adam fleming there.l be telling the other eu leaders what she needs from them at the first working session of this summit in a couple of hours, and later the 27 will discuss brexit — among themselves and without mrs may — to see what they can do to help her. now, let's get the latest on all the political developments at home now, with my colleague simon mccoy at westminster. the prime minister has confirmed this morning that she won't lead her party in to the next election. and it now seems th so—called "meaningful vote" for mps on her brexit deal?is unlikely to be held next week, though?it will happen before january the 21st. ?tensions are still running high within the conservative party after last night's ?vote of confidence — as our political correspondent iain watson reports. the morning after the night before at westminster, not exactly a new dawn for the prime minister. the vote of confidence was if not disastrous certainly disappointing, with more than a third of her mps wanting her to go. she con

adam fleming reports.is floating around and it has got a few very, very interesting things in it, and what those things are is that they amount to the assurances the eu is planning to give to theresa may, so that she can take them back to the house of commons and try and persuade mps that the withdrawal agreement is not not that bad after all. it is all about the northern irish backstop, remember that policy for avoiding a high border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. lots of eu rules and regulations to apply to northern ireland. one of the brexiteers‘s fears, and many other mps‘s and parliament's fears, is that that backstop, the uk will never be able to escape from it, it will be the end state, but all along the eu has said no, that is not the case, it's only temporary. we don't like it very much, we want to avoid it at all costs, it is only a backup if it is needed. so they are going to great lengths to show how temporary they want it to be, this document being sent around tonight, b

our europe reporter adam fleming has been following the case in luxembourg. gnificance of this ruling? well, the uk is leaving the eu based on article 50 of the eu rule book. it is five paragraphs long, dominated our lives everyday for to one half years, so you would think we would know everything there is to go about it but we don't. it is very clear what happens when a country says it wants to leave, but it is silent if that country says, "oh, we've changed our minds." that is whatjudges here in luxembourg have been considering. the eu's top judges rarely move this quickly, but they had a big question to answer — could brexit be cancelled without the permission of the other 27 countries? where a member state has notified the european council, in accordance with that article on the withdrawal from the european union, that article allows that member state to revoke that notification unilaterally. in this i9—page ruling, the judges say the uk could change its mind through a democratic process — in other words, a parliamentary vote, another referendum or a gener

adam fleming in brussels. confidence vote in theresa may the pound retreated. before the vote, it had rallied. it followed a good day for the london stock market and wall street, which both posted gains. well, markets have opened across asia. mariko oi is on the trading floor of ig in singapore. that's right. we found out the result at 5am local time and some of the asian markets and started trading at 8am. not too much action so far, flat to hire in south korea, australia. with the currencies, volatile day for the british pound. it fell when the no confidence vote was announced then it rose when reports mrs may was likely to win the vote came out, but when she survived the leadership challenge, it started to fall because what it showed was over a third of her own mps showed was over a third of her own m ps voted showed was over a third of her own mps voted against her, which means for her to push through her brexit deal will be very challenging. of course, she says she will renegotiate the deal when she's in

our brussels reporter adam fleming told us more just now.ing around brussels tonight which is the draft council conclusions, which is the document the eu leaders will sign up to tomorrow night after the brexit bit of their summit, which will take place here in brussels after dinner thursday, tomorrow. now, this draft is floating around and it's got a few very, very interesting things in it. what those things are is that it amounts to these are the assurances the eu is planning to give to theresa may, so that she can take them back to the house of commons and try and persuade mps that the withdrawal agreement isn't not that bad after all. it's all about the northern irish backstop, remember that backup plan, that insurance policy for avoiding a hard border between northern ireland and ireland. that would see the whole of the uk staying in a sort of customs union with the whole of the eu and lots of rules and regulations still applying to northern ireland. many of the brexiteers‘ fears, and many other mps‘ and parliament's fears, is that that

adam fleming, thank you. it is almost a quarter past six.n post—brexit in what it says is the biggest change in policy for decades. and guilty of perverting the course ofjustice — the mp who lied to police about who was behind the wheel of a speeding car. coming up on sportsday in the next 15 minutes on bbc news... we'll look ahead to the last of the league cup quarterfinals, including a north london derby between arsenal and spurs. over the past decade, welfare reforms across the uk have taken their toll on the money in some people's pockets. many are getting less than they used to, as ministers try to reduce the financial burden of benefits. hartlepool in the north—east of england has been one of the hardest hit. figures show that the extent of welfare changes mean people in the town will have lost out on £53 million over a decade since 2010. that's the equivalent of £920 being taken every year out of the pockets of each working age adult in hartlepool between 2010 and 2020. that's much higher than the average loss across britain, which is

adam fleming is here now. low expectations, she said she didn't expect an immediate breakthrough and she hasn't got that, has she? the british are putting on a brave face. they say they have got some reassurance from they have got some reassurance from the eu that they were looking for. they have got a restatement of the eu position on the backstop, which is that it is an insurance policy and not intended to be permanent. and the eu would continue negotiations to get to a final trade deal even if the backstop had been implement it. that is some of what the uk wanted, but there is one thing they did not get. it was quite nerdy, it was paragraph five of the european summit conclusions, which said the eu would be prepared to look at what further reassurance it could give. that was supposed to kick start the second phase of this operation to reassure mps. it would have culminated in the new year with some newer clarifications, maybe even some new, legally binding documents that would allow mps to no longer be conc

in a moment, we'll speak to our europe reporter, adam fleming, in brussels.istant political editor, norman smith, is in downing street. you are inside parliament in what is another remarkable day in politics. more than remarkable, this could well be a defining day, because europe is the issue that has devoured successive tory leaders. it did for devoured successive tory leaders. it did foers devoured successive tory leaders. it did for mrs thatcher, it destroyed john major and fors david cameron from office and, tonight, we will discover whether this ao year from office and, tonight, we will discover whether this a0 year civil war is about to consume theresa may. and she has deliberately chosen to up and she has deliberately chosen to up the stakes by making this a vote not just about her leadership, up the stakes by making this a vote notjust about her leadership, but about brexit itself, saying if she is toppled, then brexit itself is at risk because whoever succeeds are simply won't have the time to negotiate a new deal. they will have to extend article 50

the team at brexitcast, particularly political correspondent chris mason and brussels reporter adam flemingare in action. chanting: we demand a people's vote. let me remind you what is in this deal. first of all there is a withdrawal agreement, about 600 pages, that's the terms of the divorce, winding up the uk's membership of the eu. plus it's about protecting the rights of people from the eu living in the uk and protecting the rights of brits living in the european union. correct. david james—bailey from lincoln wrote to us... thank you for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions on bbc news and current affairs or even appear on the programme, you can call us, or e—mail. find us on twitter and have a look at our website. that's all from us. we are off air for the next two weeks but we will be back in the new year. happy christmas. hello. after a fairly quiet day on friday, the weather is about to turn much more lively as we head through the course of the weekend. we've got a named storm, storm dierdre, it's been named by met eireann. that is bringing some very disr

let's speak to adam fleming who is in brussels.eeting that the prime minister has had with mark rutte. any lines emerging from that? no, we know absolutely nothing about it, downing street have said that there will be many press opportunities today, so we will have to wait and see if our colleagues in the netherlands managed to squeeze anything out of mark rutte's office and his advisers. similarly when she goes to berlin, where she is arriving any minute now — i do not think we will see a podium moment with her and angela merkel. and when she arrives in brussels, the best we may get is some handshakes with donald tusk, the president of the european council, and jean—claude juncker, president of the european commission, when she arrives. certainly a busy day, and a lot of people have been busy in brussels. there was a meeting of the general affairs council, european affairs ministers from all 28 member states, where they are preparing for the summit of eu leaders that will happen on thursday and friday. brexit is on the agenda for

our europe correspondent adam fleming is in brussels. let's get up to date with this. mourning. this news, this opinion, as we have described it, coming in the last half—hour or so, tell us what the advocate general has been saying? it is really important to reinforce the point you just made, this is not the final ruling, this is some legal advice given to thejudges ruling, this is some legal advice given to the judges in luxembourg who will make that final ruling by the advocate general, a role we don't really have in the uk courts, which is why it can seem confusing. it is important, the advocate general has spelt out over two and a half pages his arguments on why the uk should be able to revoke its notification to leave the eu under article 50 of the treaty unilaterally, in other words without permission or say from the other 27 member states. this group was brought from some msps, some mps and some meps opposed to brexit, i think they will be older than that the advocate general really is talking about language. —— i think they will be over the moon this morning bec

adam fleming in brussels. certainty that there is no room for renegotiation. is that their bottom line? yeah, that is very clear. that has been spelt out by european affairs ministers who have been arriving for regular scheduled meeting in brussels. they say the deal is the deal on the table and they are happy to provide clarification interpretation and reassurance. but the substantial details, the substance of the withdrawal agreement is not going to change. that message was also echoed in strasbourg at the european parliament, which in session today. they were addressed by the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker. i will see mrs may this evening and i have to say here in the parliament, as i did say before in this parliament, the deal we have achieved is the best deal possible. it is the only deal possible. applause. there is no room whatsoever for renegotiation. but of course there is room, if used intelligently, there is room enough to give further clarification and further interpretat

adam fleming was there for the legal briefing. the advocate general who is the legal adviser who advises thejudges. he general who is the legal adviser who advises the judges. he was at the hearing in luxembourg where the arguments were made and now he's published this 41 page legal assessment which is a recommendation to thejudges that assessment which is a recommendation to the judges that they could choose to the judges that they could choose to follow or they could reject when they make their ruling on an as yet unspecified date. some lawyers had been campaigning against brexit and they think it will influence the minds of mps at westminster when they vote on the final deal next week, that brexit isn't a one—way process, the uk could change its mind and the other member states wouldn't have to give their permission and wouldn't have any opportunity to apply any extra conditions to the uk for staying in the eu. they also think that's a powerful tool in their campaign for another referendum to the british public whether they wan

here's our correspondent, adam fleming.ally about minimising disruption on the uk side, it's about protecting the eu's vital interests that they've identified in this contingency planning process. that stuff about truckers, that's so the eu drugs can go into the uk too. similarly with airlines, its european airlines still being able to fly to the uk and that stuff about limited recognition for financial services, that's for financial services, that's for financial services, that's for financial services that the eu wants to use in london. this is all designed to send a political message to the uk that the only deal is the deal that's on the table and its way, way better than any of this, and the only way the uk could get that post—brexit transition or implementation period is by signing up implementation period is by signing up to the deal on the table. 0ne thing glaringly absent from all this paperwork today, what's the eu going to do on the irish border if there's no deal? also making news today: the us central bank, the

on how to tackle problems in transport, financial services, and customs. 0ur europe reporter, adam flemingsay? this is 1a new pieces of eu law to help it cope with a no deal scenario and some is quite useful to the uk as well. on aviation, british airlines can fly in and out of the eu but not around it for a year. british truckers can still bring goods into the eu from the uk for nine months before they then have to apply for a limited number of permits. auditions citizens abroad will be given help to apply for permanent residence and you will not need and visa for a short trip, and brussels will recognise some uk legislation on financial services for a year or two to prevent turmoil in the markets. the eu has been more generous than i expected that this is still pretty bare—bones staff and the message from brussels is clear, this is not like keeping the good bits of eu membership, this is not as good as the transition or inflammation patient period on offer, in other words the deal on the table is way better than no deal —— implementation period. business groups, including the cbi and the

just to give you a line of information coming to us from adam fleming, our brussels correspondent, givingterms of the minds of eu leaders, we are hearing that they are considering a commitment to continue negotiating a trade deal with the uk, even if, we are being told, the irish backstop comes into force, proved that they wanted to be temporary. so reassuring words, perhaps, for theresa may as she pushes ahead with her deal, brexit, of course, her plan that has been quite a of course, her plan that has been quitea pain, of course, her plan that has been quite a pain, a thorn in her side, with many here say in that that has been the centre of a loss of the divisiveness surrounding today's vote. naomi grimley is with us. our correspondent who has been following this for a number of hours. we now look at how easily the route is for her ahead when she now goes to brussels in the morning. it is the easy. as you mentioned, they might give her some kind of reassurance. -- it is give her some kind of reassurance. —— it is not so easy. some word that this irish backstop will not be in permanent e

in a moment we'll talk to our europe correspondent adam fleming in brussels but first to our businesswhat is the reaction in the markets to not just simon, what is the reaction in the markets to notjust the day's events which were rather turbulent but the outcome of the vote itself? groups are saying this was pointless and unwelcome. my favourite comment was it was a chaotic detours. it feels a bit like this in a sense that you are in a car chase and one of the cars goes off the road and into a barn are lots of chickens squawk out of the windows. you get back on the road and you find out you are where you were when you started. there is political nuance for this but that is the way they see it. business confidence is still shredded. the canary in the business coal mine the pound rallied today on news that mps would come out and support her. there is an old adage in the city, and the pound began to wea ken in the city, and the pound began to weaken a bit. this misses do not feel it as a springboard for more confidence. they have a deal that no one feels will get through parliament and

well, our reporter in brussels, adam fleming, told us what this eu memorandum on how to handle a no—dealed to achieve. they're trying to reassure british citizens who live in other eu countries that they will continue to be able to live and work there even if there is no deal. but on the rest of it, it's not really about minimising disruption on the uk side, it's about protecting the eu's vital interests that they've identified in this contigency planning process. that stuff about truckers, that's so the eu trucks can go into the uk, too. similarly with airlines, it's about european airlines still being able to fly to the uk. and that stuff about limited recognition for financial services, that's for financial services that the eu wants to use in london. this is all designed to send a political message to the uk that the only deal is the deal that's on the table and it's way, way better than any of this. and that the only way the uk can get that post—brexit transition or implementation period is about signing up to the deal that's on the table. one thing glaringly absent from all paperwo

our reporter adam fleming is in luxembourg.o have an advent calendar, but depending on what happens with this, what sort of difference could that make the discussions? so this case has been brought to the european court of justice via the scottish court by a group of msp ‘s, meps and mps from the uk and they think it could make a big difference in voting on the deal tomorrow, because they think remaining in the eu with the uk's membership unchanged is a real option, and i think they are glad that we are talking at all about brexit being a process which could be reversed. they made the case a couple of weeks ago in hearing, that if you had the situation where a country changed its mind about leaving the eu but needed all 27 other countries to approve it, you could have a situation where that was locked and the country ended up having to be forced out against its will. last week the court's chief legal adviser, a guy called the advocate general, said he agreed with that and that is the argument thejudges should with that and that

let's talk first to our brussels reporter adam fleming. s may asked for help and got a very public rebuttal. were the eu unwilling to help, or unable? i don't think she wanted that divorce document to be renegotiated. she did get some of those. it is all about this document known as the conclusions which the eu leaders published last night. it is a few paragraphs long. it is not all bad for theresa may. a commitment from the eu that there should be a close relationship. the idea the backstop would only be temporary. and also the eu would continue to negotiate the eu would continue to negotiate the so—called best endeavours. to get a trade deal with the uk. even if the backstop was needed for a short period. what she did not get was a mandate to the backstop. it would have said the eu had spent the next few weeks working on other forms of reassurance, other language, other documents that she could present to the house of commons. that has gone on some of the lang which has toughened up. we've seen a diplomatic note which sums up that theresa

with me is our brussels reporter, adam fleming.and what will happen to the irish border?" the £39 billion was the financial settle m e nt the £39 billion was the financial settlement that is made up of obligations that the uk had as a member which it had signed up to. plus two years of the transition period where we would pay the same. so there is a bit of an argument about how much of the uk would be legally on the hook for it left without the deal. some of that £39 billion, we think, but it would not be paying during the transition period because there is no deal there is no transition period. about there is no transition period. about the irish border, that is a massive question. the uk and ireland both say that there will be no infrastructure on the irish border but what will the rest of the eu do if there is basically an open door on the common market. the eu insists to preserve the integrity of the single market and this requires a hard border. so, what checks, procedures or other mechanisms must this hard border have to pres

here's adam fleming in brussels.'s loads of flights between the uk and the eu every day. they want to maintain that basic level, so they are going to do legislation so that british airlines can fly into and out of the eu. they will not be able to operate flights within the eu though and that power will last for a year. when it comes to british truckers, they will still be able to bring goods from the uk into the eu for a period of nine months if there is no brexit deal after march 2019. before then, they will have to apply for some very limited scarce permits. so that is giving them a bit of a grace period to adjust to that. when it comes to financial services, the eu has looked at all the bits in the banking industry and financial services world that it needs to protect in a no deal scenario. and it has come up with a couple of quite narrow things, like the clearing of derivatives and has said, "fine, we will now use our procedures where we recognise, the eu recognising you, the uk's, financial services regulations

let's speak to our brussels reporter, adam fleming. what are they saying?with a hard brexit, the uk leaving in march next year with no divorce deal in place. they have covered a few areas. with citizens' rights they have said would do what you can so that british citizens who live in an eu country now can carry on living and working there even if there is no deal. financial services, the usa and we'll recognise some of the financial services regulations to allow some very narrow financial services to continue as they do now. quite a lot of stuff on transport. bare—bones aviation quite a lot of stuff on transport. ba re—bones aviation stopgap quite a lot of stuff on transport. bare—bones aviation stopgap solution where british airlines will still be able to fly in and out and over the uber they will not be able to operate flights between airports in the eu and british truckers will still be a will to bring goods into the eu for up to nine months after that they will have to apply for very scarce international permits. the eu says this is the minimum we are p

adam fleming is in brussels. he's been watching events in westminster, as have people in your up.ffer a little bit more to the british prime minister? alli will say is i was in the pub earlier having some fish and chips and everybody was watching football and not your excellent programme, christian. it's not been the biggest deal in brussels, and that's because they knew it was this sideshow. they continued on the assumptions that the summit tomorrow on the eu leaders with the theresa may coming here and represent the uk as the prime minister, sitting prime minister, not the prime minister who is going anywhere. the fact is, i think it will be back to business and usual, and business as usual is about these assurances theresa may is seeking about the deal, the withdrawal agreement and specifically the irish backstop. the issue about a guarantee of no hard border in ireland. the eu is clear ina border in ireland. the eu is clear in a couple of things. they say the text of the agreement is closed, and is not up for renegotiation. what they are up for his clarification. documents tha

but first to adam fleming who's at the european court ofjustice in luxembourg.ust talk us through this ruling from the court. yes, here it is. 19 pages published a less than an hour ago, delivered with very little ceremony in a cauldron behind me by one thejudges at ceremony in a cauldron behind me by one the judges at the ecj to a virtually empty courtroom. —— the court room behind me. thisjudgment was brought by mps, meps and msps, who wanted clarity on the exit clause for a departing eu member state, which says what you want to do if you want to leave but it does not say what you can do if you change your mind. what the judges at the ecj have ruled is that the uk or any other departing member state could revoke its notice of departure and article 50, as long as it was done before the withdrawal agreement was in place, and the two year time agreement was in place, and the two yeartime limit in agreement was in place, and the two year time limit in article 50 had expired or not been extended. the people who brought the case will be celebrating because this mean

i also want to bring you this from bbc‘s adam fleming.ithdrawal agreement of using "best endeavours" to reach a trade deal which removes the need for the backstop." but — to that point — the irish taoiseach leo varadkar said this. what i can say is that the withdrawal agreement, including the irish backstop, is the only agreement on the table. it took over agreement on the table. it took over a yearand a agreement on the table. it took over a year and a half to negotiate, it has the support of 28 governments, and it is not possible to reopen any aspect of that agreement without reopening all aspects of it. tony connelly, who is the europe editorfor rte, ireland's public broadcaster, he's in brussels. he isa he is a regular on outside source. tony, good to see you again, thanks for your time. ireland wants to avoid a no deal here, so might it be willing to offer something for theresa may to help her out?|j willing to offer something for theresa may to help her out? i don't think they can offer anything, by way of reopening the withdrawal a

the team at brexitcast, particularly political correspondent chris mason and brussels reporter adam fleming the uk's membership of the eu. plus it's about protecting the rights of people from the eu living in the uk and protecting the rights of brits living in the european union. correct. david james—bailey from lincoln wrote to us... thank you for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions on bbc news and current affairs or even appear on the programme, you can call us, or e—mail. find us on twitter and have a look at our website. that's all from us. we are off air for the next two weeks but we will be back in the new year. happy christmas. good morning, welcome to breakfast with naga munchetty and jon kay. our headlines today: "brexit is in danger of getting stuck" — that's the warning from a senior cabinet minister who urges mps from all parties to come together. crucial talks to tackle global warming continue through the night as officials from 200 countries struggle to agree a deal. a british sailor, rescued after her boat capsized during a round the world race, sa

let's talk to our brussels reporter adam fleming. what did she get and what didn't she get?kstop is an insurance policy that is temporary, and if it comes and it will only be in place for as long as it is needed. it will not be permanent and the eu has given a pledge that they will continue to use their best endeavours to use their legal language to negotiate a future trade relationship, a future economic partnership that means the backstop will not be required. even if the backstop has been triggered. so, the uk sees those things as winds. what they have not got is that in an earlier draft of the document that was floating around brussels earlier this week, it was a statement where basically they said they did not want the backstop at all, or another paragraph where the eu said they will explore further assurances that they could provide the uk in the nearfuture. that paragraph has gone. that is it. that is the end of the reassurance providing process as far as the eu is concerned. they wanted political and legal guarantees about the backstop that they could take back to pa

let's get this report now from adam fleming. safe in herjob, for now, theresa may has sped to brussels to secure tweaks to the brexit deal. first stop, a meeting with the irish prime minister. the focus is on the back—up plan for avoiding a hard border on the island of ireland, the so—called backstop. my focus now is on ensuring that i can get those assurances that we need to get this deal over the line because i genuinely believe it is in the best interests of both sides, the uk and the eu, to agree a deal. but i recognise the strength of concern in the house of commons and that is what i will be putting to colleagues today. i do not expect an immediate breakthrough, but i hope we can start to work as quickly as possible on the assurances that are necessary. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, is not willing to do any more negotiating. but eu leaders are considering six paragraphs of written reassurance. they will say the backstop is temporary and would only be in place for as long as needed, not forever. the eu will ple

we can now speak to our brussels reporter adam fleming.she needs a lot of support from those eu leaders as well. yes, not many mountains but quite a few flights theresa may will be taking today, unless she gets the train. we will get a clue to how the eu is feeling and about half an hour's time, because european affairs ministers are coming to this building in brussels for one of their regular meetings and we will be on the red carpet asking them. we got a really good clue last night from donald tusk, the chairman of the european council, and he tweeted, i have decided to call a european council on brexit on thursday, that is the code they use here in brussels for a european summit. he says we will not renegotiate the deal, including the backstop, which is the controversial insurance policy for the irish border, but we are ready to discuss how to facilitate uk ratification. as time is running out, we will also discuss preparing this for a no deal scenario. and that has been re— tweeted more than 6000 times, which shows you how interested p

let‘s speak to our brussels reporter, adam fleming.g. nothing changes for the rest of the european union so why did they need these preparations? well, this is the, nation of work that started earlier this year. we saw an outline of this published in november and the european commission is publishing 14 bits of new eu law that need to be put in place to keep things ticking over between the uk and the eu in key sectors. i will run through a couple of them. when it comes to transport, there is loads of flights between the uk and eu every day, they want to maintain that basic level so they will do legislation so british airlines can fly into and out of the eu. they cannot operate flights within the eu and that power will last for a year. when it comes to british truckers, they will still be able to bring goods from the uk into the eu for nine months if there is no brexit deal after march 2019, before they have to apply for some very limited and scarce permits. that gives them a grace period to adjust. when it comes to financial services,

let's speak to our brussels reporter, adam fleming who is at the european court ofjustice in luxembourgll see as a gift as to those wanting to remain in the uk, but many will watch the television to see what is a mac has to say, because none of us know? yes, this was an enormous ruling here at the european court of justice was an enormous ruling here at the european court ofjustice this morning, but what's the eu treaties say about a country changing its mind about leaving. essentially reversing the brexit process, and it was massive news for about 47 minutes, and then everybody moved on to events where you are. i think eve ryo ne to events where you are. i think everyone knew this was a possibility, they would have seen the mps and the backbenchers lining up the mps and the backbenchers lining up to say that they could not vote for the deal, and they had all the speculation that we have been hearing too, so they must have known that this is a possibility, but the question now is what can theresa may get if she comes back to brussels to try and renegotiate the deal? well, the spokespers

let's get more from our correspondent in brussels, adam fleming. we've seen it. it is one and a bit pages long, six paragraphs and still in draft form. you can tell that because it's got square brackets around lots of it which is the technical way the diplomats say this is still to be agreed. there are three key things in it. firstly, it says the withdrawal agreement is non—negotiable. the text of the treaty which contains the infamous backstop isn't going to change. but thenit backstop isn't going to change. but then it looks like eu leaders are going to make a pledge to continue using their best endeavours, legal words for trying really hard, to com plete words for trying really hard, to complete a trade deal which means the backstop can be swept away even if it has come into force. so you would have brexit day, then the transition period where they would be negotiations for a trade deal. if that didn't work it would get into a backstop at the negotiations would continue with the idea of the backstop is pulled out and replaced by the future relat

let's speak to our brussels reporter, adam fleming who is outside the european court ofjustice in luxembourgthat significant ruling this morning, anticipated but it does give confirmation that britain could leave brexit without the permission of the other eu member states. yes, i should say the atmosphere of the european court ofjustice in luxembourg, it is like a church compared to where you are at westminster. very quiet, not a lot of people, lots of thinking going on behind closed doors. even though there has been this important big judgment today, this case was brought by a group of british parliamentarian, mps, s mps and meps who wanted clarity on article 50 of the eu treaty, which explains what happens if you want to leave but does not explain the conditions under which a country could change its mind. the court are struck this case so its mind. the court are struck this case so that they could have a ruling in time of the vote tomorrow and they ruled that the uk would be able to withdraw its notification to leave the eu unilaterally, as long as it followed a democratic process at home

let‘s speak to our brussels reporter adam fleming.ing else, he said this would turn hard landing into more of a soft landing to deal with the cliff edge. it covers eight broad areas, whether its data protection, customs, plantand animal health, transport when it comes to alleviation and road haulage. there‘s some stuff in there about citizens right and some stuff about citizens right and some stuff about financial services as well. this is 14 legislative proposals, bits of eu law, which now need quite consultation and have to be approved by the european parliament as well. big message from the eu, this is in norway replicating key bits of eu law, which now need quite consultation and have to be approved by the european parliament as well. big message from the eu, this is in norway replicating gbits of eu membership and this is in norway as good as they transition period contained in the withdrawal agreement. this is bare—bones and staff put in place by the eu acting unilaterally on its own, not in negotiation with the uk, and a lot of

let's look at this closer now with our brussels reporter adam fleming.is an opinion as we mentioned from the chief legal adviser to the ecj, the advocate general. how likely is it that this opinion will be followed through in that final ruling from the ec]? historically thejudges ruling from the ec]? historically the judges follow the opinion of the advocate general about 75 or 80% of the time, so that would suggest that is quite likely but of course there is quite likely but of course there is no guarantee because that means one third of the time that they don't. the fact is that campaigners who have been fighting for this, fighting this case, first in the scottish courts and then having seen the effect of the european court of justice in luxembourg when it was subject to a hearing last week, they are over the moon about this because they say it gives mps another option to bear in mind when they vote on the final brexit deal at westminster next week. it is also, they said, a powerful tool in the campaign for another referendum on the uk's membership of

with me is our brussels reporter, adam fleming.e gossipy bit first because there was not very heated exchange, you have been doing some light reading, basically saying she was unhappy thatjean—claude juncker had cost the british approach nebulous, i suppose it symbolises the kind of stand—off there has been. this started last night, a midnight press conference given by donald tusk, and jean—claude juncker, jean—claude juncker said the uk had not given enough information about its vision for the future because he wants to get on with the negotiations about the future relationship on the economy and trade and security. then he said the fact is that the uk the situation is really nebulous. we thought the two things were linked, he was talking about the uk government position. then when the cameras go around the table of the summit room, you see the leaders chatting and it is meant to shown that they are all members of the same club and get along but today it should be upset, jean—claude juncker having a heated conversation with theres