conservative mps say he's out of order. a warning that the uk tax burden is set to rise to its highest to its highest level for 30 years, despite continuing cuts to public services. trying to fix england's ‘broken‘ housing market, the government announces plans for a million new homes by 2020. and things you can do when you're no longer president, what happened when barack obama was challenged by richard branson. it's 5 o'clock. our main story is that mps will be getting a vote on a final brexit deal before that deal is put to the european parliament. the brexit minister david jones told mps today that in the ‘extremely unlikely‘ event, in his words, that there was no deal, the government would then be having to rely on an arrangement with the world trade organisation. in other words the british government would not seek further negotiations with the european union if parliament voted down its proposed brexit deal. the debate on the bill to start the brexit process is in its final stages in the commons and will be sent to the house of lords tomorrow. this is the scene in the commons, mps have been debating for around three hours as they prepare to vote within the next hour or so. we'll bring you that when it happens, but before that, let's get a taste of some of the key moments of today's debate. first of all we intend that the vote will cover not only the withdrawal arrangements but also the future relationship with the european union. furthermore i can confirm that the government will bring forward a motion on the final agreement to be approved by both houses of parliament before its convoluted, and we expect and intend that this will happen before the european parliament debates and degrees. i'm very grateful for that intervention, that is a huge and very important concession about the process that we are to embark on. the argument i have made about a vote over the last three months is that the vote must cover both the article 50 deal and any that the vote must cover both the article 50 de§ know my gang‘s: that the vote must cover both the article 50 de§ know my colleagues relationship, i know my colleagues found it very important and that that vote must take place before the deal is contributed. and i take that from what hasjust been said. kier starmer calling it a huge concession, some people are disputing the. despite that concession from the government, which was pushed for by mps on all sides of the house, members have still been disagreeing on the bill itself and the government's approach to the negotiations: if you just wait until everything's hands have been shaken with all the other europeans and then you come here then it means parliament is told, if you reject it, of course you have nothing, and it's a wto disaster. what the house once is the opportunity to send the government back to our eu partners to negotiate a deal if one has not been reached. going on to wto rules, i say to the minister, will be deeply damaging for our economy and wholly unacceptable. this is about this house having a genuine choice at some stage and looking at what the government has negotiated and then being able to say yes or no without that sort of damocles, but bad deal oi’ that sort of damocles, but bad deal or no deal which was the threat from the prime ministers. these are all honourable people, all honourable gentleman on both sides of the house, i simply make this point that they know perfectly well what they are doing, they are trying to delay, to obstruct and to prevent this bill from going through and i say shame oi'i from going through and i say shame on you. to end sequence, bill cashed the long—standing eurosceptic conservative mps. 0ne long—standing eurosceptic conservative mps. one of the main questions today, is this a concession or questions today, is this a concession oi’ not questions today, is this a concession or not by the minister before the vote in the european parliament or is it, as ken clarke was suggesting, not any kind of choice at all? let's speak to our chief political correspondent vicki young, who's been following all the events from within the palace of westminster. is it isita is it a big concession or not crazy i think is it a big concession or not crazy ithink mps is it a big concession or not crazy i think mps minds have changed as this debate it sounded like he was giving away quite a lot and we heard from the labour front bench they certainly thought so, too. this is all about parliament not wanting to be sidelined as the process of negotiation goes on. what they were worried about was that the final vote they were offered would just be a rubber—stamping exercise. what they want is the right to say to theresa may, we don't like your deal, go back and try and get a better deal. that's the deal that the european parliament is going to get. mps hear same. there's been a growing tory rebellion over the last few days on all of this. i spoke to some who normally do not rebel against the government, they were certainly considering doing so. even though most people think in the end this is not going to be huge concession, they will still be given the choice between the deal theresa may gets or no deal at all, something they really don't want to wa nt to something they really don't want to want to agree to. i think it's going to be enough to buy off enough tory rebels that the government will win the vote when it comes in the next hour or so. important context, the trade relationship that the uk has in the future. we learned today that theresa may will be visiting china later this year? that's right. her spokesman today has said that this trip will be an expression of the close relationship between the two countries. 0ne close relationship between the two countries. one of the reasons that those who supported brexit for many, many years wanted to do so is because they feel it will be a liberation that this country can do deals with countries like india, trade deals with america and also with countries like china. the relationship between theresa may and her chinese counterpart didn't get off to the best start when she became prime minister, she put on hold the hinkley point power station deal which had a lot of chinese backing. she then did agree to that. she has now tried to cement that relationship very much by going to china on this visit. in the past she has talked about raising with the chinese things like human rights issues for example, which britain doesn't always agree with, i'm sure she will do that as well. but her critics will say that she is really just going along with them, desperate for friends so has to make friends with people we may not a lwa ys friends with people we may not always agree with. thanks for now, vicky young, the latest on the brexit process from westminster. the commons speaker, john bercow, has defended his statement that president trump should not be allowed to address parliament on the grounds of racism, sexism and inequality. growing numbers of his fellow conservatives mps have said he should consider his position for breaking the neutrality traditional to the role. but mr bercow said he had been acting ‘honestly and honourably‘ and carrying out his responsibilities. lord fowler, the lords speaker, says he‘s keeping an open mind on the possibility of mr trump addressing parliament. 0ur political correspondent chris mason reports. the ultimate accolade on a state visit. the red carpet and the chance to address both houses of parliament. so this is where president trump might have got to stand and now he won‘t. it is the oldest part of parliament, westminster hall, dating back to the 11th century. critics say the speaker‘s remarks went too far. i don‘t think he wants to play politics, but clearly that is how it is being interpreted. he prides himself on being able to speak for the whole house and remaining neutral. i think this statement that he made takes him away from that position and exposes him to the accusation of hypocrisy. i invite you, mr president, to address us. there were, after all, gushing words and the hand of friendship for the president of china, despite criticism of his country‘s human rights record. president xi addressed the royal gallery. but the speaker‘s view of president trump... 0ur opposition to racism and to sexism... good on you, mr speaker, say some mps, what you said was music to oui’ ears. i was in the hall at the time, absolutely brilliant. respect to him. he did a fantasticjob and articulated the way the british people feel, not necessarily about the president of the united states, but the tones in which he has used in his campaign to become the president and i have not seen him roll back from that yet. sojohn bercow spoke on behalf of many of us. it has become traditional to keep a keen eye on president trump‘s twitter account. no response from him yet. nonetheless some of his allies have noticed. that is disappointing, because if ever in recent years there has been a more pro british president of the united states it is donald trump. next up, this man, the lords speaker. the speaker contacted me. he told me he was sorry for failing to consult with me. obviously, i accepted that apology. my view is that i will keep an open mind and consider any request for mr trump to address parliament if and when it is made. this row is not over yet. meanwhile the latest round of donald trump‘s legal battle with the courts over his temporary travel ban continues today. a federal appeals court is due to decide whether to restore the president‘s 90—day ban on people from seven mainly muslim countries, a decision that‘s led to protests in america and elsewhere. from washington, our correspondent richard lister reports. president trump returned to the white house with the fate of one of his signature policies still unclear. he wants to temporarily close america‘s borders to all refugees and to travellers from seven predominantly muslim countries, but his move has been blocked by the courts. earlier, he told members of the military that controlling access to america was the key to its security. we need strong programmes so that people that love us and want to love our country and will end up loving our country are allowed in. not people that want to destroy us and destroy our country. this appeals court is due to hear arguments for and against the ban before making it judgment. in motions filed by the two sides, the department ofjustice said the executive order is a lawful exercise of the president‘s authority to decide who can enter the country. but the states of washington and minnesota, which brought the case, argue the list of countries targeted by the order is intended to disfavour muslims, which is a breach of the constitution. when we first created the constitution, one of the things we said was there would be no religious tests for office. this goes even further and erects a religious test for entry. and that just goes beyond what the constitution has. this executive order was done in the bests interests of protecting the america people and this is something that has broad support from american people from one coast to the other and we are going to continue to do what we have to do and this president's committed to making sure this country and it is people are safe. around 130 tech companies are also opposing the ban, arguing they need access to foreign talent. among then are two companies owned by elon musk — spacex and tesla. he has now chosen to resist the ban, despite being on the president‘s business advisory council. for now though the people that president trump wants to block are coming to america as fast as they can. all have been processed by immigration officers and have valid us visas and it may finally be that the supreme court will have to rule on how much power mr trump has to keep them out. richard lister, bbc news washington. let‘s speak to our correspondent in washington, kim ghattas. let‘s talk about the process, the legal process here, what can you tell viewers right now about what‘s going on? so, after a federal court put a hold on donald trump‘s executive order on this travel ban, the ministration tried to travel challenged that in the circuit court of appeals. that is just one tier above a federal court. both sides are making their arguments to that court of appeal ‘s. the administration is saying that the travel ban must be restored immediately because otherwise it is causing irreparable harm to the country. now, the lawyers who brought this case from washington state and minnesota state are arguing that that‘s not plausible, because otherwise it would imply that irreparable harm was being caused to the country before the circuit of order. now, today we‘ve heard from donald trump saying that heard from donald trump saying that he wants this case to go his way. and it‘s certainly not something thatjudges like to hear. there is something called separation of powers of course. now, the administration is making its case almost solely based on national security arguments but the judges will be ruling based on the legality of this executive order. and meanwhile, kim, the president has been very busy on social media yet again, talking about iran and russia, tell us more about that. yes, well he tweeted earlier this morning in a tweet that has two reasons why he is tweeting that. one is he‘s talking about putin saying he has no deals with russia. the reason why he is tweeting about that is because he‘s pushing back against criticism that he has perhaps some kind of deal with putin with vladimir putin, which is why he‘s never really critical of the russian president. we heard donald trump just a few days ago saying that there was a comparison to be made, perhaps, even, between the us and russia. and the second part of that tweet is about iran, and complement that president obama had made a deal with iran even though iran is still on the state department list of states sponsoring terrorism. that‘s pa rt states sponsoring terrorism. that‘s part of the war of words that is unfolding between the united states and iran, with both testing each other, and certainly the iranians trying to test this new administration and see how far they can go. the iranians tested the ballistic missile just ten days ago and that elicited an immediate reaction from the trump white house with the president and the people around him saying that iran was being put on notice. so after eight yea rs being put on notice. so after eight years under president obama when iran and the us moved towards each other, we can now say the pattern is going back toward something familiar which we‘ve seen over the past few decades. once again, thanks for bringing us up to date. an appeal has begun by a former royal marine who‘s in jail for murdering an injured afghan insurgent. sergeant alexander blackman was convicted in 2013, and sentenced to life. his conviction was referred to the court of appeal to establish whether he‘d been suffering from combat stress at the time of the incident. let‘s speak to our correspondent, daniel boettcher, who‘s at the royal courts ofjustice. yes, this is the second appeal after the case was referred back to the court by the criminal cases review commission, this is the independent body that looks at potential miscarriages ofjustice. it‘s been heard by five seniorjudges here sitting at the court martial appeal court. during today‘s hearing the court was shown graphic footage from a helmet camera showing a seriously wounded insurgent lying on the ground, then being moved and then shotin ground, then being moved and then shot in the chest. jonathan goldberg qc, who is the barrister acting is alexander blackman said that three experts had agreed that at the time he‘d been suffering from a mental illness known as adjustment disorder which, he said, had impaired his ability to form a rationaljust judgment. mr goldman said it was the impact of fresh psychiatric evidence that was at the heart of the appeal. two experts have given evidence today, neil greenberg saying that 20 today, neil greenberg saying that 20 to 25% would suffer from mental health difficulties at some point. he said those suffering adjustment disorder commonly masked beasa nt ‘s. he said it was fair to say that everybody had their breaking point and that rambo types who could face all sorts of stresses and appear to be invulnerable only existed in the cinema. for the crown richard whitton qc said it was important to understand that the appeal was confined to the question of diminished responsibility. he said evenif diminished responsibility. he said even if there was evidence a mental condition caused or was a significant factor in the killing, the court would have to consider the video evidence. this video that was played earlier today. alexander blackman was not in court in person today, he has been following proceedings by video link. his wife claire was here as were some of his supporters. the case has now been adjourned and it is listed for three days. thanks for the latest, daniel. this is bbc news at five — the headlines: mps will get a vote on the final brexit deal before it‘s put to the european parliament. but if ministers turn it down the uk would still leave the eu with no deal in place. the commons speaker says he was right to speak out —— against a speech in parliament by donald trump but some conservative mps say he‘s out of order. a warning that the uk tax burden is set to rise to its highest level for 30 years despite continuing cuts to public services. alastair cook says it won‘t be an issue for him to play under the next england captain. cook stepped down yesterday but is hungry to add to his record—breaking run tally. joe root is expected to succeed him. leicester city is united behind its manager claudio ranieri. the premier league champions have given him their backing despite just two wins in their last 15 league games. seven time paralympic swimming champion sascha kindred retires. winning his last gold medal at rio last year. i'll last gold medal at rio last year. i‘ll be backjust after 5:30pm to ta ke i‘ll be backjust after 5:30pm to take you through those stories in full. the vote is largely symbolic as the supreme court ruled there was no legal requirement for the scottish parliament to give its consent to the triggering of article 50. first minister of scotland nicola sturgeon said she would let ms peas have a say despite it being non—binding. she said the vote would be one of the most significant in the scottish parliament since devolution started almost 20 years ago. 0ur scotland correspondent steven godden is at holyrood. tell us more about the vote and how it has been seen there. you can see just over my shoulder there are some pro—eu campaigners outside the scottish parliament, which reflects the vote that we‘ve just seen in the last 15 minutes or so. this was an opportunity for msps to have their say on the triggering of article 50. they debated a motion put forward by the scottish government‘s brexit minister. it was mike russell who made the case for opposing the triggering of article 50. he invited msps to do so because, he said, the devolved nations hadn‘t been given enough of a say and that there were an answered questions around issues like the status of eu nationals still in the uk. only the conservatives opposed the motion by the scottish government. so it was the scottish government. so it was the result we expected. the question is how significant it was. some people say simply a symbolic thing, as you said the supreme court already ruled that the devolved nations didn‘t have to give their consent for the uk government to proceed triggering of article 50. but nicola sturgeon said, alternatively, that this was one of the most significant votes in the history of devolution. i think the key to that argument, she is framing it in those terms because it is another test of the status of scotla nd another test of the status of scotland within the uk. if this parliament, as it has done, votes to reject the triggering of article 50, would the uk government at westminster listen? and if they didn‘t, is that grounds to trigger a second independence referendum? at times it was fairly rowdy in the chamber. snp being accused by their opponents of pursuing the politics of grievance. in the end we got the result we expected, but this story just goes on and on. indeed. thanks for the latest from holyrood. gps have been warning for a some time about the pressures they‘re under, the average length of time a patient spends with their gp is around 10 minutes, one of the shortest in the developed world. and doctors are warning that the pressures in the rest of the nhs are just making the situation worse. in the latest in our week checking the health of the nhs, our correspondent, elaine dunkley, has spent the day at a gp‘s surgery in liverpool. the great homer street doctors surgery in everton in liverpool looks after more than 2,000 people. this is an area with high deprivation and patients with complex needs. appointments are 13 minutes long. 13 minutes is sometimes enough and sometimes it‘s not. i do tend to adjust. i would normally finish my surgery late anyway. that‘s why we have recently increased to 13 minutes in the hope of reducing that. 0n the whole, patients aren‘t too happy to wait. they‘re 0k, they know they get the time that they need. but complex problems can‘t be done in 13 minutes. 0ccasionally, consultations will last up to a0 minutes. the average length of a gp consultation in the uk is ten minutes, thought to be the shortest in the developed world. 92% of appointments here are less than 15 minutes. compared with 27% across europe. with people waiting longer to get appointments in the first place and plans to move care outside of hospitals, there are concerns that this could lead to an even bigger workload the gps. we spend less than other european countries, we have fewer doctors than other european nations, we have one third the number of hospital beds per head, to germany for example. gps spent less time with the patient than any other european nation. we need to be addressing these issues as a priority. with short appointment slots, time wasting is also an issue. an ipsos mori poll for the bbc found that 70% of people in the uk believed it was acceptable to charge patients who missed appointments. the governments of england, scotland and wales say the length of consultations are down to gps but have pledged extra funding to relieve time pressures. northern ireland have yet to respond but gps say funding can‘t come soon enough. another problem facing the nhs is the shortage of gps for rural areas. recruiting and keeping doctors at smaller surgeries is becoming increasingly difficult — as our health correspondent, dominic hughes, reports now from cumbria. nestled in the eden valley, the town of appleby in cumbria is as pretty a place as you could hope for, but life here isn‘t quite the picture postcard existence you might expect. really lovely town, really friendly. small but nice. doctor ashley liston is a recent arrival here, where the local surgery has struggled to recruit doctors. long days and the never—ending pressures of the job leading many of his peers to think about giving up and getting out. i am 58, and many of my colleagues and contemporaries have either left or plan to leave, and in cumbria the statistics are that in the next three years about 25% of gps will either have retired or are planning to retire, so these are really worrying statistics. it's under pressure at the moment. it is likely to get a lot worse in the next few years. and as gps leave, inevitably, there is a knock—on effect on remaining gps. there is more pressure on them. i think things are at a tipping point. gp practices right across the uk do face immense pressures, mainly to do with the growing number of patients who need to be seen. but in rural areas like this there is an additional problem — just trying to persuade doctors to come and work in the first place. we live on the edge of the lake district, it is a beautiful place. we are always looking at moving the practice forward, looking at different ways of working, and we have always been recruiting or looking and having vacancies for gps. so i don‘t know what we can do to attract them further. all of this has an impact on patients, who may struggle to get an appointment or see the doctor they want. at the appleby practice, they are trying new things, so receptionist linda 0sborne is now trained to take blood samples, relieving some of the time pressures faced by medical staff. everyone else doing extra tasks means that the doctor can concentrate on more important, urgent things. and new ways of providing care may be at least part of the answer to the recruitment problems facing rural areas. i think a lot of the solutions are actually in our hands. the key thing to do is make general practice less dependent on gps. in towns across the uk, the role of the gp is evolving, that means a big change for the doctors, but also for us as patients too. we‘ll be looking at the state of health services in the uk all this week for the bbc‘s nhs health check. you can follow the coverage online too, at bbc.co.uk/health. tax rises and spending cuts are set to continue into the next decade — according to leading economists at the institute for fiscal studies. the amount of government income raised through tax is now at its highest level in 30 years. 0ur economics correspondent andy verity is here. and i suppose one of the questions, md, is, we talk about posterity, is that process of austerity still going on? i'm almost sick of that word, aren‘t you? we‘ve had it for the last seven years. after having a 10% real terms cut in public service spending we‘ve still got a deficit which is one of the highest it‘s been for the last 60 years. so it hasn‘t really helped, the national debt is still growing. the deficit is of course spending beyond our income, the government spends more thanit income, the government spends more than it gets in taxes, and that happens most of the time with most countries. but we‘ve been trying to reduce the deficit, it‘s been the central economic policy, not with much success. and yet we are told after seven yea rs much success. and yet we are told after seven years of that it is another seven years of that. it is seven another seven years of that. it is seve n yea rs another seven years of that. it is seven years of famine and seven yea rs of seven years of famine and seven years of famine. we are focusing this week on the performance of the health service. what can we read into this pattern of spending and taxation that is releva nt — — of spending and taxation that is relevant —— that is relevant? of spending and taxation that is relevant -- that is relevant? well the last five years of health spending has risen by much less than the average for the last 60 years. 1.196 the average for the last 60 years. 1.1% per the average for the last 60 years. i.i% peryearon the average for the last 60 years. 1.1% per year on average. that in the context of an ageing population. as people age there are more likely to need health care and become more expensive to the health service. 0ne corrective to that, we have more money spent on health care but more taxes coming" more immigrants are joining the workforce. if that changes then it is likely health spending will still rise slowly and not fast enough to keep up with demand. thank you. barack obama — now the former us president — has been enjoying his newfound freedom — by kitesurfing with days solid learning — wi metres before falling off in the final challenge. he looks pleased with this effort. and not at all stressed. time for a look at the weather. ido i do not know exactly how much snow is heading away, probably a few fla kes is heading away, probably a few flakes towards the end of the week. pretty cold this coming night with frost in western areas of the uk. in the east it is still cloudy. we have the east it is still cloudy. we have the remnants of that bad weather that we had yesterday but a lot quieter and drier compared to this time yesterday. so tomorrow we have that and central areas pretty cloudy with some drizzle. cold and grey. just three degrees in norwich. the best of the weather across western areas of the uk. this is the cold weather coming out of the east. temperatures by friday only three, 4 5:9"!!5 snow — dzm‘séz 53‘— s‘-; s—-;. "--;: the this is bbc news at five — the headlines. mps will get a vote on the final draft brexit agreement — before it‘s put to the european parliament. but if it‘s turned down — the uk would still leave the eu — with no deal in place. we intend that the vote will cover not only the withdrawal arrangements, but also the future relationship with the european union. what the house wants is an opportunity to send the government back to our eu partners to negotiate a deal if one hasn't been reached. the commons speakerjohn bercow says he was right to speak out against a speech in parliament by president trump — but some conservative mps have criticised his comments. a warning that the uk tax burden is set to rise to its highest level for 30 years — according to leading economists — despite continuing cuts to public services. trying to fix england‘s ‘broken‘ housing market — the government announces plans for a million new homes by 2020. let‘s go to the sports centre. alastair cook says it will be great for england‘s cricketers to have ‘a new voice‘, with a ‘new drive‘ and ‘new ideas‘. cook‘s been speaking for the first time since stepping down as england‘s test captain. he told our sports correspondent joe wilson he could no longer give his all to the job. i had to be honest and look in the mirrorand i had to be honest and look in the mirror and think i had to be honest and look in the mirrorand thinki i had to be honest and look in the mirror and think i could not do it 100% any more. what job mirror and think i could not do it 10096 any more. what job do you think joe root will do with the team if he becomes england test captain? now i‘m no longer involved in those decisions i will wait and see. whoever gets the job it is going to bea whoever gets the job it is going to be a special time for them. whoever it is. they‘re lucky because they have some talented cricketers to drive forward and hopefully we can get, we can drive england forward and wina get, we can drive england forward and win a lot more than we lose. premier league champions leicester city have given manager claudio ranieri ‘the unwavering support‘ in a vote of confidence from the club. despite winning the tile last may, leicester have struggled this season, and sit 16th in the table — just one point clear of the bottom three. the club though, have released a statement saying their recent success has been based on "stability, togetherness and determination." they know the idea of chairman and the club and for me it is ok but i think it is more for you than for me. maybe the chairman wants to stop all this speculation. you know, every tea m all this speculation. you know, every team goes down and there is speculation. we are still fighting and that is my strength. that is important for me. huddersfield town manager david wagner and leeds united counterpart garry monk have been charged with improper conduct by the football association. the charges come after the pair were involved in a confrontation near the end of the huddersfield‘s 2—1win on sunday. in addition, both clubs have been charged with failing to ensure their players ‘conducted themselves in an orderly fashion‘. lord coe, the president of athletics‘ world governing body — the iaaf — insists he did not mislead an mps‘ inquiry over what he knew, about the state—sponsored doping program in russia. emails emerged appearing to show he was aware of allegations of blackmail and failed drugs tests. involving russian athletes months before they became public. coe denies the allegations and has been speaking to our sports news correspondent richard conway. idid not i did not mislead them, i did not mislead any select committee. i have a global sport to run across to her in14 a global sport to run across to her in 16 countries, they have a report to write. i have furnished that committee with every piece of information that they have asked of me. i appeared information that they have asked of me. iappeared in information that they have asked of me. i appeared in front of it for over three hours not that long ago. and this is the situation for me thatis and this is the situation for me that is very important that i‘m able to focus on all the things we‘ve talked about, the timelines, task force, transfers of allegiance. i have to focus on that. after a career spanning 23—years, seven—time paralympic swimming champion sascha kindred has announced his retirement. the 39—year—old has been one of the leading figures in the sport since he made his international debut in 1994. last year, he won gold at the rio paralympics — that was his sixth games. kindred says the ‘physical and mental demands‘ had become too much for him. that is all the sport for now. you can keep up—to—date with all of those stories on the bbc sport website. i will have more at 6:30pm. some breaking news from washington to do with the process of president trump getting his cabinet ministers verified if you liked by the senate. it appears verified if you liked by the senate. itappears in verified if you liked by the senate. it appears in the past few minutes the billionaire heiress betsy davos has been nominated and accepted as education secretary, a controversial choice. but for the first time the vice president mike pence had to use his vote to break the deadlock because were told there was a 50—50 deadlock in the chamber, two republican senators had gone over to the other side to oppose the the boyne. a controversial choice because she‘s a keen advocate of using taxpayer money to help fund privately run schools and there was a lot of opposition to her appointment. but she will now take up appointment. but she will now take up the post but only because the vice president mike pence used his casting vote in the senate to back her confirmation. if we have any more on that we will bring it to you but another signal of the kind of turbulence berries around some of these appointments. the man accused of murdering author helen bailey at her home in hertfordshire last year has told a jury he did not kill her. the body of the writer was found in a cess pit below the house in royston she shared with ian stewart injuly. mr stewart had reported her missing in april. ben ando is at st alba ns crown court. yes, for more than four weeks iain stewart has sat in the dock listening as the prosecution outlined why they believed that he drugged author helen bailey with sleeping tablets prescribed to him, and then placed her body in a cesspit below the garage of the home they shared. when he took the stand he was asked immediately if he had murdered helen bailey. no, he replied. did he have any part in causing her death? no. did he have any knowledge of her death? no, he said. he denies fraud and lying to the police. he broke down when he was talking about the death of his own wife, diane, in 2010. he met helen bailey through an internet forum. he said at first they were just friends and then one evening, that they called fraud case friday, he decided to drive down unannounced to her home. he pulled up outside and she came out and both agreed that they were both nuts, people driving down at herfor leading him into her home. at the end of the evidence today he was asked his lawyer, it will be suggested that you killed her. no way, he replied. he said he‘d come to realise that helen bailey was the character electra brown from the well—known teenage novel. there were almost i‘ll —— autobiographical, he said. ian stewart continues to give evidence tomorrow. england is being promised a million new homes by 2020 under plans published by the government. the secretary of state for communities and local government, sajid javid, announced a number of measures to fix what he calls england‘s ‘broken‘ housing market with the government pledging a million new homes by 2020 — with extra help for first time buyers and more security for those who are renting. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy reports from southampton. brownsite or greenbelt — just one of the grey areas in britain‘s complicated house—building mix. but how to fix what the government today calls a broken housing market? well, its white paper suggests the answers lie in getting the right homes built in the right places, meaning every council must come up with a long—term plan, speeding up house—building by giving councils new powers to put pressure on developers, and diversifying the market to get small independent builders back in and stop them being squeezed by the big players. forfar for far too forfar too long we for far too long we have not been building enough houses. but labour dismissed the package of measures with this rhetorical response. dismissed the package of measures with this rhetorical responsem this it? mr speaker when the housing minister himself admits the government record on housing as people and embarrassing, we had hoped for better. in fact we needed better. it seems the only thing politicians can agree on is the scale of the building required. the government target in all this is 1 million new homes by 2020. children 50,000 every year until then. the equivalent of 3000 developments like this. it is hugely ambitious. but the developer here in southampton says it has taken two years to get planning sordid, and there simply are not enough brownfield sites around. brownfield in itself cannot possibly sustain the long—term housing requirements of the uk. it can goa housing requirements of the uk. it can go a long way but there needs to bea can go a long way but there needs to be a relaxation of some green belt to enable us to deliver the numbers required. no chance of that says the government today. so what else is there? shared ownership is one way forward , there? shared ownership is one way forward, it says. fouryears there? shared ownership is one way forward, it says. four years ago jennifer started with 50% of those flat in bristol and has now increased it to 100%. flat in bristol and has now increased it to 10096. but it has been a long struggle. when i was looking there was not much option out there for what i wanted and could afford. i think anyone in that same situation will be feeling that struggle probably even more than i did when i was looking. another idea todayis did when i was looking. another idea today is premade homes, or modules. assembled in factories, transported by lorries, and erected in half the time. it is a young industry, is really the solution? over the past 20 years the volume of house—builders have not sorted out the supply mess and we need new methods. but whether it is prefab or downsizing for elderly people, the ideas today for boosting the market place an enormous challenge. 0ne that millions of people are building their hopes on. with me is brian berry, chief executive of the federation of master builders — the uk‘s largest trade association in the building industry — representing small to medium sized construction companies. what should viewers take from this today, what is the main thing? the main thing today is the government commitment to diversifying the housing market and bringing in local house—builders. in the 1980s and two thirds of all new homes were built by local house—builders, that had dropped to about a quarter last year. if we‘re to build 1 million new homes we need to get local house—builders back into the market. the announcement today was interesting because there is a recognition that we need to get local house—builders back in. there was a presumption now in favour of small sites, one of the problems small sites, one of the problems small builders have faced is they have not been able to find those small sites. they tend to be larger sites favouring larger contractors. and there is a proposal to increase planning application fees by 20%. what does that mean? there has been under resourcing of planning departments and that has slowed down the application process. this is good news for many house—builders because by paying the extra money we can speed up the process and build the homes we desperately need. and get a response barge quicker. exactly. that is why builders are willing to pay the extra money. you mentioned smallerfirms willing to pay the extra money. you mentioned smaller firms and smaller sites, are they able to access the skills they need, if you get a small firm wanting to build a dozen homes that they, how easy is it for them to find the skills they need in that project? there is a growing skills problem in this country, we did a survey of our members and 59% could not find bricklayers, carpenters. very high figures and spreading across all the traits. so there is a growing skills crisis is not helped by concerns about brexit because we need a skilled workforce in this country. we have been reliant on eu nationals coming into the country and so any part of the government negotiations, we need to make sure we‘re negotiations, we need to make sure we‘ re low negotiations, we need to make sure we‘re low skilled workers to come in to ‘s hands. —— we‘re low skilled workers to come in. the perception is that there have been lots of workers coming in from eastern europe so why has this skills shortage of end up? there has been concern about the eu referendum, and we have not been training in people in this country, we need to get back to quality apprenticeships and vocational training. the emphasis has been on going to university but we need to make building an attractive career for young people especially in the brexit era. we need to develop home—grown talent. are investment in apprenticeships, is that investment level changing at the rate at which you would like? no, we would like to see it develop and we are speaking to the government about promoting quality apprenticeships. we have got to train young people but also bring back the older people who left the industry back into the building industry back into the building industry as well. and changing the image because it does not always have the most favourable image and yet it offers a very good career for young people. this seems a very ambitious target, 1 million new homes, i‘m just ambitious target, 1 million new homes, i‘mjust wondering in ambitious target, 1 million new homes, i‘m just wondering in your heart of hearts do think it is achievable? it is certainly ambitious and we can do it if we have the will. but we need to get local house—builders back into the market because otherwise without them we will not deliver. thank you. a quick look at the headlines. mps will get a vote on the final brexit deal before it is put to the european parliament but if mps turn it down the uk would still leave the eu with no deal in place. the common speaker said he was right to speak out against the speech in parliament by donald trump on a forthcoming state visit but some conservative mps said he was out of order. warning that the uk tax burden is set to rise to its highest level for 30 years despite continued cuts to public services. a quick update on the financial markets. this is how london and frankfurt ended the day and in the us this is how the doubt —— the dow and nasdaq are trading right now, everything in positive territory. israel has legalised around four thousand jewish settler homes built on private palestinian land in the occupied west bank. palestinian officials condemn the highly controversial move saying it legalises land theft. from jerusalem, yolande knell reports. settlers protesting last week in the west bank. israel‘s high court has ruled that jewish families built their homes here on private palestinian land. after years of delay, police moved in to clear the site. now the israeli parliament has narrowly passed a highly controversial law protect other outposts built without government permits. a victory for nationalists who stressed biblical ties to the land. translation: we are voting tonight on our right to the land and the continuous connection of 3000 years. we are voting tonight for the connection between thejewish people and its land. the whole land is ours, all of it. a small outburst in the public gallery was quickly curbed. but opposition politicians and the government‘s top legal adviser believe this law is unconstitutional. translation: do not give your hand to this insane law that threatens to destroy israeli democracy, israel‘s international standing, that threatens military commanders and leaders of this state and stands in complete opposition to the opinion of the attorney general. many experts predict this law will not stand up to challenges in israel‘s supreme court. but it is being seen as a sign of how the government feels emboldened. although there has been international condemnation of plans to expand settlements on land the palestinians want for a state, donald trump is taking a much softer stance than former us presidents. talks in london meant israel‘s prime minister was away for last night‘s vote. theresa may says she warned against the new legislation and expressed concerns about recent announcements of 6000 new settler homes. all settlements are seen as illegal under international law but israel disagrees. palestinian officials want more done to stop them. if the international community wants a two state solution to materialise at one point in time, they must act now because the whole scene now is that netanyahu is trying to deliver a lethal blow. not only to the existing prospects of a two state solution, but the future possibility of a two state solution. and now the european union has put a summit with israel on hold. washington is expected to await a supreme court ruling before weighing in. in the past few minutes we are being told that the united nations secretary general has criticised the development of the new settler homes there. a new israeli law legalising them is a violation of international law according to the un secretary—general. and it will have far legal consequences for israel according to a strongly worded statement. the debate is still going on in the house of commons. the debate on the bill to trigger the brexit process still going on in committee stage. it will complete its parliamentary stages after it goes through the house of lords. that is expected to happen tomorrow. there have been quite a few forthright contributions, strongly worded contributions, strongly worded contributions during the afternoon. 0ne contributions during the afternoon. one from the former labour leadership candidate 0wen smith, a strong remain supporter and one of those who is not accepting jeremy corbyn‘s instructions on this boat. the problem with simply pushing for a vote in this place on the terms of that deal is that i feel we run the risk of leaving the people doubly dissatisfied because it is perfectly possible that this house could reject the prospect of us falling out of the european union on wto terms because of the cost that will become apparent when we see the extra cost for our production of cars, for chemicals, financial services, all of the other things that would see their tariff price rise for export out of this country. i hope the country changes its mind. i‘m not shy about saying that. i feel brexit is a mistake, i think it will damage the future of our children, it is not in our national interest and although the people have voted for it i think we have a duty to scrutinise the government management of this process to give clarity to the people as to what it is really going to mean for them. not the projections, not the promises, not the £350 million lies sprawled on a bus, lost some of the so—called threats from project fear. but the reality of what brexit is going to mean. in pounds, shillings and pence. and earlier today we heard the opposite view from some of the members in the house including bill cash and john redwood and others. the debate still going on. the six o‘clock news in a few minutes. and first look at the weather. it is going to be turning colderfrom tomorrow onwards and by the end of the week we will all need our hats and gloves. even some snow showers on the way for some. in the short term we have some frost across western areas of the uk. but we still have the remnants of that awful weather we had yesterday. remember that wind and rain, it is still affecting some of the eastern counties comic eastern parts of scotland. but further west in the skies are starting to clear and overnight we will have some frost. looking at south—western england first thing in the morning, not looking too bad at all with some sunshine and by the time we get to the midlands and east anglia, most of northern england, the north—west as well, a lot of cloud around. some rain, 4 as well, a lot of cloud around. some rain, adegrees as well, a lot of cloud around. some rain, 4 degrees and feeling pretty chilly. the western isles and northern areas will be bright and crisp at least but frosty. through the afternoon, when state we have a lot of clout it gets dashed across eastern areas. the wind beginning to come in from the east now and picking up some snow flurries out to sea. those will be drifting in our direction. but on wednesday, quite a quiet day, the best of the sunshine across western areas. temperatures around seven, 9 degrees. then wednesday night into thursday it is going to be frosty. then this is what happens on thursday, all this cold air is screaming out of scandinavia and eastern parts of europe. a cold snap heading our way and already we could see some ferries across the pennines, eastern parts of the uk. and these are the top temperatures. it will be colder than that most of the day. barely above freezing. then friday, more snow flurries and the risk of increasing snow showers going into that again. by the time we get to saturday, really the potential of a covering of snow in some area. probably yorkshire, the north—east of england, eastern scotland. not so much in the other areas, at this stage. stay tuned. the toughest of times for the nhs — but a new report says funding is struggling to keep pace with demand. the promise of help from birth to old age — but more care for the elderly. you don‘t want to be in hospital if you don‘t need to be in hosiptal. i would far rather have capacity in the community in terms of nursing homes and care homes. inside the nhs — we have the second of our special reports. also tonight. take it or leave it — ministers promise a vote on the final brexit deal. what‘s it worth? the royal marine convicted of murdering an injured afghan fighter begins his appeal — the court hears new psychiatric evidence. ministers promise more homes and longer rental contracts to fix england‘s broken housing market.