we hope to speak to sir vince cable shortly.e on this from our political reporterjessica parker. jessica, he was very much the action man of british politics. yes. seen asa man of british politics. yes. seen as a very dynamic presence in british politics and someone who had a major impact on political life in the country, not least of all turning the liberal democrats into a significant electoral force. also seen significant electoral force. also seen as significant electoral force. also seen as somebody who could really reach across the political divide. that has been reflected in some of the tributes we have seen to him over the past 12 hours, including from sirjohn major, the former conservative prime minister. this is what he said. of course, many will be extremely saddened by the news that broke last night. some will be shocked. it was only in october we learned of this diagnosis of bladder cancer. as you say, overall he will be remembered asa say, overall he will be remembered as a dynamic, dedicated, passionate politician

sir vince cable, he would want to be remembered. indeed. be remembered. indeed. sir vince cable, thank you for sharing your thoughts on paddy ashdown. sir vince cable there, leader of the liberal democrats. let's ta ke leader of the liberal democrats. let's take a look back at lord ashdown‘s life and career. this is how most people will remember paddy ashdown, the action man, the party leader with the least affection for westminster. long before he fired his first political salvos he was a military man, a marine seeing active service in borneo and melayu, as documented at the time. at this post, 23—year—old marine lieutenant ashdown from somerset has local forces as well as marines under his command. he excelled as a member of the elite special boat squadron, and spoke fluent mandarin chinese. he spent time too in his native northern ireland during the worst of the troubles. after a period as a diplomat and sometime on the dole, paddy ashdown got involved with the liberals, elected mp for yeovil in 1983. later in 1988, after the painful mer

serb vince cable, leader of the liberal democrats, thank you very much indeed. —— certain vince cablet has just come out that lord paddy ashdown has died after a short illness. let's take a look back now at lord ashdown‘s life and career with our chief political correspondent vicki young. this is how most people will remember paddy ashdown, the action man, the party leader with the least affection for westminster. long before he fired his first political salvos he was a military man, a marine seeing active service in borneo and melayu, as documented at the time. and this post, 20 three rd 23—year—old marine tenant ashdown from somerset has local forces as well as marines under his command. he excelled as a member of the elite special boat squadron, and spoke fluent mandarin chinese. he spent time to northern ireland during the worst of the troubles. after a period as a diplomat and sometime on the dole, paddy ashdown got involved with the liberals, elected mp for yeovil in 1983. later in 1988, after the painful merger with the sdp that formed the liberal democrats, he became leader. i

sir vince cable with his reflections on paddy ashdown.cess following the balkans war in the 90s. the following the balkans war in the 905. the bbc following the balkans war in the 90s. the bbc special corresponded and a little spent three years in bosnia responding for the bbc from 1992 until 1995 and he got to know lord ashdown and stayed in touch. he's been giving me his memories. lord ashdown and stayed in touch. he's been giving me his memorieslj first he's been giving me his memories.” first met him in bosnia and i was very struck by his impatience and determination to get something done. after that, his physical courage. determination to get something done. afterthat, his physical courage. he came ata afterthat, his physical courage. he came at a time when the war was at its height, there was shelling and sniping in sarajevo everyday. he wasn't part of a government delegation, he was there under his own stea m delegation, he was there under his own steam so his protection was limited. what struck me was his ability to listen. he und

sir vince cable. we expect to hear the prime minister's new year message later.return to our lead story and the growing crisis involving migrants crossing the channel. our correspondent simonjones is in doverfor us now. we know the home secretary sajid javid is this morning chairing a meeting of border force officials and other agencies. a lot of interest where you are in what will come out of that meeting. lots of interest here because here is that the sharp end of what has been happening. conditions on the channel overnight, as they are now, have been very calm with the little wind. we have not heard of any additional boats arriving over night but sometimes details only emerge later in the day. one person who will be watching at that meeting very closely is mp for dover charlie elphicke. sajid javid is now back in the country. what do you say to him? i welcome the fact sajid javid is at his desk and taking personal control of this crisis. what is needed now isa of this crisis. what is needed now is a clear plan and strategy to deal with it. i hope you'll come t

had "saved and revived the liberal democrats at their lowest ebb" and current leader of the party vince cablehugely sad day" for the liberal democrats, and said many members of the public had "immense affection and respect" for him. let's get more on this from our political reporterjessica parker. shejoins us. they she joins us. they reminisced shejoins us. they reminisced on their time shejoins us. they reminisced on theirtime in shejoins us. they reminisced on their time in government. he was never actually in government, paddy ashdown. there was a time in parliament together. maybe that is one great sadness is that he was such a distinguished man who never attained that top—level politics. yeah. to some extent he came close, because there had been discussions with, for example, the labour party over a potential role in government. but it never quite came off. he will still be remembered as a man who had a huge impact on british politics, not least of all turning the liberal democrats into a significant political force. i democrats into a significant politicalforce. i think democrats into a

vince cable with me here at westminster. matt? matt: excellent coverage.ve fared today, despite the uncertainty of the brexit situation that theresa may and parliament thrust us into yesterday. we do see gains across the board really, at least for western europe. austria looks a little bit weak, but you see that we are higher in germany, france -- excuse me, the czech republic a little bit weaker. --tria actually getting gaining. we see italy continue to gain. spain, the iberian peninsula also up. it will be interesting to see what the french president -- budget deficit looks like, as macron's appeasement of the yellow vests comes into play. we have reports of 3.5%, much higher than what the italians want to. brussels continues -- wanted. brussels continued to fight against that. when they allow that to go on -- would they allow that to go on? we are seeing gains across the board. let's talk about what's going on in india. the resignation of urjit patel as the governor of the reserve bank of india has dealt investors another bout of uncertainty as the coun

well the liberal democrat leader vince cable there was referring to reports coming cabinet members are said to be putting moves towards the second referendum it comes after former leaders john major and tony blair have also backed calls for another vote poly boyko has the latest. talk of a second referendum appears to be getting more serious and because it's not just coming from the opposition parties apparently it's coming from two reason may's own team over the weekend reports have emerged that her cabinet has split into two opposing camps one which along with her chief of staff is now reportedly mulling the idea of letting. parliament decides on whether there should be a second referendum to potentially reverse brags that and the other camp of prone leavers who are adamantly against this plan now the prime minister herself has been attempting to brochure all these various rumors and especially talk of a second referendum in fact a spokesperson has just denied just rules but then again her spokesperson did deny the cancellation of the parliamentary vote on her brags that deal last we

a little earlier, liberal democrat leader sir vince cable gave his reaction from his west london constituencyreat achievement of lord ashdown was his leadership of the new party — the liberal democrats — from the merger between the liberal party and the social democrats. it was difficult indeed. i think he described it, we were at that point an asterisk in the opinion polls. and gradually, he built up the strength of the party in the decade. we progressed through by—elections, through growing influence, and we had a really successful period in the late 1990s when all of this hard work on leadership produced good results. ithink, actually, you have to go back before his leadership of the party. he served as an example about how politics is done. he started from virtually nothing in yeovil, he was unemployed for a while, did all kinds of interesting jobs similar call community, he was a youth worker, fought his way up from nothing to becoming an mp, and that set an example about how the rest of us should campaign. he was a terrific role model for campaigning politician. and listening to the tri

"saved and revived the liberal democrats at their lowest ebb", and current leader of the party vince cable "hugely sad day" for the liberal democrats, and said many members of the public had "immense affection and respect" for him. another person paying tribute to lord ashdown is the former leader of the liberal democrats and former deputy prime minister sir nick clegg, who spoke to the bbc this morning. to me personally, he was, i think, by a long way, probably the most important friend and mentor that i had in my time in politics. i don't think i would havejoined politics if i wasn't inspired as a young man by the stand that he took. i remember very well the very principled and courageous stand he took on an issue which may sound rather obscure now but at the time, certainly wasn't, which was about the rights of people in hong kong to have british passports. ithink, you know, i'm not alone. a lot of people were inspired by his clarity. he had this unusual ability, which was he was of course courageous himself as a soldier and a leader, in all the various things he did, but he had this un

the liberal democrat leader, sir vince cable, says the next three months are critical, warning there0 days left for the country to change course. as we enter 2019, time is ticking down on brexit. the history books will look back on the coming three months as critical to our future. are we going to make a terrible mistake, leaving behind our influence in europe's successful peace project, and the world's biggest marketplace? or are the british people, in the final hours, going to be given a chance to reconsider in the light of the facts that have come to the surface in the last two years? after two long years of negotiation, the prime minister has brought back a deal that satisfies nobody. her reaction is to try to frighten people with the prospect of a no—deal brexit. with the potential for serious disruption in travel and business. in reality, that can't happen unless she decides it should. the only way forward is to have a people's vote with the option to remain. it's a campaign that we the liberal democrats started, and now millions of people have joined us started, and now millio

"saved and revived the liberal democrats at their lowest ebb", and current leader of the party vince cabled it a "hugely sad day" for the liberal democrats, and said many members of the public had "immense affection and respect" for him. we will speak to another former leader of the party, said nick clegg, ina leader of the party, said nick clegg, in a few moments, with his thoughts about lord ashdown, his life and leadership of the party. let's get more on the indonesian tsunami that has killed at least 168 people. the death toll is expected to rise and there has been significant damage. monica miller is in singapore. what is the latest you are hearing about the destruction this has caused 7 are hearing about the destruction this has caused? what we are hearing from disaster relief officials in indonesia is that the area that was hit the hardest is an area where there are lots of beach resorts which are very popular at this time of year with local residents and at this point, they are telling people to not go to those beaches and stay where you can on high ground because at this point, it

the former conservative minister, a current leaders shadow spokesman start, the lib dem leader vince cableferendum, to reason me says as long as she‘s prime minister it isn‘t going to happen. but the whole of this campaign is that if the deal is rejected in that a vote on tuesday, they can force the government‘s hand, table motions in parliament that will then tell the government to go back to the people and ask the question again. it‘s not com pletely and ask the question again. it‘s not completely clear whether they have the support in parliament for that yet, but there are certainly several hundred people here who think it should happen. 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 1.5—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. wake up!

vince cable says it is complete madness and ironic that most of the money is going to european companieseu. the liberal democrats are complaining about whatever the government is doing but if the government is doing but if the government was not preparing to resolve some of the problems in case of no deal people would be criticising them, so they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. they have got to rely on the other parties to get any business through the commons and if the liberal democrats are worried about leaving without a deal they can vote for the deal and then we can leave with a deal and then we can leave with a deal and then they won't need to use these additional ferry routes. those who voted remain were accused of creating fear, that some of the contingency plans were a fiction, and that they would not be necessary , and that they would not be necessary, that trade would continue sea mlessly necessary, that trade would continue seamlessly without friction, but clearly that is not going to happen if we are having to spend this money on ferries. what other contingenc

. >> vince cable. >> in the next 10 days there will be informed debate on government proposals on brexit and various alternatives including an election, there is no reason why the public should be alarmed by continuing discussions of the chaotic no deal because it is in the power of this house and the government to stop it so will he reassure the public that under no circumstances this will happen? >> as he said, we will, on december 11th be looking at the deal government negotiated with the european union. i believe there is a clear choice, backing that deal will rise with certainty and ensure we deliver the vote further, the best way for jobs and the economy and failure to back deal would lead to chaos and uncertainty for people in the future and the clear message i get around the country is people don't want that chaos and uncertainty. >> this country exports vast amount of traffic to other countries. and speak to been up exporting our rubbish to other countries the land in the ocean. >> an important issue, i hope recognizes the action the government has taken in relation to plastic.

looking forward to twenty nineteen obviously project fear of the liberal democrats your leader vince cable no i remember then you will. rationing in all the rest of this defend the idea what do you think is going to be. stories of twenty one i think the big story will be if anyone can ever prove anything about ten salzburg in the trump election but my prediction is that in december twenty nine thousand will be very close to a vote on bracket. i believe that what we are looking at this you have twenty nineteen is the great betrayal what change what we will even be forced to continually vote until we reach a state in the european do you think the british people stand either kind of no i think you believe my state but what i'm hoping for is they say that in the referendum what's the old versus remain thoughts we all don't vote and there's a forty percent turnout ninety percent in favor of a bad idea effect we know confidence is the british state which i think would make it a much more interesting proposition save protectionists i think we would say the biggest year so far for increased protes

sir vince cable, thank you forjoining us. vince cable, thank you forjoining us.xplain the significance of the ruling this morning because we were expecting to say that because of what the judge advocate said last week. and indeed i believed it was pretty obvious from the very beginning. what they have said is that a member state that has given an article 50 notice to withdraw is entitled to withdraw that notice on two conditions. the first is that the notice to withdraw the notice is given in writing to the notice is given in writing to the european council, which is obvious. and secondly, that it is unconditional. in other words, that the intention is to remain a member state on the same conditions as before. that is what the ruling says. professor, there will be those that say that this is a political decision. yes, and of course you have to remember that it is a political issue behind it. but courts are there to rule on what the law is. of course, the result has a political effect and of course the case was brought by politicians. but the task of the court is

vince cable knows what is going on. vince cable knows what is going on.are seeing, because how important is that? are you itching to get in there and talk about the proposal or is this something you are really wanting? it is potentially embarrassing and humiliating the government if they lose it but it's not the central issue. that is the debate on europe and leading up to the meaningful vote when my party will be seeking to vote it down and looking to have a peoples vote. there is nothing you can hear in the next few days that might make you change your mind? she may decide having heard the arguments that she does want to go back to the public and say do you want to live with this in europe or want my deal? she did change her mind over the general election but i somehow don't think so. if it is a no vote in five days' time, labour saying they want a general election, is that something you would support? we would support it and you would support? we would support itand apart you would support? we would support it and apart from all of that ? what do you t

vince cable said earlier, about the second referendum, he said what is the question going to be?t backtracks eastwards a cross rumble of thunder. that backtracks eastwards across england and wales. anywhere between york and blackpool looks dry and clear. northern ireland and scotland clear to the day. 12 wintry flurries over the mountains of scotland. 8 degrees with the northerly breeze but further south 11 to 14 celsius. the cloud and showers clear away from eastern england as we move on overnight. clear skies and tonight will be the coldest night of the week. temperatures for many below freezing first thing tomorrow. just above freezing for many towns and cities in the south but for many, you will be waking up to a sharp frost. pictures like this first thing on tuesday morning. chilly start to the morning and an icy stretch across scotland. 0ne start to the morning and an icy stretch across scotland. one or two snow flurries over the mountains. but tuesday looks a better day than we have seen recently. more sunshine, especially in the south and the northern half of the uk dry a

vince cable, the lib dem leader, the lib dems have always backed this idea of a people‘s vote, a secondat scenario. and really a message to the prime minister, two other mps to indeed, jeremy corbyn, calling for this second referendum on whether the people are still happy with the deal that is on offer from theresa may. we know she is hoping to come back with some reassurances, whether that alters the substance of the deal, we don‘t know. although it seems unlikely. eu leaders have repeatedly said there is no room for any renegotiation, so we wait for more from bat. the prime minister due in berlin to meet angela merkel any time now. before we went to the news conference we work in the middle of answering questions with georgina wright, an independent brexit analyst and anand. we had almost got to the end of those questions. just one more for you to answer from timothy in derby. the pm said the backstop is only one option, the transition period could be extended. why can‘t the transition period be extended indefinitely until the trade deal is done? that was a big concern on all sides, t

m essa g es messages from jeremy corbyn, nicola sturgeon and vince cable of the liberal democrats.nd show you the fireworks this evening in the hague, not notorious, you might say, as a party city, but look at that. spectacular over the ca nals look at that. spectacular over the canals in the hague and over the water works bad. you can see lots of impressive fireworks there over the dutch city. and we can also show you, i think, dutch city. and we can also show you, ithink, the dutch city. and we can also show you, i think, the pictures from madrid. here we go. it warms up, trust me. there we go, feliz 2019, i am not going to do it in spanish. someone can may be right in and tell me what this church is, i have been looking at these pictures and i am not entirely sure what we are looking at in madrid, but another resplendent fireworks display this evening here in madrid. and look at that. why haven't we got some of that? two of the presenters in madrid bringing in the new year. let's ta ke madrid bringing in the new year. let's take you finally to berlin... no, this is paris. we hav

you very much indeed for bringing us up to date with the latest and now, we're joined now by sir vince cable forjoining us. you now have that full legal advice, has it made any difference to your view on the boat and the deal that theresa may is proposing? no, this whole argument is in an argument within the conservative party and dup i think there's no interest whatever in the rest of the country, actually, it's one of the better bits of a bad deal. i would wish if we had it it was permanent, but that's not what they're arguing about. the whole argument around the legal opinion is although it's intensely interesting for the people involved in it, is a sidetrack from a bigger issue about whether this deal is good for the country and i thought the biggest development today was the acknowledgement that the chancellor, that there will be a brexit price to pay as opposed to brexit price to pay as opposed to brexit dividend and a you know, the government's own analysis in the la st government's own analysis in the last few weeks has confirmed that contains the balance of argument. nonetheless, th

"saved and revived the liberal democrats at their lowest ebb", and current leader of the party vince cableit a "hugely sad day" for the liberal democrats, and said many members of the public had "immense affection and respect" for him. we'll be getting reaction to lord ashdown‘s death throughout this morning's programme and we'll speak to the former lib dem leader nick clegg in just a few minutes. let's talk about drones that have dominated the news in the last week. a man and woman are still being held in connection with multiple drone sightings that brought gatwick airport to a standstill. police searched a house in the nearby town of crawley yesterday. the disruption lasted for three days, as tens of thousands of passengers had their flights cancelled or delayed. simon clemison has the latest, and simon, remind us what we know about the two people being questioned 7 yes, they are. good morning. the first 24—hour since their arrest have now passed so we are waiting to see whether the police have applied to senior officers for more time to question them or whether they have been charged o

joining me at westminster is vince cable, leader of the liberal democrats.e man on the street. i'm afraid we do. there we re the street. i'm afraid we do. there were questions yesterday about the prime minister and what she is trying to do. is she running away from a defeated parliament? i think there are questions also to the leader of the is in. he is duty bound under the present circumstances to move a motion of no—confidence. that is why opposition out there. he hasn't been willing to do it. so the other opposition parties today will move in that direction. you say he hasn't been willing to do it. there hasn't been willing to do it. there hasn't been a clear of that. they are biding their time, labour, been a clear of that. they are biding theirtime, labour, aren't they? they have been clamouring for an election. they say they have no confidence in the government but when it actually comes to add jeremy corbyn went dead. he is failing in his duty. he has to give some leadership. the opposition parties will work together today to formulate that the mind.

vince cable kolbe governmentplanning psychological warfare, the tory mp said if the government's policyt then he would resign the tory and do everything he can to work with other mps to stop that happening. i do think there is a large majority in the house of commons for stopping by no—deal brexit from occurring. but nobody knows exactly how mps will be able to do that. you know better than me, things are moving fast in westminster, it could be easy to forget what happened yesterday but this time yesterday he was talking about the possibility of the opposition tabling a no—confidence motion in the prime minister, where have we got to with that? you are right, that petered out by the end of yesterday when it became clear that the government were not going to make any time what was a fairly meaningless gimmick i think in the end by the labour leader to call a vote of confidence in the prime minister with no provision in statute for that, there's no obligation on the governments part to provide anytime, what many labour mps want to see happen very soon his birdie but to move decisively ont

with me is the liberal democrats leader, sir vince cable.usly a matter for another party, an internal party matter on the surface but fundamental as to where this country is going in terms of brexit. do you wa nt is going in terms of brexit. do you want her to is going in terms of brexit. do you want herto win? is going in terms of brexit. do you want her to win? it's not for me to decide, i don't have a vote in this contest. it is extraordinary. the conservative party is putting its own internal conflicts ahead of the interest of the country in a very damaging way. we had five years of coalition government, i was in the same government has theresa may. it was stable and strong at a time of national crisis, and the contrast between the way the current government is behaving is extraordinary. i suspect at the end she is going to win. i don't know, but i suspect she is. if she does we are back to where we were yesterday with an unpalatable unacceptable brexit deal, and where do we go from there? how do you break the deadlock? the options are n

two mps from different parties, but who both support the idea of a public vote — lib dem leader vince cable choose the leader of the conservative party. the position we are in is where we were two days ago. nothing is really changed. we have had this high drama, she has survived, but we can, and we are back with the problem that the governed has a proposal it can't get through parliament and we have to try to break that gridlock —— government. that is why some of us are appealing to the leader of the opposition, who has a responsibility in this chaotic situation, to come off the fence and support the idea of going back to the country. one of the phrases we heard from theresa may when she came out from number 10, she said "politicians from all sides should come together". it is not the first time she has said that. maybe it has more meaning now. are you in a position to talk to theresa may... there is a strong mood that we need to act in the national interest, not pull in different directions. the problem is there are very clearly defined but opposing viewpoints. the movement that the two of

sir vince cable!firm, despite the european council's so—called legal endorsement of the withdrawal agreement, which they state is not open for renegotiation, that as respects the uk itself, this agreement has not been initialled or signed by herself as prime minister and is only a draft, signed by herself as prime minister and is onlya draft, being no signed by herself as prime minister and is only a draft, being no more thana and is only a draft, being no more than a political agreement under which nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, including the backstop, and therefore she can still walk away? i can certainly confirmed my honourable friend that obviously this is a deal that has been negotiated between the uk and eu, but it does have to go through certain processes in order to be ratified. part of that is ratification here in the uk parliament, in is ratification in the european union parliament. and of course it is those processes that lead to the final agreement on the withdrawal agreeme