Its wednesday 18 january. Iamjoanna i am joanna gosling. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. The Foreign Secretary has said countries are queuing up to sign Free Trade Deals with britain when it leaves the European Union. Borisjohnson also suggests that agreements could be achieved quickly after the article 50 negotiations are concluded, and said the uk would not be hauling up the drawbridge, despite the new Migration Controls promised by theresa may. Our assistant Political Editor norman smith is in westminsterfor us. Over to you. Thank you. What is striking this morning is the confidence oozing from number ten about yesterdays Big Speech By theresa may on brexit, insisting there has been a positive reaction from other senior eu leaders such as Angela Merkel and francois hollande, both of whom theresa may spoke to last night. This despite the fact that she has thrown down the gau ntlet that she has thrown down the ga u ntlet to that she has thrown down the gauntlet to the rest of the eu saying if you do not give me the deal, i want, saying if you do not give me the deal, iwant, i saying if you do not give me the deal, i want, i walk. Saying if you do not give me the deal, iwant, iwalk. This saying if you do not give me the deal, i want, i walk. This morning we heard david davies] suggesting that even though there will be a vote on the final deal, even if mps vote on the final deal, even if mps vote down that deal, britain will still leave the European Union but have a listen to mr davies who dig that are losing confidence about his chances of getting the sort of deal outlined by mrs may yesterday. Firstly i have every intention of bringing back a deal that parliament will vote for but before we get to that point we will have a whole series of other posts on other elements of this policy so there would be a surprise, we wonder where we are going and understands his la st we are going and understands his last thing, the decision to leave the European Union was taken by the british people last year and we must expect that. Meanwhile Foreign SecretaryBoris Johnson expect that. Meanwhile Foreign Secretary borisjohnson who is in india today suggested that other countries were in his words during a to do Free Trade Deals with britain and despite eu rules we could begin pencilling in some of the outlying arrangements of those trade deals even before we left the eu. arrangements of those trade deals even before we left the eu. I think the Prime Minister set up a very powerful and positive vision yesterday for how we can do a deal that will notjust yesterday for how we can do a deal that will not just benefit our friends in the rest of the eu but also drive growth in the rest of the world and one of the points they are meeting here in india is we think we can do Free Trade Deals that we benefit from the above our countries. So is mrs may on Cruise Control to an easy successful brexit . Ijoined by the labour mp West Treaty Member of the Treasury Select Committee and quite the reverse , select committee and quite the reverse, you suggest the package she has put forward a month to economic vandalism. The big risk with theresa mays speech yesterday if she has put the Company Country on a course for hard brexit outside the Single Market which would have given britain the best possible chance of succeeding outside the European Union and on a wing and a prayer all of these trade deals that the Prime Ministerand of these trade deals that the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary claim are lining up and can be negotiated as quickly as we need to be negotiated, trade deals often take anywhere between five to ten years or more to anywhere between five to ten years or more to secure a anywhere between five to ten years or more to secure a deal, but also i am not sure how the Prime Minister or the Foreign Secretary could claim with a straight face that the deals we could negotiate with the rest of the world would be anything like as beneficial to British Businesses, the economy, as the relationship we have with our european partners, a Single Market of half a billion people at our own doorstep and that is why i think unfortunately as we see is why i think unfortunately as we see throughout much of this debate, politics is Trumping Economics and britain will be worse off as a result. Help me out here. I understand your view but i am confused by your partymight be because yesterday we had the Shadow Brexit secretary kera starmer saying this was not hard brexit and that mrs may had taken on board the many concerns about best possible access to Single Market, and then your Leaderjeremy Corbyn saying this was a road to Bargain Basement economy. I thinkJeremy Corbyn is actually quite right to spell out the risks of where britain could end up, one of where britain could end up, one of the threats we have made to partners and European Union is that britain would effectively become an offshore tax haven. But not only potentially means deregulation and arrested them in terms of taxes and raising questions about how we Fund Public Services, but also questions about Employment Rights and other areas so about Employment Rights and other areas so i thinkjeremy is quite right to make that particular warning. But that is not where we wa nt warning. But that is not where we want to be ultimately. The idea that as theresa may has said, that we could end up defaulting to World Trade Organisation laws on the basis that no deal is better than bad deal well i dont think she is being straightforward because relying on wto rules is in fact a very bad deal for britain and we need to do better than that. I think lots of businesses thinking about the prospect of Britain On Wto Rules but we have a shiver down their spying and will be thinking very carefully about where they choose to locate jobs and Economic Activity and whether britain is to do that. Are you sanguine about the prospect that evenif you sanguine about the prospect that even if Parliament Votes against whatever mrs may manages to achieve, but will not stop britain leaving the eu, are you ok with that . think the vast majority of parliamentarians were though new but did leave remain expect ayes accepted the verdict of the british people. Ourjob is to hold the government to account to get the best possible to deal that gives britain the best possible chance of success outside the European Union andl success outside the European Union and i am not at all sanguine about the fact that theresa may has ruled out membership of the Single Market and the Customs Union. All of those trade benefits that frankly on the doorstep people always say to me we we re doorstep people always say to me we were happy to vote for membership of the eec because it was about trade but it is about Something Else now. Many people in the government, the brexiteer is, are complacent at the fa ct brexiteer is, are complacent at the fact that many brits were very comfortable with the trading relationship. Thank you. You dont have to be a particularly insightful political commentator to guess that pmq political commentator to guess that pmo s, what willJeremy Corbyn tackle, i think it is almost certainly going to be about this brexit steel. We can bank on that. Pmq brexit steel. We can bank on that. Pmo s bad midday. Full coverage as usual here. Speaking in the last half an hour, the Eu Commission president jean claudejuncker said. He was addressing European Parliament intros board and he wa nted parliament intros board and he wanted the best outcome for negotiations. Translation wanted the best outcome for negotiations. Translation iwelcome what the Prime Minister of the uk said yesterday. I said yesterday a speech alone can trigger negotiations. Once the uk has activated article 50, the negotiations will start and they should be concluded within two years according to the treaty and negotiations are going to be a great difference to that country but also the 27 Member States and i will do everything to make sure that the negotiations will be according to rules and will yield good results. Jean Claude Juncker reacting to theresa mays speech on brexit. Thomas cook chartered planes are heading to the gambia to bring home nearly 1000 british holidaymakers. Its because of the worsening political crisis. The firm plans to bring home nearly 1000 customers over the next 48 hours. Only 2500 flight only customers will be offered the earliest available flight. The Foreign Office is now advising against all but Essential Travel to the West African Country where president yahya jammeh is refusing to accept defeat in last months election. Dan johnson reports. It is a country on the move. Under a State Of Emergency, gambians are fleeing their capital. And amongst all this are thousands of british tourists who have been told to get out. Thomas cook has a team heading out there to help. Four extra flights are expected to leave today. The company said in a statement, we will operate a programme of Additionalflights Into Banjul Airport over the next 48 hours. It is bringing 985 package holiday customers home. That also means cancelled trips. A surprise for some passengers at Manchester Airport first thing this morning. Im just disappointed. I could be wrong. I understand, i knew there were problems with the president over there. He said he isnt going to stand down. But ive got family and friends over there and they say its all right. Theres no problem. This man is the problem president yahya jammeh. Refusing to step down and warning about foreign interference in his country. He had conceded last months election and was due to hand over, but then he challenged the result and is now resisting pressure to go. The threat of violence has been growing. This is why tourists come. It calls itself the smiling coast of africa, but its a worrying time for Holiday Makers waiting to leave and for gambians who cant. Lets go to our correspondent Thomas Fesseyin lets go to our correspondent Thomas Fessey in neighbouring senegal. Tell us more fessey in neighbouring senegal. Tell us more about the concerns over potential unrest in the gambia. What is going on is that the regional bloc, the grouping of all these West African States, has repeatedly warned that it would be ready to launch a Military Action against the president if he refused to step down after his term comes to an end tomorrow. That is when his opponents we re tomorrow. That is when his opponents were supposed to be sworn in. We have yet to see whether he will be able to fly back to the gambia. He is currently here but his safety. Is he able to fly back to the gambia tomorrow to be sworn in . That is more unlikely. Is he going to be sworn in here at the embassy of the Gambia In Synagogue was like these are Unanswered Questions for now and what will West African States do at the end of Yahya Jammehs turn . Will they launch Military Action . We understand a nigerian warships already on its way to the gambia. Will they be sick in the uk un for example before they decide anything . These are all questions that i believe will be answered in the next 24 hours or so. It doesnt sound like anything is likely eminently. Potentially what sort of time frame are you looking at . It is very hard to say. President Yahya Jammehs term ends tonight at midnight, so legally speaking he is still in power today. He has got the National Assembly to extend his term in office for three months. The time of a State Of Emergency. But obviously west African Leaders are having none of it. They are saying this is not constitutional and he must go. Diplomats have been talking and told me that he will go. The question is the timing and the manner. Is he going to go through a Military Action from West African States . Is he going to opt for a managed exit thatis he going to opt for a managed exit that is being offered by West African States . We dont know yet. Anything could be decided within the next 24 hours i think. We will obviously keep checking with all the latest updates. Thank you very much. The latest jobless figures have just come out. The number of people out of work now stands at 1. 6 million. That was down by 52,000 on the previous three months to november. Its the lowest total for more than a decade, but the number of people in work also fell slightly during the same period. Average earnings were up by 2. 7 compared with a year earlier. Rachel foreigners with me now. Explain these figures. The period we are looking at is september to november and we are comparing it tojune to august. It is important to look at the office for National Statistics imagine these figures. They look at everybody in the uk over the age of 16 and they assume they are either employed, unemployed or economically inactive. Economically inactive means you could work but are not looking for work. What is interesting is that the number of unemployed has fallen but equally the number of people looking for work, not forward, has risen. Overall the core number of people in work has changed very little compared to those summer months. It is just compared to those summer months. It isjust under 32 compared to those summer months. It is just under 32 million. Compared to those summer months. It isjust under 32 million. If compared to those summer months. It is just under 32 million. If you compare it to this Time Next Year the number of people work is up almost 300,000. What is interesting is the wage growth, that is up by 2. 8 which is good news for workers. We did the inflation figures yesterday. Inflation at 1. 6 so if wages were up yesterday. Inflation at 1. 6 so if wages were up 2. 8 we are earning more than the amount of money rising higher than prices and services are raising so that means we should feel we have got more money in our pockets. The question is why i wages going up . Fewer people are looking for work which means the Labour Market is tightening and there are fewer people for employers to choose between. So if players are having to pay higher wages in order retain staff and also to attract staff. That is no relevant if we look at that through the prism of brexit. Freedom of movement. What people are going to be coming into the country to help workers. There was another really interesting statistic in the figures and it was comparing July September 20 15th and 2016. It said that uk born people working in the uk in that period increased by 36,000 but non uk born people are people outside the uk in the eu and further afield increased by 430,000. So in terms of people coming into the uk and looking forjobs, employers will be looking for clarity from theresa may on where they are going to source workers. I think if there are fewer people coming in, fewer people to apply for those jobs, that is good for me and you and our wages could go up. The plot employers might not be able to afford that. Equally if wages increase any more and starts putting up increase any more and starts putting up inflation even higher than inflation already starting to rise could go away above the Bank Of England