time of year that is important. it is whether people feel that their votes are going to be important, and valued, and matter. and the great performing liberal with the government of lord grey was indeed elected on the 10th of december 1832, so there is a good precedent. i was first elected for plaid cymru in the last midwinter election we had in february 197a. yes, it was dark. yes, it was wet. and yes it was very, very cold. but when the good people saw dozens of young people committed to a cause knocking three or even four times on their doors, they realised how much it meant to those young people and they swung to our cause. mps have been told that smart metres will one day enter a "star trek phase" where consumers could save money by running appliances when energy is cheapest.

smart metres measure energy use in the same way as a traditional metre, but also send the information directly to the supplier. the energy committee has been following progress of the roll—out of smart metres, but noted installation had fallen by nearly 7% compared to last year's figures. a conservative member of the committee began with a candid admission. i have not a clue but the damn thing does. i don't know why i have got it because ours goes green or red and the rest of the information i don't understand. that said, he did have questions about the fall in installations. how are you going to reverse this because this is government policy? i agree this is something we should do, this. how are we going to reverse it, why is dropping and if it is dropping do we need to re—educate people or a slightly better product? it has to be them motivated to do something else. some people are efficient in the way they use their energy and some people are very inefficient. the bigger challenge is about public perception. on one level it is how to adjust your consumption but the next one is when we move

into the star trek phase, the area of technology being our friend when you can get to the stage where the device you charge can identify when you can do your laundry, run your washing machine or whatever else. that's the next phase when the smart technology comes part of the smart grid. this is why the climate change committee are so impressed both with what we're trying to do with the metres and what they can achieve. it's at that stage you can address overconsumption and be much more efficient in the grid work—out and i think that is perhaps the most important part. but what about landlords who didn't want the inconvenience of getting a smart metre installed? there has to be some sort of stick. how do we have a stick in the carrot?

you are absolutely right. let me put it another way. i think right now the incentive for a landward is to be able to demonstrate that they are a green landlord. that in this particular climate will become much more important. that is one aspect. once we get to the 85% roll—out, then we do need to think about what is the stick to move? there will be elements of that, one which will be once you have 85% smart within that grid, the cost of maintaining the operation of the non—smart metres is significant. and that is the individuals who have to go and visit the call centres, handlers and so on. it will become more expensive to hold a non—smart metre. so you will see a disc benefit immediately insofar as it will cost you more to maintain the old—fashioned installation rather than the new one. lord duncan.

mps have approved a bill allowing civil servants in northern ireland to continue spending money in the absence of devolved government. the stormont assembly has not sat since january 2017, when power—sharing between the two biggest parties broke down. because there's no executive to make decisions, westminster has to legislate to provide authority for expenditure in northern ireland. legislating on northern ireland budgetary matters in westminster is not a set that my or my ministerial colleagues one step nor is someone i wish to take again. i am determined to restore the put go institution set out in the 1998 agreement and its successes at the earliest also opportunity. one of the questions with any budgetary process ought to be an account of value for money. but there is in fact almost no capacity to have any form of scrutiny of the efficiency of the spend that this budget creates. that is unacceptable. it's unacceptable, i got to say

to members from northern ireland, to the taxpayers of northern ireland just as much as it is to the taxpayers anywhere else in the united kingdom. the dup laid the blame for the failure to get the assembly up and running again squarely at the door of sinn fein. i will say to the minister and to the secretary of state that in the next parliament, we cannot continue with this situation where it's the absolute minimum to take decisions, to pass budgets, but we don't have proper scrutiny of government in northern ireland. it is not right and my colleagues have made that clear. and i give one example of this. take the education budget in northern ireland. i think there would be cross—party support for more funding going into special educational needs in northern ireland. and yet, we are frustrated in being able to influence those kinds of decisions because we don't have an assembly.

finally, let's go back to prime minister's questions. john bercow was presiding over his final session of pmqs before standing down as both speaker and an mp. borisjohnson led tributes to him, describing the famous tennis lover as a "player in his own right" in the chamber. and he said although they had at times disagreed... there is no doubt in my mind that you have been a great servant of this parliament and of this house of commons. you have modernised, you have widened access, you have cared for the needs of those with disabilities, and you cared so often for the rights of backbenchers that you've done more than anyone since stephen hawking to stretch time in this particular session. and as we come to the end of what must be the longest retirement since frank sinatra, mr speaker, i am sure the whole

house will want to join me in thanking you and hoping that you enjoy in your retirement the soothing predicament that you escape for the rest of us... you have served for ten years, given real power to backbenchers, vastly expanded the use of urgent questions which has been overwhelmingly popular with government ministers, and open up the number of emergency debates which is even more popular with even more government ministers. and in the great tradition of a great speaker, you stood up for parliament when it has to be stood up for and i think we thank you for that. as your former deputy speaker, can i say that nobody has set in the chair who has done more to defend and promote the rights of lgbti people in this country and throughout the world when so many people live in fear of being born the way they are, i salute you. thank you. plaid cymru's leader paid her tribute in welsh. speaking welsh.

i don't think we will see your like again but we will miss you and this house. there were also tributes from mps who were standing down. i've been in this parliament for 32 years and i have seen many speakers in the chair and i must say, you've been the best. and as we say in the north east, not quite as good as the wash, but you are a caddy laddie! mad take the occasion of your last prime minister's questions tojoin attributes in your own role in the chair during our decade, there have been unprecedented attempts to try to at times increase the power of the executive at the expense of this parliament, and you have been very formidable in maintaining the duty of government to be accountable to this house, i trust your successor will try to live up to your very considerable achievement. the speaker paid his own tribute to kenneth clarke, the longest

continuously—serving mp, known as the father of the house. as the father of the house leaves this place after 49 years without interruption, i for one want to salute him. the right honourable and learned gentleman is one of the most popular and respected politicians in ourcountry... applause. for his service to this place, for his service to his constituents, and for his service to our country, he deserves the warmest appreciation. for my part, i thank him for his support and friendship over decades. the right honourable and learned judgement as i think most sensible people will know whether they agree with him or not is a great man. mrjonathan reynolds. john bercow, paying tribute to veteran conservative ken clarke, who's one of more than 50 mps standing down in december‘s election.

and that's it from me for now. i'll be back at the same time tomorrow as this parliament draws to a close. but for now from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye. hello. south—western reaches of the uk have had fairly relentless rain in the last couple of days. cornwall, the channel islands and devon were grey and dank yesterday. fairly solid, grey cloud and outbreaks of rain on and off throughout the day. still wet weather around here at the moment but the low pressure responsible is going to be pulling away to the south of the uk

as the day pans out, so we'll see things becoming drier, not necessarily brighter, and then we await our next weather system, this time coming from the atlantic, that will bring rain to all areas for friday. today, though, we start off with some rain. the rain clearing from the south—west. quite a bit of hanging back, though, in southern england and wales and the midlands and the cloud thickening in the west later in the day as that next system approaches. another breezy day, particularly around western coasts. temperatures — well, we could get up to 11! in plymouth with a bit of brightness and some drier weather, and we're typically looking at around 9—10 as we cast our eye further north towards scotland. if you heading out in the evening for trick—or—treating, a fine story across central and eastern parts of the uk with the cloud thickening in the west to bring a patchy outbreak of rain at first and then some heavier rain by the time we get to midnight as that next area of low pressure starts to work its way in. it will also bring strengthening winds, and this low centre will stay with us for a while, particularly on friday it will pull the air in from the south—west

of the uk, from the atlantic. and so yes, the rain will come down. but, actually, the temperature on the whole will be going up. heavy downpours of rain at time and coming in showery bands. there will be some brightness in between the rain, and in that sunshine 16 or 17 degrees across eastern england. some more persistent rain, i think, for the south coast later in the day. just nine or ten to the north across scotland. now, that area of low pressure is key to the weekend. it will be staying with us. exactly how it develops is open to some questions still at the moment. but if we do get this deep squeeze to the south of the uk it could be a very windy day across southern england, and particularly along the south coast. never mind, really, though, where you are. a breezy and wet weekend basically in store.

welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: social networking giant twitter announces a global ban on all political advertising, beginning next month. the us military publishes the first images of the raid in which the leader of the islamic state group was killed. raging wildfires in california, but the ronald reagan presidential library is now

said to be out of danger. and unveiling the graveyard of the future. the underground resting place for the dead ofjerusalem.