and not to congress. the president is not responsible to congress, except by way of impeachment, and obviously by virtue of the fact that he depends on congress to vote him the necessary funds for what he wants to do. but he is not answerable to congress in the same way

that a british government or a british prime minister is. now, that means that in the united kingdom, our constitution is very much better at dispersing power than the united states�* constitution. the united states�* constitution does not disperse power. a parliamentary system means that there are many more people that you've got to convince if you want to get away with departing from some convention. a good illustration of that has occurred just in the last few years. borisjohnson was lost the confidence of parliament

three years or so. sense by herself. as if it was to the status of a private power. precisely what he likes. borisjohnson made an overt claim to presidential status, a mandate to do what i want

and none of these mps... ..have any right to interfere. ..and parliamentary democracy. weren't impressed and booted him out. yes. let's turn to a different arena, one that you know well which, of course, now controlled by china. who cares so deeply about democracy, would take government and go and sit on the court of final appeal in hong kong, when you know full well that, ultimately, which is very far from a democracy. that's. . .that�*s the position now.

no. obviously... years before where anybody who was calling for rioting were locked up, as they would have been and you sat on the court of final appeal until 202a? yes, i... absolutely, i did. every single year... yes. should i really be sitting on this court, over the period of time,

for all the usual civil rights in hong kong, when you know full well that, ultimately, sure, but i'm just trying to get inside your head, and, in august of 2020, 200 police officers went i'm trying to tell you what's inside my head. his arrest, and as i understand it, the court of final appeal

so i mean, the appeal that you're talking about, i think, was the appeal which he... yes, exactly. which restrict the granting of bail to people arrested under it. on the actual elements of the offence. westernjudges. i wonder if you now do deeply regret it? no, i don't. i mean, some politicians in the uk called you china's useful idiot. well, i dare say. a fig leaf for authoritarianism. i'm afraid that's wa—... sir iain duncan smith, a former leader of the tory "by autocratic, abusive laws coming from china."

decide to resign in 2024, you said, "in the hope that the presence of overseas common lawjudges .."and the complacence of the local judiciary." you got it all wrong, didn't you? in the end, you made a serious misjudgment. no, i don't believe that's right. i decided... that the judiciary was capable of maintaining reasonable were capable of standing up to china. in which the 47 democracy activists, of whom 14

by the constitution of hong kong, and then you, when you saw all this happening, let's just end with a thought about international law. in the international criminal court, the international court to respect the rule of law, universal human rights, do you think, as you look at the world today, that that hope is dead in the water as well? no, i don't. of the international criminal court or the international court ofjustice. i do have a problem about the human rights convention,

with the domestic law of signatory states. sorry, do you mean the european convention on human rights? which is a very political... absolutely. inside the european court on human rights. are you now telling me you think that we should leave it? i do not... that britain should leave it? quite clear on this for quite a while now. the strasbourg court, was capable of reform. i think we now need to have a regime of human rights

makes up the law as it goes along, and that is makes law in a democracy, because it's a system of making law into which elected legislatures have do you... that's quite different from things like the between states — i'm fine with that. to regulate the internal legal affairs of member states. let's end with a big—picture thought about democracy. democracy may well end up as a phase in history rather than its natural destination. that is an extraordinarily bleak thought for those who, let's say, in 1989, when the berlin wall came down, for the human condition.

whereas humanity has a very long one. democracy has a history going back, in europe, about 150, 170 years. and i was convinced of that at that time, too. but i think that the auguries are not at all good. i fear that might be right.

hello there. it's a quiet weather story to tell over the next few days, with high pressure building in from the west. that's where we had the best of the sunshine on thursday — it's the 1st of march over the weekend, the first day story is perfect for it, with high pressure dominating, keeping things largely fine, dry and, at times, quite sunny.

down through the vale of york towards the south midlands — and that may well linger for a few hours, but, towards lunchtime, it will have lifted. developing, and that breeze may be just driving in a few top temperatures, though, through the afternoon, 9—10 celsius. pressure stays with us.

a stronger wind to the north — but elsewhere, it's business as usual. settled, and sunny weather across the country. happening in your area.

this is bbc news. president donald trump at the white house — for crucial talks about ukraine, defence, and trade.

who died alongside his wife. police say their deaths are suspicious enough i'm helena humphrey. good to have you with us. not to abandon ukraine. due in washington. deal with russia. here's our political editor chris mason.

it is perhaps the ultimate political stage and backdrop,