the liberal democrat baroness ludford and the conservative lord callanan.llanan if he could support an amendment on rights for eu citizens. no, i wouldn't support an amendment on that. and the reason is that the government have already tried to get this agreed by the european council. of course we want to be concerned about eu nationals here but we also want to be concerned about the 2 million british nationals that are living in other eu member states. and there is a reciprocity here. the government already proposed this in the council, saying, look, you know, can we get this agreed? and a couple of member states, france and germany, said, no, we have to leave it for the start of the negotiations. so a unilateral move from the uk side to say, well, actually, we'll just grant this, without any converse agreement for uk citizens, risks the whole thing being forgotten about and shoved away and uncertainty continuing for uk citizens. whereas if we say nothing about it, if we leave it for the start of the negotiations, then i very much suspect it will be the fi

i'm sure the crossbenchers who are among the leavers, lord pannick is no liberal democrat, as you knowossbencher. so are some of his other colleagues who are leading, lord hope, for instance, i mean, there are distinguished lawyers on this. what the government is offering is a sort of take it or leave it between this deal and no deal. what i think people are looking for is a much more meaningful vote, something that's more dynamic which would assess any deal that the government came back with and if it wasn't adequate would send them back to have another go. is this a risky time for the lords? is this the way you handle this bill going to be crucial to your future, your reputation, to your existence, even? there was a threat of abolition. i hope not. there have been a few noises off. the prime minister demonstrated how seriously she takes the house by coming for the opening speeches on monday and nobody officially has said there is any threat to the lords. the lords has a proper constitutional role to look, review, revise government legislation, to ask the house of commons to think aga

certainly he will have more restrictive views of the extent of the law than, say, a liberal democrat might have, but he will faithfully enforce the laws. i mean, he has been a responsible senator, he's an affable fellow. one can expect that he will agree with president trump on many things, however. these racism allegations don't seem to have gone away, though, over the years. you have worked with him. what is he like as a person? well, he's a southern gentleman. i really think it's hard to paint him as a racist, given the fact that i believe he has multiracial grandchildren, who are half—asian, so i doubt that the charge really sticks. but it is the sort of thing that those who are in that lobby pursue. the race card is played perhaps a bit too often. but here, where you're talking about the people who enforce the civil rights laws, you're dealing with a dedicated staff of professionals who carry through from administration to administration. i think it is likely that a sessions administration at the department ofjustice isn't going to seak to break new ground, but i think that it w

the liberal democrats on 7%, up almost 496 liberal democrats on 7%, up almost 4% on the general electionction. i will hear from matthew hancock, representing the victory party. it's a stunning result. it has surpassed all expectations. obviously, trudy was a great candidate, as we saw, but i think people have sometimes missed the fact that, because we have looked at the details here, but ultimately you only have one party in british politics at the moment which has a strong message on the economy, on safety, on delivering brexit and strong leadership, and that has played out. it is the sort of swing you normally get away from a governing party, and we've got it towards a governing party, so it is a very strong result for the conservatives, and you can see both ukip and labourgoing conservatives, and you can see both ukip and labour going backwards. exposed tojohn ukip and labour going backwards. exposed to john curtice. ukip and labour going backwards. exposed tojohn curtice. a historic isa exposed tojohn curtice. a historic is a word thatjournalists like to overuse. i would suggest toni

a liberal democrat told me a few weeks ago, we are afraid of being primary. the democrats took the lesson in this election that hillary was too moderate. and so their lesson is, they need more bernie sanders, more elizabeth warren. that's what senate democrats want. what that means is i think it is likely they will continue to oppose everything. now, that means for us the answer can't be ok, then they shut down the congress. they prevent us from doing anything so we need to look at tools that can get things done despite a democratic filibuster and there are three main tools. first is confirmation and by the way, i'll do this again many times since january 20, i raise a glass and toasted harry reid. [applause] sen. cruz: because harry reid employed the so-called nuclear option. broke the senate rules to change the senate rules, lowered the threshold from confirmation from votes -- two one vote and it is a direct result of harry reid that we now have the most conservative cabinet in decades. [applause] sen. cruz: and so if i could be a little presumptuous mark,

that is not how the liberal democrats see it, or not how you see it at least. this going ahead. mark says he'sa stop this going ahead. mark says he's a democrat, i am a democrat to, i don't think that democracy has its la st word i don't think that democracy has its last word on the 23rd ofjune. there is an enormous last word on the 23rd ofjune. there is an enormous amount last word on the 23rd ofjune. there is an enormous amount of uncertainty. there are many things the need to be dougal seated and decided between ourselves and the european union and at the end of the day, yes, as a democrat i believe that that deal when it is made should go back to the people. it is a process, not an event. it is a process that started with the consent of the people. it must end with the consent of the people. and yet, mark is probably right, we probably will not see any great threat to the government majority tonight. but there is an awful lot of water to go under the bridge yet. he might, mark, as a former chief whip might have been fairly relaxed. his current chief whip at

i'm joined byjim mcmahon, and the liberal democrat leader tim farron. jim, let me start with you.in social ca re all talk about the crisis in social care the question is what is to be done? the easy answer, the default answer, isjust done? the easy answer, the default answer, is just more done? the easy answer, the default answer, isjust more money. is that the answer? to be fair, that's not what the social care professionals are saying or council leaders. we need to better bring together health and social care budgets into one place to make sure people are supported as individuals to be in their own homes for longer to prevent admission to hospital. but quick discharge if people need to return home as soon quick discharge if people need to return home as soon as quick discharge if people need to return home as soon as possible. the intervention by surrey was quite important. it's not myjob to defend conservative council leaders. but david honk is more than that, he's the leader of the conservative group on the local government association representing all of english local governm

[laughter] >> throughout my political career i have -- nothing liberal democrats do ever surprises mebut i will join my honorable friend in commending the bill that is before the house, it is a simple decision to make. we gave the right of judgment on this issue to the british people, they made their choices, they want to leave the eu. the question every member must ask themselves as they go through lobbies tonight do they trust the people? >> let's hear the fellow. >> who would have guessed it. we are here now. we are asking the question, asking the question about the future of our country on brexit, a strong leader of the opposition should be acting. >> order! order! i am very worried about you. you are suffering from a bag leg. with all the shouting you will be suffering from a bad head, calm yourself, man. >> the prime minister will return. the prime minister will return. the prime minister will return at some point with a deal with europe that our people have to live with for decades to come especially our young people. 73% of whom are voting to remain. nobody knows what the deal

that people on the opposite bench who demand time ,o discuss this and debate it and namely the liberal democratsdidn't even bother to turn up last night? the government benches were packed, the scottish national party benches were packed, the democratic unionist party members were here, and there were some labour members. is that not surprising? p.m. may: throughout my political career i have fought liberal democrats, and nothing that they do ever surprises me, but i join my honorable e friend in commending the bill before the house. this house has a very simple decision to take. we gave the right of judgment on this matter to the british people, and they made their choice. they want to leave the eu. the question every member must ask themselves as they go through the lobby tonight is do they trust the people? [applause] mr. speaker: well, the right honorable gentleman is here now, so let us hear from the fellow, tim farron. tim farron: who would have guessed it, mr speaker? we are here now -- questions about the future of our country and brexit that a strong leader of the opposition should be a

the conservatives and liberal democrats will fancy their chances as well.mmary of the business news this hour, but first, the headlines. the bbc understands that a deal to end the aslef dispute over driver—only trains on southern railway will be announced this afternoon. the government formally set out a strategy believing the european union as it sets out its white paper. the bank of england says the economy will grow by 2% this year — more than twice as fast as it had previously forecast. it warns that higher inflation could hit households. as you‘ve just been hearing, the bank of england governor mark carney has upgraded economic growth forecasts for 2017 to 2%. it is also keeping interest rates steady at 0.25%. growth has remained resilient since the referendum, with the uk reporting the highest rate in the g-7 reporting the highest rate in the g—7 last year. a us court has ordered facebook and other defendants to pay £395 million after finding they unlawfully used a firm‘s virtual reality technology. it reported that it was well on its way to 2 billion

a liberal democrat said the british people should be given a second referendum when negotiations wereete. the government, the economy is low on the agenda, as opposed to removing jurisdiction. on the agenda, as opposed to removingjurisdiction. i'm pretty sure that's not the priority of the british people. so let the people see the final brexit deal and consider it. consider its consequences and decide on it. in two years we will have facts and reasonable clarity, not just speculation. surely then it is time for the british people to have the final word. my lords, for the british people to have the finalword. my lords, it's a pleasure to follow the noble baroness and also to disagree profoundly with her suggestion of having a second referendum. i would like to begin by congratulating the prime minister on her excellent lancaster house speech. she had vision and clarity and it was exactly what we've been hoping to hear for many, many years. she was quite clear that she accepted the result of the referendum and that it tight. no ifs, no buts, no eea, was tight. no ifs, no buts, no eea, i

there are obviously mps who will have voted against the liberal democrats and the scottish nationalists. someor leaving the european union have always been for leaving. the interesting cases will be those who fill compelled to vote with the government because they don't want to go against the will of the british people. that is quite a lot of pressure from the people pushing for briggs it. it's a lot of pressure not to go against the will of the people and to vote with the government. there were some speeches of regret and someone who said we don't want to do this now we can't go against the government. >> thank you very much. the united nations says there a real danger of famine in yemen. this is launched an emergency appeal for 2 billion euros of food aid. 12 million people faced a threat of starvation in the country. it's been driven by conflict between pro-government forces and rebels since 2015. both sides have been backed by outside military powers. the u.n. is calling yemen one of the most dangerous countries in the world. somalia has a new president after an historic election th

another day tomorrow on all this, a vote on the rights of eu citizens and again labour, the liberal democratsme tory mps wanting guarantees that eu citizens, the 3 million who live here will be allowed to stay. something the government should declare that now unilaterally and said they will be to stay. theresa may has said she hopes to be reciprocal deal because also concerned about the i million brits who live abroad and things something could be done almost as soon as article 50 is triggered. she think this will be in the early stages of negotiation when a deal can be done for both sides. much more on that in a few moments. but first sportsday. hello and welcome to sportsday. alastair cook speaks for the first time since stepping down as england cricket captain saying he could no longer give his all to the role but wants to continue breaking records for the side. leicester city are united behind their manager claudio ranieri, he says there are not in a crisis. and we find out about an unusual form of preparation for the welsh rugby union captain alun wynjones. alastair cook says it will be

on surrey cou nty of the liberal democrats on surrey county council.hem because we had our budget meeting yesterday and we were given no information about any deal with the government, so it has come asa with the government, so it has come as a great surprise to me. yes, those were the texts read out by jeremy corbyn at pmqs. as far as you we re jeremy corbyn at pmqs. as far as you were concerned, until you heard pmqs, did you think there were still a chance the referendum would go ahead? a chance the referendum would go ahead ? what was a chance the referendum would go ahead? what was your take on all that? we went into the meeting yesterday expecting the 15% council tax increase and a referendum to go ahead, and that is the... the budget paper stated those two things, but we we re very paper stated those two things, but we were very surprised when the leader of the council suddenly announced that was not going ahead and that it would be a 5% increase instead. so that was a surprise to us instead. so that was a surprise to us all. what kind of discuss

the government does not have a majority in the house of lords and there are a lot of liberal democratsthe lords. even if they do, it is likely to come back and it will be defeated so to my‘s vote will be defeated so to my‘s vote will send this bill a long way towards becoming law. will send this bill a long way towards becoming lawlj will send this bill a long way towards becoming law. i knewl should not have asked that second question! 30 years ago, the us attorney for alabama, jeff sessions, appeared before a senate committee, nominated to serve as a federaljudge. during that hearing, a string of allegations were brought forward that almost destroyed his career. before the committee, sessions testified he couldn't remember labelling a white lawyer in his home state a disgrace for representing black clients though, according to the record, he didn't contest the allegation either. amid the accusations of racism, his nomination was rejected. now, 30 years on, jeff sessions is donald trump's pick for the highest legal office in the land, us attorney general. the democrats are trying to b

they felt the need to vote for the government which leaves the government and liberal democrats to be the nuance and fight. it looks like theresa may will get her way. brent: is she going to get her way with the clock? she wants to trigger the brexit negotiations next month. will she be able to stick to her timetable? reporter: it does look like it at the moment. she has quite an ambitious target. it also needs to go to the house of lords. they have said how uneasy they are with leaving europe at this point in time. the closeness to the united states which is what the government is trying to achieve to have trade deals with the u.s.. it is -- it has some people uneasy about that. the british government is determined to push through. and it looks like a fairly hard exit. this is something a lot of mp's will not like because they fear for the economic consequences. brent: in london, monitoring that first round of voting. the conflict in eastern ukraine is threatening the flareup yeat again. it backing a resolution calling for an immediate return to a cease-fire in eastern ukraine. it co

>> fierce opposition came from the liberal democrats and the scottish national party. the labour party has had the him p vote with the government but some are expected to oppose the order. some came from members of the conservative party. former chancellor ken clark says britain friend the u.k. economic future. >> apparently, you follow the rabbit down the hole and emerge in a wonderland where some of the countries throughout the world are queuing up to give trading advantages and access to markets that previously we've never been able to achieve. as part of the european union. >> they will cast their votes on wednesday. brent: germany's defense minister is looking into claims of abuse at an army training base after reports that recruits ace sexual-harassment and humiliating initiation rituals. there are also calling out the army to stamp out discrimination on gay and lesbian soldiers in to investigate any incidents. >> serving in the german military is fraught with challenges. basic training is physically tough. and there's another obstacle confronting some recruits.

the ruling liberal democratic party says budget will help stimulate economy to pull the country out of deflation. it features spending to introduce new government funded scholarships. it also calls for creating daycare spas for half a million children to address a serious shortage in nurseries. funds allocated to better respond to north korea's repeated launches of ballistic missiles. on the revenue side more than one-third of the budget is to be funded with newly issued government debt. the budget now goes to the upper house. its enactment by the end of the fiscal user is assured due to constitutional provision that gives priority to lower house. >>> a look at markets. nikkei .9 ending 19,000107. at one point it dipped below the key 19,000 mark. many investors are playing it safe ahead of president donald trump's speech to congress on tuesday. some think the president will not give specifics on how to boost the economy. the stronger yen weighed down the index. so look at currencies, the dollar plunged against the yen. greenback below 112 yen level in the morning. many traders referrin

a liberal democrat was just one of the mps to raise concerns about air quality.f the airport cannot be delivered within legal obligation limits, proceed anyway, change the air quality objectives, or pull the plug on the runway? the airport will not be able to secure its development consent order if it cannot demonstrate its ability to meet those targets. but some of the things we are consulting on today, for example, smart use of airspace, one of the things we will be able to achieve through a space reform and through the technology now available to us, is to avoid to anything like the degree we experience at the moment, claimed stacking over the south—east of england, using up more fuel — that is one of the benefits that comes from smarter use of airspace. it will help contribute, as will cleaner, newer generation, more fuel—efficient aircraft that we will see, i think, extensively in this country in the coming years. the chief inspector of prisons for england and wales, peter clarke, says many of his reports are falling on deaf ears. he told thejustice committe

the tories held the seat in the liberal democrats one it because of a referendum on brexit. the they are going to make manchester seat a referendum on brexit. if they go north and defeat labor. >> that is another by election. >> it seems to be. he is the man with nine lives. >> he is crawling along. obviously, in the weekend we saw a lot of statesmen coming in but he does seem a bit tough on it. he did get 62% of the party back last year. mark: thanks very much for joining us. simon kennedy, bloomberg brexit editor. trump hasd president been meeting with ceos from the health care industry and we are going to those remarks as soon as he gets them. i want to tell you, we have stocks moving higher after earlier comments from president trump. the governor's association talking about how he was going to deal with obamacare tomorrow. that is after a tax reform and a lot about infrastructure spending, limiting that budget to the joint session of congress. this is bloomberg. ♪ >> from bloomberg world headquarters in new york, i am vonnie quinn. >> and i am mark barton, counting you

the reason i am not a liberal or democrat is it had nothing to do with russia, it was all angela merkel who was up for a nobel peace prize when she made those statements, if you can get here, we will take you in and i think that was largely a part of the motivation. the democrats are called them the party of women's rights have now normalized the covering of a woman's head. i cannot understand this unholy alliance that the democrats now have with what really is a male-dominated culture rating as a religion. -- parading as a religion. guest 2: thank you so much and greetings to you in clay county. i think this underscores the fact that what we need to be is about making sure that we keep the main thing the main thing. and making sure that your personal liberties are protected, and i can tell you that whether it is having a biscuit or anyplace else, i appreciate you reaching out and i will pass that on to the president, you have my word. that andi will add to talking about being democrat or republican. in republic -- in north carolina, we have about 800,000 more registered democrats than

. >> a new liberal democratic structure which would give us that democracy and that piece, and that'shy hope everyone is to be taken out of the system. >> so voices from both sides of the brexit debate making their voices heard. around for that boat 6:00 this evening. manus: before the debate restarts again today, we've got prime minister's question time, which is always lively, to say the least area do you think the trump? factor will feature in the conversation the ongoing signage -- 1.5 million people have signed a particular petition. i think it's up to 1.7 million. there is a rival petition going around suggesting donald trump should be allowed to come here on the state visit. the question isn't about whether he will visit, it's about the form of his visit. a state visit means being wrought here with pomp and ceremony, visit -- visiting the queen, stay with the royals at either buckingham palace or windsor castle. those who signed the petition bill this would be inappropriate at this time, that it could be embarrassing for the queen. the prime minister said the official invitatio

some liberal democrats and the scottish nationalists are voting against them. bill, against the 3— line whip of their party leader, jeremy corbin. lots of ceremony involved in this. these go back hundreds of years. we will get that result in a minute or two. the government has a big majority in the house of commons but not in the house of lords. i think the house of lords have to be careful. they know that because they are an unelected second chamber, and if they try to thwart the elected chamber it could mean the end of the house of lords altogether. they may not like it, a lot of the lords. but i think theresa may is pretty confident. it looks calm and civilised, and am wondering how much tension and emotion there is below the surface, given how divisive this vote was back injune. or is that all being reconciled and damp and down? no, there's been a lot of passion on both sides of the debate. dozens and dozens of mps have been able to speak. there's been some wonderful speeches. a great example of the british parliament at its best. kenneth clarke, great pro—

joining me now from westminster is health spokesperson for the liberal democrats, norman lamb.— from the pressure and then more people are calling health tourism will stop the nine out of ten trusts reporting great pressure, does this surprise you? not at all, it has been going on for a long time. they set a figure of 85% for the recommended occupancy rate, so there is a little slack in the system, so you can lose ensure that someone who needs an operation can get a bed and so on. hospitals across the country are to meet operating at way above 85%, close in many cases to 100%. that leads blu ntly to many cases to 100%. that leads bluntly to failures of care to too many people having operations cancelled, and it also ends up with the most ridiculous waste of resources , the most ridiculous waste of resources, you have whole theatre teams stood down because they can do an operation because someone has not got a bed to go into. of course, we then have vast numbers of particularly elderly people, particularly elderly people, particularly with dementia, stuck in hospitalfar particul

makoto yosano, recommended by governors liberal democratic party. during the campaign, she's a member of the ldp but didn't receive backing when she ran for governor last year. >> translator: a different type of governor. i believe she speaks on behalf of voters and works for all of us. >> i think she's a very powerful woman. the first woman leader with such energy so i want to hear her on. i hope she can bring changes to tokyo. >> the tokyo metropolitan assembly is scheduled to hold an election for members in july. the ldp is the largest party in the assembly. the result of this latest vote is likely to force political parties to reconsider their strategies. but this election is expected to give the tokyo governor a boost. she set up a new local political party in january. she expressed her idea to field candidates from the party for the summer election. >> following this victory i will work for ishikawa to develop a solid strategy. >> cabinet secretary suga said he would like to refrain from commenting on the mayoral election. when asksked if it w

>> well their profile they want the democrats and most of them are democrats, liberal democrats, to standup against trump on almost everything. so that is the tension, because what do the democrats do? they probably have got to satisfy both of these groups of current trump opponents, but their profile is also beyond being more liberal and opposed to the president on these policies, democrats based voters and more likely to be women and minority voters. they also feel that the president isn't reaching out, isn't trying to respect all of their views. and they are angrier than most of the other trump opponents, they say they feel angry, but not yet motivated and that is part -- not yet motivated so the democrats will have to sort of work on that part of the base. >> dickerson: and we started talk about it with chuck schumers the resist errs and the curious that is where the fight is, the base a that wants no dealing with donald trump at all and the curious who wants democrats to at least try to work with the real estate. anthony salvanto thanks so much, as always we can't wait to follow this

but the liberal democrat leader in the lords said the idea the second chamber should nod the bill throughing it was unacceptable. there is no significant body of opinion in this house which is seeking to prevent the passage of this bill but there is a world of difference between blocking the bill and seeking to amend it. so, my lords, if we clearly have the power to amend the bill, should we positively seek to do so? my lords, i believe that we should. brexit is the most important single issue which has faced the country for decades. for many of us the approach being adopted by the government is little short of disastrous. there was a resounding majority in support of the bill in the other place, so however much i and the many, many others who have been writing to us during the past few days might have wished that it were otherwise i am convinced that there is no turning back. as it is, i confess to a keen desire to get on with the article 50 process as soon as possible. i want to know where we're going. it has been made clear to us many times, particularly by the noble lord the minister,

and let's not forget the role of the liberal democrats. propped up the tories and helped deliver huge cuts north and south of the border. we should never ever forget their collaboration with the tories and their role in attacking the living standards of every single working person in this country, from 2010 to 2015. in some ways we should not be surprised what the tories have done. they are tories, after all. their central purpose is to represent the owners and not the workers, the few and not the many. the snp tries at westminster to paint itself as progressive. but in many ways they are just like the lib dems. they talk left in opposition but when in power they go right. the failure of the snp government to use the powers of the scottish parliament, the choices they have made and their failure parliament, the choices they have made and theirfailure in parliament, the choices they have made and their failure in some policy areas reveals so much about them. it reveals a party intent on stoking grievance politics and blaming others for thei

liberal democrats don't come?d? today. "can we count on your vote?" i said no. labour may still be able to count on marie, but allegiances

joining me now is lord newby, leader of the liberal democrats in the house of lords.er. norman was talking about the difficulties ahead in brussels. other difficulties ahead for this bill in the lords? well, the house of lords will want to do what it always done—lite does with a bill, which scrutinise it. if there are things he thinks should be improved, it will send it back to the commons and ask them to think again. for example, we are the liberal democrats will be trying to persuade our colleagues across the parties in the house of lords that the final stay on any deal should be with the people, not with theresa may. we will see if we succeed, but there will be other amendments on membership of the single market, on the rights of eu citizens in the uk, which will be discussed in the house of lords and voted on. the mantra in the commons has been, we have got to trust the people. at some point, don't you people have to hand some trust back to the leaders to lead? well, the people have asked the government to negotiate terms for leaving the eu. and this bill will go

the scottish national party and the liberal democrat leadership oppose the bill.eral labour mps opposed it, also the former chancellor of the exchequer, ken clarke rebelled against his government. the bill now faces further scrutiny in the commons and the house of lords before it can become law. this was the moment, the result became clear. the ayes to the right, 498. the noes to the left, 114. cheering. the ayes to the right, 498, the noes to the left, 114. so the ayes have it, the ayes have it. jeremy corbyn suffered more resignations from his shadow cabinet this evening — this time over his decision to impose a three—line whip on his mps to support the government's bill on triggering the article 50 eu withdrawal process. 12 labour front bench as rebelled against him and have not yet resigned. let's get more reaction to the vote. i'm joined now by labour's rushanara ali who voted against the bill this evening. dominic raab from the conservatives who campaigned to leave the eu and voted in favour of tonight's bill. and alex salmond. you must be pleased with the v

democracy and the liberal democratic order, and somewhat less than that, because this is something that we need to get right. it has enormous implications for our policies towards russia. and i think that it is really needs to be addressed directly and candidly. >> george, thank you very much. i have a question before we move further. some very curious things happen happened in russia during last several weeks related to this whole discussion. at first, the fsb and the post kgb have arrested a number two person in the division of the cyber security. then a couple of days ago, they have arrested number one in the division. then they have arrested somebody in the so-called left which deals outside of the government with this kind of the methods, but considered post kgb, fsb contractor, and the russians did not make any public announcements, but the inf information in the media including the follows is that the death officials is being investigated for no less than treason. treason, and that it is somehow connected to the whole scandal. do you know anything about it? >> i am aware of the c

i think it's fair to say that he wasn't one of life's natural liberal democrats.y, he referred the case of the birmingham six to the court of appeal, where, of course, their convictions were eventually quashed. in some ways, he wrote his own obituary when in an interview for the house magazine some years ago he said, with disarming self—deprecation, i think he was having a joke, but, i would like to be remembered as a decent local buffer who wasn't all that clever but, in his own way, tried to do his best. the number of assaults carried out on nhs staff in england by patients or members of the public is rising and now stands at close to 200 a day. such is the concern that a petition launched by the radio dj nick ferrari calling for such attacks to be made a specific criminal offence has attracted nearly 117,000 signatures in a debate in westminster hall, mps told horror stories of some of the violence nhs workers had suffered. i‘ll draw members‘ attention to one example i was given of a 35—year—old ambulance technician from cornwall, who was punched in the face by

voters who never wanted brexit are being targeted by the liberal democrats and the greens.that would strike fear into labour's brexit—supporting heartland. tory campaigners are daring to dream of an historic triumph. they ran ukip close in stoke, but in copeland they feel they can beat labour, the first government gain over its main opponents in a by—election in 35 years. so labour is fighting door to door, street to street, here in stoke. and far to the north, where labour is facing a hard slog to survive in a very different setting. in copeland's coastal town of whitehaven, sellafield employs thousands. ask almost anyone, jeremy corbyn‘s past opposition to nuclear power counts against his party. though voting labour here is an old habit. well, i'm going to stay with labour, because ijust think it's for the working people. and all my family has always voted labour. because of the workforce at sellafield, and what it creates in the wider community, and what mr corbyn said about nuclear power, they've got to think of themselves. and for the long—term future of sellafield, it

that is why the liberal democrats are fighting for the british people to have the final vote on the dealvernment negotiates. democracy! democracy means accepting the will of the people. at the beginning of the process and at the end of the process. i would caution those thinking of voting against tonight to be careful what they wish for and to be careful for wishing for a second referendums. i think the people, advocates of free speech and free press in a powerful democracy would view their wishes dimly. so much of this has been about how we defend democracy by voting for article 50. it should not be about that, it is how we strengthen democracy over the next two years. this is the moment we begin to take back control of our laws, our borders and our money. once again, we become a sovereign nation state in command of our own destiny, and i'm absolutely delighted about that. i campaigned like others for remain but i accept the democratic result and i think we should allow the article 50 notice to be triggered. i do agree with those that said that if we do not do that, the resulting crisis

again, there will be many liberal democrats who will be dissatisfied on many occasions with the performancesions but again, i think they will be responsible, albeit in a conservative view, in enforcing the law. we appreciate your time. thank you for having me. more than 7,000 people have already died in yemen's devastating civil war. now the united nations is warning that the country is on the brink of a catastrophic famine. it's trying to raise more than $2 billion to help. with more than 3 million people suffering from acute malnutrition. our correspondent nawal al—maghafi is one of the few western journalists to have travelled to yemen in recent months. she has the story. fatima is the face of hunger in yemen. in the six months since we met her, every day has been a struggle to get food. her mother says they are barely surviving. fatima is not alone. there are over two million children like her. 90% of yemen's food is imported and most of it arrives here, at what was once its busiest port. but all the cranes needed to off—load the ships have been bombed by the saudi—led coalition. and th

and let‘s not forget the role of the liberal democrats.

but many labour and liberal democrat peers are slapping an amendment on to the books as fast as theyof the next couple of weeks. ——lords areas where lord mandelson and others are hoping for success are in trying to get the government on the statute book, law to have to come to parliament to give mps and peers a vote on any deal before it aside off by theresa may. the government has already made a verbal agreement to that, they want this in law. the second area is the right of eu citizens in the uk. lord mandelson was pretty confident that they could get somewhere with these issues. i think there is a strong body of opinion across party and most independent peers as well that both these issues are very serious, but when it comes to eu citizens, the british government is not negotiating with itself, there will be people among the member states who say no, we don't want to take this issue now, we will take it later on during the course of the negotiation, as it is as much negotiating gambit for them as it is for britain. the government doesn't have a majority in house of lords, and it w

plus the liberal democrats and the snp.esterday saw impassioned speeches for and against the bill in the house of commons. the debate went on right up till midnight and will continue today with a vote around 7pm tonight. if the bill is passed, it will continue its passage through parliament and ultimately allow theresa may to trigger article 50 of the lisbon treaty. 0ur political correspondent chris mason reports. heading home into the winter's night after nearly 12 hours of debate. midnight in westminster with another afternoon of discussion to follow today. this is a debate with fire and passion. with some long speeches. and some very short ones. the speaker: drjulian lewis. thank you, mr speaker. in my opinion, the people have decided, and i'm going to vote accordingly. laughter. that eight second speech best sums up the mood of mps however they voted in the referendum. this is a process that needs to be triggered. we need to do it soon and the public of this country expect us to do it. but not everyone is convinced. the

there are two areas where i think particularly liberal democrat and labour peers might enjoy some successn the government to have to go back to brussels if they don't get a deal as pa rt brussels if they don't get a deal as part of the article 50 process that parliament is pleased with. also, the rights of eu citizens in this country. they might seek to amend this piece of legislation again. we heard lord mandelson talking about what he thought the chances were. heard lord mandelson talking about what he thought the chances werelj think what he thought the chances were.” think there's a strong body of opinion, cross—party and among independent peers as well, that both of these issues are very serious. of course, when it comes to eu citizens, the british government not negotiating with itself. there will be people, amongst member states, who say, no, we don't want to take this issue now. we will take it later on during the course of the negotiation because it is as much a negotiating gambit for them as it is for britain. could the lords change this bill? well, it is possible. the governmen

the former liberal democrat leader lord ashdown has described the treatment of armed forces interpreterss. theyjust use us and leave us. you call them heroes, we save your heroes, now i feel ashamed and i regret my time being with them. this was not the life that javed hotak imagined, after spending two years serving alongside british forces in afghanistan. i was working as a soldier and interpreter as well. with sbs and sas, the british special forces. his reward? death threats from the taliban, so he fled to britain in 2008, hoping to find asylum. javed handed in these death threats he received from the taliban to the people in the home office. in this one, for example, it says, "you will be in hell very soon." here they accuse him for being a spy for the crusaders and sentence him and his family to the death penalty. the home office did not accept that javed was in any danger and said it was safe for him to return back to afghanistan. that would be appalling if something happened and there would be one person to blame, the ministers of the crown and the government in what is, i think,