it went up byjust 109,000. that's a sharp slowdown. that's a summary of the news. newsday is coming up at midnight. now on bbc news, it's time for newsnight. the unseen border on the island of ireland is the latest political dividing line in the brexit battle. so just how unseen is it? want to see how soft this border is right now? that van is in the republic, now it's in the uk. the only hint it's gone from one country to another — the speed—limit signs go from metric to imperial. and as the british government publishes its post—brexit vision for the border, we ask ireland's foreign secretary, what happens next? a president who seems to side with white supremicists? is donald trump a racist or just another politician protecting his supporter base? we ask his former adviser whether he thinks the president has sympathies for the far right. and a story straight out of a nordic drama. last week, a danish rocket engineer was arrested and is being kept in custody as police investigate

the circumstances around the disappearance of journalist kim wall, last seen on his submarine. what do you think happened? i have no idea, i have... i mean, it's really bizarre, it's really bizarre. i mean, he's been out there a lot with people, i've been sailing with him in the submarine. obviously, he had girls out with him sailing and all that, but what happened that particular day, i've absolutely no idea. today, the government published another position paper in the long—running brexit negotiation saga. buckle up — we with have at least two more years of negotiating positions to go. this briefing, following hot on the heels of proposals regarding the customs union, concerns the uk's position on the irish border and focuses on the need to avoid a hard border.

northern ireland is the only part of the uk that will share a land border with an eu state post—brexit. the government stresses that there should be no new physical infrastructure — such as customs posts or cctv — at the 300 mile—long border, which has about 200 crossing points. critics have labelled the document as vague on detail and lambasted the plan as a border smugglers' charter. david grossman has been crossing the border himself today, and he began hisjourney in dublin. if you want to see the complexity of the irish border in action, follow the tourists to the guinness brewery in dublin. although the famous black liquid is brewed here in dublin, that is not the end of the story. some of it is then transported two hours north to belfast to be bottled and canned and then loaded back

onto trucks to travel back here to dublin for distribution. it's the sort of interwoven supply chain that's replicated all across this island. and for those companies, a hard border would be a disaster. the government's position paper, published today, suggests that lorries like this will, in future, be tracked using new technology to create a frictionless border. as we look forward to brexit, of course, we do want to ensure that we don't see a return to the borders of the past, we don't see a return to a hard border, and that we're able to ensure that the crucial flow of goods and people between northern ireland and the republic of ireland is able to continue in the future. but that is a huge task. at the 15 main road border points, 118,000 vehicles cross each day — 87% of them private cars. there is, however, a huge number, 80 or more smaller crossing points where data isn't collected.

the official estimate is that, in total, there are 110 million crossings by people each year. want to see how soft this border is right now? that van is in the republic, now it's in the uk. the only hint it's gone from one country to another — the speed—limit signs go from metric to imperial. the uk government says it should stay as soft as this — no border guards, no buildings, no barriers. but is it really that easy? at the west belfast office of sinn fein, which campaigned against leaving the eu, they're sceptical that this frictionless, technology—enabled border can actually work. they haven't yet indicated how these technical solutions may actually work in reality. all the people that we're talking to from the business community, from government departments, all argue that any technical solution will still add at least to further bureaucracy and further barriers to trade, movement of people and citizenship rights

and so on, so we see no evidence that there are technical solutions which will not create further barriers on the island of ireland, which is something we will all be determined to avoid and prevent. in 2015, £2.7 billion worth of goods was sold from northern ireland to the republic. however, this is dwarfed by the 10.7 billion that was sold from northern ireland to great britain. this is why the uk government position paper rejects the idea that some have come up with of moving the borderfrom where it is now to the irish sea, to allow the island of ireland to trade border free post—brexit. the government has said that the idea of moving the border is both constitutionally and economically wrong. that is music to the ears of the dup, the party which is now, of course, in a formal agreement to support theresa may's administration.

we will not accept, and the government has now said it will not accept, special status for northern ireland which removes northern ireland from the rest of the united kingdom or makes it different. and don't forget, it's the irish government and the eu negotiators who have said they do not wish to upset the terms of the good friday agreement. and the terms of the good friday agreement make it quite clear that the constitutional status of northern ireland cannot be changed unless there is a clear majority in northern ireland who wish it to be changed. so the guinness, and the thousands of other products, keep flowing across the border unchallenged for now. today's position paper is designed to put pressure on both the eu and the irish government to help keep it that way. but what does the irish government think of the proposals? i spoke to simon coveney, ireland's foreign secretary, before we came on air.

i began by asking whether he welcomed the government's proposals. well, certainly, i think we welcome the publication of a detailed written document, and we've been calling now for quite some time for a detailed paper from the british government on what their aspirations are in the context of ireland and northern ireland, for the brexit negotiations, and we got that today. there's a lot of good stuff in it from our perspective, very strong language in terms of protecting the good friday agreement in full, very strong, supportive language around what's called the common travel area, which for many, many years, long before we joined the european union, has allowed british people in ireland and irish people in britain to enjoy all sorts of rights and supports. there has been suggestions, up until now, coming from some sources in the uk that, look, we can solve this problem by technology, by putting cameras on the border, having numberplate recognition systems. and i've always been very sceptical of that, and so that why it is very welcome

today that the british government is saying clearly that there will be no infrastructure of any kind on the border. let's just say your counterparts in brussels, the 26 other countries, do not go for this and we end up with no deal, as theresa may has said might be the case, and let's say we are in a situation where the uk allows chlorinated chicken from america — will that be a circumstance within which the irish government will erect some kind of border? well, you know, if britain decide to take an approach that clearly applies different food safety standards to britain, including northern ireland, to the common market in the european union, then we have a real problem. there are two partners in this negotiation. the other happens to represent 27 other countries, so what we have today from britain, which is welcome, is an approach to the negotiations, much of which is very much supported by the irish government, but we will have to thrash

through the issues, find compromises, make sure that we protect the integrity of the european union in these negotiations, as well as try to facilitate british ambition. the idea that britain is going to be able to negotiate its own free—trade agreements with countries all over the world and at the same time expect barrier—free access into the single market, i don't think that that in itself is realistic. but if the final deal on the irish border came back with, let's say the other 26 members of the european union wanting a harder border solution, would you veto the deal? well, i'm not going to talk about what ifs at this stage, we are part of the other negotiating side, we are part of the eu negotiating team. michel barnier has been very vocal and very protective of irish interests to date, because he has made it very clear that irish interests are european interests. this, in many ways, is a test of the european union in terms of how it protects small member

states, which is exactly what it needs to do here in the context of the consequences of brexit for ireland. in your statement today, you said you would be realistic and fair, but, "we will also be stubborn in relation to defending irish interests." if you were in a situation where a hard border was favoured by your fellow members, i presume you would be stubborn then in vetoing it, that is what i am testing, your resolve. i don't think we will be in that place, because the eu has already shown a willingness to show real flexibility to try to accommodate what are very real vulnerabilities for ireland in the context of brexit — and britain also in the context of northern ireland. and so we need to work this out and find the political solution is that, in my view, effectively allows northern ireland to become an extension of the eu customs union, to create equivalence north and south of the border that can allow the free movement not only of people but also of goods. we also need to find a solution for services. the british government talks

about the need for a common energy market north and south, because they are totally inter—related at the moment. so all of these things are part of the complexity of brexit, which of course is a consequence of leaving. and you know, ireland is a country that had nothing to do with the decision for britain to leave the european union but is very much now in the middle of the debate to try and ensure that we protect ourselves in that context. and that is what i mean when i say that ireland will be fair and realistic, but also stubborn. if we believe that these negotiations are moving in the wrong direction, if we believe the british government is being unreasonable, we will say so. i mean, i believe that ireland is actually britain's closest friend here in the context of brexit, and friends need to talk to each other honestly. i think some of the aspirations that i've heard are not realistic — in the context of the brexit negotiations — and i need to be honest about that, but i think a lot of what we've seen today in the irish and northern irirsh paper coming from the british government is really good.

the irish foreign minister, simon coveney, who i was speaking to before we came on air. political correctness gone mad, or a racial slurfrom a politician who should know better? earlier today, sarah champion — the shadow women and equalities minister — resigned from labour's front bench after a row erupted about an article she penned for the sun newspaper. its headline? "british pakistani men are raping and exploiting white girls, and it's time we faced up to it." in the opinion piece, she wrote that "we must accept for gang—related child sexual exploitation, the convictions have largely been against british pakistani men." she has now apologised for the offence caused by her "extremely poor choice of words". but does she have anything to say sorry for? i'm joined now in the studio by muhbeen hussain, the founder of british muslim youth, and from salford by amina lone, from the social action

and research foundation. let me come to you first, amina, was sarah champion right to resign let me come to you first, amina, was sarah champion right to resign from her post as shadow women and equalities minister? no, i don't think she was, i think she has been punished for a subsequent column in the same paper that referenced her article. and she also said in her article that the vast majority of these convictions are against white men acting alone. we don't see an outcry from white men. it is understandable that those crimes are mostly committed by white men in this country, but she was specific about a certain type of crime from the community, with cultural differences, and i think she is being punished and used as a scapegoat because she is an easy target as a politician. she was very specific about the type of crime she was talking about, she has been made a scapegoat. the one thing that we have to be very clear on, it isn't racist to say that pakistani men are overrepresented

there when it comes to on—street grooming, as it is not racist to say that when you look at the majority of child exploitation, white men are, in terms of convictions and prosecutions... should she have lost her position? i will come to that. she resigned because she had claimed that she found... she condemned the headline, she did not agree with it, and what came out from her office manager was that she was not only accepting of it but she was thrilled with it. this is why she resigned. she resigned because of the contradiction of her own statements. rather than you saying why she resigned, i am asking you, should she resign? i think it would have been a better idea if she apologised... she has apologised. she apologised six days later. it isn't just about the article, it is not about stating facts, it is about the language, the rhetoric, the ramifications of it.

one of the ramifications is yes, trevor kavanagh's piece which went on to thank sarah champion for making it acceptable to talk about the muslim problem. this was a separate piece written by a different writer still employed by the sun, who quoted sarah champion, so you are talking about the context of that. which this piece fuelled and we have to understand language is important and language can fuel. we can understand that when sarah champion was saying that british pakistanis are raping white girls, she was not talking about sajid javid the secretary of state, sadiq khan, and she wasn't talking about the vast majority of pakistani males. let me to make this one important point, has anyone heard about an 81—year—old yemeni man who was murdered two years ago and approached by two far—right white extremists and called a groomer and murdered on the eve of his second anniversary? can we stick with this issue?

can you react to that point that her language fuels other kinds of hatred and other kinds of prejudice? no, to accuse sarah champion of fuelling racism, it is lazy and it is easy to do. and if we are going to use, it was clumsy words and she apologised for those words, but you have to understand that victims of sexual abuse rarely get heard and believed, they were let down by the system and the communities. many faith communities pushed back, the catholic church did when it had its own scandal about sexual exploitation and understandably, some people in the muslim community are doing that. but this is largely men who are very angry about this. and some of the stuff that i have seen on social media describing the glee they have got with sarah champion resigning is astonishing and if we are going to talk about language and responsibility, then that the same argument that people like extremists and isis use

when they justify what they do from islamic language so it works both ways if you use those arguments. one of the issues around many of these cases to do with gang—related grooming has been, of many, that the police and authorities involved have been scared to broach the issue because they are worried about perceived racism. are we now in a situation where we have got an mp who we should say is the mp for rotherham, who has campaigned actively to help those who have been in these situations and beyond, are we in a situation where she has had to stand down, feel she has to stand down from this post because she herself cannot talk about this, is that not the problem? that we make it quite clear, i have supported sarah champion

and voted for sarah champion. do you understand that issue? if i can comment, i voted for her and supported her advocacy work when it comes to this. but what we have to understand is, just to say political correctness is an issue, this is not what the south yorkshire police are saying today. i spoke to the head of south yorkshire police and they are not saying political correctness got in the way and this is why, three years on, there has not been a single failure from the police or the social services that has been challenged. where have the resignations been, where have the people who have supposedly... could you not say this has contributed ? let me finish. we're nearly out of time. it has contributed to a climate of people being scared to say what is a real issue? the worst thing about it is that for six days we talked about political correctness and race and we have forgotten the victims that are being brutally abused. and some people would say an mp is now out of a job, a shadow secretary of state, where she had more power to help. we are not collateral damage.

we have not spoken about ahmed who was murdered for being called a groomer. we must stand up for these girls and far right extremists. if that is the case we must stand up for the girls, the first thing you must do is believe it... yes, we have demonstrated against them. you must create a space within communities where you can talk about it. unfortunately, there is still a culture of the blue —— taboo around sexual exploitation, asian girls get bailed —— failed systematically by the community because they get ostracised. so let's talk about it. do not say, i supported sarah champion... i am sorry, we have to leave that there, thank you very much. this is is donald trump a racist, or just another politician protecting his supporter base? that's what's being asked across america and around the world right now. 0nly 2a hours after the us president explicitly condemned white

supremacists and neo—nazis over their violent protest in charlottesville, virginia — having being condemned for not doing so earlier — donald trump has back—pedalled, saying there was "blame on both sides" and not all marchers were white supremacists. theresa may made her position clear today, saying it was important to condemn far—right views "wherever we hear them". so what was donald trump trying to say and why did he change his message? i asked sam nunberg, former political adviser to president trump. i think it was unnecessary for the president yesterday during his press conference to leave it up to reinterpretation about his initial two statements. if you go over the choreography of the first two, his initial statement says there is violence on both sides, i condemn it. sam, surely it is a very easy thing for a president to stand there,

just like people on the republican side have done, the bushes... the bushes have come out now and said, we need to unilaterally just condemn and reject bigotry and violence and just say that, in reference to the kkk members and the white supremacists. david duke was there. people know who was there. but what i'm saying is... the president did, in his second statement. but he seems to have undone some of that work with his comments, his latest comments. and what i'm trying to understand from you, as someone who's worked for him, is, does he actually hold prejudiced views, or is he just trying to protect his supporter base? ok, so first of all, he does not hold any prejudices at all. we can go into it, i can tell you about it from my own personal experience. but i also just want to take the premise of your question, hold onto his base. his base is not neo—nazis, his base is not the kkk. his base are republicans and blue—collar white — predominantly — democrats

and self—described independents, and they came out and they voted for him. if you say trump holds no racist or prejudiced views, is one of the reasons why he is kind of fudging it a bit because he doesn't want to offend that part of his base? no. what it is, and this is where i find it offensive, is that people like me... and this is falling out of my ear. we feel that the entire base, that this movement and this organic movement that came out that we have not seen since the ‘80s, that got him into office, where he won states such as michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania, that republicans have not won in over 35 years, we feel that it is completely delegitimised by parts of the media when they have incidents like this that you then want to say — well, they're just a bunch of kkk, they're just a bunch of white nationalists and they're just a bunch of racists. they're not. has donald trump done himself a disservice, then, by muddying the waters and getting defensive? he certainly did. he certainly left it

up to interpretation that his opponents, or others, or any neutral observers frankly can run with, and he left it up to an interpretation that his political enemies can use against him. but by no means is he a racist, or by no means is he an anti—semite. i spent thousands of hours with him. now, let's go over me. i worked for him from 2011 to mid—2015. i worked for him when people in my industry would laugh at me when i said, this guy can be elected president. i worked hundreds of hours a week for him, nobody would take my phone calls, we were laughed at, he was called a birther, he was called a joke. people in the elite said he had no chance. and subsequently, people leaked out an eight—year—old facebook post ihad up. i don't even remember putting it up. nevertheless, i took responsibility for it and i was forgiven by reverend al sharpton. but it was racially charged. yes, sam, if i may, just to remind people. you put up this post and you did use the n word and that was what you're talking about.

ididn‘t use... no, i didn't use the n word. what did you use? i didn't use the n word. it was a reference. i didn't spell out the n word. but in any event, in any event... in any event, i was fired. for a racist post? for a racially charged facebook post. even after i was forgiven by reverend sharpton. so, if anything, it shows that trump is not a racist, he doesn't want to be associated with them. and that was after being with me for five and a half years and knowing that i don't have a racist bone in my body either. i mentioned the bushes have come out and said there should be no equivocation about the condemnation of racism, bigotry. 0bviously, fellow republicans there. and we've also heard only a few hours ago that donald trump has closed down the manufacturing council as well, with regards to the people around him and the people who are having to sit around him, because some of them were also very aggrieved by his comments, or lack of comments, about charlottesville. is he going to be feeling isolated now? he'll once again get through this.

i'm sure he will do an interview, or he will speak to the american people, and he'll start going back on the agenda. at the end of the day, donald trump will live or die by his performance in office. if the economy is doing well, the world seems secure, he will get re—elected. if it is not and he cannot get an agenda through, he cannot pass tax reform, he can't fix health care, he will have trouble getting re—elected. american people care about results. sam, thank you very much for talking to us today. it's like a script straight out of a nordic thriller. last week, a danish rocket engineer was arrested and is being kept in custody, as police investigate the circumstances around the disappearance of the journalist kim wall. she was interviewing him aboard a submarine. james clayton reports. on thursday night, off a small dock

to the south of copenhagen, journalist kim wall departed with celebrity engineer and rocket scientist peter madsen in his self—designed submarine. peter! are you 0k? 17 hours later, madsen was rescued by locals after his submarine had sunk, without kim wall. what happened in those 17 hours has been the subject of fevered speculation. madsen‘s account of the night's events given to the police has been of particular interest. this is the rather gloomy looking dock that peter madsen claims to have dropped off kim wall at about 10:30pm on thursday. now, it's 10:30pm tonight and,

as you can probably see, there's no—one around. but helpfully for the police, a local bar owner here claims to have the whole area covered with cctv, and we're gonna see him tomorrow. right, so, there's loads of cctv here, clearly. there's one there. that's correct. there's another one there. yeah. er, there's another one over there. yeah. and it's all looking out over this dock, where peter madsen claims to have dropped off kim on thursday. yes. so you've actually seen the footage? i have seen the footage, yes. so what does it... what does it tell us? er, i'm not going to tell you. that is between the police and me. so you have this information, but you're not going to even try and clear up this mystery right now? no, what i'm saying is that i have bits and pieces of information, but i don't...

i don't in any way think i can comment on what happened totally, no. on thursday night, workers around the south of the dock were helping to set up a music festival. thomasjensen was on shift. you were here on thursday night until when? until, like, 11, 11:15. 11, 11:15? yeah. on thursday night? thursday night, yeah. so, peter madsen claimed that he had brought the submarine back... yeah. ..here at10:30 p:m. 0k. did you see the submarine? no. no, i didn't see any submarine. we saw the submarine over here like, the days before, but not... excuse me, madam, we're from the bbc. 0k. we werejust... we were wondering, i wanted to quickly ask you, do you live on this boat? yeah. 0k, were you here on thursday night? er, on thur... er... yeah, actually, i was here, but i didn't see anything. i was sitting at my couch. kim wall grew up in the small

swedish town of trelleborg and is a talented journalist, writing in the new york times and the guardian, among others. her neighbours are shocked. we knew her since she was a small kid, kim wall, and we also know the family. there are lots of people knowing the family, and so...and also her. so, erm, yeah, that's a sad story. a very strange story as well. yeah, you really can say. there are still no answers, yet. peter madsen‘s submarine sank in koge bay, 30 miles from copenhagen — he says because of a technical fault. one of the first people to locate peter madsen‘s submarine was a guy

called kristian isbak. now, i've spoken to kristian isbak, and he told me that as he approached the submarine, it began to sink. police now think he may have scuttled his own sub. peter madsen is well—known here in denmark. he calls himself an invent—repreneur, with a goal of putting people into space. his submarine is said to be one of the biggest of its kind in the world, and it's something he was deeply proud of. tom is a friend of madsen‘s. what do you think happened? hmm. i have no idea. i mean, it's really bizarre. it's really... i mean, he's been out there a lot with people. i've been sailing with him on that submarine. 0bviously, he had girls out with him sailing and all that, but what happened that particular day? i have absolutely no idea. i mean, obviously, it's strange that he sank his u—boat.

i mean, it looks like it. that's what the police said, he sunk it on purpose, and that is really bizarre. why would anybody do that? it's his life's work. it's like, he... he, er... it was such a huge effort to build this boat. and it was such a big part of him and his life, so... ..it‘s strange. some of peter madsen‘s story raises more questions than answers and, as a result, the focus automatically shifts to kim wall. what was she doing in peter madsen‘s submarine? was she investigating him, or did something just go terribly, terribly wrong? one of the possibilities is that this is murder, and, obviously, then you need to look for a motive. are there journalists that sort of do investigations on peter madsen? has that been done before? no, not in this kind of way. i've neverseen an

investigation into that. and i must say that i think that i'm the journalist that by far has written the most about him, so i would know that. i see him as a very nice and loving person, with very sound core values. he was obviously a man that had fights with a lot of people. i mean, he has a whole water of people behind him that he has been in fights with, er, and i have been in arguments with him myself, but i've never experienced an unstable man — in the sense that i am afraid of him. madsen denies the charges against him and says he's innocent, but kim wall is still missing. as the days draw out, hope of finding her alive diminishes. it's like a book. it starts with — something has happened, and now we are in the middle, but we hope that there will be some end of it.

so we know how this, yeah, sad thing — or good thing — will end up. that was james clayton, with filmmaker jamie bowles. now, you know the difference between the two statistics the government uses to measure inflation — the rpi and the cpi. of course you do. butjust in case — both the retail price index and the consumer price index look at how much prices are increasing. but they are calculated in different ways, and that means the rpi is generally higher. so why does this matter to you? well, railfares are going up 3.6% injanuary, and the interest rate on student loans has risen to 6.1%. these are both linked to the higher rpi rate of inflation, and some believe it's a way for the government to rip off you, the consumer — but is it?

rpi is a bit of a statistical relic. it was created “119117, when rationing was in and supermarkets were newfangled. but to many economists, the retail prices index is well past its best, and to most consumers it's just a few letters. and what's one more? replace the r with c, and it becomes the consumer prices index. both track the rise in prices of a basket of goods and services, but there's good reason to take an interest in why they're different. commuters should care — the government links rises in regulated railfares to rpi, which, injuly, was 3.6%. students should care too — interest on their loans is linked to rpi. what's peculiar about this is that rpi is widely seen as a flawed measure.

the rpi lost its status as a national statistic in 2013, and there were a number of weaknesses identified that means that rpi tends to be higher than other measures of inflation. so overall we do not see the rpi as a good measure of inflation, and we strongly discourage people from using it. this line shows the difference between rpi and cpi. in the financial crisis, as interest rates were slashed, rpi briefly fell below cpi. but otherwise rpi has consistently been higher, and that could leave the nation's commuters and students feeling rather ripped off. there may only be one letter in it, but actually there are three big differences between rpi and cpi. the first is how they measure housing costs. rpi, for example, includes mortgage interest payments, whereas cpi does not.

the second is who is covered. rpi exclude some of the highest earners and some of the poorest households, whereas cpi effectively covers everyone. but the third one is the big one — the formula. the two are just worked out differently. to produce the price index, the government has to collect, i think, about 250,000 prices every month. the method that they use for some parts of the retail price index is known to create an upward bias, things go up by more than they come down, and for that reason the international labour 0ffice, which offers international guidelines on how to compile price indices, has been saying for decades that this measure shouldn't be used. despite this, the government says it has no plans to change its policies. but why not, given that the government itself also gets stung? it pays interest on hundreds

of billions of pounds' worth of index—linked government bonds. those interest payments are also linked to rpi. meanwhile, the office of national statistics just has to keep publishing it. we are required by law to publish the retail prices index, but we also know that there are a number of long—term contracts, many signed a long time ago, that use the retail prices index, so stopping it would simply not be practical. our approach has been instead to develop other measures that are better measures of inflation that people can use instead of the rpi. my sense is that if anything, the problems with the retail prices index are going to get worse, rather than better, as shopping habits change, and i think it would be much better for the government to address and resolve the problem than for the government, the british government, to carry on publishing a statistic which is known to be flawed. rail companies, bond investors,

the student loans market could all surely adapt, while the taxpayer could stand to benefit. perhaps it's time to consign rpi to history. joining me now isjill leyland, an economist from the royal statistical society, and ben southwood from the adam smith institute. if i could come to you first, ben, consumers are going to be feel it in their pocket if they are being hit by rail price increases, are they being ripped off by the government? in a sense, they are. as was adequately shown there, rpi is a bad measure of true inflation, although true inflation is an abstract concept and all we have are measures. because rpi comes in slightly high, it has allowed the government to achieve a couple of political goals, shifting the burden of rail onto those who use it, and not the general taxpayer, lightening the burden on the general taxpayer,

going up from 50% of a ticket paid by the person who uses the train to 65%. and students? students pay about 55% of their loans, and the government pays about 45%. now, if we charged them less, the government would pick up more of the cost of the education. there is a reasonable case for that, but a student who benefits from a degree, there is a reasonable case for them paying for that. is it time for the government to retire rpi? it can't retire rpi for a number of reasons, because it is used in many contracts, private and public. it is not always as bad as it is painted. there are advantage is to it. for example, it was designed to measure inflation as experienced by households, whereas cpi was designed for macroeconomic purposes. so cpi is very good, for example, as the target rate for the bank

of england, but not so good if you want to actually measure the impact of inflation on households. but at the end of the day, people don't care about how things are indexed, they care about the bottom line in their bank balance, and if they hear about the benefit of paying off debts, people paying those bills are actually using those services, if you agree with that, the idea that they are being ripped off does not make people happy. that is absolutely right, and i think the government is fairly shameless in the way it uses rpi and cpi, because it tends to use cpi when it is paying out money, for example on some benefits, public sector pensions, and it often users rpi when people are paying out money, as with rail fares, student loans and a number of other things. how can you feel ok with that? i think if i was at home, i would be shaking my fist at the television. i don't think it makes much of a difference. if you had student loans set

as rpi plus some number, if it always comes in at 0.5% above cpi, to make the same bank balance for the government, the same balance between taxpayers and users of the service, added the 0.5% onto the arbitrary number, it doesn't really matter which one you use. the decision is a political one of who bears the burden. i think it is dishonest. the other thing is that it is inefficient, because the difference between rpi and cpi, as your graph showed, is not constant, and at times rpi has been lower than cpi. but in future we cannot change it? the office of national statistics has to keep on publishing rpi. for legal reasons, it is difficult to correct the overestimation, although it would be possible technically, so we are in a bit of a bind, which is one reason that the 0ns is creating a new index, yet another

— the household costs index. we will talk about that another time. that is all we have time for this evening. good night. sum wet weather out that at the moment but the weather not looking too bad with sunshine and showers on the way. through the early hours, the way. through the early hours, the rain crosses the country. some heavy, it has been heavy in the last few hours. by the end of the night, drying out in western and northern

areas. full the cloud and arrange might drag its hills from east anglia and the south—west. whether in proving. not completely dry day with showers around. through the midlands, scotland and northern ireland also. the driest place it will be northern parts of england with sunshine on the way. for the first test, probably mostly dry day. there may be some interruptions but the risk is relatively low. the forecast for thursday night in the friday, low pressure barrelling across the uk. showers around. 0n friday, you will notice the wind. it will be a blustery day. bright and blustery with showers, some quite heavy. the winds will die out a bit

across the country on saturday. a better day. few showers but still on the cool side. the rest of the weekend, let's show you what is happening right now. of the us coast, a hurricane in which will be picked up by thejet coast, a hurricane in which will be picked up by the jet stream, coast, a hurricane in which will be picked up by thejet stream, pushed up picked up by thejet stream, pushed up through the north atlantic and absorbed into our weather system and you can argue that the remnants will be moving across the uk during the course of sunday. a bit of cloud, wind and rain. exactly where the rain is going to be is uncertain because it is difficult to forecast. the weekend, at least the second half is looking pretty unsettled with blustery showers as well. i think the next few days, no real

change but very changeable with sunshine and occasional showers. good night. i'm rico hizon in singapore. the headlines. friends and family remember heather heyer, the victim of charlottesville, heyer, the victim of cha rlottesville, as heyer, the victim of charlottesville, as president trump is shunned by senior business leaders. grief and anger in freetown as the search for survivors continues. at least 600 people are still missing after monday's mudslide. this is a nation mourning the loss of hundreds, and rescue workers say the authorities are hampering the rescue effort. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: grooming the next generation. the bbc talks to child soldiers trained by so—called islamic state now living in europe. and making his fourth and final appearance as james bond: the actor daniel craig confirms he will return as 007.