ben wright reports. budget for a raft of measures to fix the housing crisis. the chancellor wants to stop developers sitting on land that has been given the green light for housing. there are lots of things we can do using planning powers, using intervention powers to get planning permissions that have been granted built up. we will use money, we will use the powers of the state, we will use the powers of the planning system, but we are determined to get those missing homes built. today, mr hammond gave hints and winks about government help for smaller house builders and the possible cuts to stamp duty. housing seems set to be the centrepiece of the budget, but will it add up to the giant house—building leap another cabinet minister has called for? wednesday will tell us. labour says the government should borrow billions more for house—building and stretched public services. stop giving the tax cuts to the corporations and the rich and recognise you've got an emergency out there in terms of public servic

ben wright and kevin connelly.sing teenagerfrom dorset. gaia pope, who‘s i9, was last seen in the coastal town of swanage ten days ago. ian palmer reports. gaia pope went missing ten days ago. clothes similar to the ones the teenager was wearing when she disappeared were found yesterday in coastal fields. the area was sealed off by police. officers searched the scene in an attempt to discover what happened to the missing 19—year—old. we continue to investigate whether gaia has come to harm through an act of crime, or whether she is missing, and we will continue to do so. gaia lives in a village near swanage. she was last seen in morrison road by a family friend. shortly before she was captured on camera ina shortly before she was captured on camera in a petrol station buying ice cream. two people were arrested and released pending further enquiries. yesterday, in a country park, some clothing was found by a member of the public. miss pope has severe epilepsy and needs regular medication. her family say she likes be

ben wright, bbc news, westminster.ugabe, clings on to power after failing to announce his resignation in a televised address to the nation. flanked by military chiefs, he said he intended to chair the congress of the ruling zanu—pf party next month. police investigating the death of 19—year—old gaia pope, say there are no injuries on her body to suggest that any other person was involved. sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's hugh woozencroft. there was no roger federer or andy murray in the world tour in london that we had a big victory for greek dimitrov. —— grigor dimitrov. he is called baby fed because his style is so like federer‘s. he went on to win the biggest title of his career and in the process, nearly £2 million. david moyes has returned to the premier league, having taken over by west ham side in the relegation zone. it is clear that points will bea zone. it is clear that points will be a premium for them that they will have to do more to get more. beach and 2-0. back to wor

ben wright, bbc news, westminster. kamal ahmed, our economics editor, is here.is going to chart a course through this terrain? it is interesting, john macdonald's position shows some of the problems mr hammond is facing. his claim is straightforward, increased taxes on businesses and on the wealthy and pay for public services from those increased taxes. mr hammond has a far harder equation to solve. he is hemmed in by the politics. no majority in the house of commons. that makes tax rises or spending cuts difficult to force through. the one option left is to borrow more, but that could jeopardise the offer that party made to the public to balance the books by 2025. so more borrowing could be controversial. it is also hemmed in by the economics. we expect a big productivity downgrade. the economy has not been as good at producing wealth as we expected, that means it does not grow as fast, the government does not get the tax reve nu es government does not get the tax revenues that it expects, so mr hammond's room to manoeuvre is constrained. robert do something on

thank you adam, adam fleming in brussels and ben wright in westminster.ously defended his "america first" vision of international trade at a summit of the asia pacific economic cooperation group. speaking in the vietnamese city of danang, he said the us would no longer tolerate chronic trade abuses, and would in future insist on fair and equal treatment. jonathan head reports. fresh from a feel—good blast from beijing, president trump arrived in da nang, the base from where the us waged it war in vietnam's 50 years ago, with a much tougher message. apec is a free—trade forum, founded with strong american participation, just as the cold war ended. past presidents have used these summits to promote us values, like free and civil rights. —— free trade and civil rights. but not this one. speaking to a hall full of east asia's business and diplomatic elite, mr trump at first shower them with flattery. but then changed tack with a litany of complaints, many directed at china, though he never named the culprits, of countries taking advantage of america, breaking

ben wright, bbc news. norman smith is in westminster.kle sexual harassment? her view appears to be that any new system has to be independent of the political parties. that deters too many women from making complaints. instead you have to have a system run by parliament and covers everyone working at parliament. notjust mps' employees but parliamentary staff and journalists working here as well. but she herself came under attack for her response to allegations of sexual misconduct, challenged by labour mp lisa nandy that when she was home secretary she had ignored warnings made to when she was setting up the enquiry into his doric claims of child abuse that the conservative whips office was holding information on tory mps about sexual misconduct, to ensure their loyalty to the party. mrs may promised to respond and to look into the issue. but you do have a sense that far from the issue. but you do have a sense that farfrom going the issue. but you do have a sense that far from going away, the issue. but you do have a sense that farfrom go

let's speak to our political correspondent ben wright at westminster. what has he said?d in the last couple of hours saying that president trump had endorsed a vile, hate filled organisation that hates me and people like me. he said the tweets we re people like me. he said the tweets were wrong. i refuse to let it go and say nothing, the communities secretary said, i view then echoed by the tories' leader in scotland. there is a sense, i think, that political anger and condemnation about this in westminster is growing. the foreign office minister, alistair burt, also a few hours ago re— tweeted comments by the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, who said that these tweets should be removed and donald trump should be removed and donald trump should make clear that he opposes racism. i think there is a bit of a head of steam building here, cross— party head of steam building here, cross—party calls condemning donald trump in the strongest language possible. this is putting pressure, i think, on number ten to do more perhaps than they have done already. of course, in th

ben wright, bbc news.inster. so, an agreement on talks to see how we can change things but the problem itself is far from dealt with? you get a sense that far from beginning to fade away, this whole controversy is just to fade away, this whole controversy isjust building to fade away, this whole controversy is just building and to fade away, this whole controversy isjust building and building, with more and more women now being prepared to come out and publicly speak about some of their experiences across a whole range of allegations, from really the most serious, of course, yesterday with a labour activist telling how she was raped and when she tried to alert labour hq was discouraged from pursuing the matter. then we have had cases of parliamentary assista nts had cases of parliamentary assistants being obliged to buy sex toys and a number of instances of female party members having their knees felt by conservative ministers. it covers a huge range but the one thing that does seem to be happening is more

ben wright, bbc news. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is in westminster. that theresa may wants to hold this meeting pretty swiftly, next week. your assessment of the mood there and what is happening in practical terms? i think we there and what is happening in practicalterms? i think we heard politicians talk about changing the culture of westminster and clearly thatis culture of westminster and clearly that is not an overnight task. it is going to take some time to do that. if it is the case that people here simply do not know how to behave properly then changing that is going to be difficult. in the meantime politicians want to show that they have some answers and at least have some way of dealing with the complaints. so theresa may calling for a cross—party meeting next week, she says she wanted as soon as possible and that is now scheduled for monday evening about her point is that there needs to be a twin track approach that of course parties need to have structures in place and complaints systems, and parliament of course is the one place where thou

james landale, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent, ben wright, is in westminster.e stormy days for theresa may‘s government as they are for the rest of westminster. as one former tory minister said very tartly today — if these circumstances were normal then borisjohnson would be out on his earand borisjohnson would be out on his ear and priti patel would have quit. these aren‘t normal times. the government is divided, particularly over brexit. the conservatives don‘t have a majority, of course in the house of commons and the defence secretary, michael fallon quit last week. the government are reluctant to lose another cabinet minister so soon. to lose another cabinet minister so soon. priti patel was called in to see theresa may yesterday, was given a real dressing down, but she stays in herjob for now. i should say that this evening there are rumours circulating around westminster very strongly she could be in real trouble this evening. she is currently on a trip to africa, but this evening the prime minister and priti patel have not spoken. there is certainly a q

the next few weeks. when he travels to iran in the next few weeks. 0ur political correspondent ben wrights done enough to satisfy his critics? as you have been hearing, borisjohnson had a real pummelling from mps in the commons this afternoon, mps angry that this is on a different scale to previous fumbles by the foreign secretary. but the clear mismatch between what mrjohnson said he claimed he met last week with the words he delivered to that committee of mps. they are angry he did not apologise unequivocally straightaway this morning instead of having contrition drawn out of him by mps. and they are angry that he has not yet met the husband of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, although he will meet him before the end of the year. borisjohnson brushed off calls from labour mps to quit and he said the crucial thing was that these comets had notjeopardised the case in iran and that was the view by his iranian counterparts. but this has been a very bad day for borisjohnson. this has been a very bad day for boris johnson. theresa this has been a very bad day for borisjohnson. theresa may might be

our political correspondent ben wright is in westminster. downing street commented this morning?over the weekend with boris johnson and asked conversation over the weekend with borisjohnson and asked the foreign secretary to consider diplomatic protection for is wipe this morning the official spokesman for the prime minister confirm that was a course of action that the uk government was considering. i think that would be quite a significant step in the case because it would turn it from being a consular matter to a legal dispute really between uk and iran. a significant ratcheting up of the pressure whether to go down that road. it is not clear first of all whether that will happen and secondly how iran would respond if that was something the uk government decided to do but certainly today the uk government keen to show it is doing all it can, insisting this morning it was working very hard to try to secure the release of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe as soon as possible and saying the prime minister has met the iranian president twice in the past year or so to discuss this, most rec

our political correspondent, ben wright, joins us from westminster. cabinet and now the most senior politician to be caught up most senior politician to be caught up in these allegations of inappropriate behaviour that are swirling around westminster. mr green is responding to claims made in today's times newspaper by a woman called kate maltby, she is 30 yea rs woman called kate maltby, she is 30 years younger than damian green, she is an academic and writer and involved in conservative politics and she described a couple of incidents, the first a meeting with damian green in a pub in 2015 in pub during which she says damian green briefly touched her knee. about a year later, mr green sent her a text that she felt was suggestive and inappropriately flirtatious. i will read you a bit. she said, "he offered me career advice and in the same breath made it clear he was sexually interested. it was not a cce pta ble sexually interested. it was not acceptable to me at the time and it should not be acceptable behaviour in westminster in the future. this is n

let's talk now to our political correspondent, ben wright, who's in westminster for us.nshrining this deadline and state, a symbolic message. and big talk from the prime minister, muscular rhetoric, about britain leaving the union on the 29th of march, and the government saying today they will put that commitment on the front of the withdrawal bill. huge piece of legislation that overturns the communities act. and also transpose is that whole body of the eu law. 0 nto is that whole body of the eu law. 0nto the british statute. it is a vast piece of legislation, beginning to process through the committee stage of the commons last week. one thing many people have picked up one, in that bill, it is not so far actually spelt out the day of brexit, even though for a long time it is thought to have been march 2019, because that is two years on from when the government triggered article 50. several people have pointed out, across the house of commons, pro—european, tory eurosceptics, labour and conservative, that is problematic eurosceptics fear that not having that they'd spel

ben wright explains what mr tusk expects from the uk.were needed, the two sides are wide apart and the tone is hostile. the zimbabwean leader robert mugabe has been seen in public for the first time since the military takeover on wednesday. he‘s attended a university graduation ceremony in the capital, harare. earlier the military said talks with mr mugabe were continuing and there had been significant progress in the operation targeting what it called the criminals surrounding him. ben brown reports from zimbabwe. he was supposed to be under house arrest. but today it looked like business as usual for robert mugabe, awarding degrees to university graduates in harare and even walking down a red carpet. so, after this week‘s dramatic military takeover here, is he still president or not? out on the streets, no—one seems quite sure. right across zimbabwe, millions of people are waiting and watching to see what happens next in this crisis, and whether the rule of robert mugabe, after 37 years, is finally coming to an end. after decades of po

but let's get more on brexit, and speak to our political correspondent ben wright at westminster.ard so, how farforward have so, how far forward have things so, how farforward have things move today, do you think? well, we no for sure when the prime minister makes her next overseas trip, which will be on monday, when she has a date in the diary with jean—claude juncker at the european commission in brussels. we think this will be a critical day in the brexit story, because we know that the eu have said a deadline for the beginning of decemberfor said a deadline for the beginning of december for the uk to said a deadline for the beginning of decemberfor the uk to prove substantial progress three core issues, how the border between northern ireland and the republic will work after brexit, the rights of eu citizens post brexit and of course the financial settlement, the brexit bill. we think that is when the eu negotiators will make their judgment about whether or not sufficient progress has been made for them to recommend the eu leaders in the middle of december that talks can progr

housing supply — and the government would not simply "pour money in". 0ur political correspondent, ben wrightreen light for housing. there a re lots of the green light for housing. there are lots of things we can do, using planning powers, using intervention powers, to get planning permission is that have been granted built up. we will use money, we will use the powers of the state, we will use the powers of the state, we will use the powers of the planning system. we are determined to get those missing homes built. today, mr hammond gave hints and winks about government help for smaller house builders and a possible cut to stamp duty. housing seems set to be the centrepiece of the budget, but will add up to the giant house—building leap another housing minister has called for? wednesday will turn. labour said the government should borrow billions more for house—building and stretch public services. stop giving tax cuts to corporations and the rich and realise you have an emergency in terms of public services, invest in public services. the head of nhs england says the system needs a boost. t

ben wright in westminster, first of all, let's took about the reaction to this, it is a delicate linelk. so far from sitting here in the newsroom, she seems to have dummett reasonably well. yes, partly because there has been a widespread expectation that the sort of bill britain is looking at amounts to the figures we are talking today. we are talking tens of billions of pounds to settle britain's financial commitments to the eu. that number will be haggled overin the eu. that number will be haggled over in the coming months, we're not there yet, it hasn't been nailed down, nothing is agreed. the widespread expectation is that it was going to be in the ballpark of perhaps a0 to 50 billion euros cover certainly far in excess of what theresa may was suggesting back in her florence speech in september where we were talking about 20 billion euros. it was clear the eu was tarting up liabilities, and gentle projects that the uk owes money for, far in excess of 20 billion euros. i think it is very interesting today that we have not heard angry formulating brexiteers in parliament, livid abou

our political correspondent ben wright is in westminster.ignificant what the brexit secretary announced today? how significant what the brexit secretary announced today7m how significant what the brexit secretary announced today? it is a big concession and could have big implications in terms of how a final brexit deal is implemented and it increases the voice of mps who have pushed for this on both sides of the commons in recent weeks. the eu withdrawal bill, which transfers eu law into the uk statute book and would repeal the 1972 act, starts its passage through parliament this week. one big risk the government faces, that it did face an amendment put down by a tory mp calling for this, a new act of parliament to put on the statute book the final withdrawal agreement. he insisted it was necessary legally and vital mps had that moment to put into statute the withdrawal agreement and i think perhaps facing possible defeat on that, with labour feeling perhaps facing possible defeat on that, with labourfeeling the perhaps facing possible defea

our political correspondent ben wright has the latest developments.ce the flak after cutting short trip to kenya and uganda priti patel flew into heathrow this afternoon political turbulence that seemed certain to end with her sacking. but ministerial car was there to meet and the ride into london gave her time to prepare for a meeting with the prime minister. so why has she landed in trouble, because of another high—level meeting of the books and this time with the israeli ministerfor meeting of the books and this time with the israeli minister for public security in parliament in september. in august whilst on holiday in israel priti patel said she'd taken the opportunity to meet a number of people, among the charity leaders, israeli politicians and even the prime minister. as secretary of state apparently disregarding strict ministerial procedure, holding meetings arranged outside the usual channels with no british government officials present. when reports of her august meeting emerged last week priti patel initially claimed the foreign office did

thank you. 0ur political correspondent ben wright is at westminster. critical but tell us more about the reaction. unsurprisingly there has been cross—party discussed and condemnation at these retweets from president trump. this afternoon the prime minister's official spokesman was clear that the overwhelming majority of the british public com pletely majority of the british public completely reject the prejudice of the far right, those were his words. he was clear it was wrong for the president to have done that, unqualified condemnation from number 10. jeremy corbyn called the tweet is abhorrent, dangerous and a threat to our society. that time was shared by other labour mps during the course of the day including chris bryant. —— that tone. i was completely appalled that donald trump should re—tweet and condone the views of a conflicted racist in this country. he is inciting religious hatred in what he's doing. ijust think, just as theresa may when she was home secretary banned rap singers and people who it was thought would not be conducive to the p

our political correspondent ben wright has been following developments from westminster...ition agreement, something the u:k.‘s desperate to get onto. but it is clear there is still in wide gulf between them on many issues, particularly the question of money. how much cash britain is prepared to cough up as part of this divorce deal. its financial obligations that it has committed to paying the eu on. there is a large disagreement between them. a source close to donald tusk said it is by no means given that the green light will be given that the green light will be given for talks to move to the second stage. theresa may sounded more upbeat when she arrived at the summit in gothenberg. this is what the prime minister said as she arrived in sweden. for the negotiations, those continue, and obviously we look forward to the december european council. and we're continuing to look through the issues. i was clear in my speech in florence that we will honour our commitments. but, of course, we want to move forward together. talking about the trade issues and trade partnership for

our political correspondent ben wright is at westminster. made. this feels like a critical couple of weeks, and be strong message that the prime minister will have been given, notjust by british business group, but european business group, but european business groups, they need to know 110w business groups, they need to know now what sort of transition deal the government are hoping for and what terms it will include, and how the government will get there, they know the government are looking for what theresa may likes to call the implementation phase but we note the eu are withholding talks about that until the uk's more candid about the money they are prepared to give. this will come to a head at the december meeting of the european council injust december meeting of the european council in just a few weeks. as caroline fairbank said, businesses 110w caroline fairbank said, businesses now have these contingency plans in front of them, the levers they need to pull if they think this is not going to be in their business interests, leaving t