because labour would not change. because labour would say, we would like to vote this down even though the custom unions. it's really all the mps. they would say that, that is one reason it does not hit their six tasks, and which he is offering is a temporary measure of the backstop. apartment taking control of the situation parliament taking control of the situation, during things and that direction. but when a delay have to be approved by parliament? and that could be pretty difficult, commit? they can throw their weight around and. throw their weight around? otherwise, exercise democracy. when you're talking about the contempt of parliament and all that happening and publishing legal advice, brexiteers will point out that that is a matter of motions rather than law. no, that is not a matter of motions. parliament is showing, given the government lacks a majority, it is hard to disobey. obviously, people think that theresa may can be sent back. theresa may is doing everything she possibly can to try and squeeze eve

because labour doesn't want one and that's the secret to everything. jeremy corbyn fighting an election? i don't think so. i think labour even in its most insane moments, no full stops if you did win, it would bea full stops if you did win, it would be a disaster. i think he will be replaced and that is the real danger. who will replace him? at the moment, his shadow chancellor would be the candidate. it wouldn't be hilary benn or one of the moderate labour people or yvette cooper, that will be a plausible alternative but that won't happen because momentum has now got hold of all the levers. so theresa may has a year of security because she won the leadership election. in terms of her party, you don't think there will be hmo election so she will still be in place at the end of the year? yes, i think so. let's ask about the other problem is in europe that are unresolved. we talked a bit in passing about italy, the big one is france. yes, this movement, and not even sure you would call it a movement but the popular uprising of yellow vests which began as

not right now because on both sides we have had labour could look to cobble together a vote of no—confidence but they are not ready to do that now. on the other side, as we know, jacob rees—mogg i'm sure you will ask this question, he and his supporters thought a few weeks ago they had enough support to try and force her out and they were not good at counting the numbers either actually. so, let us see, at this moment there does not seem to be anybody around westminster tonight willing to force a conclusion. laura kuenssberg and katya adler in brussels, thank you for joining katya adler in brussels, thank you forjoining us. more from you both on tonight's bbc news at ten. a chaotic mess or a hugely complicated negotiation which was always going to take time and patience? the twists and turns of brexit have engaged some, bored and appalled many and further deepened divisions across the country. nina warhurst has been to liverpool to hear the people's verdict. they are never short of a word in liverpool. they all seem to just be bickering like a bunch of children, aren't they? theyjust need to

what he was expected to do but in the end we have an —— another lot of amateur dramatics from labour becauseying to run down the clock, accusing the prime minister of doing that but this is what he is doing. it is a fantasy. he could not get a better deal. the tory party in the dup will get behind them. he won't win a no—confidence vote in the government and he knows that which is why he is calling this a pointless, absolutely pointless no—confidence in the prime minister, it is a complete waste of parliamentary time and it is another example of the amateur dramatics we have had, mace stealing, pointless votes being called, jeremy corbyn is running down the clock, playing political games, doing the things he is accusing others of doing, and in the end it doesn't get us anywhere. he doesn't have a plan. he says he could go back to the eu and get a better deal. do you think people at home and watch and see all that, do they think it is transparent? people say down the pub all the time, i don't like theresa may, but she is doing a good job, and i would vote for her. a no—confidence vote will ev

but her problem is she cannot persuade labour mps to support because she needs labour opposed to getabsolutely no headway in persuading them to back the government. i want to pick up on that in a moment, but let's stay with labour. this is a very unusual situation where a prime minister could find her prospects dependent on the support of the opposition party when her own party desert her. it has happened before but it's pretty unusual. on big votes it happens quite often, the iraq vote for example. of the labour backbencher deserted tony blair on that but he was covered because he has support from the conservatives. he had lots of ministerial people as well. and we went into europe in the first baseman 1970s, ted heath 2000 with labour votes. something like that will have to happen this time. what is quite surprising is how little effort theresa may has made to persuade labour mps to vote for her deal. you surprised she's spent time trying to persuade the public rather than being at westminster, i'm sure she has been seen people privately, but she spent quite a number of days on thi

i think if there was a vote today, it would get through partly because the labour front bench would withholdry hard to game what the numbers would look like. clearly people who are calling for another referendum build the momentum is with them. there is certainly one scenario that could play out in what would be political chaos that follows this going down if it does on december 11. there are many theories at westminster about houseis many theories at westminster about house is my ricochet in any number of directions. the government are keen to say this would result without a deal is the same time as i said it could mean there is no brexit at all. some people are talking about going to norway route as an alternative. does labour want to have a general election, but one issue will play is clearly not there issue will play is clearly not there is another referendum for it is impossible to say now that which one of those will nudge ahead and galvanise the house of commons. if this vote is lost for the government, if the house of commons that means the trying time convinces that means the trying

the question is whether she gets the space to do that, because the labour opposition say that they wouldvote, and that would effectively mean they would be inviting people to vote for no confidence in the government, to get rid of her. and some people on her own side don't like her tactics. well, itjust needs 48 of her own mps to try and oust herfrom power in the first place. as we have said, the five—day debate has begun. we can go live to parliament. it is approaching 1:10am and that is the scene live, where still, a few, maybe three people are there, including the speaker of the house, john virgo, this member of parliament debating her views on theresa may's brexit deal, and we understand it will continue for another 45 minutes before reconvening again on wednesday later today —— john bercow that will continue and we have more coverage here on bbc news. the debate continues. let's take a look at some of the day's other news. the us is threatening to pull out of a cold war nuclear arms treaty over what it calls russia violations of the agreement. speaking at a nato meeting in brussels,

tonight in a confidence motion if that breaks the deal is voted on next tuesday which is important because labourst the government and there we re against the government and there were questions about whether the dup would vote with the conservatives are not. they will. jacob freeze mob says the danger was in the dup is that the withdrawal agreement goes through that is when they would with draw their confidence and their comments and the government and they would become a minority government. but the db had to make a cold clock pushif but the db had to make a cold clock push if theresa may is voted down in that contest motion, who knows what happens. they could lose their leverage as well. we will ask sandy wilson shortly said what right. michael flynn, who briefly served as donald trump's national security adviser, is unlikely to face anyjail time, despite admitting that he lied to the fbi. in a heavily redacted court document the special prosecutor robert mueller — who is investigating alleged russian collusion — said general flynn had provided "substa ntial" details about links between the tr

the question is whether she gets the space given to do that, because the labour opposition say that theyalled a confidence vote, and that would effectively mean they would be inviting people to vote for no confidence in the government, to get rid of her. and some people on her own side don't like her tactics, well, it just needs own side don't like her tactics, well, itjust needs 48 of her own mps to try and oust her from power in the first place. let's take a look at some of the day's other news: the us is threatening to pull out of a cold war nuclear arms treaty over what it calls russia violations of the agreement. speaking at a nato meeting in brussels, us secretary of state mike pompeo said moscow has been test—flying a missile that violated the treaty for more than a decade. the list of russia's infamous act is long. george, ukraine, syria, election meddling, skripal, and now of the kerch strait, to namejust election meddling, skripal, and now of the kerch strait, to name just a few. in light of these facts, the united yesterday declares it has found russia in material breach of th

it was needed and it was a pity that his vision, that we should work with labour in the administration wasn't realised becauseoubling our number of mps was slightly overshadowed. he played a major role in influencing the way that gap developed and took on that usual reform and made it his own. it's only a few weeks ago that it was revealed he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. were you aware of how seriously ill he was? well, i heard it second hand. unfortunately it's all happened very quickly. the last dealings i had were whom were at the party conference where he was at the party conference where he was a majorforce, at the party conference where he was a major force, speaking at the party conference where he was a majorforce, speaking up for reforms in the party. he had a real vision about where he wanted us to go and where he wanted the country to go. that's how i remember him, in his prime, and that's how he would wa nt to his prime, and that's how he would want to be remembered. sir vince cable with his reflections on paddy ashdown. lord ashdown played a prominent role in the peace process following the

they were taken because of the labour party's mismanagement of the economy. hear, hear!ber for birmingham hodge hill — under labour, there is no money left. hear, hear! when i hear a prime minister talking about difficult decisions, what always happens afterwards in these contexts is the poorest lose out in our society. 4.3... 4.3 million disabled people are now in poverty. 50,000 were hit by appalling cuts to the employment support allowance benefit alone last year. this government labelled disabled people scroungers, it called those unable to work skivers... shouting. it created... order, order! order. i don't need any advice from the home secretary. he should seek to discharge his own obligations in his office to the best of his ability. i require no advice from the right honourable gentleman on the discharge of mine. child poverty is rising. homelessness, rising. destitution, rising. household debt, rising. when will the prime minister turn her warm words into action? end the benefit freeze. repeal the bedroom tax. scrap the two—child cut. and halt the roll—out of un

they were taken because of the labour pa rty‘s were taken because of the labour party's mismanagementht honourable memberfor birmingham hodge hill under labour, there is no money left under labour, there is no money left under labour. mr speaker, when i hear a mr speaker, when i heara prime minister talking about difficult decisions, what always happens afterwards in these contexts, the poorest lose out in our society. 4:3... 4.3 million disabled people are now in poverty, 50,000 were hit bya are now in poverty, 50,000 were hit by a appalling cuts to employment support allowance benefit last year. this government labels disabled people scroungers and called those unable to work skivers. it created... it created... order, order, i do not need any advice from the home secretary. he should seek to discharge his own obligations in his office to the best of his ability. i require no advice from the right honourable gentleman on the right honourable gentleman on the discharge of mine. be clear about that. jeremy corbyn. thank you, mr speaker. this government also created a hostile environme

again, that cabinet ministers and others because they feel that would bring in enough labour mps whichcause if the government can bring in the dup, then they don't have a functioning majority, to look elsewhere. that is the kind of thing people are discussing. when you say, how will it happen? you need a prime minister that will deliver that change. at the limit, theresa may is not looking that. today, she has managed to buy herself more time in the job of prime minister but it doesn't ta ke of prime minister but it doesn't take as much further forward than that. it also saying that there is a lot more talk about those 48 litres. with header before, so we don't know what that is what some are talking about. but she cannot be the person to change tack. if you tried as she tried her international trade secretary liam fox, talking to the bbc‘s huw edwards earlier, says the vote shouldn't be rushed. doctor fox also said not leaving the eu would break trust between the electorate and parliament. meanwhile a no—deal would be disruptive for the economy. it has been clear for some time that th

as you saw in my report, a senior labour figure tying himself in knots about where labour are becauseare deeply uneasy. and a bit of a spat with past leaders of the country. we reminisced are having a pop at the previous prime minister. it is no surprise that a senior politician criticising the labour politician but normally prime ministers, sitting and previous, have a certain decorum about how they act publicly. not today. the prime minister saying very strikingly that she thought tony blair, a labour predecessor, was using language and mounting arguments that were unbecoming of the office he once held and the people he represented. tony blair hit back strikingly, saying, no, it was responsible, and not anti—democratic to talk about another referendum, and it should be something parliament was willing to entertain if, and it comes back to this, all of the other options are exhausted. too many options! as ever, thank you, chris. the mother and two children who died following a house fire in nottinghamshire have been named as justine, isabella and harvey collison. the blaze in colling

we will look at the labour amendment because we are in a minority parliament and everybody has to work of commons more european because we wa nt of commons more european because we want to see if we cannot stay in the eu, which is the best deal. we stay in the single market and the customs union. that is best for business. it is notjust me saying that, but chris' colleagues in the treasury saying that. do you feel reassured by this? no, i am an eu citizen and i have been in the uk for ten years. it reduces our right so we lose all future voting rights, 3 million citizens here and 1.5 million to 2 million brits in the eu become representation list. i find interesting female prime minister in 2018, celebrating 100 yea rs of minister in 2018, celebrating 100 years of the suffragettes, it reduces the rights of people to vote. applause ‘s she says this safeguard rights to stay and carry on. she also caused the >> liem: called us queuejumpers and doesn't know how to apologise in public. we have been left in legal limbo for the last two years. the application for sap of status, the applicatio

was that we should work in government with tony blair's administration wasn't realised because there was a labour treatment in dabbling our numbers of mps was slightly overshadowed but he did play a major role in the way that government developed, and took on his views of constitutional reform, which were very much his own. the prime minister has issued a statement. in a moment, we'll have the weather with helen willetts before joining viewers on bbc one with a full roundup of the day's news. but let's now listen to the thoughts of colonel bob stewart, the conservative mp — and who as commander of the united nations served in bosnia where he became a friend of lord ashdown. i first met paddy in 92, 93, when i was the un commander in bosnia and he was... i have to say, a great friend, when he turned up he convinced me to take him to the front line. i wasn't allowed to take anyone to the front line, only generals were meant to go to the front line but paddy somehow got me to do it. he said, i was a soldier, they'll be no problems. and i said, are not meant to take anyone of high rank to the front l

was that we should work in government with tony blair's administration wasn't realised because there was a labourment in dabbling our numbers of mps was slightly overshadowed but he did play a raid —— major role in the way that government developed, and took on aids —— his views of constitutional reform, which were very much his own. it was only a few weeks ago it was revealed he was diagnosed with ladder cancer. when you aware of how seriously ill he was? i heard it second hand. u nfortu nately, was? i heard it second hand. unfortunately, it all happened very quickly. the last dealings i had with him were at our party conference where he was a major force and speaking up for reforms in the party, he had a real vision about where he wanted us to go and where he wanted the country to go and that is how i remember him, in his prime, and i'm sure that is how he would want to be remembered. indeed. sir vince cable, he would want to be remembered. indeed. sirvince cable, thank he would want to be remembered. indeed. sir vince cable, thank you for sharing your thoughts on paddy ashdown. sir vince cable

one of the reasons labour are ducking that is because they don't think they can win a vote of confidencee government. and if they don't, label will be forced to clarify precisely what they would do want to happen if, as most people expect, theresa may loses the big vote on a deal which we now know what happened the week of the 14th of january. labour will have to confront its own very difficult decisions about the way forward, whether it is another referendum or something else altogether. let's talk about the referendum, and we will talk about it later this evening as well with a labour mp. how would that work? what kind of questions would have to be on the paper? it has to be a yes or no answer, hasn't it? nobody has a clue. what would have to happen is the government would need to decide, and the prime minister would have to decide, whoever it was at the time, that the referendum is the only way to break the deadlock and the government would bring forward primary legislation to the house of commons which they would have to approved. mps would have to work out approved. mps would have t

but it is pretty certain that i don't think any tory mp will vote for it, because itjust looks like labourresa may's fiercest critics, the ones who voted against her in the tory pa rty‘s own ones who voted against her in the tory party's own vote of confidence in her, they have made it clear they will notjoin in her, they have made it clear they will not join labour in her, they have made it clear they will notjoin labour in voting against her on this particular motion. ben, thank you for talking us motion. ben, thank you for talking us through that, and if you want to know what another referendum might look like we will be speaking to the labourmp look like we will be speaking to the labour mp alison mcgovern a little bit later. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages, at 10.40 and 11.30 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are the former pensions minister, baroness ros altmann, and the journalist and broadcaster, mihir bose. on to other news now. a man has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 32 years fo

frustration among labour supporters that the labour front bench is not capitalising, it is perceived, on this moment of crisis for political rivals because. i think as time ticks on it gets a bit unusual that the labour party hasn't launched a no—confidence motion. we certainly have no confidence in the prime minister. it would be difficult to have any confidence in her at the moment. you know what the argument is. at this point you would not win so what is the point? i can see it from both sides. this is a politician's answer! i can see it from both sides. nobody wants gestural politics in the country and what happens in the conservative party yesterday tells us that the country party yesterday tells us that the cou ntry ta kes party yesterday tells us that the country takes a dim view of gameplaying. but for me the labour party has a policy which was agreed at its party conference that the first thing that we should try and do is to try and trigger a general election and then we would support a vote going back to people on the deal and remain. and that is why some of your supporters want you to lodge that, which you would lose, and tha

start looking at the observer, because their headline, key labour figures urge the party to prepare forpoll, which comes prepare for a brexit poll, which co m es after prepare for a brexit poll, which comes after news thatjohn mcdonnell is met members of the people's as they call themselves. it would be a really big move if labour activist, even though they are calling for a general election and it will be difficult to get that. jeremy corbyn, the labour leader, is not a fan of the eu. he used a satirical programme on channel 4, the last leg, to say that he was seven out of ten in favour of the eu and he thinks it's a supranational institution and he doesn't like it for that a lot of people think that he would quite like the uk. i think he would quite like the uk. i think he is being dragged kicking and screaming a bit by his shadow here just talk about the possibility of having a peoples vote. obviously, labour would rather have an election, they'd think they have a good shot of winning with the tories in disarray, but it seems labour is slowly moving towards a peoples vote. they name

we don't know what labour's position is, because they don't know what their position is.position for some time. we will come to that ina for some time. we will come to that in a moment. it potentially gives a way out of... it gives a fresh air in the commons, which is what it needs right now. however, little bit of optimism perhaps in the sunday telegraph on thatjeremy hunt... the uk will flourish without a brexit deal. this is what is crazy to me. how does jeremy hunt know this? there is no precedent for this, how does he know it? other than having some sort of idea about what britain will be able to do, we have no idea. the fact that he is now presenting david to back up his optimism, and bodyis david to back up his optimism, and body is asking him to do it, is what is making the rest of the world look at the uk and say, what is going on here? because it isjust wacky. what does he mean? the headline says one thing, if you at what. .. does he mean? the headline says one thing, if you at what... i'm a journalist, we have done this before. you think they are overdoing it?

assuming -- because one option would be that labour calls a vote of no-confidence in the government.y is still prime minister, she could go back to the european union and get changes to the text, maybe something more that backstop, get more assurances or some kind of parliamentary veto that they could come out of the backstop. also talking about a second referendum. that comes with a lot of questions and uncertainty as well. we could even end up with a general election. shery: but the government is still trying to persuade lawmakers. we are now hearing that the prime minister's saying that she is listening to her colleagues' concerns on the irish backstop. we talked about it being like, if you are an athlete running in a race in the olympics, you don't talk about what happens if you lose. she is just very focused on trying to win this vote, despite the numbers looking so bad. you, our u.k. politics reported joining us from westminster. coming up, one day to go before a critical opec summit and why most agree for a need for a cut in oil production. no expedition on how. we are still a

labourers. it is also about immigration because reason that the government pushed through this year overtime lawy, though many young unskilled hungarians have gone abroad in search of better opportunities. from the shouts of the crowd, it is also about corruption. the crowds here alleged the government and those close to it up effectively stealing from the people. it is also about the state television and government—controlled of the media. there is a problem, that we have in this country. when i was 18, in 1990, we decided something else at that time. we didn't want a system like this now. the government is clearly hoping that the people here on the streets over these days will go home for the christmas holidays and not come out again in the new year. stay with us on the briefing. in timor to come, including catalan‘s former speakerjailed for declaring independence takes her case for release to the european of human rights. after eight months on the run, saddam hussein has been tracked down and captured by american forces. saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our

labours. it is also about emigration, because the reason that the government pushed through this new overtime and skilled hungarians have gone abroad in search of better opportunities. it's also, from the shouts of the crowd here, it's also about corruption. the crowds here allege that the government and those close to it are effectively stealing from the people. it's also about state television and government control of the media. main problem in one word is beaurocracy itself. that is the point where it is becoming everything. so that problem, what we have in this country. you know, when i was 18 it was in 1990, we decided something else at that time. we didn't want a system like this now. the government is clearly hoping that the people here on the streets over these days will go home for the christmas holidays and not come out again in the new year. nick thorpe, bbc news, budapest. south africans have been celebrating national reconciliation day, a public holiday to encourage healing across the racial divide. but after more than two decades of freedom, there's growing evidence that racism

he doesn't want to do that, because he thinks labour would lose, and then you have got to go back to,is labour's position about brexit? would it back a second referendum? a lot of people suspect that as a lifetime socialist than someone who has never had any time for the eu, actuallyjeremy corbyn does not want actuallyjeremy corbyn does not want a second referendum, and does not wa nt a second referendum, and does not want people to vote to remain in the eu should that happen. want people to vote to remain in the eu should that happenli want people to vote to remain in the eu should that happen. i promise you we will bring that saturday night live spoof. it is coming at the end of this half hour. stay with us, you will get it. how will they know when sbs start and the real stuff and? she looked a little shorter, the actress, and that's about it. is there anything that the primaries there anything that the primaries there is going to manage to pull out of her christmas stocking that is a gift from the european union to make a vote more likely to pass in january than it would if she hel

it's about time that we looked at racial inequality in higher hall education and the labour market, because women have been the main beneficiaries, actually, of policy—making. so if you are, for instance, a woman of colour, not only do you experience an ethnic penalty, you also experience a gender penalty. we found that many female academics were too afraid to speak to us publicly for fear of losing theirjobs. they felt frustrated, ignored, that they were overqualified but underpaid. 0ne lecturer told me that she felt like a third class citizen, another used the term "cheap labour". we spoke with a teaching fellow at leeds university, who has nearly two decades of global business experience. she says the university did not take that into account when setting her salary. i know people who have come from non—academic backgrounds and they have come and they have got better pay and higher grade jobs, which makes me sometimes question, did i make the right choice to come to this country? in response, leeds university say they pay academics from both ethnic minorities and white backgrounds at com

that is because it provides training. it provides labour standards and provides safeguards and wages and benefits and the ability to earn while you learn. i think i saw the philip randolph institute director here who is one of the best advocates for how equity plus apprenticeship is really the best thing going for equity community members and workers seeking to enter the cannabis industry. we have had the opportunity to talk with stakeholders on this model in and the human rights commission including director cheryl davis and members at the cannabis equity coalition and access of love and we are excited to share with you this model recently earned the unanimous support of the small business commission based on the amendment that supervisor his fid is proposing to tighten up our partnership. organizations including apr i and young community developers and labour organizations. this model is earning support from labour organizations including the northern california labour district council and we just learned today the teamsters joint council

in terms of moving to next steps, the snp and other parties, you are rather waiting on labour, becausethe government, and it doesn‘t look like labour will do that this side of christmas. the speaker made clear, and you are right to say that, annita, we need the official opposition to join the real opposition in the snp to join a motion of no confidence, and today we have been joined motion of no confidence, and today we have beenjoined by the liberal democrats, the greens and plaid cymru, and other colleagues, in calling for them to put down that motion of no confidence, because the government has lost it, that is clear, and it is time for the rest of us to step up to the plate. there is another division in the labour party over brexit to make that difficult from your perspective, isn‘t there? difficult from your perspective, isn't there? yeah, there is, and the snp is the biggest and most unified party on this issue. we want to see that second referendum, we offered a compromise, but we think the best deal is to remain in the european union. there is a lot of division on labour would

leather seats, goodness why is this happening again and again, and at some point the labour mp didn't know what to cheer becauseit was a kind of you to cheer, because this is something very

labour party with regards to her status? guy: absolutely. it's a vote of confidence in the government which would be a parliamentary vote. situation where mps fornot likely to vote another general election becausefear the labour party my twin that. -- might win that. at every turn, you end up at a political stalemate. it's an open question. there is no majority in the house of commons for any particular outcome. that is why, maybe ultimately, this process has back to the british people to make its goes.on on where brexit at the moment, we have political power pullout assists -- political power paralysis. front pages of tomorrow's papers, will they be about her meeting with eu leaders or about who might take her place? the sense was already that she was a prime minister that was in office and not necessarily in power. that was already kind of past the narrative. the front page tomorrow will be buy onceay has to vye once again. as a result of today, we know she will be removed. it won't happen in the near term, it will be happen in the medium-term. further forward in figuring out where brexit goes, and what brexit ultimately ends up meeting. that is what the editorials will say overnight. the fro

the spot if that became an emerging reality, well, the leadership of the labour party would have to be put on the spot, because and if you have a plus, then the plus is the customs union, which limits what you can do in terms of the trade deal, and you have to pay m, the trade deal, and you have to pay in, and you have freedom of movement, which some labour mps say we can't sell on the doorstep. and it is not certain, having heard from the norway prime minister, that they would not want a big brother is using it as a platform to something else on a temporary basis. if they we re else on a temporary basis. if they were going in full—time, but certainly not on a temporary basis. on article 50, the european court of justice said the uk could turn its back on this process and keep its status within the european union without losing any of its current arrangements. rebecca says why can't you just revoke article 50 and stop this madness? of course, lots people don't call this madness, but if parliament wanted to go back, is that process relatively straightforward? yes, it is, and in one way this was a big win for pe

that we should work in government with tony blair's administration, wasn't realised, because there was a sort of labourhis own treatment in doubling our number of mps was slightly overshadowed. but he did play a major role in the way that government developed, and took on his views of institutional reform which were very much his own. prime minister theresa may has issued a statement saying: sirjohn major paid his. —— respects. colonel bob stewart, the conservative mp who as commander of the united nations served in bosnia, became a friend of lord ashdown and gave me his memories from his time there. he was, i have to say, a great friend, when he turned up, he convinced me to take him to the front lines. i wasn't allowed to take anyone to the front lines. no generals were meant to go to the front lines. but paddy somehow got me to do it. he said, i was a soldier, there'll be no problems. and i said, i'm not meant to take anyone of high rank to the front lines. he said, i'm going there today. and he said, well, i'll come with you. i said, but you're not meant to. in the end, he convinced me and i put hi

leather seats, goodness why is this happening again and again, and at some point the labour mp didn't know what to cheer because they could feel it on the second one with the ministers were found guilty of contempt, but it was a kind of you to cheer, because this is something very historical, chewing about is not the right thing to do it was a strange atmosphere. this is due for theresa may got to her feet to start to try and set out her case for the deal. theresa may authority is in shreds is how the mirror puts it, do you think that's right? exposing lots of questions for them and there aren't all the answers, it is a person ever government has been held in content, so exactly what happens next isn't entirely clear. but the point they are all rocking the government and they're going to have the debate and it'll go on for the next few days, this puts a difficult position. it's a real indication of how difficult it is for theresa may to carry the comments at the moment. it's a minority government in action if the government seeing nine power, it literally cannot guarantee it'll win votes in the comments, there

there is enough unanimity or the labour party ca n is enough unanimity or the labour party can pull together sufficiently becauseht phrase, but to ta ke exactly the right phrase, but to take advantage of this situation, to drive this situation in the way that you want to drive it? or willie splits and divisions in the party mean you cannot do that?” splits and divisions in the party mean you cannot do that? i think we need honesty about the situation we are rain and we have not had that thus far. secondly, we need a willingness to compromise. nobody is going to get anything they want out of the mess. —— everything they want. government needs to reach out, talk to other people, see if it is possible to find a consensus. the story of the last two and a half yea rs story of the last two and a half years is the prime minister has spent her time trying to manage deep divisions in our party, and now is the time parliament needs to focus on the national interest. hilary benn, thank you very much for your time. let me tell you that coming up at 1130 pm —— 11:30am, your time. let me tell you that coming up at 1130 pm ——1

in the uk there isa hung significant because in the uk there is a hung parliament. the labours almost as important as what the conservative party decides to do. there is still a long way from it. this week has been wholly bizarre in the competitive field. on monday she returned to the house of commons with her historic deal. and for once i wept there wasn't a single mp saying anything positive about it. you then had the government publishing its own economic predictions or forecasts all saying the uk will be laura with their own policy than any other. then you had her tour, even though there isn't a referendum. things are moving so fa st referendum. things are moving so fast but it is worth remembering just how utterly bizarre politics in the uk are at the moment. donald tusk said this week, that it is the only deal in town and if this deal doesn't go through, he said we are probably looking at a no—deal brexit may be built brexit at all. do people really think that will be the case if it is voted down? a lot of people in britain are convinced something will have to be found.

were saying thatjohn major needed to be seen to be on top of the new technology, because of concerns that a then young labourin the file as being particularly up on the internet, which is interesting. i think it is a great demonstration of what was going on in 1994, and have so much has moved on in the last 25 years. so many different stories emerging from that era. there was also a meeting with sir ian mckellen. that is about lowering the age of consent for, homosexuals? yes, he went to discuss some of the concerns that 93v discuss some of the concerns that gay men had at the time. one of the things he raised was the age of consent. at the time, it was 21. he wa nted consent. at the time, it was 21. he wanted it to be lowered to 16, the same age as heterosexual couples. in fa ct, same age as heterosexual couples. in fact, a couple of years later, the age was lowered to 18. it seems as though that meeting did affect government policy? yes, perhaps. within the file you can see that john major was really interested to hear what sir ian mckellen was saying and find out more about the issues. that is one of the

labour party. how realistic in option is that? well, it is difficult becausewere truly thinking and the national interest, they would be thinking and voting differently. but labour have one overriding objection which is to have their general election. nothing wrong with that, that is what opposition party's do. and that naturally is more important to them than trying to find a middle way. yet, at the end of the day, we have somehow to resolve this. we can't simplyjust aggregate, somehow to resolve this. we can't simply just aggregate, maybe dissolution is to let parliament vote on a whole series of the different, a variety of options at the moment, big portfolio choices, five, six, seven choices may be of different outcomes. test the use of the mps, it could be a bit of a free vote where people are not tied by, but we need to find, like the church of england was saying that, we need to find a respect again. a quality of the discourse angry belittling of each other, it can't carry on. this country has an absolute right to expect parliament and the government to

labour frontbench, shadow business secretary rebecca long—bailey. well come on this rather cold but quite historic night. today or tonight it was only conservative mps that got to vote because whole house of commons a chance to vote are no confidence in the government? we will wait to see to my‘s result, but it is clear theresa may has lost confidence in parliament already and if she wins by a margin this evening it will be difficult to see how she can push the withdrawal agreement through. in terms of the no—confidence vote, we need to watch what happens over the coming days and assess the support for a vote of no confidence across parliament, we have been in discussions with various opposition parties... the scottish national support her, the liberal democrats have said they would support her. it is tabling that motion at a time when we know it would be successful. having drama and parliamentary theatrics might make people feel slightly better but it will not secure the outcome we want, a general election and a changing government. is there a chance that labour will put a motion of no—confidence in the government, and therefore the prime minister, before the whole house o

entire house of commons which is distinct from what we just saw yesterday is also unlikely because it looks labourit will not win such a no confidence motion. so then you're left with the options that your reporter mentioned, none of which are probable but, that includes this norway plus option or a existing deal with some tweaks which are not legally binding but they give confidence that the uk won't be stuck forever into this customs arrangement. then there is the people's vote. so who knows. can i get back to the issue of a u.s.-uk free trade deal. look, there has been a lot of loose rhetoric about this. i spent three years negotiating a deal, trying to get a deal over the line with the eu. these deals are very long and very complicated. it would be the case also for a u.s.-uk deal. it will not be a big, beautiful, bold deal that will change things for the uk or for the united states. all the issues we were negotiating with the eu will be on the table in a u.s.-uk free trade deal. agriculture, government procurement, services including maritime services, it will be complicated and long to achie