next? a big moment for a media mogul — rupert murdoch is shrinking his empire by selling the majority of his company fox to disney. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with hugh and a rare good day for england at the ashes. indeed, good afternoon, not a bad start at all and a special moment for dawid malan who had to hold back the tears as he scored his first test century and has helped england into a good position. more later on the hour. thanks hugh and darren bett has all the weather — getting colder again. yes, we have seen some snow, it's getting colder, probably only briefly, changes on the way this weekend, and in the run—up to christmas but don't tell anyone! your secret is safe with us, you know that! also coming up — a 70—year—old mystery is solved — the story of the baby boy who was found in a box on the steps of the bbc. a multi—faith memorial service has taken place at st. paul's cathedral — six months to the day since the fire at grenfell tower in west london which left 71 people dead. reeta chakrabarti is at st paul's. thank you, it's been a day of reflection and also pure grief and raw emotion here at st paul's cathedral. it's six months to the day since that terrible tragedy in west london. there are many, many questions which have gone and a nswered questions which have gone and answered which still swirled around to do with that terrible day. there is of course a police investigation ongoing and a public enquiry which opened formally this week. in a sense today the service this morning was a moment to pause, to reflect and to allow people to properly mourn those they have lost. in a moment i will be speaking to someone who was in that service but first here is my colleague frankie mcca mley here is my colleague frankie mccamley with a summary of the morning ‘s events. it's been a long six months for so many families whose lives were torn apart exactly six months ago. a tragedy which highlighted failures alongside the bravery of the emergency services and the unity within a community. today they came together. we try our best to stay together and stay united, so that's exactly what's happening and all the difficulties we have, all of the hard days, the hard time we had is unforgettable, we cannot forget. joined by members of the royal family who have met many of those affected by the fire, alongside political leaders showing their support. the duke and duchess of cambridge and prince harry making their way to their seats, sat alongside the prime minister, multi—faith leaders and the community surrounding grenfell tower. but at the heart of the service, remembering the 53 adults and 18 children who lost their lives, including the youngest victim who would have been one today. welcome each one of you to this national memorial service of remembrance, community and hope. the service incorporated an islamic girls school choir, a steel band, and a montage of some of the survivors. you begin to feel survivor's guilt and i think maybe not now but within the next couple of months we will start to question, why was it them? why did we survive, why didn't they? but for some, it became too much. raw emotions still plain to see. others watched the service live streamed to a mosque close to the tower which became an emergency shelter at the time, taking in clothes and food. after paying their respects, families and survivors left in silence carrying white roses and pictures of their loved ones, holding the heart of their community which will lead a silent vigil later today. some of the scenes there from today's moving events. our correspondent andy moore is in al manaar muslim cultural heritage centre — where many of the survivors spent the night after the tragedy. yes, this place has been at the centre from day one of the efforts to help the bereaved and the survivors. some of today's service was also planned and directed from here and there was a live relay of the service and quite a few people we re the service and quite a few people were watching it here today. one of them joins me now from the charity muslim aid, what are your feelings as you watch the service? it was extremely emotional and touching. i did not expected to be as emotional as that but it was nice to see how on the day the actual tragedy, people of all and amenities and people of all and amenities and people of all and amenities and people of no faith came together to commemorate what was a great tragedy. you are helping out in the immediate aftermath of the fire, what are your memories?” immediate aftermath of the fire, what are your memories? i arrived at the scene in the morning of the fire, there were people who were there early in the morning trying to help those who were affected, families that have lost loved ones. i met families that have lost loved ones. imeta families that have lost loved ones. i met a man whose family lived on the 23rd floor and he could not find his family and he was distraught and he was fasting and he refused to break his fast. we were just there to give emotional support and continue to help with counselling and referral services. this was an interfaith service today, from your point of view how have the various faiths and churches collaborated here? it has been an amazing show of unity, all the different faiths coming together. in the memorial service it was nice to see the interfaith nature, the different faith leaders coming together and all the faiths they included in the service, the school they had, the girls that sang, it was nice to see the community cohesion. we would like to see that thing more in future for sure. thank you very much. and we havejust beenjoined by the chief executive of the mosque here, you were at the service at st paul's, what are your feelings?m was very inclusive, very impressive and it reflected the diversity of the community so we thank st paul's cathedral for hosting such an event and all the faith leaders who had been planning and working on this. we have been hearing that right from day one and this mosque, this cultural centre has been at the heart of efforts to help those involved in the tragedy, what have you been doing the last few months to help people? we have gone through two phases, we are about to embark ona third. two phases, we are about to embark on a third. the first phase was the emergency response we were not prepared for and did not plan. that involves mainly providing emergency staff like toiletries, clothes, things people need immediately like cash hand—outs even. the second was more focused on counselling and treatment support, therapy. a bit of legal and other advice as well. in partnership with other professional bodies. the third phase we are going to bark on first with research on identifying the real need of the community and then the second step of that will be to see what resources we have locally, to meet those needs and then the third will be to either complements those resources or fill a gap where we feel we can. thank you very much. quite a few tears here today as people are watching the service and it's nice to know there were specialist workers from the nhs here today, a lot of them involved in supporting people after the tragedy and they are offering psychological counselling services to hundreds of people and no doubt that will continue for a long time. iam now i am now joined iam nowjoined here i am nowjoined here outside st paul's by latifah who works for muslim aid, you're on the grounds from the beginning, what sort of support people needed? the and victims who have survived have many ongoing needs including donations of clothes, even in the immediate aftermath of the counselling needs have been wide and varied. we are also seeing they still have ongoing housing needs and the grief, the difficulties they have faced is something they will continue to need support forfor something they will continue to need support for for many other charities like muslim aid who have been on the ground. you have been working with them for six months, would you say them for six months, would you say the mood amongst people has changed? i think definitely the bereaved families and survivors are still very emotional, as we saw today at the memorial service, they are still coming to terms with this difficult and tragic time, six months on there's still a long road to go in terms of their healing. and you are working with the local community in west london, insight of the tower, how is that for you? it's been a very emotional and difficult time for many of the volunteers including the miz on volunteers who were on the miz on volunteers who were on the ground, working alongside many other faith communities. i the ground, working alongside many otherfaith communities. i think it's been one of the most challenging times. and what will the service have meant for people? challenging times. and what will the service have meant for people ?m was a very service have meant for people ?m was a very meaningful service for people today, i think for the families and the community it was a reminder of how london came together to provide support to the families after this tragic fire. thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc news. there you have it, it was i think a service which was characterised by its diversity, by the fact it was multi—faith. although it took place in st paul's cathedral all the faiths in west london were present. as the organisers said it was a moment for people of all faiths and of none. and the point of it was they come together if not to heal, because for some people they never will, they will at least start to come to terms with what it is that happened to them this year. with that it is back to the studio. thank you very much. the prime minister is heading to brussels for a summit of eu leaders. it comes after conservative rebels defeated the government in a key brexit vote in the commons last night. mps backed an amendment giving them a legal guarantee of a vote on the final brexit deal struck with brussels. let's cross over to brussels where we can join christian fraser. we are waiting patiently for the arrival of theresa may, she is coming here fresh from the memorial at grenfell, most of the leaders have already gone in. it has been broadly positive what they have said so far, they are happy with the agreement they came to last week, most of them saying they wanted it to be legally binding and they are keen to hear perhaps at dinner this evening when brexit will be discussed for the first time what sort of plan theresa may has for the coming months. they will be talking of course, starting really next week, on the transition, the abomination period and on the framework for a future deal. but tomorrow is all about rubber—stamping the agreement. they are also conscious about the vote in the house of commons yesterday but it does not change much for the european leaders, they know she is both weak and strong and many of them lead minority governments so they have the scars of defeats in their own parliaments. i think they will try to show her some support today. let's remind ourselves what's going on ian watson. are you expecting another defeat? theresa may was remaining tight—lipped about her first defeat in parliament as prime minister. this is the moment it happened, when the mps in the middle shuffled around, that signalled the opposition had won and the government had lost. until this moment, pro—eu conservative rebels had been seen as a dog that didn't bark. last night those rebels didn't just bark, they bit. the ayes to the right, 309. the noes to the left, 305. 11 of theresa may's own mps joined most of the opposition to inflict this narrow defeat. mps will now get a legally binding vote on any deal the prime minister brings back from brussels. the house of commons was less busy the morning after the night before, but still passionate. that was a humiliating and entirely avoidable defeat for the government. this house now having spoken, can the secretary of state give us an assurance the government will not seek to undermine or overturn last night's result. he got a noncommittal response. we will have to think about how to respond to it but, as always, we take the house of commons's view seriously and will continue to do so. labour wanted to push home its advantage and called for the government to drop a specific date for leaving the eu from its legislation. rather than repeat last night's debacle, will the government now commit to dropping the ill—conceived gimmick? david davis simply said he would respect mps' views. speaker: anna soubry. one of the conservative rebels said she took no pleasure in defeating her own government but she might do it again. nobody drank champagne, not on these benches. so let's just nail that one. these are serious matters. can i say to the secretary of state, it was avoidable. what did last night's vote in the house of commons really mean? if mps were to vote down any deal theresa may does with brussels, technically she can go back and renegotiate or we can leave with no deal at all. but in truth if a prime minister were to lose such a significant vote, it is highly likely she wouldn't remain prime minister for very long. some say the rebels have undermined her in the short—term too. i think in the eyes of brussels they will see that there is now a weakness there that they will try to exploit during negotiations. the fragile truce in the conservative party has now been shattered and the rebels will hope downing street will now think twice about sweeping aside their concerns over brexit. iain watson, bbc news. we arejust going we are just going to show you some live pictures of the nato secretary general who hasjust live pictures of the nato secretary general who has just arrived live pictures of the nato secretary general who hasjust arrived here live pictures of the nato secretary general who has just arrived here at the europa building, it is notjust about brexit, the summit, they will be talking about the thorny issue of migration and quarters and also defence spending. 25 of the countries here have committed to a new defence pact some eurosceptics say it's a short step to a european army and! say it's a short step to a european army and i think the british government is broadly in favour because there is duplication in defence spending and not enough coordination. we are waiting for the british mr mac to arrive, as soon as theresa may is here we will bring it to you. isn't that a lovely view. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: members of the royal families join survivors and relatives at a memorial service to remember the 71 people who died in the grenfell tower fire. theresa may is expected back in brussels shortly for a crucial eu summit, just hours after her brexit defeats in the commons. media mogul rupert murdoch shrinks his empire by selling the majority of 21st century fox to disney. and an maiden test century from dawid malan puts england in the ascendancy on the opening day of the third ashes test which they cannot afford to lose! chris froome says his legacy will not be tainted despite returning an advert doping test result for our legal asthma drug. and pep guardiola says his manchester city side will not get complacent as the win for a record—breaking 15th complacent as the win for a record—breaking15th straight premier league game. i will be back with more for you just after have passed. rupert murdoch has sold a majority of his company 21st century fox to disney — in one of the biggest media deals for years. after decades of expanding his huge empire, the 86—year—old media mogul has finally taken the decision to shrink his business by selling off a major wing of fox — which owns sky — for £39 billion. let's hear from the ceo of disney about the merger which has come about the merger which has come about to satisfy consumer demand, he says. the fox international footprint has some extremely high—end technology to deliver all this content to consumers in more modern ways. sky in europe is a good example of that and star india. not only will the consumer get more great, high—quality content but they will get it in ways they demand, innovative ways that today's consumer requires in terms of increasing their consumption and enjoying their consumption of entertainment. with me is gill hind, chief operating officer at enders analysis — the research service covering the media and entertainment industry. it wasn't just disney it wasn'tjust disney in the running, but the good money, the safe money was always on them? absolutely, the assets fit much better than any other company which could have gone in for it and for disney it's a fabulous outcome and reality. the competition now tends to be not other broadcasters but the likes of netflix and what they have acquired here is putting together two studios which have fabulous content and enables them to put out a very strong streaming service globally as well as of course having a complementary pay—tv platform in europe and india as well. we have a lwa ys europe and india as well. we have always seen the murdoch empire expanding, how much is this a case of knowing when to sell? that's a good point, rupert murdoch has a lwa ys good point, rupert murdoch has always been, his first love has or has been the news and he's built up a large news empire with the times and fox news in the us. now with the acquisition of sky they have run into problems should we say in terms of passing the issues in the uk and we have come to the point now that rupert has thought this is probably the best time for them to english their assets in the uk with sky and focus instead on fox news. what's going to happen to sky news? he was threatening at one point to close it. who knows at this point, it's going to the process and it is regardless, the process is about fox taking over the assets of sky. we cannot second—guess what will happen but what must be playing in the back of the minds of politicians is this his easing the burden of ownership of sky news under the same ownership as rupert murdoch. what other changes might we see? a very strong streaming service coming out from disney, they already have something in the uk which is very small and only has their disney portfolio but we will see a much stronger streaming service coming out globally probably starting in the us. in the uk it offers sky a greater ability to innovate. and disney have the extraordinary back catalogue which will be perfect for a streaming service. absolutely, combine that with fox, you got star wars, a lot of marvel, the bits of marvel they don't already own, x—men now, avatar, the simpsons, modern family and national geographic. thank you very much for coming in. a third person has appeared in court charged with the murder of four children in a house fire in salford. twenty—five—year—old david worrall spoke only to confirm his name and address. he will now appear at crown court tomorrow alongside a 23—year—old man and 20—year—old woman also charged with murder. haemophilia — it's a condition that leads to excessive bleeding — even from minor injuries. it severely affects around 2,000 people in the uk. now a team of doctors say they have achieved a significant breakthrough in the treatment of the most common form of the disease. the research team at barts health nhs trust used gene therapy to correct the defect in a small safety trial. our health correspondent james gallagher reports. walking two miles to work used to be unthinkable forjake omer. he was born with haemophilia a, a genetic defect that means his blood did not clot. the slightest injury used to mean severe bleeding. even a long stroll would cause bleeding in hisjoints. but no more. i think the gene therapy has hopefully given me a new lease of life. it's going to allow me, as my boys grow up, to be a lot more active with them, so kick footballs around, climb trees with them, to hopefully run around in the park with them, and not be someone who has to worry about what i'm doing. jake's body struggles to produce a protein for clotting of blood called factor eight. he was one of 13 patients given gene therapy last year. a virus was used to give his body new instructions for making factor eight. all of the trial patients are off their haemophilia medication, and 11 have roughly normal levels of blood—clotting proteins. if this is how much factor eight you or i produce, well, this is how much is produced in a haemophilia patient. but you can see after the gene therapy trial it's almost up to normal. this is huge. it's groundbreaking. because the option to think about normalising levels in patients with severe haemophilia is absolutely mind blowing. to offer people the potential of a normal life, when they've had to inject themselves with factor eight every other day to prevent bleeding is transformational. it's a really exciting time for people with haemophilia. this could be life changing. but we need to understand who it works for, we need to understand why it works for those people and why it might not work for some other people, and understand the long—term implications and side effects. large studies will now take place to see if gene therapy can replace these regular injections and truly transform the lives of patients. james gallagher, bbc news. let's get a look at the weather. christmas isn't far away and eve ryo ne christmas isn't far away and everyone always wants to know is going be white? i will attempt to show you some changes. this is thejet i will attempt to show you some changes. this is the jet stream, i will attempt to show you some changes. this is thejet stream, we know all about the jet stream, fast—moving ribbon of air and eve ryo ne fast—moving ribbon of air and everyone does that motion, do you not do that? you should do. the position of the jet stream determines what whether we will have so this is the position at the moment, high up in the air doing that sort of thing and it means we are on the colder side of the jet strea m are on the colder side of the jet stream which is why we continue to see ice and snow. but if we run ahead over the next few days the position will change so you have this strong jet propagating all the way across the atlantic, all the way around the globe and you can see it is moving that bit further north, it encourages higher pressure across the uk. we tend to be on the mild side of thejet the uk. we tend to be on the mild side of the jet stream saw temperatures will be higher, less chance of snow. we get these incursions of culver air from time to time but the general pattern is the jet stream being further north. this is thursday, christmas day is not thirsty. visit monday or sunday? so we have got a few days to go. the general theme is it. like this. some computer models keep higher pressure over the uk, one or two push the cold airare over the uk, one or two push the cold air are down across the uk just in time for christmas day will stop what i am trying to say in a rather convoluted way as there is still a lot to play for. he doesn't know! let's bring things back to now. it is not promise. it is but one newspaper said a white christmas what odds on and i would ta ke christmas what odds on and i would take odds with that. would you i could tell us weather forecast for the next few days? it feels a bit colder today, this was the scene in dunfermline and find, temperatures around about the wintry mix of rain and sleet and mostly hill snow has pushed further south towards northern england, this is later on into the evening, another dose of sleet and snow and rain moving across western scotland, a frost and eastern scotland, blustery showers, this wintry mix, this band of rain, sleet and hills now pushing down across wales, perhaps even into the far south—west. still at this stage 6pm it is dry across eastern part of england but still quite cold and we might not get much wet weather across those areas during the night. these bands of wintry weather are pushing there were south, windy across western areas and the skies clear across the north, wales, the midlands and northwards we run the risk of ice with temperatures not farfrom risk of ice with temperatures not far from freezing. tomorrow we have got more sunshine and showers but by this stage it is a northerly wind. more showers unclouded, then the eastern side of england, much drier to the west, more sunshine, northern scotla nd to the west, more sunshine, northern scotland keeps wintry showers going central bent southern scotland sunni spells inland wales dry cold northerly winds tomorrow wind eases and showers begin to fade away temperatures drop quickly frost developing widely weekend cold they are replaced with milder westerly wind pushing more cloud and rain in the northwest. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. survivors of the grenfell tower fire have attended a memorial service at st paul's cathedral, alongside members of the royal family and pm theresa may. the royal family and the prime minister theresa may. 53 adults and 18 children died in the fire injune. theresa may is due to arrive in brussels shortly for a summit with eu leaders where they're expected to give the go—ahead for the next stage of brexit talks to begin. the government says its plans for brexit won't be affected by the last night's defeat in the commons. rupert murdoch has sold the majority of his company 21st century fox to disney — in a deal worth almost £40 billion. the sale includes broadcaster sky, and the 20th century fox film studio. a third person appeared in court charged with the murder of four children who died in a house fire in greater manchester on monday. sport now on afternoon live with hugh. it's a vital test match for england cricketers — and a far more positive day for their batsmen. how did they get on? the batsmen did well, having been criticised for the low scores in the first test. but dawid malan scored a maiden test century, he is still not out on 110 at the close. his parents watching in the stands. he said after he was fighting to keep the tears back. so a very good day for him and for mark stoneman and behrenger behrehoundougou. making half centuries, there was a sieveen from the opener in, alastair cook it is three out of the five innings he played that he has failed to reach double figures. they needed a good start after the first two defeats? yes, and happier at this point. at one stage, australia had them at 131—11. however, dawid malan and bairstow added 174 for the fifth wicket. so far that means england can hope for a big total on day two. ended up 305-4 at the a big total on day two. ended up 305—4 at the close. well just when they 305—4 at the close. welljust when they needed it most, england enjoyed their best day of the ashes series so far. they didn't start well, alastair cook going for seven, joe root for 20, mark stoneman battled hard against hostile australian bowling. but then went for 56, caught by the video umpire then england were at trouble at 131-4 but umpire then england were at trouble at 131—4 but a great partnership between dawid malan and behrenger behrehoundougou gave england —— jonny bairstow gave them the initiative. dawid malan, his first test century. what a day for him and given england a real chance. if they lose this test, they lose the ashes series. so the pressure is on but they have given themselves a chance going into day two. most of the games we felt we had a chance in all but did not capitalise in the crucial moments. australian being better in the high pressure moments. hopefully we can come out tomorrow, to capitalise in the first hour. to get on in that first hour, not to lose wickets and to get the scoreboard ticking along. get over the guys, and put them under pressure. and breaking news to us, jockey hayley turner has been given a three month suspension from racing after what was described as a relaxed and complacent attitude to the rules of racing in regards to bets she was making while holding a jockey‘s licence. she is said to be devastated and deeply embarrassed after steaking 164 bets, making a profit of £160 over an 18—month period. chris froome has told the bbc he understands that people will be cynical but insists that his credit will not be affected by details of medication that were discovered due to asthma medication he was taking. i stand by what i said. i certainly have not broken rules here. i haven't taken more than the per missable amount. i'm sure at the end of the day the truth will be told. pep guardiola, labelled mid—fielder david silva an animal, after he inspired manchester city to extend their winning run to 15 games. silva scored twice. aguero and kevin de bruyne also scored. pep guard ola was talking about his touch. for him to score a goal, in old trafford, today, tomorrow, more chance, he is sharp. at the moment he's in amazing condition. now it is nothing. good recovery. in three days tottenham hotspur and then we try to keep the good level. that's all the sport. i'll be back with more soon. thank you very much. a memorial service has been taking place at st paul's cathedral, six months after 71 people died in the grenfell tower fire. the prime minister and members of the royal familyjoined survivors, those who lost family and friends and rescue workers at the multi—faith service. welcome each one of you to this national memorial service of remembrance, community and hope. this is a nation that grieves at the unspeakable tragedy, loss and hurt of that june day. my my dad realised something was wrong. he ran up the stairs. he told my mum to go down stairs. ran up, called eve ryo ne to go down stairs. ran up, called everyone on our floor and woke me and my brother up. i smelled smoke but i thought my mum had a candle. so i went to blow out the candle. it was a very, very faint smoky smell. the windows broke. things were falling to the floor. in the space of six minutes, the fire had already reached six floors above it. you could see the smoke. it felt as if it wasn't real. as we commit out ofs to care for each other and to be united in the face of suffering and sorrow, as we seek each other‘s help and resolve, to build on our hopes for a future in which the tragedy that struck the peoples of grenfell tower will never happen again. never i did i think that people could rally around the way that the community around here managed to rally themselves around different religious, different walks of life. all of them coming together to help. in years to come, our hope is that the name of grenfell will notjust be known as a symbol of sorrow, of grief, or injustice but a symbol of the time we learned a new and a better way to listen and to love. amen. let's go straight to brussels. we can hear the prime minister is speaking at the summit. we do face a number of threats across europe. which range from daesh, where although we have had military success in iraq it is a they will threat. to the ongoing and unacceptable they will threat. to the ongoing and u na cce pta ble efforts they will threat. to the ongoing and unacceptable efforts by russia, through misinformation. i'll be talking about brexit and talking about the ambitious and the deep and the special partnership that i want to build with the european union for the future and on the security issue, i'm clear, although the british people took a sovereign decision to leave the eu, that does not mean we are leaving our responsibilities in terms of european security. you asked about the vote that took place in the house of commons last night, i'm disappointed with the amendment but the eu withdrawal bill is making good progress in the house of commons and on course to delivers brexit. last week, jean—claude juncker said progress had been made enough to move on to phase two of negotiations. yesterday, the european parliament overwhelmingly voted to accept that recommendation, and i'm looking forward to discussing that deep and special partnership in the future. it is clear you are having problems in parliament. do you accept as prime minister you have to make more compromises, notjust prime minister you have to make more compromises, not just with opposition parties but your own side? well, as i say, the eu withdrawal bill has been making good progress, we have had 36 votes, winning 35 votes with an average majority of 22. we are making progress, we are on course to deliver brexit, we are on course to deliver brexit, we are on course to deliver to the british people. are you confident? we have won 35 out of 36 votes in the eu bill. that means we are on course to deliver on the sovereign vote of the british people to leave the european union. that's what we will be doing. thank you. theresa may is going into the meeting. a two—day summit.ment are not talking about brexit but talking about migration and defence policy. but she will have an opportunity at the beginning of the dinner to set out some of her thoughts, what she wa nts to out some of her thoughts, what she wants to do from this point onwards and also giving some assurances to the other eu leaders. some have said that trust that was developed last friday has been undermined by some of the comments from david davis, all of them, most that i heard have said that at the are happy with the agreement being signed but they want it legally binding. as regards the vote last night in the house of commons, the british side are briefing that you must accept that there are obstacles in the way, along the path to brexit. there is give and take on both sides within the uk parliament and here in brussels as well. they are keen to say that along the last six months there have been compromises on both sides. don't forget that a lot of these leaders are leaders of minority governments or have been leaders of minority governments, they know how it rolls within parliaments. they have the scars to prove. so many we have the scars to prove. so many we have heard from today, the prime minister of the netherlands, saying that she is a formidable negotiator, having respect for her. the prime minister of luxembourg saying that the house of commons should trust that theresa may is trying to get the best deal for the that theresa may is trying to get the best dealfor the uk, that with ill with put our trust in her. and the taoiseach in ireland, he said he was happy with the deal. and for him full alignment meant full alignment and not marshal alignment. let's bring in adam fleming. he has been here. did i get that right, it has been positive for theresa may? yes, the point that you made, that the politicianses that are leaders of minority governments, coalitions or somebody like angela merkel trying to force a coalition government, this are going easy on theresa may. for that small scale domestic issue she experienced last night. and it is not done at eu politics to point out your colleague's domestic misfortune on the red carpet. and jean—claude juncker, the eu president. they know she is both wea k president. they know she is both weak but also strong, so it does not change the per perimeters for them. they know she has difficulty with the backbenchers, that there is division, it does not change their focus? and we have discussed many times, the people here are voracious readers and listeners of british news. they know what the situation is that is facing theresa may. they wa nt is that is facing theresa may. they want a prime minister that stays where she is, as they feel that they have made concessions and pledges to her. they don't want another prime minister to come in to demand other concessions and maybe more hardline and fear but they think that boris johnson if he was the prime minister would be hard tore deal with and more willing to walk from the negotiations without a deal and they know that the withdrawal agreements, the final brexit deal must go before the final brexit deal must go before the british parliament to be approved, otherwise there is no deal and they want to avoid that situation. they know that they have to sign something that is palatable to sign something that is palatable to the british parliament. but the dilemma is how much do they "help" theresa may, versus compromising setting out in their principles, how to negotiate the brexit negotiations. adam. thank you very much. so, theresa may into the summit. they are talking about migration and defence. they are keen to hear what she has in mind for the next process to begin on monday. maybe she will give them clues over the coffee and the mints this evening. very nice indeed. lovely detail there, don't fall off the step, colin! now, breaking news regarding tax changes in the draft budget put forward by scotland's finances act. a variety of changes, in additional, a new tax band of 21 pence in the pound created for those earning 24,000 or more, and a starter income tax rate of 19 pence, meaning no—one in scotland earning less than 33,000 will may more in tax. it does mean that lower earners would pay less in scotla nd that lower earners would pay less in scotland than in england but higher earners pay more and there has been an announcement of a guaranteed pay increase of 3% for public sector workers earning 30,000 or less in scotland. the rate applies between 24,000 and the higher threshold of 44273. increased in line with inflation only. to make the income tax fairer i have chosen to make a further change. to announce that i will introduce a new scottish starter rate of income tax of 19 pence. this rate of income tax of 19 pence. this rate applies to the first £2,000 of taxable income, between 11850, and 13850. this new starter rate combined with the increase in the personal allowance ensures that no—one earning less than £33,000, which is 70% of all taxpayers will pay anymore in tax than #24e do now. . . pay anymore in tax than #24e do now... scotland's finance secretary, derek mckay. us regulators could be about to scrap rules guaranteeing equal access to the internet — a principle known as ‘net neutrality‘. it was enshrined in law under president obama in 2015 — but under the trump administration it looks doomed following a huge battle in the business world. joining us now to explain more is matthew howett, an analyst that advises on legislative developments that affects communications markets. thank you very much. explain what net neutrality means. it is an alien idea to us. it is the people that sell us access to the internet, the isps the broadband providers, they have to treat the traffic equally, whether it is an e—mailfrom grandmother or you watching something on netflix. they put it through the broadband pipe and it arrives at your computer. the arguments that are taking place are whether or not some companies should be charged more money to deliver the content more quickly or in a more prioritised way so you don't get a buffering when you are watching something for example on you tube. so it could mean that those with the money to pay for better access could bump others out of the way? that is the risk. this is what the consumer groups and advocates are saying. whilst net flex and you tube, facebook could afford to pay the higher prices to get content there quicker, what about the new facebooks and netflix that we don't know about, how could they negotiate the prices? so another piece of obama legislation that is at risk. what is donald trump's view? donald trump said that we don't need the rules in place. that there are other ways to fix problems that could occur as a result of this. that you don't need lengthy documents in place to prevent it. but that is u ntested. place to prevent it. but that is untested. we don't know what the federal trade commission, the ones policing it would do, we don't know their position with some of the possibly violations, so the risk of not having the rules is that uncertainty. when i was read being this earlier, one of the arguments is that companies don't invest in services to poorer parts of the country, or those that have not such fast access these days. so there is no incentive to invest if they cannot make money. why don't campaigners buy that argument? there isa campaigners buy that argument? there is a valid argument to be made there. governments in particular are pushing the industry to invest in ensuring conebbing tavity to more people, and someone will have to punt billions to build the networks, so they are saying that maybe they need to share the revenue split by facebook, who make a lot of money from advertising to fund the deployments. thank you very much. now to a family mystery which has taken a now to a family mystery which has takena man now to a family mystery which has taken a man more than 70 years to softly. in 19—43, a box was found on the steps of the bbc in london. found by trevor hill, who thought it was a bomb. but it turned out that the box contained a baby, robert king. he is now 74. he has spent his life wondering who his family are and why they left him. he has been reunited with the man who found him all of those years ago. a reunion 74 years apart asker hill meets the contents of a box he found in1973, meets the contents of a box he found in 1973, that is today, 74—year—old robin king. in1943, bbc broadcasting house had been bombed. the overseas service was set up on oxford street. trevor turned up for work and he found a box. you were wrapped in a blanket. did you worry i was a bomb? exactly, we we re did you worry i was a bomb? exactly, we were sure it was. and when it moved slightly. we thought, there was a timer. thankfully, it was robin in the box. aged two weeks he became a foundling. named robin peters, after the department store where he was found and adopted at the age of four. after decades of searching last year, robin's daughter traced his biological parents to canada with the help of a dna expert. they were douglas and agnes jones. the help of a dna expert. they were douglas and agnesjones. he was in the royal canadian air force, he met and married agnes in glasgow. it isa and married agnes in glasgow. it is a mystery. it seems that it was difficult for him or my mother to leave a box in that position at that particular time during the war when there was a lot of security worries. so, that does not make sense to me. today, a few more pieces of robin's early life have been filled in. it's been a completely, for me, a magical day. a day that i never thought would exist and i never ever imagined that i would get to meet the contents of that box. he is still desperate to know why he was left outside of the bbc in 1943 but grateful of course, to have been found by trevor. the mystery solved, delightful! a in moment, the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. a memorial service is held at st paul's cathedral to remember the 71 people who died in the grenfell tower fire six months ago today. theresa may is expected back in brussels shortly for a crucial eu summit, just hours after her brexit defeats in the commons. defeats in the commons. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the bank of england keeps interest rates unchanged at 0.5%. in november rates were raised for the first time in a decade by 0.25%. walt disney has announced a £39 billion takeover of 21st century fox's entertainment assets, including the group's 39% stake in sky. sports direct has seen pre—tax profits plunge more than 60% to just under £46 million. the retailer blames store closures, reduced online promotions and the knock on effect of the brexit hit pound — which has seen its value fall. so, the fox story is your lead. why would disney want to buy fox and sky? well, the competition, largely with the likes of netflix, amazon and so on, in order to increase their stable, they want to be able to ta ke their stable, they want to be able to take on all of the things that they, that 21st century fox has, the studios and the out lets around the world and also, the main competition to netflix, that gateway, the way in which they distribute stuff out to people. and also, star india, 650 million viewers, that they have got, which is quite a lot. so a huge audience, a huge pipeline and an enormous amount of content any which to push out, so that is a contenders against netflix, which up until now, they have not been. what happens to sky? there is a press release from sky. prior to the close of this transaction, prior, before the transaction, that it happens, that it is anticipated that zist happens, that it is anticipated that 21st century fox will seek to com plete 21st century fox will seek to complete a planned acquisition of the 61% of sky that it does not already own. so what will happen, 21st century fox under rupert murdoch would have taken over the whole of sky. that came up and was referred to the competition market authority it is under investigation, it may be running into trouble but that is because of the rupert murdoch ownership. we will see what happens now. mr bissoon is with us now. what is going to happen now? i think it is likely that sky has pulled away. it has separated the news assets and we will see if disney can com plete assets and we will see if disney can complete the deal. they have said that the fox disney deal is not dependant on the sky deal completing but clearly it is a key part of the strategy. rupert murdoch was talking of closing down sky all together. that is not on the cards? no. it is it is a core plank of strategy going forward for disney. disney is trying to make itself independent of the distribution chain. skye is part of that, delivering and streaming in the same way that netflix does is the same way that netflix does is the more important part of that strategy. so what is happening behind the doors of rupert murdoch's empire, why has he done this? what sort of family politics is going on? why has he done this? what sort of family politics is going 0mm why has he done this? what sort of family politics is going on? it is ha rd to family politics is going on? it is hard to say. i don't think that anyone expect when news corp was separated into two parts, the news and the entertainment part, that the entertainment would be sold. news corp has been a palm run business, james murdoch has been key and instrumental in sky and other pay tv platforms owned by news around the world. now the role for him is in questions. disney has been telling a nalysts questions. disney has been telling analysts that they are to discuss if there is a role for him in the future company. when this goes through, will there be changes to what we watch? will it make a difference for us? talking about the regulator approval, disney was keen to stress that this means more investment in quality content. so nominally, the consume erwins but it means that one company has massive control over a vast amount of co nte nt. guy bisson, thank you very much. i would like to be sitting around the murdoch christmas table. always an entertaining event, to be sure! interesting to know how they feel. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett hello there. it is windy with a mixture of weather. a mix of rain and sleet and wind. the skies clear over the north. an ice risk there. the temperatures getting close to freezing. showers to come tomorrow. sunshine too and a different wind direction, so showers coming down the east of england. fewer showers to the west where there is more sunshine and over northern scotland, feeding in showers here. a northerly wind on the way for friday, temperatures similarto the way for friday, temperatures similar to those of today. the large parts of the uk having a dry day inland with sunshine too. as the winds drop on friday night, the showers become fewer. the temperatures slide away quickly, a frost on the way. over the weekend, we replace the colder air with atla ntic we replace the colder air with atlantic air, westerly winds blowing in milder conditions and cloud. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm martine croxall. today at 3pm: a service at st paul's cathedral to remember the 71 victims of the grenfell tower fire. more than 1500 people attended the multi—faith service. we come together as people of different faiths and none, as we remember before god those whose lives were lost. the prime minister returns to brussels for a crucial eu summit after her brexit commons defeat last night. i'm disappointed by the amendment but the eu withdrawal bill is making good progress and we're on course to deliver brexit. inaudible a big moment for a media mogul — rupert murdoch is shrinking his empire by selling the majority of his company fox to disney. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. not too bad for the batsmen on the england side in the third test? pretty good, and a special moment for dawid malan who had to hold back the tears as he scored his first test century which has helped england into a very good position in this crucial third ashes test. and darren burnett has all the weather. it's getting colder, changes on the way this weekend, and into next week, just in time for christmas, i will bring you all the details later on. also coming up — a 70—year—old mystery is solved — the story of the baby boy who was found in a box on the steps of the bbc. a multi—faith memorial service has taken place at st paul's cathedral — six months to the day since the fire at grenfell tower in west london which left 71 people dead. survivors of the fire in london attended the service, alongside members of the royal family and the prime minister. the bishop of kensington, graham tomlin, said he hoped the tragedy would represent a "time we learnt a new, better way". reeta chakrabarti is at st paul's. it's been a day of reflection and all so pure grief and raw emotion here at st paul's cathedral. it's six months to the day since that terrible tragedy in west london and there are many, many questions that have gone unanswered which still swirl around to do with that terrible day. there is even police investigation and a public enquiry. ina investigation and a public enquiry. in a sense today, the service this morning was a moment to pause and reflect a nd morning was a moment to pause and reflect and allow people to properly mourn those they have lost. in a moment i will speak to somebody who was at the service but first here is my colleague franklyn mccamley with a summary of the mornings events. it's been a long six months for so many families whose lives were torn apart exactly six months ago. a tragedy which highlighted failures alongside the bravery of the emergency services and the unity within a community. today they came together. we try our best to stay together and stay united, so that's exactly what's happening and all the difficulties we have, all of the hard days, the hard time we had is unforgettable, we cannot forget. joined by members of the royal family who have met many of those affected by the fire, alongside political leaders showing their support. the duke and duchess of cambridge and prince harry making their way to their seats, sat alongside the prime minister, multi—faith leaders and the community surrounding grenfell tower. but at the heart of the service, remembering the 53 adults and 18 children who lost their lives, including the youngest victim who would have been one today. welcome each one of you to this national memorial service of remembrance, community and hope. the service incorporated an islamic girls school choir, a steel band, and a montage of some of the survivors. you begin to feel survivor's guilt and i think maybe not now but within the next couple of months we will start to question, why was it them? why did we survive, why didn't they? but for some, it became too much. raw emotions still plain to see. others watched the service live streamed to a mosque close to the tower which became an emergency shelter at the time, taking in clothes and food. after paying their respects, families and survivors left in silence carrying white roses and pictures of their loved ones, holding the heart of their community which will lead a silent vigil later today. some of the scenes from today's moving events. our correspondent andy miller as at the cultural heritage centre where many survivors spent the night after the tragedy. yes this place has been at the centre from day one of the efforts to help the bereaved and the survivors. some of today's service was also planned and directed from here and there was a live relay of the service and quite a few people watching it here. one of them joins me now, from the charity muslim aid, what were your feelings as she watched the service? it was extremely emotional and touching. i did not expected to be as emotional as that but it was nice to see how on the day the actual tragedy, people of all and amenities and people of no faith came together to commemorate what was a great tragedy. you are helping out in the immediate aftermath of the fire, what are your memories? i arrived at the scene in the morning of the fire, there were people who were there early in the morning trying to help those who were affected, families that had lost loved ones. i met a man whose family lived on the 23rd floor and he could not find his family and he was distraught and he was fasting and he refused to break his fast. we were just there to give emotional support and continue to help with counselling and referral services. this was an interfaith service today, from your point of view how have the various faiths and churches collaborated here? it has been an amazing show of unity, all the different faiths coming together. in the memorial service it was nice to see the interfaith nature, the different faith leaders coming together and all the faiths they included in the service, the school they had, the girls that sang, it was nice to see the community cohesion. we would like to see that thing more in future for sure. thank you very much. and we have just been joined by the chief executive of the mosque here, you were at the service at st paul's, what are your feelings? it was very inclusive, very impressive and it reflected the diversity of the community so we thank st paul's cathedral for hosting such an event and all the faith leaders who had been planning and working on this. we have been hearing that right from day one and this mosque, this cultural centre has been at the heart of efforts to help those involved in the tragedy, what have you been doing the last few months to help people? we have gone through two phases, we are about to embark on a third. the first phase was the emergency response we were not prepared for and did not plan. that involves mainly providing emergency staff like toiletries, clothes, things people need immediately like cash hand—outs even. the second was more focused on counselling and support, therapy. a bit of legal and other advice as well. in partnership with other professional bodies. the third phase we are going to embark on first with research on identifying the real need of the community and then the second step of that will be to see what resources we have locally, to meet those needs and then the third will be to either complements those resources or fill a gap where we feel we can. thank you very much. quite a few tears here today as people are watching the service and it's nice to know there were specialist workers from the nhs here today, a lot of them involved in supporting people after the tragedy and they are offering psychological counselling services to hundreds of people and no doubt that will continue for a long time. thank you. i am nowjoined here outside st paul's by lotifah who works for muslim aid, you were on the ground from the beginning, what sort of support people needed? the families and victims who have survived have many ongoing needs including donations of clothes, even in the immediate aftermath the counselling needs have been wide and varied. we are also seeing they still have ongoing housing needs and the grief, the difficulties they have faced is something they will continue to need support for from many other charities like muslim aid who have been on the ground. you have been working with them for six months, would you say the mood amongst people has changed? i think definitely the bereaved families and survivors are still very emotional, as we saw today at the memorial service, they are still coming to terms with this difficult and tragic time, six months on there's still a long road to go in terms of their healing. and you are working with the local community in west london, in sight of the tower, how is that for you? it's been a very emotional and difficult time for many of the volunteers including volunteers who were on the ground, working alongside many other faith communities. i think it's been one of the most challenging times. and what will the service have meant for people? it was a very meaningful service for people today, i think for the families and the community it was a reminder of how london came together to provide support to the families after this tragic fire. thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc news. there you have it, it was i think a service which was characterised by its diversity, by the fact it was multi—faith. although it took place in st paul's cathedral all the faiths in west london were present. as the organisers said it was a moment for people of all faiths and of none. and the point of it was they come together if not to heal, because for some people they never will, they will at least start to come to terms with what it is that happened to them this year. the prime minister has arrived in brussels for a summit of eu leaders. it comes after conservative rebels defeated the government in a key brexit vote in the commons last night. mps backed an amendment giving them a legal guarantee of a vote on the final brexit deal struck with brussels. let's cross over to brussels where we can join christian fraser. thank you, yes, we are in the europa building where theresa may arrived a few minutes ago, the last of the leaders to arrive because she has been at the grenfell tower more today. i was thinking, this red carpet which weaves its way around the building is a bit like the long and winding road of brexit, the leaders come down it slowly and arrive here in front of hundreds of expectant faces, the flashbulbs of the press who want to know which directs it brexit is heading next. the prime minister arrives on the back of an embarrassing defeat in the commons and she was asked if she was in the mood to compromise, let's listen. you asked about the vote which took place last night, i am disappointed with the amendment but actually the eu withdrawal bill is making good progress to the house of commons and we are on course to deliver on brexit. remember last week, jean—claude juncker said sufficient progress had been made to move on to phase two of negotiations. yesterday the european parliament overwhelmingly voted to accept that recommendation and i am looking forward to discussing it. so the prime minister in a determined mood and many european leaders who came here now her like that, the prime minister of the netherlands said she is a very determined negotiator and they still have huge respect for her. do not forget a lot of these politicians who come here today are from minority governments, they have worked in coalitions. angela merkel is still trying to form a coalition so they understand the ups and downs of parliamentary politics. it will not in anyway change their attitude towards the brexit process or indeed to theresa may. she will be talking about brexit receiving for the first time at dinner, it's the withdrawal agreement, if there has been sufficient process and people who have been coming here say there has but they want that agreement to be legally binding and they also want more detailfrom the prime minister on what she wants from the brexit process. i don't think they will get much detail because she still has to talk to her cabinet. you can see here the title reinforcing european defence which is a reminder it's not just about brexit today, they will be talking about defence spending and the defence pact 25 of the 28 european, countries have agreed on and there will be talk about immigration, there is a lot of discomfort about quarters. i am joined by the migration and defence reporter from political europe, joined by the migration and defence reporterfrom political europe, some very colourful uniforms behind you, we have had the nato secretary general here and he was reminding us that when the britain leads the european union, 80% of defence spending in europe will come from outside because we are the second biggest spender after the united states. but that is one of the reasons that european leaders are so keen to launch this new military pact. in the last two months we had the celebration of this new pact and one of the reasons is of course the fa ct one of the reasons is of course the fact that also the relationship with the united states is not going so well and there are tensions with russia on the rise. but it is also true there could also be a role for the uk in this pact because british people say the uk would like to have a role in some of the projects which are linked to this new military pact. big spending? there is, yes, from 2020, every year 5.5 billion euros on the plate which will be interesting for british companies. euros on the plate which will be interesting for british companieslj interesting for british companies.” was going to say, when they say we are all 27 countries when it comes to brexit is that the same for defence and the uk involvement in defence and the uk involvement in defence and the uk involvement in defence and security within the union? keeping european unity is a full—timejob. an defence it's about talking to a central europeans and the baltic countries, they are much more eager to have an agreement with the brits compared to some other countries in western europe. so the future relationship coming to defence and trade is probably not going to be the same walk in the park that was... going to be the same walk in the park that was. .. solly bridge for the prime minister maybe? park that was. .. solly bridge for the prime minister maybe7m park that was. .. solly bridge for the prime minister maybe? it could be for the brits that europe is united because how can you have trade talks if the 27 start having 27 different positions? i'm not sure for a london perspective it's better to have a divided europe. 0k, we must leave it there. the living 11 conservative mps who voted in yesterday's commons vote. borisjohnson said the vote would not thwart process. it will not for one second stop brexit, stop the brexit process, it is going to go on and they will get it done any successful and very timely way. i think of course it's right that parliament should have a vote on the final deal, that was always going to be the case. with the best will in the world i don't think last night's vote really changes those facts. i think brexit is unstoppable, as helmut kohl used to say of the process of the european union, it will go on. we will get it done in a very, successful way. i cannot believe the life of me that when it comes to it, parliament would actually vote to stop or reverse the brexit process or frustrate the will of the british people. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: a memorial service is heard at st paul's cathedral to remember the 71 people who died in the grenfell tower fire six months ago. theresa may is in brussels for a crucial eu summit after defeat in the commons last night. media mogul rupert murdoch shrinks his empire by selling the majority of 21st century fox to disney. and in sport, a maiden test century from dawid malan puts england in the ascendancy on the opening day of the third ashes test, it is one they cannot afford to lose. british flat racing ‘s most successful female jockey hayley turner has been given a three—month ban by the british horse racing authority for a breach of betting rules. and chris froome and says his legacy will not be tainted despite returning an advert doping test result for a legal asthma drug. rupert murdoch has sold a majority of his company 21st century fox to disney — in one of the biggest media deals for years. after decades of expanding his huge empire, the 86—year—old media mogul has finally taken the decision to shrink his business by selling off a major wing of fox — which owns sky — for £39 billion. disney's ceo bob iger told abc's good morning america that the merger has come about to satisfy consumer demand. and that a decision has yet to be made about the role of james murdoch. they are announcing some plans of their own right now, james andi plans of their own right now, james and i will be talking over the next number of months, he will be integral to the integration process and he and i will be discussing if there is a role for him or not at our company. we can now speak to matthew garrahan, global media editor at the financial times. thanks forjoining us, why would a disney want this particular deal? disney want this particular deal? disney has its eye on all of the entertainment that fox makes, it has its eye on the state in sky in the uk, it owns a movie studio and cable tv networks, it has is studio which makes big movie franchises. it will get all that if the deal goes through and it means disney has a much more broad, bigger global offering it can sell to people around the world wherever they are to watch disney entertainment on a streaming service which disney is about to launch. if all those assets are so appealing why does rupert murdoch want to sell? he said on a call with investors a while ago that it wasn't to retreat, it was a pair that a pivotal moment and that is this, the world of entertaining is changing faster than rupert and his company were growing. netflix and companies like them have changed the way people watch and consume tv entertainment. people don't want to sit down in front of the tv at a certain time to watch tv when they are told to, they would rather be in control of watching shows when they wa nt control of watching shows when they want which means using the internet, subscribing to streaming services and you are only going to subscribe if it has everything you want and rupert murdoch and fox do not have a broad enough library or suite of movies and tv programmes to persuade people around the world to subscribe. what will it mean for customers here? it means in the uk that sky, it will eventually be taken over that sky, it will eventually be ta ken over by that sky, it will eventually be taken over by disney. the deal will ta ke taken over by disney. the deal will take about a year to go through. at the end of that process presuming it's cleared disney will be either the 40% owners or the 100% owners of sky and that also depends on if regulators here approve fox purchasing sky. but the bottom line here is sky as we know it, the huge ukp tv company is gone to end up in disney's hands. what shape and focus will be murdoch empire have then? they are not giving up completely, they are giving up one global video entertainment but they will still have their big business in the united states, fox news which is becoming more and more influential as it is the daily viewing of president trump and it makes a lot of money. they will own a big tv network, the fox network itself and they will still own a new score which is a separate business which owns uk newspapers and in the us. it's not like they are vanishing into the distance, they will still be around but they are putting in a different direction. thank you very much. the government in scotland is to read income tax to 21p in the pound for those earning more than £24,000 a year. our correspondent catriona renton is at holyrood, the scottish parliament. they have had the opportunity to do this for some time and it's the first time they have used it? that's right, this has been quite a budget, a budget with a lot of giveaways, more money for the nhs and education, local government, a package of support for business to boost economic growth, a big announcement of lifting the cap on public sector pay so those earning less tha n public sector pay so those earning less than £30,000 will get a rise of 396. less than £30,000 will get a rise of 3%. but this budget comes against the backdrop of the scottish government facing a shortfall of hundreds of millions of pounds. the question we have all been waiting to be answered is how is this going to be answered is how is this going to be paid for and that is with a rise in income tax. let me talk you through this because it's fairly complicated, up until now everyone earning over the income free allowa nce earning over the income free allowance up to £44,000 would have paid the basic rate which is frozen at 20p but now the scottish government is introducing a new intermediate level tax band which is 21p for people earning between £24,000 and £44,000 per year. there are other rises for their earning over £44,000 per year who will pay a higher rate at 41p and those earning over a will pay more again than the rest of the uk at 46p. this means nobody earning less than £33,000 will pay more and there is more, there is a new 19p lower rate for there is a new 19p lower rate for the first £2000 of taxable income of the first £2000 of taxable income of the tax—free allowance. so according to an analyst who has just spoken to us, if you are earning less than £26,000 a year you will largely be slightly better off. let's hear what the finance secretary had to say earlier. these decisions are therefore enabled me to reverse the real terms cut that westminster has imposed on our resources budget next year whilst ensuring that scotland is notjust the year whilst ensuring that scotland is not just the fairest taxed part of the uk but for the majority of taxpayers, the lowest taxed part of the uk. in the run—up to this budget we knew that none of the other parties were going to oppose it apart from the conservatives. the scottish government previously pledged they would not raise the basic level of income tax so those being affected today have had that promised breached see the scottish conservatives. today presiding officer of the snp and every member officer of the snp and every member of this government has broken a promise to the scottish people. despite pledging not to increase taxes for those on the basic rate, a pledge repeated 53 times and despite 65% of the scottish population in may last year voting to endorse that position today they are proposing to do the opposite and increase taxes for those on the basic rate. nobody will believe a word they say ever again. so, for the first time we do have what is actually a very different tax system here in scotla nd different tax system here in scotland than in the rest of the uk. thank you very much, katrina renton at holyrood. theresa may is in brussels for the summit with eu leaders after suffering the defeat in the commons last night over the withdrawal bill, 11 conservatives rebelled byjoining opposition parties in demanding mps get a vote on any final deal with the eu before it's implemented. ken clarke was one of those 11 conservative mps and he joins us now, thank you forjoining us, critical headlines on some of the newspapers, the daily mail in particular asking if you're proud of yourselves. what could the government have done to your mind to have avoided this defeat last night? it should have faced up to the inevitable situation that when it has done a deal and has decided what it once it is going to require the approval of parliament. it is accountable to parliament. we are robustly heading towards brexit but nobody actually wants to head towards brexit on the basis that ministers and officials are just left to firstly agree amongst themselves what they want and then negotiate the best they can and that is it. the british government is accountable to parliament, it will require the approval of parliament and will rather strengthen our hand in the course of negotiations because she will be able to say i could not possibly concede that, i would never persuade my parliament to agree. that's the opposite of what a lot of people are saying, saying you have you related the prime minister and have weakened her hands, that her authority is even further diminished as she turns up to try negotiating the rest of the agreements, how should she play it? that is lightweight newspaper rubbish the debate was about whether or not parliament was going to have a say in the final deal when it comes along before the british commit themselves to arrangements which will affect our children and grandchildren for the next 50 years? the idea that parliament was not going to assist on having a say was a lwa ys going to assist on having a say was always a complete solution. the amendment and the debate had nothing to do with whether we leave the european union, there is nothing which. as leaving and nothing to do with whether the prime minister was going to head the negotiations, nobody is suggesting the government falls because it has lost one amendment to a bell. the bill is actually extremely important, it restores the british rule of the parliamentary accountability, it will also improve the general tone and nature of the debate in the house of commons. all ministers have to start taking the house of commons more seriously, perhaps some would sound off to the newspapers are little less and address their parliamentary critics and their audience more seriously, we are just about to go into the serious stage of the negotiations, the things we have settled could have been several months ago and they have all been settled an obvious terms. the next negotiation is hugely important, we have got to ensure we do not put new tariffs, new customs barriers, new regulatory barriers between ourselves and our biggest single market and all our neighbours. parliament is going to want to approve the final deal which the prime minister gets and everyone in parliament once the prime minister to get the best deal for britain out of that. that may sound like to some like wanting to remain in the customs union, some may say here is another mooner, wishing to remain? this, leaving the single market and the customs union has been invented as we return to ordinary politics after the referendum and the triumphant haroldliners said this meant we left the single market and the customs union. iam not the single market and the customs union. i am not sure that ne they know what is involved. there will have to be conversions on both sides of the border to keep the maximum amount of free trade that we can. we conceded for the irish that there will be regulatory mcconnochie versions, it is the only way to keep the irish border open, and the only way to keep the border only between the rest of britain and the eu. the details matters enormously. huge sections of the population, very important areas of business. it will be discussed in a grown up way and approved in parliament before the government signs them. that's the issue behind all of this. it does not bare relation to the rubbish in the daily mail. if you were to vote down the deal that the prime minister brings back, have you not pushed britain towards leaving with no deal at all as we may have run out of time to renegotiate before the deadline? no sensible person on either side of the channel wants no deal. it would be a terrible shock to the western economy. all kinds of things up western economy. all kinds of things up in the air, all kinds of things. no deal is not a realistic option. if one of the parties, and most importantly, the british are unable to get their government to agreeing to get their government to agreeing to whatever deal is proposed, the deal will be readdressed. that's how it works. it is how international diplomacy works in the modern age, not just diplomacy works in the modern age, notjust in the european union. the one thing, i think, that all of the prime ministers will agree, is that they are not going to have no deal. the terms of the deal are crucially important. parliament must have a say in that. it is extraordinary, we have had 300 yea rs of it is extraordinary, we have had 300 years of parliamentary democracy, we are proud of our arrangements, which we still think are better than some other european states, you can't have 27 other governments accountable to their departments, and then for the british parliament not to take what the ministers come back with. it is bizarre. it strengthens their position. that they have to carry our parliament, like they have to carry their parliament. and we are confident that there will bea and we are confident that there will be a majority. if anybody fails to get a be a majority. if anybody fails to getajird, we be a majority. if anybody fails to get a jird, we revisit it. the canadian deal, the parliament of alumia even had a say. you cannot say that the british are not ready for democracy yet. if you are going to vote for the deal, then, and of course you don't have a crystal ball, what are the elements that you would say are not negotiable for you to be in the deal? i have made it clear, i have said that my aim is to have arrangements that do not put in place tariffs between ourselves and the #35r789, don't put in place needs for customs clearance or any regulatory divisions that require paperwork and process. we are a free trading country. we are not going protectionist against our 27 neighbours who are by far the most important market of all, we want to attract investment. that's what i aim at. in the real world you get as close as that as you can. the referendum and the brexiteers have raced many caveats, that may make it impossible to get it in full but thatis impossible to get it in full but that is what i would go for. the sooner the cabinet come to an agreement with each other, what it is that they are going for, the sooner that we can start serious negotiations with the other europeans about what the final deal will be. how difficult cult was it for you to vote against the government last night and how likely are you to do it again? i've been voting against the government frequently during the bill. but people don't follow parliament anymore. i have voted more than once against the government yesterday. it was extraordinary, a provision in the bill that said you could make regulations under the bill that you could use to amend the bill itself. iam sure could use to amend the bill itself. i am sure it is switching most of the listeners off as it is technical. but i am voting according to my view of what is in the national interest and consistent with the views that i have always expressed. i am a pro—european, with the views that i have always expressed. iam a pro—european, a free trader, i have a social market conscience and i certainly believe in accountability. that is what the member of parliament is for. i will not resite you mr edmund burke's address to the electors of bristol but i am there to express on behalf of my constituents, if they disapprove, they can throw me out at any stage. but i am trying to make the best contribution that i can for what i think is the best interests of my children and grandchildren. i shall vote accordingly. the tribalism of politics must bed ascythe when you get to the matters of great national interest. i have no idea how many times i have voted against the government. several times. ii'm sure government. several times. i i'm sure that somebody is counting. ken clarke, thank you very much. not following! honestly! sport now. afternoon live with hugh. here we are. sorry to keep you waiting. a big political beast to speak to. the first test under way. england elected to bat and this ewon the toss. they got on well? yes, on a pitch good for the batsmen. england's batsmen were criticised. low scores in the first two tests but a clear response. dawid malan scoring his maiden test century. he is still not out. 110 at the close. his parents watching in the stands at the waqar. he said after, he was fighting to keep back the tears. the first test century at the age of 30. a good day for mark stoneman and jonny bairstow. half centuries. the block for england, a seven for opener alastair cook. three out of five in the innings that he has not reached double figures. a good pitch to bat on but not the best for cook. a few tense days? england are happier. at one stage australia reduced them to 131—4. the fast bowlers looking in good nick. but dawid malan, with bairstow added 174 for the 5th wicket. so england can hope for a big total on the end of day two. and dawid malan still there. after he spoke about the joy of reaching the first test century. it's been nice you know. there was pressure coming into the game. so, yeah, it was nice to score runs. and especially when the team needed it. we were 115 or 120 for three or four, whatever it was. so nice to do it when the team needed it. to ensure that i cashed in when i got the start. hayley turner has been given a three month suspension from racing after the british horse racing authority described a relaxed and a complacent altitude to the rules of racing in regards to racing bets while holding a jockey‘s licence. she is said to be devastated and deeply embarrassed after steaking 164 bets, making a profit of £106 over an 18 month period. i clearly did break the rules. i think i have spent my whole adult life putting into the sport and more than i should have done. it isjust a bitter pill to swallow. the panel had said you were lax and complacent to the rules of racing. the rules about not betting are there. you accept there is zero tolerance to this? i accept that there must be some sort of rule book. i was in the wrong. three months is quite harsh, though. joe wilson with the questions there. chris froome has told the bbc he understands people will be cynical but insists that his legacy will not be tainted after it emerged that he had double the amount level of a legal asthma drug in his urine during a test that he won in september. the governing body wants more from the team but chris froome has not been suspended. i understand it comes as a shock to a lot of people. but i stand by what isaid. i a lot of people. but i stand by what i said. i have not broken rules here. i have not taken more than the per missable amount. i am sure at the end of the day that the truth will be told. golf and england's justin will be told. golf and england'sjustin rose is enjoying a stella end to the year. a two—shot lead after the first round of the indonesian masters, shooting a 10—under par 62 to take poll position in the asian tour season's ending event. it's the third win since the end of october, with a round that included three birdies. very comfortable. i did all of the right things. the ball in play off the tee. and with ball in hand, and on the fairway, a perfect lie for the shots, that's what i did well and was able to take advantage. after winning the uk championship for a record equalling sixth time, ronnie o'sullivan has continued his winning streak, making a century break winning his third round match at the scope beating lee hang of china. he will play michael white in the fourth round. that's all the sport. katherine downes is here with more in the next hour. ina more in the next hour. in a moment, the business news with jamie. why are you tapping? don't tap! it makes me think that you need something?! it makes me think that you need something?! this is bbc news — our latest headlines. survivors of the grenfell tower fire have attended a memorial service at st paul's cathedral, alongside members of the royal family and the prime minister theresa may. 53 adults and 18 children died in the fire injune. theresa may has arrived in brussels for a crucial eu summit. hours after her defeat on brexit in the commons. the scottish government has announced income tax changes that will see them earning higher salaries than in the uk. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. the bank of england keeps interest rates unchanged at 0.5%. in november rates were raised for the first time in a decade by 0.25%. sports direct has seen pre—tax profits plunge more than 60% to just under 46 million pounds. under £46 million. the retailer blames store closures, reduced online promotions and the knock on effect of the brexit hit pound — which has seen its value fall. jamie, there is a story in the us this afternoon about net neutrality. what exactly is net neutrality and does it matter to us over here? it's the freedom, for everyone, to be able to use the internet equally. there are a number of different ways of looking at it. imagine it is like a motorway. that everybody can use whatever lane that they like, the idea of getting rid of net neutrality would allow the motorway authorities, to say that you can only use this lane if you pay. so... whether faster or slower? yes, faster or slower, or whatever. soa faster or slower, or whatever. so a lot of people feel that in principle, keeping that net neutrality is important. the whole democratisation of the internet, eve ryo ne democratisation of the internet, everyone can use it whetherever you are, it is important, important to the pioneers of the internet. so what is being proposed? america? the federal communications commission says, and also donald trump has been vociferous about allowing companies to impose conditions on how you use it. the argument is that it will allow them to raise revenues and being able to invest more in the internet. the net effect would be more that the internet would appear to you as a user, more like a subscription service, so you would have an idea about what you are buying and they believe it allows the buyers to know what they are getting and to allow the companies to produce when they feel that the consumer wants and is prepared to pay for. this is a us regulatory issue, how would we be affected? not at the moment it is protected firmly by eu regulations. however, we have a brexit issue coming up, what happens after that is not anybody‘s guess. at the moment, there seems no sign that anyone wants to change. it is fiercely defended by consumer groups. however, as control of this comes back to the uk, different things may happen. i want to talk to you more about this. p i want to talk to you more about this. p yogita limaye joins us from washington dc outside the fcc building. behind me there are people voting for net neutrality. it is expected to conclude. it is expected, it is almost certain that the new rule will go through, overturning net neutrality, that the internet service providers would not be able to differentiate. the chair of the commission, the man who is behind this move, what he has been saying is that these rules, the regulations, they have been a burdensome for the industry. that the investment is dropping, that the reaction is hysterical. that according to him there is no evidence to suggest that if the rules are removed that the internet service providers will go ahead and charge people different things to see different websites. it is not exactly popular? i have not seen anybody protesting, saying to get rid of net neutrality. i can't believe there are so many votes a nd can't believe there are so many votes and there seems an outburst against the removal of net neutrality? they are saying that they are not against the principle of net knew drummond but that they are saying that they will not do anything to hurt the services. but there are issues here that are making this hadar to operate. there are different parts of america, where you only have access to one particular service provider, so is that one company dictating what you can and can't see? and what about the fact that they could packages, where there are four or five websites if you want to see more you have to pay more. those are the concerns that these people are raising. on the internet it is a huge thing. it is all over social media and the founder of the internet in the us says that net neutrality needs to remain. let's have a look at markets? you better interpret. we might learn more. the pound is looking stronger again the euro at 1. .13.25. the ftse is hardly moving. the ftse is hardly moving. the interesting one is sports direct, the shears are down sharply. that is worried about the value of the pound it is taking airway the spending power of its customers and also some store closures. look being that in more detail in an hour's time. looking forward to it. jamie, thank you very much. it cost $1 billion to build. the new united states embassy in london, which has just been completed, opens next month. it's a 12 storey glass cube on the banks of the thames, and comes complete with a moat — the first new defensive moat to be built in england for 150 years. richard lister reports. this is what $1 billion looks like. the new us embassy in london is said to be the most expensive in the world and almost a decade in the making. inside there's a garden of american desert flora. it's all designed to be airy and welcoming, not words usually associated with embassies. i think this is a country of great dignity and it birthed the united states. and this building should be not some pop icon, but certainly a building of great dignity and serenity. but this embassy is also a fortress. it even has a moat, though they'd prefer we call it a pond. some of the glass is six inches thick, a reminder that an embassy is the only place where one nation intersects with another. for decades that's been here, grosvenor square. the old embassy has been sold to become a hotel. but it's a place now associated with american triumphs and tragedies. archive: at grosvenor square police warned to expect trouble waiting. it was where british people repeatedly protested against the vietnam war. archive: a huge crowd waited for them at the american embassy. where well—wishers greeted america's first men on the moon, and came to pay their respects after the attacks of 9/11. now a new building will represent america. the us ambassador says this glass—clad building represents america's global outlook, giving form, he says, to the core democratic values of transparency, openness and equality. what's not clear was whether president trump will be at the opening next month, though he has been invited. it would be the most controversial visit by any american president, a moving—in present for the ambassador. trump is coming when he sets the date for coming. he's been invited for a state visit. he's been invited and he's accepted but he hasn't set a date and for the ribbon—cutting of this and taking a look at this embassy, that will be announced when he selects the date. and, of course, the new embassy will outlive this presidency and many more to come. richard lister, bbc news. now to a family mystery which has taken one man more than 70 years to solve. in 1943, a box was abandoned on the steps of the bbc in london. it was found by a studio manager called trevor hill, who at first thought it was a bomb. but it turned out the box actually contained a baby — robin king. now 74, mr king says he's spent most of his life wondering who abandoned him, and why. but thanks to dna, and some dogged detective work, he finally has some answers. and he's been reunited with the bbc man who found him all those years ago, as steve knibbs reports. amazing, incredible. you're the baby! a reunion, 74 years apart, as trevor hill meets the contents of the box he discovered outside the bbc in 1943. that today is 74—year—old robin king. you wouldn't fit into that little box now. in 1943 bbc broadcasting house had been bombed, so the overseas service was set up in the peter robinson department store on oxford street, and one morning, as trevor turned up for work, he found a box outside. so you were wrapped in the blanket inside the box. did you worry it might be a bomb or something? well, exactly, we were pretty sure it was. and particularly when it moved slightly, we thought there a timer. it's lucky i wasn't blown up. thankfully it was just robin in the box and aged just two weeks he became a foundling. he was named robin peters, after the department store where he was found, and eventually adopted at the age of four. and these are my biological parents. after decades of searching, last year robin's daughter traced his biological parents to canada with the help of a dna expert. they were douglas and agnesjones. he was in the royal canadian air force, working at a radio training school in south kensington. he met and married agnes in glasgow. it's a bit of a mystery because it seems very difficult for him or my mother to actually leave a box in that position at that particular time during the war, when there was a lot of security worries, so that doesn't make sense to me. at least today, a few more pieces of robin's early life have been filled in. it's just been completely for me a magical day, a day that i never thought would exist, and i never, ever imagined that i would get to meet the contents of that box. he's still desperate to know why he was left outside the bbc in 1943, but grateful of course to have been found by trevor. steve knibbs, bbc news. well done mr king. time for a look at the weather forecast with darren. pot out hello there. it's been a colder day. also a day of all or nothing, really. this was the scene in southern parts of scotland where it has been wintry. that was a weather watcher in fife. many weather watcher in fife. many weather watchers in the midlands to the south—east have been dry with sunshine, kent for example. still windy out there. in the west of the uk, this is where we are seeing the wet weather into the evening. rain, sleet and hill snow sliding down the western side of scotland. perhaps the conditions easing in northern ireland but wet weather pushing into the irish sea into the west of england and over the high ground. gusty winds and downpours to wales and the south of england heading east of england. dry now but maybe rain later on. overnight a mixture of rain, sleet and hill snow, wands of wet weather pushing down over the uk. winds to the west. skies clearing from wales, to the middle and to the north, and as the temperatures get to freezing, some icy patches as well. in the north, the winds down the eastern side of the country. fewer showers in the west. in the northerly wind, cold but similarto in the northerly wind, cold but similar to those of today. in the inland of the uk, it is likely to be dry on friday with spells of sunshine. friday night, the winds ease and the showers fade, so the temperatures fall quickly. a wide frost as well. into the weekend, a colder air replaced with milder air and the wind direction changes with atla ntic and the wind direction changes with atlantic winds coming in blowing in cloud and rain in the north—west. it will not happen overnight. cold in the east, bright on saturday. in the west, the temperatures lifting but coming with cloud and rain. a risk ofa coming with cloud and rain. a risk of a touch of frost in the east for sunday morning. through the day, the milderair is coming sunday morning. through the day, the milder air is coming across the country. rain in the north—west, a lot of cloud but temperatures could anybody double figures. goodbye. hello, you're watching afternoon live. today at 4pm. a service at st paul's cathedral to remember the 71 victims of the grenfell tower fire. singing. more than 1,500 people attended the multi—faith service. we come together as people of different faiths, and none, as we remember before god those whose lives were lost. the prime minister returns to brussels for a crucial eu summit after her brexit commons defeat last night. yes, i'm disappointed with the amendment, but actually the eu withdrawal bill is making good progress through the house of commons, and we are on course to deliver on brexit. the other 27 eu leaders will confirm tomorrow that sufficient progress has been made on the first phase of the negotiation. now they want to know what a deep and special partnership actually means. a big moment for a media mogul — rupert murdoch is shrinking his empire by selling the majority of his company, fox, to disney. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with catherine. catherine, third ashes test under way. yes, and finally we get to say a strong start for england in the third ashes test, the end of the first day's play, on 305—4. pretty good on day one. all of the details of about half an hour. thanks, catherine. and darren betts has all the weather — it is going to get a bit colder? millar we it is going to get a bit colder? millarwe are it is going to get a bit colder? millar we are not finished with the cold and snow and ice, not as cold as it was at the beginning of the week. slightly milder air could return by the end of the weekend but i will have more on that later on. thanks, darren. also coming up — a 70—year—old mystery is solved — the story of the baby boy who was found in a box on the steps of the bbc. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live. a multi—faith memorial service has been held at st paul's cathedral — six months to the day since the fire at grenfell tower in west london, which left 71 people dead. survivors of the fire in london attended the service, alongside members of the royal family and the prime minister. the bishop of kensington, graham tomlin, said he hoped the tragedy would represent a "time we learnt a new, better way". reeta chakrabarti is at st paul's. well, it has been a day of reflection and also pure grief and raw emotion here at st paul's cathedral. it is six months to the day since that terrible tragedy in west london, and there are many, many questions that have gone u na nswered many questions that have gone unanswered that still swirl around to do with that terrible day. there is of course a police investigation ongoing and a public enquiry, which opened formally this week. but, in a sense, today, the service this morning was a moment to pause, to reflect, and to allow people to properly mourn those that they've lost. in a moment, i'll be speaking to somebody who was in that service, but first, here's my colleague, frankie mccamley, with a summary of the morning's events. it's been a long six months for so many families whose lives were torn apart exactly six months ago. a tragedy which highlighted failures alongside the bravery of the emergency services and the unity within a community. today they came together. we try our best to stay together and stay united, so that's exactly what's happening and all the difficulties we have, all of the hard days, the hard time we had is unforgettable, we cannot forget. joined by members of the royal family who have met many of those affected by the fire, alongside political leaders showing their support. the duke and duchess of cambridge and prince harry making their way to their seats, sat alongside the prime minister, multi—faith leaders and the community surrounding grenfell tower. but at the heart of the service, remembering the 53 adults and 18 children who lost their lives, including the youngest victim who would have been one today. welcome each one of you to this national memorial service of remembrance, community and hope. singing. the service incorporated an islamic girls school choir, a steel band, and a montage of some of the survivors. you begin to feel survivor's guilt, and i think maybe not now but within the next couple of months we will start to question, why was it them? why did we survive, why didn't they? but for some, it became too much. raw emotions still plain to see. others watched the service live streamed to a mosque close to the tower which became an emergency shelter at the time, taking in clothes and food. after paying their respects, families and survivors left in silence carrying white roses and pictures of their loved ones, holding the heart of their community which will lead a silent vigil later today. latifah, you were on the ground at g re nfell tower latifah, you were on the ground at grenfell tower right from the beginning, what sort of support have people needed? the families and victims who have survived this tragic fire have had many ongoing needs, including donations of clothes, even in the immediate aftermath, their counselling needs have been wide and varying. we asked also seeing they still have ongoing housing needs, and really the grief and the difficulties that they have faced is something they will continue to need support from from many of their charities and community organisations. so you have been working with them for six months. would you say the mood among people have changed? the survivors are very people have changed? the survivors are very emotional as we saw today, and they are still coming to terms with this difficult and tragic time. six months on, there is still a long road to go, in terms of their healing. and you are working with the local community in west london insight of that power. how's that for you? it has been a very emotional and difficult time for many of the volunteers, including muslim volunteers who were on the ground working alongside many other faith communities. it has been one of the most challenging ones. it was a very meaningful service today at st paul's. i think for the families and the community, it was a reminder of how london came together to provide support to the families after this tragic fire. there you haveit after this tragic fire. there you have it coming was a service i think that was characterised by its diversity, by the fact that it was multi—faith. although it took place in st paul's cathedral, all the faiths that there are in west london we re faiths that there are in west london were present there. and as the organisers said, it was a moment for people of all faiths and of none, and the point of it was that they come together, if not to heal, because for some people they never will heal, but they will at least start to come to terms with what it is that happen to them this year. my my colleague, reeta chakrabarti, reporting from st paul's cathedral. the prime minister has arrived in brussels for a summit of eu leaders, vowing that she is ‘on course to deliver brexit‘. it comes after conservative rebels defeated the government in a key brexit vote in the commons last night. mps backed an amendment giving them a legal guarantee of a vote on the final brexit deal struck with brussels. let's go to brussels where we can join christian fraser. yes, theresa may is here in the building with the other 27 leaders. she is only going to be here for the first of the two—day summit. they are sitting in this afternoon on a discussion about migration and also about defence. this evening over dinner she will be given an opportunity to talk about the agreement they secured on friday, as well as perhaps setting out some of her thoughts on what comes next, how they get to this future relationship. the other 27 leaders, some of them we have heard from as they came along the red carpet today, broadly satisfied, it has to be said, with the agreement, although some eyebrows were raised about the statements they have heard from david davis. you might have heard over the weekend that he was talking about this gentleman's agreement being only a statement of intent. all the leaders we have heard from today say they wanted to be legally binding, this agreement, and putting into a legal text as an asp. as for the prime minister, arriving here with the embarrassing that of the defeat last night in the house of commons, but not too downcast, preferring instead to focus on the positives. now, you asked about the vote that took place in the house of commons last night. lam in the house of commons last night. i am disappointed with the amendment but actually the eu withdrawal bill is making good progress through the house of commons and we are on course to deliver on brexit. remember last week, president juncker said that sufficient progress had been made to be one the phase two of the negotiations. i am looking forward to discussing that deep and special partnership for the future. what have the other eu leaders been saying about the vote last night? i don't think it really changes their attitude to theresa may, if i am honest. they know she is weak at home but also strong because of the divisions within her own party and within the cabinet. also, don't forget, that some of these leaders, angela merkel, for instance, who are still trying to build a coalition in germany, they also have the ups and downs of parliamentary politics. some of them are in charge of minority government and they have the scars to prove it, soi and they have the scars to prove it, so i don't think it changes much, in terms of their attitude towards theresa may. does it change where they focus the negotiation? some suggest they will push now for a softer brexit. they were already going to do that because they want a closer relationship with the uk. leo varadkar, the irish taoiseach, was saying that the agreement on full alignment means fellow management, not partial alignment. —— means full alignment, not partial. they are all saying they want more clarity on what comes next but i don't think they will get much of that today from theresa may, because she hasn't helped that conversation with her own cabinet. that has been postponed until tuesday. that is really the next hurdle for theresa may. one she has secured a position that both the brexiteers and the remainers are happy with, she will perhaps communicate that to the european commission and shall barnier. ken clarke was one of the eleven conservative mps who voted against the government in yesterday's commons vote. we obviously are heading towards brexit but no one actually wants to head towards brexit on the basis that ministers and officials are just left to firstly agree amongst themselves what they want, and then to negotiate the best they can and that's it. the british government is accountable to parliament. it will require the approval of parliament. in my opinion it will rather strengthen the hand in negotiations, because she, like every other prime minister at some stage i suspect, will be able to say i could not possibly can see that you, i will never persuade my parliament to agree. that is the opposite of what many people are saying, that you have humiliated the prime minister, you have weakened her hand, authority is further diminished. so how should she play it? that is all lightweight newspaper rubbish, wholly predictable. none of that changes anything of what we were debating on, which was about whether or not parliament was going to have a say in the final deal when it comes along before the british, themselves to arrangements that will affect our children and our grandchildren for the next 50 years. frankly, the idea that parliament wasn't going to insist on having a say was always a complete illusion. the amendment had nothing to do with whether we leave the european union. it had nothing to do with whether the prime minister was going to head the prime minister was going to head the negotiations or stay in office. no one suggests the government falls because it has lost one amendment to a bill. the bill is actually extremely important. it restores the british rule of the parliament accountability. it will also improve the general tone and nature of the debate in the house of commons. all ministers will have to start taking the house of commons more seriously, and perhaps some of the ministers would sound off to the newspapers a little less and address their parliamentary critics and their audience more seriously. we are just about to go into the serious stage of negotiations. the things we settled could have been several months ago, and they have all been settled on obvious terms. the next negotiations are hugely important. we have got to ensure we don't put new tariffs, new customs barriers, regulatory barriers between ourselves and our biggest single market and all our neighbours. parliament is going to want to improve the final deal which the prime minister gets and everyone in parliament wants the prime minister to get the best deal for britain. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: a service at st paul's cathedral to remember the 71 victims of the grenfell tower fire. the prime minister returns to brussels for a crucial eu summit after her brexit commons defeat last night. a big moment for a media mogul — rupert murdoch is shrinking his empire by selling the majority of his company fox to disney. and in sport, a maiden test century from dawid malan puts england in control on the opening day of the third ashes test they cannot afford to lose full stop british flat racing boss like most successful female jockey hayley turner has been given a three—month ban by the british was racing authority for a breach of betting rules. and chris froome says his legacy will not be tainted, despite returning an adverse doping test result for a legal asthma drug. i will be back just after half past with more those stories. rupert murdoch has sold a majority of his company 21st century fox to disney — in one of the biggest media deals for years. after decades of expanding his huge empire, the 86—year—old media mogul has finally taken the decision to shrink his business by selling off a major wing of fox — which owns sky — for £39 billion. disney's ceo bob iger told abc's good morning america that the merger has come about to satisfy consumer demand and that a decision has yet to be made about james murdoch's role. they will be announcing, or they are announcing, some plans of their own right now. james and i will be talking over the next number of months. he will be integral to the integration process and he and i will be discussing whether there is a role for him not at our company. well, earlier i spoke to matthew garra han, global media editor at the financial times, about why disney wanted this particular deal to go through. (sot next) disney has its eye on all of the entertainment fox makes. sky, fox owns all of that. it has a movie studio, it makes franchises like avatar and x—men. it will get all of that if the deal goes through and it will mean that disney has a much broader global offering that it can sell to people around the world, wherever they are, and they will be able to watch disney entertainment ona able to watch disney entertainment on a streaming service, which disney is about to launch. so if all those assets are so appealing, why would rupert murdoch want to sell them? rupert murdoch want to sell them? rupert said on a call with investors a little while ago that it wasn't a retreat, it was a pivot at a pivotal moment, and the pivotal moment is this: that the world of entertainment is changing, i think, faster than rupert and his company are growing. i mean, netflix and companies like that have really change the way people watch and consume tv entertainment. people no longer really want to sit down in front of the tv at a certain time to watch tv when they are told to watch it, they would rather be in control of watching shows when they want, which means using the internet, subscribing to streaming services. you will only subscribe to a streaming service if it has everything on there you want, and rupert murdoch and fox don't have a broad enough library or a suite of movies and tv programmes to persuade, i think of people around the world to subscribe to something like that. what will it mean to customers here? it means in the uk that sky will eventually be taken over by disney. this deal will take about a year to go through us regulators, and at the end of that process , regulators, and at the end of that process, assuming it gets cleared, disney will be either the 40% owners or the 100% owners of sky, and that depends on whether regulators approve the fox purchase of sky, which is going through the process at the moment. the bottom line is sky, as we know it, this huge uk pay—tv company, is going to end up in the hands of disney. what shape and focus will the murdoch empire have once this deal has gone through? they are not giving up completely, they are giving up on global video entertainment but they will still own a big business in the united states, fox news, which as we see is becoming more and more influential because it is the daily viewing of president trump and it makes a lot of money. they will own a big tv network, the fox network itself in the us, and they were still own news corps, a separate business, which obviously owns uk newspapers like the sun and the times and the wall streetjournal and the us. so it is not as if they are vanishing into the distance, but they are pivoting at this moment. the government in scotland is to raise income tax— to 21 pence in the pound for those earning more than 24 thousand pounds a year. the snp have described the changes as being for fairness and growth. our correspondent catriona renton is at holyrood, home of the scottish parliament. just one of the announcements today in this draft budget for next year. yes, of course this budget came against the backdrop of the scottish government facing a shortfall in its budget of hundreds of millions of pounds from the block grant that comes from westminster, but today they were still able to make announcements of money for the nhs, for education, a big announcement about lifting the cap on public sector pay, 3% more for people earning less than £30,000 a year. the key moment everyone was waiting for in this budget was how would this be paid for? and as you said, income tax. so the people who will pay more come if you are paid more than £24,000 a year, you will be paying tax in a new intermediate tax band of 21p. the other higher rates will also both increase by a penny. in real terms let's look at that about take—home pay, £26,000 you will be no better or worse off than anyone else in the uk. £33,000, you will be £7 worse off, but there will also be winners in this budget. they are injured using a new entry rate of tax at 19p in the town. so if you earn £15,000 it will actually be £20 a year better off. this was the finance secretary derek mackay explaining why he has done all of this. these decisions have therefore enabled me to reverse the real terms cut westminster has imposed on our resorts budget next year, whilst ensuring that scotland is not just the fairest tax part of the uk, but for the majority of taxpayers, the lowest tax part of the uk. in the run—up to this budget, we knew that none of the other opposition parties would oppose a rise in tax, except for the official opposition here, the conservatives. the scottish government had pledged not to raise the basic rate of income tax. some of that original group are being affected. they say they have broken their promise, so here is the scottish conservatives financial spokesman, virgil fraser. today, every number of this government has broken their promise to the scottish people. despite pledging not to increase taxes for those on the basic rate, a pledge repeated 53 times, and despite 65% of the scottish population in may voting to endorse that position, today they are proposing to do the opposite and increase taxes for those on the basic rate. no one will believe a word they say ever again. so income tax, the big show stopping centrepiece of that budget, and that now means that people here in this scotla nd now means that people here in this scotland face quite a different tax system scotland face quite a different tax syste m fro m scotland face quite a different tax system from the rest of the uk. thank you. just a quick reminder that at just after 4:30pm, we will be going nationwide for a couple of stories from across the regions. we will be speaking to carol from look north in newcastle, where some reconstruction work has been done on the skeleton of a soldier who died in the 1600s. and also we will be speaking to mary rhodes, at midlands today in birmingham. she will be telling us about a family steeped in theatre history. let's tell you what she has been saying on twitter this afternoon. we will see her just we will see herjust after 4:30pm, she will be behind me, of course! the american documentary film—maker, morgan spurlock, has publicly confessed to a history of sexual misconduct, referring to himself as "part of the problem". mr spurlock, who made the hit film super size me, said he hoped that by recognising and openly admitting what he'd done, he could start to change and rebuild trust. meanwhile, the oscar—nominated actress salma hayek has become the latest hollywood star to accuse the movie producer harvey weinstein of sexual harassment. let's get more from david willis in los angeles. let's talk about morgan spurlock first above. this would have come as a surprise, that he has confessed in this way? definitely. it is a new twist, if you like, on the torrent of sexual assault allegations that have spread from hollywood, from harvey weinstein, to the corporate world to the media world to the political world. morgan spurlock effectively outing himself. he says in this very long mere culpa published online, he talks about his past actions, describing himself as pa rt past actions, describing himself as part of the problem. he says he was accused whilst at college, he settled an allegation of verbal sexual harassment made by a former assistant, basically paid her to go away, puts it, and that he has cheated on every wife and girlfriend he has ever had. there is a suggestion, though, with all of this that perhaps smoke and —— morgan spurlock decided to leap before he was pushed. he says, as i sit around watching hero after hero, man after man, fall at the realisation of their past indiscretions, i don't sit by and wonder who will be next, i wonder when will they come for me? and salma hayek, she has talked as well about how some of the projects she was involved and were threatened if she did not go along with what harvey weinstein wanted. yes, salma hayek, the latest hollywood actress to come forward and level act allegations against harvey weinstein, this is in an op—ed column for the new york times. she says that during filming for the oscar—nominated film, the oscar—winning film, frida, about the mexican painter frida kahlo, she was co nsta ntly mexican painter frida kahlo, she was constantly the subject of sexual approaches by harvey weinstein, that he would turn up unannounced at her hotel at all hours of the day and night, and would make unwanted sexual advances to her. harvey weinstein actually has issued a statement denying many of the allegations that salma hayek made in that op—ed article. but she of course is just one of numerous hollywood actresses, close to 100 now, who have made sexual assault allegations against harvey weinstein for is that david willis, thank you very much. time for a look at the weather... it is all about the jet stream. you remembered! i don't understand why you do that? it is like a dance, it will catch on eventually! it has been so called for so long, a lot of people are thinking about christmas will be white and frosty and things like that, but that may not be the case. we have at the moment is the jet stream this sort of position. as we know the position of the jet strea m we know the position of the jet stream influences our weather. we are on the wrong side of it, if you like, monaco bowside, which is why we have had wintry showers, and why we have had wintry showers, and why we still have the risk of some showers. —— the cold side. you can see how the position of the jet strea m see how the position of the jet stream will change, and basically speaking it will move its way northwards. so that will have an impact on the weather, more areas of high pressure across the uk, it will dry things down, but we will get on the warmer side of it. so for most of the uk it will probably be milder in the run—up to christmas. these incursions of cold air coming in now and again. a few days to go until christmas day itself, but this pattern looks like it may probably come using all of these words that i don't want to say, will, will extend its pattern into christmas, which means we are probably more likely to be milder, cloudy, ratherthan means we are probably more likely to be milder, cloudy, rather than sunny and frosty and snowy. how are the bookmakers meant to work out the odds based on that description, i just don't know. you know itjust ta kes just don't know. you know itjust takes one flake of snow on one reporting station in the uk for it to bea reporting station in the uk for it to be a white christmas, officially. that is not what everyone is looking forward to though. it is not a picture postcard view. a lot of people don't want a white christmas because a lot of people are travelling. it will get colder. it felt a bit colder today across many parts of the uk and we have seen some snow around as well. this was a weather watcher pet just taken some snow around as well. this was a weather watcher petjust taken in southern scotland, the worst of it. a mixture of sleet and snow, and really cold, moving a bit further south across the uk in the northern england. haps in the north wales. into the evening, some all—white weather sliding down the western side of scotland. there will be some snow, especially over the hills. more blustery showers and strong winds and northern ireland. our first band of rain, sleet and mostly hills now running across northern ireland and wales, perhaps seeing some snow over the moors. here it is very windy for stock gale force wind, close to severe gales as well. not as windy further east where it is still largely dry, and we probably won't see much wet weather across south—east england for a good pa rt across south—east england for a good part of the night. these bands of rain, sleet and hills now pushing their way southwards. but always stays windy down the west side of the uk but where the skies clear across the north, temperatures close to freezing for much the night and and. —— on and off. tomorrow some showers but a northerly wind, so showers but a northerly wind, so showers will be in different places. more clout, more wintry showers down the eastern side. further west, much try than today, more sunshine around. with a northerly you get more wintry showers but more sunshine per the central belt and southern scotland. as that northerly wind eases down and the showers begin to fade, so the temperatures will drop and they could be quite a sharp frost friday night into saturday for stock we start the weekend in some cold air. this cold air not as severe as we had in the beginning of the week and it will not last too long. milder air coming in from the atlantic. that doesn't happen overnight. it takes a while to shift that colder air and sea that mbodj is rising. so this is what we have got on saturday. cold start down the eastern side in particular, some sunshine around in the day and more cloud coming into e f i .l..l....l. . l.’ . e f i .l..l....l. . l . e 7 ii .l..l....l. . l . day this wind his south—westerly wind really starts to pushing, and the- pick south—westerly wind really starts to pushing ' south—westerly wind really starts to pushing, an that at that 7.5 7 .. at that ten 77 7 .. at that ten or .. probably looking at highs of ten or even live in degrees. but of course there will be a lot of cloud with that and we will see some rain pushing down from the north—west, as it had south—eastwards, the rain becomes very light and patchy.

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