this is bbc news, the headlines: the white house has confirmed who will be in the legal team which will defend president trump in his impeachment trial. it will include ken starr, the main prosecutor from bill clinton's impeachment — as well as the lawyer alan dershowitz, whose clients included oj simpson and jeffrey epstein. iran's supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei has defended the country's armed forces after it admitted shooting down a passenger plane by mistake. canada's prime ministerjustin trudeau says iran must pay compensation to the 176 people who were killed — 57 of those were canadian citizens. the us says it will start to screen passengers from china for symptoms of a new coronavirus that has killed two people. there are 41 laboratory confirmed cases — but experts in london estimate the true number is closer to 1700.

now on bbc news, it's time for a look back at the week in parliament. hello and welcome to the week in parliament. what does borisjohnson‘s brexit deal mean for child refugees? the conditions are desperate. these young people are vulnerable to criminality, to prostitution, and to trafficking. what's it like starting a newjob weeks before you lose it? we hearfrom britain's newest mep. we will be asking the european union to keep our seats warm, we'll do everything we can to gain our independence and rejoin the european union as soon as possible. also in this programme — the big ben brexit bong ding dong. it seems to me with regard to bunging a bob for big ben bongs,

one shouldn't look gift horses in the mouth. all that to come and more from the palace of westminster, possibly the only palace where people aren't talking about you know who. this was a week when borisjohnson‘s brexit deal continued its journey through parliament with the house of lords subjecting the withdrawal agreement bill to line—by—line scrutiny. various concerns were aired but the key battles await another day. and, in the days to come, their lordships will start to vote on changes to the bill proposed by opposition peers. with no majority in the upper house, ministers do face defeat on some key issues — among them the question of what happens to unaccompanied migrant children in the eu who have relatives in the uk. should they be allowed automatically to join their families here? the withdrawal agreement bill waters down a previous government commitment. ministers say they would offer the protection

but in different legislation later. but in the man behind the amendment they face a difficult opponent — the 87—year—old labour peer alf dubs who came to this country as a six—year—old refugee from naziism under the kindertransport programme. members of this house will of course be fully aware, there is no need for me to spell it out into much detail, of the appalling conditions in which children are in calais in what was formerly thejungle on the big islands. conditions are desperate. these young children are vulnerable to criminality, to prostitution, and to trafficking. they are in a terrible plight. i've never argued that britain can take them all, of course not. all i've argued is that we should take our share of responsibility, along with other countries. but where we have specific responsibility is where children have family here because clearly the right to family union is something we should support. ministers are reluctant to have their hands tied in eu negotiations.

lord dubs suggested this could mean children being used as bargaining chips. well, i would find it offensive that the government saw children ——if the government saw children as bargaining chips. i don't think any member of this house or the other place sees any child as a bargaining chip. what the government seeks to do is undertake an arrangement whereby reciprocity is undertaken, it makes absolute sense that we have reciprocal arrangements with europe. we might have left the eu but we have certainly not left europe. of course, the government could overturn a defeat in the commons. but what happens if the lords dig in? this is where this man could come in. you'll have recognised him as the fifth marquess of salisbury. yes, he of the salisbury convention. lord dubs himself has been trying to find out what that convention means in practice. where there is government legislation based on a clear and unambiguous manifesto commitment, then, we, as an unelected house,

do not have the right to challenge the principle of that legislation, nor do we have the right to obstruct or delay that legislation. i think that is clear, whatever other nuances there are about the way in which the salisbury convention might work. that seems clear enough — the withdrawal agreement bill was in the conservative manifesto. but what would the convention mean for lord dubs‘s amendment on child refugees? i found nothing in the government's election manifesto which suggested they were going to be reversing the existing policy on family union for child refugees. i'm not going to argue the details of that, merely to say that i would have thought we are fully entitled, as a house, to amend that particular clause, and maybe one or two others, where there is no manifesto commitment. so, does he have a point? will the government be unable to use the convention to block the dubs amendment? questions i put to the former clerk of the parliaments, sir david beamish, who explained to me the origins of the salisbury convention.

well, it dates back to the days of the attlee government after the second world war when the labour party was elected with a large commons majority but very few members in the house of lords, fewer than 20 against about 400 conservative peers. and their then leader of the conservative opposition in the lords, who soon afterwards became lord salisbury, offered what i think would have been called at the time a doctrine, a sort of self—denying ordinance that they would not use their numbers in the house of lords to try and prevent proposals put before the people in the labour manifesto going through. so, in practice, that meant they wouldn't oppose, they would make amendments to bills but they wouldn't try and block any bills implementing the labour party's policy. that is how it started. it has evolved over the years but it was very much an agreement between the labour and conservative frontbenchers. so, it's evolved over the years, has it been challenged in practice? on the whole, i'd say no, in the sense that the frontbenchers

have for the most part adhered to it. there have been occasions when bills have been rejected in the house of lords but they are usually special cases which don't transgress the rule that if something is in the manifesto it will be given afairwind. and it's quite important to understand this applies to the bills generally, but amendments would still be possible under the convention? yes. it's basically about blocking bills so, so called wrecking amendments that of the bill would be regarded as contrary to the convention. ——that undermine the purpose of the bill would be regarded as contrary to the convention. but making amendments, as the house of lords has often been described as the revising chamber, so inviting the commons to look at the amendments and consider improvements to the bill, is its corejob, really. so, when alf dubs says that his amendment does not stretch or defy the convention,

then he is on solid ground there? i would say so, to invite the commons to think again, his amendment is to take out a clause in the bill which changes a provision which is already in law in the european withdrawal act 2018, so it is not a wrecking amendment. i think when it would get interesting is if the commons were to reject his amendment, assuming it gets passed before the bill goes back to the commons, then, and this is really nothing to do with the salisbury convention, but on the whole, having invited the elected chamber to think again, the house of lords has to think very carefully before fighting on any further. there comes a point when they recognise the will of the elected chamber must prevail and you need some good reason to fight on. but we are nowhere near that point. sir david beamish. the northern ireland assembly has been back in session after a break of three years. it opened with a saturday sitting and a raft of

new ministerial appointments. then came a visit from borisjohnson and the taoiseach leo varadkar. but there was also a row over funding. looking back at an historic few days at stormont for us, here's the bbc‘s northern ireland political reporter, jayne mccormack. this is stormont‘s great hall. it's been a hive of activity in recent days with devolution restored after a three—year hiatus. the dup and sinn fein agreed a deal that includes new legislation for the irish language and ulster scots and now the five main parties have rejoined the executive. it feels like business as usual but it's not. that's because after the december general election, the dup and sinn fein saw their vote fall while the alliance party saw a surge in its vote. it will be keen to make its muscle felt in the new assembly. there are new ministers in the executive, too, tasked with taking tough decisions on health and education, with those budgets are under severe strain. there is £1 billion in extra funding coming from the government to help with that but money isn't everything. the parties have to prove now that they can get past

the honeymoon period and share power again. but time will tell if this really is a new decade with a new approach. jayne mccormack. there were fresh developments in scotland, too, as borisjohnson rejected nicola sturgeon‘s call for holyrood to be given the power to hold a second independence referendum. separately, the first minister agreed to broaden the scope of an inquiry into education, after opposition msps united to demand it. the scottish government had already ordered an inquiry into the senior phase of schooling. but msps voted by 63—60 to say this should be a "full review" of broader education. a rather croaky—voiced interim tory leader jackson carlaw pressed the issue at first minister's questions. last week at first minister's questions, the first minister was in denial about the state of scottish education. so, what is a response to yesterday's call from msps from across this chamber for a full enquiry into broad general education and curriculum for excellence, and will she now hold one?

first minister. the scottish government will abide by the decision of parliament. the deputy first minister will set out in due course how that will be taken forward. of course, i would point out to jackson carlaw that there was a review of the broad general education carried out by the 0ecd in 2015 and when it issued its report and made its recommendations, the scottish conservatives welcomed it and said that they agreed with its recommendations. so, there is already a commitment to the 0ecd to carry out a review of the senior phase but of course we will abide by the decision taken yesterday, whether or not we consider that is necessary. nicola sturgeon. back to westminster now for a brief look at some of the other stories here. a health minister told mps that the inquiry into britain's worst maternity scandal is now reviewing 900 cases. nadine dorries admitted it was a huge increase from the original number of cases

being reviewed by the 0ckenden review, which was set up to examine baby deaths in the shrewsbury and telford hospital trust. i'm afraid that i have to inform the honourable lady in the house that the additional cases have been identified and the total number stands at now 900 cases. and that may be relevant to review. a small number of those are going back a0 years. these have been found for a number of reasons. looking at previous incidences that were reported at the hospital, parents who have been brave enough to come forward and tell their own experiences. the government's planning to toughen the law on domestic abuse. atjustice questions, a labour mp warned that there was significant evidence from charities and police forces that during major sporting events, the number of domestic abuse cases increases. with a six nations coming in just a few weeks‘ time, what work is the minister doing

to work with the rugby unions across the uk to try and explain, from the stadiums to television programming to working with the rugby players themselves, to explain that domestic abuse is clearly wrong and there is never an excuse for it, but there needs to be more investment to tackle the causes of it, which includes these sporting events. minister. i think the honourable gentleman makes a very, very good point, highlighting the fact that domestic abuse is out there in so many different areas, not always where we expect to see it. so, with regard specifically to rugby, i would need to go away and ask a few questions, but i thank him for raising it in the chamber today and for highlighting the importance of why we need to bring forward the domestic abuse bill and to really see an end to these abhorrent crimes. there's been a growing backlash against the government's plan to help save the troubled airline flybe. a proposal to review air passenger duty has been attacked by climate campaign groups and opposition mps.

over the coming months, it will become ever more apparent that that tackling the climate emergency means rapid changes to high carbon sectors and that aviation must decrease, not increase. so, instead of bailing out polluting companies every time there is a crisis, and in this instance, doing so in a way that is going to increase emissions, does he agree that instead, the government should be developing just transition plans for high carbon industries, retraining workers in sustainable jobs, involving unions and local communities, and in this case, enhancing rail connectivity? i think she's able to come up we are seeking to ensure aviation plays its role in reaching net—zero by 2050. as i've said, we will consult our response to the committee on climate change. my friend, the honourable member for future transport, is working hard on looking at how to diversify the plane market and also bringing forward his transport decarbonization plan. i think we will respond to good ideas on how we can decarbonize transport in this department. the acting leader of the liberal democrats has called for better support for bereaved people.

sir ed davey, who was orphaned at the age of 15, raised the issue during prime minister's questions. when my mother was widowed with three young children, bereaved families received small payments until the youngest child left school. in our case, that would have meant payments for 1h years — except my mother died too early. in 2017, these payments were reduced, the duration of these payments were reduced, and the new bereavement support payment was paid for only 18 months. many of us thought that was far too short. so will the prime minister deliver on his government's promise to review the new bereavement support payment? and will he meet with me and charities helping such families to discuss how we can better care for bereaved parents and their children? yes, mr speaker, and i know that this is an issue which is very close to the right honourable gentleman's heart, and it is absolutely right that we should provide people with easily accessible support following their bereavement

and i will indeed commit to meeting the right honourable gentleman. now, when the uk leaves the eu onjanuary 31st, britain's 73 members of the european parliament will lose theirjobs. this week, they made their last visit to the regular plenary session in strasbourg. there, meps debated the future direction of the eu. a familiar face recalled the eu's origins as a loose alliance of sovereign trading nations. and if that had remained the vision and was still the vision, i venture to say that i don't believe that britain would now be leaving. but that did not happen. cooperation morphed into domination. sovereignty morphed into a superstate. and that is why britain is going. and i believe that when we have made a big success of being a competitor on your doorstep, others will follow us. and therefore, if you want

a future not for europe but for the european union — which is a different thing — learn the lessons of what has happened in the uk. when we have brexit, a big country that is leaving the european union, it's difficult to say, "0h, fantastic! " no, it's a problem. we have a problem when a big country is leaving the union, when, five years after the start of the migration crisis, we still don't have a reform of dublin. we have a problem in the european union. for one of the uk's meps, it was her first — and last — session in strasbourg. the snp's heather anderson replaced alyn smith after he was elected to westminster last month. i spoke to herfrom strasbourg — and began by asking heather anderson if it was worth unpacking. oh, it's absolutely worth unpacking. i met michel barnier yesterday

and he said it would be a short period of time but very intense, and he was correct. so i'm basically here to make sure that scotland's voice is represented in these final weeks of the european parliament. we've got important debates and discussions in the next two weeks. we'll be debating the withdrawal bill and we will be voting against it on behalf of the people in scotland, so it's vital i'm here to carry out that function. realistically, what can you achieve in such a short period of time? i think the main thing is, we have a seat here. one of our meps was elected to westminster, so we have a democratic seat at the table. 0urjob in these closing weeks is to make sure we send a very strong message to europe, to say we are not leaving europe, we're being dragged out against our will, and scotland as a nation will be doing absolutely everything to gain its independence and apply tojoin the european union as soon as possible. if it was possible before the end of this european parliamentary term, that would be fantastic.

how would that happen, though? because there would be a lot of hurdles before that could happen. there would have to be a referendum in scotland and then the scottish entry — or reentry — would have to be approved, wouldn't it, by the other 27? absolutely. yes. so we need to get approval to have our independence referendum. then there will be a transition period and we would start as an excession state to gain reentry to the european union. we are very, very welcome here. we're warmly received. i've been overwhelmed by how positive people are about scotland. in this union, we're treated as equals with something to contribute. on many of the key issues that the european union's focusing on — climate change, just transition, the circular economy — scotland is a great contributor. we're leading in some of these areas and we have a huge amount to learn from working together. so we're a useful person to have around the table and we're treated with respect. very different from westminster.

so as far as you're concerned, it's "au revoir" rather than "goodbye"? absolutely. we'll be asking the european union to keep our seats warm. we'll do everything we can to gain our independence and rejoin the european union as soon as possible. the best future for scotland is in the european union. there is no future for scotland in a boris brexit britain, so we are basically looking outwards and to be a progressive, independent country as a member of the european nation, and we can't wait to get back. heather anderson, thank you very much indeed. time for a look now at what's been happening in the wider world of politics. selina seth has our countdown. at 5: zac goldsmith, who lost his seat as an mp in the general election, became a peer this week. i, zacharias, lord goldsmith of richmond park, do swear by almighty god that i will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her majesty queen elizabeth. at 4: new conservative mp david johnston tells us why

didcot is so special. a couple of years ago, it wasjudged britain's most, england's most normal town. laughter at 3: "we can't hear you!" brexit party mep claire fox has her microphone cut when her speaking time is up. you seem to want to create... madame, no—one can hear you, but you are free to continue talking to yourself. at 2: shadow culture secretary — and former soap actress — tracy brabin hops to the despatch box. thank you, mr speaker. nobody say "break a leg," please. and at 1: lord forsyth reminds lord mann of his interesting views on the house of lords. he is on record as saying that this place is a care home for failed politicians.

selina seth reporting. many of the new mps first elected at last month's general election have made their first — or maiden — speeches in the commons. by tradition, these are non—controversial and include a tribute to the mp's predecessor, even if they came from a different political party. mark fletcher is a conservative whose victory in derbyshire ended the parliamentary career of labour's dennis skinner, who was widely known as the beast of bolsover. dennis also became known nationally for his uncompromising contributions in this chamber and his heckling in the queen's speech. feared, admired and respected, dennis skinner is synonymous both with this house and with the constituency i now represent. and i think it would only be fair and a great tribute if we can arrange for a statue of dennis to be built in the constituency, to honour his service and to inspire the next generation in bolsover

that they too can help shape the world. new mps are also advised to say nice things about their constituency. for some, it's not exactly a stretch. my predecessor, in his own maiden speech, mentioned our whisky distilleries. but i would also like to mention north east fife‘s increasing number of gin distilleries, such as eden mill, pilgrim's, darnley‘s of kingsbarns and lundin links. having come to this house directly from the drinks industry, i hold a general certificate in distilling and would be more than happy to tutor members accordingly. laughter 0thers dip into local history. when i first arrived here last month, i came across a statue of oliver cromwell. 0liver cromwell is well known in my constituency, in the town of dunbar. he's not viewed as the lord protector — far from it. he was not as brutal as he was at drogheda, but people still suffered in 1650

at the battle of dunbar, when his english army killed thousands of scottish soldiers and thousands more were captured. and it's not unusual to recall famous sons from your part of the world. pontypridd runs through my veins as strongly and as truly as the rivers taff and rhondda run through our valley. pontypridd, my home, is also home of local legends — notjust my mam, but the legends of tom jones and wales' most feared and capped prop forward, gethin jenkins. whilst i was tempted to construct this speech around the lyrics of sir tom, i didn't have the same temptation when it came to geth's on—field banter. this would generally consist of a look so menacing, it could make the very scoreboard twitch. alex jones—davies recalling the green, green grass of home. finally, the row that's threatened to overshadow normal politics — should big ben chime as we leave the eu? the elizabeth tower, which houses the bell, is currently under restoration —

and bringing back big ben for one night only would cost half a million pounds — almost £50,000 a bong, as the speaker put it. the prime minister had his own cunning plan — bunging a bob for a big ben bong — and more than £200,000 was raised through crowd —funding. but this plan fell foul of the parliamentary rules, as a member of the house of commons commission confirmed. there has been a suggestion that the cost of striking the bell could be covered by donations made by the public. this would be an unprecedented approach. the house of commons has well—established means of voting through the expenditure required to allow it to function and to preserve its constitutional position in relation to government. any novel form of funding would need to be consistent with principles of propriety and proper oversight of public expenditure. it seems to me, with regard to bunging a bob for big ben bongs,

one should not look gift horses in the mouth, and that if people wish to pay for things, i think that should be considered as part of their public spiritedness rather than feeling that everything should always fall on the hard—pressed taxpayer. but then, as a conservative, i don't think things should always fall on hard—pressed taxpayers if that can be avoided. so, the plan to bung a bob for the brexit big ben bong has all gone a bit pete tong — and ministers are looking at other ways of marking brexit. that's it for the week in parliament. thank you for watching. i do hope you canjoin kristiina cooper on bbc parliament on monday evening at 11pm for monday in parliament. but from me, david cornock, bye for now. big ben chimes

hello. friday was a day of sunny spells and some blustery showers, but the weekend is upon us and there is a change. drier and sunnier throughout. some night—time frost is the other face of winter that we haven't seen much of so far this year. still a north—westerly ushering in showers to the north and north—east of scotland, but elsewhere, after a chilly start with frost for some, it is a dry, fine, crisp day. forget all about the double—figure temperatures, despite the sunshine, six, seven or eight will be your maximum. a widespread frost to get you into the first part of sunday. the one exception, the southerly breeze and the cloud, will keep things on the mild side. maybe a wee bit cloudier across the north and north—west of scotland. elsewhere it is another gloriously sunny day. again, those temperatures around 6—8. the southern half of the uk sees another frost on monday morning. watch out for some fog patches. another dry, bright day for many.

welcome to bbc news, i'm simon pusey. our top stories: prosecutor turns defender: president trump adds ken starr, the man who sought bill clinton's impeachment, to his team. the us says it will screen passengers from china for symptoms of a new virus that has killed two people and infected many more. chanting chants of "death to america" as iran's supreme leader defends the military over the accidental shooting down of a ukrainian airlines plane. four teachers in los angeles sue delta airlines after a plane dumped fuel on their school during an emergency landing.