this is bbc news, i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 11am... the uk enacts its most profound strategic change in a generation, leaving the european union, after nearly half a century. to be independent, to be free to make our own trade rules, is supremely important for me as a briton. as some celebrated, others comisserated, among them ex—pat brits who live in one of the 27 eu countries. if necessary, i will take out the spanish nationality,

because i want to stay here. the death toll from the coronavirus reaches 259 in china, with nearly 12,000 people infected there. here the search is on for people who've had close contact with two chinese nationals since they arrived in the uk. dozens of britons have spent theirfirst night in quarantine after being flown home from china. it is a perfectly nice room, we have all of the essentials that we need. the bbc finds that more than 1,000 people with the most serious complaints about the department for work and pensions face a delay of 18 months before their cases are even investigated the acquittal of president trump becomes all but certain, as senators vote against calling fresh witnesses at his impeachment trial. and coming up, carrie gracie and her guests will ponder the uk's post—brexit future — that's in dateline london at 11:30am.

the uk is out of the european union after 47 years of membership. the historic moment at 11 o'clock last night was marked by celebrations and some commiserations across the country. thousands of brexit supporters gathered in parliament square where speakers, including nigel farage, addressed the crowds. there will now be a transition period until the end of the year, during which the government will try to forge a new relationship with the eu. john maguire reports. they had come to parliament square from far and wide, from the north... from teesside. ..and from the south... i've come from brighton. ..to witness what the rally‘s star attraction called the greatest moment in modern british history.

we should celebrate the fact that, freed from the constraints of the european union, we, once again, will be able to find our place in the world. to be independent, to be free to make our own trade rules, our own laws, our own trade laws, who we trade with is supremely important for me as a briton. big ben's brexit bongs hadn't materialised. instead, clocks, both digital and famously analogue, were projected onto 10 downing street. while outside the palace of westminster, they partied like it was 2020. well, that is it. brexit, the giant screens declare in red, white, and blue, "we're out." 11 o'clock on 31 january, 2020. one, of course, for the history books but really, it's the future

that will determine whether or not this was the right call. of course, not everyone celebrated. some commiserated. this was 0xford. are we proud to be europeans? crowd. . .yes! my business was put at risk because of this, my kids' futures and jobs are being put at risk and i just profoundly disagree with it. in edinburgh, capital of a country that had voted to remain in the eu, they used music to soothe their souls at holyrood, and some called for independence to pave the way for a return. the fact of the matter is that the only way back into the european union for scotland is if we regain our statehood and regain our independence. but celtic cousins in wales, where leave had the upper hand, lowered the european flag outside the senedd for the final time. what we really won with this whole thing, it wasn't just a political

party, it was democracy. democracy has won and that's what i'm celebrating. and on the irish border, for so long the issue that seemed insurmountable in the pursuit of brexit, remainers expressed concern and regret. tomorrow morning might not be different but in the coming weeks or months ahead, as we see rights and opportunities taken away from us, we'll certainly feel it then. leave supporters in parliament square were told we would still be friends with the people of europe despite leaving the union. meanwhile, a conciliatory message was emblazoned across the white cliffs of dover. the face we still show to continental europe even if, from now on, so much of our relationship has changed. john maguire, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent, tom barton is here. tom, tom barton is here. what has changed? everything and tom, what has changed? everything and nothing. in the sense that,

constitutionally everything has changed. this 47 year relationship, membership of the eu has officially ended. but in terms of our everyday lives, nothing has changed. in fact, interestingly, government twitter accou nts interestingly, government twitter accounts this morning have been reminding people that you can still travel to europe in the same way you could yesterday. that is all because there is this thing called the transition period which has been agreed as part of the exit deal with the european union. it essentially means that from today until the end of this year, we will still be running on the same rules and regulations, laws as we were 12 hours ago. despite that, the uk is no longerformerly a hours ago. despite that, the uk is no longer formerly a member. hours ago. despite that, the uk is no longerformerly a member. british flags have been taken down in brussels and european flights have been taken down from sites of the british government. —— european

flag. for boris johnson, british government. —— european flag. for borisjohnson, this is a moment of hope. but others, he acknowledges, will be feeling a sense of entirety. he says that his job right now is to bring us together. the anxiety will be minimised once we know exactly what sort of trade deal we are seeking to negotiate. and the reception that gets from the european union. how quickly do you think that is going to emerge? in some ways, it has to happen very quickly because we have this deadline of the end of this year. if we don't reach that deadline, if a deal hasn't been agreed, as things stand, britain will start trading with the european union on what is known as world trade organisation rules, essentially the same rules as we could trade with any other country with the world. that is a very long way removed from the relationship we had with the european union. it also, crucially, the deal means that if that deadline were to pass and a trade deal hasn't been agreed, this

infamous northern ireland backstop would kick in and northern ireland would kick in and northern ireland would find itself with a different relationship with the european union and the rest of britain. so there isn't much time to make this happen, we should see things start to move pretty quickly. david davis, one of the architects of brexit, said it would be a fair race to get it done. he acknowledges it will be a pretty tricky thing. there is notjust the future relationship between britain and the eu to be agreed, but trade deals around the world, including the much mooted trade deal with the united states. negotiations haven't been allowed to start until this morning. they are going to get negotiating on that pretty quickly. there is going to be a lot... you're going to hear a lot over the next few months about negotiations and some of it will sound tricky, we won't know how successful any of it has been until ministers and officials are signing on dotted lines. time, it is a long year

ahead. —— tom, it is a long year ahead. and you can see much more on brexit on the bbc website, with lots on information about how the uk leaving the european union will impact you. you can see that that story is the top story at the moment in terms of number of people reading it followed, not surprisingly, by concerns about the coronavirus. if we scroll down a little bit further past the news about probable acquittal of donald trump and look at some of the other stories, britain and europe, how the papers changed in the course of the years. there is the look at the front pages today. you don't have to go out and buy them. they are there for you as they always are when we get them. plus some video. brexit celebrations and commiserations that we have been reporting. and as well, you can find some details a little bit further down about what it will mean.

basically, what it will mean in terms of the opportunities there are for all of us and what it will mean for all of us and what it will mean for things like the health passport that people rely on at the moment and some of the other ideas about the negotiations. number three, interestingly, when people are booking holidays, how will it affect my holidays to europe? some questions about booking a holiday in the european union and what documents you will need, how that will change, which kewell standing as passports. that is the same at the moment but will change once a new deal has been negotiated and perhaps just as importantly, new deal has been negotiated and perhapsjust as importantly, will there be big queues at the airport when you get there? all on the bbc news website and do look at any time throughout the day. 83 british people, who were evacuated from the centre of the coronavirus outbreak

in china, have begun their 14—day quarantine in merseyside. the uk nationals were taken by coach to arrowe park hospital, in wirral, and arrived last night. —— on the wirral. this comes as two people from the same family have tested positive for the virus in the uk. in a moment we'll speak to luxmy gopal who's in newcastle, at the royal victoria infirmary. but first let's speak now to samantha fenwick who's outside arrowe park hospital on the wirralfor us. we are in that strange situation because nobody goes out and comes in terms of the people staying there, there is little information about what sort of tests they are undergoing and what sort of conditions they are experiencing. they are being monitored by medical staff around the clock. if they were to present any symptoms of the coronavirus, which is similar to flu

symptoms, they will be taken to royal liverpool hospital. we believe that just through there royal liverpool hospital. we believe thatjust through there on the other side of these buildings there are some ambulances waiting in case that we re some ambulances waiting in case that were to happen. you can see that there has been a chord and put up around the two buildings here which is where they are staying. this is nursing accommodation, but last night, the nurses were moved out and the people were moved in as they arrived at about 7pm yesterday evening after a very long, long journey. notice also that there are cordons up around the side. there is a great fence just beyond that ambulance that has just driven in. that is making sure that patients visiting the hospital aren't tempted to have a look and a nosy around and go and see what might be going on. the hospital staff here will not come into contact with the people who are in isolation. the hospital is running as usual, people are

coming infor is running as usual, people are coming in for appointments, amd is open. there is no risk to the community here on the wirral. people should be sensible, as sensible as they are when they are trying not to catch any flu, catch it, bin it, kill it. always wash your hands, don't put your hands around your face, in your eyes or around your mouth. and we can also speak to luxmy gopal who's in newcastle, at the royal victoria infirmary. big questions now about contact with other people that the two chinese nationals who developed the symptoms of this coronavirus may be how you track them down. whether any of those people are actually affected. that is right, this search is now on for anyone who may be at risk of becoming into contact with those two people. it is the building just behind the one behind me see conceded. that is where they will will be treated and kept in isolation. as you say, the search is

on to find anyone who may be at risk for coming into contact with them. the other visitors to the hotel that they were staying at when they reported the symptoms, a hotel in york, where they feel at ill at on wednesday, others are being told that they are not to worry and are to minimal risk. but those who are at potential risk of those who will have spent a minimum of 15 minutes with them and have been within two metres of them. that is what public health england are saying is the risk category there. those people are being told by the authorities that if they fall ill within the next two weeks, if they have symptoms of flu or cold, they will be given an emergency contact number to call to let them know. however, the message here is one of not to overly panic because the people who have also visited that hotel in york are at minimal risk and people here in newcastle, the residents here have been told as well that they are

not at any extra risk as a result of the two people staying here. as for those two people, both chinese nationals, members of the same family, i have been told by the team here that any news, any change on their condition, will be given by their condition, will be given by the department for health in an update at tpm this afternoon. we will listen out for that. 2pm this afternoon. the virus was first detected in china. it is a question of what happens in terms of its distribution around asia. vietnam has become the latest country to ban all flights to and from china as a result of the concern for the spread of the coronavirus. that is the statement from the viennese government in last few minutes and has been reported by reuters. we

have already seen some bans on flights and they are likely to get more extensive as the weekend goes on. we'll be taking all your questions on coronavirus at 12:15pm. do get in touch with us with your questions. you can do so on twitter using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions and you can email us on yourquestions@bbc.co.uk. please remember to leave your name and where you are from. the headlines on bbc news... the uk enacts its most profound strategic change in a generation, leaving the european union, after nearly half a century. uk officials are searching for those who've had close contact with two chinese nationals suffering from coronavirus. dozens of britons have spent theirfirst night in quarantine — after being flown home from china. the bbc finds that more than a thousand people with the most serious complaints about the department for work and pensions face a delay of 18 months before their cases are even

investigated. american senators have voted against calling witnesses in president trump's impeachment trial — it's a development that will probably bring a much faster end to a political process which has gripped the us capital for months. the democrats failed to persuade enough republicans in the senate that more witness testimony was necessary. mr trump is now expected to be acquitted in a final vote on wednesday. chris buckler reports from washington. president trump left the white house to spend the weekend at his mar—a—lago resort in florida and he can afford to relax now after a vote that will cut short his impeachment trial. are there any senators in the chamber wishing to change his or her vote? if not, the yeas are 49. the nays are 51. by the narrowest of margins, a request to call witnesses was rejected.

two republican senators did vote with the democrats, to hear potentially damaging testimony and demand documents, but that was half the number they needed. if the president is acquitted, with no witnesses, no documents, the acquittal will have no value because americans will know this trial was not a real trial. among the people the democrats wanted to call to give evidence wasjohn bolton, the white house's former national security adviser. in a forthcoming book, it's claimed he says mr trump told him of a plan to put pressure on the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky, with the specific aim of forcing him to launch an investigations into president trump's political opponents. but the president's lawyers insist in their transcripts

of phone calls he did nothing wrong. let me read you what our ukrainian allies said. "it was normal. "we spoke about many things. "i think, when you read it, that nobody pushed me. "they think you can read minds. "i think you look at the words." senators will convene again on monday for closing arguments and then on wednesday for a final vote. it would take two—thirds of the senate to convict mr trump and remove him from office and across america, everyone knows there is no chance of that happening. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. more than 1,000 people with the most serious complaints about the department for work and pensions face a delay of 18 months before their cases are even investigated. radio 4's money box programme has found the indepdenent case examiner is also regularly missing targets about how long investigations should take once a case has been opened. 0ur correspondent dan whitworth spoke about the impact the delays are having. ultimately, you can talk about as many figures

or numbers as you want, at the heart of the story is people. i want to give you one example. a gentleman we are speaking to, who we are calling allen, he has a dispute with the child maintenance service, who, of course, comes under the auspices of the dwp, and regardless of the rights or wrongs of his individual case, i have numbers for you here now. he initially complained to the child maintenance service in november 2017. it took a year and a half to exhaust their complaints process, that brings us to summer 2019. he was then allowed to apply to the independent case examiner. it is a little bit like the ombudsman for the dwp. they said yes, we will investigate your case, but... this was the summer of last year? this was the summer of 2019. "but it is going to take a year and a half before we even we even investigate it", and i know, from data we have found out, that investigation will likely take six months. add all of that... that takes us to the beginning of 2022. around about summer 2021, but if you add all that up,

that is essentially nearly a four year wait in this case. he has described his life as flatlining during this time, he has described that delay as obscene. it is extraordinarily long. how is the process supposed to work? supposedly not just one person sat with a desk piled with stuff like that. that will take a while. the independent case examiner, as i said, it is a little bit like an ombudsman for the dwp, you have to exhaust of the complaints process with your individual organisation, like the child maintenance service. then you go to the independent case examiner. you have to be, sort of, accepted by ice, and then you have to wait for this investigation to start. that whole process we have found out through a freedom of information request, there is an 18 month gap, if you will, between the independent case examiner accepting your case and starting to investigate it. and when that case is investigated, that should be a 20 week target. most of the cases are missing that and most of the cases are hitting around six months. so we have big numbers of cases on backlog,

what is the dwp saying itself about all this? it has actually held its hands up a little bit. we asked for a ministerial interview and they said no. but they did give us a statement. i have it here. "we understand the impact that waiting for an investigation can have on people and their families," it says, "we are hiring and training "new staff as quickly as we can and it does say we have cleared more "complaints last year than the year before, just adding finally, just adding finally, "the vast majority of complainers are satisfied with the service they receive." sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's jane. not long until the first game of the six nations kicks off in cardiff. wales host italy later. let's go straight to the principality in cardiff, austin halewood is pitchside for us. austin, wales are the holders but with a new head coach it may not a straightforward campaign for them? that is right. good morning and welcome to cardiff where the 2026

the winger 2026 nations is about to kick off. they have just made the last preparations to the pitch behind me. there is a feel of the new dawn about welsh rugby. rohan gatlin was here for 12 very successful yea rs as gatlin was here for 12 very successful years as coach, but another new zealander has to take over and fill those very sizeable shoes that were left by warren gatland. he has made his changes. he has stuck with a tried and tested tea m has stuck with a tried and tested team and will want to get through this game with a win. it is against italy who they have only lost two twice in the 20 years of the six nations. ireland have a new coach too, they host scotland later, who've had some disciplinary issues. a new dawn for ireland but there is a different feel about irish rugby at the moment. they had a

disappointing 2019, a really poor six nations and then they left the world cup much earlier than they would have liked. it was a poor end tojoe would have liked. it was a poor end to joe schmidt's rain would have liked. it was a poor end tojoe schmidt's rain but andy farrell ta kes tojoe schmidt's rain but andy farrell takes over and it is his firstjob as a coach. there's matches against scotland who have some team selection issues of their own. russell is the player you are alluding to, they are creative but he is there, most creative and influential. he has not been picked for the starting team and is not in the squad at all for disciplinary issues because of build—up in the game to this week. it will be interesting to see how they get on in this tough opening fixture in ireland in dublin. there is a new australian open champion, the american sofia kenin won in three sets on her debut

grand slam final, beating the spaniard garbine muguruza. the first set went to muguruza 6—4. but then kenin fought back to take the second 6—2 and that seemed to give her confidence. she then went on to win the third set 6—2 as well after a double fault from muguruza. 21—year—old kenin is the youngest to win the australian open in 12 years. defending champions st helens look like they could be the team to beat in super league again this season. they've begun the defence of their title by thrashing salford red devils 48 points to 8. in a repeat of last year's grand final, saints ran in eight tries on their way to a convincing opening win for them. england's women beat world t20 champions australia in a super over to register their first win of the tri—series. captain heather knight made 78 as england scored 156—4 and then hit two boundaries to win the super 0ver. wayne rooney scored from a phenomenalfree kick

for derby county in the championship last night to help them to a 4—0 win over stoke. the former england captain found the top corner from 20 yards out to beat the keeper for derby's third goal and rooney's first at pride park. derby are up to 13th in the table, while stoke remain 20th. that's all the sport for now. now for the weather with matt taylor. hello, i think many of you will find it is turning increasingly windy as we go through the rest of today with gales in places. that is with rain, which started the day in scotland and northern ireland, erratically pushes its way into northern england, north and west wales. it allows a bit more sunshine to develop in scotland and northern ireland later. and a fair bit of sunshine to go through the midlands, east anglia and the south after morning cloud and just one 01’ two showers. but even here the wind will be picking up. 50mph gusts not out of the question and the winds go more northerly across parts of scotland later on, which will introduce a drop in temperatures across the afternoon compared to how we started the day.

most staying on the mild side, with temperatures in double figures. particularly for england and wales. that will be the case in cardiff for the opener of the six nations between wales and italy. we will see a fair bit of sunshine here after the morning cloud, but quite a blustery day and it will be blustery too in dublin for ireland against scotland. that wind could bring a few showers close to the city, but overall mostly dry. as we go into this evening, wales, northern ireland and the midlands, prone to some showers and one or two may be towards east anglia as well. they will fade away for a time. clearer skies, temperatures take a bit of a plummet across the northern side of the country with a bit of frost. but temperatures rising further south as we see cloud, wind and rain spread its way northwards through england and wales and northern ireland and eventually into south—west scotland as we start sunday morning. the north of scotland, to go with the frost, a dry start here and some will stay dry all day long. but rain will spread northwards across scotland, turning for a time into sleet and snow across the hills. persistent rain clears from northern ireland, northern and eastern england first light. and then we will see

some showers back in, some of those heavy and thundery. a bit of sunshine in between. more in the way of dry weather further south, with perhaps just some wet weather spreading through the channel islands, but we could see highs of 1a, compared to just five or six in the driest slot in northern scotland. while we may not want to be thinking about the return to work on monday quite yet, i need to draw attention to this area of low pressure, sunday night into monday, between us and ireland. there will be some rain wrapped around that. top and tail of the country will see outbreaks of rain through the day, something a little bit of drier with just a few showers through central areas and a bit of sunshine. as that low pressure system pushes its way in through the afternoon and into the evening rush—hour, we could see damaging gusts of wind in western scotland, potentially the north of northern ireland, touching 70 or 80 miles an hour. and it will pick up, the wind, elsewhere across the northern half of the uk. bye for now.

hello and welcome to dateline london. i'm carrie gracie. this week, goodbye to the european union. having ‘got brexit done', the uk is in search of its future. and deal of the century or slap of the century? does president trump's peace plan for israelis and palestinians offer a path out of an ancient tragedy? my guests today: bronwen maddox of the institute for government think tank, political commentator and broadcaster jonathan sacerdoti, abdel bari atwan, writer on arab affairs author and veteran correspondent thomas kielinger. to some an act of self—determination, to others an act of self—harm. after years of anguished debate, the uk is out of the european union. and now it must build a new relationship with europe, with the world and with itself.

why don't you start us, did you get thejob done why don't you start us, did you get the job done commemorative t—shirt? thejob is not done. we know know what the job is at least part of it, there's this whole long year that will go by very quickly when we see whether the uk can do a tiny trade deal with the eu and then there's the whole business of putting the stuff to work, setting up regular toddy agencies, getting models to what can that will take years. from oui’ what can that will take years. from our point of view we don't want the job is. hubert and parliament square last night, triumphed from those who wa nt last night, triumphed from those who want have to get over the line, quite low—key from the prime minister, no speech outside downing