hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm annita mcveigh live at westminster where mps prepare to vote on the prime minister's brexit plan — for the uk to leave the eu by the end of january. borisjohnson says it's time for the country to move on and discard the labels ‘leave‘ and ‘remain‘. now is the time to act together as one reinvigorated nation, one united kingdom. this is the scene live in the house of commons. a vote is expected in the next half hour. the other main news headlines... us diplomat‘s wife anne sacoolas is charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of 19—year—old harry dunn.

underwater motorways — heavy rain and floods put the brakes on the christmas getaway. buckingham palace confirms that the duke of edinburch is in hospital. coming up on afternoon live all the sport with connie. waiting for announcement from arsenal? we're waiting for confirmation that mikel arteta is the new arsenal manager. up until this week he was assistant coach to pep guardiola at manchester city — and in the last hour or so he's confirmed that arteta has left the club — and he's in london. chris has all the weather — parts of the country flooded? we will be looking at how much rain has fallen over the last couple of days, bringing flooding seems like these, but also crucially as the christmas holiday getaway gets under way, we will be looking at what the weather has in store over the next few days. thanks, chris. also coming up... three, two, one and lift off! a new

era in human space flight. could this capsule one day take paying passengers into space? hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. we have some breaking news. the duke of edinburgh has travelled from norfolk to the king edward vii hospital in london for observation and treatment in relation to a pre—existing condition, buckingham palace said. we do not know what the pre—existing condition is, but the statement has come from buckingham palace this afternoon. it is in norfolk at

sandringham that the royal family tend to spend christmas, of course, and there has been concern about his health for some time. there are a few issues which we know he has had to be treated for and in previous christmases i remember when he was in hospitalfor some of christmases i remember when he was in hospital for some of the festive season, and then recovered and managed to continue celebrating with the royal family. this managed to continue celebrating with the royalfamily. this is the managed to continue celebrating with the royal family. this is the latest information that we have been brought about him, that he is now —— has travelled now already to the king edward vii hospital in london for more observation. they will be more information from buckingham palace in due course. they try to keep people informed if they can. they say the admission as a precautionary measure on advice of

his royal highness‘s doctor so it doesn't sound like there is an emergency. prince philip is 98 now, of course, he is healthy is fragile, and they will not take any risks of course “— and they will not take any risks of course —— his health is fragile. so he has gone from norfolk to the king edward vii hospital in london for observation on a pre—existing condition, and we are told this is a cautionary measure at this point. we will have news later in the programme and we hope to hear from our royal correspondent with any further details. we can now join we can nowjoin an eater. —— anita.

good afternoon and welcome to bbc news live from westminster. mps vote this afternoon on the prime minister's plan for the uk to leave the european union at the end of january. borisjohnson urged the commons to back his withdrawal agreement bill, and said it was time to discard the old labels of ‘leave' and ‘remain‘. but his critics are angry that previous safeguards on the environment, workers‘ rights and child refugees have been watered down or removed from the bill. our political correspondent jonathan blake reports. suddenly, it seems so simple. time after time, this prime minister and the last have come to parliament to get mps to back their brexit deal. but this morning, borisjohnson arrived knowing this time he was certain to succeed. he told mps their backing for his deal would allow the country to move on. now is the time to act together as one reinvigorated nation, one united kingdom, filled with renewed confidence in our national destiny and determined at last to take

advantage of the opportunities that now lie before us. jeremy corbyn criticised the government's handling of brexit but acknowledged voters had sent all politicians a message. we recognise the clear message from the british public last week, however they voted in the referendum of 2016, and understand their determination to end the never—ending cycle of the brexit debate and get back to solving the day—to—day issues that challenge them in their daily lives. but he said labour will not back this bill, partly because of changes the government has made. the legislation now rules out any further extension to the transition period during which ministers hope to negotiate a trade deal. uk courts will now be able to reconsider rulings made by the european court ofjustice. gone is a protection for refugee children in europe with family in the uk, and a clause on strengthening workers' rights. those things, ministers say, will be dealt with in separate legislation but that is not

enough for labour. we warned before the general election the prime minister's brexit deal was a terrible deal for our country and we still believe it is a terrible deal today. and while the government argues the election result gave it a mandate, the scottish national party claims its plan is at odds with what many voters want. scotland could not have been clearer last week. we did not vote for brexit and returning the snp with a greater mandate shows scotland still totally and utterly rejects brexit. but borisjohnson knows he now has the numbers to do as he wants. the oven is on, so to speak! it is set at gas mark 4, we can have it done by lunchtime, or late lunch. today's vote is not the end of the brexit process — far from it. there are months of negotiations to come but the arguments that have raged here for so long about how,

when, if the uk would actually leave the eu were settled by the election result and, although opposition parties will try to hold the government to account, there is little they can do to change the course that has been set. jonathan blake, bbc news, westminster. let's speak to our chief political correspondent vicki young who's inside parliament. we are we a re pretty we are pretty close to the vote now, how would you assess the debate that has been going on there, from the government side, the new position of having a substantial majority, and especially with labour who have been punished at the polls over brexit but have to tread a delicate path. it will be interesting to see how many labour mps decide to back the bill at this stage and of course there were some last time round, there were some last time round, there were some last time round, there were concessions put in the bill by the government and so they did, some of them, come across to the idea, but of course in the end they voted against the timetable for it. we have heard from a couple of

labour mps who say they will back it and that they are voting against their party with a heavy heart but they feel it is the right thing to do, jeremy corbyn did talk about learning the lesson on wanting to understand the decision and move on, but he is going to tell mps to oppose it and he thinks it is a bad deal and he thinks it will lead to the erosion of employment rights, environmental rights and he talks about the possibility of a trade deal with donald trump and america which he says will be bad for the country and on the other side of that, of course, borisjohnson it with a majority of 80, talking about reconciliation and trying to unite people, saying those labels of leave and remain have gone now and this is the time to move on and bring people together but there will be some deep arguments about what kind of relationship the uk has with the eu and that is the phase we move onto. the timetable for this bill is very swift and it will be done through

the comments by the 9th of january and then it will go to the lords with the uk leaving the eu at the end of the month, and then we have trade discussions, and what will be interesting is how much mps have a say in this, their power to extend the transition period has been taken away, and also their power to give their approval of the kind of negotiations that borisjohnson is going to have, that has gone, as well, so how much he will come back to the house of commons and talk about what is going on with those trade talks is going to be quite interesting. the pace of this is quite remarkable, in contrast to other parliamentary events over the last year or so. do some of the issues that were left out of the withdrawal bill, will some of those become issues further down the line? yes, let's look back, january of this year, the beginning of the

year, the commons voted on that deal and it was a huge defeat, the largest ever defeat, by 230 votes, andi largest ever defeat, by 230 votes, and i can safely predict this time thatis and i can safely predict this time that is not going to be the case, so everything has changed in that sense, but it is difficult, when you are sitting on the opposition benches and you can make your case, but you know ultimately that there's not much you can do about it. the government says there is a separate bill in the queen speech about that, employment rights, and there is the contentious issue that the government has taken out the thing about child refugees being reunited with family here, borisjohnson saying we are going to stick to the spirit of that, but the bill is not the right place. he is going to face opposition on that, especially in the house of lords. everyone will be watching what he does about that. he's ina watching what he does about that. he's in a very different position to theresa may. for the moment, thanks for joining theresa may. for the moment, thanks forjoining us. with me now isjoe 0wen

from the institute for government. this is going to be a very different vote compared to others, which invariably had lots of amendments attached and there was a huge amount of parliamentary drama around those amendments and the difference they could make to the shape of the outcome, but today no amendments and a straight vote on the withdrawal bill. you will see how straightforward westminster ca n bill. you will see how straightforward westminster can be if you have a big majority, they will be a couple of votes, one on the second reading of the legislation, the approval in principle, this is the vote boris johnson passed in october narrowly with the support of labour mps, but the second vote is the one he lost which precipitated the general election which was the timetabling motion. today that is just as tight as it was in october when mps rejected it, but i think it is very safe to say it will go through co mforta bly, safe to say it will go through comfortably, so you can see the difference that the new parliamentary arithmetic and the

speaker, the selection of a moment, so this is what the world will look like in westminster after the election. what is it now that the government is attempting to get done, needs to get done? throughout this transition period. this is now going to be the passage of the withdrawal, it will be out of the eu by the 31st of january next year we have a number of big task, to prepare for the negotiations, what the uk government wants in the future relationship with the eu and the second will be to negotiate and there could be as little as nine months' time in the room and then that there will need to be ratified and implemented, practical changes which we have not seen yet. —— and then that will need to be ratified. we will now hear from the brexit secretary steve barclay. to come

together and hear our divisions and together and hear our divisions and to listen above all to the people we serve. the british public have given their instruction and this bill delivers brexit. i commend this bill to the house. the question is that the bill will now be read a second time. as many as are of that opinion say "aye". 0n the contrary "no". division! the house of commons are now going to cast their votes. joe 0wen is still here, from the institute for government. when i spoke to wes mistreating the labour mp, he said this is where words make contact

with brexit reality and the conservative slogan to get brexit done, what is it going to take to get it done? a lot of people don't think what boris johnson get it done? a lot of people don't think what borisjohnson is saying is going to do can be done in that short a timeframe. if by getting brexit done you mean passing the withdrawal agreement and extracting the uk from the eu institutions, that will happen at the end of january, but we will enter the transition period with all of the questions still have to be answered. what the future relationship between the uk and the eu will look like and what actually changes on the ground, what actually changes on the ground, what will trade with the eu look like and how will security cooperation work, so there are a lot more things to do in ii cooperation work, so there are a lot more things to do in 11 months and if you think the process, the withdrawal started about 3k months ago, by the time we would have left, just a fraction of the time available for the next phase, but much bigger and more questions to be answered. january the 31st is the

end of the beginning if you like and thenit end of the beginning if you like and then it is on to the next stage. in terms of what is different in the withdrawal bill compared to october, what are the key differences and how problematic are they or not? the big changes that have happened, some smaller technical ones on the way the deal gets implemented here and how thejoint the deal gets implemented here and how the joint committee works, but one of the big changes is the role of parliament in the next phase of talks, the last piece of legislation gave them a vote on objectives and gave them a vote on objectives and gave them a vote on objectives and gave them a vote at the end on whatever deal is brought back and be prime minister was obliged to update parliament on the progress of negotiations but that has been stripped out. in some respects it looks more like a prime minister who was worried about having a small majority and was worried about defeats in parliament, but the

reality of having big numbers is that you probably would not have been fazed by a vote on his objectives and on the deal if he can carry his party with him, and it is one of the things the eu uses to try to box themselves in, they set tight mandates that have a very bureaucratic process and they will say in talks, i'm sorry, but my mandate only allows me to do this or that so i can't give you what you want, and in some respects boris johnson has missed an opportunity to use parliament as a positive tool for him rather than something which isa for him rather than something which is a fear of messing up the process. the whole idea of the sovereignty of parliament was a big topic for debate over the last year. for the moment, thank you. we can now talk to vicki young. what is happening right now? it has gone to a vote, the first vote of the new parliament, and we will get the

result, it takes 15 minutes or so for everyone to troupe the roof, —— to troupe through. for the first time ina to troupe through. for the first time in a very long time, it is possible to predict the outcome of this, and everything has changed since the general election, the majority of 84 the prime minister, it means that this will sail through. —— 80 for. it will then go on to its later stages injanuary when the house of commons comes back and that is when they look at the detail of the bill, they will be several hours of discussion about that, and then it goes to the house of lords, but this is still a big moment, even though we note with —— we know what the result is going to be, borisjohnson we know what the result is going to be, boris johnson can we know what the result is going to be, borisjohnson can stand there and enjoy the fact that he now has a majority and he can do what he wants and can get his legislation through, even though there will be arguments and all eyes will be on the labour benches and how many labour mps have decided they will go againstjeremy

corbyn's wishes and vote for this, we have heard a couple of them representing constituencies in the north who voted leave, many of them and others saying they will back this because they accept the result even though they don't accept everything that is in this bill. they will back it nevertheless, this one of them is so, show to their constituents that they have accepted the result of the referendum. we will have much more from westminster throughout the afternoon and of course we will bring you the results of that vote but now back to the studio. we were reporting that the duke of edinburgh has travelled from norfolk to hospital in london as a precautionary measure for observation and treatment, we are told, by buckingham palace. 0n the line is royal

commentator, pennyjunor. what are you hearing about the decision to travel to london to the hospital? it was on the advice of his doctor, but this is not an emergency, as far as i understand. it seems to be that he has a pre—existing condition that must be giving his doctor at sandringham some cause for concern and i also believe that he wasn't taken by ambulance and it was a prearranged admission to hospital. therefore we don't need to panicjust yet. we are hearing he walked into the hospital and no ambulance was needed either. we understand he could be in for a couple of days as a precautionary measure but he is 98 and he has had health problems in the past. that is

absolutely true, he is 98, and he is looking very frail, i would say, but do not forget it is not many months ago that we saw photographs of him during carriage riding, driving his carriage. he is an extraordinarily tough man but obviously he's not going to for ever. he did an interview a few years ago with fiona bruce and he was very much of the opinion, you just get on with things, and you put your tin hat on and crack on with it, and that is the attitude he has always had. we have not seen him as much in the last couple of years in public life, obviously. no, we haven't, and he had the accident last january at sandringham. he is spending most of his time now, in this lovely part of

the country, and he has done his bit for the country, he has worked all those years, tirelessly, and i think he deserves his rest in the norfolk countryside. yes, we understand he very much enjoys spending time on one of the farmers on that estate. he has spent so long by the side of the queen it is difficult to get used to the idea of him not always being there. it is. people might have criticised him for being foot in mouth all the time but he was a terrific character. it is a great loss, and thank goodness he is still with us, but he is not on public display as much any more. and he was very good value. you may have got people was my hackles up from time to time but he did add a bit of spice to life. penny, thanks for joining us.

with me now is our correspondent angus crawford. it is worth pointing out first of all that this is treatment for a pre—existing condition, it was purely a precautionary measure which was taken on the advice of his doctor, and the duke of edinburgh came to london from sandringham by car, he was not transferred by ambulance. these are the pictures of this particular hospital. very well known, very much the hospital that is used by the royal family and has an excellent reputation. he has been in there several times before for other minor complaints and clearly he also had a hip replacement some yea rs he also had a hip replacement some years ago which we know about, but what is also important to remember is that we are being told that he will be kept in for a couple of days, for observation and treatment, and it concerns a pre—existing

medical condition, so it is important to note that he has not been rushed to hospital and he has been rushed to hospital and he has been taken there by car. it is expected to be in for several days and he has been enjoying relaxing and he has been enjoying relaxing and taking it easier at sandringham, and taking it easier at sandringham, and when he retired from public life he said he reckons he has done his bit, as he said, so he is clearly his time at sandringham, but he is 98. however, this is a pre—existing condition and we are told this is a precautionary measure. he will be pulled —— perplexed as to why we are talking about it, no doubt. indeed. we can go back to westminster now. this is the house of commons, the green benches are filling up again, the mps filed out a few moments ago

to begin voting on the withdrawal bill in the process takes about 15 minutes and of course we will bring you that result as soon as it is announced. with parliamentary arithmetic being so different now, it looks like pretty much a foregone conclusion that borisjohnson will get the votes he wants on this. can we go back to our correspondent vicki young? however, we do have joe 0wen. i will talk tojoe injust vicki young? however, we do have joe 0wen. i will talk tojoe in just a second. there is the vote now and then the bill has other hurdles to clear before it becomes law, isn't that right? this is the second reading, this is mps voting on the principle of the bill, so that is what the second reading is, and then

when parliament comes back after christmas they move on to the other stages and it has to go through a detailed look at what is in there and there can be amendments and changes put down, and some might be accepted changes put down, and some might be a cce pted by changes put down, and some might be accepted by the government but they are not likely to put any any —— any in against their will. the house of lords is very much an anti brexit chamber but we have just had a general election and there has been a resounding victory for the government and the idea of the house of lords would go against the wishes of lords would go against the wishes of the elected chamber that soon after a general election, thatjust won't happen. it is whether there are any changes in the detail, it is are any changes in the detail, it is a revising chamber which might say this needs to be changed and then it will come back to the commons, but the plan is, a swift timetable, and with the deadline of the 31st of january, there is no way the prime minister, having previously said about dying in a ditch rather than

breaking, which he had to do at the end of october, there is no way he's going to ask for another delay in this process, and then from february those trade negotiations will start. what is striking is how little is known about what the government is going to be aiming for and if you look at the conservative party ma nifesto look at the conservative party manifesto there was not much detail in there, so that is the big unknown, some saying borisjohnson can ignore the erg because he has such a large majority, and some say he can go for much closer alignment, and he has talked a lot about wanting to reap the benefits of brexit and he says he sees that as a way of getting away from the rules and regulations of the eu, and a lot of people are still not entirely sure what kind of future relationship there is going to be between the uk and the eu, once those talks are done, and the government is hoping to get that done by the end of the transition

period. it has been running for a while already but the delays mean there is just 11 months while already but the delays mean there isjust 11 months to while already but the delays mean there is just 11 months to get that done. worth again looking at this vote at how labour mps are going to vote at how labour mps are going to vote today as the party tries to navigate itself on the defeats in this election. —— from. navigate itself on the defeats in this election. -- from. it has been a torrid time from the labour party, —— for the labour party, the issue of brexit, which ripped apart the conservative party, although they have got themselves back together, but that is not the case for labour yet. they always have the problem of a lot of labour mps representing areas which voted to leave, and then you have people in the shadow cabinet and the labour members, who voted and felt strongly about remain, they tried to straddle the two and that was partly the reason

for their election defeat. mps like caroline flint who represented don valley, she backed the brexit bill last time out, but she lost her seat in the end. they were warning for a long time this would be a problem for the labour party but today jeremy corbyn has told his mps that they are voting against the bill because they don't like what is in it or what has been taken out of it, reassu ra nces it or what has been taken out of it, reassurances about employment rights, and he fears there will be a race to the bottom and that environmental rights will disappear as well. the government says that is not the case but they just as well. the government says that is not the case but theyjust don't wa nt to not the case but theyjust don't want to have it all within this bill. we will see how many labour mps decide to go againstjeremy corbyn's wishes, and vote for this legislation, and some of them have said they are willing to vote for it because they believe in brexit on principle and then they will look at the detail when it gets to the next stages in january, when the detail when it gets to the next stages injanuary, when they were trying to push through changes, but it will be difficult given the parliamentary arithmetic. it is hard to see amongst all those people but

the prime minister has just signed a copy of the withdrawal agreement bill for a conservative mp. we are close to the announcement potentially of the result of this vote. iam i am told they are just investigating a slight delay in the lobby where mps have been voting just while things become a little clearer. vicky, just while we wait for this to be cleared up and hear that result, it was interesting listening to steve barclay the brexit secretary as he summed up for the governments, listing as he saw the governments, listing as he saw the attributes of the bill and one thing he mentioned was that it brought certainty to eu nationals living in the uk and british expats on the continent but that is definitely a point of contention as to whether the bill does that. definitely a point of contention as to whether the bill does thatm is. that is one of the many issues people will be looking at closely,

not least the millions of eu citizens in this country and of course expats in other countries. up until now it is thought they would have been arrangements with certain countries in the eu, that is when we thought we would leave without a deal about the government is insistent that they do want to make sure that eu citizens who have made this their home will be welcome to stay. we will have to see if there are any changes to that in later stages. the other thing that has been interesting in this debate todayis been interesting in this debate today is about the issue around northern ireland. lots of people there. the dup, of course, who had such a strong voice in the last parliament, propping up the conservative government were very much pro brexit but then had a spectacular falling out with the government because of the changes that boris johnson made. government because of the changes that borisjohnson made. they are very worried about this idea of a border in the irish sea and northern ireland being treated differently to the rest of britain. borisjohnson

got into a lot of trouble in the election talking about the fact there would be no checks between jean —— between gb and northern ireland but many people pointing out thatis ireland but many people pointing out that is not the case. there are a lot of people, conservative mps included, who are worried about the union and are worried that they are putting through a bill that many in northern ireland and northern ireland businesses and remain parties in northern ireland are all very unhappy about. there is some fear about what that might do to the union and of course things have changed on that front here too. the dup lost some seats in the election. and for the first time in a while that remain voice from northern ireland has returned to parliament and has a different dimension to the debate. as you are speaking we were showing viewers a photo from the

twitter account of tracey crouch, the conservative mp for chatham and aylesford, perhaps we just bring that up briefly again. you can see the queues of mps lining up to vote and she said, "i reckon we could win this one." i think having been a slight delay we are now going to hear the result of the vote. let's listen in. the eyes to the -- the ayes to the right 358, the noes to the left 234. the ayes to the right 358, the noes to the left 234. so the ayes has it. the ayes has it.

the question on the order paper, to that opinion say ayes. soa so a majority of i24 so a majority of 124 there for the government inactivate. i heard a voice say, i couldn't detective it was. someone said "back of the net" so clearly a very different world we re so clearly a very different world were in with the government is having a majority of this site, a majority of 80 but as vicky was saying it would be very interesting to see how many labour mps also voted with the government. clearly some of them feel very torn because they constituencies may be remain cleaning but will they be listening to their constituents on this or will they be thinking about the

overall picture and overall results where labour seems to have been punished for its brexit strategy. vicki is still there. what do you make of that results? i'm just reflecting on the whole year. think back to january where the commons voted on the withdrawal agreement bill. a historic defeat of 230 and that now gets turned round to a majority of the hundred and 34. the landscape has completely changed. it will be interesting to see the vote and see if there are members of the shadow cabinet who may be answered here today. some are really feel that brexit is the right thing to do and that the party should have embraced it more fully. it will be interesting to see how many of them have abstained or are not here, along with the labour mps may well have gone against a jeremy corbyn's wishes. in the context of a labour leadership contest, the people they

are trying to appeal to, are of course very much are trying to appeal to, are of course very much remain cleaning and very much anti—brexit and yet here they are after a drubbing at the general election partly due to the brexit issue. for borisjohnson, you can guarantee he will be going off for a christmas break feeling extremely pleased that the political landscape has changed in his favour. 0k, vicki, i'm just landscape has changed in his favour. 0k, vicki, i'mjust going landscape has changed in his favour. 0k, vicki, i'm just going to get the thoughts of joe 0k, vicki, i'm just going to get the thoughts ofjoe 0wen who is with me here. your assistance of what we have just seen happening? here. your assistance of what we havejust seen happening? very different set of circumstances to what we have had for the last two yea rs what we have had for the last two years in westminster. yeah, very different. i think theresa may would have killed for those numbers this time last year. we really have had a year, just over a year ago that theresa may aborted her first vote on the deal. so it has been a year of focus, trying to get a deal that

parliament would sign up to. in the end the prime minister had to change the parliament in order to do that. looking at the numbers, there are clearly some abstentions. we don't know if that is some labour mps who prefer to abstain rather than vote with the government. i think the conservatives have got 365 mps put the total number of ayes was 358 so are there some abstentions? perhaps mps going back for christmas after a busy campaign or on other duties. it will be interesting to see the breakdown. the other interesting to thing to see in the breakdown is scotland and northern ireland. you'll see rejection of this deal in parts of the uk and that will be a big challenge for next year, alongside negotiating and getting a deal with the eu, what it means for the union, what the northern ireland protocol, the backstop was replaced,

the bit of the deal that avoids the border on the island of ireland and then of course scotland's push for independence so we will see some interesting things in the numbers. moving away from that idea of the red wall to the celtic wall if you ta ke red wall to the celtic wall if you take into account the views of the snp and scotland. and indeed mps in northern ireland as well. the dup are supportive of brexit but not the brexit deal as it stands. that is right. we are yet to see had brexit deal that the dup will support despite them supporting brexit in principle. we know that northern ireland will be the part of the uk most affected by this deal. this deal covers citizen's rights and cove rs money deal covers citizen's rights and covers money but all of the big questions for the rest of the uk on trade and future relationship is up for grabs. this bill sets out what those arrangements would be for northern ireland and the big changes there which don't forget would need

to come into force a little over a year's time and there are some big changes in there. just a practical task of putting that in place will be very big. take us through what is happening now, the second votes. this is the programme motion. this sets out how long the next stages of the legislation will have. we talked about committee stage which is where mps do detailed scrutiny and put forward the detailed amendments. that isjust going to be a couple of days will stop it will all be wrapped up in the first week. that is what mps reacted so logically to an october when they were told about these tight timelines. to give you context, the legislation about the maastricht treaty, that about a year to get through the house of commons, past eu treaty changes when all set out and done has taken six months or so so out and done has taken six months or so so this is really quick and comparison of other big pages of legislation. it will be rust through

ina very legislation. it will be rust through in a very short amount of time and it will be very important that mps do do that detailed scrutiny. it is notjust do do that detailed scrutiny. it is not just about whether mps agree with brexit happening or not but how do they deal with the parliamentary oversight. so many questions hang oversight. so many questions hang over all of that is to the amount of scrutiny that can be done in that timeframe. thank you for the moments, joe owen. we'll keep a very close eye on what is happening at westminster for you. close eye on what is happening at westminsterfor you. right close eye on what is happening at westminster for you. right now let's catch up with the rest of the day's main news and head back to the newsroom. more now on the duke of edinburgh being admitted to hospital. no need to panic, being told. that is right. there is no alarm amongst royal officials and the queen this morning

travelled from london to norfolk as planned to begin her christmas break was the duke was being brought by road but not by ambulance in a royal vehicle of some sorts from norfolk to london. i think that says it all really. the fact that the queen is carrying on with her christmas routine. we have been told the duke has been admitted for observation and treatment of a pre—existing condition. we don't know what that condition. we don't know what that condition is but we are told that the admission is precautionary on advice from his doctor but of course the background told of this is that he is 98 years old. they have been a number of reports in recent weeks that he has not been in the best of health but i am told he walked into the hospital when he got there. that is the scene at the king edward vii hospital right now. his expected to remain there for several days, i am told. i would have thought they will bea told. i would have thought they will be a great wish to enable him to

return to sandringham in time for christmas but that will depend on the doctors. there is no cause for panic or alarm so far as i can tell. just to warn you whilst you are watching that the pictures we are about a show of the duke may show some flash photography. as you say he is 98 and in the last couple of yea rs we have he is 98 and in the last couple of years we have seen he is 98 and in the last couple of years we have seen far less of him in public. after his retirement a couple of years ago when we last saw him. we see him occasionally for family weddings, there was a kent family weddings, there was a kent family weddings, there was a kent family wedding earlier this year and of course we saw him at the wedding of course we saw him at the wedding of harry and meghan more than a year ago. he has retired and drawn back because at that age it was sensible for him to do so. physically it was no longer feasible for him to do so. physically it was no longerfeasible for for him to do so. physically it was no longer feasible for him to carry out royal engagements at the rate at

which she had been doing. clearly at 98 he needs more time to rest and i think that was very much the wish of his family. he was in hospital last in april of last yearfor a his family. he was in hospital last in april of last year for a hip replacement. in january of in april of last year for a hip replacement. injanuary of this year he had the road accident in sandringham which did not require any hospitalisation but clearly he was very any hospitalisation but clearly he was very shaken and the bits cut and bruised as a result. he has been seen bruised as a result. he has been seen out and about around sandringham a little bit and at windsor. that is where he spends most of his time now. the queen, as i say, carrying on with her routine, travelling to sandringham this morning and i think the fact that in recent weeks while they have been rumours that his health has not been of the best that the family have carried on as normal. william went off to the middle east, to the gulf, the prince of wales was in new zealand. so i think that in itself

has indicated that there is no particular sharp concern within the family although clearly at the age of 98 there will always be a worry about his health. we saw him by the queen side. many decades. it is unusualfor him queen side. many decades. it is unusual for him not to queen side. many decades. it is unusualfor him not to be queen side. many decades. it is unusual for him not to be so present. it was very much announced and organised that he was handing over the reins of a lot of his duties to the younger members of the royal family. yes, duties to the younger members of the royalfamily. yes, inevitably duties to the younger members of the royal family. yes, inevitably so. the younger members of the family we re the younger members of the family were particularly pleased that in his late 90s as he is now that he had finally accepted that it was time to hand over. he said at the age of 90 he was planning to step back but for several years he didn't do so and continued on as we can see here at the order of merit lunch he was at earlier this year. that was one of the last occasions he was

seen. one of the last occasions he was seen. but still very much there, advising the queen in private. a source of support to her as he has been throughout the seven decades of their marriage now. that very much less visible in public. nick, thank you very much. let's show the scene in the commons this afternoon where the mps voted in favour of the withdrawal of agreements by a considerable margin. let's join annita mcveigh in westminster. thank you, martin. the majority of i24 annita mcveigh in westminster. thank you, martin. the majority of 124 to be precise. someone was heard to utter "back of the net" as the ayes and the noes were read out. with me here in our little temporary studio in westminster which we are very glad of because it is raining

outside isjoe glad of because it is raining outside is joe owen glad of because it is raining outside isjoe owen from the institute of government and we are just waiting now on the result of a second vote which effectively sets a pretty tight and vast timetable for the scrutiny of this bill. a lot of people will say it is just not enough time. it is very tight. a lot of people said it wasn't enough time when the same timetable was put to parliament in october and mps voted against it. if you remember there was a successful vote on the second reading in october. mps rejected the timetable then and it is very similarto timetable then and it is very similar to this. the one you cannot timetable is the house of lords and we don't know the extent to which we will see a bit of a dustup between the government and the house of lords over this piece of legislation. there are things around henry viii powers and changes.

legislation. there are things around henry viii powers and changeslj will henry viii powers and changes.” will just interrupt you henry viii powers and changes.” willjust interrupt you there because i was going to mention that's now borisjohnson has its majority of 80, in this withdrawal bill we have these powers which we call henry viii powers which gives us call henry viii powers which gives usa call henry viii powers which gives us a clue to the nature of those powers. they allow government to ta ke powers. they allow government to take a much more strident position, don't they, without the level of scrutiny perhaps at a government might otherwise have? that is right. the big area where they take big broad powers is around the northern ireland protocol. if you look at the deal there is a lot of detail in there. the thing the uk agreed about what will happen at the northern islands. if you look at the legislation implementing that deal it isjust a big broad power which gives ministers the ability to implement the northern ireland protocol. we don't really know much about how. of course there has been about how. of course there has been a lot of debate about exactly what

that northern ireland protocol will mean in practice in the irish sea with the prime minister saying there won't being checks but it will be very difficult to see how we can implement that and then there not to be checks. it is a bit of a blank check for implementing that part of the deal. it is very difficult to have done any other way. this was the kind of draft that theresa may would have done. it is the draft that we saw in october and it reflects the complexity of what they are trying to do. just as we talk it is worth taking a breath and reflecting on how different this is to the state of politics we have beenin to the state of politics we have been in for the best part of three yea rs. been in for the best part of three years. they will have to be a rapid readjustment, more so for the people in the remain side of the argument and the government. things are operating at a completely different place now to what we have been used to for quite a long time. you can be

very confident that this legislation will pass quite quickly byjanuary. after that point it will be really interesting to see what those opposed to brexit who have been arguing for another referendum or revoking article 50. what that is off the table —— once that is of the table what does opposition in parliament look like? it has all been about trying to win procedural votes in parliament, standing orders and arcane parliamentary procedure. without the numbers in parliament they will have to pivot and do what is more traditional for opposition when you don't have the numbers that they have had over the last year which is trying to get things onto the front pages of newspapers. holding to account. rather than arguments about process. we have the second result on the programme motion. let's listen. right were 353. the noes to the left we re 243.

the ayes to the right were 353. the noes to the left were 243. the ayes have it, the ayes have it. unlock. a slightly different result there. the ayes 353 and the noes 243. we're just there. the ayes 353 and the noes 243. we'rejust going there. the ayes 353 and the noes 243. we're just going to there. the ayes 353 and the noes 243. we'rejust going to pull there. the ayes 353 and the noes 243. we're just going to pull away to the ministry ofjustice the family of harry dunn are making a statement. their decency, their compassion, their courage, their tenacity has been absolutely remarkable. it has been truly humbling and inspiring to me and i think we can all take a leaf out of their book. in their darkest hour they have stood up to this and

followed through on their promise to get justice followed through on their promise to getjustice for their followed through on their promise to get justice for their son. followed through on their promise to getjustice fortheirson. it followed through on their promise to getjustice for their son. it has been an honour to spend this time. let me hand over to mark who will say a few words. thank you. i also wa nt say a few words. thank you. i also want to pay tribute to the family and also report to you that max has made a decision for the prosecution of anne sacoolas on the grounds by death by dangerous driving. her extradition is being sought by the crown prosecution service here behind us and we thank them for the time and careful consideration that they have given to the case. the case is now live and as a consequence we will not be talking about the merits of that case. we believe that the judicial system should take its course and that mrs

sacoolas should have the opportunity of every defendant and that is to a fair trial here of every defendant and that is to a fairtrial here in of every defendant and that is to a fair trial here in the united kingdom. the try will be in a crown court before a judge and jury. the process has been that the family have been told first by the director max hill that this charge would take place. whilst we were in that meeting once the family had been told, mrs sacoolas was told through her lawyer that not only was she being charged the but also extradition was being sought and then the same message was communicated to the foreign secretary dominic raab and the home secretary. that seems to us that the cps has given this family proper and due respect and it is also

appropriate for the memory of harry. thank you. i think charlotte just wa nts to thank you. i think charlotte just wants to sate a few words as well.” just want to say a massive thank you to the public and the media. we feel that we have taken a huge step in the start to achieving the promise to harry that we made. that in itself, for us as parents to make that promise to him, that we would seekjustice, thinking that promise to him, that we would seek justice, thinking it that promise to him, that we would seekjustice, thinking it would be really easy, knowing the circumstances that we did, we had no idea it would be this hard and take this long but we didn't really do feel it is a —— we really do feel it isa feel it is a —— we really do feel it is a huge step in that promise to harry. it is a huge achievement for

us to have and as parents we can't be any more satisfied. i'm going to go and buy a christmas tree and decorate it in green lights that so many of our supporters have done. i never thought i would buy a christmas tree this year. thank you. inaudible. i don't think i need to comment on that. it is not appropriate to talk to the family about that. it is appropriate for mr sacoolas to have appropriate for mr sacoolas to have a fair trial appropriate for mr sacoolas to have a fairtrialand appropriate for mr sacoolas to have a fair trial and for appropriate for mr sacoolas to have a fairtrialand fora appropriate for mr sacoolas to have a fair trial and for a judge in light of the circumstances to pass an appropriate sentence whether custodial or not. inaudible. no, all we know is that we are going

to go through with an extradition request. that was the mother of harry dunn speaking there outside the ministry ofjustice. we heard that anne sacoolas, the american woman who left the uk after the road crash in which harry dunn died in northamptonshire in august will now be charged, has now been charged with causing death by dangerous driving. the cps is also seeking her extradition from the united states. the crown prosecution service has said that immunity from prosecution did not apply to the dependence of consular officials outside london. this collision between harry dunn's motorbike and a car owned by mrs sacoolas happened outside an raf base in northamptonshire. mrs

sacoolas' husband jonathan is an intelligence officer. mark stevens saying there they are seeking a fair trial in a crown court before a judge and a jury in this country. time for a look at the weather forecast with chris. flooding is causing problems and if we look at the rain that is falling we look at the rain that is falling we have seen waves of heavy rain spreading right the way across the united kingdom. it has already been a wet month and now means a large pa rt a wet month and now means a large part of south—east england has had well over a month of rain so far in december. a wetter month than normal. the rivers have been bursting their banks. in terms of the last 48 was. we have had 60 millimetres of rainfall in places. 67 in wales. the majority of these

are in east anglia and the midlands. there are seven warnings in scotland and there is one for wales as well. we still have some rain this afternoon stretching across north—east england and the east midlands. scattered showers further south and things turning cooler across western fringes of the uk stop temperatures are a little lower than they have been over recent days but it is quite mild for east anglia and south—east england the temperature is around 11 or 12 celsius. it is only really as we go through this evening that the rain pulls away into the north sea but what follows is showers and overnight their showers become quite extensive overnight their showers become quite exte ns ive a cross overnight their showers become quite extensive across wales and southern counties of england. there will be a few further north—west as well. quite a range of temperatures. for many of us three to six celsius. tomorrow another area of low pressure threatening more rain particularly across southern england, the midlands, east anglia and southern wales. we start off the

day with showers that push northwards across northern england and northern ireland in reaching scotland's. just a few bright sunny spells. later on in the afternoon the rain gathers across southern england and that will spread right the way across southern england to the way across southern england to the south midlands and east anglia. it slowly pulls away through sunday. we could see up to 20 to 30 millimetres of rain in places in that weather system. again, that could cause further flooding that weather system. again, that could cause furtherflooding issues otherwise sunday a bit brighter but plenty of showers around once again as well. a quick look at christmas week, we start off on a showery theme but it does turn dry for a time around christmas with some fog and frost before the wet weather returns once again. in the short term we still have problems with flooding and with a big travel day todayit flooding and with a big travel day today it is worth checking before you travel because there are disruptions to road and rail networks particularly in the

south—east.

hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm annita mcveigh live at westminster where mps have resoundingly backed the prime minister's brexit plan — for the uk to leave the eu by the end of january. the ayes to the right 358, the noes to the left, 300 234. -- the ayes to the right 358, the noes to the left, 300 234. —— the noes to the left 234. it was a decisive victory for the government with a majority of i24. the bill now goes on to further scrutiny in the house of commons and house of lords. we'll bring you the reaction from westminster. the other main news headlines... buckingham palace has confirmed that the duke of edinburgh is in hospital in london for observation on a

pre—existing condition. earlier, the queen travelled to norfolk for her christmas break as planned. it's reported that the duke walked into this hospital in central london and did not require an ambulance. us diplomat‘s wife anne sacoolas is charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of 19—year—old harry dunn. underwater motorways — heavy rain and floods put the brakes on the christmas getaway in parts of southern england. coming up on afternoon live — all the sport. it is all about arsenal this afternoon? they have finally announced their former captain arteta is their new manager, having signed a three and a half year deal. chris has the weather forecast and parts of england are hoping there is no more rain on the way. yes, but sadly there is more rain on the way, that will be working its way into

southern england and across the midlands and east anglia and also parts of south—east england as we go through the latter part of saturday so we might have further scenes like this for the christmas getaway. also coming up... three, two, one and lift off! a new era in human space flight. could this capsule one day take paying passengers into space? hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news, live from westminster where mps have backed the prime minister's plan for the uk to leave the eu

on the 31st of january by a huge margin. the government won the vote by 358 votes to 234. the bill will now face further scrutiny in the house of commons and the house of lords. let's take a listen to the moment the result was announced. the ayes to the right, 358, the noes to the left, 234. the ayes to the right, 358, the noes to the left, 234. i think the ayes have it, the ayes have it. unlock. with me now is the conservative

mp mark francois, who is the deputy chairman of the european research group. this is the first part of getting brexit done but it is the end of the beginning and a new phase begins now? it is tremendous. looking at that vote and i double checked the figures with diane abbott, the government majority was 124, so even bigger than its actual notional majority of 80 in the house of commons. who else voted with you? we need to go through the division lists and perhaps some labour mps who have got the message after what happened at the election and i would be surprised if there were many liberals and i think the dup would have voted with us i suspect, so we will need to go through the details but the bottom line is the house of commons has voted emphatically for the brexit bill to take us out of the brexit bill to take us out of the european union and we have obeyed the instruction that was given to us by the british people in

the general election. this has to go through a few further stages in the commons and the lords before getting to that date of the 31st of january, but the majority of this time round in this general election has allowed the government to make some changes to the bill including the amount of time that is spent on scrutinising it, is it right and proper that there is a full scrutiny of what happens next? yes, and i think provisionally when we come back, there will be a week or so of debate in the house of commons to scrutinise the bill and then a week, possibly two in the house of lords and there may be some amendments that go backwards and forwards, what we call ping—pong, but they should be ample time to get that done before the 31st of january. it is not a huge amount of time, if you look back at the last four years and they be a lot of people saying the ground in that time was gone over so many times —— the last three years.

but we are talking about new ground now because there are changes in the bill compared to october? we have spent three years since the referendum debating this, three and a half years, no one can say that in the past three and a half years the house of commons has not debated brexit, and there are... there are changes to environment and workers' rights and child refugees. he has a commons has voted for the second reading of the bill which is when you approve it in principle and when we come back in the new year we go into the committee stage when you go through this in detail line by line. there are changes, we are changing the law so that the transition period, the free trade negotiations cannot go on are beyond the end of the year and there will be a week of debate in order to go through those particular changes in real detail, so there is no question of not having enough time because we have spent three and a half years arguing about basically nothing else. some

people still feel they don't have, well, they have a concern that this is being rushed through. there are still some members of parliament in the house of commons who will never accept that the british people have voted to leave, they will never accepted ever. this is not about people accepting it, it is making sure that the bill is the best bill it can be. ultimately, yes it is, and they simply cannot reconcile themselves to the fact they lost the argument, and there will be at least argument, and there will be at least a week of detailed debates in the house of commons to debate any aspect of the bill that any members wa nt to aspect of the bill that any members want to raise, and because the deal to leave is a treaty, we have to ratify it by an act of parliament and because it is a constitutional measure it is taken on the floor of the commons are not upstairs in the committee room, so any mp can table an amendment and any mp can speak if

the chair calls them. i want to ask you about the length of the transition period, and clearly there's a lot we don't know yet about what is going to go on in the transition period and the detail of it, and clearly as the bill stands at cuts of the transition period at the end of december 2020, if an extension was required and if you we re extension was required and if you were close to getting everything sorted that you wanted to get sorted out and if an extension was required, would you be supportive of that? the wrote erg would not be supportive of that because one the prime minister achieved that he did not just change prime minister achieved that he did notjust change the withdrawal agreement, he also changed with the assent of the eu what is called the political declaration, so forgive the jargon, but the political declaration is the tramlines within which those free—trade discussions must take place and both sides changed it so instead of agreeing at the end we wanted a check and style

high alignment there, both sides have already agreed that we want to have already agreed that we want to have already agreed that we want to have a competency free—trade agreement so that saves massive time because you have both agreed what you want the outcome to be, and it's more than enough time to negotiate the details. if you don't hit any bumps on the tramlines? it is a negotiation so there will be some things which are crunchy and the people will argue over, that is the nature of a negotiation. potentially trickier than the last three years? if you go into any negotiation, but before you start you have both agreed on the final outcome of that you want, then clearly that makes the negotiation simpler and the prime minister played a blinder in that respect. mark francois from the root, thanks for joining that respect. mark francois from the root, thanks forjoining us. —— from the erg, thanks forjoining us. let's speak to our chief political correspondent vicki young who's inside parliament. we understand that six labour mps

voted for the withdrawal agreement bill and presumably they are representing constituencies who voted to leave. this is the future, you are facing the reality that you lost badly on the government has a hefty majority and they can do what they want? —— and the government has a hefty majority. yes, they have a mandate to bring about brexit but they don't have a mandate to bring about a bad brexit and they have a duty to work in the interest of the whole of the uk and we know that the bill as is is worst in the bill that the prime minister put before the house of commons and won before the election and it has taken out a numberof things, election and it has taken out a number of things, protections for people in the workplace. there is a separate bill to cover that. mr johnson says many things but there is no reason why it had to be taken out of the bill given that he felt it incumbent to have it before, and one of the most difficult things

with my role as the shadow northern ireland secretary is that we know when prime minister johnson ireland secretary is that we know when prime ministerjohnson says they will be no impact on trade between northern ireland and the re st of between northern ireland and the rest of the uk, that simply is not right. that is not simply me saying that, that is businesses, especially small businesses in northern ireland, who are really worried about what that means for the future, and if prime minister johnson is prime minister for the whole of the country he has now got to begin to level up and say how he's going to avoid those kind of problems and not simply brush them aside with fast rhetoric and a quick joke. we need better. does the labour party accept now that the referendum result and the general election? brexit is going to happen and this bill got a big majority at the second reading, and i have got no doubt that it will run through its paces through parliament in the

next days and weeks after the christmas break, but that does not entitle the government to bring in legislation that is bad for this country and for example, locking us into finishing the trade deal by the end of decemberof into finishing the trade deal by the end of december of the next year coming, that is foolish. by mr johnson did not need to do that. if he can achieve it, we will all say, well and good, but if we find ourselves in difficulty in getting and many people in the eu for example but also trade experts in britain have the same view, if you find it difficult delivering on that, why have we locked the country into that ridiculous situation? we will say to him, bring legislation back to parliament, but we should not really have to have a prime minister who operates almost by gimmick and rhetoric, when what we wa nt gimmick and rhetoric, when what we want now is a prime minister who

moves away from that phase of his political career and is a prime minister who will be judged by what he delivers and at the moment he shows every sign of the same kind of superficiality of approach as he did before, but now he has a big majority and a mandate. but his brexit policy won his party a hefty majority whereas labour ended in catastrophe, do you look back on that now and think that what those labour mps who voted leave constituencies, who have been warning all along, you should have accepted the referendum result earlier? labour losing the election is disastrous for the people i represent and disastrous for people all around, losing an election is a bitter thing. it has happened for many reasons, but the point exists, this doesn't give prime minister johnson a mandate for foolishness and it doesn't give him a mandate for some things in the bill which...

and also things which are not in the bill, this talks about parliamentary summitry and one of the debate was about bringing decision—making back to the uk parliament —— parliamentary sovereignty. you could have voted for it last time but you told mps not to. people i got to remember, yes, we voted against it because it is still a bad bill, but he did get a second reading and he could have carried on with the same bill. 0ne could have carried on with the same bill. one of the most shameful things in this is the decision to say to young children, children seeking asylum, that their rights are eroded, and... boris johnson says they will stick with that but not in this bill. boris johnson says many things, but why is he taking this out of the bill? there is a clause in the bill that refers to exactly that proposition and we

could have had the same words in the bill as were there before the election, and if prime minister johnson says he will do it, why not put it on the face of the bill? we cannot have this uncertainty and we cannot have this uncertainty and we cannot have this uncertainty and we cannot have superficiality and we need to see achievement. he will be judged by that and he has got to know that the public will hold his feet to the fire, not just know that the public will hold his feet to the fire, notjust labour, but the whole of the british public. six labour mps voted with the government in that hefty victory just now for boris johnson. government in that hefty victory just now for borisjohnson. studio: thanks. ai24 vote majority supporting that brexit withdrawal bill -- a supporting that brexit withdrawal bill —— a 124. supporting that brexit withdrawal bill -- a 124. 358 supporting that brexit withdrawal bill —— a 124. 358 votes for the government, 234 against. we will bring you more reaction from here very soon but now we can go back to

martine in the studio. the duke of edinburgh has been admitted to hospital in london for what buckingham palace has described as "observation and treatment in relation to a pre—existing condition." the palace says it is a precautionary measure. it's expected prince phillip — who's 98 — will be in hospital for a few days. with me now is our royal correspondent nick witchell. no sense of alarm? not much more information about the important thing to say is he is 98 so of course there is concern but there is not alarm. the fact the queen has travelled this morning as planned from london to norfolk, to begin the christmas break, at the same time as the duke was being brought by road but not in an ambulance, in a royal vehicle of some sort, from sandringham to london, and he has been admitted to the king edward vii private hospital near harley street. 0n the advice of his doctor, a precautionary measure, for a pre—existing condition, and we have no idea what that pre—existing condition is. i'm told that he walked into the hospital and it is expected that he will be there for

several days. observation. they will be keen to get him back to sandringham in time for christmas but that will be a matter for his doctors. in terms of what we have seenin doctors. in terms of what we have seen in terms of his health in recent times, for a 98—year—old his health has been good. he was admitted to hospital last year for a hip replacement but we need to go back eight years to just before christmas in 2011 when he had the most serious incident which was when he was taken by helicopter from sandringham to pa pworth he was taken by helicopter from sandringham to papworth hospital having suffered chest pains and that was when he had a stent inserted and he was in hospitalfor 11 nights on that occasion. whether this pre—existing condition is in any way related to his heart we simply don't know, and we also remember in 2012 he was admitted several times to hospitalfor a bladder infection he was admitted several times to hospital for a bladder infection and then in 2013 he had exploratory abdominal surgery which was quite a

major thing, a couple of months co nvalescence major thing, a couple of months convalescence after that, but after that he returned to limited royal duties and it was not until two yea rs duties and it was not until two years ago 2017 that he retired. he has been mostly at sandringham and also at windsor since then. you do occasionally see him? yes, this was him ata occasionally see him? yes, this was him at a lunch for orders of merit at windsor castle back in may this year and he was untypical duke of edinburgh form as i understand it —— he was on typical. he enjoyed the occasion. that was back in may and also in may he attended the wedding of one of the kents, gabriella windsor, and also at the wedding of prince harry and meghan markle, of course. he has been having a quiet life in retirement at the age of 98 and the queen sees him fairly often

but i think the most telling fact in all of this is that 0k, yes, he has been admitted to hospital, we are told for observation, but the members of the family are continuing with their normal routine. the queen and her husband have crossed somewhere between london and norfolk this morning and this would seem to indicate fairly conclusively that she is not concerned that there is any reason for alarm on this occasion. nick, thanks forjoining us. anne sacoolas — the wife of a us intelligence officer — has been charged by the cps with causing the death by dangerous driving of 19—year—old harry dunn. harry died in august when his motorbike was in a collision with her car in northamptonshire. ijust want i just want to say a massive thank

you to the public and the media. we feel we have taken a huge step in the start of achieving the promise to harry that we made, and that in itself to us as parents to make that promise to him, the night that we lost him, that we would seek justice, thinking it was going to be really easy, knowing the circumstances that night as we did... we had no idea it was going to be this hard and it would take this long, but we really do feel it isa this long, but we really do feel it is a huge step towards that promise to harry, and that in itself is one hell of an achievement, for us as a family to have. and as parents we cannot be any more satisfied with ourselves. harry dunn's mother charlotte speaking a short time ago

outside the ministry ofjustice. we can go back now to anita. the uk will leave the eu at the end of january because the withdrawal bill has been passed, there are more stages for to go through in the house of commons and the laws, but thatis house of commons and the laws, but that is what is going to happen, with 358 mp5 that is what is going to happen, with 358 mps voted in favour including six labour mps —— the house of commons and the house of lords. with me now is sonali parekh from the federation of small businesses. clearly the message from business or through the process has been that you are looking for certainty —— all. do you have any certainty? we have certainty in terms of the immediate short—term and it now looks very likely that the withdrawal agreement bill will pass

through parliament and that will mark the end of the first phase of the brexit process. that is incredibly important for small businesses, and when we polled and surveyed members before the election we found that small business sentiment was in negative territory for the sixth consecutive quarter. only one in seven small businesses expected to increase their capital investment in the immediate future and only 23% of small—business exporters believed that their international sales would be increasing, so short—term certainty is incredibly important. what difference does it make if you are talking about from now until this time next year, basically? throughout the course of the year we have a couple of potential no deal cliff edge dates which are small businesses have had to contend with and that has come at a cost to them. now we have a short period of time in which to agree a trade deal with the eu and it is a challenging timetable but we stand ready to

provide evidence and insight to the government on what small businesses need to make sure that trade with the eu remains with as little friction as possible. essentially we wa nt to friction as possible. essentially we want to see an elimination of ta riffs want to see an elimination of tariffs and quotas and generally speaking free trade agreements do well in that space. just as important is tackling nontariff barriers, the regulatory grid which small businesses can struggle with which often means they have to develop paperwork and that can add friction to the trading process —— regulatory grit. we also want to make sure that every free trade agreement has a small business chapter at the heart of it and that other chapters like e—commerce and intellectual property and enforcement and customer satisfaction, right from the start, that the interest of small businesses are hard—wired into those cha pters to businesses are hard—wired into those chapters to make sure that the agreement works for smaller businesses. what about your

collea g u es businesses. what about your colleagues in northern ireland? representatives of them in the run—up to the election said to me various things, what about their requirements and their needs? it is very important to make the northern ireland protocol work and a lot of work will need to be done to achieve that and there is a lot of work that needs to be done to work out the practical implications on the ground of the tariff system which will be put in place. to make sure that trade between gb and northern ireland remains as free of friction as possible. thanks forjoining us. let's speak to our chief political correspondent vicki young who's inside parliament. we can speak to one of those labour mps who voted for the bill. why have you decided to vote for the withdrawal agreement?” you decided to vote for the withdrawal agreement? i voted for it just before the election and i promised my constituents i would always do my best to get us to leave the eu with a deal so i have been

consistent from 2016 onwards. the timetable as well, a lot of people say it is far too quick but you have backed the idea ? say it is far too quick but you have backed the idea? last time i went against the timetable but boris called the general election it was the worst general election in my living memory. he has a massive mandate, and to resist out on the back of losing 52 leave labour seats, it is not sent the message that we have learned our lesson, so i thought i had to vote for that as well —— it has not sent the message. jeremy corbyn is still opposing brexit, is that the wrong thing to do? i think, and i have brexit, is that the wrong thing to do? ithink, and i have always brexit, is that the wrong thing to do? i think, and i have always tried to be loyal to my party, but i think today was the wrong call, and off the back of losing so badly in the general election could to then have the first vote in parliament on the issue we lost over, to say let's continue to keep doing what we have

done historically, that was the wrong call. do you wish jeremy corbyn and the need should have listened to you and your colleagues, those representing leave constituencies who worried this was going to be a huge problem? they did listen a lot but it was not followed up listen a lot but it was not followed up with action and that is what breaks my heart. we were passionately making the case on a regular basis that our parties position needed to change and the 2017 manifesto position went down well in leave and remain areas but well in leave and remain areas but we moved to a different position and it has cost us and cost us dearly. jeremy corbyn is going to stand down and there will be a leadership contest, does it matter what the contenders feel about brexit at this point? 0r now we are leaving the party ca n point? 0r now we are leaving the party can move on? the party can move on but it matters to a lot of us and it matters to me what people think about brexit as to whether i would vote for them on brexit. what would vote for them on brexit. what would they have to say? they would

have to say they have heard and understand the reasons why we lost those leave seats but also i would like to see actions and it would be good to see some of them, through the lobby with me today. as the brexit debate has gone on here, all those years since the referendum, what has it been like being in this place and in the house of commons? very grim, a toxic pressure cooker and there has been abuse flying around, no one has crowned themselves in glory and i have walked out of the chamber on repeated occasions because that is not how i deal with my politics and while i'm devastated we have lost the general election i'm hoping that we can start moving forward and start behaving like grown—ups and get parliament back to what it should be, a debating chamber where people work for the benefit of our country. thanks forjoining us. one of six labour mps there who voted with the government today, but they we re with the government today, but they were also apps tensions, possibly from the shadow cabinet. —— there

we re from the shadow cabinet. —— there were also apps tensions. —— abstentions. with the pace of things moving since the general election victory for the conservatives, one can expect that contained —— that to continue pretty quickly throughout the new year in the year ahead with much work for the year ahead with much work for the government to do now to negotiate with the eu throughout the transition period and remember they are putting a deadline on that in this withdrawal bill which has been successful today of december the 31st next year, a little under a year to get that transition deal done. much more reaction from here through the afternoon but now we can go back to the newsroom. studio:

thanks. well, steering the economy through brexit will be top of the agenda for the man who's been named as the new governor of the bank of england andrew bailey. mr bailey — a former deputy governor at the bank and the current head of the financial conduct authority — will take over from mark carney in march. the chancellor, sajid javid, said he was the standout candidate for the role. let's get more from michael hewson chief market analyst with cmc markets. why is andrew bailey of the man to head up the bank of england at this particular point with brexit ahead? it came down to two distinct candidates, andrew bailey being one of them, and the scales i've gone his way, and when you look at his cv is not hard to understand why has been appointed. he has been working for the bank of england since 1985 in one respect and another and when robert leigh—pemberton was governor

he has also served under mervyn king, and he spent three years at the financial conduct authority with a bit of muted success, and there have been a lot of scandals with respect to their oversight of the financial system, and that probably did tip the scales slightly away from him towards the end, but ultimately i think it is oversight of the prudential regulation and his oversight of the financial system at the height of the financial crisis between 2007 and 2011, that has tipped the scales in his favour, and i think he is largely perceived as a central banker at heart and a safe pairof central banker at heart and a safe pair of hands. you mention the difficulties that happens under his watch at the financial conduct authority but some of the behaviour of staff at the authority has raised eyebrows. the

way that the fca scrutinised what rbs was doing in its treatment of small businesses after the crash. surely there will be a trust issue there, won't there for a lot of people? there is definitely a trust issue there. but when you look at when he took over and the financial conduct authority, that was already asa conduct authority, that was already as a result of an awful lot of government dissatisfaction with the current management there. you can argue that mr bailey didn't make the significant changes are needed to be made there and certainly leaving now does leave a massive hold that someone else needs to fill. but that is only three years in respect of his cv. that is certainly a blot on his cv. that is certainly a blot on his cv. that is certainly a blot on his cv but it doesn't disregard all the other expertise that mr bailey has with respect to the oversight of the financial system, the supervision of stress tests and what have you over the last ten years. the next few years is going to be

very challenging, not only for the uk economy but also for the financial system in general. i think mr bailey's expertise in seeing the financial system as we navigate our way through brexit and potentially diverged away from the european union on financial regulation will be crucial in navigating that path and that is really what tipped the scales in his favour. michael hewson from cmc markets. thank you very much forjoining us this afternoon. time for the weather. you don't need me to tell you how wet the weather has been but they have been successive pulses of rain working their way northwards over the last few days. before the current work whether it had already been wet across south—east england with some areas seeing a month of rain already this month. the rain we

have seen over the last couple of days means that we are on for a very wet december indeed. have been some flooding problems and in the last couple of days alone we have seen 60 millimetres of rain and the consequence of that rain is weather warnings with 69 over england and seven in scotland and one in wales. indeed the number of flood warnings continue to rise across eastern england as well. the rain slowly edges its way eastwards and eventually clears out into the north sea. what will follow our showers through the night time. those showers come in across wales and southern counties where they will be pretty widespread. some downpours will be pretty heavy as well. often there will be a lot of cloud so temperatures not too low at three to six celsius possibly could turn foggy in northern ireland for a time and there will be showers in scotla nd and there will be showers in scotland is coming through thick and

fast. what about the weekend weather prospects? more rain. that's right. this area of low pressure moves through the english channel bringing more rain. we start off with showers across england and wales but they push northwards into northern ireland, and scotland. often a lot of cloud around and limited brighter spells. later in the afternoon we start to see the next batch of rain pushing in across southern counties getting into the south of wales, the south midlands and eventually overnight that will swing into east anglia as well. it could bring 20 to 30 millimetres of rain which spreads the risk of localised flooding and further transport disruption. rain plays away early sunday morning but be followed by further showers and they could be widespread across the north west. temperatures seven to ten for many of us. christmas week sta rts ten for many of us. christmas week starts to settle down a little. i shall restart but it gets dry for a time around christmas with fog and

frost and temperatures dipping down but then we will see rain returning later on in the wake. in the short term it is the rain that is cause for concern with flooding problems and if you are planning to travel on this important travel day check before travelling because our problems on the roads and railways as well. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. mps have resoundingly backed the prime minister's brexit plan for the uk to leave the eu by the end of january, with a majority of 124 in the commons. buckingham palace has confirmed that the duke of edinburgh is in hospital in london for observation on a pre—existing condition. earlier, the queen travelled to norfolk for her christmas break as planned. us diplomat‘s wife anne sacoolas is charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of 19—year—old harry dunn. trains and road travel is severely disrupted on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

sport now on afternoon live with connie mclaughlin. and some news finally about arsenal's new manager? we have been waiting for this news all morning. but it has finally happened. arsenal have announced their former captain mickel arteta is their new manager. the former manchester city assistant boss has signed a three and a half year deal at the emirates and succeeds fellow spaniard unai emery, who was sacked in november.speaking before the announcement emery said he'd be a good fit for the club. translation: it all happens on a friday morning. we said goodbye to the footballers. i said i preferred the footballers. i said i preferred the footballers. i said i preferred the footballers to come to me individually instead of me going to the changing rooms and making a speech. they all came except for lucas to rarer. he couldn't make it

but left us a message. all the players came. i also got messages from laurent michelle li and danny welbeck and i thank them but now is the time to go home. mikel arteta has been at arsenal and in the premier league and worked with roddy ola. i think is really prepared to thatjump. ola. i think is really prepared to that jump. a decision ola. i think is really prepared to thatjump. a decision that ola. i think is really prepared to that jump. a decision that the ola. i think is really prepared to thatjump. a decision that the club is taking doesn't involve me but i do believe it is a good decision and i would like it to be a good decision. another club in search of a manager of course are everton... they are closing in on carlo ancelotti, and their caretaker boss duncan ferguson says it shows their intent to improve the club. so watch this space.... liverpool are enjoying the heat of doha at the moment. so is olly foster, we'd noticed. how seriously are livable taking the club world championship? only gets all the good jobs, doesn't he? it seems so.

they are gearing up for the world club championship final in qatar. they have big names with them as we know and. they'll perhaps need them when they face brazilian side flamengo tomorrow — they won the copa libertadores earlier this year. olly foster is in qatar for us. how is this for the week before christmas? we are on the beach side here in doha. dozens of liverpool fa ns here in doha. dozens of liverpool fans here and many more from brazil and flamingo around the city. let's get a little bit more on the match from andy heaton from the anfield wrap. this is great, isn't it? a bit ofa wrap. this is great, isn't it? a bit of a christmas warm up and liverpool can become world champions in the next 24 hours? a bit of warm weather training before the big week next week. no, it is fantastic. a little bit of revenge hopefully because flamengo famously beat liverpool and they are still singing about it now.

you say they are still singing about it, they are literally still singing about it they have a song about 1981, don't they? they do. but the sun is blazing and we're all having a good time. it isjust ramping up. people are trickling in. we have been here all week with the semifinal. we are sailing more and more familiarfaces. semifinal. we are sailing more and more familiar faces. walking through the hotel lobby is like walking through the centre of liverpool. british clubs in the past have been accused of not taking this tournament seriously. calling itself world champion sounds special.m 2005 we narrowly missed out with rafa benitez. i'm not saying the referee was bad but let's just leave it there. we are the reigning european champions and if we win this one we can literally call ourselves the champions of the world. many thanks indeed. enjoy the

match tomorrow. how can you not enjoy this? the sunshine here in doha. olly foster with a sunshine glow from that report. he does like to rub it in, doesn't he? you are watching bbc news it is 3:40pm. anne sacoolas — the wife of a us intelligence officer — has been charged by the cps with causing the death by dangerous driving of 19—year—old harry dunn. harry died in august when his motorbike was in a collision with her car in northamptonshire. she left britain shortly afterwards, claiming diplomatic immunity.mark stephens is the solicitor for the dunn family and we can speak to him now. mark stevens is a solicitor for the dunn family. thank you forjoining us. how did the cps arrive at this decision to charge anne sacoolas finally? of course the crown prosecution service is independence and they have the ability to look at

the case dispassionately. what happened here today was that we met with the director of public prosecutions max hill qc and several of his senior team and they communicated to the family directly fa ct communicated to the family directly fact that they had made a decision to charge anne sacoolas. once we had been told that, anne sacoolas was notified of that, as she was in washington. it was early in the morning and she was told by her lawyer. as a consequence of that we now realise that the big step in the family have been hoping for that anne sacoolas may come back and face justice in a british court is now starting along the road. but it is only starting. the us state department has issued a statement saying that "the united states has been clear, at the time the accident occurred and for the duration of her

stay in the uk, the driver had status that conferred diplomatic immunity." so not straightforward. well, i think the question we have got to ask ourselves is if that is correct. that there is a political spin coming out of the state department but not only have i looked at this very carefully and made it clear that she didn't have diplomatic immunity but the crown prosecution service have a 2—part test. the first part is that to ascertain whether there is sufficient evidence to garner a better than 50% chance of a successful prosecution. the second isa successful prosecution. the second is a public interest test. is it in the public interest to prosecute anne sacoolas for this crime? they have come back and said yes on both accounts. in those circumstances you must assume that they have taken into account both the issues

relating to extradition and also diplomatic immunity. i am convinced that whilst the state departments may make these bellicose statements, the reality is they are going to be faced with the hard fact in the department ofjustice. the department ofjustice. the department ofjustice will look at this document, the extradition request, see whether there is any flaws in it and if there are a will be returned and amended but ultimately that will have two then go to an american court. the americans are ruled by the rule of law just like we americans are ruled by the rule of lawjust like we are. they have a set of frameworks for the law and in those circumstances i believe that independentjudges in the united states of a miracle or independence judges in the uk would come to the same conclusion. sorry, a police car is coming through. we just about heard what you said. independence judges in the uk or the us will come

to the same conclusion that anne sacoolas must come back. of course, she could come back voluntarily. the state department says they're disappointed and fit that it won't bring a resolution closer. what alternative approach was there to get a resolution? there wasn't any really. the answer is that anne sacoolas has to face justice. it is accepted on both sides of the atla ntic accepted on both sides of the atlantic that she no longer has diplomatic immunity. now she has gone back to america. i think and believe as to the entire community in the uk that she never had diplomatic community anyway. to some extent these are red herrings. they will of course be put up by those who don't want her to return but the real ha rd who don't want her to return but the real hard facts that now face the state department and officers in america is that there is a court

case and the court case will be guided by the rules and the judges will have to look at this independently and dispassionately. the fact that they thought it was not a helpful development is a clear indication that they understand the wea kness indication that they understand the weakness of the us position. anne sacoolas will be coming back to face justice sooner or later. mark stevens, solicitor for the dunn family. thank you for talking to us. back to westminster to join an eater for more analysis of the vote that was passed rather easily this afternoon. it was, wasn't it? what a contrast to the three times theresa may try to get the bill through parliament and even quite a contrast pre—for borisjohnson as well with 124 vote majority supporting that bill in total. 358 mps and 124 vote

majority. 234 against. just to remind you that six labour mps backed the government on that. lets get reaction from sebastien payne, the vital correspondence from the financial times and also the deputy writer for the sun. you are both very welcome. not to surprise the way this vote went on the size of the majority, i guess. what do you make of that and the fact that a small number of labour mps supported it other abstains? six supported it which is only up one from october. but 30 or 32 abstained and six of those had medical appointments were out other reasons and had a reason to be out. rest of them just didn't wa nt to be out. rest of them just didn't want to fall in with jeremy corbyn. it seems like he has lost his grip

on the party. can he cling on for a few more months when he has no way to hold on the party? it is worth noting as well that none of any of the potential leadership contenders for the labour leadership voted with the withdrawal bill which is quite interesting considering they are trying to get back their northern voters. it is clearly a party in the state of flux and limbo. but it was an interesting thing for those potential leadership contenders in the fact that they continue being against the bill is interesting. the bill still has some hurdles, such as the house of commons and in the house of lords, but it is likely it will. then the government has to stick to ledgers and promises to keep, according to you. indeed. a lot of people who voted conservative for the first time in the selection

was to get brexit done and you can see mps are already changing their bios on twitter saying get brexit done to got brexit done. it isn't done. it has to go through the house of lords. we will leave the eu on january 31 but then the trade deal needs to be negotiated. esther johnson says he will do that in the next year which is a very optimistic timetable. —— mrjohnson. we hear that mrjohnson is banning the word brexit from the new year so civil serva nts brexit from the new year so civil servants and ministers won't be able to use brexit. it reminds you of when george w bush had mission accomplished behind him. once the moment is past it is all about what they will do for those towns in the north and midlands who voted conservative for the first time and wa nt to conservative for the first time and want to see big changes to their public services. somehow i think we

will still be hearing the b word for some time to come. do you think the government has the capacity to deal with that domestic agenda? it talks about being the people's government. and to deal with the negotiations in this transition phase as well? i'm not quite as worried about the government's capacity. i'm more worried about i don't see how financially it will work. if boris isn't going to raise taxes. it is ha rd isn't going to raise taxes. it is hard to see how they will tick all of those boxes on spending. it is quite a big risk that although there are lots of fiscally conservative conservative in the party but i don't know how he will hold them to one nation tories. i think that will still be talking about brexit but i think the truth is that trade negotiations are so boring there

won't be that much media interest in it and there has been in the last year with tight vote in parliament which is much more interesting to watch. there will be a bit more breathing room without the entire media breathing down his neck. the result of this withdrawal bill which has changed somewhat since october. how difficult will it be for mps to scrutinise the details of what is going on in this transition period and to hold the government to account if we are looking at opposition mps? rather difficult because some of the measures in that bill put in by opposition mps to look at some of the power is being taken from the eu back to the uk and how and when they should be used but mrjohnson has a majority and when you have a majority government you can pretty much do what you want in terms of parliamentary scrutiny. you control the timetable of the house of commons. not a single tory mp rebelled on that legislation. it

will be a long time before they start rebelling on government policy because they are loyalty mrjohnson. we get to the trade deal you are right that people will be left interesting it because when we leave on the 31st brexit will essentially be done but nothing will be changed and mps will want to have a say on that. a quick thought from you and what the change will look like and what the change will look like and what their biggest issues will be on the trade and transition talks?m will be fish versus financial services. i like that answer in terms of its brevity. olivia, can you match that? absolutely not. i don't think i'm even going to try. do you foresee a sticky moments, thorny times ahead for the prime minister? he has a majority but that doesn't necessarily mean there aren't going to be some difficulties ahead from the eu? of course there

definitely will be and what makes it more difficult as he has a huge general election win in england but it isa general election win in england but it is a very different story in scotland and northern ireland. there is going to be so many different sticking point over the next year. this question about which part of the economy you prioritise about where your voters are. we are out of time. thank you very much. i think it will take awhile for us get used to an idea of a few years of the thinnest of margins for the government and no majority at all to an idea of a government with the majority and how that is having an impact on the pace of things happening in the house of commons. anita, thank you very much. in a moment the latest business news. first a look at the headlines

on afternoon live mps have resoundingly backed the prime minister's brexit plan for the uk to leave the eu by the end of january with a majority of 124 in the commons. buckingham palace has confirmed that the duke of edinburgh is in hospital in london for observation on a here's your business headlines on afternoon live after a lengthy search for the next bank of england governor, the treasury has gone back to the candidate it first thought of.as far back asjune, andrew bailey was being spoken of as the favourite for the job. just eat has rejected an offer from dutch tech giant prosus, which has been in a bidding war to buy the uk food delivery firm. instead, the company has backed a bid from takeaway.com, which is also based in the netherlands.both takeaway.com and prosus increased their bids yesterday. heathrow has said its project to build a third runway has been delayed by "at least 12 months" after the aviation regulator rejected its spending plans.the civil aviation authority has refused

heathrow‘s request to lift spending from £650 million to £2.4 billion before it even gets planning consent. so tell us more about who will be the new bank of england governor. to gain this latest position it has been slow and steady progress because he was the frontrunner earlier in the summer but then other contenders seem to take over as the favourite. but slowly but steadily just like his career through the bank of england because he has been there for 30 years, he is going to be the man for the top job. he was once chief cashier. that was from 2000 to 2011. his signature was on billions of banknotes. he also played a key role in the financial crisis. he was head of special

operations. he was involved with the 2008 government rescue of the royal bank of scotland. mark carney, the current governor of the bank of england, said his record was exemplary in the financial crisis and in developing the post—crisis regulatory framework. he has been head of the financial conduct authority. under his time there there has been some controversies. yes, it is a handling of complaints against the royal bank of scotland, complaints about how the way the bank treated small businesses and a report into what happened describes this as a whitewash. actually the financial conduct authority didn't recommend any further action against the bank. then of course given that the bank. then of course given that the bank of england has responsibility for maintaining the stability of the economy and overseeing the financial system some

people have pointed to the very fact that there was at the closure of the key funds, the woodward fund run by quite a famous manager neil woodford, that closed and a lot of investors are likely to lose an awful lot of money. some have questions the fca's oversight on that as well. however, many others have described him as a very safe pairof have described him as a very safe pair of hands. have described him as a very safe pairof hands. i have described him as a very safe pair of hands. i spoke to vicky pryce is chief economic analyst for the centre of business and economic research and she said exactly that. she believes he was chosen for his experience in the financial crisis and because he is a safe pair of hands. a quick look at the markets. the ftse 100 is pretty much unchanged todaybut and what

a difference a week makes in terms of the value of the pound. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. pushing its way north over the last few days. you can see how extensive the rain is across the north of the uk. it has been across south—east england where we have seen bigger impact with roads and railways affected by flooding and before this latest batch of rain arrived we had already had a month of rainfall in december. it has already been a wetter month than normal. over the last 48—hour summaries of the uk have seen over 60 millimetres of rain and there is more to come as well. we have a number of flood

warnings currently in force. the majority of these across england's, stretches of the midlands and southern england has been badly hit as well. through this evening still the dregs of this weather system bringing rain to eastern areas but eventually that will clear away and then overnight we are looking at a mixture of clear spells and passing showers. showers quite frequent over wales, southern england, east anglia and the midlands. temperatures around for to seven celsius. further north little colder with a few clear spells. in the weekend with got more low— pressure spells. in the weekend with got more low—pressure moving into the english channel. again this pushes outbreaks of rain in across parts of the south. so on saturday we start with showers across england and wales. they push northwards into northern england, northern ireland and scotland. some limited spells but late in the afternoon we see rain arriving across southern areas of

england, pushing into south wales, east anglia overnight with up to 30 millimetres of rain in the core forecast we could see disruption and further disruption to transport plans. 0ne sunday rain clears away from east anglia in south—east england and we are left with bright skies and scattered showers and temperatures around seven to 10 celsius. looking ahead to christmas week, we start off with showery conditions with temperatures around close to normal for many for the time of year it will turn drier with mist and fog and then wetter later in the week.

hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm annita mcveigh live at westminster where mps have resoundingly backed the prime minister's brexit plan — for the uk to leave the eu by the end of january. the ayes to the right 358, the noes to the left 234. it was a decisive victory for the government with a majority of 124. the bill now goes on to further scrutiny in the house of commons and house of lords. we'll bring you the reaction from westminster. the other main news headlines... buckingham palace has confirmed that the duke of edinburgh is in hospital in london for observation on a pre—existing condition.

earlier, the queen travelled to norfolk for her christmas break as planned. the duke of edinburgh is undergoing treatment at this hospital, but he was able to walk in and it did not require an ambulance. us diplomat‘s wife anne sacoolas is charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of 19—year—old harry dunn. we had no idea it was going to be this hard and it would take this long, but we really do feel it is a huge step towards that promise to harry. coming up on afternoon live all the sport. arsenal have got a new manager? arteta said it is a huge honour to become the new arsenal manager and he takes over on a three and a half year deal from he takes over on a three and a half year dealfrom emery. he takes over on a three and a half year deal from emery. the weather

forecast? the weather has caused disruption on the roads and railways and there's more rain in the forecast so you will want to join forecast so you will want to join for a full round—up later. also coming up... three, two, one and lift off! a new era in human space flight. could this capsule one day take paying passengers into space? hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. we are continuing to react to all of the developments today as mps have backed the prime minister's plan for the uk to leave the eu on the 31st of january by a

the uk to leave the eu on the 31st ofjanuary by a huge margin. the government won the vote by 358 votes to 234. the bill will now face further scrutiny in the house of commons and the house of lords. nick eardley reports. after months of intense drama here, suddenly it seems so simple. time after time, this prime minister and the last have come to parliament to get mps to back their brexit deal. borisjohnson has now succeeded. the ayes to the right 358, the noes to the left 234. as expected, a significant majority, and back of the one tory mp. earlier borisjohnson had and back of the one tory mp. earlier boris johnson had said and back of the one tory mp. earlier borisjohnson had said passing these deal would allow the country to start to move on. now is the time to act together as one reinvigorated nation, one united kingdom, filled

with renewed confidence in our national destiny and determined at last to take advantage of the opportunities that now lie before us. jeremy corbyn criticised the government wasn't handling of brexit but acknowledged voters had sent politicians a message. we recognise the clear message from the british public last week, however they voted in the referendum in 2016, and we understand their determination to end the never—ending cycle of the brexit debate and get back to solving the day—to—day issues that challenge them in their daily lives. labour officially oppose the deal today but a number of mps abstained, six rebelled voting with the government. so what were they voting for? the legislation now rules out any further extension to the transition period during which uk courts will now be able to reconsider rulings made by the european court of justice. reconsider rulings made by the european court ofjustice. gone is a

protection for refugee children in europe with family in the uk, and a clause on strengthening workers' rights, and those things, ministers say, will be dealt with in separate legislation, but that is not enough for labour. we warned before the general election that the prime minister's brexit deal was a terrible dealfor our minister's brexit deal was a terrible deal for our country and we still believe it is a terrible deal today. while the government argues the election result gave it a mandate, the snp says in scotland the picture is very different. scotla nd the picture is very different. scotland could not have been clear out last week. we did not vote for brexit and returning the snp with a greater mandate shows that scotland still totally and utterly rejects brexit. but boris johnson knows he now has the numbers to do what he wa nts. now has the numbers to do what he wants. the other is on a so to speak, it is set out gas mark four and we can have it done by lunchtime. today's vote is not the end of the brexit process, farfrom

it, there are still months of intense trade talks to come, but the battles that have raged here for many months are essentially over, borisjohnson has a majority and with it the ability to get his brexit deal through. look at the bottom of the picture, tory mps asking borisjohnson to sign copies of the withdrawal agreement. there are still hurdles for him in parliament and there will be scrutiny in the new year, but the government has the numbers, brexit is happening. let's speak to our chief political correspondent vicki young who's inside parliament. a blistering pace today towards the end of the year with more to come in the new year and a contrast of course to the slow pace of the withdrawal bill before. those in downing street wanted to get this done today, two show that they were making progress before christmas, and there was no reason they had to

sit today to get this through, they could have done this injanuary, but they wanted to show voters especially those whose votes helped the tories in previously labour areas which voted leave, and just look at the difference in the parliamentary arithmetic —— labour areas. theresa may suffering a historic defeat by more than 200 votes a year ago, but now a large majority here for this vote, of 124. the bill will come back injanuary and we are likely to hit the deadline with the uk leaving the eu at the end of the month and then moving on trade talks. what is intriguing about that is how little we know about how the government is going to go about that and they are keen to talk about other things, but of course it will be incredibly important and those talks will carry on, you will find that a lot of the focus for the government will be on the domestic agenda and things like

the domestic agenda and things like the health service and policing. the other difficult issue for boris johnson, despite his massive majority, is the issue of northern ireland, and as we know the dup were incredibly angry at the deal that borisjohnson did incredibly angry at the deal that boris johnson did with incredibly angry at the deal that borisjohnson did with the eu and they feel it treats northern ireland differently from the rest of great britain and they are still looking for ways to get changes. this is what their spokesman sammy wilson said. it is not unexpected that the vote went through the way it did today and we fully expected it, however we do have a government which claims to be a conservative and unionist government and we have and unionist government and we have a prime minister who says he wants to bea a prime minister who says he wants to be a one nation prime minister and he wants to make sure that all parts of the uk are treated equally. we are now entering the second phase of negotiations with the eu and the government is going in with a different mandate, with different strengths and not being able to be

undermined in parliament and therefore the dynamics of those negotiations were change, and as the withdrawal agreement shows, that if new arrangements can be put in place which make the conditions in the withdrawal agreement not necessary, thenit withdrawal agreement not necessary, then it can be changed and we will say to the government, use your negotiating position to try and undo some of the damaging impact of the withdrawal agreement, and for example, if there was a no tariff and no quota trade arrangement with the eu, then many of the checks that would be required across the irish sea would no longer exist. a word on a labour, looking at the faces of their mps this week they look traumatised by what has happened and they have known for a long time some of them about the issue of brexit was really causing them a lot of difficulty and they tried to trade between those two positions. a lot of their shadow

cabinet and membership of course very much anti—brexit but so many mps representing leave constituencies, many of them have now lost their seats. six labour mps voted with the governmentjust now in the withdrawal agreement bill and free from the shadow cabinet abstain, so this is still an ongoing issue. —— three. jeremy corbyn said it was time to accept what had happened and move on but it would be difficult for them to do that while of course the legislation keeps going and then the backdrop for them because of a leadership contest looming in the coming months. the atmosphere here compared to before the election completely different andi the election completely different and i think it was summed up by borisjohnson and i think it was summed up by boris johnson signing copies and i think it was summed up by borisjohnson signing copies of the bejewelled agreement bill as jubilant mps crowded around him having got the fast part of the bill through knowing will go through in january —— signing copies of the withdrawal agreement bill. thanks for joining withdrawal agreement bill. thanks

forjoining us. we have been talking about how the withdrawal bill has changed in places since the first version was brought forward by boris johnson in october and the revie ernest wording —— the the revised wording changes the area around child refugees, and we are now joining the man behind the amendment. we can now speak to the labour life peer, lord dubs. can you outline in more detailjust how this bill differs compared to the one in october? about a year ago houses of parliament passed an amendment to another bill which said we would protect the rights of children in the eu that have family here and that was an eu agreement

and the process would continue and the government would negotiate to do it, but they have now stopped all that and they have said no, we are not prepared to do it. they have argued that they need more flexibility but i don't think one should negotiate about the rights of a child refugee is a negotiating platform of the eu and i think there isa human platform of the eu and i think there is a human right there at the government have turned their backs on it. you were a child refugee a you fled the nazis and you were on the kindertransport. you fled the nazis and you were on the kindertra nsport. what you fled the nazis and you were on the kindertransport. what does this mean now for children in europe seeking tojoin mean now for children in europe seeking to join relatives mean now for children in europe seeking tojoin relatives in mean now for children in europe seeking to join relatives in the mean now for children in europe seeking tojoin relatives in the uk? any idea what the numbers are?m the high hundreds if not over a thousand, i don't know exactly, and these are children who are sleeping in dangerous conditions in calais or on the greek islands like lesbos, i have seen this for myself, these children are vulnerable and

vulnerable to trafficking and criminality and prostitution and so on. they have got family here and they have set their sights on joining a member of theirfamily they have set their sights on joining a member of their family who lived in the uk and so what is more sensible and humane the night?“ there any root for them to do that? —— humane than that? they can cross the channel illegally and of course people have drowned doing that, or they go on the back of a truck and hope they can survive thatjourney, so there is no legal path for them and the only path they have got, if they have got family here commits to they have got family here commits to the amendment, the government say no, we have no assurance that the government will do anything to bring that back. —— if they have got family here, only the amendment. there is going to be a requirement to make a statement in parliament, is that worth anything to you?” don't know, it is nearly christmas, i'm not going to accuse the government of telling lies but it

sounds as if that is not a very convincing excuse. it was very clear cut, we had an agreement and it was working at several hundred children came to britain to join their families here and now the government wa nt to families here and now the government want to stop that and there are still children hoping to get here to see theirfamilies, still children hoping to get here to see their families, that is simple and you can't mess about with it. what message does it send out as the government begins to start negotiations with the eu? government begins to start negotiations with the 5mm government begins to start negotiations with the eu? it sends the message that they will use anything to negotiate about and they are not committed to child refugees andi are not committed to child refugees and i think it is a very shabby thing, last minute thing and it hit us like a bombshell yesterday when we first heard about it. i think it is appalling. it is christmas! how are you going to challenge this? presumably you will challenge it? the humanitarian inclined mps in the

house of commons will seek to amend the bill to retain the previous right and if that does not work in the comments we will have go in the house of lords and the government does not have a majority in the house of lords but it also depends on public opinion and ourjob is to get public opinion on our side to make people realise what is being done because i think most people in britain support the idea we should be generous to child refugees. lord dubs, thanks for joining be generous to child refugees. lord dubs, thanks forjoining us. now back to martine. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines... mps have resoundingly backed the prime minister's brexit plan for the uk to leave the eu by the end of january with a majority of 124 in the commons. buckingham palace has confirmed that the duke of edinburgh is in hospital in london for observation on a pre—existing condition. us diplomat‘s wife anne sacoolas is charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of 19—year—old harry dunn.

arteta says it is an honour to become the new arsenal manager on day three and a half year deal. jurgen klopp says liverpool are taking the world club championship very seriously and they are there for the final tomorrow in doha. england's women cricketers have won the 2020 series against pakistan 3—0 finishing of the year on a high note. i will be back with more later. the duke of edinburgh has been admitted to hospital in london for what buckingham palace has described as "observation and treatment in relation to a pre—existing condition." the palace says it is a precautionary measure. it's expected prince phillip — who's 98 — will be in hospital for a few days. with me now is our royal correspondent nick witchell. that is essentially it and honestly there is concern whenever a 98—year—old is admitted to hospital but there is no sense of alarm on this occasion. he was admitted for observation and treatment in relation to a pre—existing condition and buckingham palace is not saying

what the condition is, possibly it might be something to do with a hip replacement operation which he had in april last year, we don't know. however, the fact that the queen stuck to her original plan of travelling from london to norfolk this morning, whilst simultaneously the duke was brought from norfolk to london by road, not in an ambulance, in an ordinary vehicle, i'm told he walked into hospital in the king edward vi! hospital which is not far from harley street in central london, the hospital which is normally used by members of the royal family. normally used by members of the royalfamily. i'm normally used by members of the royal family. i'm told they would expect him to be there for several days but the intention is to have him back at sandringham in time for christmas. that is the situation. there is no sense of alarm and it would appear to be a precautionary measure on the advice of the doctor. it sounds fairly elective and not an

emergency and sandringham is where the duke and spends a lot of his time? yes, he retired and withdrew from his active public life two yea rs from his active public life two years ago in august of 2017, and we have seen him occasionally since then, for example at a lunch for members of the order of merit in may this year and he attended the weather of lady gabriella windsor. he is occasionally their characteristic position beside the queen. there he is in may this year, andi queen. there he is in may this year, and i gather that he had a pleasant time at that lunch, but this is now quite the exception because he is out of public sight and clearly still in support of the queen, though as we understand that she is continuing with her duties as the monarch. our correspondent, ben ando is outside the king edward vii hospital in central london.

this is one of a number of private hospitals favoured by the royal family. as you would expect there is plenty of media interest and there isa plenty of media interest and there is a police presence, but to echo what nick said there is no sense of urgency and no real concern and we understand the duke was able to walk in when he arrived, not in an ambulance. ina in when he arrived, not in an ambulance. in a car, although not driving himself since he gave up his license early in the year. he is undergoing an observation for a pre—existing condition and it has not been made clear what that is, and nick has pointed out he has had and nick has pointed out he has had a hip replacement and he has also had heart bypass surgery and surgery for bladder problems in the past and it could be any one of those things and the intention would be to get him sorted out and back on his feet as quickly as possible and make sure he can get back to sandringham in time for christmas. how often do

hospitals give out updates about the royalfamily when hospitals give out updates about the royal family when they are being treated? it all depends, and there is no set schedule that says we will getan is no set schedule that says we will get an update at such and such a time, usually on a fairly ad hoc basis and it depends on the condition and what the state of the patient is. if it is something where there are serious concerns you would expect updates to be given because the world will be waiting but if it is something like this which is precautionary, they are just keeping him in under observation, and if there's nothing to say they won't say it, and it may be that all we know is that the duke is in a co mforta ble know is that the duke is in a comfortable condition and they might give an update on the morning, to describe what night he had come and there maybe say when he leaves. —— what night he had here, and then maybe an update when he leaves. thanks forjoining us. the royal biographer and commentator penny junorjoins us. it is always a worry when the duke is taken into hospital like this evenif is taken into hospital like this even if it is not an emergency but

he would no doubt think that us talking about it is nonsensical. he would be very irritated, i'm sure, and this is a very tough man, he has been through a huge amount in his life. he is a marvel, really, in the way that he has conducted himself over the years. he is 98, are not so very long ago we saw photographs of him carriage riding —— and not so very long. he is a tough old bird, man, and! very long. he is a tough old bird, man, and i echo everything the previous guests said, of course because he is 98 it is worrying and nobody going into hospital at that age is something you can be complacent about but i do think if anyone is likely to survive it will be the duke of edinburgh. and because he spends a lot of his retirement away from the strains of

public duty in the last couple of yea rs, public duty in the last couple of years, sandringham is where he spends it and he will want to get back there as fast as he can. he will be itching to get out, and he will be itching to get out, and he will be itching to get out, and he will be very irritated he has been forced to go into hospital. he probably had his arm twisted by his doctor at sandringham but he is doing what he is told and i imagine he will be a very grumpy patient and will be very keen to get home and join the family for christmas. people look forward to seeing him and he has been controversial in his time but he also has a lot of people who very much admire him. people will be looking to see him during the time they are in sandringham, especially may be at church.“ the time they are in sandringham, especially may be at church. if he has been at hospital for the last few days i doubt whether he would be attending the church service on christmas morning, and his doctors will not advise that probably, but

i'm sure he will be... everyone will be pleased if he gets out in time for christmas to have him back on the road again, and he is a great character. like him or loathe him you can't ignore him, and the older he has got be more of a national treasure he has become, actually. used to be putting his foot in his mouth all the time and people got irritated with him, but i think all of that is in the past and the older he has got and the more of a support to the queen he has been, still working away in his 90s, and he only retired two years ago, so he was what, 96 when he retired? he an extraordinary man and when the sad day comes he will be very much missed. penny, thanks forjoining

us. anne sacoolas — the wife of a us intelligence officer — has been charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of 19—year—old harry dunn. harry died in august when his motorbike was in a collision with her car in northamptonshire. she left britain shortly afterwards, claiming diplomatic immunity. the us government said today's decision was ‘disappointing and unhelpful‘. here‘s harry dunn‘s mother speaking after the announcemet. i just want to say a massive thank you to the public and the media. we feel we‘ve taken a huge step in the start of achieving the promise to harry that we made, and that in itself to us as parents to make that promise to him, the night that we lost him, that we would seekjustice, thinking it was going to be really easy, knowing the circumstances that night as we did... we had no idea it was going to be

this hard and it would take this long, but we really do feel it is a huge step towards that promise to harry, and that in itself is one hell of an achievement, for us as a family to have. and as parents we cannot be any more satisfied with ourselves. here‘s the family‘s lawyer on how the crown prosecution service arrived at the decision to charge anne sacoolas. of course the crown prosecution service is independent and they have the ability to look at the case dispassionately and so what happened here today is we met with the director of public prosecutions max hill qc, and several of his senior tea m hill qc, and several of his senior team and they communicated to the family directly the fact they had made a decision to charge anne

sacoolas, and once we had told that, anne sacoolas was notified of that as she was in washington, and it was early in the morning and she was notified through her lawyer. as a consequence of that we now realise that the big step that the family had been hoping for that anne sacoolas may come back and face justice in a british court is now starting along the road. mark stevens the lawyer for the family. a statement has been issued on behalf of anne sacoolas via her maternity. it says —— via her attorney. it says anne sacoolas would do everything she could to bring harry back in which it is a mother herself and cannot imagine the pain and the loss ofa cannot imagine the pain and the loss of a child, she has cooperated fully with the investigation and accepted responsibility, and it goes on to

say, we have been working with uk authorities to resolve the matter and today we were informed that the crown prosecution service has decided to bring a prosecution for wrongful death by dangerous driving and the uk government may seek extradition, but it goes on to say that anne sacoolas will not return voluntarily to the uk to face a potential jail sentence for what was a terrible but unintentional accident. heavy rain is causing major disruption for thousands of people embarking on a christmas getaway. road and rail journeys are being disrupted in parts of southern england on one of the busiest travel days of the year. both the railway line and the m23 motorway between london and brighton were closed because of flooding while a landslide near guildford caused further problems. tolu adeoye reports. this is what heavy rain overnight has led to in surrey, a landslip this morning near guildford causing major disruption along the main railway line.

flooding is affecting travel across the south—east of england with delays and cancellations for many passengers. we‘ve got a number of problems. we have four or five landslips across the whole of the region and in addition we have multiple flooding sites. obviously, the worry we have at the moment is the extreme rainfall we have already experienced is going to carry on. problems, too, on the roads. the m23 has been partially closed after a nearby river burst its banks. highways england says contractors are working hard to clear it as soon as possible. much of the disruption on the transport network is for those heading for gatwick. passengers heading to gatwick from london victoria are some of the lucky ones as there are still direct trains running but anyone coming from brighton is being asked to find alternative means of transport and to allow extra time. normally, on the busiest

friday before christmas, we expect there to be problems at the airport and there are, but this time it is on the trains because of the severe flooding. it‘s very difficult to get to or from britain‘s second busiest airport this morning. the met office has issued severe weather warnings for heavy rain, saying water on roads will cause delays in some areas into saturday and sunday. the big christmas getaway not off to the start. tolu adeoye, bbc news. the former welsh secretary alun cairns has been cleared of breaking the ministerial code over claims he knew about a former aide‘s role in a collapsed rape trial. the mp resigned from the cabinet ahead of the general election. an inquiry found it "unlikely" mr cairns had not been told something about ross england‘s role as a witness. but mr cairns insisted he did not know the details of the case, and an advisor concluded

there was no evidence to contradict that position. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes persistent areas of rain have caused flooding problems across parts of the country but it is especially in south—eastern where we have impacts, for example on the 23 and on the lines in sussex, and on this very busy day of christmas travel plans it is worth checking before travelling. we are seeing rain in eastern england which will clear away this evening and following we will have a scattering of showers and the most frequent of these pushing into wales, southern england, the midlands and east anglia where it will be rather cloudy overnight and the cloud keeping temperatures up to 3—7, and a bit cooler further north but there is the risk of a few showers dotted around. into saturday‘s forecast, the showers across england and wales will push over northern england into northern ireland and scotland as the day progresses, and often it will be quite cloudy but they will be some bright and sunny spells but late in the day low pressure will bring cloud and rain back into southern

england and probably southern wales and the midlands and east anglia late in the day. that is the weather. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. mps have resoundingly backed the prime minister‘s brexit plan for the uk to leave the eu by the end of january, with a majority of 124 in the commons. buckingham palace has confirmed that the duke of edinburgh is in hospital in london for observation on a pre—existing condition. earlier, the queen travelled to norfolk for her christmas break as planned. us diplomat‘s wife anne sacoolas is charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of 19—year—old harry dunn. sport now on afternoon live with connie mclaughlin. 0ut out of the old and in with the new at arsenal. very much so.

although he has kind of old as well. it is theirformer although he has kind of old as well. it is their former captain mikel arteta who has been named the new manager. the former manchester city assistant boss has signed a 3 and a half year deal at the emirates and succeeds fellow spaniard unai emery, who was sacked in november.speaking before the announcement emery said he‘d be a good fit for the club. it all happens on a friday morning. we said goodbye to the footballers. isaidi we said goodbye to the footballers. i said i preferred the footballers to come to me individually instead of me going to the changing rooms are making a speech. they all came about from lucas torreira. he couldn‘t make it but left us a message. but all the players came. i also got messages from laurent laurent koscielny and danny welbeck. i thank them but now is the time to go home. mikel arteta has been at arsenal, he has been in the premier league, he has worked with guardiola. i think he is really prepared to make thatjump. this decision that the club is taking

doesn‘t involve me but i do believe that mikel arteta is a good decision andi that mikel arteta is a good decision and i would also like it to be a good decision. we will hear from the man himself. there is due to be a news conference around 5pm so we will have the very latest from that. another club in search of a manager of course are everton...they are closing in on carlo ancelotti, and their caretaker boss duncan ferguson says it shows their intent to improve the club. so watch this space.... liverpool are in dough half of the world club championships. how far are they taking it? —— how seriously they taking it? it seems like they are taking it quite seriously. they are gearing up for the world club championship final in qatar...they have big names with them as we know and...they‘ll perhaps need them when they face brazilian side flamengo tomorrow — they won the copa libertadores earlier this year. flamengo got sent here from their continent with a clear order to win it and come back as heroes. we got

told, "stay at home and play the carabao cup." so that is a massive difference. we cannot change that but we are here and my team wants to win the competition. england‘s women have won their t20 series against pakistan 3—0 — beating them by 26 runs in the final match in kuala lumpur... they now head to australia at the end of january for a tri—series and then on the t20 world cup. captain heather knight top—scored with 43 in kuala lumpur — and she was pleased to end the tour undefeated. we probably haven‘t been put under loads of pressure, but i think we‘ve done what we set out to do. we‘ve come to obviously whitewash and win every game. and we‘ve talked about as a batting group scoring big scores, winning us games, scoring hundreds, which we‘ve done brilliantly, i think, throughout the year in the icc and the t20s.

i think, throughout the 0d! series and the t20s. and as a bowling unit, we wanted to take wickets, bowl the other team out, and we‘ve done that outstandingly. so, i can‘t ask for much more, really. the england men‘s squad has been hit by illness, so they‘ve called up bowlers craig overton and dominic bess, ahead of the first test against south africa. overton played the last of his four tests against australia in the summer — he comes in as back—up forjofra archer and stuart broad, who‘re among those with flu—like symptoms. bess played two tests against pakistan in 2018. that‘s all the sport for now. let‘s return to westminster where mps have backed the uk‘s planned to leave the eu and the 31st of january. annita mcveigh is at westminster for us. yes, thank you martine. the government won the vote by 358 votes to 234. the bill will now face further scrutiny in the house of commons and the house of lords — paving the way for borisjohnson

to deliver his promise for the uk to leave the eu by the end of next month. well, we can speak now to ayesha hazarika, broadcaster and former labour adviser. also, douglas carswell, a former ukip mp and the founder of vote leave. unsurprising today but do you think this is the life the land from now on with the majority that boris johnson has. it is going to be pretty difficult for opposition mps to hold to account. the scale of his victory, to the victor the spoils, he can get the stuffy ones to get through parliament now. this was a big moment for him. it does prove that the election was a brexiter general election. a lot of people said that the election would change nothing but it has changed everything. what is interesting now and what is important is that mps of all issues really scrutinise what is coming down the track. this isjust

the beginning of the process. we have already seen workers‘ rights being watered down and either environmental protections and all of that. now the work of scrutiny will begin. you probably think there is ample time for scrutiny, douglas ca rswell. ample time for scrutiny, douglas carswell. but a lot of the same ground has been gone over and over again in the last few years but there are a lot of changes to this withdrawal bill impaired to october. there is a really enough time to scrutinise sufficiently?” there is a really enough time to scrutinise sufficiently? i think this is wonderful news. three and a half years ago we voted to leave. we had an election last week and now we are getting on and delivering what people voted for. it is the case that the deal now going through doesn't contain some of the assurances that were agreed in the run to the withdrawal date but i think we just need to get on with

it. i think there are all sorts of things we can do to have a humane migration policy but the priority has to be to get breaks it down, ta ke has to be to get breaks it down, take control of our laws and then we should have a debate about what those laws should be. he bring up that lord who says he was flabbergasted that a pledge to help refugees seeking family members in the uk was going to be ripped up. if it has changed its mind and that can you trust the government to not change their mind and other issues? i think he makes a powerful case about passionate policy towards refugee children. but what we need to do is get on with brexit and then to do is get on with brexit and then to have that policy. what we can't do is have members of the house of lords who we've heard a great deal from over the past few years holding up from over the past few years holding up the process. you want to come

back on that? i think it is very disappointing. a firm promise was made to somebody who has escaped the nazis and has a huge amount of respect across politics. he is devastated. he feels he has been com pletely let devastated. he feels he has been completely let down. he thinks that we cannot sacrifice all our values at the altar of getting brexit done. january is just part of getting it done. it is the end of the beginning but certainly not the end point and can children who are refugees, lord dubs says, they cannot afford to wait that long, can they? as i said, at the outset, it is a very passionate case that lord dubs makes

but we need to get on and deliver brexit and then deliver a policy. but that will take such a long time. we don‘t have an end... this is about something completely different. i feel for labour mps who took borisjohnson at his work and now so many of those promises have been ripped out. let's openness out on the issue of scrutiny. how concerned are you there won‘t be enough time to scrutinise leaving aside the huge majority thatjohnson has. will there be time to scrutinise this in the future relationship? we don‘t know exactly what detail will come up in a time. iam what detail will come up in a time. i am concerned about how long we have the scrutinise and the ability to scrutinise. so many unknowns in this whole process. one of the things we will all look very carefully at is that a lot of the seats that borisjohnson has one, they have manufacturing plants in them, they will be very concerned about future arrangements. tariffs

and just—in—time supply all comes up. there is no clarity on those key things. we do know we are leaving at the end of january things. we do know we are leaving at the end ofjanuary and by the end of 2020 we either need a deal in place with the eu or they will not be an extension. that is really important because it means michael gove and those who negotiate with the eu have this deadline. it will focus minds on both sides of the channel. we will start from a position where there were no regulatory divergences from the uk and the eu so what would be straightforward to do, a deal on straightforward recognition and no terrace. concerns from the eu and devolved administrations, particularly scotland‘s, concerns from northern ireland‘s and the dup who still don‘t support the deal as it stands. if there are bumps on the road and you think you are close to getting there but you‘re not there at the end of next year would you support a small extension to this transition period will you say it is

absolutely the end of december 2020. there can't be an extension. those who are against us leaving and those who are against us leaving and those who try to do everything to stop brexit of course they will try and find fault in what we do but of course the opportunity is there for us to negotiate a good deal and no terrace. the government has promises to keep to the whole of the uk. the prime minister in the house today said they had to stop talking about ourselves as leavers and remainers mac. . the whole country includes scotla nd mac. . the whole country includes scotland and northern ireland and the many people who didn‘t vote. the most important thing is to make sure

that the economy isn‘t harmed under manufacturing base isn‘t harmed. the chance of a no—deal brexit has just shot up because we have this very ha rd shot up because we have this very hard deadline coming up. people like douglas will have no flexibility about... here we are again. we have to leave the eu because it will stimulate growth. we do not know that as a fact. we know that david cameron was all about project fear and actually output is up and unemployment is now. we haven't left yet. every labour leadership contender ivor declared or who we expected to declare voted against this deal. that is interesting, isn‘t it? against the bill, i should say. what does that say about the future direction of labour about

whoever will become the next leader? they are thinking tactically because the candidates have to win and an election with people who are heavily remain. they are not happy so they are pivoting towards them. i don‘t think that any of the candidates will be putting is one of their big pledges "let‘s start a campaign to join the eu again" but remember that labour members were very supportive to the remaining campaign and they are very upset to be leaving the. thank you forjoining us. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young has been in the houses of parliament following events. an overwhelming victory by the prime minister getting that withdrawal bill through. here is minister getting that withdrawal billthrough. here is alan minister getting that withdrawal bill through. here is alan smith of the snp. this is the future, isn't it? the government has a big majority. you have the issue of

brexit and the bill itself and is not much you can do? i'm very sad about it. the question now is for borisjohnson to about it. the question now is for boris johnson to answer about it. the question now is for borisjohnson to answer if he wants to maintain any legitimacy in the eyes of the people of scotland. we won 80% of the vote. the pro—eu lib dems won four seats in scotland. scotla nd dems won four seats in scotland. scotland is very unhappy with what happens. i want to find solutions which is why i came here. nobody should delude themselves that this isa should delude themselves that this is a done deal. this is not the end of the process. what comes next will be even tougher on the conservatives won‘t have any type of unity themselves. mrjohnson will need allies and he will in scotland and northern ireland on equality. he is not done that today. he talks about people moving on from the labels of remainer and leaver. they said it is

a time for people to come together and for pressure to be something positive for the country. mrjohnson saying, "are you lost, get over it" is not going to heal anything. the hubris from the tory benches was unpalatable to witness. what they have done is agree on the exit. they have done is agree on the exit. they have a majority there but scotland voted massively to remain and voted for pro remain parties in this election. but because of events elsewhere brexit is happening anyway. the snp has been saying for anyway. the snp has been saying for a long time that westminster doesn‘t work for scotland and they proved us right today. let‘s talk to daisy cooper, the new liberal democrat mp for st albans. your first vote as a new mp was to vote against their withdrawal bill. no surprises there. do you feel a frustration that because of his majority it is going to be much more

difficult to make the sort of impact you want to? of course will be more difficult to do so but we can do that. we are a small group of 11 mps but liberal democrats have led multi effo rts but liberal democrats have led multi efforts over the last few years to stop brexit and we will continue to lead cross—party efforts to stop brexit. millions of people want britain to remain an open and internationalist country and we will continue to fight for those values. you say oppose brexit but it is happening, isn‘t it? how will you evolve you response? we will scrutinise the conservative government every step of the way. we know this bill is very different to the one that mrjohnson brought forward a couple of months ago. it isa forward a couple of months ago. it is a power grab because it takes power away from parliament. it is isolationist in nature. it takes away the possibility of reuniting refugees with their families. we will continue to scrutinise the government every step of the way and make sure our values are respected.

the new intake of conservative mps, many of them from seats that were held by labour. they are not going to turn against the prime minister are they in this first flush of parliament? we have seen that when parties work together it has created an enormous amount of public pressure and governments have capitulated. i believe that if enough of us want an open internationalist country can work together i think we can put sufficient pressure on the government to make them capitulate on some of the key important issues. so for somebody watching this who perhaps voted conservative for the first time who perhaps was labour previously. what would you say to them to say that it is ok to take a pause to scrutinise and question what the government is doing now, if

their vote was based on boris johnson‘s slogan of getting brexit done. it is centralto johnson‘s slogan of getting brexit done. it is central to our parliamentary democracy that we have strong opposition parties at scrutinise the government. that is a key pa rt scrutinise the government. that is a key part of parliamentary democracy in the uk and it is a role that the liberal democrats are prepared to form. thank you. we will be back in a little while for more reaction from westminster. letter back to the newsroom. thank you very much a look at the headlines. mps have resoundingly backed the prime minister‘s brexit plan for the uk to leave the eu by the end of january, with a majority of 124 in the commons. buckingham palace has confirmed that the duke of edinburgh is in hospital in london for observation on a pre—existing condition. us diplomat‘s wife anne sacoolas is charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of 19—year—old harry dunn. here‘s your business

headlines on afternoon live andrew bailey is the new governor of the bank of englad. his appointment comes after a lengthy search. mr bailey is the current boss of the city regulator the financial conduct authority and will start his new job next march. just eat has rejected an offer from dutch tech giant prosus, which has been in a bidding war to buy the uk food delivery firm.instead, the company has backed a bid from takeaway.com, which is also based in the netherlands.both takeaway.com and prosus increased their bids yesterday. heathrow has said its project to build a third runway has been delayed by "at least 12 months" after the aviation regulator rejected its spending plans.the civil aviation authority has refused heathrow‘s request to lift spending from £650 million to £2.4 billion before it even gets planning consent. the pound in our pocket is worth a lot less this week. why? the pound had quite a good surgeon

at the big after the election. at the start of the week one pound was worth more than $1.33 and against the over one euro 19 and a half cents. pretty decent gains. today it‘s worth just one dollar and 30 and half cents and against the euro just below one euro 18 cents. this is down to the fact that traders in the cities and other financial sectors are worried about the fact we could leave the european union as expected by the end of january and we could be leaving without a trade deal in place. to get more on this and other stories affecting the markets, i‘m joined byjeremy stretch from cibc world markets. can you explain why the pound has fallen so sharply this week? can you explain why the pound has fallen so sharply this week7m can you explain why the pound has fallen so sharply this week? it is what you just identified. it is changing possibility of an ideal exit early next year. you go to early september the pound was down

there $1 20. early september the pound was down there $120. we did see a depreciation. because of the large majority of the conservatives gained on thursday the market pared back that probability of a no—deal exit even further but as soon as the prime minister underlined the fact that there would be a transition period then the improbability has gone up again and the markets have been under pressure this week. one story we covered yesterday as the optimism around us stock markets at the moment. they are flying. it sat down to the fact that trade talks between china and the us seem to be going in the right direction or is there more to it than that? there is an element to that but if you look at the way financial markets have been performing over the last few months it does underline the fact that the recession fears are really

peaks that the recession fears are really pea ks around the that the recession fears are really peaks around the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter, those recession fears have clearly diminished. we have seen that in the way that financial markets have been training notjust in equity but if you look at equity ina in equity but if you look at equity in a year—on—year basis and you have to remember that this time last year the markets are under real pressure but if you look at them then where they are looking at very sizeable double—digit gains notjust on the us but pretty much all developing markets so investors had a very good calendar year 29 or at least they have with a week or so to go. thank you very much indeed. let‘s go back to our top story of the day. andrew bailey. he‘ll become the 121st governor and will succeed mark carney when he leaves in march. he is seen as a safe pair of hands but lots of controversy as well. we can get more on this with our business reporter. his time at the

fca hasn‘t exactly been sparkling, has it? it is the biggest blot on an otherwise glowing cv. for example, he has been criticised by many small businesses say the fca and andrew bailey didn't do enough to highlight and help some of the small businesses that accuse the bailed out bank rbs or a division of that bank of pushing their businesses into distress. he has also been criticised for not pushing fund manager neil woodland investment in risky stocks. withdrawals from his flagship fund were suspended and his funds are now close. as you say he isa funds are now close. as you say he is a safe pair of hands and he has a three decade record of dealing with the financial sector, regulating its own policing it and making sure it is safer for customers. he will be taking over in march on a property won‘t be the easiestjob to do what his main challenger going ahead?

indeed. he will face the same challenges in his in tray. one of them is slowing economy and the bank of england can move interest rates because itsjob is to of england can move interest rates because its job is to try and keep the economy on a steady keel but interest rates are already very low. it has very low ammunition in its arsenal to deal with that. also it isa arsenal to deal with that. also it is a big year ahead for brexit and the bank of england will be involved in preparations and facing challenges along the way. that is our business units upstairs. thank you very much indeed for that. anything else? that's it. that is all the business news from me. i'm very glad to see you. thank you very much. ‘a new era in human space flight‘ — with those words, the new starliner capsule blasted off from cape canaveral this morning. it‘s a craft that one day could take space tourists into orbit as paying customers. starliner is on a test flight

to the international space station, but the voyage hasn‘t gone as well as hoped, as our science correspondent jonathan amos explains. and lift—off! the rise of starliner, and a new era of human space flight. but things haven‘t quite gone to plan. boeing launched its capsule on time, although the capsule then failed to fire its engines that would take it to the space station. boeing has built the craft to sell seats in this vehicle to anyone who‘ll buy them. in the first instance, that‘ll be the american space agency. nasa hasn‘t been able to launch its own astronauts to orbit for nearly nine years. when it retired the shuttles in 2011, it ceased to operate space vehicles, and it bought seats to the space station in russian capsules instead. but soon, nasa will spend its money hailing rides on american astronaut taxi services. the goal being that nasa wants to be one customer of many customers, in a very robust commercial marketplace for human space flight in the future.

we also want to have numerous providers that compete against each other on cost and innovation. the ultimate goal being — we want to drive down costs, increase innovation, and increase access to space in a way that we‘ve never seen before. another enterprise, california‘s spacex company, has already completed the test flight of its astronaut capsule. the dragon craft made a flawless trip to the orbiting lab in march. spacex looks set to start flying astronauts for real in the next few months. what we don‘t know is how far behind boeing will be. engineers are trying to fix the problem of the stalled capsule. if they can, the starliner will arrive at the space station on saturday. jonathan amos, bbc news. in the next hour we will find out

who has won the race for christmas number one. it looks like a run—off between this dad blogger with a song about sausage rolls. he has recorded a song called i love sausage rolls. he could join the beatles, the spice girls and other artists to have back—to—back number ones. that‘s it from afternoon live for today — next the bbc news at 5 with jane hill in the studio and annita mcveigh at westminster — persistent areas of rain have caused flooding problems across parts of the country but it is especially in south—eastern where we have impacts, for example on the m23 and on the lines in sussex, and on this very busy day of christmas travel plans

it is worth checking before travelling. we are seeing rain in eastern england which will clear away this evening and following we will have a scattering of showers and the most frequent of these pushing into wales, southern england, the midlands and east anglia where it will be rather cloudy overnight and the cloud keeping temperatures up to 3—7, and a bit cooler further north but there is the risk of a few showers dotted around. into saturday‘s forecast, the showers across england and wales will push over northern england into northern ireland and scotland as the day progresses, and often it will be quite cloudy but they will be some bright and sunny spells but late in the day low pressure will bring cloud and rain back into southern england and probably southern wales and the midlands and east anglia late in the day. that is the weather.

today at 5:00, mps back the prime minister‘s plan for the uk to leave the eu on the 31st of january. the ayes to the right — 358. the noes to the left — 234. it was a decisive victory for the government — with a majority of 124. now is the time to act together, as one reinvigorated nation, one united kingdom. we recognise the clear message from the british public last week, however they voted in the referendum of 2016 and understand their determination to end the never ending cycle of the brexit debate. the bill now goes on to further scrutiny in the house