hapless chris grayling!xactly, and this is the government who were about to award a contract worth nearly £40 million to a company called seaborne freight to run ferry services out of ramsgate, where there is a port that has not been used for several years now, but would be the link between ramsgate and ostend in belgium. now, the ferry company had no ships, and a p pa re ntly ferry company had no ships, and apparently they took the website from a kebab takeaway website thing, so from a kebab takeaway website thing, so the whole thing is absolutely ridiculous, it is beyond parody. now it appears that they have told the company that they are not going ahead with it, but i think it is the fa ct ahead with it, but i think it is the fact that the parent company, an irish —based company, who were the backers of seaborne freight, making seaborne freight, whoever they may be temporary, and chris grayling is rudderless. what you make of some of the conspiracy theories that suggest there is something serious in this

he says he does not want chris grayling back at the calais port because he is unimpressed by how the lt with calais. it may be unfair on mr grayling, but he is developing a terrible reputation for things turning to dust in his hands. for a politician, that is a bit of a liability, isn't it? these are difficult times and we are in uncharted waters, dare i put a bit of maritime spin on it, and we are relying on that single point of traffic from dover to calais, and i think sensibly the government has been trying to plan for every eventuality. the ramsgate port has been mothballed for many years and there has been very little traffic, but it could step up to the plate and doa but it could step up to the plate and do a service for the country. so full marks to them. sadly, for whatever reasons, commercial or otherwise, seaborne freight have decided not to go ahead with this, but i am hearing that there are more significant operators out there you are alerted to the potential for ramsgate and who may come forward and start speaking to us, which would be a good thing. craig mckinley, mp for

i do ask, what on earth has chris grayling got to do before he is sacked?episode in a long catalogue of catastrophes on his watch, and this is quite ridiculous. it isjust that a weakened prime minister hasn't the ability to sack one of the very few friends she has in government. but this is a national embarrassment. it's not as if we are saying it now. we were saying for months that this would not work. we said when this first raised its head some months ago that this would not work. and that has been proved to be right. he didn't even think to communicate with ramsgate itself and find out if it was doable, and he has been banned from calais, and i think he should be banned from the department for transport because he is keeping humiliation upon humiliation for our country and it is time for him to go. you would presumably be pressing this case in the house of commons next week, but in the meantime, the issue is one of ensuring that there is some kind of deal on brexit. this potential crisis we are talking about, it is in labour's hands to sort this because

i asked, what on earth does chris grayling have to do before he is sacked?ther episode ina long sacked? yet again, another episode in a long catalogue of catastrophes on his watch. this is quite ridiculous, a weakened prime minister has not got the ability to sack one of the very few friends she has in government. this is a national embarrassment. not as if we are saying it's now, we were saying for months this would not work. when it first raised its head some months ago, we said it would not work and that has proved to be right. did not think to communicate with ramsgate itself and find out whether it was doable and he has been banned from calais and i think he should be banned from the dft because he is heaping humiliation after humiliation on our country and it is time to go. you will be pressing this case presumably in the house of commons next week but in the meantime, the issue is one of ensuring there is some kind of deal on brexit. in a sense, this potential crisis is in labour's hands to solve, isn't it? if you lent theresa may your vote, she was a

labour are calling for chris grayling to go this evening and privately some conservative mps agree forsay that the prime minister still has full confidence in the transport secretary. but this is again putting the spotlight on the government preparations for no deal. the institute for government saying that now preparations for a no—deal brexit cannot be limited to minor disruption. there are a range of government ministers meeting with their continental counterparts in their continental counterparts in the coming week. and as the clock begins to take down, more attention is being paid to what happens if we leave without any deal at all. the owner of topshop — sir phillip green — paid a female employee more than a million pounds to keep quiet — after she accused him of kissing and groping her — according to the daily telegraph. the paper says the senior female employee — who wasn't named for legal reasons — was one of five members of staff who signed gagging orders after being bullied or harassed. the duke of edinburgh has voluntarily given up his driving licence, buckingham palace has

rago could be a perfect metaphor for brecht's it if only we saw sense there's been calls for chris grayling's resignation and today's announcement put a long running hash tag failing grayling to use here's one remainer activist saying how can failing grayling possibly remain in his post he surely the least competent minister in modern memory that the gift that keeps on giving so this is a gift that is said to be open on march twenty ninth deal or no deal both sides say they of course want to deals in their best interest but how they actually get there well carl if you have any clue a bit recent may or donald tusk would be gladly leading your phone call i'll leave that with you and no clue prof thanks very much. all right now look at some of the other stories making news around the world hundreds of mourners marched in the gaza strip on saturday carrying the body of hassan shalabi the fourteen year old boy who was one of two palestinian youths killed by israeli troops on friday demonstrators have been gathering weekly along the perimeter fence for nearly a year to manning an end to israel's bl

the transport secretary, chris grayling, had defended the deal, saying he would make no apologies fororting a new british business . his department says it's cancelled the contract, because the company's irish backer pulled out. our business correspondent, rob young, reports. preparations have been under way for weeks. dredging started at ramsgate port at the beginning ofjanuary. the work was meant to ensure the port would be ready at the end of march, should britain leave the european union without a deal. the plan was for seaborne freight to run regular services to ostend in belgium once it managed to get it hands on some ships, but now the company has now been stripped of its contract. the government says seaborne freight‘s main backer has pulled out, meaning it could not mean its contractual requirements. we first flagged problems with seaborne freight in april of last year, and we have been tracking it since then, both in terms of its attempts to find vessels, which have failed without exception. largely because this port is very small. it is thought that backer, arklow shipping,

jeremy corbyn highlighted the role played by the transport secretary chris grayling.ctacular failure of this contract is a symptom of the utter shambles of this government and its no—deal preparations. the transport secretary ignored warnings about drones and airport security, gave a £11; billion contract to carillion despite warnings about their finances, he oversaw the disastrous new rail timetable last year, and rail punctuality is at a 13—year low and fares at a record high. that is some achievement. and now the transport secretary is in charge of a major and vital aspect of brexit planning. how on earth can the prime minister say she has confidence in the transport secretary? let me tell the right honourable gentleman what the transport secretary is delivering: the biggest rail investment programme since the victorian era, spending nearly £48 billion on improving our railways to deliver better journeys, 20% higher on average every year than under a labour government. that is what the transport secretary is delivering: commitment to transport in this country and c

mps pile the pressure on chris grayling over his handling of plans for freight services if there's axit. shouldn't we now, at long last, do the decency and go? well, mr speaker, i have to say that honourable gentlemen officer brings well, mr speaker, i have to say that honourable gentlemen opposite brings a new meaning to the word utter hogwash. a conservative backbencher is berated for blocking measures to prevent female genital mutilation. it is disgraceful that we have seen this bill blocked. and it's becoming extremely frustrating in this house to have the will of the house circumvented by one male member, who it will not affect, standing in the way of progress. and the work and pensions secretary accepts there's a link between universal credit and the use of food banks. the main issue that led to an increase in food bank use could have been the fact that people had difficulty accessing their money early enough. but first, the transport secretary chris grayling has defended his handling of a government contract with seaborne freight to provide ferry services across the english ch

lets start with the front page of the observer and chris grayling, mps are uniting to tell the prime

chris grayling under pressure on what it calls the brexit ferry fiasco.een ina fiasco. not the first time he has been in a spot of bother. and not the first time he has been in a spot of bother over this particular contract. when i read this story, i think, how did it take us so long to get here, because we knew that they we re get here, because we knew that they were capsized right from the start. the press were up in arms about it, we knew they had no vessels, we knew that they were supported by a company from ireland which didn't seem that involved and has now withdrawn. why on earth did we go on withdrawn. why on earth did we go on with this, and why has it taken so long for grayling to pull out of this deal? for me, this story is very important, clearly there needs to be an action that follows, because they have been ignoring this for so long, for many weeks. should he resign, do you think? should he be forced to resign? his conduct has been hopeless, but presumably there will be a blame game, because the excuses we re will be a blame game, because t

theyjust have to be chris grayling in charge and it is going to go wrong.pointed today that the leader of the opposition did not challenge mrs may in the way that we would expect the prime minister to be challenged and a crisis like this over brexit. it is likely scared sometimes taking it on. the position we are in the moment as we have the opposition lined up and waiting for the leadership of the to actually join them in this fight against the danger of join them in this fight against the dangerofa join them in this fight against the danger of a no—deal brexit. or the option of going back to the people and saying this is ms, what do you want? the opposition is lacking the leadership and it is time jeremy corbyn steps up to the plate. mrs may made a similar sort of argument, saying with jeremy may made a similar sort of argument, saying withjeremy corbyn you do not know whether he backs a second referendum or a deal whether he backed brexit. he has been conspicuously ambiguous.|j backed brexit. he has been conspicuously ambiguous. i don't acce pt conspicuo

about chris grayling is handling of the freight deal. the commons.for an ordeal. let me start by saying that in the event of an ordeal brexit the government priority is to ensure a smooth operation between dover and the channel tunnel. the applet putting in place measures to deal with this. that is why we agreed a contract worth around £100 million with it in a million going to dfes and brittany ferries across seven separate writs built into those plans were options to add on other companies should they be required. this was to guarantee the smooth flow of some key goods into the uk. it is what remained in the house that in the event of an ordeal this capacity would be sold on to hauliers carrying capacity or priority goods. the department for transport entered into contact with seaborne freight to provide ferry services between ramsgate and 0stend. at the time of the award we knew the about a start—up business. however the shorter distance between the two ports meant that the rich could provide us with shortjourney times at lower cost of making it a

lets start with the front page of the observer and chris grayling, mps are uniting to tell the primeister to sack him fall his various fiascoes. he must be the most accident prone minister almost ever. by this time last year, he was having a real battle to actually survive because you remember the railway times going wrong. he always blames everybody else apart from himself... not the only politician to do so... but he seems to do it with more regularity than others. he hires a ferry firm with no fairies, they had an irish back who had some ferries but the irish back has pulled out so he's back to the situation of no fairies. as a result mps saying this is ridiculous and it has to go. one of the tory remainers says he should be considering his position. my view is he will not go, hit theresa may cannot afford to sack anyone. he will stay until perhaps the next mistake. except we are talking about planning rather late in the day for brexit and it is about putting extra ferries on the help bolster and mitigate against the inevitable problems and delays people are expecting on the route

transport transit secretary a transport secretary chris grayling here's one tweet about strategic planning we are talking about we all have our towels and let's all get together and and talk about how we're going to make this company work with a great photo of we can see here great photo of their strip. fleet bats have boats and then we have another tweet where they are offering up fake tickets for rides on nonexistent ferries to attract followers on this fake twitter account so the transport department was sticking by their story they're defending the decision and they said the problem wasn't actually the british company without the tweet without the ships it was the irish company behind them with the ships this irish company was backing the british company they pulled out and once they pulled out the u.k. government said that seaborne would not reach its contractual requirements go figure no ships no contractual requirements but regular critics of course couldn't help but notice the irony in the u.k. reaching out to an irish an e.u. based company for its plans to get out of the e.u. we h

chris grayling does a fantasticjob.forefront of brexit because as we know 95% of everything that we consume comes in and out of our ports, and he is doing a fantasticjob in difficult circumstances, trying to prepare for brexit. were there any errors with the procurement process, could it have been handled in a different way, the handing out of those co ntra cts ? way, the handing out of those contracts? chris grayling gave a robust statement to the house yesterday. he answered questions from across the house on this issue and made it clear that all of the due diligence has taken place. and we are preparing as we should for brexit and indeed we are. the subject of making taxis safer for all of those who use them, it seems that there is widespread support from taxi drivers, both black cabs and private hire companies for the sort of plans that you are consulting on. but one area that was raised as an area of concern this morning by the private hire association was the use of cctv. what are your thoughts on that at the mome

the transport secretary chris grayling had defended the deal, saying he would"make no apologies for supporting

working links was one of eight companies awarded contracts in 2016, when chris grayling asjustice secretary but working links has struggled to deliver services. it had contracts in wales in south—west england and an inspection report into devon, cornwall and dorset found really that company wasn't delivering properly that people were being put at risk because of the huge workload staff were faced by, they were facing huge commercial pressures not get fines for their company, and because of that the justice secretary, david gauke, has intervened. he has transferred the services from working links to another provider called ctech, but working links will go into administration. it raises huge questions over the future of probation services, and all of the contracts across england and wales are being terminated next year, two yea rs are being terminated next year, two years earlier, and in wales, probation will be renationalised. latest figures suggest a record number of children are living in care in england, more than 75,000. but the reasons for deciding to put a child in care aren't always c

to a company that does not fairies of its own, it's always good to be politically contentious, chris graylingommunication notjust for him, but for the country, it was a communication notjust for him, but forthe country, he survived various controversies in the past, a vote of no confidence in the past, a vote of no confidence in the past, a vote of no confidence in the past, tonight downing street are the past, tonight downing street are the prime minister has full confidence in him, but we can expect them to continue in his row despite what labour says, but interesting and if there chris —— criticism from elsewhere to jacob rees—mogg, was wondering whether irish government put pressure on the article that they had stood behind and that department for transport are making clear that that wasn't the case, and this is a commercial decision. i think the way of the question is what does the government do about no deal preparations and obviously this epithet is highlighted those and if you remember it recently, the bbc commissioned a report for the institute of government and felt that two things

chris grayling was under fire again over his handling of the £13.8 million contract awarded to seabornevide ferry services into ramsgate in kent in the event of a no—deal brexit. it was cancelled after the company, which had no ships and no experience in the sector, parted with its backer, irish company arklow shipping. mr grayling had said no public money had been spent during the process, but a report from the national audit 0ffice revealed it had cost £800,000 in consultancy fees. the secretary of state may wish to argue that you got this £100,000 worth since echoes of to come back with findings, including that seaborne freight presented steve get execution risks and that a basic blush test was the most that could be carried out on the company's financials. which of these two findings did secretary find it most reassuring when deciding to go with seaborne freight? the bit i found reassuring was that we had a contract with there was no upfront commitment to taxpayers and we paid nothing towards service and delivery. this secretary of state is never wrong reasonably. what about the mul

ferries of its own this was always going to be politically contentious, but labour are calling for chris grayling them. nonetheless downing street says that the prime minister still has full confidence in the transport secretary. but i think this whole episode is once again putting a spotlight on the government's preparation for no deal. for example, the independent institute for government has suggested that now the effect of no deal cannot be simply limited to minor disruption. so there's going to be a renewed attempt to try to get a deal, by government ministers. the brexit secretary is off seeing the eu chief negotiator, michel barnier, next week. there is also going to be a whole range of other government ministers meetings thi continental counterparts. i think the difficulty is this though, basically the kind of unofficial deadline of the end of the month to try to get the revised deal but as the clock begins to tick down, more attention is being paid to what happens if we leave without a deal at all. the home office says it's concerned about the large increase in young people who are becom

it is another embarrassment for transport secretary chris grayling and the department's attempts to caterit, what could happen to the short sea crossing between dover and calais which is very important for much british industry. studio: as you say, it raises wider questions about the government's handling of preparedness for brexit or a no—deal brexit? there was an interesting memorandum published for a common circulating by the national audit office which looked into the background of the ferry contract quite carefully, it showed the department for transport was quite worried about awarding these contracts at short notice and it sought legal advice at each step. it names the legal advisers who gave the advice and what the grounds were, and government departments, in times of urgency, they have quite wide discretionary powers. eurotunnel will aim to show those powers we re eurotunnel will aim to show those powers were not exercise properly and the award of these contracts was not right. the judge and the award of these contracts was not right. thejudge has to and the award of these contra

jeremy hunt, penny mourdant, chris grayling have been seen going on in the last short while.ith the prime minister due to make a statement to mps later on. we will, of course, keep you across all the details as they happen. in a moment the weather but first let‘s here‘s victoria derbyshire with what she‘s got coming up in her programme at 10am. these are some of the 56 black men who have taken part in a campaign to highlight how they are stereotyped, ignored, not taken seriously, because, they say, of the colour of their skin. they are trying to change perceptions about black men. get in touch with your own experiences and we will talk to the gentleman at 10am on bbc two, the bbc news channel and online. that‘s at 10am with victoria but now it‘s time for the weather forecast. good morning. temperatures first thing we‘ll have reminded you it is still winter but by the afternoon temperatures will be similar to where they were yesterday, feeling more like june, even july where they were yesterday, feeling more likejune, evenjuly in some places. lots of sunshine this morning, one

the observer reports that mps are calling for the sacking of transport secretary chris grayling overremy corbyn, labelling him totally unfit for office. and the express shows a picture of commons speakerjohn bercow and leading tory remainer kenneth clarke claiming a brexit curry house plot. no doubt we will hear more if that is the case. the newspapers love the fa ct of is the case. the newspapers love the fact of where they have eaten, don't they? and also this story about head teachers supporting pupils‘ strike. tell us a bit about this, the head teachers‘ union applauding a planned strike over climate change. yes, this story starts back in august when there was a 16—year—old from sweden, and she had a lone strike outside parliament in sweden. since then, there has been this movement of young people voicing their concerns about the environment, it has grown, they had 15,000 children in australia, a couple of,000 in brussels, and now students think it is time to make their voices heard about environmental concerns. so the idea is that some of them are choosing to go on strike on fri

the transport secretary, chris grayling, has faced criticism over his handling of the government's planningl. mr grayling today defended the decision to award a contract to seaborne freight, a company with no ships, only to terminate it when the firm lost the backing of the irish shipping giant, arklow. mr grayling faced mps in the commons — and was questioned by shadow transport secretary, andy mcdonald. late last week despite previous assurances arklow chipping suddenly and unexpectedly withdrew their backing from seabourn. in the light of this and after a careful assessment, i took the decision to terminate this contract. my department concluded there were too many major commercial issues to be resolved enabled to allow seabourn to bring varies in time. not a penny of tax is money has gone or will go to seabourn. the contracts we have agreed essentially a commitment to block booked tickets on additional ceilings after the uk to leave the european union so actually we have taken irresponsible decision to make sure taxpayers money is properly protected. —— we are taking a responsible decis

the observer reports that mps are calling for the sacking of transport secretary chris grayling overlabelling him ‘totally unfit for office' . and the express shows a picture of commons speakerjohn bercow and leading tory remainer kenneth clarke claiming a "brexit curry house plot". andrew marr is coming up at ten o'clock. first, where are you going to start? the observer, staff crisis looming. teachers love learning and they want to pass on their knowledge to the next generation but there needs to be fairness and what they are paid. the issue is real term cuts over the last seven years. every year the pay is in theory going up but because of inflation it has been cut, in real terms for thousand pounds annually. this is impacting recruitment and retention of teachers. so many teachers do this as a vocationaljob as well, it must be tough? absolutely. if you are thinking that you need to inspire the next generation, as a nation wish to have a better attitude towards teachers. it feels like with pina last seven years, i understand the austerity and tough times but there should be respec

nonetheless some pressure on chris grayling, and it is worth saying that number ten has said that theyn the minister. a 2a year old man has appeared at hull magistrates court on charges of voyeurism, outraging public decency and three counts of burglary. he was remanded in custody. pawel relowicz is the man arrested in relation to the search for libby squire, the student who went missing 11 days ago. the charges aren't connected to her disappearance, but he remains a person of interest. the headlines on bbc news... a fall in factory output and car production are blamed — as figures show the uk economy last year grew at its slowest rate since 2012. theresa may will address mps tomorrow about recent brexit talks — as she says she wants further talks withjeremy corbyn over her deal. a decision will be made tonight about whether british horse racing can resume again this week after an outbreak for the highly infectious equine flu. and support, joe denly has passed a half—ce ntu ry and support, joe denly has passed a half—century of the final day in st. lucia. england 138—2 in their second

that contract was awarded, and also questioning why on earth mrs may still had confidence in chris grayling uk there is a no deal scenario. i thought the most interesting brexit question came from ian blackford, the snp leader, who tried to get mrs may to rule out the idea that she might go right up to the buffers of march 29 before she comes back with a deal to put to the house of commons and again as she did yesterday, she did not do that. in other words, the door is wide open still for the prime minister to delay any final brexit boat, really, until the minister to delay any final brexit boat, really, untilthe last minister to delay any final brexit boat, really, until the last moment. that fits with everything else we are beginning to hear at westminster and although downing street are saying we want a deal as quickly as possible, there is a growing conviction that vote will not happen until pretty close to britain leaving the eu. thank you norman. a 27—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder, after the bodies of three men in their 80s were found in two properties in exete

take them on other preparations, we know that the so—called brexit contract has fallen through, chris graylingansport company, and the major backer, the irish transport company, has decided to withdraw from the deal. but there are other deals in place, and i think the government is covering this well. there have been some concerns and i wanted to ask if you shared these concerns, expressed by some mp5 regarding a law on female genital mutilations. do you share their concerns? i do, female genital mutilation is obviously a horrifying thing that literally, physically and emotionally scarred someone for life, and i think this was something i deeply disagree with that christopher did, i think this was the type of legislation we should be taking through, and he should not have been blocking it. thank you for your time on breakfast this morning. if you fancy a stroll on the beach, we can't do that for you, but carol has a picture of the beach, nevertheless. good morning, isn't it knew the full? this is a stock picture from our library, and today it isa picture from our library, and today it is a col

shortly and encrypt jesse norman and official will ring you shortly and encrythesse norman and chris graylinguch a personal mission for you, when you heard those words. how is that for you? it was emotional call. i mean, the relief, because i initially thought, when i heard, we need to speak to her urgently, i thought i was going to hear news i didn‘t want to hear. they usually give me something where they‘ve resisted or they put up a fight against me. so they put up a fight against me. so the relief was unbelievable. from your point of view, this could make a difference to people‘s lives. without question. the government have admitted that the parts of the research they‘ve done, there are still tyres on the roads even now. that all than 12 years which is where they draw the line in their study. they did it in a very short period of time and found at least 100 vehicles had been tested that come into their annual testing. tyres that were still old. even with guidance. it's your shopping, when you read that out, the tie was older than your son. itjust doesn‘t make sense, does it? every time i h