ben wright is in westminster for us.n period right for the government? it is their imperative at the moment, rebecca, this is what businesses around britain are wanting clarity about as quickly as possible. wanting to know that life continues as it does now in the two yea rs continues as it does now in the two years after we leave the eu next march. that is what the transition really is, it is a snapshot, a standstill agreement. where we remain members of the customs union, what we don't have is voting rights are any say in how the big decisions in the eu are made. it is the continuity that companies are looking for and the government wants to give to businesses now. it matters a lot that they get this agreed and signed off by the end of march. it is going to be a big european council meeting in brussels. there are little bits of disagreement. for instance, around naming the exact date that the transition period will end. the eu have said they think it should only last for 18 months, the uk have said it should last aroun

politics behind this from ben wright, please expand? move to try to reach out to younger voters because many tories they had little positive to positive to say to them at the last election. in part it is designed as a riposte tojeremy corbyn and his offer to scrap tuition fees. it's in part designed to have something to talk about apart from brexit, blooming brexit. and imparted is driven by the thought that the current system is not working, its bad value for money. one of the most expensive systems in the world. but theresa may has somewhat tied her hands by insisting that taxpayers should not have to bear a bigger portion of the burden. she does not want to scrap the current system and her education secretary says they will not tell universities what they should charge which pretty much passes the ball back to universities of their own back to universities of their own back to universities of their own back to start cutting the cost of university education. so far they have shown remarkably little inclination to do so. they all prett

ben wright, thank you, the latest from westminster.eiled an online tool, powered by artificial intelligence, that it says can accurately detect jihadist content and stop it from being viewed. the home secretary, amber rudd, says she wouldn‘t rule out bringing in a law that would force technology companies to use it. but with extremist propaganda from so—called islamic state appearing on more than 400 platforms last year, there are concerns that such groups will simply adapt their methods to reach new audiences. 0ur media editor, amol rajan, has the story. militaristic, cinematic and often shot with high—level production values, these propaganda videos for the so—called islamic state espouse terror and hatred. they‘re also easy to find on the internet right now. so what we have here are two videos, one of which is extremist content, the other which is perfectly legitimate news coverage. now an artificial intelligence firm in london has used home office money to target such extremist content. the creators claim the technology, which is o

our political correspondent, ben wright, reports. first time there is clear—blue policy water between labour and the tories over brexit. in a speech tomorrow, jeremy corbyn will confirm his party would keep the uk in a customs union with the eu after brexit. crunch time is now coming for the prime minister because the majority in parliament does not back her approach to a customs union. labour's brexit spokesman said the uk would be better off teaming up with the eu to reach new trade deals with other countries. obviously, it's the only way realistically to get tariff—free access. it's really important for our manufacturing base and nobody can answer the question how you keep your commitment to no hard border in northern ireland without a customs union. as an eu member, we are currently in the european customs union and the idea behind it is pretty simple. a single set of tariffs is imposed on goods imported from outside the eu. goods can then move freely without tariffs around the bloc. but members cannot do their own trade deals. s

thank you very much, then right. —— ben wright. right.tinuing in the damascus suburb of eastern ghouta, a day after the un security council passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire to be implemented. the syrian government is trying to retake the area from rebels, some of whom are linked to extremist groups. our middle east editor, jeremy bowen, has this report. you may find some of it distressing. jeremy bowen, has this report. this was inside eastern ghouta. jeremy bowen, has this report. in almost seven years of war in syria, real ceasefires have been rare, ineffective and short. the un couldn't agree on a start time for the ceasefire. the best they could do was to say "without delay". that is elastic enough to wreck this ceasefire‘s chances. today is the first day of the ceasefire resolution. still there's warplane, atmosphere, there is still shelling. it's less than before. there is still shelling. civilians are still being killed. there is still shelling. civil defence workers dug a badly injured baby out of this bomb site. alread

ben wright, good to talk to you. now ben wright, good to talk to you. now ben rich as the weather. deal colder. pretty chilly tonight where we have clear spells, could be fog patches across parts of east anglia, north—east england, maybe south—east scotland. should not be too widespread. temperatures in the towns and cities hovering around freezing, getting below in the countryside. a decent start tomorrow morning, spells of sunshine around once any early mist and fog has cleared. we will see cloud bubbling in the sky, it will be sunny spells rather than clear blue skies to the afternoon. generally more cloud into northern ireland and scotland, a strengthening wind. as temperatures typically around four to 7 degrees. looking further ahead, we will stick with the chilly feel. turning colder if anything into the weekend. an easterly wind making it feel better, but still some sunshine. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. victims of the black cab rapist john worboys win a landmark case against police, after the supreme court rules scotland yard was liable forfailures in its investi

with me is bbc political correspondent ben wright.opposition, but they could have an influence on government policy, couldn't they? that's right, and the reason is because theresa may's conservative party doesn't have an overall majority in the house of commons. over the next year, really, leading up to the date of brexit, there will be many opportunities for members of parliament to vote on the brexit process so it doesn't take many, a handful, even, of tory mps, conservative mps, to vote with the labour party to defeat the government, and the backdrop to the whole of brexit over the next year 01’ so. whole of brexit over the next year or so. labour's policy position on the customs union is one of the most significant moves we've seen for months. bcentral planks of the government brexit strategy is to ta ke government brexit strategy is to take britain out of the central market, but also the customs union, sharing tariff free trade across the eu. the labour position has been evolving slowly over the last few months and they confirmed

our political correspondent ben wright is in westminster. his has become hot politics, i think, since labour announced they would scrap tuition fees and that helped win the young voters and students and is theresa may says, it's an issue causing real concern to pa rents issue causing real concern to parents and grandparents as well. theresa may will say the current system has produced a competitive market. andrew adonis was on brea kfast market. andrew adonis was on breakfast earlier on and he explained why he thinks the current system has become a cash cow to the treasury and needs to change. the labour party has moved against any fees at all which is inevitable in the way politics works so don't know if it will be sustainable to have a much more modest fee which is what i would like to see, being a rationalist, when it comes to public policy, a new cross—party consensus on bringing fees backed down to £3000, getting rid of the 6% interest rate and agreeing we will stick with that system. it could be the government decides to some courses at

that the papers were worried by the prospect of a labour government. 0ur political correspondent ben wrightremy corbyn has been saying. these claims aboutjeremy jeremy corbyn has been saying. these claims about jeremy corbyn jeremy corbyn has been saying. these claims aboutjeremy corbyn and his contact with a czech spy during the war have been rumbled on for some days. that story has been picked up and is pursued in various forms by newspapers during recent days. labour has acknowledged thatjeremy corbyn did meet a czech diplomats two or three times in the 80s but they have emphatically denied claims made by the former spy that he was some sort of asset or informer. and i should say officials in the czech secret service have also told the bbc that he has never been more than a person of interest. jeremy corbyn has hit back in a post in social media at press barons, as he calls them, the right—wing press. he says... he goes on... so what does he mean by that? change is coming. is that a threat to these and press barons? labour sources say that there will be an enquiry looking at press regula

labour says the entire system needs to be restructured. 0ur political correspondent ben wright has thiswho had free university tuition visits sixth formers in west london to discuss student debt and the courses they plan to take. i will be going to university... 0ne mentions theoretical physics. oh, gosh! which is the reaction many students and their parents now have about the 5¥5t5r5 55555 $5 ww as theresa may explained in derby, this review will look at all post—18 education, whether universities, technical, or vocational training. the current problems, she said, were clear. making university truly accessible to young people from every background is not made easier by a funding system which leaves students from the lowest income households bearing the highest levels of debt. with many graduates left questioning the return they get for their investment. and for those young people who do not go on to academic study, the routes into further technical and vocational training today are hard to navigate. the standards across the sector are too varied and the funding available to support the

we can speak to our political correspondent ben wright.f clarity around the transition period? at the moment the status is missing, we have been waiting for it all day and relying from a leaked document that emerge. the government insists we will receive that statement spelling out but the government position is. i think its position is that it is negotiating paper, in response to the proposal put out a couple of weeks ago by the eu setting out how they would approach to negotiations on the fine detail of the transition agreement. and this is the uk government response. much about the detail of this has been known for some time. whataiming for this has been known for some time. what aiming for the transition period of around two years which pretty much is a snapshot of what there is now, a standstill agreement where in economic terms much continues as it has done, effectively still in the single market and customs union, free movement. but differences do need to be hammered out and one is precisely how long the transition period will last.

moment we'll get reaction from adam fleming in brussels, but first to our political correspondent ben wrightot yet happened, more like a campaigning speech from boris johnson. happened, more like a campaigning speech from borisjohnson. he was clearly trying to paint an optimistic picture of life outside the eu. all kinds of talk of stag do is to your continuing, people retiring to spain, familiar boris johnsonjokes about retiring to spain, familiar boris johnson jokes about still been able to buy german wine and italian cars. it felt like a stump speech really from the campaign. i think there was an acknowledgement from boris johnson that the government has done not done much to bridge the divide that was created by the referendum and clearly still exists today. so and clearly still exists today. so an attempt to put an arm around angry women voters who think leaving the eu will be a disaster and say i understand why you're angry but it can be all right. and the best kind of british tradition, in a common cause, let's get on board together. that is what he was trying to say that as he himsel

ben wright has this report.me minister who had free university tuition, visits sixth formers in london to discuss student debt and the courses they plan. one mentions theoretical physics. 0h gosh extra ——! mentions theoretical physics. 0h gosh extra --! that is the reaction stu d e nts gosh extra --! that is the reaction students and many parents have about because of higher education in england. the government says the system needs to be examined again. we have a system were some issues have arisen. concern notjust from stu d e nts have arisen. concern notjust from students themselves but parents and grandparents about the level of debt they have built up. and a concern that universities charge the same, whatever course you are doing. currently english universities are free to charge up to £3000 per year. with labour promising to scrap tuition fees altogether, there is political pressure on the conservative government to tackle this issue. you have to be fair to the student and the taxpayer. we need to dramatic

ned price and leah wright, thank you for joining me. i turn to senator ben carter, he's authority of the bill to sanction russia. i have a lot to get to with everyone i want to discuss. starting with your focus on sanctions, what are you pushing for? >> ari, it's good to be with you. >> thank you. >> we would like to see the law enforced, itwe want mr. putin t understand if he continues his conduct, there will be a heavy price. so we gave a list of mandatory sanctions for the president to impose, and he hasn't imposed a single sanction under this law against russia. the message to mr. putin is, you can keep doing what you're doing. >> does that mean you view the president as in violation of this law or to put it back on congress that it wasn't written tightly and specific enough to force action? >> well, there are certain divisions of responsibility, congress has the responsibility to pay -- pass laws, the president has the responsibility to carry out those laws. we need to impose and enforce sanctions against russia. we have made that very clear to him. he'