joining us is iain duncan smith, conservative mp and former party leader. last time mr. can smith was on the show, he batted away allegations, saying the media love a conspiracy. people do exactly what they want. they talk to each other and it goes on all the time. welcome back to the program. thank you for joining us. do you think there's any way that brexit backers could live with theresa may having an agreement on the customs union? mr. smith: she's been adamant about that. francine: what if she doesn't? what if she finds an arrangement where the e.u. are a little softer on the u.k.? mr. smith: i don't think it is going to happen. theresa may, partly and publicly, is clear, we are leaving the customs union and the single market. the arrangements we are looking for are about the u.k. outside the customs union. that makes it clearer. we don't want to spend our time discussing whether we should be in or out. having clarity is critical to get these things done. the clarity that she's given is, we are leaving the customs union and the single market. we want an arrangement b

iain duncan smith and johnny mercer have seized on this, saying you have to make this a priority whensome of the... turning on the spending taps at the end of the tunnel. the daily telegraph says there could be a litter levy. it is all part of the... the government is getting quite green. the coffee cups, plastic... levis on crisp packets, take—away cups, plastic... levis on crisp packets, ta ke—away cups, cups, plastic... levis on crisp packets, take—away cups, and chewing gum. it costs 10p to pick up chewing gum. it costs 10p to pick up chewing gum. it costs 10p to pick up chewing gum. it will be announced at the spring statement on tuesday, levies will be considered. some things are happening. the chancellor has announced this before, the plastic levy, takeaway containers, that kind of thing. the tories have hit a sweet spot now, especially because of the blue planet series, they realise people are tuned in, not just young or old voters. they see this as a way of talking not just about brexit or geraghty, there are things we are four, like leaving the environment better than we fou

it is orphaned —— awful and iain duncan smith created this policy and he now says it cannot be evaluatedsome committee to answer questions about what he did! he isn't overseeing it any more, is he? but he created it and is still defending its! moving on to something different, the mail on sunday has a picture of the very lovely susan sunday has a picture of the very lovely susa n co nsta nt sunday has a picture of the very lovely susan constant time on the front page formerly of the susannah and trini. i am now as skinny as trini. yes, well, yasmin, if you would like to... you said is this news? it is a front—page story. is it really? we are encouraged to look on pages 20 and 21 to find out how she did it. i don't have to know. i probably have some kind of idea. go on. moved a bit more. that is how i did it. it is magic, the only way. so we should have you on the front page! shouldn't we just? in so we should have you on the front page! shouldn't wejust? in my handmade frock? home—made frock was to mark that tape is nice to a final item on the observer, talking about paris fashion week.

iain duncan smith, thank you very much.d weather alerts — meaning there is a risk to life — have been issued in south—west england and south wales. phil avery joins phil averyjoins us now. the red warning that you mentioned about scotland that was in fours right until ten o'clock this morning has now lapsed. but i have to say that the red warning was embedded within a larger lower grade amber warning, that stays in four is widely across northern and eastern parts of scotland, across much of the north and north east of england as well. there is still a suggestion from the met office that there are destructive weather forces in place across much of that northern and eastern part of the british isles. just because the red has gone that doesn't mean to say that particular neck of the woods is a trouble just yet. coming a little bit further to the south, there is a widescale amber warning the south, there is a widescale amberwarning and a the south, there is a widescale amber warning and a middle grade amberwarning-a nd'a middle

iain duncan smith there.nding the best part of an hour watching theresa may answer questions on brexit, the chancellor, phillip hammond, faced his own inquisition. the european scrutiny committee wanted to know first of all if the uk would agree to any new eu taxes — for example on financial transactions — if they were introduced during a transition period after brexit. would you regard this as something, which we would have to reject because, after all, we have said categorically we are not in favour of financial transaction tax, but there's nothing on the face of it to prevent the eu from bringing in something like that? i think the question you are asking is, could rules or regulations be introduced during the transition period, which we maybe didn't like? the question is whether we would be required to implement them. we think we've got very good visibility of the pipeline of potential legislation. in this case, the relatively slow pace at which the eu sausage machine grinds works in our favour. we are ta

iain duncan smith. >> may i i commit my right honorable friend for strong rising to the in challenge as others have shown, they also are in positions of leadership have risen to the challenge, i'm only sorry that others in such positions have fallen well short. >> hear, hear. >> can ask her in the i conversations she is due to have with her allies come she's quite right to do, she may raise with the german government the issue of the nord stream two two pipe of which theyh engage with with the russians which will cut revenues from ukraine and eastern europe and give russia and unparalleled ability to bully those countries in the future. if russia is as we now believe a rogue state, could you please try and persuade our allies in europe and elsewhere not to treat with them and make them better off? >> i thank my right honorable friend but can i say to them i think one of the things we will be discussing with our allies is how we can ensure that the robust message about the act that is taking place on uk soil is consistently given and continues to beue given by all r allies. as regard

but former conservative party leader iain duncan smith was unapologetic.that, and when she gets into negotiations with their european counterparts about trade arrangements, could she remind them that cake exists to be eaten and cherries exist to be picked. so far in the programme we've talked italy's election, russia's upcoming election. now we turn to sierra leone. the country goes to the polls this week — it's the first time since that devastating ebola outbreak that left nearly 4,000 people dead. and after ebola, there was a mudslide that took the lives of another 1,000 people. after 10 years at the helm — this man, president ernest bai koorooma — is standing down, as mandated by the constitution. but he leaves behind a feeble economy. from the capital, freetown, umaru fofana reports. it is more than 300 years since slaves were brought to freetown through the sport, but some traders feel economically enslaved. many of the traders here are women, often widows. they take goods on credit, sell them, pay back the suppliers, and take their small profits home

hard brexiteers and the soft brexiteers or the remainers, i should say, think about it, i have iain duncan smithu and i can't believe that then we have the great swedish band first aid kit playing as well. a great programme as always. we will be back injusta programme as always. we will be back injust a second. programme as always. we will be back in just a second. stay with us. hello, this is breakfast with rogerjohnson and tina daheley. here's a summary of today's main stories from bbc news. snow and ice continue to cause widespread disruption despite temperatures rising slowly. two yellow warnings remain in place, covering much of the uk. 16 flood warnings have an issue for the south—west and north—east of england. thousands of homes in rural communities remain without power, while many rail lines are still blocked, and drivers have been warned to expect delays. local authorities are being warned by the housing secretary, sajid javid, that they risk losing their planning powers if they refuse to build enough new homes. he told the sunday times that he would be "breathing down the neck" of so—

mr iain duncan smith.rising to this occasion, as she should. many in this house should wish the leader of the opposition had abandoned party politics and done just the same. she is quite right. if the response from the russian ambassador is simply not credible, she is quite right to expect the house to back her in taking the most severe action as is required and commensurate and she is also right to remind the house and the country that this country, russia, is now close to being a rogue state as any. it occupies crimea, it has helped occupy eastern ukraine, it has created a hell on earth in syria and is even now overseeing worse action. this is a country locking up its members of the opposition. it is a country, frankly, we have learned this lesson before, if we appease a country like this, then we expect even worse.|j thank my right honourable friend for his remarks and he is absolutely right. nobody should be in any doubt of the various activities that the russian state is involved in across the contine

iain duncan smith, thank you very much indeed. let's have a quick look at the markets.— might grow focus. they are falling, and it's actually putting the whole ftse down as well. more on that story later. that's all the businesses for the moment. the whole of england and parts of wales and scotland have been warned of more snow and ice after the weekend. around 80 people were forced to seek refuge in a rest centre set up in a college near the ae 30. two newlyweds were stranded at the centre. they spoke about their unusual start to their honeymoon at early this morning. we we re honeymoon at early this morning. we were on our way down to the hotel in newquay for what would have been a luxurious honeymoon in a beautiful bridal suite with bouquets of flowers, but we got caught in the a30. the lovely people of devon county have looked after us very well. described to us, obviously, not what you were imagining at all? one of your first night of marriage in this environment? i didn't imagine they would be snow in march, to be perfectly honest with you. i didn't expect to spen