iain watson, bbc news, westminster. iain watson reporting. impact of another resignation tonight. just at the very time, this crucial weekend before the vote, that the prime minister needs people coming their way, it seems to be going if anything slightly in the other direction. tonight a ministerial aide has resigned, colchester mp will quince, no offence to him, not even a household name, no offence to him --. even a household name, no offence to him ——. this is only at the start of his ministerial career, 35 years old, a leader voter, pretty loyal, and he is not investing his future in theresa may. there is speculation that others at that level might be considering resigning as well. against that kind of backdrop it is unsurprising that ministers are now talking more openly about what should happen if on tuesday the prime minister goes down to a defeat. what is particularly interesting about the amber rudd intervention is this, usually the idea of a —— another referendum or a norway option is used to get other ministers into line, amber rud

iain watson.arge a 26—year—old man with the murder of the british backpacker, grace millane. she was last seen in auckland a week ago. police say there's evidence that she's dead, but her body has yet to be found. however tonight detectives have said they have identified a "location of interest". simonjones reports. described by her family as lovely, outgoing, fun—loving. tonight, in grace millane's hometown in essex, people came together. ...to pray for the repose of the soul of grace millane. shock that her disappearance is being treated as murder. this is very, very sad. devastating for the family, obviously, and friends. many of the young people in our parish knew her. some went to school with her and went on school journeys with her. so it will affect the parish really very badly. despite an extensive search, police have now reached this conclusion. the evidence we have gathered to this point in the inquiry has established that this is a homicide. grace's family have been advised of this deve

let's go back to our political correspondent iain watson at westminster.oubt been banished, this vote is definitely going ahead on tuesday? well, clive, theresa may is staring defeat in the face, but downing street is insisting the vote will go ahead. but i have to tell you that very senior figures, even at this late stage tonight, are still pressing for a postponement. what she intends to do tomorrow is speak to some of her mps who still have very serious doubts about the arrangements for avoiding a hard border in ireland, the so—called backstop. tonight she spoke to her irish counterpart, leo varadkar. downing street know that if she can allay those concerns, the rebellion will diminish significantly, but it is difficult to see what of substance she cannot be that can really make a difference. interestingly tonight, another development, jeremy corbyn, the labour leader, under pressure. prominent socialist leaders from europe have ask him to explicitly back another referendum, what they call a people's voice before britain leaves the european union. there

our political correspondent iain watson reports.at great deals are available, but you're tempted to wait for the january sales. and one cabinet minister is telling mps that if they don't like the prime minister's brexit deal, then a different one could come onto the market. amber rudd supports theresa may's deal. she says it's the best option, but if it's defeated... if the house is not going to support no deal, it needs to come forward with an alternative deal. and i have seen that there is a lot of support for norway plus in the house of commons, there's a certain amount of support for a people's vote. nobody knows what would happen. people should think very clearly, if they're not going to vote for the government's withdrawal agreement, whether they would actually prefer those alternatives. so, what does she mean by norway plus? like norway, the uk would be outside the eu, but with access to the single market. we would have greater control of our agriculture and fishing industries. and the "plus" bit — unlike norway, we would be

iain watson, and there'll be more on investors‘ concerns about brexit in asia business report.aking news today: the french president emmanuel macron will address the nation later, as he tries to bring four weeks of violent anti—government protests to an end. france has now had four weekends in a row of demonstrations against fuel tax rises, high living costs, and other issues. about 125,000 protesters were on the streets on saturday, with more than 1700 arrested. lucy williamson is in paris. emmanuel macron is facing a couple of problems tonight. 0ne emmanuel macron is facing a couple of problems tonight. one is that if you tackle this process a few weeks ago, he might have got away with simply cancelling the rise in fuel taxes, the trouble is since then the movement has grown and we that the movement's demands, and the second problem he faces is that it is also a very diverse movement. people have joined it bringing all sorts of grievances, so satisfying all of them is going to be very difficult, and a government spokesman today said he thought it might be an almost made—to—me

iain watson, and there will be more on investors‘ concerns about brexit in asia business report.day: the french president, emmanuel macron, will address the nation later as he tries to bring four weeks of violent anti—government protests to an end. france has now had four weekends of demonstrations against fuel tax rises and high living costs, amongst other issues. about 125,000 protesters were on the streets on saturday, with more than 1,700 arrested. the two sides in yemen's war have held their first round of talks in sweden. discussions were between the yemeni government and houthi rebel representatives. they focused on a potential prisoner swap, allowing humanitarian aid and stopping the violence in the main port, hodeida. the deadline for detaining the former nissan chairman carlos ghosn runs out later. he is being held as part of an investigation into suspected financial misconduct. mr ghosn was arrested injapan last month and has been detained since. he is accused of under—reporting his earnings for several years. the nissan board sacked him in november, but he remains cha

iain watson, bbc news.ain told me the prospect of a heavy defeat on tuesday doesn't seem to be swaying the government. senior government advisers are asking for it to be postponed, but downing street are saying very clearly, and the brexit secretary, the government minister responsible for taking us out of the eu, says very clearly that the vote will go ahead on tuesday. they are saying that in the knowledge that they are likely to lose. i suppose the calculation is quite simple, it may look worse to postpone than go ahead and at least make the case, and if she has to go back to brussels there isa she has to go back to brussels there is a european summit later this week and least they could say that cheap that the deal she negotiated to the test at westminster and perhaps they had to rethink. it sounds like there was confidence that they have a plan if, if eve ryo ne that they have a plan if, if everyone expects, this is heavily defeated on tuesday? the plan exists, technically, she has given 21 days to com

iain watson, much more drama to come. for now, many thanks.ry chris grayling has admitted that he and his department didn't ask tough enough questions before new timetables were brought in on northern and govia thameslink routes in may, causing chaos. it came after a report by mps said he should have been more pro—active. the new timetables involved more than 43,000 changes. the biggest impact was on northern trains, operated by arriva rail north, and govia thameslink routes into london. for several weeks, up to 780 trains were cancelled each weekday. the rail delivery group, representing rail companies, said it was very sorry for what happened in the summer. but for many passengers the problems still continue, as danny savage reports. seven months after the timetable debacle, things have not improved for many passengers. this northern service from bolton this morning was so crowded people couldn't get on. on a following train, there was dismay. it's already costing me about eight quid a day to get in and out manchester, and then it's going to

iain watson, bbc news, westminster. we wa nt we want to bring you some breaking news. british backpacker. the last few minutes police in new zealand investigating the murder of that backpacker, grace millane, say they have found a body. they had been searching bushland about 2k kilometres west of auckland. police they'd they to trace a toyota corolla as well which was hired last week. a 26—year—old man is due to appear on court on monday, charged with her murder. you might remember, grace millane graduated from the university of lincoln in september and embarked on a year—long worldwide trip. after visiting peru she arrived in new zealand on november 20 and had been in the daily contact with her family until december one, that is the day before the 22nd birthday. since early this morning we have had a scene examination here in the sectional push behind me. this area was identified late last night as a location of interest as a result of oui’ location of interest as a result of our investigative work. i can now advise that a short time ago we located a body which we bel

iain watson, bbc news. and iainjoins us now.ll go ahead, so we are told, but how many people are still thinking it should be delayed? even at this late stage quite a few people think it would be a mistake to go ahead with this. you heard from the brexit secretary, downing street say it will go ahead on tuesday but nobody is saying, not with a straight face anyway, they are confident of victory. even now, we had the resignation of thejunior ministerial rung of the ladder last night, he has said please postpone this vote and try to sort this out. theresa may tomorrow will be trying to address concerns of some mps over the question of avoiding a hard border in ireland, and northern irish baxter of which is getting most of them into the no come. —— and northern irish backstop. it is ha rd to and northern irish backstop. it is hard to see how she will solve that in 2a hours if it has not been sold by now. some people think on cheap as boneless, there is a european council towards the end of the week and some quite senior people are a

iain watson, bbc news, westminster.y's deal, how much momentum is there for alternative plans in the event it fails? i think momentum is picking up and we should say first of all that was not much momentum behind her own deal because this crucial weekend behind —— before the vote, the prime minister needs people to be coming her way and they seem to be going slightly in the other direction so tonight a ministerial aide has resigned, no offence to him, not a household name even in his own household. but here is somebody at the start of his ministerial career, 35 years old and ugly voter and pretty loyal a nd 35 years old and ugly voter and pretty loyal and he is not investing his future in theresa may and there is speculation that others at that level might consider resigning as well so against that backdrop it is unsurprising that ministers are talking more openly about what should happen if on tuesday the prime minister is defeated. while the interesting things about the amber rudd intervention is this idea of our anot

iain watson at westminster.tigating the murder of the british backpacker grace millane say they've found a body on the outskirts of the city of auckland. they believe it is that of the 22—year—old from essex, but, so far, there's been no formal identification. a 26—year—old man has been charged with her murder. phil mercer reports from sydney. how and why grace millane died will be the focus of an intense investigation that new zealand police say is far from over. a body, found in a forest in the waitakere ranges, a beauty spot with hiking trails a short drive from auckland, is thought to be that of the university graduate from essex. police say the remains were discovered close to a main road. we located a body which we believe to be grace. the formal identification process will now take place, however, based on the evidence we have gathered over the past few days, we expect that this is grace. obviously, this brings the search for grace to an end. it is an unbearable time for the millane family, and our hearts

iain watson, bbc news, westminster.yed by the telecoms giant huawei or warned it would otherwise face consequences. meng wanzhou, the company's global chief financial officer, was arrested in vancouver last weekend and faces extradition to the united states. she's the daughter of huawei's founder and is accused of breaking american sanctions on iran — as our asia pacific editor celia hatton has been explaining. it is fascinating that they decided to come out with this today after days of relative silence, not saying very much at all. i think really that beijing at the moment is trying to appeal to china's domestic audience. there have been a lot of calls inside china, lots of people writing on chinese social media platforms saying that ms meng is effectively a hostage in the us, china trade war, that this arrest was political, that canada should not have carried out this arrest on behalf of the united states. a lot of shock and accusations against canada, and so i think really beijing feels the need to show that it is t

iain watson there.—year minimum term for murdering the midwife samantha eastwood. ms eastwood's body was found in a shallow grave in caverswell, staffordshire, eight days after she was reported missing injuly. 32—year—old michael stirling from bucknall had pleaded guilty. jo black reports. why are we jumping out of an aeroplane today? to raise money for two charities... samantha eastwood, living life to the full. today this man, 32—year—old michael stirling, was sentenced to 17 years in jail after admitting killing the midwife in an intense bout of rage. outside court, her family had this to say... no matter the outcome, nothing can bring my sister back. i've lost my best friend and sister, my mum has lost a kind, caring, loving daughter. our lives will never be the same. stirling and samantha were having what was described as a long—standing affair. the court heard how he murdered her at her home after they got into a row. i'm yet to see any sign of michael stirling being remorseful for the death of sa

iain watson, bbc news, westminster., as gatwick is closed by drones being deliberately flown nearby. many of the 100,000 people due to use the airport today now face the headache of cancellation or delay. and coming up: calls for the better regulation of the sale of laughing gas, after a bbc investigation found retailers are selling the canisters over the counter// coming up on bbc news... great britain's 0lympic swimming champion adam peaty has challenged the sport's world governing body to ban him after he he backed plans to launch a new, breakaway competition. the fire services regulator says the number of safety checks carried out across england has fallen by a2% in the past decade. it says cuts in public spending are behind the decline, and warns that people's safety is being compromised as a consequence. our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, has more. firefighters — fewjobs attract as much public support as they enjoy, and the number of emergencies they deal with has been falling steadily. but this, the wor

iain watson, bbc news.nstration billed as a brexit betrayal march, saw thousands of people take to the streets of london. the rally, organised by ukip, was attended by the activist tommy robinson, who's recently been given an advisory role with the party. the march was put under tight restrictions by the police, fearing clashes with an anti—tommy robinson counter demonstration. scientists and delegates at a un climate conference in poland have expressed alarm, after it failed to incorporate a key scientific text, which outlines how to limit the effects of climate change. the ipcc report — on the impact of a one point five degree celsius temperature rise — was released in october. but now the us, russia, saudi arabia and kuwait have all objected to the conference ‘welcoming' it. our environment correspondent, matt mcgrath reports. chanting: wake up! taking to the streets of katowice, thousands of protesters from around the world have descended on this city to make their voices heard, saying more needs to be

here's our political correspondent iain watson.ter on her way to a meeting of key political allies in downing street this morning, discussing how to get her deal through parliament. but some of her own cabinet are talking about what happens if the deal is defeated a. we need to find out where the will of parliament is, where the majority of parliament is, where the majority of mps will vote —— will vote in parliament and nothing should be off the table. we should consider all options stop when do you agree with collea g u es options stop when do you agree with colleagues parliament should have a greater say in the brexit deal? the business secretary, like amber rudd, supports the prime minister's deal but like her, recognises it can't currently get through parliament. so when it is finally voted on next month. if that was still the case, there is a responsibility on parliament, not just to say what it doesn't want, it is easy to be a critic but actually to take responsibility and to consider what parliament would vote for. what is

iain watson, bbc news, westminster.hampioning the norway plus plan for brexit. welcome, thank you very much. have you and amber rudd been getting your heads together on this? we have had discussions about this when amber was a backbencher, which of course just recently she has been brought back into the cabinet. she was part of ourgroup, we back into the cabinet. she was part of our group, we have a cross party group of mps called the norway plus group of mps called the norway plus group and she was part of those discussions and we had very good conversations about the norway plus option. is it a very literal type or a good one? why would this win support when many people who voted to leave the said that what they did not want was freedom of movement of people, they did not want the customs union or anything like it and they don't want the single market. i have always believed that 52-48 market. i have always believed that 52—48 result is a mandate to move house without leaving the neighbourhood, and that is what we hav

iain watson, bbc news, westminster. so what happens now? mps will continue to discuss theresa may's brexit proposal on day two of the debate — which will focus on security. and as we've heard, ministers have agreed to publish the government's legal advice on the deal in full after they were found to be in contempt of parliament for issuing a summary. mps are hoping this will be issued before the crucial vote next tuesday, the 11th of december. let's get more on this from our political correspondent, ben wright, who's in westminster for us. it isa it is a pretty miserable day. umbrella out already. try to unravel this for us this morning. yesterday it was a significant day. it has been a long time, as iain watson, since this happened were sitting government. it feels to some of the old hands like a dying days of the callaghan government at the end of the 19705, a daily baird bay lost as many the 19705, a daily baird bay lost as ma ny votes the 19705, a daily baird bay lost as many votes in succession. it did feel yesterday it was a governmen

iain watson, bbc news.eak to our political correspondent nick eardley who's in westminster for us this morning. good morning to you. potentially, this is just an awkward and potentially embarrassing start to we beat a few days for the prime minister, isn't it? absolutely. opposition parties are still want to get that for legal advice published in the coming days before mps vote next tuesday on the deal. that is exactly what they will try to do today to force the government's and again. it does not look like the government wants to change its mind on this. we had the attorney general, the top law officer in england and wales, saying it would bea england and wales, saying it would be a breach of protocol, we don't normally do this, why would we do it now? they don't want to seem to change their mind on it. the other parties are going to have to try to force their hand. what will the interesting will be not simply whether the government is found in contempt, but what the numbers are like in that vote later. be

if she loses, the party will have to pick a new leader. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is inr us. iain, we have been here before. and the prime minister has been here before, and it is another difficult day here for her today. it is indeed, we should be absolutely clear about that. almost a month ago it was suggested there were enough letters to force a conference vote and it wasn't true then. what has changed? quite a few things. the fa ct changed? quite a few things. the fact she had to postpone this major vote on her deal, and secondly that we now have some of the older and more experienced eurosceptics coming out to bat against her, a former cabinet minister saying she had negotiated like a feeble supplicants, negotiated like a feeble supplica nts, not desperately. negotiated like a feeble supplicants, not desperately. he said he put in a letter of no confidence in her and the fact he has done will encourage other people as well. so her opponents are very confident they have the numbers, but as you say there is no official confirmation as yet as to whether thatis confirma

iain watson, bbc news, westminster.emitism allegations. ivan lewis, who was a minister under tony blair and gordon brown and shadow minister under ed miliband, has strongly critcised the party's leaderjeremy corbyn. he said mr corbyn was ‘unwilling to condemn those who hatred to condemn those whose hatred of israel becomesjew hatred. the murder of two scandinavian women in morocco is being investigated as a terror attack, according to officials in denmark. 2a—year—old louisa vesterager jespersen from denmark, and 28—year—old maren ueland from norway, were found with fatal knife injuries to their necks. denmark's intelligence agency said it was investigating a video circulating online, which appears to show one of the women being murdered. it's thought that the pair travelled to morocco together for a month—long holiday at the beginning of december. they had been hiking in an area near imil, close to north africa's highest mountain peak mount toubkal, an area popular with hikers and climbers. four men have been arrested

iain watson there.an 100 people received hospital treatment. as lucy williams they called it a protest. at times it looked more like a game of urban war. groups of protesters fanned through the capital's streets. from the arc de triomphe to republique, boulevards once built to open the veins of the city filled with tear gas, burning vehicles, and riot police. the police were well prepared for this confrontation, with armoured vehicles, new tactics, and bag searches — seizing gas masks and helmets and anything that could be used against police. the tear gas, far stronger than usual, took many protesters by surprise. and rapid reaction squads marked out by orange armbands were stationed among the protesters to spot trouble and make early arrests. despite the violence of previous protests, this movement still has the backing of many voters in france. its members proud of their lack of leadership and the diversity of their support. but this movement is already splintering into two kinds of protest — one tha

our political correspondent iain watson considers the importance of yesterday's defeats.g for her deal, fighting for herjob. on the second day of the brexit debate, there is a focus on security. but some mps wonder how secure theresa may is in number ten. she will be hoping today is better than yesterday when her government was defeated three times. as a result, ministers will have to announce today when they will publish legal advice on brexit that they wanted to keep confidential. and if theresa may's deal is defeated next week, mps will now get a greater say over what happens next. based on day one of the debate, theresa may will have an uphill battle to get her way. i have spent nearly two years negotiating this deal. if i had banged at the table and walked out of the room and at the end of the process delivered the very same deal that is before us today, some might say that i had done a betterjob. but i didn't play to the gallery. i focused on getting a deal that honours the referendum, sets us on course for a bright future and i did so through painstaking hard work.

iain watson, bbc news.e is chloe smith, who's the minister for the constitution and labour's shadow brexit ministerjenny chapman. good morning to both of you on what is another extremely busy and extremely important stay here at westminster. an important day for the whole of the uk. corey smith, you are backing the prime minister's deal. do you think like the chief whip said that she has a realistic prospect of getting that deal? yes i do andi prospect of getting that deal? yes i do and i think it is the only deal available sire backing because i think it does what was asked about by the country, it takes back control of our laws and borders. i think also it contains a very good deal in the form of the future partnerships or i am looking forward to the debate, i think it is important that we get on and deliver at this moment. we know that there are many other mps including the dup at the dome of the status of the arrangement with the moment but it certainly cease to be very unstable. they say they will not

iain watson, bbc news.ditor norman smith is in downing street, where shortly theresa may will chair a cabinet meeting. it is the start of another extremely busy day for her. she only has busy days at the moment. if the commons votes that the government is in co nte m pt votes that the government is in contempt for not publishing that full legal advice on brexit, what does it mean for the government and for the overall brexit process? it is symbolically a huge moment in that i think it is the first time, certainly in modern history, that any government has been found in co nte m pt of any government has been found in contempt of parliament. that fuels a sense of government in disarray, on the back foot, that sort of mood. secondly, it is the most awful curtain raiser to the start of mrs may's big pitch to try and convince mps to back a deal is just moments before they actually vote to decide how government is in contempt of parliament. it may also give as a sense of how the level of opposition is beginning t

our political correspondent iain watson reports. fighting for her deal, fighting for herjob.nd day of the brexit debate, there is a focus on security. but some mps wonder how sick us theresa may used in number 10. she will hurt today is better than yesterday when her government was defeated three times. as a result, ministers will need to announce today when they will publish legal advice on brexit that they wanted to keep confidential. and if theresa may's deal is defeated next week, mps will now have a greater say over what happens next. at least on day one of the debate, theresa may will have an uphill battle to get her weighed. debate, theresa may will have an uphill battle to get her weighedlj have uphill battle to get her weighed.” have spent nearly two years negotiating this deal. if i had banged at the table and walked out of the room and at the end of the process deliver the very same deal thatis process deliver the very same deal that is before us today, some might say that i had done a betterjob. but i didn't play to the gallery. i focused on getting a deal that ho

iain watson explains. i think it's highly likely that this motion on contempt is passed.big deal because, as i say, it may lead to ultimately simply the suspension, if that, of a couple of ministers. the really big deal is still the meaningful vote in a week's time, but it is potentially embarrassing and a distraction for the prime minister when she is trying to make this deal already against the backdrop of such scepticism. and you can keep up to date with the latest developments on our website. you'll also find background analysis. that's all at bbc.com/news. much more to come on bbc news, including this: to a rockstar‘s welcome — the former first lady michelle obama inspires londoners. it's quite clear that the worst victims of this disaster are the poor people living in the slums which have sprung up around the factory. i am feeling so helpless that the children are dying in front of me and i can't do anything. charles manson is the mystical leader of the hippie cult suspected of killing sharon tate and at least six other people in los angeles. at 11am this morning, j

iain watson is our political correspondent. two major defeats for the government.tempt for not issuing the legal advice about brexit. we are now going to get that, they'll tell us tomorrow when we will get that. but secondly — this question of mps having a greater say over what shape brexit should take, if the deal goes down next week. and i think what's significant about both of those is that shows how difficult it eventually will be for theresa may to get a deal through in the first place. because in the first motion, this question of contempt, backing that motion was the dup, the northern ireland party that usually props up theresa may's government. they don't like the proposals for what would happen in northern ireland over the border, so they effectively defected, voted with other opposition parties, and inflicted that defeat. if they're in the same mind in a week's time, then she's in trouble. secondly, what i think is interesting is that the type of people backing this alternative view — in other words, if theresa may's deal goes down, she comes back after t

our political correspondent iain watson has more.guments have raged about accept and theresa may's deal. today, they are being taken to the streets, a large conference centre in east london. if you are someone who supports the people's vote campaign, they are having a rally for another wrap and. there will be a range of celebrities. it will be arguing that it is true british patriots that want another referendum. other —— the lead campaigners are believing they are reducing britain's influence. not to be outdone, ukip is organising its own rally, a brexit betrayal rally, they are calling it. it will also include the controversial figure of tommy robinson used in the in the ingush defence league and whose presence have caused a few in ukip, including nigel farage, to resign from the party. not surprisingly, there will be a counter demonstration. theresa may will be focusing on winning over more of her mps for her deal. she has an uphill battle before the vote on tuesday. downing street are insisting that votes will go ahead despite th

iain watson, bbc news, westminster. crush happened in the early hours of this morning in the town of corinaldo near ancona on the adriatic coast. james reynolds reports: the blue lantern nightclub in the town of corinaldo was packed. around 1000 people, many of them teenagers, had gone to see a concert by one of italy's leading rappers. at around one in the morning some reports say that a pepper spray—like substance was used, provoking a stampede. translation: we were together. we started seeing everyone rush towards the emergency exits. at the beginning we didn't understand why, but then we started to cough and thought there might be a fire or something, so we decided to leave. one of the emergency exits was blocked. in the crush to get out of the club, a railing collapsed causing dozens of partygoers to fall. translation: since three this morning we were very close to the bodies and to the relatives. and then we've accompanied them here to the morgue. you can imagine it's been a very sudden thing. you cannot believe t

here is our political correspondent iain watson. is she seeking divine intervention?resa may attended church in her constituency this morning. she has weathered many political storms, but she is still having to fight for her deal and for herjob. some ministers think the outlook is so bleak she should postpone this week's crucial commons vote, but the brexit secretary said it won't be called off. the vote is going ahead, and that's because it is a good deal, it's the only deal, and it's important that we don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. we're moving to uncharted waters. yes, the prime minister is fighting for us, and will continue in post, but the question for... sorry, can she stay on as prime minister if she... yes. she can stay on as prime minister if she loses the vote? yes. the brexit secretary voted to leave the eu, but his better—known colleague was the face of the campaign. borisjohnson was asked in parliament this week what his big idea was now. well, today he revealed it — hold back some of the divorce bill until we get a better deal. unless th

vote of confidence — as our political correspondent iain watson reports.ht before at westminster, not exactly a new dawn for the prime minister. the vote of confidence was if not disastrous certainly disappointing, with more than a third of her mps wanting her to go. she confirmed today she had to promise not to lead her party into another election. her focus now was on her deal. the next general election is in 2022 and i think it's right another leader ta kes think it's right another leader takes us into that election. my focus is on ensuring we can get those reassurances we need to get this deal over the line. the main issueis this deal over the line. the main issue is the backstop, staying close to eu rules to avoid a hard border in ireland. her critics and some of her cabinet believes she needs a legally watertight assurance that it is temporary. i wish her every success today in making sure she delivers on some of the questions my collea g u es delivers on some of the questions my colleagues had about the backstop. we have a period of time now for the

our political correspondent, iain watson, has our first report on a dramatic day in westminster. the first clue that it really was going to be business as usual in downing street. a lot was going on under the cover of darkness. the chief whip julian smith, under the cover of darkness. the chief whipjulian smith, who is supposed to know the prime minister has enough support to carry on, let number ten late last night and i spotted him again very early this morning. soon after, we confirmed that the prime minister was facing a vote of no—confidence. after dawn broke, the podium appeared. there would be a prime ministerial statement, but definitely not a resignation. and when theresa may emerged, her message to her own mps was defiant. there will now be a vote of confidence in my leadership of the conservative party. i will contest that worked with everything i've got. a change of leadership in the conservative party now would put oui’ the conservative party now would put our country's future at risk and create uncertainty when we can least afford it. delivering the brexit people vo

iain watson, bbc news, westminster.ns that people's safety is being compromised as a consequence. our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, has more. firefighters — fewjobs attract as much public support as they enjoy, and the number of emergencies they deal with has been falling steadily. but this, the worst residential fire in living memory, showed that disasters can still happen. it's put firefighting firmly in the spotlight. meanwhile, the system for inspecting fire services has been revamped. cheshire fire and rescue is one of 1a services to be scrutinised as part of the new system. it got a good rating for its emergency service and for the fire safety checks it carries out. but today's report says when it comes to protecting the public by inspecting buildings, eight out of 1a fire services required improvement. in fact, the number of safety audits carried out by fire services across england has fallen by 42% in eight years. if fire services don't know where their high—risk premises are, and if they haven't been

our political correspondent iain watson is in westminster. ber rudd breaking ranks on this? she made similar kinds of noises when she was on the back benches again. we might expect now that she has returned to the cabinet that she would stick to the party line. that's right, as you know, a week is a long time in politics but it was actually only three days ago when the prime minister stood up in the house of commons and said a second referendum would do irreparable damage to the integrity of our politics. now, we had quite a different tone from a member of her own cabinet. let's see what she had to say last night. i have said that i don't want people's vote, or a referendum in general, but if parliament absolutely fail to reach a consensus, i parliament absolutely fail to reach a consensus, i can see parliament absolutely fail to reach a consensus, i can see there will be a consensus, i can see there will be a plausible argument for it. but i think it is incumbent on mps to find the centre ground in parliament, and to try and find where the ma

our political correspondent iain watson is in westminster for us this morning. iain, good morning.n lot of talk about a fresh referendum over the weekend. the prime minister as we heard there is going to be talking about that today. if it ever was the go—ahead what would the actual process be? the usual process would be for the government, led by the prime minister of course, to introduce the necessary legislation. this cannot just go through a vote, they would need to be a proper bill going through parliament, properly debated. but there is a big clue as to her feelings on this subject because as you were saying she is going to be saying this afternoon to mps that a new referendum would do irreparable damage to policies, as she sees it, it would tell people that democracy did not deliver, it would break faith with the british people, so she is unlikely to do that. another potential option is that. another potential option is that she does this, the deal is voted down, she then has the weeks to come back to parliament with an alternative, that can then be changed, amended by mps, p

we're joined now by our political correspondent iain watson in downing street. need some concessions in brussels. strangely enough, her weakness within her own party might be her strength when she arrives in brussels because they've been negotiating with her for nearly two yea rs. negotiating with her for nearly two years. they know if they want to go on negotiating with her, she is facing calls for resignation from inside her party and from the opposition, if they want to try and get a deal over the line potentially that might make them move a bit more on this key issue of the irish backstop, the way of avoiding a hard border in ireland. the difficulty is that she said she was listening to those who voted against her, more than one third of her own party, and they want a legal guarantee that the backstop will in fact be temporary, and perhaps getting that written in blood is going to be a very uphill task for the prime minister and therefore when she returns to downing street she will have the same trouble she had when she departed. thank you. now the rest of t

iain watson, bbc news, westminster. meant that parliamentary process has now changed if the house of commons votes down the government's deal next tuesday. previously the commons was only able to ‘take note' of what the government planned to do if they lost, but now mps will get to vote on what should happen next in terms of any negotiations or changes of plan. our assistant political editor, norman smith, is at westminster. everyone really thinking about plan band everyone really thinking about plan b and what happens next, but we have this legal advice being published this legal advice being published this morning. let's start with plan b, because i suppose that is the most significant element of where we go. what is the anticipation? many people to see it as significant that we have this block of senior tory mps seemingly coalescing around this idea of trying to make sure that if theresa may's deal is voted down, which most people think it will be, parliament will have a say in what happens next. the consensus amongs

earlier, i spoke with iain watson and got his take on the row over the legal advice.t. clearly, there is a political imperative for the opposition to put the government on the back foot. the government, because it feared defeat, decided not to oppose calls for this legal advice to be produced in full, in a debate last month and failed to do so, provided the summary. so it is quite clear that labour opposition holding their advantage in this respect. whether the legal advice itself were published was to change any minds of mps, it would be a surprise. it looks like people are pretty entrenched in the house of commons when they are making their decision, that is what theresa may is trying to do, trying to get them to think again. on her own side and even labour mps, suggesting to them it will be this deal or no deal, trying to soften some of the opposition she is facing. but the true significance, i think, of the legal advice brow is this. but there is now an attempt to say the government is in contempt of parliament by not producing this legal advice. that could lead t