Iam in i am in florida iam in florida in i am in florida in the United States, the power of Hurricane Irma has had devastating consequences. Good morning and welcome to bbc news. The government says it is considering ways of making buying and selling houses faster, cheaper and selling houses faster, cheaper and less stressful. It is launching and less stressful. It is launching a consultation in england and wales which will look at whether its possible to reduce moving costs and end practices like gazumping. Community secretary sergey javad says the government has planned a massive House Building programme. Our business correspondentjoe lynam reports. Moving home is often compared to getting divorced in terms of stress and worry. Picking your new home is the easy part of the process, before venders, surveyors, solicitors, banks, agents and removal vans get involved. Currently, it can take three months on average to move home. Getting the mortgage offer from your bank alone takes around 50 days. And a quarter of all transactions fall through. And so the government will be consulting estate agents, solicitors, as well as buyers and sellers to find out how best to speed up the process and cut costs for households. I think you can use technology to gather as much information about the proposed sale, about the proposed property, to be conveyed at an early opportunity. A purchaser or seller wont talk to his lawyer or conveyancer until after hes agreed the sale. That information can be gathered digitally. I know the Land Registry is working on this to improve it. So the more we can have ready for oven ready sales, the quicker it can become. While some people involved in the house buying process welcomed the consultation, labour said it was a feeble effort and would not tackle the real issue of insufficient homes being built. Speaking on the andrew marr show, sajid javid said it would help improve the experience of buying homes. We want to make sure those buying, renting a selling get a better experience, the announcement todayis better experience, the announcement today is a review of the home buying process , eve ryo ne today is a review of the home buying process, everyone knows what gazumping is, people dont like it, one in six people that go through the buying process say it puts them off andi the buying process say it puts them off and i think its good to look at that and see what more can be done. We also want to look at how we can make better use of data, people who look for houses, the first thing they will do is go online, why cant we make use of technology and make the process cheaper, faster and less stressful . Sajid javid talking to andrew marr. The shadow brexit secretary, sir keir starmer, has warned that unless the government makes changes to the eu withdrawal bill, labour will side with conservative rebels to block it. Hundreds of amendments have already been tabled to the legislation, which aims to transfer eu law onto the british statute books. Our Political CorrespondentJonathan Blake is with me. It potentially important intervention, what is he saying . Search keir starmer is setting out what labour would like to see the government do in terms of changing the eu withdrawal bill to make its demands. Meet its demands. This is the important seppi piece legislation designed to tra nsfer piece legislation designed to transfer european law into uk law to ensure friendly leave the eu there is not a big legal and legislative void. Significant demands here from labour, most notably Parliament Getting a formal vote on the deal that britain reaches with the eu at the end of the negotiations. Effectively giving it a veto. Also asking for the transition period to be set into law so guaranteeing that would happen and a guarantee that workers rights and Consumer Rights would not be watered down as a result of this process. This illustrates how difficult it is for the government to proceed here, as we know, it has no real majority in the house of commons any more, it needs broad agreement, that isnt there at the moment, as weve seen. The bill was expected to be back in Parliament Debated this week, that has not happened, a further delay. Ongoing, of course, the negotiations with brussels and thats why time is up with brussels and thats why time is up the essence as far as this bill is concerned. The shadow foreign secretary emily warren break was asked about this on the Andrew Marr Programme on bbc one and she suggested the governments negotiations as things stand are doomed to fail. Intransigence is on the side of theresa may, she doesnt have the strength or a party to control her backbenchers let alone her cabinet andl backbenchers let alone her cabinet and i think we are heading for no deal and i think that there is a serious threat to britain and it is not in britains interests for that to happen. We will. That. Everything we have heard from the government suggests otherwise, yes, they are doing the groundwork for a new deal and is theresa may said several times no deal is that than a bad deal but by far the preferred option is not the government keeps referring to as a deep and special partnership with the european union. The conservative mp Theresa Villiers was asked about that and she says there will be a deal in place by march 2019. I feelthere there will be a deal in place by march 2019. I feel there is there will be a deal in place by march 20 19. I feel there is a strong place and chance we will reach an agreement, in terms of two questions, the basic exit agreement, measures on air, travel and security, and there is a separate question of a trade deal, delivering a trade deal in the time available, certainly more of a challenge but i think eu leaders were very much signalling this week they had knowledge it will be in their interests as well as ours to reach a sensible trading arrangement. I remain optimistic that is what is going to be achievable. Definite change in tone since the summit in brussels over the last few days but a lot of work still to do as mr macro set herself, a long way to go but we get a sense of perhaps a Prime Minister dry to regain the initiative in parliament this week. She is expected to tell mps although these negotiations are deeply technical she is reminding people she will put the book first. Jonathan blake. Thank you. Demonstrations took place in barcelona last night, as the political crisis in spain deepens. The Spanish Government has said it plans to impose direct rule on catalonia and sack the regional administration, following a controversial indepence referendum. The catalan president , carles puigdemont, has compared the government in madrid to that of fascist dictator, general franco. Tom burridge has more from barcelona. Our correspondent in madrid, guy hedgecoe, says the political debate in spain had soured in the last few weeks. Thats been the case in the last few months, particularly so in the last 23 months, particularly so in the last 2 3 weeks since the october the 1st referendum on independence which the cata la n referendum on independence which the Catalan Government staged and which the Spanish Government opposed, the courts opposed. The situation has really deteriorated since then, tensions risen. The two sides have become as entrenched as ever, really, and its very difficult to see a way out of it. What form of civil disobedience do we think there is likely to be by people supporting the catalan authorities when the madrid government finally takes these powers and what a weeks time . I suppose the obvious form will be for Civil Servants to refuse to obey the of those ministers and those departments in madrid giving orders as opposed to the ministers in catalonia, the Catalan Government. They could possibly refuse to obey and not carry out their duties. We are told that those measures being implemented by madrid would mean there are punishments for civil serva nts there are punishments for Civil Servants but nonetheless, that seems to bea servants but nonetheless, that seems to be a possibility. Of course we have the other issue of demonstrations out on the street, the possibility people might block government buildings, Pro Independence campaign is my block government buildings to prevent the Spanish Government from implementing this very drastic measure to take control of their institutions. How risky is this for the Prime Minister to go through this process, to effectively call Regional Elections which he says will happen following this within six months . If the result could be simply strengthen the hand of the separatist parties . Well i think its risky when you look at the overall picture. Because its going to draw a backlash. We saw that backlash yesterday on the streets in barcelona and i think were certainly going to see more demonstrations out on the street and other kinds of reactions against this measure by the Spanish Government. But theres also a feeling that the Spanish Government didnt really have much other choice, felt it did not have any other choice. A lot of pressure on Marianne Bell macro the Prime Minister to take this route, pressure from the voters, media in madrid, sections of his Unpopular Party who insists this was the only way to prevent the Independence Movement from going any further. I think he felt it was his only option. How have, you know, the media on sunday being reporting this . Sunday papers in spain are as important as they are here in the uk, are they taking the governments side so far or are there any notes of caution . Well, in madrid, the National Paper is published in madrid, they tend to take the line of the government, even if they are not government supporters. On this issue many newspapers say order is being restored to catalonia, finally, after all these weeks and months of tensions and chaos. In catalonia the media has a different view, not all of them, newspapers up are saying that this measure by the Spanish Government is going to cause a backlash, it is very risky. Parts of britain have been hit by storm brian with violent winds and rough seas. Gusts of more than i20kph were recorded in some places. Strong Wind Warnings and flood alerts remain in place across much of wales, the south of england and the midlands. Briohny williams reports. Storm brian unleashes its worst as waves crash against the coast of wales. The ferocity of nature showing its hand. Its taken the whole side of the rnli offices out. Buildings damaged and roads flooded. The picture in the south west of england is similar. Beaches empty, advice from the Environment Agency has been to stay away from the coastline. But walkers in the north west of england couldnt resist watching the awesome scenes storm brian has provided. Fantastic. Power of nature, innit . I tried to go for a nice coastal walk this morning, but i think ill put that on hold. The disruption hasnt been as widespread as predicted, and storm brian is expected to ease over the coming hours. Only then will the true impact be revealed. The new head of the World Health Organization says hes rethinking his decision to appoint the president of zimbabwe, robert mugabe, as a goodwill ambassador. Mr mugabe has led his country for 37 years but has been condemned over his human rights record. Britain and the United States warn the decision could overshadow the work of the global agency. A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder, after a baby fell from a sixth floor window in bradford and died. West Yorkshire Police say the woman, whos 23, is undergoing a medical assessment in custody. Officers have described the death of the 18 month old child as extremely traumatic and say specially trained officers are working to support his family. Prison officers in fourjails are to trial the use of pava spray similar to pepper spray to defend themselves against aggressive inmates. The ministry ofjustice will also roll out more than 5000 body cameras to officers in england and wales, as well as police style handcuffs. Violence in prisons rose significantly last year with assaults on staff reaching record levels. The prisons minister, sam gyimah, has been explaining why the new measures, like using pepper spray, are necessary. Violence against prison officers is up 34 in the last year. We have a particularly violent cohort of prisoners, and i think we need to give officers the tools they need to do theirjob. Now, we obviously need to pilot it to see if it works, but if a prison officer is attacked, surprisingly, then as a last resort, having this could make a difference, then they should have it. Millions of people injapan are casting their votes in the snap general election called by the Prime Minister, shinzo abe. If mr abe wins, it would be his fourth term in office. Our correspondent Rupert Wingfield hayes has the latest from tokyo. Mr abe called this snap election over a year before he needed to go to the polls. In fact, it has not been a popular decision. About two thirds of japanese people polled said they disapproved of him calling an election now. Despite all that and despite the fact that mr abe is not hugely personally popular, it looks like he is going to win. It looks like he has taken advantage of disarray injapans opposition parties whove been fighting amongst each other over the last few months and a slight bump in his own opinion and support amongst the japanese public to go for this election, and it does look like its going to pay off. It looks like he will get a majority in parliament today, that will give him another four years in power and an opportunity to push ahead with what he wants to do in his final term, to change japans constitution and get rid of the clause that makes japan a pacifist nation. It is an important election, because that would be a huge change for this country. A look at the headlines at 10 16am, ministers look at ways to make the buying and selling of houses faster, cheaper and less stressful. The shadow brexit spokesperson says it will back plans over brexit. Political leaders in the spanish region will continue to go to work until they are physically prevented from doing so, officials have said. Time for the sport, including the american grand prix coming up. Jessica is in the bbc sports centre. Good morning. Formulai jessica is in the bbc sports centre. Good morning. Formula 1 coming up but lets start with football, the former fa board memberjane heather ra bbatts former fa board memberjane Heather Rabbatts says she thinks stand as for thes position as technical director at the Football Association is untenable. The fa apologised for racially discriminatory remarks made by mark samson. Rabat says things need to change starting with ashworth. I think it is untenable, his position is untenable, hes been there since 2012, these issues raised, the lack of diversity, black coaches, clearly the issues of mark samson, these have all happened and when you talk about leadership and organisations come off when people talk about culture and ive heard able argue there has to be root and branch reform, who is going to lead that reform . Branch reform, who is going to lead that reform . It branch reform, who is going to lead that reform . It cannot be the leadership who have been there. Manchester united manager Jose Mourinho criticised his players describing their attitude in the defeat as huddersfield as worse than ina defeat as huddersfield as worse than in a friendly. The season leaves them five points behind man city after they won at home to burnley. The best team won. Simple. And you giving huddersfield credit as well as may be disappointment at your teams performance . |j as may be disappointment at your teams performance . I have to give them credit, of course i have to give them read it, at least i give them credit to have a different attitude, desire, motivation than we had. They deserve, i think everyone at the stadium could feel the first couple of minutes, but one team wa nts to com pete couple of minutes, but one team wants to compete and one team wants to be aggressive and one team wants and is ready to give absolutely everything and the other team was not ready for that. So, the best tea m not ready for that. So, the best team won. To be games in the premier league today, late kick off, liverpool travel to wembley to face spurs in their temporary home, before that struggling everton host arsenal with the toffees boss under pressure. The position on the table is not the position where we need to stay in the position in the table, thatis stay in the position in the table, that is what we need to change. And i still believe in the players, the signings what we did in the summer. Australia have won the opening one day game of the womens ashes series by two wickets. Post said a target of 228 in brisbane, they achieved, five balls remaining. It gives australia 2 1 lead in the multi format series ahead of the second one day game on thursday. Is this the day Lewis Hamilton racks up a fourth formula i this the day Lewis Hamilton racks up a fourth formula 1 world title . Hes given himself every chance and is on pole position for the us grand prix this evening in texas. Main championship rival Sebastian Vettel alongside him on the front row, hamilton must finish at least first second to stand any chance of wrapping up the title with three races to spare. Two time olympic champion jade jones praised