last week, the news, picking up on last week, the news, compared to what it was, has lost its capacity to excite but there are still stuff to get into if we return to the tradition of brexitcast delighting in the nuance and detail. huge news and other parts of the news landscape. but from your end, although he set out in london, something familiar but important from one of the people who will matter in the next 12 months? this is phil hogan, known as big phil! he is phil hogan, known as big phil! he is super tall, about a foot six! he has other attributes that she is irish, he was the agricultural commissioner in the last commission and is now the trade commissioner. he isa and is now the trade commissioner. he is a big character, very forceful. and he will be involved in the trade negotiations and we think with the uk although not clear and he was actually in america talking to doing an interview with peter

mandelson at a conference in london over facetime, skype. he was in the states to smooth over trade tensions between the us and the eu but he sort of took part in this live debate and to questions which included some questions on brexit of course and what did we find out? not that we will find out anything about the likelihood of a compressive trade deal in place and ratified by the end of this year? let's listen. prime ministerjohnson has done wisely. —— on wisely, he wants a timeline. he puts enormous pressure on the uk system and then on the eu system in order to see what we have to do to meet his timeline that he has put in legislation and it is not a simple thing of amending the legislation at the end of the process because withdrawal agreement has gone through, article 50 is no

more so has gone through, article 50 is no more so the technical people and the director general will be more closely involved with this but this is not a simple business ofjust a one line amendment in the legislation in december and we will extend the time. that is not possible so we need to wake up to this reality that gamesmanship and brinkmanship will not work on this occasion. that is basically brussels' message to the government, this new year. you can have some kind of flimsy trade deal from us but it will not be comprehensive by the end of 2020 and it is about both sides are setting up their positions, isn't it? everybody is spinning like tops because the prime minister promised in the election that he could definitely have a comprehensive, all singing, amazing trade deal by the end of this year which is the december deadline but it is clear since everyone has been back at what we are heading for is something a bit more phased—in, we we re something a bit more phased—in, we were talking about this last week, a series of priorities and a deal done

over time and when the prime minister was talking to our collea g u es minister was talking to our colleagues at bbc breakfast, he used a phrase like it was epically unlikely that it would not be done. well... there was a little chink in that. and what will it be? it will be kind of a people promised but not quite. but it will not have gone without notice in westminster that the eu side keep criticising the timetable but they also signed up to it, it was their deadline also? that history and we are seeing boris johnson with that tiniest little sliver, the difference between epically likely and definitely. offering that little chink and we talked last week about how much of a political hit it would be if you had to postpone or delay or whatever and if you could say they have done it even though there are still lots to do. i even though there are still lots to do. lam even though there are still lots to do. i am indulging even though there are still lots to do. lam indulging in my nerdiness because there is not as much anger

in the news. a house of lords report which, the european union committee, picking up on what we heard from phil hogan. let us call him big phil. spreadsheet phil is no longer pa rt of phil. spreadsheet phil is no longer part of the conversation in the way he was, so what do they talk about, the extremely challenging timetable. they point out that you have to extend by the 1st ofjuly and if that deadline was to pass, even if both sides would then conclude that an extension was a good idea, there is no legal mechanism under the withdrawal agreement for allowing it to happen. and then there is the cost of any extension from the eu —— uk perspective, that would be subject to negotiation. what is becoming clear is this idea that the uk is talking about the eu as definitely promoting the idea of you must prioritise and you cannot have the all dancing version by the end

of the year but what the eu also thinks is that you are not necessarily going to get, you were talking about this, where the government gets one issue sorted and on issue sorted and then another so they can put a tick on it but if you look at trade relations or if you put services into the mix or security, and it is not clear that all of these things will be debated and decided this year, but if they we re and decided this year, but if they were you could see an increase delay because, for example, where the uk has more of an advantage over the security issue, the uk will not sign up security issue, the uk will not sign up to the securities deal separately with the eu when it may want to use that as a bargaining chip to get something over financial services, for example. and so it is going to be very difficult in practical terms for either side to take off a whole section of this compressive trade deal when everybody has different

priorities and bargaining chips. so i think at the moment those waters are still quite murky as to how this could work out in practice. are still quite murky as to how this could work out in practicelj are still quite murky as to how this could work out in practice. i am so happy you said that because it has given me my weekly excuse to say parallelism versus sequential is on. one of the original debates about whether you can do everything at the same time or go step but have you found any clues this week on the eu approach, possibly lurking in some kind of formal format that could be put into a binder? exactly. it has been my christmas for me! what has happened is basically the eu negotiating team have set up brexit university for the diplomats working for the 27 member states, lots of him are new and are starting on this in —— for the work time! the first time. it is like professor michel barnier of hog what's going through the political declaration. sadly, he

is not doing the slides and the presentations and if he was he would not be wearing a cap and gown like professor mcgonigle but we can dream. a visiting lecturer, adam fleming, nose pressed against the glass. it is like i am looking at an academic career after this! i'm glass. it is like i am looking at an academic careerafterthis! i'm not! the great thing is the slides are published online so everybody can see them and to keep the member states online and if you look at them, there are lots of interesting clues and pointers and things that are going to become important in the futures of the first thing is they start off with this page about the purpose of the seminars, to get everyone in the same place when it comes to the mandate so the detailed instructions that michel barnier will be given for the future relationship. why is it so important for the commission to get the member states in place? because they are the servants of the member states and you need to maintain unity. they are worried about spain saying they

wa nt to are worried about spain saying they want to put fishing ahead and luxembourg saying financial services. on page three of every site pack you have the words no surprises underlined because they wa nt to surprises underlined because they want to stick faithfully to the political declaration and you remember the political declaration set are going to the shape of the future relationship? everyone said it was not legally binding, just a sketch, the eu is taking it as gospel and are very faithfully cutting and pasting the political declaration and putting that into their mandate for the rhymes. shall we talk about the labour leadership? because to put it gently, there is a lot of soul—searching going on amongst labour mps privately and publicly about what on earth went wrong. and where they go next on the extent to which it was a leader or brexit and the rest of it. and we have come alive and running, this discussion about labour's future and therefore an appointment for the bbc's political team with the

wannabes. i cannot let the use of the term fisher people go on mentioned because you have heard this, a quick look on google and a p pa re ntly this, a quick look on google and apparently it has been a big discussion in canada. justin trudeau talks about fisher people? rather than fissures? let's move on. i did not ask sir keir starmer whether he used the word fisher people and if he is lucky enough to become the labour leader... that was a big oversight so we will talk about the five candidates over the next few weeks vying to become leader and today i sat down with sir keir starmer who was in a funny position because he is the mp is' favourite but not very helpful for the membership and he is not wanting to be continuity corbyn, he was a show he is different but resolutely does not want tojump he is different but resolutely does not want to jump the record or upset

the people who feel passionately thatjeremy corbyn was on the right track and, of course, brexitcast fa ns track and, of course, brexitcast fans know, and sir keir starmer is one himself, so we are delighted he is still listening, let's not mention the quiz... ! he was one of the architects of the brexit policy which kinda fell flat in the election because he did not please either side. let's listen... you we re either side. let's listen... you were in the room and the two big issues for the labour party, on two of them, the brexit plan, you were in charge of that, and anti—semitism, racism againstjewish people that the party did not take seriously enough, to say that now, but you would in the room at the top table, if you really have what it ta kes to table, if you really have what it takes to be leader, should you not have spoken out more strongly at the time in either of those issues? one brexit, let's be clear about what the labour party was doing. we were determined to try to stop the damage

we thought a theresa may or boris johnson deal would do. we thought a theresa may or boris johnson dealwould do. in we thought a theresa may or boris johnson deal would do. in your own plan you are trying to have it both ways and that failed. we were trying to bring together both sides, whether they voted leave or remain but i think the idea that brexit was the only issue in this election or even that in our heartlands it was the determining factor because if you look at what has happened in our heartlands, we have been losing votes for a long time over the period. but the point is not about either of the policies or any of the policies individually — you were pa rt policies individually — you were part of the top team that has just taken labour to part of the top team that has just ta ken labour to another part of the top team that has just taken labour to another historic defeat. how can you be the person to turn the page? because we need to restore the trust and understand what has happened. i do not meet anybody on the election trail who said everything is fine, i don't wa nt said everything is fine, i don't want anything to change. people were crying out for a change in the did not believe the party could deliver

that change. i felt he was in an awkward spot. he is trying very hard not to trash the recent record and some other candidates are being more plain—spoken about what went wrong. but he does not want to... he is trying to call time of thejeremy corbyn era. but he was part of it. very difficult part for a lot of members he was a person... who remembers a conference when he made the speech saying remain should be on the ballot paper in having a second referendum, there is a certain part of the membership pushing policies towards the second referendum and ultimately it was really unsuccessful. it is tricky from his perspective. when you have been around the top table and plenty of his rivals have, and you cannot run far away from the man you have been serving but you must define yourself properly or distinctly and the dangerous, we saw this with three of the wallabies beaten by jeremy corbyn in 2015, you caveat

and triangulate out of existence and you end up saying nothing. that is the problem for keir starmer because he was way ahead among mps and he is sort of the labour westminster establishment but not the party's hq in london's victoria establishment nor the members' favourite and he looks like the front runner sort of but rebecca long—bailey will get the endorsement of the unite union and she has the momentum endorsement, that campaign group but they only put your name on the ballot paper when they were asking members who to pick. there is also unevenness and i think the race is more open than people think. when you have had for the last four years, five years, the entire time jeremy corbyn has been leader, this long—running theme that it was, and it is a crude description but not far from reality, a battle between the parliamentary party at westminster

being of one view, or broadly a lot of scepticism towards him, and the membership, twice endorsing him with mega majorities. for sir keir starmer's perspective, being on what could be the wrong side of that dynamic, loved by westminster but do the membership like? it is tricky. and very well plugged in in brussels because he was beetling backwards and forwards, i don't know if they have a view in the brussels establishment about who they would like to see in the opposition? think of that linkage in the first round of that linkage in the first round of brexit between michel barnier and the opposition politicians, keir starmer said he was confident with his eu conflict and he could get a labour deal done. that is too far off the radar. everyone keeps referring to the stocking majority borisjohnson has, referring to the stocking majority boris johnson has, considering referring to the stocking majority borisjohnson has, considering how there was not much the opposition can say when it comes to trade

negotiations so they are more interested in looking at what the manoeuvring is around borisjohnson and who will be beetling backwards and who will be beetling backwards and forwards on the trade deal so the fact that david frost is going to be his envoy in these talks once again is of real interest to brussels. and at the time, in the divorce deals, they thought he was a mouthpiece for boris johnson divorce deals, they thought he was a mouthpiece for borisjohnson rather than someone able to sit here and make decisions on his own. this was refuted by downing street. i know i sound like a barnier obsessive, there isn't discussion on on who is his opposite. in the you will do my eyes it can't be david frost. barnier is a civil service in this case but do they think his opposite number should be a politician. what happens if the uk doesn't buy that? doesn't put up a steve barkley or dominic raab

figure? where does that leave barnier? let's see... the cabinet told me that just barnier? let's see... the cabinet told me thatjust as the cdl chancellor, a very important person so chancellor, a very important person soi chancellor, a very important person so i was told that negotiations take britain into the eu. i stressed that as ministerial chitter chatter rather than anything official but interesting nonetheless. there'll be some historical symmetry. to describe the size of borisjohnson's majority, should we talk about bongs? we have to talk about big ben brexit. big ben brexit bongs. even

borisjohnson fluff that alliteration. big ben brexit bongs. this is painful! so it's basically not happening. bongs cost £500,000. we are working up plans so people can bone up on because there are some people who want to succumb... i haven't quite worked out. because big ben is being refurbished, they seem big ben is being refurbished, they seem to have taken the trapper away so we seem to have taken the trapper away so we need to restore the clapper in order to bongs big ben on brexit night. it turns out it's 45 grand a

bawling if it's half a million quid and then there's 11 bongs which is the time it will be on the 51st when the time it will be on the 51st when the uk leaves the eu. the appeal has gone. its reach stitch... very good! this is the people chipping in to make big ben bongs. but the government hasn't said, i got a little cool from where borisjohnson was and crucially, the house of commons authorities have said not only would it be one helluva effort to make the bongs, but they're not sure there is a mechanism to do so. if the public piece of land. history. people have to chip in money to do it. jacob rees-mogg was involved in delivering the disappointing news. if people wish

to pay for things i think that should be considered as part of their public spiritedness rather than feeling that everyone should always fall on the hard—pressed taxpayer. so the taxpayer won't pay, those people who have been involved in crowdfunding might not be able to pay so it may be that those who want to celebrate with the big bang bongs have been cruelly disappointed but we will see. welcome to 2020! the chairman of the brexit party has said there is a contingency plan which is, somebody once reported big ben when it used to gong. they can display that. i think it actually bombed at new year's. i don't think

—— bonged at new year's. bombed at new year's. i don't think -- bonged at new year's. isn't there an issue for the government, boris johnson said he wants to heal the nation. what extent can they or should be celebrating or allowed proclamation on the dash of that in itself is tricky for the prime minister, isn't it? it's a serious issue. know your actually right. and the government is paranoid about getting the tone, you are totally right, so if there was a crowdfunding associated to this, i think the government think "marvellous. " think the government think "marvellous." it is tricky. i think we will probably see around that time the prime minister trying to mark the significance of the occasion, but not wanting to crow about it but my goodness, for a lot of brexit years, nigel

that will be a temptation because for a lot of people, it's a end of a very long fight. it's good to be something they will find very upsetting the blue there's a lot still to come. the factual reality is a moment of british history. it's a huge one! utterly enormous. also at 11 o'clock at night on friday. we will be broadcasting live and people will turn in. surely brexitcast will be doing something special. stay tuned. we can say that definitively. just because it's friday night and 11 o'clock, you should be in that red

chair. laughter i love that idea! we would turn it into a love seat so it's a double chairand into a love seat so it's a double chair and then you can. will have judy dench on one side and hugh jackman on the other. you don't mean let's all sit on the sofa and have a lovely chat, you mean sit in the chair for you lovely chat, you mean sit in the chairfor you and lovely chat, you mean sit in the chair for you and adam lovely chat, you mean sit in the chairfor you and adam to bus out, so chairfor you and adam to bus out, so thanks! it all becomes clear what kind of area you guys are looking for. somebody who's been chucked, i suppose actually they chucked themselves and it's just suppose actually they chucked themselves and it'sjust natural.

the european parliament 's brackley core “— the european parliament 's brackley core —— brexit coordinator is doing the sort of goodbye, he was in london today seeing steve barclay talking about citizens' rights and there is a big debate about rights in strasberg earlier this week, and he did a sort of big picture, what does brexit mean? there are problems that we recognise in the european union. when we have brexit, a big country that is leaving the european union it's difficult to say —— it's a problem. we have a problem when a big country is leaving the eu. he's knocking to be in our lives any more, he's got a focus on the future of europe where the eu is going to spend two years having a discussion about forming that you. back to citizens' rights, this is something that the european parliament has

been worried about always during the brexit negotiations. they passed a motion this week butjust to be absolutely clear, there is no way they are going to reject the brexit deal come the 29th of this month. they recommend the parliament votes for it. two line saying we consent to the deal and the second line is and we tell the european council that we've done that so that's the european parliament. of course, if he is doing less work on brexit that means he has more time to spend on his lovely vineyard in italy which we saw when they did a documentary about him last year. a controversial documentary. there was a bit of joshing around. we also saw him raising his —— racing his sports car and it broke down. metaphors i go

go! time to go go? we are gone gone. by. green goodbye. the weather will go to from one extreme to another with friday being a day of transition. thursday brought more rain however on another deep area of low pressure, notjust more rain but more wind as well as we saw from some of our weather watchers. this was a massive cloud as it rolled its way off the atlantic, the signature curl around the area of low pressure, keeping the area of low pressure, keeping the winds in the night, the rain clearing and eastern areas through

the area early hours of friday morning. sunny spells and showers really in the air is pretty cold, so some wintry nest and initially in the north but we could see some wintry nets and showers further south. hail and thunder, wintry nets and showers further south. hailand thunder, gusting winds as well so as you can appreciate, it will feel chillier as it did —— blustery winds. it's all changed for the weekend. it will become much more settled, why? because we are changing the low pressure for high pressure, so the low pressures will get steered towards the south in away towards the north and quite an intense area of high pressure will keep those low pressures and weather fronts at bay forfour pressures and weather fronts at bay for four or five days but it does mean we pick up cold nights. saturday starts on a frosty note away from the north. still a few showers, the exact into that driver will come up plenty of wintry

sunshine, temperatures struggling to average after that frosty start but obviously, the sunshine and the lighter winds will compensate and as we got there saturday night into sunday, another widespread frost developed. fewer showers, lighter winds, more generally as go into sunday so a frosty start and in rural areas, white harsh frost. south—westerly when bringing cloud but by and large, we will see a good spells of sunshine, temperatures around about average for the time of year, the winds light but then sunday night becomes colder. as we sit under that area of high pressure, but while we do, we start to pick up a south—westerly and week weather front start to come into the north and west and they introduce more moisture, so the likelihood is with the likeliest day of high pressure we will pick up some fog. lots of settled weather but we could well have some misty fog problems, on monday a slight —— again, not

significant rain for most. a cold and frosty start with some patchy fog and again, very similar weather would just starts as we push those weather fronts to introduce more clout as well so with cloudier skies but that high pressure maintains a dry spell because the debt stream is well to the north through next week, however it looks south, as it does the pressure will decline further south. at this stage it looks like a large part of notjust this weekend but next week will be influenced by high pressure and dry weather. later in the period, you may see some more wind and rain returning on low pressure so wind and rain returning on low pressure so please stay tuned.

tonight at ten, the world has now reached the point of climate change crisis. that's the stark warning from sir david attenborough. the effects of global warning, he said, make immediate action vital, action that countries have been putting off for year after year. the moment of crisis has come. we can no longer pick prevaricate. as i speak, south—east australia is on fire. we'll bring you more from his bbc news interview and also look at how australia is coping with the bushfires there. also tonight... donaldj trump has abused the powers of the presidency. donald trump ‘s impeachment trial gets under way in the senate. the president denounces it as a hoax. prince harry posts this, his only

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