so, at first, britain didn'tjoin. is europe stronger with britain a member? yes. and when it did, in 1973, itjoined for trade and not much more. for now the empire, on whose trade british prosperity had depended for centuries, was gone. mrs thatcher, now thought of as the most eurosceptic of prime ministers, took britain deeper into europe than any other leader when she signed the single european act in 1986. that created a single market — free, borderless trade across the continent, thatcherism on a european scale, she called it. but in the optimism of the age, the fall of the berlin wall and the reunification of germany, europe was tricked by a misplaced certainty in which the seeds of today's crisis were sown. first, expansion to the east lifted half a continent out of communism, but free movement created the sense of migration out of control and it was this, more than anything, that tipped british sentiment

in last june's vote. second, the decision to press ahead with the single currency. at the time, sceptics warned that only five or six nations really met the strict membership criteria but, eventually, 15 were admitted. too many, too dissimilar, too fast. so when the financial crisis crashed into europe, many in the south saw stagnation and despair. youth unemployment created a generation shut out of europe's bright early promise. it's little surprise that there's a rise in desire to go back to the perceived certainties of national sovereignty. the disintegration of europe is already happening. hey, brexit has occurred. it's very hard to see europe returning to those values it was founded for. you know — peace, democracy, social cohesion and prosperity, but you need to find a way for these things to work in practice. if it doesn't, we simply have to reflect what's going on.

many on the continent have said it often and this evening it's never been clearer — britain is different. always the reluctant european, britain returns now to its old detachment from a european orbit and turns its face again to an older preference for the wide open seas. allan little, bbc news. newsnight is coming up on bbc two. here's naga munchetty. tonight, marine le pen tells us that brexit will be difficult. she thinks the eu will make divorce negotiations as painful as possible. join me now on bbc two. that's newsnight with naga. here, on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. hello and welcome to sportsday

with me, will perry, the headlines tonight. andy murray will miss great britain's davis cup quarterfinal against france next month as he recovers from an elbow injury, we'll hear from gb‘s captain. we'll hear from gb‘s captain. liverpool midfielder adam lalla na could be out for up to a month after injuring his thigh on england duty. and, video refereeing is trialled in tonight's friendly between france and spain at the stade de france. andy murray won't be fit to play

in great britain's davis cup quarterfinal against france which starts a week on friday. he has a tear in his elbow and needs to rest. no decision has been made about when he'll return to action. kyle edmund, dan evans, jamie murray and dom inglot will head to rouen without him next week. the winners will play serbia or spain in the semis. when i spoke to him a little earlier gb captain leon smith said he thinks murray's fitness will help him recover quickly. he's got a positive mindset, he's a robust guide, he's a robust guy, we've seen that before. he'll get back quickly but at the same time, you can't rush leasing. you can't rush these things.

so the next thing in the diary will be monte carlo, hopefully that's one thing he'll be back for. that's three weeks away. we talking potentially more serious than that? the french open, even wimbledon at risk? or is that too far? it's not for me to comment. certainly the signs are of hope that he'll be back sooner rather than later. how much did he want to be involved? it's a tie he was really up for. he loves the davis cup. and the davis cup is a great occasion. it's different from what you get week to week on the tour. it's a shame. we've shown before that our team can do stuff on occasions without him, it's just make it obviously a lot more difficult but i know the rest of the guys will be the.

a depleted france team but no andy murray. how confident you can make the semifinals? it's a good challenge. it's not like a few years ago, where if andy wasn't there then it's an outside the top 200, but dan evans and kyle edmund are in the top 50 for a reason. we've got plenty of davis cup experience. with jamie murray and dom inglot as well. we'll get there. we'll prepare really well, and give ourselves every chance. liverpool midfielder adam lalla na could be out for up to a month after injuring a thigh on england duty. lallana set upjamie vardy for england's second goal in their 2—0 world cup qualifying win over lithuania on sunday, having also started against germany in a friendly on wednesday. there's no official timescale on lallana's recovery, but it's thought he could potentially miss five games. liverpool host everton in the merseyside derby on saturday. lionel messi has been banned for four international matches, just before argentina's world cup qualifier against bolivia kicked off this evening. the barcelona forward was punished for directing "insulting words" at an assistant referee

in thursday's 1—0 win over chile. messi, who scored the only goal in the qualifier, was angered when he was flagged for a foul, waving and shouting at the assistant in response. he's also been fined just over £8,000. argentina trailing 2—0. that kicked off at 9pm tonight. video refereeing was trialled once again in tonight's friendly between france and spain ahead of the 2018 world cup in russia. spain were 2—0 winners in paris but it was the video technology that ruled out france taking the lead at the stade de france. antoine griezman was eventually ruled offside before he headed past david de gea. david silva then put spain 1—0 up from the spot before gerard delafeaou sealed the win for the visitors. his effort was flagged offside but the referee overruled it after checking the video. a friendly between italy and germany had previously trialled video refereeing. it was also used at the club world cup injapan. the republic of ireland are playing iceland in a friendly this evening

iceland have taken an early 1—0 lead at the aviva stadium. burnley midfielder robbie brady captaining ireland in dublin in the absence of seamus coleman who's broken his leg. england women's head coach mark sampson will announce his 23—strong squad for euro 2017 more than three months before the tournament begins injuly. sampson came in to see us today, he says naming the squad next monday will "bring huge benefits". they were knocked out at the group stage four years ago. we wa nt we want to win, that's for sure. we will go into this tournament with the mindset, do our best. we need to win six games, that is what football tournaments are about. some big highs and lows in canada. that experience will be important in the summer. the culture, media and sport select committee investigating doping

in sport have heard from the doctor, who received the mystery package for sir bradley wiggins in 2011. richard freeman has provided written evidence, maintaining that the parcel contained a legal decongestant. all parties deny any wrongdoing and the allegations that it was a banned steroid. freeman says he regrets the poor medical record—keeping at the time. damian collins, the chair of the committee, wants more answers. uk anti—doping are carrying out their own investigation. scotland rugby union captain greig laidlaw says he hopes to be back playing in three or four weeks, in time for this summer's tour of australia. laidlaw missed most of the six nations campaign after injuring his ankle in the defeat by france. warren gatland will name his british and irish lions squad next month for the new zealand tour and laidlaw believes a number of scots have a great chance of being included. the scottish players are in with as much of a shout as any other players, to be honest. through the

championship we were consistently fairly good, apart from the english game. individually, there were some strong performances. there are competition for positions right through the squad. they will need a strong squad to go to new zealand. it is the best players in the world to go and play rugby in a very proud nation. it will be tough for the players given the privilege to represent the lions. ronnie o'sullivan is through to the second round of the china open in beijing, after a comfortable victory over gareth allen. it's the last tournament before next month's world championship in sheffield, and despite not being on top—form, o'sullivan won without dropping a frame against the welshman. meanwhile, the home favourite ding junhui is also safely through after beating paul davison five frames to zero. he joins world number one mark selby in round two.