of meaningful ways forward. because the statement from the commission is pretty abject, isn't it? it acknowledges that the house of commons's had a statutory duty for years, and it's failed in that duty. you can't escape and evade the conclusions from dame laura. the house of commons commission has an obligation and responsibility to ensure that a duty of care is given to staff that work on the estate, and there have been failings, and there's just no getting away from what was concluded. and what dame laura offered was a way forward and a means and a procedure to try and address some of these institutional structural failings. but you're saying it's part of the system here, it's part of deference, it's part of swords. i mean, what have swords got to do with it?! the one thing that we never properly looked at in our independent working group, and which i kept on trying to bring up and again was the ingrained culture of the place, the power relationships that determine our approach. but that's inevitable in a parliamentary democracy. you are going to have power relationships in a political institution. it's how that's mana

about how you think the leadership of the house service should be responding to this report, regardless of how the rest of parliament responds. the house of commons commissionch oversees the running of the palace of westminster is meeting on wednesday to agree a formal response to the cox report. on a personal basis of course the cox report and its conclusions were shocking, not altogether surprising, and i think we are all taking time to absorb what is a complicated and very long report, and to work out from that what is the way forward. i would say since i was appointed acting clerk almost exactly four years ago today, i have done my best to make the house service a better and happier place for those who work here, but i think i and others have always been aware that there is a subculture of bullying and harassment of house staff. and that is not only by members, which is of course tolerable, but it also by other house staff, and that was made plain in the cox report, that this is not something where anyone in the westminster community can feel happy. we have a legacy of unresolved and serious issues from past years which continues to poison the well, and

and the house of commons commission which oversees the house and is chaired by the speaker is due toy to discuss its response. theresa may may have failed to make a breakthrough in the brexit negotiations, but not for want of advice from westminster. before leaving for the brussels summit she answered questions for mps and most of those were about, you can guess, opposition mps suggested the prime minister should keep britain close to the eu after brexit. the car industry is clear that it needs a new customs union in order to secure investment of british manufacturing. vauxhall recently said they would continue to invest, but there are limits. those limits are customers‘ barriers. jobs are at risk. why won't the prime minister back a customs union supported not only by labour and trade unions, but by businesses and i suspect a majority in this house to protect those jobs? can i say to the right honourable gentleman what the automotive industry and indeed other industries such as aerospace have said is that they want to see frictionless trade across the borders, frictionless trade acr

the house of commons commission which oversees the running of the comments will consider the report ont gypsies and travellers meet their being banned from places including pubs and even lawns. that was the claim made to the which is looking into the problem. the mps were also told that the fear of prejudice and some denying this to official forms. we see direct discrimination in terms of refusal of services, refusals at schools. indirect discrimination in the way local authorities arrange the rules around accommodation assessments. more so for the grt community than for racial minorities as she is saying. that's a very difficult point for us to answer in light of the way that we do our casework. we no longer have the telephone helpline which will give us that broad perspective, but certainly we are seeing behaviours in relation to these communities and coming on to points about harassment and public officials making discriminatory and stereotype statements which we don't see in relation to other groups. i think it's vital to see this from a gypsy and traveller point of view and unders

we had a house of commons commission meeting this afternoon following the bullying report the other week not facing up to the allegations of bullying and harassment of staff? we've got a major problem here. i sat on the steering group the leader of the house convened. i pushed for the whole process to be independent. i lost that battle because others still said when it came to deciding a sanction against the mp who had done wrong it should be mps to make that decision. you cannot have mps marking each other's homework, it stinks, people will not stand for that. i hope the report will make people sit up and listen to this report because that serious stuff in there. thanks very much for your time. smell the air, that is brexit 3n! that is what life used to be alive when we discuss things before the world of brexit. i'm not sure i can remember such a time, norman. i knew certainly can't. thank you for stop norman smith at westminster. we will have all the latest business news coming up in the next few minutes but we have one more story to bring you pay for that. police in kent say they're t

the house of commons commission, the body which oversees the day—to—day running of the house of commonsresort and —— to consider the resort and —— to consider the report and their response to it. it is clear and authorities are taking this report seriously. thank you very much, jonathan blake. maryam is here — in a moment she will be telling us what's hot and what's not in the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. sources within the government warn brexit negotiations have hit a "real problem" over the issue of the irish border. the duke and duchess of sussex reveal they're expecting their first child as they arrive in sydney to start their i6—day tour of australia and new zealand. sit—down protests in lancashire as fracking for shale gas begins again for the first time in seven years. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the uk will face low economic growth for the next three years, according to the latest research from the ey item club. it says a no—deal brexit could dent growth even further. if the forecaster‘s prediction turns out to be accurat

bercow said he was delighted that the main recommendations of dame cox's report are to be adopted in full. the commons commission which oversees the housetion that a new complaint system should be set up, one that could investigate historical allegations. the speaker has himself faced accusations of bullying, which he has denied. he made a brief statement to mp5. i believe that this is an important first step in our root and branch reform of the culture of this house. we need to create an internal movement which looks at everything and everyone and ensures that we all treat each other with respect. we know that more than 200 people came forward to give their testimonies, to help dame laura form her opinions and we owe it to each and every one of them to get this right. john bercow said he wanted to see an independent body to adjudicate on claims of bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct as soon as possible. knowing that there is a safe place, a haven for staff and members of parliament to approach when things go badly wrong, should send out the strongest signal yet, that we are listening, we have heard, and we are willing to change

the house needs to change speaker, then it should, but the bigger point, which i made yesterday, is that the report criticises the whole of the commission, the body which runs the house of commonshristmas. i don't think you need to change any individual personnel to do that, but you need to take this out of the hands of the commission and give it to some backbenchers, rather than the people appointed by the party political leaders. i know you said you weren't surprised by some of the details in this report, but many of our viewers will be rightly appalled that this is going on in the corridors of power at westminster. are you convinced, and can you say this to our viewers this morning, that there is an ability to change that there is an ability to change that culture? and can it be different yea rs that culture? and can it be different years from now? yes, of course it can be. one of the things thatis course it can be. one of the things that is absolutely preposterous about parliament is that there is no training when you arrive as a new mp, even though you may never have employed somebody in your life, there is no training for you to be a good employer. now, ithink there is no

the house of commons has allowed a culture to develop in which bullying and harassment of staff has been able to thrive, according to a new report. the inquiry, which was commissionedres for dealing with complaints and said cultural change was needed to restore the confidence of staff. president trump has suggested that "rogue killers" could be behind the disappearance of the saudi journalist jamal khashoggi. a joint search by turkish and saudi officials of the consulate the disappearance of the saudi journalist jamal khashoggi. a joint search by turkish and saudi officials of the consulate in istanbul is under way this evening. president trump said saudia arabia's king salman has denied any knowlededge of the journalist's disappearance, but he is sending his secretary of state mike pompeo to saudi arabia. turkish officials believe the journalist was murdered in the saudi consulate nearly two weeks ago. england play spain tonight in seville in their nations league match. the football association has condemned the behaviour of some england fans last night. a group of supporters had to be dispersed by riot police in seville. footage showed fans kicking wing mirrors o

the house of commons has allowed a culture to develop, in which bullying and harassment of staff has been able to thrive, according to a new report. the inquiry, which was commissionedent and serious problems" in procedures for dealing with complaints and said cultural change was needed to restore the confidence of staff. our deputy political editor, john pienaar, is at the houses of parliament. this is a very hard—hitting report. it is. the force is quite startling. not only multiple cases of bullying and harassment, including sexual harassment a parliamentary staff but misconduct which has been taking place in an environment where it could thrive. parliamentary staffers, overwhelm elite women, we re staffers, overwhelm elite women, were treated to the predatory behaviour of male mps. that was being tolerated the concealed and covered up. it is all uncomfortable reading for those high up in parliament, those at the high top, likejohn burke parliament, those at the high top, like john burke oh, parliament, those at the high top, likejohn burke oh, who has denied allegations against him. he promised an urgentand allegations against him. he promised an urgent and seri

the house of commons has allowed a culture to develop in which bullying and harassment of staff has been able to thrive according to a new report. (oov) the inquiry — which was commissionedroblems' in procedures for dealing with complaints and said cultural change was needed to restore the confidence of staff. the co—founder of microsoft — paul allen has died at the age of 65. mr allen, who founded the company in 1975 alongside bill gates — died from complications of non—hodgkin's lymphoma in seattle, according to his family. in a statement, they also add: "today we mourn our boss, mentor and friend whose 65 years were too short — and acknowledge the honor it has been to work alongside someone whose life transformed the world. energy firm cuadrilla has resumed the process of fracking for shale gas in lancashire. it's the first time it has taken place in the uk since 2011 when the process was linked to two small earthquakes near blackpool. the controversial work involves pumping liquid underground at high pressure to fracture rocks and release natural gas. dozens of protestors gathered near the site as the work got underway today, as correspondent danny savage reports. wa

house will get itself in order? the report was commissioned to look into the way the house of commons is run and i think the point thata spotlight on the house of commons which needs to demonstrate that they will listen to those almost 200 people who gave evidence to dame laura cox to say that bullying and harassment in the house of commons is on except the ball, it's blighting the lives, there is a meeting tomorrow and a plan of action will be settled and i will be looking very carefully that the plan of action actually means change and notjust more prevarication. that was our discussion a little earlier on day—to—day sexual harassment, let us know of your experiences. the usual way of getting in touch. let's get the latest weather update — with simon king. quite a lot of cloud across the uk at the moment but there are some breaks, across much of southern england and towards the east of scotla nd england and towards the east of scotland we've got decent sunny spells, this is the scene at the moment in edinburgh, you can see one of the higher temperatures today across the east of scotland with some sunshine. protectio

the house of commons has allowed a culture to develop in which bullying and harassment of staff has been able to thrive according to a new report. the inquiry — which was commissionednd serious problems" in procedures for dealing with complaints and said cultural change was needed to restore the confidence of staff. a car towing a caravan and driving the wrong way on the mao in oxfordshire has been involved in a crash with another vehicle. it was travelling south on the motorway‘s northbound carriageway, which is still closed between junction 6 for wallington and junction 8a for oxford. the accident happened at about lipm, thames valley police said. the air ambulance has been dispatched by south central ambulance service, but no details of any injuries have been released. a british man has been charged by prosecutors in the uae with posing as an academic researcher to spy for a foreign government. 31—year—old matthew hedges, who is studying for a phd at durham university, was arrested at dubai airport five months ago and has been held in solitary confinement. his case has now been referred to the country's court of appeal, where he is due to appear next wednesday.

house of commons that the majority of issues have been settled. on the brexit transition period, she said an extension might be needed, but insisted she has not committed to it. the european commission to decide today whether to formally demand that italy take back, revise, and resubmit its budget, a step it's never taken before. senior eu commissioners have already stated that italy's budget is in serious breach of eu rules. italy's populist government has told the eu is willing to reduce its budget deficit next year, but says it needs to spend more now to help its citizens. later today, bloomberg television have an exclusive interview with the prime minister of italy, giuseppe conte. theident donald trump said u.s. will cut off ornate to guatemala, honduras, and el salvador as thousands of migrants continue to make their way to the u.s. border. he blames the so-called caravan of migrants on democrats. a percentage of u.s. overseas aid and the health on u.s. -- on corruption or immigration concerns. global news 24 hours a day, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. manus, nejra? nejra: juliette saly, thank you so much. ital

of a royal commission that investigated decades of institutional child abuse in australia. theresa may will insist that a brexit deal is "95% complete" when she faces mps in the house of commonsay admits that the last stages of the talks are going to be "the hardest of all". the former cricket star freddie flintoff and entertainment presenter paddy mcguinness arejoining the motoring show, top gear. they'll begin filming their first series of the show early next year alongside motoring journalist and racing driver chris harris. it follows friends star matt le blanc's announcement that he was leaving the programme. his final series will be transmitted in early 2019. a lioness has killed the father of her three cubs in their pen at a zoo in the us. 10—year—old nyack was attacked by the lioness, and staff at indianapolis zoo couldn't separate the pair. he died of suffocation. the lions had lived in the same enclosure for eight years, and had three cubs together in 2015. that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 10:30am. lots of you getting in touch on straws and the prospect of a ban on plastic straws within the year. on facebook, my son has cerebral palsy and can only dr