let's talk to our political correspondent jonathan blake who is watching events from westminster.eresa may and jean—claude juncker have been talking about. the meeting has only just finished so we haven't yet heard the prime minister as we are perhaps expecting to this evening with some reaction to their discussion but it is likely to have focused on but the withdrawal agreement, phase one of the brexit process if you like, but rather the political declaration of the future relationship between the uk and eu. that is the broad outline running to about 20 pages or so, of how both sides see the relationship working in the future. 0n the last day there has been a sense the eu remaining 27 member countries aren't quite all on the same page about this. france raising concerns about fishing rights, after brexit, spain kicking up rights, after brexit, spain kicking upa bit rights, after brexit, spain kicking up a bit of rights, after brexit, spain kicking upa bit ofa rights, after brexit, spain kicking up a bit of a fuss about gibraltar. it may be those last details have to be ironed out

jonathan blake, bbc news. campaigning is under way in the united states ahead of tuesday's mid—term elections — a key test for president trump. in the last hour he's been addressing supporters at a rally in georgia, while barack obama, for the democrats, is campaigning in indiana. just over a third of the seats in the us senate are being contested this time around. at the moment, the republicans have a majority with 51 out of 100 senators. they've a bigger majority in the house of representatives. all 435 seats in this second chamber are up for grabs on tuesday and both sides believe they've a chance of winning control of it. our north america correspondent chris buckler reports. donald trump has been nothing but relentless in his campaigning. georgia is just the latest stop in a frantic week of rallies held in state, after state, after state. this is a president trying to defend his power, and saying whatever he can to shore up his support. that means talking up the economy but also talking tough on the subje

jonathan blake in westminster. of the key nhs waiting time targets for a whole year. according to bbc analysis, it's the first time this has happened since the performance measures were introduced more than a decade ago. there's a big variation between individual hospitals and boards. of the 157 across the uk, 29 have not hit a single target. those targets are a maxiumum four—hour waiting time at a&e, and waiting times for routine operations and cancer treatments. the royal college of nursing says the nhs is going into the challenging winter months on the back foot. but ministers disagree, as our health editor, hugh pym, explains. maria, who is 84, is in constant pain because of swollen feet and ankles. she's endured months of delayed nhs appointments. in august, her daughter told me what they were going through. you just can't get through to people, it's answer phones, you're just banging your head against a wall most of the time. but now, after eight months, it's still not resolved. one appointment was cancelled,

ministers, and was regarded as a key influence in shaping modern britain. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blakegn... he was the prime minister's right—hand man, putting the government's policies into practice and giving advice on how best to get things done. as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, and in other senior roles, lord heywood has worked at the heart of government for more than 20 years, serving four prime ministers. jeremy heywood was the most outstanding civil servant, indeed the most dynamic civil servant of his generation. exceptional ability, unimpeachable integrity. as we saw in facing his illness, exceptional courage also. politicians on all sides have paid tribute. theresa may said lord heywood worked tirelessly to serve britain, and is a huge loss to public life. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn described jeremy heywood as an impressive and dedicated public servant. the former deputy prime minister nick clegg said it was heartbreaking news and he hadn't met anyone who had worked as hard and tirelessly in government. lord heywood's wife, suzanne, said he was a wonder

jonathan blake with a round up of the daily breaking news. —— brexit news.saulted and robbed by burglars at his home in north london. police say it was a ‘brutal and senseless‘ attack. peter gouldstone was found yesterday afternoon in his bedroom badly injured. his son says he's "lost for words at man's inhumanity to man". navtej johal‘s report contains an upsetting image that his family wanted shown of mr gouldstone in hospital. the home where peter gouldstone, a veteran of the second world war, has lived for over 60 years, now a crime scene where he was left for dead. this photograph handed out by the metropolitan police shows the 98—year—old former post office worker in hospital after he suffered life—threatening injuries during a burglary. this is where my dad lived... his son, simon, was the first person to find him at his home in bounds green in north london. there was stuff strewn all over the upperfloor. there were some injuries that i could see to his face and his forearms, and he certainly wasn't fully conscious. i don't know how people could do th

mr banks denies any wrongdoing, as our political correspondent, jonathan blake, explains.ters and photographers to greet mr banks as he arrived at gatwick airport this morning. he was asked whether any of the money donated had come from russia. he said that it hasn't, the money has come from me. he went on to say that he would cooperate with the national crime agency's investigation and provide visibility into our accounts. that really echoes what he has had to say all along. earlier in the week the the electoral commission had asked to investigate. at the centre of this is £8 million worth of loans, claimed to have come from aaron banks and his companies to the leave.eu campaign. it was not the official leave campaign but the one fronted by nigel farage and to a large extent bankrolled by aaron banks. the electoral commission suspect that the true sources of loans to the campaign were being concealed and the money had come from "impermissible sources." that could be foreign sources, because under the law in the uk there has to be a uk taxpayer who is donating the money. t

ministers and was regarded as a key influence in shaping modern britain. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blakeeadership campaign... he was the prime minister's right—hand man, putting the government's policies into practice, and giving advice on how best to get things done. as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, and in other senior roles, lord heywood has worked at the heart of government for more than 20 years, serving four prime ministers. jeremy heywood was the most outstanding civil servant. indeed, the most dynamic civil servant of his generation. exceptional ability, unimpeachable integrity. as we saw in facing his illness, exceptional courage, also. politicians on all sides have paid tribute. theresa may said... the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, described sirjeremy as... and the former deputy prime minister, nick clegg, said... lord heywood's wife, suzanne, said he was a wonderful husband and father, who could light up any room. i think we started with the 1975 guidance... despite huge influence, he kept a low public profile. described by one former colleague as the most im

our political correspondent jonathan blake is at westminster.at we are moving closer to the moment when theresa may is able to put her plan oi’ theresa may is able to put her plan or the basis of a deal to the rest of the cabinet, and asked them what they think and get them to sign up to it. cabinet ministers have been going into downing street today to going into downing street today to go through a draft copy of the withdrawal agreement, the divorce deal between britain and the eu, to review it, but it is missing a crucial 5%, as the prime minister says the withdrawal agreement is 95% complete. what is missing is the remaining 5%, which pertains to the potential backstop, which both the eu and the uk have agreed to include. a reminder, that is in case a trade deal heart be done and put in place by the end of the transition period, it is a way of ensuring that there will be no checks on the border between the northern ireland and the republic of ireland, and throughout the last day oi’ ireland, and throughout the last day orso, ireland, and thr

with me now is our political correspondent jonathan blake.aders saying? a group of more than 70 expressing their frustration about brexit in this open letter to the sunday times. a couple of other of the names people might recognise, justin king, the innocent drinks founder, and many other names who that are actually card—carrying remainers, people whose opposition to brexit is very much well—known. they are coming together to form a group known as business for a peoples vote. this is part of the campaignfora peoples vote. this is part of the campaign for a public vote on the terms of any brexit deal. they say in their letter that the business trinity was promised... —— business community. neither of those options they say the ballot paper in 2016, and they say that the ultimate choice should be handed back to the people. of course as you say, downing street is dismissing this with a source telling us that the prime minister has been clear all along there will be no second referendum, we had a people's vote, it was injune 2016. and sunday tim

earlier i spoke to our political correspondent jonathan blake, who explained more. actually card—carrying remain as all former remainers am a people whose opposition to brexit betray much well—known. they are coming together to form a group called business for a people's vote, part of the campaign by the people's vote group to campaignfora campaign by the people's vote group to campaign for a public vote on the terms of any brexit deal. they say in their letter that the business community was promised... neither of those options, they say, where on the ballot paper and 2016, and they say the ultimate choice should be handed back to the people. of course, as you say, downing street is dismissing this with a source telling us that the prime minister has been clear on along there will be no second referendum, we had a people potts vote, it was injune we had a people potts vote, it was in june 2016. sunday times, they report that there has been a breakthrough in the brexit talks. yes, they say what it is presented asa yes, they say what it is presented as a comprehensiv

regarded as a key influence at the highest levels of government. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blakeed my leadership campaign... he was the prime minister's right—hand man, putting the government's policies into practice and giving advice on how best to get things done. as cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, and in other senior roles, lord heywood has worked at the heart of government for more than 20 years, serving four prime ministers. jeremy heywood was the most outstanding civil servant, indeed the most dynamic civil servant of his generation. exceptional ability, unimpeachable integrity. as we saw in facing his illness, exceptional courage also. politicians on all sides have paid tribute. theresa may said lord heywood worked tirelessly to serve britain, and is a huge loss to public life. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn described jeremy heywood as an impressive and dedicated public servant. the former deputy prime minister nick clegg said it was heartbreaking news and he hadn't met anyone who had worked as hard and tirelessly in government. lord heywood's wife, suzann

earlier i spoke to our political correspondent jonathan blake, many of these names are actually card—carryingpeople whose opposition to brexit is very much a well—known but they are coming together to form a group called business for a people's vote and this is part of the ongoing campaign by the people's vote group to campaign for a public vote on the terms of any brexit deal. and the group say in their letter that the business community was promised that, if the country voted to leave, there would be continued frictionless trade with the eu. despite the prime minister's best efforts, they say, the proposals being discussed by the government and the european commission fall far short of this and they say that the uk is now facing either a blindfold — or a destructive — hard brexit. neither of those options, they say, were on the ballot paper in 2016 and they say that the ultimate choice should be handed back to the people. of course, as you say, downing street is dismissing this with a source telling us that the prime minister has been clear all along, there will be no second referendum. we

let's go over now to our correspondent jonathan blake, who's with mr batten in westminster.ask you to respond to what nigel farage says that you are taking the party ina says that you are taking the party in a shameful direction and he they should get rid of you. i'm surprised he has such an interest in ukip seeing as he walked away two years ago and hasn't showed an interest some is and recently said he would give all his efforts to a leave party and none to ukip. i have done a good job because we have membership rising, money rising, donors giving us money and we are up in the polls so i think i am making the right decisions. he says you should be focusing on the broader issue of immigration. should be focusing on the broader issue of immigrationlj should be focusing on the broader issue of immigration. i have been focusing on the brexit which is why we are focusing on this big brexit betrayal march on the 9th of may. we are trying to get tens of thousands of people out and i encourage people to come and join ukip because the only thing that makes any difference in this wh

well our political correspondent, jonathan blake, has been speaking to mr batten who's defending hisprised nigel has such an interest in ukip seeing as he walked away two years ago and hasn't showed any interest since and recently said he would give 100% of his efforts to leave means leave which means 0% to ukip. i have had thejob of saving the party from disappearing into oblivion. i have done a good job of that because we have membership rising, money rising, we are comfortably in the black, we have donors giving us money and we are up in the polls so i think i am making the right decisions. he says you should be focusing on the broad issue of immigration. i have been focusing on brexit which is why we are organising this big brexit betrayal march on the 9th of may. we are trying to get tens of thousands of people out and i encourage people to come and join ukip because the only thing that makes any difference in this whole debate is how many votes can you take away from the tories and labour at the next general election, that's the only thing they care about, and that is my goal,

our political correspondent jonathan blake is at westminster. urope will be to this? they might not be best pleased because they differ to the uk in terms of their position over this missing piece of the jigsaw, terms of their position over this missing piece of thejigsaw, the final 5% of the withdrawal agreement which is britain's exit agreement with the eu on the terms of brexit. in the last few days the discussion has been very much on the backstop, the insurance policy both sides have agreed they should have if a trade deal can be done and put in place in time by the end of the transition period in december 2020. they agree it should be there but they can't agree on how long it should last and whether one side or the other should be able to remove themselves from the agreement. when and if they chose to do so. we have been hearing from some cabinet ministers on this rubbing going over the text of the d raft rubbing going over the text of the draft agreement and the international trade secretary, liam fox, said earlier that he is very much of

the campaign had come from what it called "impermissible sources". 0ur political correspondent jonathan blakewsroom. he will fly back in and reiterate that he has done nothing wrong at all. to deny any wrongdoing, describing the accusations against him as ludicrous and said that he was confident that full and frank investigation would put an end to it. to remind you, it electoral commission, the watchdog, had been looking into the leave.eu campaign, not the official one, but the one represented by nigel farage and bankrolled by mr banks, specifically an amount made by him and companies to the organisation. the electoral commission says it has evidence that those donations in fact may have come from impermissible sources, in other words, perhaps foreign sources, rather than uk companies and individuals, which under uk law are only allowed to donate to a little campaigns. arron banks tweeted a picture of himself earlier this week in bermuda where he was fishing, as you said he is due to arrive back from their uk this morning. interesting to see what he says, thanks for the update. detectives co

the campaign had come from what it called "impermissible sources". 0ur political correspondent jonathan blakeom. mr banks is back in britain and has reiterated that he has done absolutely nothing wrong. he arrived early at gatwick, stepping off the plane from bermuda, he was met by reporters and photographers. he was asked about claims that the money that supposedly came from him or his company and donated to the league campaign came from russia. he said it just hasn't, the campaign came from russia. he said itjust hasn't, the money came from me. he went on to say that he will incorporate fully with the national crime agencyed investigation. earlier this week mr banks put out a statement in which he denied doing anything wrong, describing the allegations as ludicrous, and said that a full and frank investigation would put an end to them. to remind you of the detail, the electoral commission has been looking into specifically £8 million worth of loa ns specifically £8 million worth of loans made by mr banks and his companies to the league campaign, not the official league campaign but the one

thank you, jonathan blake.tomorrow's front pages at 10:40pm this evening in the papers. —— an11:30pm. our guests joining me tonight are polly mackenzie, director of demos, and lynn davidson, the sun's whitehall correspondent. a british student has been sentenced to life in prison in the united arab emirates for spying. 31—year—old matthew hedges, who was studying at durham university, was in the uae researching the country's foreign and internal security policies when he was detained by the authorities in may. his wife, who was in court this morning, says her husband is innocent and called for the uk government to take a stand. the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, says he's shocked and disappointed by the verdict, and has warned of repercussions for the relationship between the two countries. from abu dhabi, paul blake reports. matthew hedges, in happier times with his wife, daniela. the durham university academic was in the united arab emirates to research the country's foreign policy, but as he was about to re

our political correspondent jonathan blake is in our london newsroom.ed when he got a gatwick that he was reiterating, he has done nothing wrong. and early morning arrival from bermuda, arriving at gatwick and a couple hours ago. he was met by reporters and photographers and was asked about claims that money donated to his league campaign, of which he was a high—profile member, came from russia. his response was that it hasn‘t, the money came from him. he went on to add that he will incorporate fully with the national crime agency investigation. he put out a statement describing the claims against him is ludicrous and said that the full and frank investigation would put an end to them. it has come about because the uk election watchdog was looking into the funding of the campaign, not the official league campaign, but the one fronted by nigel farage, and specifically loans made by arron banks and his companies to the campaign. the electoral commission decided that there was evidence that money had come from impermissible sources, possibly outside the uk

jonathan blake live in westminster. the focus is theresa may lining up the cabinet first. at some point that final 5% of how she and the eu see the backstop issue being worked out. and that will form the missing piece of the jigsaw for the missing piece of the jigsaw for the withdrawal agreement, which is only stage one in the negotiation, the terms of britain's exit from the eu before he can go on to flesh out and start learning about in detail the future trading relationship. but liam fox as you heard there is keen on the uk being able to withdraw from that backstop mechanism as and when it wanted to. there are others in canada who feel differently and it may well be that some of them and feel that they cannot sign up to whatever the final plan is. and in that scenario, they will have a very big decision to make as to whether they want to stay in theirjob or not. stay with us please. moving from the irish border to the french—uk one. the brexit secretary dominic raab has been taken to task over comments he made about the dover—calais crossing. here they are. we make clea

jonathan blake, westminster. upset and would try to persuade theresa may to do differently? they have not gone far, that is the short answer. there is only so much that can be done to change the withdrawal agreement as it stands now, and so much that can be done to shape the political declaration, because as you've heard in those various clips and in the introductionjust now, there are many different factors at play here, many different sides who wa nt play here, many different sides who want different things, not least different art eu member countries. here in the uk and at westminster, different parts of the conservative party and the cabinet want different things. but certainly any specific plan for theresa may to win a concession or plan for theresa may to win a concession 0!’ any plan for theresa may to win a concession or any meaningful changes to the withdrawal agreement at this stage don't look like they will happen. that said, the meeting between the prime minister and jean—claude juncker ended without

jonathan blake is in westminster.or elsewhere? what is the irish prime minister digging in and hear? well, he is digging in on the major sticking point between him and the rest of the eu 27 remaining member states, and the uk, over this issue of the backstop. what to do in the event that no free trade agreement between the uk and the eu can be agreed, or implemented, in time. what to do in that event, about the northern ireland border, which of course will become the uk's border with the european union, because the republic of ireland bisley will rain in the eu. both sides have agreed that there needs to be something in the withdrawal agreement, the divorce agreement, that guarantees there will be no hard order, no infrastructure, nothing there, that present any kind of presence of both sides to agree on, but they can't agree how best to do that, and what they also issue differ on is whether that should be temporary or not. britain would like it to be somehow time—limited, and that they would like somehow to be able t

jonathan blake is in westminister. help me out here.d within, i think they are both, the uk and that you, keen to stress that this deal is pretty much done all bar the signing on the dotted line. that is the withdrawal agreement part. there is a little more wiggle room when it comes to the political declaration, which set out in much less detail form, that is only a few pages long compared to the 500 odd pages of the withdrawal agreement. this political declaration which set out probably where both sides see the future relationship —— sets out broadly, the future relationship between the uk and the eu taking shape, and that is much less certain. we have seen this week demands by certain members of the government made in private to theresa may for things that she must have seek to get in that declaration asa have seek to get in that declaration as a statement of intent, if you like, to point to those people back here at westminster who are unhappy with what the government has done so far that the longer—term prize will be worth waiting f

let's talk to our political correspondent jonathan blake. deeply unhappy with that craft brexit agreement and they have been flexing their muscles. yes and the threat of doing that again and the threat of doing that again and the threat of doing that again and the house of commons was enough to get the government to accept amendments which had been tabled by opposition parties to the finance bill which is effectively the budget being put into law. the government accepted those amendments because we have to assume it was clearly worried about the dup abstaining and with that forced the government to lose those votes. they did that last night in the same scenario and voted with labor once and abstained on to further votes and addictive you this evening that he did not want that to happen again and am quite an unusual move the government accepted amendments to the finance bill to avoid a vote on those amendments which it looks like it may well have beenin which it looks like it may well have been in danger of losing. no huge tragedy from the go

let's talk to our political correspondent jonathan blake who is in westminster...land as well, which is worth putting into this debate, from nicolas about the impact of brexit. yes, the scottish government has further say on its opposition to theresa may's brexit deal, with the first minister. 0utlining how in her view, scotland will be poorer as a result of this deal. the government claims that investment will fall in scotla nd claims that investment will fall in scotland by the year 2030, scottish people will be £1600 a year worse off in the worst—case scenario, that his economic analysis which was first published injanuary. but it is well documented that the s and p are very much anti—brexit as a whole, and beat deal that theresa may has reached, as it stands in westminster, they will vote against it when parliament gets a vote on the 11th of december. but the prime minister will nevertheless, continued her tour of the uk this week, we expect her to does scotland next and you'll be doing a similar thing and meeting the general public, and meeting business leader

laura kuenssberg, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake is in westminster.ruggle is it going to be for the prime minister? it is a huge task york you see that in evidence this evening the the houses of parliament, just one floor up in one of the committee rooms, the chancellor of the duchy of lancaster, theresa may's deputy is briefing labour mps to try to get them on side, because if she does have a hope of getting her brexit deal past in parliament, then, some labour mps will have to vote for it, number ten is clearly making an effort to bring some of them on side and demonstrate why in their opinion they should indeed do that. i have to say the turn out has not been particularly good so far, maybe they we re particularly good so far, maybe they were all exhausted from that marathon session in the house of commons earlier on, where theresa may made her statement and then faced question after question from the opposition benches but also from mps from her own party, about her brexit deal, and, mp after mp was, it has to be said, hostile to out, pointing out

ministers and was regarded as a key influence in shaping modern britain. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blaket the heart of government for more than 20 years, serving four prime ministers. jeremy heywood was the most outstanding civil servant, indeed, the most dynamic civil servant of his generation. exceptional ability, unimpeachable integrity. as we saw in facing his illness, exceptional courage, also. politicians on all sides have paid tribute. theresa may said lord heywood worked tirelessly to serve our country and is a huge loss to british public life. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, described sirjeremy as an impressive and dedicated public servant. and the former deputy prime minister, nick clegg, said it was heartbreaking news and he‘d never met anyone who worked as hard and tirelessly in government. lord heywood‘s wife, suzanne, said he was a wonderful husband and father, who could light up any room. i think we started with the 1975 guidance... despite huge influence, he kept a low public profile. described by one former colleague as the most important person nobody‘s ever heard of.

let's get more now from our political correspondent, jonathan blake at westminster— how significant isk the deal is significant but what i think is most significant but what i think is most significant is a cross—party attempt to amend the motion of parliament will vote on, led by hilary benn the chair of the brexit scrutiny committee and what's this seeks to do isa committee and what's this seeks to do is a rule out the option of a no—deal brexit. if parliament is expected at the moment, the people putting their names to this amendment, they expect parliament to vote down theresa may's deal, their aim then as to ta ke may's deal, their aim then as to take no deal of the table. as to what exactly would happen as a result of that is that it is not clear but it is an attempt by those people, some labour mps led by hilary benn, supported by the shadow brexit secretary and the green party, plaid cymru, snp and some tories to rule out what they see as the worst—case scenario. someone who is not being drawn on any of that at this stage the prime minister who spoke to political editor and bue

our political correspondent jonathan blake joins us from westminster. is perhaps the most remaining 5% which is perhaps the m ost d evoted remaining 5% which is perhaps the most devoted of all, the part of it which refers to what would happen if a trade deal can't be done by the end of december 2020 when the transition period finishes to avoid checks at the northern ireland border and that is still the main sticking point, the main stumbling block in negotiations. as you say, the environment secretary michael gove has called for the legal advice that the government gets on that to be given to cabinet ministers in full. and there are growing calls from others at westminster for that to be published more widely. the dup say it should be made public on a matter as important as this, and labour are saying that mps at least should get to see it and the shadow brexit secretary sir keir starmer made that point in brussels a little earlier. i hope the government has the good sense to realise this is so important that it makes it available in parliament for us t

our political correspondent jonathan blake joins me from westminster.d at the end of december 2020. both the eu and the uk agreed there should be a passed out but they can't agree on how long it should last or whether one site would be able to pull out unilaterally whenever it wanted to. some in cabinet are very much at the view that the uk should have that option two and a customs arrangement which the uk would be in with deq whenever it wanted. and we heard from the international trade secretary liam fox early aunt who is very much on that side of the argument. we have an instruction from our voters to leave the european union. that can't be subcontracted to somebody else. it needs to be issued from a sovereign british government to be able to determine it. now hanging over all this wrangling isa now hanging over all this wrangling is a very pressing timetable. the government says it's still possible and very much hopes that a deal can be done by the end of november. for that to happen all eu heads of government would have to convene at a special summ

blake, former u.s. attorney joyce vance is here. and at the table, jonathan lemire, white house reporter for the ap. let's first, though, head over to nbc's kristen welker who has breaking news about donald trump's written answers to robert mueller. kristen welker? >> hi there. according to two sources who i just spoke with, president trump as a part of his written answers to special counsel robert mueller told mueller that he didn't know about that 2016 trump tower meeting between don junior and a russian attorney before it happened. and that he didn't know about those wikileaks from roger stone. that he wasn't informed about that. now this is according to two sources familiar with the matter. this was reported by another news outlet earlier today. but we have, in fact, confirmed that reporting. according to these sources with whom i spoke, nicolle, i am told that the questions that president trump answered all related to russia. not related to the issue of obstruction. those sources telling me the president answered those questions to the best of his recollection. these sources also confirming tha