Coming up questions continue about the release of serial sexual offenderjohn worboys. Final decisions as to whether somebody is a danger or not should rest with those who may be held to account, not with unaccountable bureaucrats. The Equality Commission comes under fire in the bbc pay row. Ehrc failed to intervene on the bbc and has been placated by a bbc funded internal review, which has clearly not tackled the problem. And what is the american president intending to do when he visits the uk . Trumpalise the queen. I have literally no idea what that means. We hope to find out, but first westminster awoke on tuesday still ruminating on how theresa may had reshuffled her cabinet pack. The changes may have been rather limited, but that didnt mean there werent several ministers getting to grips with new departments and new briefs. And there was no gentle warm up either. Two new ministers were straight up at the despatch box. Less than 2a hours into the job, the justice secretary, david gauke was answering questions about the decision to release the serial sexual offender, john worboys. Worboys was convicted of 19 offences and is suspected of attacking more than 100 women. But the decision by the parole board to free him, nine years after he was jailed, has raised concern among his victims. David gauke explained that hed decided to look into the transparency surrounding decisions of the parole board. I should be absolutely clear that i think the parole board should remain an independent body, responsible for making decisions about the ongoing risk that individuals pose after serving their tariffs. But i agree with my predecessors assessment that there is a strong case to review the case for transparency in the process, for parole decisions and how victims are appropriately engaged in that process, and consider the case for changes in policy, practice, or the parole board rules or other guidance and procedures including the victims code. Its all too clear that victims of the vile crimes committed byjohn worboys feel that this process has failed to do so and such failings undermine public trust in our wider justice system. Many women, both the victims and others more widely, will be very anxious indeed about mr worboys being freed and the current legal restrictions on the parole board mean that we do not know why this decision was taken. Some of the victims still have heard nothing from victims Liaison Officers, still dont know what the parole board terms are and whether this man may end up living near them. Given that he had their addresses, will he urgently ensure that all of the victims are contacted by Liaison Officers before this man is released, and given that some of them also had no opportunity to put statements to the parole board, is he confident that due process has been followed in this decision . There will be cases where people do not want to be informed, there will be cases where people want to receive a great deal of detail. We need to have a system that is sensitive to what victims want. Given that the tariff is a minimum, why does the sole test applied by the parole board appear to be simply whether the criminal still poses a risk to others . Whats happened to the concept that the punishment should fit the crime . In his review, is he going to look explicitly at the transparency there was about how decisions were being made by how victims are being heard as part of that process, and if he is not satisfied, as it seems many of these victims were not told how they could have their say on this situation, he will use his power for a judicial review of this decision. In order that victims voices are heard, i think it is important that we look at the whole process to ensure that this is working for victims in the way that we want it to. The public need to be confident that the parole board is making a balanced assessment of risk. Would the lord chancellor review how the parole board assesses the risks presented by offenders and also consider the role of independent psychologists on advising on offender risk, especially when such advice conflicts with that of probation and prison professionals. It seems to me that it would be better if final decisions on whether somebody is a danger or not should rest with those who may be held to account, not with unaccountable bureaucrats. It is not a scientific decision, it is a matter of opinion, and i would trust my right honourable friends opinion more than that of an unaccountable bureaucracy. Since the privatisation of probation in the west midlands, there is one victims officer for an area with three Million People in it. So in this review, can i ask the very welcome new justice secretary to look at what was taken away and, potentially, why. An e mail to a victim is not enough when a relationship is what we used to have. Worboys was a prolific sex attacker for up to ten years and there are likely to be hundreds of victims, and yet in court, he showed no remorse, he dismissed his actions as banter and even two years ago, he was claiming he had done absolutely nothing wrong, so it is impossible for people, impossible for people to understand how the board could possibly have deemed this man to be safe. So would my right honourable friend agree with me that unless and until the board publicly explains the rationale behind the decision it took, people cant possibly have confidence in our criminal justice system. I completely understand the point that my honourable friend is making. As presently stands, the parole board is not able to provide, in public, the reasons for their decision. The chair of the parole board has made it clear that he wishes that they could. The new justice secretary, david gauke. And another newly appointed minister was also called into action early. The new culture secretary, matt hancock, told the commons that the bbc must act on the issue of pay equality between male and female staff. His comments come in the wake of the resignation of the bbcs china editor carrie gracie, who accused the corporation of unlawful pay discrimination. Responding to an urgent question on the issue, matt hancock told mps that the bbc had a duty to ensure the highest standards of fairness were applied. This isntjust a matter of levelling womens pay up, its a matter of pay equality. Working for the bbc is Public Service and a great privilege and yet some men at the bbc are paid far more than other equivalent public servants. Now, the bbc have begun to act and i welcome that, but more action, much more action is needed, especially when bbc foreign editors can earn more than her majestys ambassadors in the same jurisdiction. The bbc is accountable to the public, and we know more about the pay gap there than we do at other organisations. Is the secretary of state confident that female staff at other broadcasters and Media Companies are paid as highly as their male colleagues, and will he call in to encourage them to be as transparent as the bbc . What will he do to ensure that this story is not just used as a way to criticise our national broadcaster, as other Media Organisations might wish, but as a way to highlight pay inequality across the board . The select committee has decided this morning to invite the director general of the bbc to account for the actions of the bbc on gender pay since the publication of salaries last summer. Its important to see what progress theyve made and what progress needs to be made. Does he agree with me that this whole thing underlines why we were right to insist on full disclosure of top pay notjust for executives, but for on screen talent as well. I strongly agree with the chair of the select committee and i welcome his committees scrutiny of this. I would say this the bbc resisted these transparency measures and now were starting to see why. The laws need the equality and Human Rights Commission to act and to act quickly. Why is it that despite overwhelming evidence that has been in the Public Domain for more than six months has the ehrc failed to intervene on the bbc and has been placated by a bbc funded internal review, which has clearly not tackled the problem. As a publicly funded institution, the bbc has to be both transparent and accountable, and that the existence of this secret gender pay gap within the corporation shows that it has been anything but. Perhaps that would explain why the bbc management were so vehemently opposed to having to publish how much it pays its top earning presenters. It is not good enough for the bbc to say that their performance in this area is better than in many other sectors. Does he share my view that it is because the bbc is funded by public money, we are entitled to expect them notjust to adhere to the requirements of the law, but to set a higher standard which others can then follow . Carrie gracie says in her letter, she refers to the bbc often settles cases out of court and demanding a nondisclosure agreements, a habit unworthy of an organisation committed to truth. This is an issue that doesnt just apply to the bbc, but to other broadcasters and other companies right across the country. Does he think that there is a serious problem if we are trying to get transparency over equal pay if so Many Employers pursue nondisclosure agreements when it comes to pay claims . We should use whatever tools are at our disposal to ensure we get the right level of transparency and, of course, we want to make sure that this works across the board at the bbc and other places and making sure that every case is looked at, rather than just individual cases, is important. So there may be individual circumstances where an nda is appropriate, but i think you have to be very careful in their use to ensure that a systemic problem is not hidden by their overuse. The new culture secretary matt hancock. Youre watching tuesday in parliament, with me, mandy baker. If you want to catch up with all the news from westminster on the go, dont forget our sister programme, today in parliament, is available as a download via the bbc radio 4 website. Now, if youre concerned that i havent yet said the word brexit in this programme, fear not here it comes. The governments been accused of using brexit legislation as a power grab. That charge from opposition parties came as mps held their first debate on the governments trade bill, which will allow ministers to install a new system for the day after brexit next year. The International Trade secretary defended the powers in the bill. We want to protect the access to Global Markets that are so vital to thousands of british businesses. We want to abide by our obligations to those economies that have already negotiated free trade agreements and other trade agreements with the european union. This bill grants us the powers necessary to achieve these aims. But labour accused the minister of taking powerfrom brussels bureaucrats and giving it to the government rather than parliament. No need for a debate, no need for a vote, that is simply not good enough in a modern democracy. Honourable members hold this houses dignity very cheap indeed if they vote tonight to govern ourselves in a dictatorship. Barry gardiner. Universal credit is discouraging private landlords from letting their properties to benefit claimants, according to one lib dem mp. And many landlords are reporting that tenants on universal credit are in arrears. Mps were debating the issue in westminster hall. I checked the records again and again and again and i said this is going to be a car crash on this article issue and it was ignored so we move on to 2015, bit of context, we had numerous examples as my colleague has indicated and others have experienced in this room over the last two years without that default, fewer and fewer private landlords are actually letting the people on universal credit and those he worked were falling into arrears. Just utter madness. I had a landlord come to my surgery with 20 tenants on universal credit of whom 18 were in arrears and nine had to be evicted, that is at this very early stage of the roll out when the full service hasnt yet come to my area. Does he agree with me that those are the sort of facts that dont fit into the theory of universal credit . In Northern Ireland we have negotiated that but it has not led to an increase in terms of rent arrears, there are other problems but rent arrears is not a big one and we have negotiated twice per month payments which also helps with the landlords and tenants to know that their rent is being paid to the landlord and that he or she not going into arrears. At the time i am reliably informed by a colleague in Northern Ireland that the dwp and i think it was then the secretary of state didnt want to budge and was insistent that this would collapse the entire thing but as the colleagues opposite have discovered and my friends at the dup, when they dig their heels in, they dig their heels in so i pay tribute on this one because the dup and i think the sdlp said no, we are not budging. It must be a default payment and do you know what, it worked, its the same computer system. The main problem encountered is that the delays in the paying of universal credit led to rent arrears building up. This triggered a downward spiral of events, with landlords serving eviction notices albeit reluctantly, which led to an increase in homelessness, added pressure on local authorities and Housing Associations to house those who were evicted and then subsequently the reduction in housing as private landlords decided not to let the universal credit claimants. While bad and greedy landlords have given the sector a bad press, a number of landlords in the private sector are and often they only have one property let out as a contribution to their pension or a way to save for the future. Two thirds of landlords are basic rate tax payers and not on high incomes but while they are sympathetic to tenants, they know that they would fall into debt if the rent is not paid. The need for a roof over your head, home way you can bring up a family is a basic human need. By 2021, it is estimated there will be around 7 Million People claiming universal credit, over half of whom will be in work. Where will they live if wages dont cover their rent and Housing Support does not make up the shortfall . It is time the government to heed the warnings from landlords, the voluntary sector and this side of the house and fixed universal credit. The safeguards we have in place with the improvement in universal credit and the personal budgeting in place, these concerns should be groundless, they should pay more attention to the evidence and outcomes and helpful scaremongering from the opposition benches, i can only evidence the fact that in prime ministers questions, the leader of the opposition claimed that Gloucester City homes had evicted one in eight, 12 of tenants due to universal credit, that would have been 650 tenants, in actual fact it was eight. And that was caroline dinenages last appearance in that role shes been reshuffled to the department of health and social care. Now, if you were watching this programme on monday youll have seen that some mps were up in arms with the then universities minister jojohnson about the appointment of the journalist toby young to the board of a new Higher Education watchdog. Well, now mr youngs resigned. The man may have gone but the story rumbles on. Toby young was appointed to the office for students board but he has been criticised because of his past comments about women, gay people and the disabled in newspaper articles and on twitter. The issue came up at question time in the lords. Im sure the minister would agree with me that there is no place for cronyism in public appointments. Given that public appointments are based on principles and given the fact that somebody was appointed to this position who had posted on social media the most appalling comments, do those principles need to be strengthened . Can i say at the outset that this is very much a time of reflection following the resignation this morning. Laughter and we want to learn from this and it is regrettable that the offensive tweets were not picked up on before the appointment. The job specification required candidates to have good judgment, high levels of integrity, inspire confidence with a wide range of stakeholders and, my lords, demonstrate high standards of personal conduct. Is the noble viscount saying that these objectionable tweets were not known to his department and indeed the mrjojohnson bestial mrjohnson. Isnt it the case thatjo johnson imposed this wretched man on the board of the 0 p s and can heat now tell me asjojohnson has been removed that the independence of the 0ps, which the government guaranteed during the passage of a Higher EducationResearch Bill fairly recently will now be established . First of all, there is no imposition of candidate into this particular position and can i say that the current make up of the office for students is a broad church, broad range of people, which is what we set out to do in the first place and can i say that in terms of the noble lords question, no, we did not know about the obnoxious tweaks that came out and this is the reason why i said at the outset we need to do better with 50,000 tweets, some of which were completely obnoxiously this is something which we should have known about and we need to learn the lesson from this. Since the minister has recognised there was a process in these appointments, it follows there must be a record of those who were involved in the process. Can he tell the house, other than the minister directly responsible, which other ministers were involved in the process, either formally on the record or informally . The due process was gone through. The launch was made in july and the closure after the advertising is was made closed in august and the secretary of state is responsible for the appointment so the process went through. Can i also say, which i would like to say to the noble lord as well, that mr young was appointed on merit in terms of what he had actually done and this is very separate from the obnoxious tweaks tweets that we know about. Last week the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, defended toby youngs appointment. Labours lord campbell saviours wasnt beating around the bush. Was there a conversation that took place between borisjohnson and his brotherjo johnson . I certainly cant answer that and i will be drawn into that particular one. I wont be drawn into that one. Lord younger giving short shrift. A new book about donald trump has caused shock waves in the United States and beyond with explosive claims about his Mental Health and fitness for public office. The us president has dismissed the book as a work of fiction, insisting that he is in fact a very stable genius. The author, journalist michael wolff, has defended his work, predicting that it will bring down the trump presidency. At question time, a labour mp raised revelations in the book about mr trumps approach to foreign affairs. President trumps biographer has said that the president s only interest in a state visit is the opportunity to, and i quote, trumpalise the queen. Trumpalise the queen. I have no idea what that means but can i ask the minister to please save her majesty from that unpleasant sounding audio and cancel this wretched visit. Well, i think her majesty the queen is well capable of taking this american president or any american president in her stride, as she has done over six remarkable decades. She has seen them, and she has seen them go. If she seeks advice on whether or not to invite the president of the United States to visit this country and we are very close allies, might high invite her to ask the person next door to her who said last year i think we have two to welcome the american president to britain, we have to work with him. Those were the words of the right honourable lady. Can he confirmed that United States remains our closest ally and the special relationship rests on more than just personalities, but on trade, Close Military alliances and a share viewed of the world. I could not have put it better myself and i commend again to the house the wise words of the shadow foreign secretary when she said that it was the right thing to invite the president of the United States to visit this country. I never said that in response to the north korean leader, who is apparently really smart and a stable genius tweeted i have a Nuclear Button that is bigger and more powerful than his and my button works. What does President Trump have to say or tweet for any wedding or any visit to be withdrawn . I think that, if i understood the honourable gentlemans question correctly, he wishes to rescind the invitation to the president of the United States. I dont believe that is sensible. The United States is our closest, most important security and economic partner and will continue to be so. After question time, Emily Thornberry took issue with borisjohnson. Rather than erupting, it is in order to correct the record to say i never thought it was a good idea to him by the president to invite the president of the United States to the uk, in fact i thought the invitation was issued with undue haste, but once it had been issued on behalf of her majesty is very difficult to withdraw it. He is beetling into the box, if he wishes to stand up at the box and offer a product of his work, we are happy to hear them. Im not sure what is in order, guide me on this point but i must redirect the honourable lady and the house to her words on the 14th of may 2017 on the Andrew Marr Programme when she said, i think we have to welcome the american president to britain, we have to work with him, i rest my case. I think the honour is served. The shadow foreign secretary has offered us her thoughts and the foreign secretary with some alacrity has beetled back to the box in order to respond and i think we should at least for today leave it there. And thats it. Im off to learn the names of all the newjunior ministers, but do join me at the same time tomorrow for another round up of the day here at westminster, but for now from me, mandy baker, goodbye. Tuesday was a disappointing day up and down the country, cold, damp and grey with the exception of western scotland which saw a little sunshine. Iam i am pleased to say that today it is looking brighterfor i am pleased to say that today it is looking brighter for many with sunshine particularly through the afternoon. Begins on a chilly note across Northern Ireland with ice and across Northern Ireland with ice and a little frost elsewhere. For north, central and east areas, a weather front becomes confined to many North Eastern areas by the end of the day. A great one for much of scotla nd the day. A great one for much of scotland and outbreaks of rain, a little hill fog as well but the skies brighten up across the west and south west of scotland. Sunny spells in Northern Ireland. Eight veil of cloud draped down the eastern side of england. It makes its way slowly out into the north sea. From the west it will be bright with sunshine. A much more pleasant feeling of noon. There could be a few showers, some heavy across south west to end wednesday that those will clear away. The rain eventually clears away from the eastern side of england confined to the Northern Isles to big and clear skies with light winds it will turn chilly. A touch of frost and mist and fog patches that could be quite dense. That is how we end the week for thursday morning and friday morning, on a chilly note with morning, on a chilly note with morning frost and fog to watch out for. This is thursday morning. Watch out for dense patches of fog. Most should clear. Some could be stubborn. The east may hold onto cloud through the day that sunny spells break through widely and better for scotland and today. Temperature is on the cool side. The High Pressure holds on for most of us on High Pressure holds on for most of us on friday. Things will turn windy across the far west through the day with the weather front are rising across Northern Ireland and later run in the day. Here it will be wetter it elsewhere after a mist and fog started sunshine should breakthrough. A quick peek into saturday with the weather front trundling eastwards through the day. It never reaches the east until after dark. It will stay dry and on the cool side. Welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. My name is mike embley. The headlines north and south korea stage their first talks for more than two years. South koreas president says denuclearisation is the path to peace. Flash floods and mudslides in Southern California leave at least thirteen dead. A search is underway for survivors. Wed dug down and found a little baby, a little kid. We got it out, got the mud out of its mouth. I hope that its ok, we took it right to hospital. The murder of a lawyer prompts outrage and claims of corruption in ukraine. And meghan mania sweeps south london as she and prince harry enjoy some youth culture