league match in a row with a victory over west ham. more to come in sports day — in half an hour. good evening and welcome to bbc news. theresa may is coming under increasing pressure, to adopt a tougher line during brexit negotiations, as she prepares to travel to brussels tomorrow, for talks with the president of the european commission. an influential group of brexit supporters has written an open letter, urging the prime minister to refuse to settle the uk‘s so—called ‘divorce bill,‘ unless brussels agrees to a series of new demands. here‘s our political correspondent, alex forsyth. they have met plenty of times before, always appearing friendly, but there is a lot riding on their get—together tomorrow. where the eu leaders can be persuaded to move brexit talks on later this month. back home, some of her mps have upped the pressure. a handful of brexit backing tories have written to the prime minister, laying down conditions they want matt, including a promise that the european court of justice will cease to have any jurisdiction over the uk. for some, this goes to the heart of the brexit debate. the european court ofjustice is there to rule on all matters to do with the european union. we will have left the european union and therefore the simple point is that we should not therefore have to look to the european court ofjustice clarke or to havejudgments made by them, bound directly back here into the uk. when it comes to the european court ofjustice theresa may has signalled it will have a role during the transition period but not after. some ardent brexiteers fear there could be compromised as the eu wants it to keep overseeing citizens rights. today the government insisted european law would not hold sway over british law and had a warning for backbenchers. the supreme court will decide what the law of the country is in this country, as voted on by parliament. that is the big thing that theresa may have achieved. there is a bigger point here. the choice we face now is not between this brexit or that brexit, if we don‘t back theresa may we will have no brexit. there are conflicting views over several aspects of the talks. the island of ireland will be whether uk meets the eu. all agree there should be no hard border. today the irish government still was not convinced as to how that could be achieved. the irish government is not being unreasonable for the asking questions that need more credible answers before we can allow the process to move on to phase two. tonight there is no agreement in key areas on the issues the eu said it wanted progress before moving on to talk trade. tomorrow‘s meeting is a crucial step in deciding whether enough has been done. the outcome is vital but farfrom certain. alex forsyth, bbc news, westminster. one of the signatories of the letter organised by the leave means leave campaign group is the conservative mp and former environment secretary owen paterson. he told us that the prime minister‘s gesture of goodwill in her florence speech had not been reciprocated by the european union. i think she has been more than generous, more than patient. she made a very open—hearted gesture with the speech and a generous offer, and they have been pretty churlish in their response. we said in october that if they didn‘t knuckle down and start talking seriously about the end trade relationship, which we ideally would like to see continue as it is at the moment, with reciprocal free trade and zero tariffs, based on mutual recognition of the conformity of our standards. then we should say sad but you are not talking about the really important issues. we assume we will tell our administrators and customs and businesses involved that we will be moving to wto terms, which is a global trade deal. it has been betrayed by some as leaping off a cliff into the dark, it is not. vast amounts of trade around the world are conducted under this arrangement. it would be much better if we could have an open free trade deal with zero tariffs, but we can still work very adequately with the wto basis. and we‘ll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow‘s front pages at 10:30 and 11:30pm this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are the author & broadcaster, natalie haynes and rob merrick, deputy political editor of the independent. the government has been defending its record, on promoting greater social equality, after all four members of the social mobility commission resigned. led by the former labour cabinet minister, alan milburn, they say the government isn‘t doing enough to improve the life chances of people in england from poorer backgrounds. downing street says mr milburn had already been told, he was going to be replaced, as head of the commission. jonathan blake has the details. your chances of getting a job, finding a good school for your children and being able to afford somewhere decent to live. issues at the heart of social mobility. from day one in power, tackling inequality was a personal priority for theresa may. the mission to make britain a country that works for everyone means more than fighting these injustices. if you‘re from an ordinary, working—class family, life is much harder than many people in westminster realise. but, for the former labour cabinet minister, alan milburn, who was until now in charge of monitoring the government‘s progress on social mobility, not enough is being done. what is lacking here is meaningful political action to translate very good words into deeds. in the end, what counts in politics is not what you talk about, it‘s what you do. and i‘m afraid the divisions in britain are becoming wider. they‘re becoming wider economically, socially and geographically. downing street says it had already told mr milburn it planned to appoint a new chair as his term in office had ended. so, is the former labour minister‘s very public resignation sour grapes or political point scoring? well, alan milburn and i both care deeply about social mobility and equality of opportunity. he said that. and he said you wanted to keep him on, is that true? i‘m not going to get into the discussions we have inside the government. he‘s done a fantasticjob. his term had come to an end and i think it was about getting some fresh blood into the commission. the education secretary went on to defend the government‘s record. we‘re seeing standards in our schools rise. critically, we‘re seeing the attainment gap in schools narrow. this is the difference in outcomes between disadvantaged children and their better off peers. the social mobility commission‘s most recent report described britain as a deeply divided nation. two thirds of the areas where young people face the brightest prospects are now in london. while many coastal, rural, and former industrial areas are being left further behind. it singled out the midlands as the worst performing area in england. deprived areas registered some of the highest support for leaving the european union. the government is now facing criticism that it is so focused on the process of brexit that it is ignoring some of the reasons that led people to vote for it. jonathan blake, bbc news. north korea has accused the united states of being a war monger on the eve ofjoint us — south korean military exercises. monday‘s drills are the largest ever involving us and south korean troops. meanwhile president trump‘s national security advisor has said the us and its allies are in "a race" to tackle the problem with north korea before the reclusive state achieves its nuclear ambitions. celia hatton reports. american military might on display near the korean peninsula. here, a rare site. three us aircraft carriers, so—called super carriers, brought together last month for the first time in a decade. and now the us decision to hold another round of air exercises has raised tensions again. on monday five days of air drills will begin, the largest ever joint drills with us and south korean forces. they will simulate the strikes on mock north korean nuclear and missile targets. this comes as president trump‘s national—security adviser warns the possibility of war with pyongyang is increasing by the day. the greatest immediate threat to the united states, and to the world, is the threat posed by the rogue regime in north korea, and his continued efforts to develop long—range nuclear capability. there are ways to address this problem short of armed conflict, but it is a race because he is getting closer and closer, and there‘s not much time left. in north korea news of the military exercises drew dire warnings. translation: if the korean peninsula and the world are embroiled in the crucible of a nuclear war, because of the reckless nuclear war mania in the united states, the us must take full responsibility for it. on friday north korea held a mass event, celebrating the success of recent weapons tests. the latest one sent a missile higher than ever before, putting the continental united states in striking range. now pyongyang is rushing to perfect its weapons technology, including the development of a nuclear warhead that could fit on a missile. kimjong—un is getting closer to his nuclear ambitions. here he inspects a factory making tyres for missile launch vehicles. some are quick to brush off the exchange of threats between kim jong—un and the trump administration, dismissing them as bluster. but as the us and north korea ramp up their military capabilities, making no secret the other is the target, it raises the prospect that one misstep and one miscalculation could ignite a sudden military confrontation, claiming hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives. celia hatton, bbc news. joining us now via webcam in washington isjim townsend, as he feels military confrontation with the north is close. north korea, where are we with north korea? we are getting close to military conflict. north korea is getting towards we're running out of time. i'm going to urge the pentagon not to send any more dependence to south korea will stop south korea probable is crazy descent spouses and children south korea given the provocation of north korea. i want them to stop sending dependence, and i think it is now time to start moving american dependents out of south korea. senator lindsey graham. joining us now via webcam in washington isjim townsend, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for european and nato policy under obama and now senior fellow at american think tank the "centerfor a new american security". thank you very much forjoining us. how precarious a situation do you think we are in? it is very precarious. this is something that... we are struggling to hear you a little bit. let‘s press on. how realistic risk of war? the risk of war is very real. this is a time where we are running out of diplomatic options. talks are happening behind—the—scenes, i think. we are talking to the chinese, to the russians, to others. u nless chinese, to the russians, to others. unless something dramatic happens, particularly from china, where they can squeeze the north koreans to pull back from their racing ahead with their nuclear capability, then things are becoming quite powerless. garrisons are often drawn with the cold war between the us and the ussr will stop what other similarities, and the differences here? i'm afraid there are more differences than there are more differences than there are more differences than there are similarities. i think the only similarity is this beginning of a nuclear stand—off with korea, north korea, making the advances it is doing. during the cold war with the soviets, we learned how to live under this nuclear stand—off. we learned how to did terror, we learned how to did terror, we learned each other‘s patterns, decision—making. there was a comfort level there in terms of understanding that we weren‘t going to surprise one another. with that kind of stability that we are able to bring about based on u nfortu nately to bring about based on unfortunately the horror of mutually assured destruction. at least we knew each other and we were able to prevent surprise or miscalculation. that‘s not the case today with north korea. to what extent is that lack of predictability a problem on both sides? it certainly is a problem on both sides. for deterrence to work, either to be a sense of stability, both sides need to understand the other. both sides need to know how the other makes decisions, the redlines they both share. there needs to be transparency, there needs to be transparency, there needs to be transparency, there needs to beat medications between both sides. if something were to happen, there needs to be something like the hotline or emissary is that go and try to resolve issues before they get out of hand. on both sides, both leaders are having trouble understanding the perception is that each holds for the other. you mentioned that china is the actor in this most likely to be able to bring some kind of pressure or persuasion on north korea. who could do that for the united states? he might have an influence on president trump to dial down some of the rhetoric that some commentators is to be uneasy. i‘m sure president trump as well as the state department and the pentagon and others are hearing from allies in europe. they are hearing from experts and close associates here in washington. about the importance of trying to keep rhetoric under control. this is something that is in the news media, something that is in the news media, something i‘m sure messages are getting treated the president. what‘s getting through to him in north korea, i don‘t know. we are helping at least that the chinese are able to get through, but we understand are chinese emissary sent a few days ago that never were able to have a meeting. if the message is getting to north korea where there is more of a problem. jim townsend from the centre for new american security, thank you for talking to us. security, thank you for talking to us. thank you. our apologies for the loss of sound at times. donald trump has hit out at the fbi in a series of angry tweets. he claimed the agency‘s reputation was in tatters — "the worst in history". the president also denied asking the ex fbi chief, james comey to drop an investigation into the former national security advisor, michael flynn, who was sacked for lying to the agency about his contacts with russia. the president came under renewed pressure on saturday after a tweet appeared on his account implying that he knew mr flynn had lied to the fbi. mr trump‘s personal lawyer john dowd has now said that he drafted the tweet, which he said was a mistake. with me now is our washington correspondent, laura bicker. there were few hours were donald trump did not take to twitter, unusually, in response to michael flynn‘s admission, but that has now changed. it has. not only did we have that controversial tweet yesterday, where he said that michael flynn was fired from lying to the vice president and the fbi, which seems to imply that donald trump new michael flynn had lied to the fbi, which certainly causes a lot of problems. then this morning we have had this range of twitter storms on the fbi, onjames comey, the former head of the fbi, on why hillary was not prosecuted, hillary clinton, further misuse of e—mails, and he described his own intelligence agency as in tatters. he said it will get better under his administration. just taking all of those tweets, first of all the significant one from yesterday were legal analysts are wondering if he could have got himself into hot water. it turns out in a new twist that that tweet was sent by his own lawyer, john dowd. he himself has responded this morning saying, it was my mistake, i am out of the tweeting business and i did not mean to break news. let's see whether that lasts. he says the reputation of the fbi is in tatters, but this investigation has still got some way to run. where will it happen next? the only person that knows that is the independent prosecutor in charge of this investigation, that is robert mueller. he is slowly and carefully, methodically working his way through the evidence. it shows how little the media and the white house knows about this investigation, because we were never sure when michael flynn was going to appear in court. we had heard rumours that we weren‘t sure. until the actual day itself. the white house is understood to have been watching the news unfold on television screens. when it comes to where it goes next, only robert mueller knows. but there are a series of e—mails between michael flynn during the transition period, between well president obama was still in office and president—elect donald trump was waiting to come into office, which suggest that michael flynn was not acting alone. those e—mails have been printed by the new york times. when it comes to how many contacts he had with the russians, the nature of those contacts, that is something they will be examining. but it has to be said that talking to the russians during a tradition period is not illegal. it is not a problem. but talking to them during the campaign and accepting their help would be. quickly let‘s talk about north korea, which is accused the title states of being a warmonger, head of these big military exercises taking place tomorrow. what has been the response from the white house and pentagon? you cannot underestimate the words that general mcmaster said in washington last night, that everyday war gets closer with north korea. they seem to be running out of the dramatic solutions. in the last few hours, you heard earlier from the republican senator lindsey graham. these are serious warnings of not just —— graham. these are serious warnings of notjust —— notjust aimed at kim jong—un but also at china. they want china to cut off crude oil supplies to its neighbours and perhaps they‘re hoping that the seriousness of these warnings will urge china to act. but make no mistake, they will not tolerate, the trump administration will not operate, a nuclear career if the sections do not work. if kim jong—un does not change his path, what is clear is that america will act. for the moment, thank you very much. children are to get access to mental health support in schools and colleges in england. £300 million of funding will be made available over three years, in a joint initiative between the departments of health and education. a waiting time of four weeks for those who need specialist support, will be tested in some areas. labour says the plans, don‘t go far enough. here‘s our health editor hugh pym. george discovered the harsh reality of young people‘s mental health services. very long waits in many areas. he struggled with anxiety and ocd but was told he would have to wait nine months for nhs care. that really hit me hard. i thought, "oh my god, i‘m in this situation and i now have to wait a0 weeks to get help that i need." what can happen in that time? it‘s quite scary. i didn‘t know what i‘d do to myself during that time. his gp recommended he went private therapy and his family could afford it but he knows many others arn‘t so lucky and he is campaigning for faster and more effective treatment across the nhs. how do we encourage people to speak out about it? that‘s what the health secretary, jeremy hunt, says is the aim of a new government plan. access to mental health support will be provided in schools in england with trials in some areas, of four—week targets for treatment to be delivered. if your child has a mental health issue, we want to make sure you get the help much, much earlier than happens at the moment. and, if possible, we want to work within the school system to prevent that condition deteriorating. but labour argues that children‘s mental health services have been underfunded for too long. services are really overstretched and children are waiting years for the vital support that they need. so, this is a drop in the ocean compared to the cuts unfortunately that many services have faced. this is one teenager who had to be sent hundreds of miles from home for treatment for an eating disorder. her mother, rachel, is angry they were failed by local services. she says the stress on the whole family has been devastating. you keep going and you keep going to do all you can to aid their recovery. you travel to where you‘ve got to travel. it‘s difficult for them and it‘s excruciating for the family really left behind. the government‘s plan, bringing together schools and the nhs, has been welcomed by mental health charities. but they say it is only a start. it is not clear whether sufficient funding has been committed to train enough staff and make the four—week treatment target a reality for young people who need care urgently. hugh pym, bbc news. a prison spokesman has confirmed there is an "ongoing the prison spokesman said those involved would be referred to the police and could spend longer in prison. no police officers were injured and was no risk to any members of the public. a lorry driver who crashed into stationary traffic on the m6 — after apparently falling asleep at the wheel — has been jailed for 16 months at wolverhampton crown court this is the moment mariusz vlazlo smashed his hgv into two cars at 43 miles per hour in march this year. he admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving. west midlands police said the two car drivers were treated for broken bones and back and neck injuries. investigators in germany say that a parcel bomb discovered in potsdam on friday was connected to a blackmail attempt and not terrorism. the parcel was delivered by dhl to a pharmacy near potsdam‘s christmas market. it was opened by an employee, who found wires, batteries and nails, and heard a hiss. investigators believe the bomb had been primed to explode, but failed to go off. following last year‘s terror attack on a christmas market in neighbouring berlin, the potsdam market was immediately evacuated. coventry, paisley, stoke, sunderland and swansea, are all competing for the title of uk city of culture 2021. the winner will be announced this week. the yearlong celebration of arts, music and culture, has boosted local economies, proving a huge success for the current holder, hull. well, we‘ll be taking a look at all the cities in contention, and first tonight it‘s coventry, from where colleen harris reports. this is a city that has embraced its reputation for peace and reconciliation. transformed by post—war immigration, coventry‘s which has been shaped by its history. the cathedral symbolises its resilience. what stands today in their home city —— my home city are the ruins from a campaign of bombings during the lips. the martyred city of coventry. it was also the heart of the british car industry. its decline turned it into a ghost town. yeah, most of the songs written down here are from the first album. the song became an anthem for a generation, written by the specials. the coventry bound captured racial tensions of the early 80s through their music. walking around in coventry at the time, it was horrendous. and you couldn‘t walk down the street without being attacked by national front. so, when the specials got together, that was to get black and whites united. coventry is hoping to breathe new life into its rich multicultural and industrial past. its bid to win the city of culture 2021 puts young people at the heart of its focus. there are so many exciting things to see and do for the people just don‘t know for the need to do a lot of work as part of the city of culture bid as to what our city has two offer. helping to move the city forward is louis, a choreographer, taking his work from coventry to young people around the world for them he represents a new generation looking for hope in a city trying to shake off its post—war image. it‘s actually crucial it wins. this is like the biggest thing that has ever happened in coventry. it‘s bringing a lot of hope and excitement to the city which it doesn‘t tend to have a better with a lot of doubt. this is the one time for the underdog to come up and rise and show what we really have. winning the city of culture can help transform the city‘s chins. the people of coventry hope the city‘s which heritage can secure its future. colleen harris, bbc news, coventry. and tomorrow we‘ll be looking at paisley, the first onto the shortlist, in the race, for uk city of culture. the moon will move closer to the earth tonight and appear larger and brighter in the sky — a phenomenon known as a "supermoon". this image was taken this evening over whitby abbey in north yorkshire — astronomers say sky—watchers will get the "most spectacular views" this evening and tomorrow morning. i would like to know he took that. let‘s ta ke i would like to know he took that. let‘s take a look at the weather forecast. sunday turned out to be half decent from many parts of the british isles. a little bit cool to start and end. but summit ended on that sort of note. a glorious sunset which gives some hope if you were looking for the super moon. the far north of scotland has quite a bit of cloud and rain, and the south—eastern quarter has quite a bit of cloud as well. weather cloud breaks, though maybe a touch of frost. some mist and fog patches where you have had clear skies. once the day gets going, if the pretty decent sort of day. a lot of dry weather once the rain quits the scene in the northern isles. temperatures in a range of six to 11 degrees or so. the rest of the week, pretty decent to start with some wet and windy weather in the middle part of the week. then things turn much colder towards the tail end of the week. more detail on the long—term prospects on the abc weather website. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: on the eve of a crucial meeting for the prime minister in brussels, a group of leading brexiteers, demand guarantees before any "divorce bill" is paid. all four board members of the government‘s social mobility