hospital beds in england were almost full last week, with the usual winter pressures, still to come. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. theresa may is here in brussels for a crucial summit of eu leaders after surviving yesterday's confidence vote of conservative mps. the prime minister has come here looking for concessions that will help sell her brexit deal — in particular, she wants a promise that the plan to prevent checks at the irish border, known as the backstop, will only be temporary. it's a key issue for her tory critics who forced last night's ballot. the eu leaders gathering here right now have made it clear they won't renegotiate the deal itself, but the bbc has seen the draft conclusions of this summit which suggest they will try to offer new assurances about the backstop as our correspondent adam fleming reports. safe in herjob, for now, theresa may has sped to brussels to secure tweaks to the brexit deal. first stop, a meeting with the irish prime minister. the focus is on the back—up plan for avoiding a hard border on the island of ireland, the so—called backstop. my focus now is on ensuring that i can get those assurances that we need to get this deal over the line because i genuinely believe it is in the best interests of both sides, the uk and the eu, to agree a deal. but i recognise the strength of concern in the house of commons and that is what i will be putting to colleagues today. i do not expect an immediate breakthrough, but i hope we can start to work as quickly as possible on the assurances that are necessary. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, is not willing to do any more negotiating. but eu leaders are considering six paragraphs of written reassurance. they will say the backstop is temporary and would only be in place for as long as needed, not forever. the eu will pledge to continue negotiating a trade deal with the uk even if the backstop comes into force. and the uk and the eu will work on more reassurances about the backstop, which could be finalised in january. none of that would be legally binding, but if all 27 other leaders sign up to it here tonight, it would be politically binding, and there is a promise of stronger stuff to come. arriving for their traditional presummit meeting the eu leaders said they wanted to help but there were limits. we need to achieve good solutions. it is impossible on the brexit for us to change our position. that was the message in the german parliament this morning as well. it passed a motion calling the idea of a better brexit deal an illusion. translation: our clear interest continues to be an agreement with great britain, the agreement negotiated on for many months is truly a fair compromise. it is a good basis for an orderly exit and for the creation of close future ties. there is no basis to unravel this agreement. we have made this clear again in recent days and nothing will change. mrs may has convinced the eu to lend her a hand, but can anything she brings back from brussels convince angry mps back at home? well, adam joins me now. i'm joined by matthew holehouse, brexit correspondent with mlex market insight, which provides analysis on the financial markets. the question at the end of your report was canned whatever she gets here satisfies the mps back in westminster who don't like this deal? the people who don't like the deal? the people who don't like the deal because of the backstop want the backstop to be taken out of the deal, they don't want some warm language, they want something that the eu is not prepared to offer. these re—assurances, clarifications might help some people now, maybe even more clarifications onjanuary maybe a more realistic —— legalistic language, but arlene foster will say, that is not what we wanted. she will come here and say which she needs from the other leaders, are theyin needs from the other leaders, are they in the mood to give what she wa nts 7 they in the mood to give what she wants? she is talking about legally binding assurances. will they be legally binding even if she gets assurances? the first principle is that the withdrawal agreement will be reopened and any think they give can't cut across that. if there is a clarification of what the text means, then that might be possible. the problem she has at home is that any assurances they can give, the backstop will be swiftly moved into a future relationship. that is what the brexiteers don't like, because they say the destination that the backstop century into is not what they want. that is why they wanted taken they want. that is why they wanted ta ken out altogether. they want. that is why they wanted taken out altogether. what about the language of these drab conclusions, the six paragraphs? is it substantially different on the backstop? no, it's not. it is basically stuff implicit in the agreement being made explicit. just doing it in a way that it is really, really clear that the eu does not wa nt really clear that the eu does not want this backstop, the infamous northern ireland insurance path —— policy to be the end destination. the eu has no intention of this being a prison or a trap from which the uk can't escape. we are happy to clarify that the people, one person i spoke to, said. to what extent did the other eu leaders want to help get this deal through the house of commons, or maybe some of them don't ca re commons, or maybe some of them don't care that much, they wouldn't mind a second referendum ? care that much, they wouldn't mind a second referendum? they want to get the deal through because they don't wa nt to the deal through because they don't want to know deal scenario, but they are aware that they can vote in the house of commons, they need to want to deal. they are aware that the clock is ticking down. it is now 3.5 months away before we leave the european union and there is no sign of the route to the house of commons that she needs to gets. as well as talking about what possible assurances they could offer her, they will be talking about the new deal preparations and what they need to do to get ready. you talk to people here all the time, is the sense that most people in brussels do want this deal to work, or would some of them secretly quite like a second referendum or some sort of norway plus arrangement instead of the steel? what the eu is trying to do is leave the options open for the uk. if there were to be a second referendum, you would be to extend the article 50 process, stop the clock on the negotiations. that is possible and the leaders could give their approvalfor that. possible and the leaders could give their approval for that. the political declaration which ships the future relationship is aspirational and provides a bare minimum that you could build on in the negotiations that, after brexit date. they have let themselves the option of a closer relationship, more norway style relationship than the canada style relationship presented at the moment. they don't have an option is it the deal doesn't go through parliament and you're ina doesn't go through parliament and you're in a no deal. all they can do thenis you're in a no deal. all they can do then is just carry on with their preparations for there being no deal. there is a lot of work being done behind the scenes. the officials who worked on the brexit treaty have now moved to preparing for what you would have to do in terms of citizens' rights, transport, goods, services, to get the eu ready so we can't defend itself against the chaos that will, no deal on the 30th of march. do you think the prime minister will go away from the summit empty—handed?” think she will get some words that will point the direction of travel, but that they are not planning on having a vote in the house of commons until january, so having a vote in the house of commons untiljanuary, so it will go over christmas night i think. many thanks. the prime minister is here right now and she will meet the other leaders in the next 20 minutes was so. she will put to them what she really wants from them. she said she really wants from them. she said she was looking for a legal and political assurances about the backstop arrangements and whether she gets those we will have to wait and see. you are watching bbc news and see. you are watching bbc news and we are alive in brussels. —— live in brussels. let's stop more about the theresa may brexit deal. i'm joined by our reality check correspondent, chris morris. the eu are saying that the withdrawal agreement cannot be be negotiated. yes, this is the 585 page legally binding document that will become the treaty out of the european union. but then it is the protocol on ireland and northern ireland, which discusses the irish border. lots of other things in it as well. the financial settlement, the divorce bill, what the uk has agreed to pay £39 billion, possibly more, to the european union to settle its financial obligations. there is the language on citizens' rights, eu citizens in the uk and uk citizens elsewhere year —— elsewhere in europe. there are also lots of detail on high legal disputes could be resolved in the future. also, the status of gibraltar. there is a lot of stuff in there on which the two sides are broadly agreed. it comes down to the backstop. every dime a dozen to come back to the backstop. the other 27 eu leaders, it seems they want to be helpful to theresa may, but they also want to be supportive of ireland, which will be remaining in the european union long after brexit. let's remember what the backstop is about, it is about avoiding a hard border after brexit between northern ireland and is the republic of ireland. no other border around the edge of the eu single market and customs union is com pletely market and customs union is completely frictionless. they are trying to make their border a special case. the backstop would only come into effect if after a post by the transition period there was no agreement in place to keep the border as open as it is now. under the backstop, there would be a temporary customs union between the whole of the uk and the european union but northern ireland in particular were closely aligned with eu customs rules and with the rules of the single market. the problem for many brexiteers in particular is there is no unilateral exit from the backstop. the uk can't walk away from it. those are some of the assurances we have heard about all ready batteries may will be looking for and which the eu agrees with, this is only ever designed to be a temporary solution. it still says in the legally binding withdrawal agreement, unless and until a new solution is there, the backstop will have to stay in effect. that is the conundrum people are finding it difficult to get past. the eu have said repeatedly that will not release —— we negotiate that agreement, but alongside the withdrawal agreement there is the political declaration with the audience for the future relationship between the eu and uk. could that be we negotiated? it would be tweaked in theory. it is a 26 page non—binding, very broad declaration about the future. it involves the future economic relationship, how global trade. it also talks about security and foreign policy issues. in effect, because it is an aspirational document, it could go in either direction. a good go towards a much softer brexit, or it could go towards canada style brexit, which many of the brexiteers want, focused on a free—trade agreement. the trouble is, we don't know because none the formal negotiations can begin until after brexit has happened it is an aspirational document. they beat you could tweak it a little bit to put more language in which would appeal to members of the house of commons, but the danger is you tweak at one way here, and people might say, if you are reopening it, we want to twea k you are reopening it, we want to tweak this in this direction. it is not as simple as that uk asking and other uk eu nations want their stay as well. the prime minister will be telling the others eu leaders what she wants from them at the summit starting shortly. then there will be a dinner, but she will leave them and they will discuss brexit without her. they will discuss what concessions they might be prepared to offer. more from brussels later. let's get the latest developments from westminster and join my colleague, simon mccoy. is the atmosphere similar in brussels to what it is here, that it isa brussels to what it is here, that it is a moment of history? it does feel different here. theresa may did the competent when she arrived, maybe —— theresa may did look more confident when she arrived, maybe because of passing that no—confidence vote. she was also talking about what she wa nted was also talking about what she wanted here, and she was saying she does not expect an immediate breakthrough, but she does want legally binding and politically binding promises. they might be politically binding, but whether they are legally binding, that is another matter. a lot of people are saying they think she will go home disappointed. so, it goes on! good afternoon from westminster. the prime minister has confirmed this morning that she wont lead her party in to the next election. and it now seems the so—called "meaningful vote" for mps on her brexit deal?is unlikely to be held next week, though?it will happen before 21st january. ?tensions are still running high within the conservative party after last night's vote of confidence, as our political correspondent iain watson reports. the morning after the night before at westminster, not exactly a new dawn for the prime minister. the vote of confidence was, if not disastrous, certainly disappointing, with more than a third of her mps wanting her to go. she confirmed today she had to promise not to lead her party into another election. herfocus now was on her deal. the next general election is in 2022 and i think it's right another leader takes us into that election. my focus is on ensuring we can get those reassurances we need to get this deal over the line. the main issue is the backstop, staying close to eu rules to avoid a hard border in ireland. her critics and some of her cabinet believe she needs a legally watertight assurance that it is temporary. i wish her every success today in making sure she delivers on some of the questions my colleagues had about the backstop. we have a period of time now for the prime minister to have those discussions with european colleagues, and i think we saw in the language that was reported last night that there is some movement. this former conservative leader doesn't think there has been nearly enough. what's on offer is what it forces the eu to face up to. we don't want to hear any more about what the eu won't do, what we want to know is what the uk government is prepared to do. are you prepared to leave the table, are you prepared to save the eu? for god's sake, you are the ones that will not compromise. and he warns theresa may that without significant changes, northern ireland's dup could force herfrom office. we may face a vote of confidence in the house. how can we rely on the dup to support us when they are so fundamentally offside on this agreement? theresa may leaves behind a divided party. her chancellor talks about flushing out extremists. the former leader has said that kind of talk a bit the end of the party as we know it, and a minister has said after the apocalypse all that are left are ants and tory mps complaining about europe and their leader. the tall order for theresa may is she must heal those divisions in little more than a month. mps will vote on the fourth the 21st of january. if it is rejected, she has until the 11th of february to rethink which doesn't give much time for the eu parliament to give its approval. theresa may now needs to build bridges with her own backbenchers and she will be reflecting on the fact that it is easier to win a vote of no confidence than to win approval for her deal at westminster. with me is our political correspondent, nick eardley. that clock is ticking relentlessly until march the 29th. absolutely. there is a sense that the prime minister has bought yourself a bit of time with the no—confidence vote last night. conservative mps want assurances on the backstop. the question is, what those assurances are. i think she will come back with are. i think she will come back with a bit of paper that perhaps says at some point we don't really want to do this and we will try not to, it isn't going to cut the mustard with a lot of them. they want legally binding changes that would help the uk stay out of the backstop if that is what parliament wants. there is a big test for the prime minister over the next few weeks, which is getting the next few weeks, which is getting the dup back onside. the prime minister yesterday, three hours before the no—confidence vote, was in her office with arlene foster for 45 minutes, which might seem strange in the context of facing this big or too but only mps, but probably makes sense because she knows conservative mps don't want her to continue if she can't win the dup back and get something through. just looking at the timing, one would be a fool to try and guess what would happen here next week, let alone tomorrow. at the moment one gets the sense that we will get through christmas, but that depends on what the labour party does. yes, there is a lot of pressure within the labour party for them to bring a no—confidence vote against the prime minister in the house of commons next week. some people in the labour party to want to do that because they don't think they would win. 0thers to do that because they don't think they would win. others are suggesting now is the time because the prime minister is in a vulnerable position. some think they might even be able to win over the dup. it is likely we will get a christmas without some kind of implosion in parliament, not that you can never predict anything concrete at the moment. the big question now is how the prime minister can start to turn the numbers around. the fact that 174 mps say they don't have confidence in her bodes extremely badly for getting a break to deal through the eu. a lot of people in the conservative party are not minded to change their minds easily, so she has a lot to do. will she be thinking that now is the moment to try and get some labour mps to understand my tactic, which is basically this deal or no deal? yes, i think that is the case. the problem she has issue has been remarkably unsuccessful in doing that so far. that was part of the strategy leading up to the building was supposed to have this week. at work with almost no labour mps apart from the four or five brexiteers that were always going to back the deal. yes, she will look to everything, picking up as many conservatives are possible, trying to get the dup back onside, trying to get the dup back onside, trying to win over some labour mps who want to win over some labour mps who want to honour the result that maybe i'm com pletely to honour the result that maybe i'm completely satisfied with what she has put on the table so far. the big question is, what can she persuade europe to give her to try to persuade everybody here that this is a good deal, the backstop is the big issue. getting something legally binding is essential and i would suggest that needs to be something very big to win back the right sorts of numbers. difficult to even get what the coming day has let alone becoming next few weeks given that it is thursday and on monday i was standing here and we were thinking there was going to be her vote in a day which many people were predicting would not go the way of the prime minister. just a few days later, we have had a vote of confidence and theresa may has gone to brussels. with me is the conservative mp and executive member of the 1922 committee, nigel evans, who's a prominent brexit supporter. i know you were pleased with the result last night. it was a confidence vote in the prime minister. but she is severely damage now, isn't she? ithink minister. but she is severely damage now, isn't she? i think people were a bit surprised, none more so than in downing street, that went over hundred mark. the prime minister herself talked about it being a significant chunk of the party. she has to take on board the fact that she does have severe problems and we heard in the 1922 committee last night speak about that, the problem of the backstop. she has said she will talk to arlene foster, but they have made some progress. what does that mean, some progress? to entrench people, to reza may on one side, arlene foster on the other. entrench people, to reza may on one side, arlene foster on the otherlj was side, arlene foster on the other.” wasjoking this morning side, arlene foster on the other.” was joking this morning with maybe to reza goes to brussels, she should ta ke to reza goes to brussels, she should take arlene foster weather. we rely on these people. i heard would you just said to nick about the possibility of using labour supporter get something over the line. if that happens, all that means is they get some treaty over the line but we can't govern for the next three years. the prime minister recognise that she needs the support of the dup. i spoke to ian paisley today and he said that anything to do with the backstop nine needs to bejunked. arlene do with the backstop nine needs to be junked. arlene foster do with the backstop nine needs to bejunked. arlene foster has said that significant legal changes they do happen. the prime minister is has said it is notjust warm words i'm bringing back from brussels, but she may not even get warm words. the reality from the european union as they have to understand the political complexities as to how to reza may has to operate. we barely understand that here! even i sometimes i'm wondering, what day is it, i can't even predict what i am doing this afternoon let alone tomorrow. the reality are that she needs the dup and she is trying to deliver for the 17.4 million. also remember, talking about significant vote of no—confidence, a couple of yea rs vote of no—confidence, a couple of years agojeremy corbyn had won against him and 174 of own mps had no confidence in them and he thought. let's talk about your party, the focus is on what is happening in brussels. the prospect of total paralysis again is what seems to be the most likely outcome. total paralysis now. it is the prime minister saying i have got to sort out the backstop problem and that has to be done legally, notjust nice words in a political document. then she has to bring back some deal thatis then she has to bring back some deal that is going to then work here. we are told by the european union we are told by the european union we are not opening to be negotiation, so whether it is a legal code is still, it is a legal thing added on at the end, so you're not reopening the negotiations. theresa may said she had worries about reopening that because something like gibraltar could be back on the table, were fishing rights. we are looking at some legal add—on. if the european union keep on saying no and teresa has no room formerly liver, there is paralysis. the clock is ticking so we are getting closer to march the 29th. i have just we are getting closer to march the 29th. i havejust seen her band—pass thing here with a van on its side to save believe in britain, and have a manager brian said. that could be what we are facing. there is another fan there, but it will be bad light. yes, the yellow one! there is not much room on the move. to reza can't move, the eu to want to move. of course they could move on the northern ireland border issue. this isa northern ireland border issue. this is a difficulty that they have expanded upon simply as a stick to hit the british with during the negotiations. that seems to have worked quite well up to now. march the 29th is only three months away and it is up but then now, the ball is in their court and they need to move first. nigel evans, thank you. let's move to some other news. beds in england's hospitals were almost full last week, and not far off levels reached at the height of last winter during the flu outbreak. our health editor, hugh pym, is here. how worrying are these figures given that we are not into the serious winter problems yet? that is right, simon. we haven't had any really cold weather, there hasn't been any flu that's the bed residency rate is very high. there are similar to this time last year, but remembering last year, winter kept in an occupancy level rose since there. last week we heard that one in ten hospitals were fairly occupied, every bed occupied on at least one dayjoin the week was stopped and also had accident and emergency figures for november showing that 95% target was missed again, the percentage waiting to be treated, dealt with or assessed during that time fell to 87.6%. that was the lowest since earlier this yearin was the lowest since earlier this year in march, below scotland but ahead of wales and northern ireland. people are saying this is early days, and it is a pointer that is likely to come across the system over the whole winter. what are the nhs doing about it? they said the number of patients who are being seen is higher than last year. there are stats showing that the numbers going into hospital and out again on the same day having been treated, admitted and discharged is higher before so they area discharged is higher before so they are a lot busier with staff working are a lot busier with staff working a lot harder but they are doing the best they can in the circumstances. the government says it has invested more in amd facilities in england to help out there but it is being pointed out by others that you could invest more money at the last minute for winter but you can't get new staff. that remains a major problems. vacancies, particularly nursing, on field which points to worries that management levels at nhs trusts over the next few months. people saying that it could be even more difficult than last winter. thank you very much for that and now rather timely we will look at the weather because it is turning very cold. we have high pressure to the east of us over scandinavia and it is drawing cold air. it is a strong week wind as well as you will know if you are out there. across the western pa rt of if you are out there. across the western part of the country in northern ireland, the far south—west of wales there is a weather front which is bringing outbreaks of rain. this is likely to fizzle out overnight but it will stay rather cloudy for northern ireland. the bits of cloud across the eastern side of england and scotland with the odd shower. most of the country has clear skies, cold air and a really cold might come with a widespread frost with temperatures down to maybe minus four celsius. we start friday off on a cold frosty notes. it will stay dry and largely bright with plenty of sunshine. the wind might not be quite a feature like it is today so it won't feel quite as cold but it will still be a chilly day. later on we will see this weather fronts from northern ireland, turning wet and windy there. it gets very wild on saturday through to sunday, this area of low pressure will bring some wet and windy weather and some snow which will affect central and northern parts of the uk. there is a warning on the met office website which is for snow and vice. it is likely to cause some disruption through the day and into sunday morning. there will be snow falling into north wales and into northern england and across into scotland's willie could see two to five centimetres. maybe even ten to 20 over the higher ground. it will be very wet on saturday in england and wales. were looking at standing water and the risk of localised flooding. possibly severe gales across the north and west of the country as the low— pressure west of the country as the low—pressure sweeps northwards. eventually the sleet and snow will clear way from scotland on sunday. a better picture and a brighter story across much of the country with plenty of sunshine. plenty of showers as well for the south and the west. some of these will be quite heavy. the wind is not quite a feature on sunday afternoon but with that slightly less cold air it should feel a little better. temperatures from eight to 12 celsius. it looks like next week in the run—up to christmas should be quite mild. the prime minister is back in brussels for a crucial eu summit — the day after surviving a confidence vote. theresa may is hoping to win fresh consessions from eu leaders to break the deadlock over the irish backstop. the government has set out its timetable for parliamentary business next week, which doesn't include plans for mps to vote on theresa may's brexit deal. in other news, the government announces a 2.8% rise in funding for councils in england. and hospital beds in england were almost full last week, with the usual winter pressures, still to come. it is time for the sport and we go over to the very warm bbc sport studio. no scars needed here next night. two scarves. the fa has announced that martin glenn has resigned from his position of chief executive officer — he'll step down at the end of the season. our sports correspondent david 0rnsteinjoins us now. david, he will leave the job leaving a mixed legacy... the fa will say that he delivered on much of what he came in to do. 0r the fa will say that he delivered on much of what he came in to do. or so he lives very strong foundations for his successor. they clearly feel the time is right for him to move on. chief executives come and go in any industry and the fa will now be looking for a new one. perhaps the warning signs were here in march when reports suggested they had recruited headhunters to look for glenn's replacement if he was to resign after the world cup. he did not but he is now and that hunt is stepped up immediately. you mentioned the world cup. england's mentioned the world cup. england's men and women through to the semifinals of the senior world cup. it has been ups and downs over the last ten years. there's been great success on the pitch at youth level and senior level for the men and women. he was also influential in reorganising fixture schedule to bring about a winter break which will come into force next season. he oversaw record investment into women's football and he has increased diversity in the fa in terms of women's representation in staff roles and also be a m e representation. so some good things said and also some controversy as well. such as sam allardyce's in charge of the national team, and also the sale of wembley. he supported it and it didn't go through so a mixed bag. thank you so much for that brief summary. manchester united manager jose mourinho has criticised his starting line—up, after their defeat by valencia in theirfinal champions league group match. philjones scored an embarrassing own goal, as they lost 2—1 — united had already qualified for the knock out phase, but withjuventus losing last night, they could've won the group and faced an easier game in the last 16. and mourinho said he was forced into making substitutions. i expect from my players, especially players that week in, week out, you ask me why they don't play, why they don't start, it was a good match to play, a match without any kind of pressure, a match in a competition that everybody likes to play. and, in the end, my team improved, really, when i made the changes i did not want to make. the women's tennis association has announced increased protection for mothers returning to the tour. from next season, players coming back after childbirth — or injury — will be able to use their previous ranking to enter 12 tournaments over a three—year period. but serena williams' wish that returning mothers would also be seeded in line with their ranking has not been granted. justin rose has a chance to make a great season even better this week. he's defending his title at the indonesian masters injakarta — and he was just one shot off the pace, on five—under—par, when play was interrupted by bad weather, towards the end of the first round. rose can end the year as world number one with a top—12 finish here. he's playing alongside another of the victorious european ryder cup team, henrik stenson. england now know who they'll face in the semi—finals of the hockey world cup. it'll be 0lympic silver medallists belgium on saturday, after they beat germany 2—1. the winner coming in the final quarter. england have already beaten the olympic champions argentina on their way to their third consecutive world cup semi—final. that's all the sport for now. thank you very much. we will be back with you later on. the government has announced extra funding for police forces, worth around £300 million, to help pay for additional pensions. police and crime commissioners — and in london the mayor — we'll also be allowed to control... it it is a lot of money and the pension cap was no fault of policing. to plug that gap is most welcome because without that in some areas of the country policing would not have been sustainable. i have to say that is welcome but morally it is the right thing for the government to do. that is the pension pot sorted then. almost sorted coming yes. the other issueis almost sorted coming yes. the other issue is how to raise money for police services in various areas. historically it has always been that the lion's share of police funding comes from central government and another part of it comes from local council tax. we now have police and crime commissioners and on this occasion the buck has been passed them to double amount of council tax. some pcc ‘s might raise it and others might not. it is a postcode lottery around the country and i think it is grossly unfair on police and crime commissioners. in any part of this country if you ask anyone they will say give the police more money. absolutely. iwould they will say give the police more money. absolutely. i would be very supplies if a local police and crime commissioner didn't listen to the community that they have to be honest to the public and they have to explain what that money is going to explain what that money is going to be spent on because every penny they raise through council tax increases must go, must go on policing. it shouldn't go on bureaucratic initiatives. it must a lwa ys bureaucratic initiatives. it must always go on policing and that is not always been the case in the past. i'm reading between the lines and what you're saying is more money does not mean more police. absolutely. all forces are struggling to cope with the pressures of police budgets that have been on them for many years. this is a sticking plaster on a broken bone. it is welcome but it is not the answer. the people who are paying local council tax think they are going to see hundreds of police officers more on their streets they are mistaken. amongst rank and file is the issue money or is it that you are so hamstrung in some ways about what you can do in your dailyjob. i keep hearing this when i speak to police officers, if only we could get on with what we were meant to be doing something i've been a police officerfor many doing something i've been a police officer for many years and i love what i do but over the years we have been once down in bureaucracy and red tape. my colleaguesjust want been once down in bureaucracy and red tape. my colleagues just want to get on and do the job. they want to serve the public. this is not me crying wolf, as i've been accused of. you are talking about may there. she denied using that phrase but she did use it, we checked. is that the problem? did use it, we checked. is that the problem ? politicians did use it, we checked. is that the problem? politicians don't get it? that is the problem. the prime minister, when she was home secretary, showed nothing but co nte m pt secretary, showed nothing but contempt for policing and those who deliver policing and that has continued. is the current home secretary the same? no, with the prime minister. the current home secretary with the meetings i have had and today's settlements, i wasn't expecting much but it is more about i expected. it is an indication we are moving forward but he has today more and the government has today more because this will not ta ke has today more because this will not take policing out of crisis. this will just plug take policing out of crisis. this willjust plug a gap and help us sustain policing but it is not going to pull us out of the mire that we are in. thank you very much for joining us. let's return to our main news which is brexit. over the last days and weeks theresa may has been continually urging her conservative mps to think of the voters. the port city of southampton chose leave in the referendum — but are voters there fully behind theresa may? 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy has been finding out. southampton, the city that found its sea legs under the romans. and a place fully prepared to voice its opinions on the prime minister. first stop, the christmas market, where among the red leicester and the cheshire blues came some sympathy for mrs may. she has got her hands tied in a lot of areas, and yes i would definitely keep going with her. i feel sorry for her at this time to be honest. if they change that is a mistake. why change somebodyjust before something is going to happen? but down at the station, some were less impressed by the prime minister's survival skills. the vote went her way. but we still have the prime minister we had before and everything will be the same. i can't see it being any different. this is a referendum leave city, voting 54% to 46%. many see the prime minister in a high wire act of political survival, including some at southampton university, where a lecture theatre of students today became a decent sounding board for many opinions. where do you think last night's vote leaves theresa may? we have three months to the 29th of march. at this point there needs to be solidarity in getting brexit brokered. she is left in a situation where she cannot get a deal through parliament and she will have to go back to brussels with nothing. she's not listening or taking into account those who voted for a hard brexit and those who want a soft brexit. she has her deal and she's driving it forward. where does theresa may go from here? what this feature? i think she has shown a lot of strength, she has been nicknamed the appeaser, and now she wants to go forward in the national interest and i think her ability to do that is really to be applauded. 0ne city of course cannot speak for a nation and some... theresa may was still your prime minister this morning, how do you feel about that? i couldn't care less. i couldn't care less about any of them. ..have other things on their mind. as britain absorbs last night and anticipate what is to come. it was just before christmas 30 years ago, when a quiet market town in dumfriesshire, became the scene of an horrific terrorist atrocity. pan am flight 103 was blown up mid—air, with debris falling across the town of lockerbie, and changing the lives of local people forever. david cowan reports now on a new documentary from bbc scotland. a pan—american boeing 747 airliner, flying from london to new york, crashed tonight in the scottish borders... 0n the 21st of december 1988, the world learned the name of a town called lockerbie. i was aware of something just going past the house, and then there was a woosh, and suddenly the whole sky turned orange, and there were flames hundreds of feet up into the air. blown apart by a bomb at 31,000 feet, pan am 103 fell onto the houses and countryside below. there were debris all over the place, there were actually bodies in the garden. wreckage from the aircraft was scattered over a wide area... all 259 passengers and crew were killed. 11 people died in their homes in lockerbie. it was a catastrophe that the plane hit the town at all, but it was miraculous, in a number of incidences, that there weren't more people who had been killed, or even seriously injured. in the days that followed, the emergency services, armed forces and volunteers gathered in the dead from the hills, a gruelling task, made worse by the time of year. my daughter had said to me, you know, come and get christmas dinner with us. i sat down to have my meal, and i had one spoonful of soup, and i couldn't take any more. i went through to bed, to a dark room, and ijust lay down. the most telling image is of the very small coffins for very, very young people. that is, you know, bad enough for anybody, but somehow, somehow, i don't know why, somehow that's worse. lockerbie became a place of pilgrimage for the families of the victims. for people to come into lockerbie, they were coming into what they imagined might be hell, and what they found was love, and care, and gentleness, and concern. well, my strongest feeling, certainly at the time, was the guilt. i think quite a lot of us felt that, that these people had died, and we were still alive. 270 people murdered, because that's what it was. i don't think many people would like that to go past without recognition. as long as there is lockerbie, i think this event should be commemorated in december. that report from david cowan... and viewers in scotland can see the full documentary, the lockerbie legacy at 9pm tonight on bbc 1, and then across the uk on iplayer. now on bbc news, time for business news now with ben bland. i'm ben bland. in the business news: the brexit effect on bricks and mortar — the uk housing market slips to its weakest level in six years. the royal institute of chartered surveyors says fewer people want to move and fewer want to sell — because of the uncertainty around brexit. it expects a further fall in house prices and the number of homes being sold in the next three months. fashion chain bonmarche says trading conditions on the high street are "unprecedented" and "significantly worse" than at the height of the financial crisis. it's warning that it could make a full year loss of £4million. it's shares fell sharply. the yorkshire—based firm has about 300 stores around the uk. the warning is the latest indication that the christmas shopping period is not matching up to retailers' hopes. sports direct‘s owner mike ashley has written a bluntly worded letter to the boss of debenhams discussing his offer of a £40 million investment in the struggling department store chain. the letter, addressed to sergio bucher, suggests without the money the company "has zero chance of survival". mr ashley wrote that he was frustrated debenhams doesn't want his "help". cast your mind back to march — you may remember an uber self—driving car hit and killed a pedestrian during tests in arizona in the us. well, now a leaked email shows just days before that, an employee had warned uber‘s bosses that its self—driving vehicles had been involved in multiple crashes. he said it was usually because of the poor behaviour of the safety operator — or the technology. samira hussain, north america business correspondent. what else did we learn from this email — what sort of accidents were they? as you pointed out they were two really important issues that were raised in this e—mail. firstly, the fa ct raised in this e—mail. firstly, the fact that there has been a lot of operator error and in the case in which the pedestrian was killed at the national transport and board thatis the national transport and board that is the regulatory body that looks at transportation issues in the united states found that the operator was watching television when the accident happened. the second allegation that was made in this e—mail was that there are technology issues that have resulted in several accidents by these self tiring cars. remember, we are talking about a company that is looking to become a publicly traded company in the beginning of the new year and so this e—mail and if the allegations are true, this could be potentially very damaging for the company. what has uber said in response? they haven't really responded to any of these allegations directly but as usual the company have said they ta ke safety usual the company have said they take safety very seriously and are looking at this very closely. when it comes to self driving technology, it comes to self driving technology, it is still very new but it is where a lot of people are concentrating their efforts. whether it be old school regular car—makers to these new tech companies, it is really self driving technology that is at the forefront and that is where a lot of people are putting their effo rts lot of people are putting their efforts so this could really damage some of those efforts of some companies. they did suspend tests after that accident in arizona. where does this leave uber‘s plan to roll—out self driving cars? they had to suspend any of those tests because of an investigation by the transportation board. the american governing body said that they could not do any of these tests until they had looked at it thoroughly. as far as we understand thatis thoroughly. as far as we understand that is still ongoing. to the markets, the ftse 100 is flat. to the markets, the ftse100 is flat. gains among mining companies and financial stocks being counter—balanced by a fall in some major house—builder and retailers shares. uk's domestically focused stocks — so the ftse 250. firms on the ftse250 rely more on the uk market for their income. that index is down as investors decided prime minister theresa may's victory in a leadership challenge had changed little in the country's prolonged divorce from the european union. the pound is up slightly against the dollar and the euro. those gains are not really much to write home about. that's all the business news. let's go back to simon in westminster. what is your favourite christmas movie? mary poppins. what is yours? very good. that is because you be also due in front of you and you be also due in front of you and you know what is coming up next! london's royal albert hall was transformed into a wonderland last night, for the world premier of mary poppins returns. the film comes 54 years after the original, and this time, emily blunt is playing the world's most famous nanny. colin firth and emily mortimer are among the cast, and it includes an appearance from 92—year—old dick van dyke who played the original character, of bert. alice bhandhukravi was at the premiere. i was flying my kite and it got caught in a nanny. mary poppins, you came back. you seem hardly to have aged at all. really, one never discusses a woman's age, michael. i thought i taught you better. welcome to the royal albert hall which has been transformed into a magical wonderland, really, for this premiere of mary poppins returns. the stars are arriving and a second ago i managed to have a quick word with the star, mary poppins herself, emily blunt. how did you approach this role? did you feel the burden, the weight ofjulie andrews on you? sure, i think that comes with this iconic territory, but i was just so delighted by the character, she is such an exciting, magical person to play. so i think my excitement at playing her quickly sort of surpassed any fear i had. and the cast is pretty epic as well. you have dick van dyke, the original! i know, and when he comes into the film people sort of scream—cry. they are so amazed that he is there. he tap dances on top of a desk at 91 years old, it was pretty inspiring. you filmed this mostly in london in some of the most famous spots in london. the fans were going crazy at the time. i think that was very cool, you wanted to feel the city, you wanted to feel that this was a love letter to london. you have got some incredible sites that make it into the film. and the original did have an element of sadness. does this one as well? what can fans expect? i think this is a more profound backdrop for her to reappear from the skies. there is a need for her. it is during the great depression so i think we need her to come back and i think that has got relevance for people today. that this from the world of show business. i just want to take you to strasberg now, the town in france thatis strasberg now, the town in france that is still reeling after that terrorist attack. there is a police operation under way right now with a number of police involved in what is an unfolding drama going on there. we have no confirmation of this but this follows the attack involving a government that opened fire on a crowded christmas market, killing three people and leaving one brain—dead. the attack on monday evening left 12 other people injured, several of them seriously. hundreds of officers involved in the search for the suspect who has been identified as 29—year—old cherif chekatt. he is already known to the authorities and he is reported as being on a terrorist watch list. this is happening close to one of the central squares in strasbourg. he went down a number of streets before being involved in some kind of shoot off with police officers and then he disappeared. an international arrest warrant was issued and the borders were put under scrutiny but this operation going on now in strasbourg suggests that he may have remained in the area if that is what we're looking at. there is no confirmation that this is linked to that attack it would seem plausible given what has happened in strasbourg in the last 48 hours. any developments and we will take you straight back to strasbourg. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav danaos. hello there. we end this week on a cold note. in fact, tomorrow morning will be colder, with a widespread frost. temperatures falling away quickly with some cloud in eastern coastal areas and certainly in northern ireland it could be cloudier. and you can see subzero temperatures on friday. it will be dry and bright though with plenty of sunshine around. the wind won't be so much of around. the wind won't be so much of a feature tomorrow so it won't feel too bad but it will be another cold one. from northern islands, front will come in and it will be windy and rainy later on in the day. wet and rainy later on in the day. wet and windy as well on saturday with heavy snow in central and northern pa rt heavy snow in central and northern part of the country. a little bit quieter on sunday. this is bbc news. i'm ben brown live in brussels. the prime minister is here for a crucial eu summit, the day after surviving a confidence vote. theresa may is hoping to win fresh concessions from eu leaders to break the deadlock over the irish backstop. i don't expect an immediate breakthrough, but what i do hope is that we can start work as quickly as possible on the assurances that are necessary. i'm here in westminster, where the government has set out its timetable for parliamentary business next week, which doesn't include plans for mps to vote on theresa may's brexit deal, amid voices calling for her to step down. this isn't an ordinary election and an ordinary electorate. it is a very peculiar collection and that is why, if you look at the historical precedents, i still think the prime minister should resign because she clearly doesn't have the full confidence of a party. have the full confidence of a party. in other news, the government announces a 2.8% rise in funding for councils in england. hospital beds in england were almost full last week, with the usual winter pressures still to come. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. theresa may is here in brussels for talks with eu leaders after surviving yesterday's confidence vote of conservative mps. the prime minister has said she is not expecting an "immediate breakthrough" on her brexit deal although she is looking for concessions. in particular, she wants a promise that the plan to prevent checks at the irish border, known as the backstop, will only be temporary. it's a key issue for her tory critics who forced last night's ballot. the eu leaders gathering here right now have made it clear they won't renegotiate the deal itself, but the bbc has seen the draft conclusions of this summit which suggest they will try to offer new assurances about the backstop, as our correspondent adam fleming reports. safe in herjob, for now, theresa may has sped to brussels to secure tweaks to the brexit deal. first stop, a meeting with the irish prime minister. the focus is on the back—up plan for avoiding a hard border on the island of ireland, the so—called backstop. my focus now is on ensuring that i can get those assurances that we need to get this deal over the line because i genuinely believe it is in the best interests of both sides, the uk and the eu, to agree a deal. but i recognise the strength of concern in the house of commons and that is what i will be putting to colleagues today. i do not expect an immediate breakthrough, but i hope we can start to work as quickly as possible on the assurances that are necessary. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, is not willing to do any more negotiating. but eu leaders are considering six paragraphs of written reassurance. they will say the backstop is temporary and would only be in place for as long as needed, not forever. the eu will pledge to continue negotiating a trade deal with the uk even if the backstop comes into force. and the uk and the eu will work on more reassurances about the backstop, which could be finalised in january. none of that would be legally binding, but if all 27 other leaders sign up to it here tonight, it would be politically binding, and there is a promise of stronger stuff to come. arriving for their traditional presummit meeting the eu leaders said they wanted to help but there were limits. we need to achieve good solutions. it is impossible on the brexit for us to change our position. that was the message in the german parliament this morning as well. it passed a motion calling the idea of a better brexit deal an illusion. translation: 0ur clear interest continues to be an agreement with great britain, the agreement negotiated on for many months is truly a fair compromise. it is a good basis for an orderly exit and for the creation of close future ties. there is no basis to unravel this agreement. we have made this clear again in recent days and nothing will change. mrs may has convinced the eu to lend her a hand, pauljewell and paul but can anything she brings back from brussels convince angry mps back at home? we have been hearing from president macron france, sending cannot reopen her legal agreement, we can't we negotiate something that is being negotiated over several months. similar sentiment from angela merkel as well. we will see if there can be additional security forces. not we negotiate in the withdrawal agreement itself, but are open to seeing assurances about the backstop. theresa may has said you once those assurances to be legally binding, and that is a moot point whether anything that leaders could offer would be legally binding. the austrian chancellor has said it would be a readiness on our side to provide some better explanation of the future relationship. that is a flavour of what they are saying. leo varadkar saying that flavour of what they are saying. leo va radkar saying that he flavour of what they are saying. leo varadkar saying that he meant to reza just before the summit here in a bilateral and he said some of theresa may's ideas made sense, but others were difficult. the backstop, he said, is not on the table. i'm joined by max hoffmann, brussels bureau chief at the german broadcaster deutsche welle. thank you very much for being with us. is brexit still on the german media's agenda? it is. it is the top topic here, at least for us, because it is one of those stories that affects everyone. it is one of the stories were you just don't know what is going to happen. i've talked to so many people about this, experts, no one can tell you how this is going to play out. there is a certain political drama around theresa may here, having survived that vote of confidence at westminster last night. she is here, thatis westminster last night. she is here, that is the main thing. and some of the briefings of the record there was speculation that she might not come. everybody was really hoping that she would make it. she is getting some form of admiration in brussels by the simple fact that she is still here, she has made it so far. she is persistent, if nothing else. does that admiration stretched to really wanting to make deals stick in the british parliament? the admiration is that she is still here. if you look at the culture of the house of commons, the way she is fighting for her political life you have to admire her in some sense. is she the best to negotiate this deal? we don't know, neither do leaders here. what they want is stability. what they would not like is to have this vote of no—confidence go through and then have with multiple weeks until it is clear who they are going to negotiate with. especially somebody who will completely different views to theresa may. this is the best possible outcome for the leaders here. she is eventually coming here saying, i need your help, you have got to give me a break, give me something extra. they have said they would be negotiate the deal, but can they give her enough that would get through the house of commons? i summit up under tea and sympathy, that is all they can give. if they don't open up the withdrawal agreement, unilaterally they have said they will not do that to change the backstop. after that it is clarifications. that is probably not going to be enough for the folks back home. that is why i they want to give her the feeling that she is accepted, that they are not opening up a new frontier, and thatis not opening up a new frontier, and that is the sympathy card, but for the other part, it is the, that's it. sounds very british! do you think there are some people who who might think that they wanted all to fall apart here, so there could be a second referendum were potentially the uk could stay in the eu as a member. that is a dangerous game to play here. it is another possible outcome. another possible outcome, and they put that question to many european politicians, if you don't get a deal at all, then you are going to automatically have a hard border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. isn't it better to have a deal without the backstop than to have no deal were automatically have the hard border. ido automatically have the hard border. i do not have as satisfactory answer to that yet. you and a few other people! max, thank you very much indeed. the first session of the summit is under way and we know that to reason they will be setting out to reason they will be setting out to the other leaders what you would like for them. she is not expecting any immediate breakthrough that she does say that you want something legally binding, notjust political assurances, not just warm legally binding, notjust political assurances, notjust warm words, but something she can take back to the house of commons. she is talking to them this afternoon, then there is them this afternoon, then there is the dinner this evening. at the end of that she will leave and the other 27 leaders will discuss brexit amongst themselves. you are watching bbc news. so what about getting this deal through the houses of parliament? to take a look at this, joining me is our reality check correspondent, chris morris. what will happen when this vote goes to the chamber of the house of commons? chris, it is a fascinating story in a sense because it is going on here in brussels, but what happens here intimately affects happens here intimately affects happens in the house of commons. happens here intimately affects happens in the house of commonsm certainly does. it is worth remembering that this was not supposed to be about brexit at all. it was meant to have been done and dusted with the book in parliament this week. if she gets some clarification and the boat comes after christmas, then what? even then he would need to turn the withdrawal agreement into uk law, and you could expect a bit of a war of attrition from her opponents amending or trying to change any legislation to put that into law. if you get through that parliamentary process , you get through that parliamentary process, your also need to have ratification at the european parliament. if it went too far, the european parliament might say this is too much for ireland to bear, we will pick up a fuss. if it gets ratified in the uk parliament and the eu parliament, the coast is clear for the the eu parliament, the coast is clearfor the uk the eu parliament, the coast is clear for the uk to leave the european union on the 29th of march next year. then, of course, we would enter into a transition period, lasting at least 21 months of not longer. then the clock starts ticking again to try to find a future trade agreement between the two sides before we got to the point perhaps that that backstop would have to kick in. if it is put to a vote in the commons and feels, what then? if it is rejected, the first thought is can we tweak the deal? the problem is, it is already being twea ked the problem is, it is already being tweaked before the vote because it was clear earlier this week that the vote was going to feel. if it went toa vote was going to feel. if it went to a vote sometime in earlyjanuary and was rejected again, could the clarifications that emerge from this summit be clarified still further? think we are getting into thin ice there. the problem is, you can clarify this deal to have a second vote later in the year, then the default position is leaving with no deal. some people would welcome mats, they think it is bearable, most people are looking at the grim warnings coming from government and business saying this is something that has to be avoided almost at all costs. if it is to be no deal, what are we looking at? one possibility would be an election potentially bringing ina would be an election potentially bringing in a different government. that would mean extending the article 50 negotiation process, that would lead to be agreed by all member states including the uk. them the possibility of another referendum. if you simply can't break the political deadlock in parliament, do you take a decision to send it back to the people. good another referendum lead to brexit at all? not necessarily. there could be another vote to leave. if you like, all possibilities are still there. what is your sense of how much the other eu leaders here want to help theresa may? will they bent over backwards to give her some reassu ra nces backwards to give her some reassurances that will help sell this deal, or do they think the more we give our the more potentially back could hurt ireland's, which is remaining a member state of the european union. they would like to help her get deal through parliament they could focus on other things and focused not on the withdrawal, but on the future relationship between the two sides. they will give her whatever she wants, clearly. as we have seen in all sorts of issues, whether it be ireland, fishing, gibraltar, negotiations always come from two points of view and that is one of the difficult things for the uk. there has always been an expectation that perhaps the unity of the other 27 countries would start to fracture. 0ne of the other 27 countries would start to fracture. one of the things that has been fairly remarkable is how well they have stuck together. when you start to talk about the future relationship after brexit happens, maybe that unity will come under more pressure, but at the moment they are still clearly singing from the same song sheet and the uk hasn't been able to break that time. thank you, chris morris. all the leaders as they have been arriving for the summit have been saying pretty much the same thing, which is they are not we negotiating with withdrawal agreement, but they are prepared to look at assurances that might help theresa may. whether she will get what she wants to go home empty—handed will have to wait and see. let's go to simon mccoy, in westminster. i want to take you back to strasberg, because we have been reporting a police operation under way there. this follows the events on tuesday night when gunmen who was identified had exchanged fire with police officers. also responsible for the deaths of at least two people. this police operation we are looking at now is under way. we are not being told that this is linked to that incident, though it is happening very close to the spot where he was last seen on tuesday night and when he was involved in a shoot out with police. dozens of officers have cordoned off an area in southern strasberg. this is the area of new dorff in strasbourg and that operation very much ongoing with that street cordoned off. this is yards from where the gunmen, cherif chekatt, was last seen. if there is a development who will go straight back. the prime minister has confirmed this morning that she wont lead her party in to the next election. it now seems the so—called "meaningful vote" for mps on her brexit deal?is unlikely to be held next week, though?it will happen before 21st january. ?tensions are still running high within the conservative party after last night's vote of confidence, as our political correspondent iain watson reports. the morning after the night before at westminster, not exactly a new dawn for the prime minister. the vote of confidence was, if not disastrous, certainly disappointing, with more than a third of her mps wanting her to go. she confirmed today she had to promise not to lead her party into another election. herfocus now was on her deal. what i'm clear about is the next general election is in 2022 and i think it's right another leader takes us into that election. my focus is on ensuring we can get those reassurances we need to get this deal over the line. the main issue, just in case you don't know by now, is the backstop, staying close to eu rules to avoid a hard border in ireland. her critics and some of her cabinet believes she needs a legally watertight assurance that it is temporary. this morning ministers were hopeful of her progress. i wish her every success today in making sure she delivers on some of the questions my colleagues had about the backstop. we have a period of time now for the prime minister to have those discussions with european colleagues, and i think we saw in the language that was reported last night that there is some movement. this former conservative leader doesn't think there has been nearly enough. what's on offer is what she forces the eu to face up to. we don't want to hear any more about what the eu won't, what we want to know is what the uk government genuinely think it is prepared to do. are you prepared to leave the table, are you prepared to save the eu? for god's sake you are the ones that will not compromise. we have compromised all the way through. and he warns theresa may that without significant changes, northern ireland's dup could force herfrom office. we may face a vote of confidence in the house. how can we rely on the dup to support us when they are so fundamentally offside on this agreement? theresa may leaves behind a divided party. her chancellor talks about flushing out extremists. a former leader has said that kind of talk could be the end of the party as we know it, and a current minister has said after the apocalypse or that are left are ants and tory mps complaining about europe and their leader. the tall order for theresa may is she must heal those divisions in little more than a month. mps will vote on here revised deal on or before the 21st of january. if it is rejected, she has until the 11th of february to rethink which doesn't give much time for the eu parliament to give its approval. theresa may now needs to build bridges with her own backbenchers and she will be reflecting on the fact that it is easier to win a vote of confidence than to win approval for her deal at westminster. ian watson, bbc news. with me is nikki da costa, who was, until last month, director of legislative affairs at number ten. she was responsible for pushing through brexit and other legislation in parliament until she left the role last month. this is your first time on television. there is an awful lot of work still to be done. what is going on? the key thing his talk about the whitehall machine, that means there are many moving parts. in terms of the vote, you have the whips office, the vote, you have the whips office, the number ten operation but also will have people in the cabinet 0ffice supporting back, then the bill itself. a lot of people are contributing their expertise and experiences in order to ensure that when it actually happens it can go as fast as it possibly can, and smoothly. presumably, it is one thing happen the pope, but the next thing happen the pope, but the next thing is getting the legislation. thing happen the pope, but the next thing is getting the legislationm absolutely is. when you are preparing this for parliament, gtech to look at the weak spots, where you will have difficulties as the bill progresses and you think about what we can do to prepare for that, what we can do to prepare for that, what we might want to do to offer as a concession, jaime g1 to be able to gain around that bill up high, get it is that when you're talking about a government depending on other parties, that must be very difficult. very intellectually stimulating! you're thinking about where are the different groups of parliament, what are the things they have already said and you are trying to think through to her strategy. you can never think about about what you can do this particular stage, you can do this particular stage, you think about what can we about this here. you always want to think about what you do not and how do you build on that. what we know at the moment is next week it is not happening, so there will be a sense of relief i guess in yourformer couege of relief i guess in yourformer college right now. i think so. you are thinking about how do we gear up andi are thinking about how do we gear up and i would imagine the christmas would be relatively busy. by the zist, would be relatively busy. by the 21st, if she gets this through, then the real work begins and that is without the fear of amendments or whatever else might be thrown in. you will probably see it, my hunch is you will probably see the boat in january then the terminology will walking on the back of it. do you said that on the basis that the prime minister will no about this time difficulties. that would be the advice to would—be getting that sort of time? grey areas emerge. the 21st of january is in the legislation for a new deal scenario, in which there has not been a deal. right now we have a deal, it has not been approved by parliament, but there is approved by parliament, but there is a deal. the 21st of january has become a political thing. the pm has said either 21st of january we will do something. that is a monday. there will need to be some days of debate in the house before that though, so that i think things will kick off in the week before. let's talk amendments, we know there will be released b1. yes, i think we will see a be released b1. yes, i think we will seea similar be released b1. yes, i think we will see a similar business motion to what we had before, which the speaker will select from. some of the ones i think you can predict, you will see hilary benn go down again, and what he is saying is that we don't like the deal, we don't like no deal and want to tell you what you should do night. you will probably see a second referendum amendment. the lib dems got there are knuckles rapped... you will probably see an official opposition amendment, particularly from the snp. i think the government will table something in the name of a backbencher to offer concessions with. he worked closely with number ten. he went there last week but you will be underused to centres of crisis and would imagine. what is it like? when i first walked through that door there was a sense of, oh my god, iam a that door there was a sense of, oh my god, i am a number ten. you get those learning moments every time you go through a crisis. there will be the team is really involved in it, but remember, there are 250 people in number ten, that facade conceals a laugh a lot. if you are not part of that initial action, we are watching what the journalists are watching what the journalists are doing thinking, oh, that is interesting, or you might be walking around the building thinking, where are we, how are things? that might bea are we, how are things? that might be a slight sigh of relief that christmas and cancelled, how will they be preparing because possibly they be preparing because possibly the week after, they will be pretty hectic. one of the upside is about what has happened is that you can't have had a dry run. there are lessons to be learnt from this experience over how you might doctor parliament, how you might engage. that should be fudging into the process of them thinking when we get back from the eu, how do we approach this? there will be a lot of engagement over christmas and number ten as to how you do it. when you live and breathe it, you will know better than most, you will instinctively know whether what theresa may comes back with tonight weather will be accepted or not. yes, you do have a gut instinct, but a lot of it is unpacking it, but this is complicated stuff. you have to explain it and seek other people's advice and go from there. are you missing it? always. number ten is an amazing place. nicky da costa, ten is an amazing place. nicky dacosta, thank you. beds in england's hospitals were almost full last week, and not far off levels reached at the height of last winter, during the flu outbreak. let's get more from our health editor hugh pym. the issue is we haven't had any cool weather, and bed occupancy levels are weather, and bed occupancy levels a re pretty weather, and bed occupancy levels are pretty high. 94% in english hospitals last week, similar to this time last year. remember what happened last year, the winter kicked in and occupancy rose even from their stop we have all those problems. last week, one in ten hospitals were fully occupied, every bed occupied on at least one day during the week. we have also had a and the figures for november in england shown that the 95% target was mr gent, the percentage rate to be treated dealt with are obsessed assessed during that time fell to the lower stance earlier this year, below scotland, although ahead of wales and northern ireland. people are saying this is early days, but it isa are saying this is early days, but it is a pointer to pressure that is likely to come over the whole winter. what are they doing about this? nhs has said that more people are being seen in a&e units. they say that there are stats showing the number of people who go in and out of hospital on the same day is higher than before, so they are a lot busier, staff are working harder, but they are doing the best they can in the circumstances. the government has said is it invested more ina government has said is it invested more in a heady facilities in england to help out there, but it is being pointed out that you can invest more money at the last minute for winter but you can't buy in new staff and that remains one of the major problems, vacancies in the workforce, particularly nursing, unfilled, which points to worries at management level at nhs trusts over the next few months. people are saying it could be more difficult than last winter. of course, so much depends on what the weather does and who are about to find out that there isa who are about to find out that there is a change coming. it has been a cold day up and down the country, particularly if you factor in the cold winds. it will be a quarter night and last night with the widespread frost. those temperatures falling away quickly under clear skies. there will be some cloud across eastern coastal areas and the northern ireland could bea areas and the northern ireland could be a bit cloudy. for degrees in belfast. the blue tinge indicate subzero temperatures. friday will start off on a cold and frosty look, but at least try and bright. the winds will be so much of a feature tomorrow so it shouldn't feel too bad, although it will be another cold one. for northern ireland, a weather front were moving left on the day. it turns much wilder into the day. it turns much wilder into the weekend. saturday will be wet and windy with heavy snow in central and windy with heavy snow in central and northern parts of the country. wyatt on sunday, sunshine and showers. the headlines now from bbc news. the prime minister is back in brussels for a crucial eu summit — the day after surviving a confidence vote. theresa may is hoping to win fresh consessions from eu leaders to break the deadlock over the irish backstop. the government has set out its timetable for parliamentary business next week, which doesn't include plans for mps to vote on theresa may's brexit deal. in other news, the government announces a 2.8% rise in funding for councils in england. and hospital beds in england were almost full last week, with the usual winter pressures, still to come. let's talk sports now because i'm certainly not going to take part in any. let's go to the bbc sports centre. the fa has announced that martin glenn has resigned from his position of chief executive officer and will step down at the end of the season. the fa said he'll leave having delivered much of what he came to do. under his tenure, england's men and women have both reached the semi—finals of a world cup, and the under 17s and under 20s are both world champions. revenue at the fa has also increased by 40%. but he's also faced criticism during his time at the fa, over issues such as the appointment and then dismissal of sam allardyce as england manager, and the failed sale of wembley stadium. the fa have said that martin glenn delivered on much of what he came to do when hejoined in delivered on much of what he came to do when he joined in 2015 and also that he leaves a strong foundation for his successor. they clearly feel that the time is right for him to move on. many chief and go in any industry and the fa will now be looking for a new one. but perhaps the warning signs were here in march when reports suggested had recruited headhunters to look for glenn's replacement if he was to resign after the world cup. he didn't but he is now and that hunt begins or is stepped up immediately. manchester united manager jose mourinho has criticised his starting line—up, after their defeat by valencia in theirfinal champions league group match. philjones scored an embarrassing own goal, as they lost 2—1 — united had already qualified for the knock out phase, but missed out on topping their group afterjuventus lost at young boys. mourinho was frustrated he had to use his subs to improve the side... my my team improved when i made the changes that i didn't want to make, which is a little bit frustrating because i didn't want to play the three players that i played in the second half. the women's tennis association has announced increased protection for mothers returning to the tour. from next season, players coming back after childbirth — or injury — will be able to use their previous ranking to enter 12 tournaments over a three—year period. but serena williams' wish that returning mothers would also be seeded in line with their ranking has not been granted. justin rose has a chance to make a great season even better this week. he's defending his title at the indonesian masters injakarta — and he was just one shot off the pace, on five—under—par, when play was interrupted by bad weather, towards the end of the first round. rose can end the year as world number one with a top—12 finish here. he's playing alongside another of the victorious european ryder cup team, henrik stenson. england now know who they'll face in the semi—finals of the hockey world cup. it'll be 0lympic silver medallists belgium on saturday, after they beat germany 2—1. the winner coming in the final quarter. england have already beaten the olympic champions argentina on their way to their third consecutive world cup semi final. swimming's international governing body has announced a new competition for next year in response to criticism from some of the sport's top names. olympic champion adam peaty stated last week that swimming was "stuck in 1970" after fina forced the cancelation of a new rival event he was backing. fina hopes the new format, known as the fina champions swim series, will appease those who have voiced frustrations with its governance recently. but bbc sport understands that over 30 of the world's best swimmers will meet in london next week to discuss taking further action against the organisation. that's all the sport for now. i will have more for you in the next hour. the european union is meeting in brussels to discuss brexit and we will take your questions now about the deal that theresa may has got with the eu. with me is our brussels reporter, adam fleming. we also have a senior research fellow at the centre for european reform. we have quite a few questions. maureen bradbury from warrington emails us to ask: "if we leave without a deal, will be save the £39 billion and what will happen to the irish border?" the £39 billion was the financial settle m e nt the £39 billion was the financial settlement that is made up of obligations that the uk had as a member which it had signed up to. plus two years of the transition period where we would pay the same. so there is a bit of an argument about how much of the uk would be legally on the hook for it left without the deal. some of that £39 billion, we think, but it would not be paying during the transition period because there is no deal there is no transition period. about there is no transition period. about the irish border, that is a massive question. the uk and ireland both say that there will be no infrastructure on the irish border but what will the rest of the eu do if there is basically an open door on the common market. the eu insists to preserve the integrity of the single market and this requires a hard border. so, what checks, procedures or other mechanisms must this hard border have to preserve the integrity of the single market? dr steven evans texted us and asked that. i'm not sure that the eu insist there needs to be a hard border i think it isjust a consequence of what we understand of the four freedoms. movements, capital, services and goods. you need to check goods and services if you leave the single market. the checks that would need to happen between northern ireland and ireland would be to ensure that the goods are travelling across the border are lawfully marketed, as we say in brussels, in both countries. francis stelfox asks... will the pm be able to get a date for the uk to leave the backstop? the backstop is what is being discussed here. the simple answer is no mac. the eu sees the backstop as the ultimate insurance policy to prevent a hard border on the island of ireland. they say an insurance policy but you can't have an end point but you can have a situation in which it does end which is a future trade deal which deals with those problems. maybe you could have a date that you aspire to the backstop a date that you aspire to the ba cksto p to a date that you aspire to the backstop to not be needed. does that count as a date is that not abate? you need to be in that negotiating room. jennifer sutcliffe tweets this... how much has the process of leaving the eu cost the taxpayer? pretty ha rd to pretty hard to estimate. can you give us a guess? i am not in the business of giving estimates when it comes to economic issues but i do know that since the process of brexit started, gdp has contracted by 2.5%. so that is a proxy estimate, at least. enid pratt via email asks — wouldn't it be a good idea for the eu to reform, also to have elected leaders? that is an issue they like to talk about a lot, making the eu feel democratic. some people say it is already designed to be democratic because you have national leaders here who are elected, the european commission where there is a member from each member state appointed by the prime minister must there is a democratic bit there and then you have the european parliament that is directly elected by the citizens. in theory that means you have a bit of democracy in each bit and there is loads of decisions that have to be made by unanimity here when member states meet or by a qualified majority where a majority of the countries representing a majority of the population push something through. in terms of big jobs, the presence of the commission and the council always talk about having elected members, there is a system whereby the group that wins the biggest groups allow their leader to be head of the european commission but it has not really worked. would bea but it has not really worked. would be a good idea for the european union to reform? i wouldn't say no. i think there are areas that have to be reformed. we have been working on migration and security policies and the like. but i do not think that is fairto the like. but i do not think that is fair to say that eu leaders are not elected. just to recap, we have a council of ministers representing the governments of member states, all of whom as much as i know have been elected by voters. we also have the european parliament as adam mentioned before and we now have a candidate process and there's many ways in which the european union is trying to input more democracy into it. thank you. can you please explain, under the proposed deal, are we leaving the ecj or not? the ecj will not have jurisdiction in the uk and its rulings will not have a direct effect in the uk however that does not mean that the letters ecj will disappear from national life. the citizen's rights pa rt national life. the citizen's rights part in the brexit treaty, the rights of eu nationals living in the uk, they will have an eight—year period by which they can bring to the ecj concerning their rights in post—brexit britain. they will also have some say in financial settle m e nts have some say in financial settlements and if there is a dispute between the uk and the eu about either brexit treaty applies in the real world as it has been negotiated, if it cannot be solved by the two parties that will go to an arbitration panel and if they can't get a solution it will be referred to the european court of justice if a matter of european law is axed eight. so the ecj is still involved. if the deal did not go through and we end up with wto rules, would that solve the irish border issues? i'm afraid i'm not an expert on trade but i assume that the question of the irish border is going to be there at least for the time in which we are not necessarily have a framework in place yet. as i was have a framework in place yet. as i was saying before, before the european union and the uk can agree ona european union and the uk can agree on a framework that will need to be checks in between the two parties last question, we have really rattled through them, adam, this one is for you. we talk a lot about the norway option and the canada option. this is a question from john. what are the barriers to the canada option and why cannot that be negotiated? the first issue is that if we do have a trade deal that was modelled on the one in canada you would still have checks on goods crossing the border in the uk which means you would have checks on the irish border unless you came up with some add—ons to the canada deal that would reduce the checks down to zero which would be very tricky. then there is the political barrier in there is the political barrier in the house of commons and there are plenty of mps that think a norway style, much closer to the single markets, is what they would prefer they think canada is too distant. and then if you had canada in place of great britain you would need a backstop for northern ireland for the border issues. having said that, the border issues. having said that, the deal on the table is pretty canada flavoured. it talks about binding trade together but not in the way that you would have if he stayed in the single market. canada flavoured agreement! maple syrup! laughter thank you both for answering our viewers questions. that is the latest on this. let's go back to westminster and join simon. i can't get over the canada flavoured agreement. i have no idea what you are both talking about. one of the reasons we come here is that we can grab some people and talk to them. it looks a bit more regimented where you are. can you talk to people you see them across the room? in terms of leaders that is quite hard but you do actually see them as they walk in and all 28 leaders come in and they do what are called doorsteps, you have a chat with them. we heard from theresa may who looks pretty confident and relieved after the vote of confidence, saying she does not expect a breakthrough here but she does make clear what she wants which is some assurances, legal and political assurances, that will help her get her bill through parliament. whether she will get them, we will wait and see. there is a dinner tonight where she will be that the end of that dinner she has delayed. always slightly an awkward moment. and the other 27 without her the room starts talking about brexit and what they think they might be able to offer her. we'll have to wait and see. will that be it then? by wait and see. will that be it then? by the end of the day we will know if she has something that is salea ble if she has something that is saleable or not. perhaps not by the end of today but by the end of tomorrow yes. he gets draft conclusions and leagues before the summit starts, so in other words, before any of the leaders have got in the room and started discussing. things are already in place with square brackets around them and included in that is a six paragraph d raft included in that is a six paragraph draft conclusions from this summit that we have already seen. it hasn't been signed off and confirmed but it does offer some more technical reassurances about the backstop which may or may not be enough for theresa may. we'll have to wait and see. then, thank you very much. or some other stories from the uk now. local authorities in england, will be given the power to raise council taxes by an additional 3% next year. announcing the annual funding settlement, the communities secretary james brokenshire said a ‘brighterfuture' lies ahead. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth has been following the story.. past eight years councils have had the amount of money they get from government cuts back and at the same time demand for their services, particularly social care, has been increasing. this announcement was telling councils how much money they will get in the next financial year by the start of april. 0verall there will be a 2.8% increase in core funding. councils will also be of zinc raise council tax to cover the cost of services by a maximum of 3% and 15 council areas will try out the new scheme where they get to keep more business rates where they get to cover the cost of services as well. james brokenshire said he understood the challenge councils faced and wanted to make sure they had the resources they need. there will be a whole review of how councils are funded but labour said that sent dave's announcement fell short. the local government association said that next year is going to be challenging. they were disappointed that the government did not give more of the desperately needed resources and there would be tough challenges when it comes to next year with councils deciding what they can afford to provide. business news now with ben bland. you can hear me but you cannot see me. let me bring you the business news. the brexit effect on bricks and mortar — the uk housing market slips to its weakest level in six years. the royal institution of chartered surveyors says fewer people want to move and fewer want to sell because of the uncertainty around brexit. it expects a further fall in house prices and the number of homes being sold in the next three months. more in a moment. fashion chain bonmarche says trading conditions on the high street are "unprecedented" and "significantly worse" than at the height of the financial crisis. it's warning that it could make a full year loss of £4 million. it's shares fell sharply. the yorkshire—based firm has about 300 stores around the uk. the warning is the latest indication that the christmas shopping period is not matching up to retailers' hopes. sports direct‘s owner, mike ashley, has written a bluntly—worded letter to the boss of debenhams discussing his offer of a £40 million investment in the struggling department store chain. the letter, addressed to sergio bucher, suggests without the money the company "has zero chance of survival". mr ashley wrote that he was frustrated debenhams doesn't want his "help". sorry about the camera problems there. how long do you think it takes for a property in the uk to sell? on average, at the moment, its four months. according to industry figures, buyers and sellers are sitting tight, apparently waiting to see what happens with brexit. so there are fewer homes coming on to the market. generally, prices are falling too. but the picture varies around the region. house prices are falling most notably in london, the south—east and east anglia. they are flat in the south—west, east midlands and north—east. while prices are still increasing in northern ireland, scotland, the west midlands, wales, yorkshire and the humber and the north—west. a quick run around the regions there. lucian cook is head of residential reserarch at the property group savills. why do we think there are such variation if brexit is the reason it affects the whole of the uk? variation if brexit is the reason it affects the whole of the uk7m variation if brexit is the reason it affects the whole of the uk? it is a reflection of where the property markets are in the cycle. what we have seen in london is a reflection of how far house prices have moved since 2005. it just of how far house prices have moved since 2005. itjust means that in those markets buying a house is a much greater financial commitment so therefore when things become more uncertain buyers but, that's much more cautious. going back to basic principles of economics, when something is in short supply, generally, the price goes up. so if there are fewer houses coming onto there are fewer houses coming onto the markets why are people not seeing house prices rise? it is a reflection of the fact that at the same time the number of new buyer enquiries is down so you do not have a massive disconnect between supply and demand in the market. indeed we know that caution amongst buyers is reflected in the fact that the brexit vote. we have seen it ticked down month by month and the market has become more confined for need space to buyers for example. we have had a warning from the governor of the bank of england not so long ago that and no—deal brexit could hit house prices in the uk by as much as 30%. does that tally with your estimates as well? i think you need to be careful with those figures from the bank of england. they made a number of quite extreme assumptions as to what would happen if we were to leave brexit with no deal and they were at the far end of a range of figures that might occur. 0n the assumption that there is the political will from the eu and the uk to avoid that hard brexit then clearly some of the weakness that we have seen in the housing market this year will continue into next year. but they're after you can see a return to modest levels of house price growth and later on in the period that house price growth will be curtailed with the prospect of interest rate rises which will make it more difficult for people to get increased levels of mortgages which are needed to generate more significant house price growth. thank you very much. we will speak to you again soon. in the markets, the ftse100 is flat. gains among mining companies and financial stocks being counter—balanced by a fall in some major housebuilder and retailers shares. uk's domestically focused stocks — so the ftse 250 — down. firms on the ftse250 rely more on the uk market for their income. sports direct shares are down after boss mike ashley said november's trading was "unbelievably bad" — though the firm has since reiterated that they still expect earnings to rise within the earlier range they forecast — if you exclude house of fraser. the pound is up slightly against the euro — but down a shade against the dollar, losing gains from earlier in the day. i spoke about houses for the last few minutes. let's go to a different type of houses now, the houses of parliament. that must have taken you ages to think up. we'll have the weather in a second but i wanted then you the latest from strasbourg. the police operation there is still ongoing. a number of officers have been involved. you can see on the top of your screen they cordoned off area in strasbourg in eastern france. this is an area close to the last sighting of a gunmen responsible for three deaths on tuesday night. the police operation on going forjust over one hour and three quarters. the police are still searching for the suspected gunmen, cherif chekatt, who exchanged fire with officers at the end of that event on tuesday night, having shot a number of people in the christmas market there. more than 700 french security forces have been trying to trace him since the bloodshed on tuesday night when he is suspected of shooting and stabbing shoppers are bad christmas market, a popular market in strasbourg. note indications that it is definitely linked to that —— no indications that it linked to that —— no indications thatitis linked to that —— no indications that it is definitely linked to that. but we will bring you the releva nce that. but we will bring you the relevance of that story throughout the afternoon on bbc news where it is now time for a look at the weather. where ending this week with cold notes. high pressure will bring a lot of dry weather over the next few days keeping this weather front at bay till now. but it is drawing in cold airfrom bay till now. but it is drawing in cold air from the constant with a strong breeze which is adding two winds chill. after a cold day it will be a cold evening and cold nights under clear skies. a little bit of cloud on eastern coastal areas with some cloud out west in northern ireland. temperatures for belfast around four degrees but much of the country will be cold with widespread frost, even colder than last night. friday morning starts on a frosty note with plenty of sunshine. the breeze won't be as much as a feature so it won't feel too bad, especially in the sunshine. further west it will turn increasingly wet and windy. this low pressure will be the player as we head into the weekend. we are likely to see a spell of heavy snow moving northwards and it will be followed by gales and heavy rain. some travel disruption this weekend from the snow in central and northern parts of the uk. stay tuned to local radio and subsequent weather forecasts. 0n saturday we will see some snow in wales and northern england and then into central and southern scotland. it will be heavy on the hills but even snow at lower levels. especially across northern england and scotland. a cold day here with a mixture of rain, sleet and snow but further south they will be windier and less cold with temperatures in double figures. we could see a spell of gales or severe gales as this precious weaves its way eastward on saturday night and sunday morning. there will still be some disruptive snow in central and northern scotla nd snow in central and northern scotland on sunday but further south a brighter day with some sunny spells, blustery showers, some of them heavy. the wind will gradually turned later through the day. they won't feel too bad with the sunshine we re won't feel too bad with the sunshine were particularly across the south where it won't be as cold. this is bbc news. i'm ben brown live in brussels. the prime minister is here for a crucial eu summit the day after surviving a confidence vote. theresa may is hoping to win fresh concessions from eu leaders to break the deadlock over the irish backstop. i don't expect an immediate breakthrough but what i do hope is that we can start to work as quickly as possible on the assurances that are necessary. i'm simon mccoy here in westminster, where the government has set out its timetable for parliamentary business next week, which doesn't include plans for mps to vote on theresa may's brexit deal, amid voices calling for her to step down. this isn't an ordinary election and an ordinary electorate. it's a very peculiar election and that's why if you look at the historical precedents i still think that the prime minister should resign because she clearly doesn't have the full comfidence of parliament. in other news, the government announces a 2.8% rise in funding for councils in england. and hospital beds in england were almost full last week, with the usual winter pressures still to come. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. theresa may is here in brussels, attending a summit of eu leaders with a view to getting concessions that might save her brexit deal. the main sticking point is the arrangements for the irish border if a trade deal is not reached after the transition period, known as the backstop. there are fears that the uk could be permanently bound to eu rules. it's a key issue for her tory critics who forced last night's confidence vote of conservative mps, which of course the pm survived. the eu leaders gathering here right now have made it clear they won't renegotiate the deal itself but the bbc has seen the draft conclusions of this summit which suggest they will try to offer new assurances about the backstop as our correspondent, adam fleming, reports. safe in herjob, for now, theresa may has sped to brussels to secure tweaks to the brexit deal. first stop, a meeting with the irish prime minister. the focus is on the back—up plan for avoiding a hard border on the island of ireland — the so—called backstop. my focus now is on ensuring that i can get those assurances that we need to get this deal over the line because i genuinely believe it is in the best interests of both sides, the uk and the eu, to agree a deal. but i recognise the strength of concern in the house of commons and that is what i will be putting to colleagues today. i do not expect an immediate breakthrough, but i hope we can start to work as quickly as possible on the assurances that are necessary. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, is not willing to do any more negotiating. but eu leaders are considering six paragraphs of written reassurance. they will say the backstop is temporary and would only be in place for as long as needed, not forever. the eu will pledge to continue negotiating a trade deal with the uk even if the backstop comes into force. and the uk and the eu will work on more reassurances about the backstop, which could be finalised in january. none of that would be legally binding, but if all 27 other leaders sign up to it here tonight, it would be politically binding, and there is a promise of stronger stuff to come. arriving for their traditional presummit meeting the eu leaders said they wanted to help but there were limits. we need to achieve good solutions. it is impossible on the brexit for us to change our position. that was the message in the german parliament this morning as well. it passed a motion calling the idea of a better brexit deal an illusion. translation: our clear interest continues to be an agreement with great britain, the agreement negotiated on for many months is truly a fair compromise. it is a good basis for an orderly exit and for the creation of close future ties. there is no basis to unravel this agreement. we have made this clear again in recent days and nothing will change. mrs may has convinced the eu to lend her a hand, but can anything she brings back from brussels convince angry mps back at home? all the leaders are riding in brussels have been saying pretty much the same thing, they are not going to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement but are happy to try and come up with assurances for the british prime minister if they can on the backstop to help her. angela merkel of germany saying we will see if there can be additional assurances. emmanuel macron of france saying there can be political discussions but not legal ones. it isa discussions but not legal ones. it is a question of whether if she does get assurances will they be legally binding? with me is james crisp — brussels correspondent for the daily telegraph. what do you think? will she get what she needs? i think she will get part of what she needs. she will get some warm words today but later on, at a later summit, i warm words today but later on, at a latersummit, iam warm words today but later on, at a later summit, i am afraid my voice is going. have a sip of water. while you have a sip of water let me just tell you what has been going on in terms of the irish prime minister, leo varadkar. he has been talking after the meeting with theresa may a bit earlier on. let's hear what he have to say. the deal that we have is the only deal on the table. it took two years almost two years to negotiate. it is farfrom almost two years to negotiate. it is far from perfect but it is good for ireland, britain and the european union and silly hope it can be ratified in next couple of weeks. when it comes to assurances that theresa may is seeking, as the european union were very keen to offer explanations, assurances, clarifications, anything to assist mps to understand the agreement and hopefully to support it. but the backstop is not on the table. that was leo varadkar, the irish prime minister, speaking after he met theresa may before the summit got under way. what about getting hurt deal through the house of commons. we can talk to chris morris in a moment. let's just we can talk to chris morris in a moment. let'sjust remind we can talk to chris morris in a moment. let's just remind you you are watching bbc news and we're here at the european union summit web theresa may, the british prime minister, is asking for shows his particularly on the irish border question which she hopes will help to get her deal through the houses of parliament in the uk. we talked to chris morris more about the vote. we are hearing that vote which was postponed already will not now happen before christmas. we kind of expected that. that was the mood music. now we are being told it will happen as soon as possible in january and certainly before january the 21st. what happens if that vote is approved? the 21st. what happens if that vote is approved ? first the 21st. what happens if that vote is approved? first of all, once it is approved? first of all, once it is approved, the withdrawal agreement would have to be turned into uk law will stop i think in that process we would see a bit of a kind of war of attrition from the opponents of theresa may including those on her to try to amend and change what the agreement says. if he gets through that process in the house of commons it also needs to be ratified in the european parliament. one reason why you cannot change the irish backstop to much, and there is no appetite for changing the legal text in the withdrawal agreement, if you're per to many assurances about certain aspects on it maybe those in the european parliament will say this is not enough assurance for ireland. if it gets ratified in westminster and in the european parliament than it does mean that... it could be extendable by one or two yea rs. it could be extendable by one or two years. in that period that would be frantic efforts to restart the clock on the second phase brexit negotiations begin on what the future relationship looks like, in particular trying to get a future trade relationship up and running which would mean we no longer need to worry about the backstop in the first place. the minister said this has to be by january the 21st. what if the vote happens and she loses? it is all pointing to a defeat at the moment unless she can get major concessions from the eu. if the vote is rejected and the first thing is, could it be further modified in anyway? the problem is the clarification, the word the eu likes to use is taking place already before we have had a first vote. if it were rejected injanuary, it is kind of hard to see theresa may carry back again and saying to eu leaders, can i have even more? one possibility would be mps themselves could come up with a slightly different plan. if that was not possible, the default position would be leaving the eu with no deal at all on the 29th of march. some people on the tory right said that would be fine and we can deal with that. many people in government and business so the risk of that is too great. if no deal is taken off the table, you need a new political breakthrough. is an election a possibility with potentially a new prime minister coming in and a new brexit process? if that is to be the case he would probably need to extend the article 15 negotiations period and the eu would want to know pretty firmly if that were to happen but there would be some new thinking on the table. —— the article 15 negotiations period. the last option, could we see the path towards another referendum which an increasing number of politicians have been calling for. chances are it are probably going up. could that lead to no brexit at all? if we had another referendum no guarantee that the remain side would win or it could be to leave with no deal at all. in essence all options are on the table. the way article 50 is instructed, there is an end date and the clock is ticking. a brief word about what is going on here right now. theresa may trying to set out to eu leaders what she needs. she is trying to make her deal more sellable to the house of commons. will she get those assurances?” sellable to the house of commons. will she get those assurances? i do not think she'll get binding, legal commitments today full languages available. we have seen a draft text ofa available. we have seen a draft text of a potential statement saying trying to offer more legal reassurance that there is a temporary solution that the backstop could never be permanent and there would be negotiations on a future trade agreement, even if the backstop did have to come into effect. the eu does not want the backstop plan to be implemented but a legal requirement at the moment, i do not think she can get that that the eu has said it is prepared to continue a discussion injanuary to try and find a form of words within its own legal constraints to help her come if possible, to get this through the house of commons. thank you very much indeed. theresa may is in with the other 27 leaders right now, spelling out what she wants what is hoping for from them. she did say on her way in that she was not expecting any immediate breakthrough that we will have to wait and see those that that is what is happening this afternoon. this evening there is a din of raw the usually does and she will be there. at the end she will leave and a slightly awkward moment. —— there is a dinner. that is the latest from brussels. back to ben. good afternoon from westminster. the prime minister has confirmed this morning that she won't lead her party in to the next election. and it now seems the so—called "meaningful vote" for mps on her brexit deal?is unlikely to be held next week — though?it will happen before january the 21st. ? tensions are still running high within the conservative party after last night's vote of confidence, as our political correspondent, iain watson, reports. the morning after the night before at westminster, not exactly a new dawn for the prime minister. the vote of confidence was, if not disastrous, certainly disappointing, with more than a third of her mps wanting her to go. she confirmed today she had to promise not to lead her party into another election. herfocus now was on her deal. what i'm clear about is the next general election is in 2022 and i think it's right another leader takes us into that election. my focus is on ensuring we can get those reassurances we need to get this deal over the line. the main issue, just in case you don't know by now, is the backstop, staying close to eu rules to avoid a hard border in ireland. her critics and some of her cabinet believes she needs a legally watertight assurance that it is temporary. this morning ministers were hopeful of her progress. i wish her every success today in making sure she delivers on some of the questions my colleagues had about the backstop. we have a period of time now for the prime minister to have those discussions with european colleagues, and i think we saw in the language that was reported last night that there is some movement. this former conservative leader doesn't think there has been nearly enough. he says the eu needs a smack of firm government. what's on offer is what she forces the eu to face up to. we don't want to hear any more about what the eu won't, what we want to know is what the uk government genuinely think it is prepared to do. are you prepared to leave the table, are you prepared to save the eu? —— to say to the eu, for god's sake you are the ones that will not compromise. we have compromised all the way through. and he warns theresa may that without significant changes, northern ireland's dup could force herfrom office. we may face a vote of confidence in the house. how can we rely on the dup to support us when they are so fundamentally offside on this agreement? theresa may leaves behind a divided party. her chancellor talks about flushing out extremists. a former leader has said that kind of talk could be the end of the party as we know it, and a current minister has said after the apocalypse all that are left are ants and tory mps complaining about europe and their leader. the tall order for theresa may is she must heal those divisions in little more than a month. mps will vote on her revised deal on or before the 21st of january. if it is rejected, she has until the 11th of february to rethink which doesn't give much time for the eu parliament to give its approval. we are due to leave the eu by the end of march. theresa may now needs to build bridges with her own backbenchers and she will be reflecting on the fact that it is easier to win a vote of confidence than to win approval for her deal at westminster. ian watson, bbc news. with me is the labour peer, lord adonis — who is a supporter of the people's vote campaign for another eu referendum. was that campaign weakened or strengthened with the vote last night? the size of the vote against the prime minister i think means her treaty is dead in a water as far as parliament is concerned. it will go down by a large majority. that is on the basis she comes back from europe with nothing. she will come back with nothing. she will come back with nothing. she might get a declaration but chancellor merkel and the european commission has said it is not reopening the treaty and agassi anything that will make a difference in terms of the backstop and the arrangements which have been put into place for that she has a moment of initiative because she has been re—elected by her party and people are looking to have for leadership. the only leadership she can show which stands a chance of getting a majority in the house of commons is for herself to call a referendum. what she can do is put her treaty to the people directly. she has said chi will not do that. in the last 24 hours she has been a lot more nuanced. —— she has said that she will not do that. it looks to me as if she is thinking it through. what you should do is bid to the people with the option also to the people with the option also to remain, which i think is the a nyway to remain, which i think is the anyway for us to resolve this as a country. there is no other course of action which could get a majority in the house of commons. some say there are other options. the labour party is seen as crucial. there are two things which can happen, one is that theresa may appeals to members of the labour party and says, to avoid ano the labour party and says, to avoid a no deal, back my dealfor brexit or, and this is the other thing the labour party says, right, this is the moment to say there is no confidence in this government. a lot of eyebrows being raised but that has not happened already. why not? i would expectjeremy corbyn to come forward with a no—confidence motion. they are not going to vote for an election which in the current circumstances they would lose. i strongly supportjeremy bringing a vote of confidence forward but the likelihood is it will not work. i hope he does that next week. i hope it does. i hope he brings it next week but the likelihood is it will not pass on the issue of no deal, eve ryo ne not pass on the issue of no deal, everyone accepts that no deal will not happen. the government has virtually told us that no deal will not happen because it will be so catastrophic for the country. once the no deal is off the table, we will not have an election. her deal has gone down. after all the possible options have been eliminated what is left with is the improbable and that is the truth. a referendum would be entirely democratic. nobody saw the deal from the prime minister until two weeks ago. much less good trading opportunities and we have now in the european union. the right thing to do on mature reflection is to stay in ee you. we have already had a democratic vote. you know the argument. —— eu full suggest as we have elections periodically for that we have had a second referendum on theresa may's leadership of the conservative party. now that we can see the deal, we know it is 39 billion for a less good deal than we have in the eu at the moment which is against people were told two yea rs is against people were told two years ago when they were told there would be 350 million on the nhs... the issue is the backstop. that is the one issue everybody says is the reason she has had real problems in getting this through. it is not about anything else that this stage. there'll be no majority for a deal without a backstop. those of us who ca re without a backstop. those of us who care about ireland will know if you have the republic of ireland and northern ireland with different customs arrangements were that will lead to smuggling a potentially return of the troubles. who is going to put the border up? it would be right at the centre of relations between the republic of ireland and northern ireland if we had different customs areas. the government accepts that that is why the prime minister negotiated the backstop and the reason why we support northern ireland and the republic of violent rape being in the same customs area. the only way to secure that is basically to stay in the european union. —— and their republic of ireland is being in the same customs area. i know parliament well. i have beenin area. i know parliament well. i have been in it for 15 years. parliament is not going to total chaos, illegality and potentially violence. that will not happen. the use of language is very important here. the chief constable of the police service of northern ireland said if there are different customs arrangements, paramilitary ‘s will be behind the smuggling and he cannot be accountable for what may happen afterwards. this is the guy responsible for policing in northern ireland and this is why the prime minister has agreed the backstop. —— this is the guy. we will have plenty more on brexit a little later. first, let's get some more on another news story this afternoon: the government has announced extra funding for police forces in england and wales, worth around £300 million, to help fund changes to police pensions. police and crime commissioners — and in london the mayor — will also be allowed to increase the policing element of council tax. with me is the policing minister nick hurd. nice to see you. thank you for coming on. it looks a lot of money on the face of it in reality it will not change anything in terms of policing for people because it is going towards a pension pot hole. broadly what i have announced today asa broadly what i have announced today as a settlement that could lead to an increase of up to £970 million worth of public money into the police system, of which around 40% will come from increased grants from the government. the rest will come from increases in local precepts if that's what police and crime commissioners decide to do. that is the largest investment in our police system since 2010. what i wanted to do with the full support of the home secretary is to make sure our police also is have full costings and are able to carry on with plans to recruit more officers and detectives which is what most of them are doing at the moment. moving a shift of emphasis to councils and the increase in police precept, that will be down to them for the anybody watching in our will say, will this mean more police officers on the streets ? mean more police officers on the streets? —— down to them and anybody watching now will save... people will say the increase is coming from the home office, central government. it isa the home office, central government. it is a significant step. it is a huge cap, isn't it? we did reduce police budgets in 2010 foot we had to ta ke police budgets in 2010 foot we had to take radical action to reduce the deficit. that has changed since 2014 foot of demand on the police has risen and it has got a lot more complex. —— since 2014 and demand on the police. they are determined to make sure they have additional support to manage the cost pressures and allow them to continue to recruit more police officers. we're standing here talking in london and the commissioners trying to recruit an additional 1000 police officers and that is a big change. an hour ago was the chair of the police federation who are saying we need to be allowed to police to get on with ourjobs. police officers are getting very tired of being told how to do theirjobs by politicians. that is not what i am doing. i spent a large time as police going round forces and talking to front line officers were hearing their frustrations and they are real about theirjob and their frustrations and they are real about their job and their ability frustrations and they are real about theirjob and their ability to do theirjob and their ability to do theirjobs in the way they want to. that is why i am with the support of sajid javid, and making sure we do what we can to reach a settlement which could see additional tax payers money going into the police system. i hope the public will support that club recognising that demand on the police has risen and they need more support. -- and recognising. what preparations are you making for the prospect of no deal? wejust had lauded owner saying the irish border, if there is no deal, talking about violence there. —— lord adonis. either pairing for something akin to that? the government is planning for a contingency for a no deal scenario. we have to plan for it, particularly when it comes to security of the country and the reality is that if we fallout of the european union without a deal, we will fall back onto some contingency arrangements for sharing information with our european partners which would take us back in time at a time when security risks are arguably going. —— arguably growing. we will have contingencies that they will take us backin contingencies that they will take us back in time. i am clear as policing minister that no deal scenario is one to carry risk for us in terms of security. do the conditions, the planning that you have, does that ta ke planning that you have, does that take into account the possible itty of violence on the streets of britain's cities? —— the possibility. there have been plans, making sure that officers up and down the country know how to use mechanisms we may have to fall back upon if we lose the european arrest warrant, for example. it is about how we manage the risk of no deal scenario, including the risk of some disorder. that is in hand, as you would expect. this is all contingency planning, not what we would expect that what a serious government has to be around, which is managing risk. let's return, stay with brexit. one of the key aims for theresa may to seek assurances that the plans around the backstop will be temporarily. with me is phillip souta, head of public policy at the law firm clifford chance, who has been looking into the legal ramifications of the withdrawal agreement. thank you forjoining us. theresa may has got to come back with something that has legal standing without being a legal document. something that has legal standing without being a legal documentm that possible? we do not know is the sure answer. we know there is already something of legal standing, 585 pa g es already something of legal standing, 585 pages of the withdrawal agreement. if you look through that, which is very long, we have articles and protocols and annexes. if you look through that there are references to the fact the future agreement has to be negotiated quickly and at the backstop is only designed to be temporary and that article 50, the legal base of this whole thing is not designed to create a permanent relationship. whole thing is not designed to create a permanent relationshipm is already there. if it says it has to be temporarily but does not give an end state and this is the criticism, it is open—ended. exactly. that is the criticism. —— and end date. there is language in the first article saying the backstop as to apply unless and until something replaces it. you have attention now, it cannot be permanent under article 50 but it is until something replaces it. there is that tension and that is difficult to get away from. what is clear is that both parties do want to negotiate something for the future. what would have that legal requirement? could she come back and say, i have a document in my hands, it is not a case of rewriting the agreement i already have but this will impact on what we have already decided? there are a number of ways to do this. at the very highest level you could add a protocol or annex to the treaty, which is probably unlikely. you could have conclusions in the european council document at the end of their meeting today and tomorrow or you could have an exchange of letters. what that would probably do is take all of the language which is already in the treaty, put it together and perhaps add additional language saying that evenif add additional language saying that even if the backstop where to come into force, then during that period of time, both parties would show their best endeavours to try and get out that backstop into the new agreement. with phrases like best endeavours, once again it is wishy—washy. endeavours, once again it is wishy-washy. that is legal language. not entirely meaningless. it does oblige the parties to try, sometimes against their own financial interest, because there are three levels of endeavours, best endeavours, reasonable endeavours and all reasonable endeavours to stop best endeavours are the strongest types of endeavours. it is not an obligation, it is an obligation to try not to achieve. it has been bitterly cold thanks to that east south—easterly wind and tonight it is going to be called under clear skies with widespread frost for most of us. some cloud associated with the very wet weather front across northern ireland and the extreme south—west of england. look at the blue colours indicating a widespread frost. that is going to bea a widespread frost. that is going to be a cold started tomorrow morning but there should be a lot of sunshine around and another dry day. the wind is still a feature across western areas. perhaps later in the east. it is going to be very cold. some rain pushing into northern ireland late in the day and into the weekend we will see a very unsettled speu weekend we will see a very unsettled spell of wet and windy weather with significant snow across northern areas. the headlines now from bbc news: the prime minister is back in brussels for a crucial eu summit, the day after surviving a confidence vote. theresa may is hoping to win fresh consessions from eu leaders to break the deadlock over the irish backstop to avoid physical checks on the irish border. the government has set out its timetable for parliamentary business next week, there will be no vote on theresa may's brexit deal until after christmas. in other news, the government announces a 2.8% rise in funding for councils in england. and hospital beds in england were almost full last week, with the usual winter pressures still to come. sport now. good afternoon. the fa has announced that martin glenn has resigned from his position of chief executive officer and will step down at the end of the season. glenn said it had been a "huge honour and a privilege" to lead the organisation since 2015. in a statement the fa credited him with creating the "culture around st george's park and the england teams which has led to an unprecedented period of success." but his period in charge was marked with controversy as well as high achievement. there has been great success on the pitch. he was also influential in reorganising the fixture schedule to bring about a winter break which will come into force next season. he oversaw record investment into women's football and increased diversity within the fa in terms of women's representation in staff rolled and there are some negative things as well. huge controversy over sam allardyce's short reign, mark sampson being sacked in charge of the women's team and the sale of wembley. he supported it and it didn't go through. a mixed bag. celtic striker leigh griffiths says he is doing everything he can to return to football a "better and stronger person". manager brendan rodgers announced yesterday that griffiths would be taking time away from football to deal with mental health issues. on the club's website he thanks fans and well—wishers for their "kind and powerful messages of support". he says he is doing all he can to be back playing as soon as possible. tottenham manager mauricio pochettino is unhappy that people aren't talking about his side as contenders for the premier league title. tottenham sit five points behind leaders liverpool and four behind second—placed manchester city. ahead of their game against burnley this weekend, pochettino believes his players warrant more consideration. iam happy i am happy with the perception today when you talk about only the perception for the people, the media, manchester city and liverpool and not others. i am not happy with the perception when they are not assisting in the right way to us. normally it is liverpool and manchester city, chelsea, united but not cotton on. we are there because we compete in a very good way. our players have done fantastic. the perception is different. the women's tennis association has announced increased protection for mothers returning to the tour. from next season, players coming back after childbirth or injury will be able to use their previous ranking to enter 12 tournaments over a three—year period. but serena williams' wish that returning mothers would also be seeded in line with their ranking has not been granted. swimming's international governing body has announced a new competition for next year in response to criticism from some of the sport's top names. olympic champion adam peaty stated last week that swimming was "stuck in 1970" after fina forced the cancellation of a new rival event he was backing. fina hopes the new format, known as the fina champions swim series, will appease those who have voiced frustrations with its governance recently. but bbc sport understands that over 30 of the world's best swimmers will meet in london next week to discuss taking further action against the organisation. that's all the sport for now. i will be back tomorrow. thank you. sorry about the delay! the cold is affecting everything. what are people in different parts of the country thinking? the norwich christmas market is well under way. this is one of the few places in this part of the country that voted to remain. there is lots of food and drink to tempt people but voters have been following what is going on at westminster. they have to get on with the matter in hand and sorts out brexit. everyone is using it as a points to further their own games. are you glad theresa may won yesterday? yes because i think a change of leadership at the moment is not the right thing to do. we have to get on with what we are doing and that can be sorted later if the party is unhappy. being pm is an incredibly ha rd unhappy. being pm is an incredibly hard job. are you glad she won? i am going to stay on the fence. what have you made of the events of the last 24 hours? probably unnecessary for the contest to be held in the first place because it is about time all of these mps put the national interest in front of their own agendas and should take the instructions of the country on board rather than thinking about themselves. you are a conservative party supporter. how did you feel watching a leadership challenge take place? there was no need for it. she is in an impossible position. i am not sure i was always of the opinion she should have been the leader but one or two mark of the others who perhaps should have been did not put themselves up when they needed to so she isjustin themselves up when they needed to so she is justin and themselves up when they needed to so she isjustin and invidious position. you are happy she stays on as prime minister even though she is pretty damaged ? as prime minister even though she is pretty damaged? i agree she is damaged but there is not enough of anybody else putting their head above the parapet to do something serious about it. after the week at westminster what would your message to mps be? it is time to stop your nonsense and we need to pull together. at the christmas market in norwich, that is the view of people, get on and do the job. theresa may's confirmed that she won't lead the conservative party into the next general election in 2022. the prime minister's in brussels, trying to get concessions on the brexit dealfrom eu leaders after surviving last night's confidence vote. with me are two conservatives mps who campaigned for leave, tim loughton and sir geoffrey clifton—brown. thank you for coming on this freezing night. absolutely. having had hours to reflect how damaging was last night's vote? she won but it was not convincing. she won and thatis it was not convincing. she won and that is how it works under our system and within 24 hours we had had 48 litres and we had the confidence cold and the prime minister carries on. it is important that everyone rallies round the prime minister. it was not that much ofa prime minister. it was not that much of a distraction and she can carry on that work. we have heard from people around the country who wish particularly the conservatives would stop beckoning and get on with this. iagree. we have had the stop beckoning and get on with this. i agree. we have had the vote, she won, the blood—letting has been done, it is incumbent on the party to come behind herand done, it is incumbent on the party to come behind her and supporter in this endeavour to try to get a better deal in brussels. the wisdom of announcing you are not going to stand at the next election, we have seen previous prime ministers do that, you become a lame duck. seen previous prime ministers do that, you become a lame duckm seen previous prime ministers do that, you become a lame duck. it was pragmatic. she was bound to be asked the question and she had to answer. much better to do it before she was asked and much better decision was not going to stand in 2022 which allowed all those who wanted to support her in the short—term to be able to do so. otherwise i suspect the vote would have been more heavy against her. that is right. it was likely a motion because she said she would have liked to have taken us through the next election not least because of last year's mess up at the election. she leads to get us through brexit. this is such a dominating issue that changing the winter at the moment whatever her fault does not change the problem that we have to find a solution to. after brexit has gone through hopefully on march the 29th and we get some sort of normality she will reassess her position and at that stage we might lead to another leader. for the next few months it is vital we have continuity. we were chatting earlier and someone said we have a conservative and the cry was which side? the party is still split. any hopes that last night would deal with the issue of what philip hammond called the extremists, it is still split. we will have the process. we expedited the process quickly. it was entirely the process quickly. it was entirely the right thing to do. when the party decides it is the right time for her to stand down we will have a process and we will have hustings and votes until we urge with candidates than that of the fair and democratic way to do it. we are the conservative party. a few of our collea g u es conservative party. a few of our colleagues have said not very helpful things about other members. we must rally together and get on with thejob. we must rally together and get on with the job. is that happening? it is 24 hours and we need calm over the weekend. what is going on in parliament and within the conservative party reflects what is going on in the country. if you want politicians to reflect what normal people are like there is a split as to what our approach should be and we have that split in the country. this is a deeply divisive issue. we have to come together to rally round to get the country back together again so we can get back to normal service and get the stuff people ca re service and get the stuff people care about. the country was split almost half and half. i asked for a show of hands on whether i should support the deal and it was 50—50. this is a very divisive issue in the party and the country but i come back to what i said, the party needs to rally round the prime minister and supporter trying to get a deal. we are not playing politics, we are selecting what the country feels. the labour party are interested in having an election. what are the chances of some of your labour collea g u es chances of some of your labour colleagues saying this is the moment to avoid no deal, we have to back this deal? there are some sensible moderate labour mps who are aghast at what is happening in the labour party and are not happy to follow the political line of jeremy party and are not happy to follow the political line ofjeremy corbyn that they should break anything we are trying to do. they are going to vote against anything. that is no way to get this country moving forward and get a deal we can be co mforta ble forward and get a deal we can be comfortable with mutually with europe and ourselves. the really important thing is she goes to brussels and comes up with a deal thatis brussels and comes up with a deal that is acceptable to the dup because without the dup we cannot govern and if it is acceptable to the dup it stands a good chance of getting through the house. that is a big if because it is going to have to be legally binding and europe has said it is not going to do that. what can she produced that you think will bring the dup back? what people say in public and what they do behind closed doors are different. there will be an addition that will be binding on both parties which will say we have the right to leave the backstop at a predetermined date. she will get that and if she gets that it might be acceptable to the dup. the amendment to avoid no deal, what do you make of that? this isa deal, what do you make of that? this is a big grey area as to whether any amendment is legally binding if it is not part of legislation unless it comes from government itself. we do not want to get into those fights. we need her to come back with europe having common sense and realising that crashing out with no deal does not help them or us and we have got three months to sort out and have common sense. we have to live with each other for years going forward so let us have agreement. the ball is in europe's court. thank you. beds in england's hospitals were almost full last week, and not far off levels reached at the height of last winter, during the flu outbreak. let's get more from our health editor hugh pym. about similar to this time last year but last year the winter kicked in and occupancy levels rose from there. we had all those problems. one in ten hospitals were fully occupied. every bed occupied on at least one day during the week. a&e figures for england for november showing that 95% target was missed again. the percentage waiting to be treated, dealt with or assessed over that time fell to 87.6% which is the lowest since earlier this year in march and below scotland although ahead of wales and northern ireland. people are saying this is early days and the pointer to pressure which is likely to come across the system over the winter. what nhs doing? if you look at the number of patients being treated they are higher than last year, more people are being seenin last year, more people are being seen in a&e. the numbers who go into hospital and out again on the same day having been treated, admitted undischarged is higher than before. they are busy and staff are working harder. but they are doing the best they can in the circumstances. the government says it has invested more in calling max is the ladies in england to help out. it has been pointed out you can invest more money at the last minute but you cannot buy in new staff and that remains one of the biggest problems, vacancies in the workforce unfilled, particularly nursing, at nhs trusts over the next two months. people are saying actually be even more difficult last winter. local authorities in england, will be given the power to raise council taxes by an additional 3% next year. announcing the annual funding settlement, the communities secretary james brokenshire said a ‘brighterfuture' lies ahead. our political correspondent alex forsyth has been following the story. councils have had their money cut back. particularly children's and aduu back. particularly children's and adult social care has been increasing. this was telling councils how much money they are going to get for the next financial year which starts in april and the secretary of state said overall there would be a 2.8% increase in co re there would be a 2.8% increase in core funding. councils would be able to increase council tax to cover the cost of services by a maximum of 3% and some areas will try new scheme where the use business rates. the secretary of state said he understood the challenge that councils face that he wanted them to get the resources they need. there will be a review of the way councils are funded but labour said the announcement falls short and is shifting the burden from the government on to council taxpayers. the local government association said next year is going to be challenging. they were disappointed the government did not give councils more of the desperately needed resources and there would be tough challenges when it comes to next year with councils deciding what they can afford to provide. the government has announced extra funding for police forces in england and wales, worth around £300 million to help fund changes to police pensions. police and crime commissioners — and in london the mayor — will also be allowed to increase the policing element of council tax. let's get more from david jamieson, the police and crime commissioner for west midlands police. is this good news? it appears to be until you look at the figures. we need extra just to stop the shortfall of our officers. we have about 16 million so we are about 9 million short. the government is saying it is giving more money but it is not true, it is not keeping up with inflation. they have said we can have the hike in council tax. in the west midlands we get the least out of that because it is a poor area so the wealthiest areas in the country will do well but areas like the west midlands will not do so well. how much would be enough? i have said to the home secretary and i wrote to him recently and said we probably need about another £50 million and then i can put in place a lot more officers to deal with the really serious crime we are seeing in the west midlands. the biggest rise of knife crime outside the london area, counter—terrorism effort huge, other crimes like theft of cars going up. we need those officers. we have lost 2000 uniformed officers in the last six or seven yea rs uniformed officers in the last six or seven years and we need to replace some of those officers so we can carry on the fight against crime. have you costed what that 50 million would cost the council taxpayers where you are? million would cost the council taxpayers where you are ?e million would cost the council taxpayers where you are? if it all went on to council tax it would be huge rise in the council tax, well over £100 on band e, which is not going to be permitted. if the government look at the funding formula then we would get another 40 million anyway. they have halted full implementation of that because some of the leafy areas of the country that have got low crime would see a reduction in their budget and the money would move to the areas like the west midlands with the biggest challenges. when people receive their council tax will and you see the list of where the money goes, if it was ring—fenced that this money will go to put more police officers on the streets regulars, do you believe you wouldn't get that money? people all over my area that is what they want and that is what they are telling me. at the moment we are having to put the council tax up to stop as reducing the number of officers and thatis reducing the number of officers and that is not good news. the government needs to find forces like the west midlands and some of the other challenging urban areas we have around the country. they need to recognise where the crime is put the resource those areas. thank you. french police are appealing for help in the hunt for the gunman who killed three people at a christmas market in france on tuesday. hundreds of security officers are looking for the main suspect cherif chakatt. checkpoints have been set up on the german border. business news now with ben bland. the brexit effect on bricks and mortar. the uk housing market slips to its weakest level in six years. the royal institution of chartered surveyors says fewer people want to move and fewer want to sell because of the uncertainty around brexit. it expects a further fall in house prices and the number of homes being sold in the next three months. fashion chain bonmarche says trading conditions on the high street are "unprecedented" and "significantly worse" than at the height of the financial crisis. it's warning that it could make a full year loss of £4 million. its shares fell sharply. the yorkshire—based firm has about 300 stores around the uk. the warning is the latest indication that the christmas shopping period is not matching up to retailers' hopes. and earlier today the boss of sports direct said november trading had been dire, sparking a sharp share price fall. an urgent statement this afternoon tried to calm nerves. but the shares in the sports retailer are still down. two of the big themes affecting uk markets today — retail and, yes, brexit. earlier this week all the political uncertainty meant the pound took, well, a pounding. sterling is really acting as a barometer — telling us what the business world is making of the current to—ing and fro—ing over brexit. it's up slightly today against the dollar and the euro. on the retail front — a lot of focus on sports direct. debenhams shares are down too after mike ashley warned they should accept his offer of £40 million to help the chain or else it had "zero chance of survival". richard dunbar, head of macro investing research at aberdeen standard investments, joins us. what has prompted this? stirling has been the barometer of the toing and froing we have seen at westminster and there is a little more certainty, there is a lot of uncertainty, but the path is clear and the likelihood of no deal is lower than before. that has helped bank one a little today. sterling is 1596 bank one a little today. sterling is 15% lower than at the time of the referendum. there is a lot of doubt contained in that price. at the time of year when the tills should be ringing for retailers we are getting various indications of tough trading conditions. bonmarche saying it is finding ita conditions. bonmarche saying it is finding it a tough climate. conditions. bonmarche saying it is finding it a tough climatem conditions. bonmarche saying it is finding it a tough climate. it has been a bad week for retailers. bonmarche are saying that black friday sales did not happen for them, the worst conditions they have seen since the financial crisis they said. a litany of examples of retailers struggling. a reminder that chief executive have to be incredibly careful with the words they use because those can have massive ripple effect and we saw that with mike ashley when he described november is unbelievably bad and that has rattled investors. exactly. unbelievably bad did not quite match the text in the statement that was published to the stock exchange this morning so they haveissued stock exchange this morning so they have issued clarification but he was reflecting the poor trading we are seeing everywhere. sports director predicted and what they do so if he says it is bad others will be suffering. the expectation of their finance director were that things would be bad and one's expectations have come down a little, not to the extent it was feared this morning, but his voice is worth listening to. thank you. here's how the main european markets end the day. i think we have a fault on paris there. that's all the business news. is it nice and warm in there? it is lovely, you would love it. goodbye. it has been a cold the up and down the country if you factor in the icc easterly wind. tonight temperatures will fall away and it will be a cold night than last night. for most of us it is going to be largely dry. temperatures falling away under clear skies. some cloud across eastern coastal areas and northern ireland. temperatures not quite as cold. you can see the blue tinge indicating subzero temperatures. friday starting off cold and frosty but dry and bright with plenty of sunshine. winds will not be so much ofa sunshine. winds will not be so much of a feature so it should not feel too bad although it will be cold. a weather front moving in for northern ireland with outbreaks of rain later in the day. much wilder into the weekend, saturday wet and windy with heavy snow across central and northern parts of the country, quieter on sunday was sunshine and showers. today at 5, the prime minister is back in brussels, to try win extra assurances, on her controversial brexit deal. eu leaders say there is no room for renegotiation, only clarification, but theresa may is seeking new auurances on the irish border. i don't expect an immediate breakthrough, but what i do hope is that we can start work as quickly as possible on the assurances that are necessary. and i'm ben brown in brussels. with the prime minister by now is with the other 27 eu leaders asking them for those assurances to help sell her brexit deal. more from ben in brussels in a moment, along with continued reaction at westminster. the other main stories on bbc news at 5pm. some hospitals in england are working at capacity, and are turning patients away, as they're overcrowded with no spare beds. unions demand tougher punishments for those who attack ambulances,

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