hello and welcome to 100 days. in the next hour, mps are expected to approve legislation that would give the british prime ministerformal power to withdraw the uk from the european union. we'll be live in the house of commons as mps prepare to begin voting. also: silenced in the senate. democratic senator elizabeth warren is stopped from speaking for critcising the conduct of the president's pick for attorney general. mr sessions has used the power of his office... but she goes on to facebook to read a letter criticising the controversial past ofjeff sessions. the president accuses the democrats of obstruction but is even more incensed that the courts continue to block his travel ban. i don't ever want to call a court biased so i won't call it biased, and we haven't had a decision yet, but courts seem to be so political. being a trump supporter

on a liberal campus. we find out what that's like. hello and welcome to 100 days. i'm katty kay in washington, christian fraser's in london. britain is about to take another decisive step towards brexit. yes, in the next hour, mps will be voting on a bill that will give the prime minister the power to trigger article 50 — the formal notice to quit the european union. this is the scene in the lower house of commons at the moment. i think the pm will be pretty pleased with the way it has gone. theresa may has seen off a rebellion from her own mps, who were threatening to support an opposition amendment. so, when it comes to the final vote this evening, the vote to send it on its way to the lords,

we expect the bill to go through largely unchanged. i have been speaking to the conservative member of parliament anna soubry, who campaigned for the uk to remain in the eu. 48% of people in the uk voted to remain and so did a large number of mps and people watching, particularly those outside the country, might be surprised you caved in so easily. nobody has caved in. i have voted in effect in everything i believed in but i made a solid promise to the people in my constituency and the country at large because i was very much involved in the pro—eu remain campaign thati involved in the pro—eu remain campaign that i would take the decision, the result of the referendum, and i would even though i don't agree with it, is the it will not be good for my country, i made that promise and i have to be true to it. if you voted for the

referendum, you have got to see it through, even if you do not like the result and you cannot go against the promise you gave to the people, even if you do not like the result. they have decided and therefore we have to execute the decision they made. it would seem the prime minister ‘s home and dry in delivering brexit. she has got the support of mps of both sides of the divide so members of parliament for the labour party and the conservative party have very much come together to honour the result in accordance with the promise they gave people. what is happening in the rest of britain is that many people who voted remain say, we just want to get on with this now, and that is happening. there has not been the drift away from the decision that was made back injune, so for me, we havejust got to bite the bullet, get on with it

and get the very best we can as we lead the european union. a lot of the amendment to boating on the night is whether to give or ensure the rights of european citizens here in the uk on the might of the referendum. the prime minister sympathetic to that but it all seems to be pointing to that amendment being defeated. it is actually an amendment that should not be to this bill. this bill as a vehicle that delivers the eu referendum to ‘s result. the prime minister has made it clear that this will be her priority, to make sure we do the right thing by eu citizens, and i trust her on that. it will be her priority, i am confident she will get a deal, and if she doesn't, there is nothing to stop herfrom saying, we will do the right thing, evenif saying, we will do the right thing, even if our colleagues in the eu feel they cannot reciprocate those arrangements, and i absolutely trust and taken the whole word. it is more than just sympathy, she and taken the whole word. it is more

thanjust sympathy, she believes in it and knows it is the right thing to do. there was one concession made by the negotiation, but if you vote against it, then what? the prime minister has always said, if we get a deal or when we get a deal, i am a bit more cautious because i understand the realities of the task ahead, but the's assume we get a deal, but will vote on that deal, she said last night the article 50 bit, there will be one of the road, and the new arrangement and new deal, there will be another vote, and it will take place at the same time as the european parliament. i do not think it is a great concession because what happens if we do not get any deal? this place must then determine what happens and that must be on the basis of all options and i will continue to make that case. i will ask you for a

primer on parliamentary procedure because i'm a bit confused. smarter people than me are also a bit confused. we had that vote last week, it will then went through all those committees, so tonight, we are putting an amendment is not necessarily in numerical order, and then vote on the bill again? yeah... when the bill goes to parliament, it gets three readings in each house. last week, we got the full reading, and then these mps got a debate on it, and then you get a second reading followed by a vote, and at that point, they could've killed stone dead. last week, we told you it was an important though, and it was. after that, we have had hours of debate in committees and the house this week, and lots of amendment had been put forward, and tonight they will vote on nine of

those amendments. when that is all done and dusted, we will have the third reading and a boat which will send it on to the house of lords. then it goes to the lords and sales through? it should sell through but the lords at an unelected body and it would be something, in fact it would cause a constitutional crisis, if the lords were in some way to d efy if the lords were in some way to defy the will of the people, so i would expect it to go through but will they tried amendments on it? the government does not have a majority in the house of lords and there are a lot of liberal democrats peers in the lords. even if they do, it is likely to come back and it will be defeated so to my‘s vote will be defeated so to my‘s vote will send this bill a long way towards becoming law. will send this bill a long way towards becoming lawlj will send this bill a long way towards becoming law. i knewl should not have asked that second question! 30 years ago, the us attorney for alabama, jeff sessions, appeared before a senate committee, nominated to serve as a federaljudge. during that hearing, a string of allegations were brought forward that almost destroyed his career. before the committee, sessions testified he couldn't

remember labelling a white lawyer in his home state a disgrace for representing black clients though, according to the record, he didn't contest the allegation either. amid the accusations of racism, his nomination was rejected. now, 30 years on, jeff sessions is donald trump's pick for the highest legal office in the land, us attorney general. the democrats are trying to block it and, last night, the senator for massachusetts, elizabeth warren, went to the floor to read a letter from martin luther king's widow, corretta — a letter sent in 1986 to thejudiciary committee opposing session‘s nomination. mr sessions sought to punish older black civil rights activists, advisers and colleagues of my husband who had been key figures in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. the majority leader. senators appear in the motives

and conduct of our colleague from alabama as warned by the chair. senator warren said, senator sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens. i call the senator order under the provision to rule. the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, had stepped in with an objection and a little—known rule that forbids senators from tarnishing the reputation of their colleagues. not to be defeated, senator warren left the chamber to read the letter to 2 million people on facebook live. i do not believejefferson sessions possesses the requisite judgment, competence and sensitivity to the rights guaranteed by the federal civil rights laws to qualify for appointment to the federal district court. based on his record, i believe his confirmation would have a devastating effect,

not only on the judicial system in alabama, but also on the progress we have made everywhere towards fulfilling my husband's dream that he envisioned over 20 years ago. we talked yesterday, katty, about the controversial pick, betsy devos, who was confirmed as secretary for education, but only after the intervention of the vice president, and here we are again. more trouble this time with jeff sessions. the question is starting to be the democrats, do they overplay their hand? is democrats, do they overplay their hand ? is there democrats, do they overplay their hand? is there a point at which the public will say, will you hold up one of these nominations? they do not have the votes to stop jeff

sessions getting through, and can they carry on like this before the public gets slightly annoyed with the process? americans want things to get done and they think donald trump is right that this has been a slow process. but she got 2 million viewers on facebook, i so has it backfired? probably in terms of elizabeth warren's popularity. i would love to see her fund—raising figures today. you think it has backfired on her? no, what i am saying it has been helpful to her because i suspect she has raised a whole lot of money out of this. there may be a broader sense in the country that people want things done and they want this cabinet appointed but i suspect elizabeth warren, a liberal, who has lots of liberal supporters and donors. might have

backfired for mitch mcconnell? let's asks a republican strategist. with me now is republican political strategist and former advisor to george w bush, ron christie. i think this might have backfired for elizabeth warren. she said the 46% of people in massachusetts want someone 46% of people in massachusetts want someone is to represent them in the senate other than her so i think she did this as a ploy to get attention, to get money and try to get her campaign in the senate back contract but ultimately, trying to impugn that a senator is a racist was a bad move for her. let's take the case of jeff sessions. he has this contentious history, he was not 30 yea rs contentious history, he was not 30 years ago deemed fit to be appointed asa years ago deemed fit to be appointed as a federaljudge because of that

history and allegations of racism. yes, but these were only allegations. there was never concrete proof that he was defeated by the committee never made it to the vote. jeff sessions supporters will say this is all about politics, what is the worst things you can say toa what is the worst things you can say to a southern white politician? they are racist. at that time, it is why he was defeated. you think there was nothing there about what he has said about the kkk, in who he has defended? i have known him for several years. i just defended? i have known him for several years. ijust do not believe these allegations to be true. do i believe the comment can be taken out of co ntext ? believe the comment can be taken out of context? absolutely. but do i believe he is racist? know, and i think democrats need to be very careful that they are obstructing everything trump is trying to do. careful that they are obstructing everything trump is trying to dom is interesting to say that because we have tweaked here from martin

luther king's daughter and she does not feel the same way that you do. she has been saying on twitter today that miss warren kept the spirit of the senate alive and that she raised important issues to black people in the deep south. i would say to that she is entitled to her own opinion but here in the united states senate we have rules and laws said you cannot insult, put down or make a bad reference to a fellow united states senator. did he say these things or did he do racist things? that is very much in dispute i think. senators have criticised and impugned each other in the past. cia boss mike pompeo is due to visit turkey on thursday. it's his first overseas visit as director of the intelligence agency. it follows a phone call between mr trump and turkey's leader, recep tayyip erdogan. president trump reiterated us support with turkey, saying ankara is a close, long—standing partner. the two leaders agreed to work together to fight the so—called islamic state group.

one of russia's most prominent opposition leaders, alexei navalny, has been found of guilty of embezzlement in a retrial. in delivering his verdict, the judge said mr navalny had organised the theft of other people's property. the conviction bars him from running in next year's presidential election. mexicans are warming to their president's tough stance on mr trump and the country's refusal to pay for a border wall. as the president welcomed back mexicans who'd been deported from the us, one survey showed 64% of voters approved of enrique pena nieto's decision not to meet with mr trump last month. however, the mexican president's overall popularity has sunk to a four—year low, according to the same poll. it's been a tough old week for french presidential candidate francois fillon. the main centre—right candidate is facing further allegations about payments to his wife, penelope. 0ne newspaper alleges her husband

paid her nearly $48,000 of taxpayers' money in redundancy payments — not once but twice. mr fillon‘s dismissed the reports as lies. following the dramatic events in the senate on tuesday, during which the vice president had to step in to vote on betsy devos as education secretary, donald trump has taken to twitter again to voice his frustration the president said, "it is a disgrace that my full cabinet is still not in place, the longest such delay in the history of our country. 0bstruction by democrats!" so how hard is it going to be for the new administration to get things done? bbc newsnight‘s diplomatic editor, mark urban, has been taking a look. you can come here, promising to drain the swamp or dethrone the establishment, but this city has

a way of protecting its interests, slowing down those who challenge its ways. so the trump administration's process of nominating a cabinet has got bogged down. this level of obstruction at the beginning of an administration is really record—setting in a very unfortunate way. while the senate have blamed the democrats for the go slow, they don't have the numbers to wreck trump's agenda. rather, it's doubts among republicans that could pose the most serious threat to it. keen to impress the people who voted for him, president trump has signed some highly significant and emotive executive orders. but you can't run the country by those alone, particularly when it comes to spending money or changing existing laws. for that, you need to go up the hill and get people

to cooperate with you. thousands of people work on the hill in office is so widely spread the place has its own subway. things here travel at the speed legislators can work at. many legislators have discovered this. john thierry has been a hill inside the best part of 30 years for the republican majority just two in the senate, he sees risks for the white house. the numbers of the senate especially, they have tremendous power, and you will see that especially for some republicans who do not like donald trump will trust him, they will step up trump will trust him, they will step up and say what they feel. so there is no obedience with this congress, there never has been, especially

with this president, there never will be. the combination of democrats is keen port trump voting with the small number of dissident republicans can pose or number problems for the president. to avoid them, he must stick to policies were he in congressional republicans are on the same page. i believe on the need for bilateral agreements with the uk orjapan, there will be partnerships we can work with him on tax reform. we believe our tax code is overly complex, there are over 70,000 pages on our tax code, people wa nt 70,000 pages on our tax code, people want a 70,000 pages on our tax code, people wanta simpler, 70,000 pages on our tax code, people want a simpler, fairer and flatter tax code. that is something we should be focused on. among those on powerful senate committees, already key figures will challenge trump an issues such as the handling of his immigrant ban or his professed

admiration for vladimir putin. you worried by what the president has been saying? there have been a lot of things said that i would not say but i think that, as time moves on, there will be a much more coming together on those issues. the administration isjust together on those issues. the administration is just getting together on those issues. the administration isjust getting going my senses that, in the very near future, things will be in the middle—of—the—road. future, things will be in the middle-of-the-road. nominations, health care or russian sanctions, trump's campaign pledges are already being modified by people on the hill. as the president starts to spend money, that will intensify. you and i were talking about this

before and it is still the unknown question about this presidency. will this end up being a normal presidency or will it be a train wreck? i would not call it a train wreck... i do not think we will see business as usual with this white house. donald trump views himself as a businessman, he expects results, and he will continue to shake the debt until he gets what he wants. the question is, how will he work with congress? cani work with lawmakers within his party but also with democrats to find a way to get legislation to his desk. what is your hunch so far? i think he will. we heard congressmen talk about tax reform and secondly i think we will get a criminaljustice reform package. congressmen think the sentencing of people for certain

crimes is out of whack and we need to fix it. i guess when people talk about the idea that could go off the rails, something could go wrong, what they're talking about is whether this is an administration that can handle the erratic nature of the principal, the president himself. however much the staff tries to normalise things, donald trump almost gets on his own way. when i worked for president bush, we did not have twitter back then. there is no way president bush would have used that! uc has started trying to take twitter away in the more they remove it from him, the more they remove it from him, the more he sensed twits out. the challenges, how do his stuff closest advisers rein him in and get focused on important issues? there is a story going around today that want to replace the communication of sean spicer. he might have a strategy for

the week, which is completely untied bya the week, which is completely untied by a tweet that the president has sent out. he can never really get on the front foot. he can't. the press secretary has a tough enough job just dealing with the national and international press in the briefing room and around washington, dc. the white house communication directors are looking at what will happen next week, next month, in six months' time. and if you cannot have someone who is dedicated to thatjob, the white house would just roll from crisis to crisis. they need to replace sean spicer with a dedicated communications director who has a better sense of what the messages. what do you make of these newspaper headlines, that there is chaos within the administration? there are all sorts of leaks coming out at the moment. when i worked in the white house, any time we saw a leak, it

either meant someone had an axe to grind or someone was upset with the way things were going. if you want to say something, put your name behind it, ithink to say something, put your name behind it, i think the white house is in behind it, i think the white house isina behind it, i think the white house is in a very difficult time, i was there one day one with president george w bush. it takes several weeks to figure out your bearings, how to work with congress, so from my perspective, the trump administration is starting out fairly well. just before we move on, i want to show you some pictures that came in just before we went on air of donald trump meeting the boss of intell... meeting the boss of intel. there is mr trump ‘s sitting slightly awkwardly behind the desk and the ceo of intel standing really awkwardly right behind him. what he's trying to do, talking about

jobs moving to arizona, $7 billion investment, 33,000 jobs, jobs moving to arizona, $7 billion investment, 33,000jobs, ithink, once again... this image. they look a little nervous. you can see them shifting a little nervously. you think? you're watching 100 days from bbc news. still to come for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news: protective dad or persuasive president? mr trump's weighed into a dispute between his daughter and a major clothing retailer. should he be doing that? and what's life like for conservatives on campus? we hearfrom young republicans about how they're getting on with their liberal classmates. that's still to come on 100 days from bbc news. sunshine at a premium for the

remainder of this week, cloud looks likely to dominate right across the country, filtering from the east. it will make you feel increasingly cold with easterly wind and the showers we see. the fall as sleet and snow. because of this area of high pressure a cross because of this area of high pressure across scandinavia and the winds coming round from the east, it comes across the cold north sea, that will make it feel disappointing, particularly on exposed east coasts. eventually, that cold air pushes further westwards. the potential for showers as well through the night to across eastern scotland, eastern england, down the coastline. showers of rain further inland, a bit of sleet and wet snow mixed in there. is he stretches to watch out for. elsewhere, a cold start the many and quite a lot of cloud around as well. and easterly wind driving the cloud

across the country, maybe western fringes hanging on a bit of sunshine. but not the glorious sunshine. but not the glorious sunshine do you have seen today. always the risk of some showers running in of the north sea coast. those showers again will be primarily of rain and sleet. further inland, we will see sleet and snow falling from time to time. look at the temperatures, 2—3d at the very best. a cold, disappointing, grey day even without the showers, a lot of low cloud, struggling temperatures, the best we can offer is six or seven, but generally, more uniform at 2—4d. as we move out of thursday night into friday morning, some of those showers push further inland and there will be accumulation of sleet and snow to the course of the night and into friday morning, particularly across the higher ground of scotland and

north east england. friday the cold of the day when you factor in the wind and the cloud around, 2—3d more widely across the country. subtle we move into the weekend, high pressure seeks its way further south, that means a subtle change in wind direction. nothing too drastic but less cold, best best of the brightness in the west. h welcome back to 100 days. a reminder of our top story. in the next hour mp's are expected to approve legislation that would give the british prime ministerformal power to withdraw the uk from the european union. i been un—friended by probably half the girls in my sorrow to. and being conservative on campus —

what's life like under a trump presidency? we're going to take you straight back to the floor of the british parliament. they have been going through the lobby for various amendments. nine votes this evening on various amendments put forward on the brexit bill. most of them being defeated. asking the government to take the good friday agreement into account was defeated by a majority of 39. it does cause problems, this bill, for devolved parliaments. but the government is going to negotiate on behalf of the entire uk. there will behalf of the entire uk. there will bea behalf of the entire uk. there will be a third reading of the bill. and then the big vote of the evening. at which point mp's must decide whether to send it on to the lords. a long way to becoming law.

earlier, the conservative mp peter bone, who campaigned to leave, said it was time to get on with it. many people i talked to on the doorstep say why haven't you triggered article 50? that's what the vote on the 23rd ofjune was about. i think mrs may's approach was right, now is the time to get it through parliament and hopefully early next month she can fire article 50, sent the letter across and then we will never have any chance of being in the eu. that's the question you keep asking me every week, when are you going to get on with it? what's all this parliamentary process. let's bring in our colleague, ben brown who's in westminster for us. in the cold on the green, suffering for us tonight. how many more votes to go? three more amendments to go, essentially changes to this bill, this european union notification of withdrawal bill, that's its full title. so, it's about 15 minutes per

amendment, a bit less, maybe. so we are ina amendment, a bit less, maybe. so we are in a substantive vote on the bill ina are in a substantive vote on the bill in a roundabout half an hour's time. we are expecting that again really to be a pretty comfortable majority for the government. all of these amendments have been pretty safely batted away by the government by majorities of around 50. for example one proposed by the liberal democrat party and their leader tim farren saying there should be a second referendum on whatever deal the british prime minister negotiates, again, that one pretty easily treated. we think there will bea easily treated. we think there will be a comfortable majority on the big vote in half an hour's time. one of the big questions is of the opposition labour party who have decided to vote for this bill because they believe that the democratic will, the democratic mandate of the people. but a number of labour mps mandate of the people. but a number of labourmps are mandate of the people. but a number of labour mps are going to oppose

the bill, oppose their party leadership. we'll be looking to see how many labour mps disobeyed their party leaderjeremy corbyn. it's interesting, this evening it looks again, yet again we have an example ofa again, yet again we have an example of a parliamentary system pavin presidential system and in the us a presidential system and in the us a presidential system and in the us a presidential system behaving like a parliamentary system. the democrats seem parliamentary system. the democrats seem to be determined to say no to everything when they are supposed to, mice, and in the uk with these votes we have people who opposed leaving voting with the government. it's pretty conjugated, isn't it? there are a lot of members of the british parliament who are in constituencies which voted to remain and some of them feel obliged because their constituency voted to remain to vote against beginning this formal process to leave. but others think, well, the democratic will of the entire united kingdom expressed in the referendum was to

leave, 17.4 million people voted to leave, 17.4 million people voted to leave and therefore they should go with the will of the majority. also you are talking about the government, the parliament, don't forget the reason that members of the british parliament are voting at all is because the supreme court, the highest court in the land just over the road here at westminster, they ruled that it had to be a vote in the british parliament that would trigger article 50 to begin the whole process of leaving the eu. 0k then, thank you very much. back with you later. interesting that the eu used to divide the conservative party, now it divides the opposition, how times have changed. katty, when the referendum on eu membership took place last year — it created a real divide in this country — families — mine included were divided, friendships were put under great strain. never discuss politics at the dinner table they say, but for many it was the only topic of discussion for weeks. right, and there's something similar happening here as well christian — between those who call themselves republican and those who don't.

so we've been speaking to some conservative university students about how they're coping in their liberal surroundings. people would look at me like i had a million heads when i talk about these extremely conservative positions. people outside my dorm come up to me and say, your diego, right? you're a republican, why? i've been un—friended and un—liked by probably about half of the girls. people in my freshman class won't look at me any more. i get asked a lot, how can you be jewish and republican, hispanic and republican, is that being a traitor to your race, religion and gender? in the

liberal point of view, if you are not in favour of their beliefs you are racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. i don't really feel like calling myself a conservative any time soon with trump in office. i'm called a racist by people i don't even know. anybody who has remotely conservative opinion is off the rails, is not normal. there's this feeling of censorship, almost, on the college campus. diego, you are mexican, how can you do this to your people? i did attend the inauguration and i attended with pride in my heart for my country that i love. going back on campus i was immediately stared at, boys were pointing at me, people were laughing at me. it gets lonely when people can't understand and it'sjust easier to withdraw myself than to try to explain. i have kind of even up try to explain. i have kind of even up in the social sphere. it's painful. i think this nation is in

crisis of sorts. feel hopeless sometimes. people are very quick to yell. you can see just how hard it is to bea you can see just how hard it is to be a conservative amongst students at the moment. here's a question — what do us courts and nordstrom department store have in common? well today they are both in the sights of mr trump. we'll tell you about the fashion retailer in a moment but let's return first to his ongoing battle with the courts — specifically the san francisco appeals court, which is still considering whether or not to reinstate a travel ban on people from seven muslim—majority countries. here's what mr trump told a gathering of us police chiefs about that court earlier today. i don't ever want to call a core to

biased so i won't call it biased. and we haven't had a decision yet. but courts seem to be so political and it would be so great for our justice system if they would be able to read the statement and do what's right and that has to do with the security of our country which is so important. right now we are at risk because of what happened. general kelly is an extremely talented man and a very good man, now secretary kelly, homeland security. we are doing ourjob, he's a great man. we are doing ourjob and one of the reasons you probably heard that we did it so quickly in fact i said let's give a one—month notice and then law enforcement and general kelly was so great because he said we totally knew about it, we knew

about everything. we do things well, we do things right. but the law enforcement people said to me you can't give notice because if you give notice that you're to be really tough in one month from now or one week from now i suggested one month and said what about a week, they said no, you can't do that because then people are going to pour in before the toughness comes. do you people agree? you know more about law than anybody, law enforcement. soi law than anybody, law enforcement. so i wanted to give, like, a month. isaid so i wanted to give, like, a month. i said what about a week? they said, then you're going to have a whole pile of people, perhaps, perhaps, with very evil intentions coming in before the restrictions. so there it is, folks. it's as plain as you can have it. i didn't and i was a good student, i understand things, i comprehend very well, 0k? better than i think almost anybody. what worries me about what he's

saying there, and i'm trying to take this impartially, but he's talking about conversations within the inner sanctum of the white house, so he's telling people about what a judge from boston told him or another judge from the other side of the country. surely if people are coming in to share their private thoughts, strategic thoughts with him, they are going to think twice? well, donald trump talks through twitter and through the press in direct conversation so much that i think a lot of what is happening in the white house in private is getting out into the public. it's not that unusual, barack 0bama did it, for presidents to disagree with what the courts have done. what is unusual is what he did just there which is to suggest, and he pulled himself back slightly, that courts are not politically unbiased, that they have their biases. and he did that when he said the so—called judge, or to impugn the professionalism of the courts. that we haven't heard before andi courts. that we haven't heard before and i think that is worrying. what

you make of these tweets on nordstom? this is the tweet. give us the background and why this is important. in a way it is this temperament issue, should he be weighing in on this when the president has said he's meant to be separating his business from his government? ivanka trump has this brand and she has now been dropped from several places. and there is the president weighing in in support of his daughter. the trouble is, he's the president and just after he sent out the tweet, nordstom's share price dipped, so what the president tweets has an impact on the markets, and that is something people are going to watch. nancy pelosi, leader of the democrats in the house has already said it was inappropriate. we have to leave it there. that is 100 days from bbc news —

dojump onto our facebook page where my colleague laura trevelyan will be taking your questions with our north america reporter, anthony zurcher. we'd love to hear comments and share your thoughts — so do take a look — for now though, from me christian fraser in london and katty kay in washington, goodbye. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines. an important moment in britain's preparations to leave the european union will be reached tonight, when mps vote, on starting the formal brexit process. increasing numbers of patients are having to wait more than a hundred days to be discharged from hospital, because of a lack of social care support in local communities. meanwhile the government has been accused of offering a ‘sweetheart

deal‘ to a tory—led council, to help prevent a 15 per cent council tax rise to pay for social care. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. the bbc has uncovered fresh evidence of the length of time some patients remain in hospital waiting to be discharged, often because of a lack of suitable home or nursing care. half of the acute hospitals in england told us about their longest delays in discharging medically fit patients. over the last three years, 130 patients spent a hundred days or more waiting to leave hospital. and today a report by the government's spending watchdog has warned that plans to ease pressure on the nhs byjoining up health and social care, aren't working. 0ur social affairs correspondent, alison holt, has been looking at the situation in north yorkshire. this is the road back to some

sort of independence for 85—year—old eileen kirton. she's just spent more than a month in hospital after a stomach bug. i felt terrible. i couldn't describe it. how i felt. i wasn't eating and it took me all my time to drink because i was frightened. the danger was she would be stuck in an expensive hospital bed waiting for the care she needed to cope at home. i was isolated in a little room all by myself. i was very down. you know? i thought i'm never going to come out of here. but she was moved to this special flat with care on hand, without it she could have been in hospital for another fortnight. it is one way north yorkshire county council and the nhs locally are working together

to ease pressures. ifeel as if they are helping me to get my strength back. and i do feel better for it. i mean, iam never lonely. but north yorkshire is a large rural county with an ageing population. despite investing in new services like many authorities highlighted in today's national audit office report, the council is struggling