this is bbc news. i'm christian fraser live in florence where the prime minister has given her most important speech on brexit to date. the prime minister reaffirmed her desire to protect the rights of eu citizens — she proposed a ‘bold new strategic agreement‘ on security cooperation and confirmed the prospect of an implementation period after march 2019. people will continue to be able to come and live and work in the uk. but there will be a registration system, an essential preparation for the new regime. as of today, these considerations point to an implementation period of around two yea rs. mrshe said a mr she said a creative solution was needed. the labour party described the speech as lacking clarity in the final destination. beyond committing to transition,

which frankly everybody knew was inevitable, there wasn't much for it. it is a good westminster a and for the political class, but it is two fingers up to 17.4 million people who voted for brexit. we'll have all the reaction to that speech from the prime minister. welcome back to florence where the prime minister has probably given h

most important speech on brexit. she told the audience that the eu had — as she put it — ‘never felt to us like an integral part of our national story‘ in the way it does to so many elsewhere in europe. she said britain could go on ourselves, confidently, with a free trading agreement. so let‘s pick up soft op key points. she called for a two—year transition period when existing market access and free movement arrangements will apply. on trade, she said the uk would not seek single market membership or canada—style free trade deal, but that a ‘creative solution‘ was needed and she didn‘t think it was necessary to impose any new tariffs. mrs may said the registration of eu nationals would be a building block for a new immigration system. she said britain would honour

its financial commitments during the remainder of the current budget — so no country would have to "pay more or receive less". on security, the prime minister said she wanted to establish a new uk—eu agreement which would provide a framework for human rights, security issues and criminaljustice. and she said a strong dispute resolution mechanism was needed to help when "disagreements arise" between the eu and uk laws — but that this should not be overseen by the european court ofjustice. throughout her speech, theresa may was keen to highlight the shared values she said the success of both the uk and the eu was in the interests of one another. the success of the eu is profoundly in our national interest and that of

the wider world. but having made this choice, the question now is whether we, the leaders of britain and of the eu‘s member states and institutions, can downing street that creativity, that innovation, that creativity, that innovation, that ambition that we need to shape a new partnership to the benefit of all our people. i believe we must. and i believe we can. as expected, the prime minister ruled out the uk following the canadian modding when it came to negotiating a trading relationship between the uk and the eu. the uk is the eu‘s biggest trading partner and a market of importance for many countries across the

continent and the eu is our largest trading partner. so it is in our interests to find a creative solution. the eu has shown in the past that creative arrangements can be agreed. for exam it has developed a diverse array of arrangements with neighbouring countries, both in economic relations and in justice and home affairs. further more, we share the same set of fundamental beliefs. a belief in free trade, strong beliefs. a belief in free trade, strong consumer beliefs. a belief in free trade, strong consumer rights and trying to beat other country‘s industries by u nfa i rly beat other country‘s industries by unfairly subsidising one‘s own is a mistake and i don‘t think we need tariffs. i don‘t think anyone sensible is contemplating this. on the relationship between the uk and the eu regarding security issues, the prime minister said she believed that standards could be raised as a result

of the negotiation. we are proposing a bold new strategic agreement that provides a comprehensive framework for future security, law enforcement and criminal justice security, law enforcement and criminaljustice co—operation. a treaty between the uk and the eu. this would complement the extensive and mature relationships that we already have with european friends to promote our common security. our ambition would be to build a model thatis ambition would be to build a model that is underpinned by our shared principles, including high standards of data protection and human rights. it would be kept sufficiently versatile and dynamic to respond to the ever evolving threats that we face. and it would create an ongoing dialogue in which law enforcement and criminaljustice dialogue in which law enforcement and criminal justice priorities dialogue in which law enforcement and criminaljustice priorities can be shared and where appropriate tackled jointly. the much talked about divorce

bill wasn‘t specifically brought up by the prime minister. no specific figure was mentioned, but mrs may did say that britain would pay its way. ido i do not want our partners to fear they would need to pay more or receive less over the remainder of the current budget plan as a result of her decision to leave. the uk will honour commitments we have made and as we move forward, we will also wa nt to and as we move forward, we will also want to continue working together in ways that promote the long—term economic development of our continent. as expected, theresa may said that the transitional period post—brexit should last for two years. how long the period is should be determined by how long it will take to prepare and implement the new processes and new systems that will

underpin that future partnership. for example, it will take time to put in place the new immigration system required to retake control of the uk‘s borders. during the implementation period, people can continue to come and work in the uk. but there will be a registration scheme. this points to an implementation period of around two yea rs. implementation period of around two years. she said there would be obviously new border controls put mr in place. she talked of the registration period and she said she understood eu citizens in the uk might have concerns that their rights would diverge. but she said the uk courts will uphold the rights they currently have under the european court rulings. the question is, will the europeans be satisfied

that it is, will the europeans be satisfied thatitis is, will the europeans be satisfied that it is the uk interpreting those laws. our legal affairs spokesman is in london. you didn‘t see the speech as it went out. but reading the lines, the uk courts will take into account eu law, is that any different to what happens now? yes it is. because now we are bound by judgments of the european court of justice. they hold sway over us. when we leave the eu, that ceases to be the case. this is is an indication of status of european court of justice, that indication of status of european court ofjustice, that is effectively the eu supreme court on all matters of eu law, this is an indication of status the influence that court will continue to have once we leave. it is interesting, if we look at the government‘s withdrawal bill, in the bill they said that uk courts need not but may

where appropriate have regard to any ruling of the ec]. if we compare that with what the prime minister said, she said, i want the uk courts to ta ke said, she said, i want the uk courts to take into account the judgments of the european court to ensure consistent interpretation, that is where there is uncertainty around a matter of eu law. it looks as though there has been some movement there. we are perhaps dancing slightly on the head of a pin, but she seems to be saying that once we leave, the uk courts can take into account rulings of the ec]. the ec] has been the supreme court. so one would imagine oui’ supreme court. so one would imagine our senior supreme court. so one would imagine oui’ senior courts supreme court. so one would imagine our senior courts here when the ec] makes a ruling on a matter of eu law releva nt to makes a ruling on a matter of eu law relevant to the uk, will have regard to it and in my cases may feel that it is bound by that ruling. and i

think that that is where perhaps the negotiations have moved, put a bit of blue water if you like between the withdrawal bill and what the prime minister has said today. and it perhaps is only, some people will be swrup sets about this —— upset about this and some will say its common—sense, to take into uk law, to ta ke common—sense, to take into uk law, to take 40 years of eu law into that, the ec] will continue to make rulings that will be relevant to us. so its perhaps some people would say only sensible that your senior courts can have regard to the rulings of the ec] going forward. some people would be upset about that and want to see the influence of ec] ex—punned. ex—punned. but that doesn‘t seem like it will be the case. the the prime minister spoke for about 40 minutes. in the

front row were the chancellor, philip hammond and borisjohnson the foreign secretary and david davis. we can show you pictures of prime minister leaving the venue where she spoke today. she was brought in an italian car. the italians playing host to theresa may. you do wonder how they came up with this particular venue. there was no real reason to come here. she said she wa nted reason to come here. she said she wanted to talk about the historical ties between this city and the uk and how that echoed the uk‘s relationship with the european union. but certainly, the conservative party feels that is the most important speech she has given so most important speech she has given so faron most important speech she has given so far on the eu and the uk‘s departure. whether others think so, we will find out. whether others think so, we will find out. let‘s speak now to the labour mp and remain campaigner, chris leslie — who is a supporter of the pro—eu group open britain. he‘s in our nottingham studio.

no, i don‘t think we can speak to him! we will see if we can come back to chris leslie. we will have more reaction from florence. in fact we have got some something from jeremy corbyn, the labour leader. let‘s listen to he made of it. well, 15 months on since the referendum, and we get to a situation where the prime ministerfaces the we get to a situation where the prime minister faces the reality that she is going to have tolike for a transition period —— to have to look for a transition period. she goes all the way to florence and we didn‘t get a chance to see florence in the background to tell us what we already know. it was part of our amendment to the bill to look for a transition period. i is going to happen. what she said is that effectively it could be mean up to five years after the vote not much has changed. is that the right approach? well there has to be a transition period. to protectjobs.

our whole point throughout this process has been a brexit that damages employment and jobs is very dangerous for everybody in this country. so that is our basic approach to this. mrs may said she would honour the uk's financial commitments, that could mean payments after transition. how much do you think is the rigt amount to pay? i don't think its possible to put a figure on it. there are obligations and the eu has obligations and the eu has obligations to us. this seemed to be a result of the negotiations in the tory party and not the negotiations with the eu. she did slap down boris johnson in the speech. she said that after leaving the single market and the customs union, do you think that is the right thing or there should be app acceptance of free movement

to maintain good access to the single market. there has to be a trade relationship with europe. half of our trade wis the eu, our manufacturing industry works with the eu, supply chains both sides of the eu, supply chains both sides of the channel. that must be maintained. therelarge number of eu nationals that live and work in this country and make an incredible contribution. without them our public services would be worse off. so why is she using them as a bargaining chip? why not do what we did a week after the referendum, to say legislate now to guarantee rights of residence for eu nationals. because the tensions of family, where one partner is from britain and one from europe, they need to know they have security. they haven‘t got it. she is using them as a shuttlecock in her negotiations. that was jeremy corbyn. sorry for the confusion ahead of that. its important to hear

the labour leader. chris leslie joins us. he said eu citizens are being used a bargaining chips. there are uk citizens in europe too. and you might give rights away for them yes there is a million british citizens live in eu states and a lot of uncertainty, big questions for those three million people in the uk and those thereafter. what we are all, what we were expecting is some light to be shed on what brexit will look like and what will happen after we leave. unfortunately a year on all we could hear is the prime minister kicking the can down the road and saying she would like to stay and keep all the benefit of eu membership until 2021, but shed

nothing light about what will happen thereafter. so i think it was a missed opportunity. we are getting very far down as the clock ticks by into this negotiation process and we have got to start saying what sorts of system we want. otherwise a lot of system we want. otherwise a lot of people are going to say, well, hold on, is this whole brexit process we really want to commit to? because a lot of people i think are seeing some real disadvantages and not so many of the gains.|j seeing some real disadvantages and not so many of the gains. i get that, but i take you back to the initial point, you would sign a deal on eu citizens without having the same reassurances from the eu for uk citizens, that is what you would do? i want to bring the government and the labour bench into a position to recognise we need to have that option of thinking again about this whole process on the table. i think

this will be damaging and uncertain. my this will be damaging and uncertain. my view is that actually of course we shouldn‘t be, even this notion of mass registration of citizens and people queueing up to fill in form, there is incredible complications, but the prime minister and many others saying let‘s try and keep the benefit of the single market and the customs union, but where are the benefits of actually making the split. we were promised so much by the leave campaign, who said we would take back control and have new arrangements. so many of the promises have been been ripped up. for the moment, thank you. we can get more reaction from the conservative mp, james cleverly, part of the chancellor‘s treasury team, who campaigned for leave during the eu referendum. he‘s in berkshire. what did you make of the speech?”

thought it was a very good speech and well balanced. the tone the prime minister took was significant. it was clearly designed to remind oui’ it was clearly designed to remind our european friends that we still be an active player in the european sphere in terms of defence, security and economics. that we are definitely leaving and we want to negotiate a deal that works for the uk and the members of eu. that was important and the two—year implementation period was a significant intervention, explicitly at this point. but we got no real detailfrom may on at this point. but we got no real detail from may on what the new economic partnership in the future will be. only that it will be great. well, that is the whole point of a negotiation. the details of these things will be thrashed out by our negotiating teams over the

forthcoming weeks. but the important point of this particular speech at this particular time was to make it clear that brexit is going to happen and we are leaving the single market, but we want to make sure that eu nationals in the uk and british nationals over seas and british nationals over seas and british businesses have a period of certainty where they know what is going on, so they can plan for our exit and make sure that it is as smooth as possible. before i let you 90, smooth as possible. before i let you go, were some heads banged together yesterday in the cabinet? well, i am as yet not privy to the details of what goes on. you're privy to the information. with eno we know there area information. with eno we know there are a range of opinions about brexit and those discussions are important

to the process to make sure we get a plan that works for the uk. but ultimately the prime minister is the prime minister, she is the one giving the speech, she is the one setting the agenda and she has made the position of the uk government as a whole completely clear in that speech. thank you very much. let's get some reaction from nigel farage. he was less than happy with the speech. it was called the referendum, we reached a conclusion and we have a year 70% of or population want the government to get on with it and what we have done is kicked it into the long grass for at least another two years. it is a good day for westminster, for the political class and a good day for goldman sachs, but it is two fingers up

goldman sachs, but it is two fingers up to 17.4 million who voted for brexit. we have had plenty of reaction from the uk. now some reaction from the uk. now some reaction from the eu. with me is a mep and the chair of the committee on economic affairs. did you watch the speech? yes. what did you make of it? it was an interesting speech. i see steps forward in areas and a lot of things to clarify with some contradiction that we will have to work on. with your hat on as a member of the monetary affairs team, which bits do you like and what is still to be given up by the british side. the sentence that the uk will honour the financial commitment is a positive one of course. that needs to be clarified what we mean with that. so a lot of work to do now and what we expect that this general

position will be transformed into concrete proposal and a negotiation table. in concrete terms, what theresa may said that no country would have to put more in and none would have to put more in and none would receive less. that is a fair assessment? is it is positive. of course, the issue is whether the multi—financial framework or just some yearly budgets. it is a very technical issue. i see also positive of course the implementation period, i would call it more transition as far as it is based on a full framework and enforcement should be pa rt framework and enforcement should be part of that. but if we, that is a positive step forward. of course again we have to work on that. talk to us about the contingent liability, like the loans and the pension pot. what might britain be

infor in pension pot. what might britain be in for in terms of the value of those two things? again these are parts of commitments... how much is it going to cost the british taxpayer? again we are not yet u nfortu nately taxpayer? again we are not yet unfortunately and we hope there will bea unfortunately and we hope there will be a change on this in the face of agreeing a principle, a method for discussing on concrete numbers. that has been delayed too much. now i hope that on the basis that it is sentence of the speech that would be possible to work concretely line by line. obviously we will get more reaction this afternoon, do you think that is enough to move people towards a second phase in the future relationship? i don't know that whether that would be sufficient to to arrive in october. i hope that on the basis on some new thins that are

in the speech we would be able to work. if the next rounds of negotiations there are steps forward. it is too early to say. let‘s see how it works. but in any case also arriving to december and the framing, a good outcome of this fist fist phase would be —— first phase would be good. thank you for having us here in florence, we love your city! let‘s speak now to anand menon director of the independent think—tank, uk in a changing europe. he‘s in our oxford studio. you said at some point the prime minister will to say the end position. i think she has done the minimum she could. she has made some progress to unblocking the money and

reassured ceos and she did that. what about the citizens‘ rights and theissue what about the citizens‘ rights and the issue of which court has supremacy, did she go further than she has gone, or are we at a status quo situation? she may have inched forward , quo situation? she may have inched forward, but the ambiguity remains, under theresa may‘s position, british courts would be the institutions that decided whether their rights had been infringed and they implement british law. what the eu will still want to know is how do we know you won‘t change your law so the rights are not lost. so that central tension i don‘t think has been resolved. if you were to score the speech, what would you give it and what does she still have to set out? i'm an academic, so i don't

like this sort of thing, if i was scoring it in terms of contribution to the immediate debate and negotiation i would give it a six or seven. because i suspect she has said enough for mr barnier and mr davis to make progress. i don‘t think much progress has been made on the longer term issues like security and views on data protection. there isa and views on data protection. there is a lot of work to be done on the medium and long—term. but we have probably done enough to get the short—term moving. probably done enough to get the short-term moving. six out of ten. that is pretty generous. thank you very much. we are going to have more reaction to theresa may‘s speech and reaction to theresa may‘s speech and reaction from around europe. they have to decide whether there is enough to move this negotiation through to the second phase. only a year to go through to the second phase. only a yearto go in through to the second phase. only a year to go in this relationship and

in this negotiation, so the trading relationship is very important and it has got to get past the first phase. did theresa may do enough. we will find out in the next few hours. first the weather. we have mixed picture. so with sunshine. this scene was in bedford. now it is not like that every where. we have rain working in from the west. but the rain has become more fragmented over recent hours. it will work eastwards. some damp weather in england and wales. and some mist and fog over the hills. colder in scotland. but for many of us the weekend promises some fairly decent weather. might be a cloudy start to things. but we will all see some sunshine. warm weather on the way. but we have a band of rain working into the west on sunday. so we start

off saturday with a cloudy start and some mist and fog over the hills. the cloud will break up. windy in northern ireland and western scotland. that wind should punch some homes in the cloud. 17 in glasgow. 20 in london. and as high as 23 as we head to sunday. that is the latest weather. you are watching bbc news. the latest headlines... theresa may has been setting up proposals for a two year transition period after britain leaves the eu in march 2019. she has promised to on a budget commitments during that time. we wa nt commitments during that time. we want the eu to continue to be strong. it is in our national interests for the eu to continue to be successful. what i have set out is where we can go forward together. an 18—year—old man has been charged with attempted murder following the attack at parsons green tube station

last friday. the app —based taxi service uber says it will appeal against transport for london‘s decision not to renew its licence. the bbc has learned the man in charge of the two g4s run immigration removal centre is at gatwick airport has resigned with immediate effect. it follows an undercover bbc panorama investigation into blackouts. hughie fury has weighed in at 16 stone ten pounds for his world heavyweight challenge with new zealanderjoseph parker. fury‘s hoping to win back his cousin tyson‘s wbo belt tomorrow night in manchester. he‘s unbeaten in his 20 professional fights but is up against his most difficult opponent, who‘s also unbeaten and weighed in heavier at seventeen

stone seven. ronaldo, messi and neymar are the three men nominated for the best fifa men‘s player shortlist. ronaldo won the inaugural award last year, which replaced the longstanding world player of the year. that was the 4th year the real madrid star won a version of the title. messi has also won a version in four years. his former teammate neymar, who became the world‘s most expensive footballer when he moved from barcelona to psg for £200 million this summer, has always finished behind the others. chelsea‘s antonio conte is up for the men‘s coach award after leading them to the premier league title in his first season at stamford bridge. he‘s up against zinedine zidane, whose real madrid side beat juventus, managed by the category‘s third nominee max allegri. you can find the full list on the bbc sport website. former leicester manager nigel pearson has been named head coach of belgian second—tier side oh lerven. king power international own both clubs, meaning pearson will again be working with the thai owners, who sacked him from leicester injune 2015. west ham will auction all match—worn

shirts from this weekend‘s london derby against tottenham, with all proceeds going to the victims‘ families and survivors of this week‘s earthquake in mexico. the club will then double the figure raised by the auction, before donating the total amount to an appeal organised by their strikerjavier hernandez and his fellow mexico international miguel layun to aid the relief effort in mexico city and the surrounding areas. toby roland—jones could miss out on an ashes place with a back injury. he was almost certain to be selected after impressing having made his debut in the test team this summer. his county, middlesex, say he has a stress fracture and will miss the remainder of the domestic season. four of this summer‘s british and irish lions have been left out of the england training squad for camp in oxford this weekend. james haskell is the most experienced player to be excluded along with fellow forwards george kruis and kyle sinckler. centre jonathan joseph also misses out having featured regularly for eddie jones of late.

jones has though, brought 18—year—old fly half marcus smith as a surprise inclusion amongst the 33 names. i think he‘s done very well. i think he‘s done well for his club, more than enough to warrant selection for the training camp in oxford. is he a feasible england international? he is feasible cleaning the boots and holding the bags. a young it coming through, and we and we are treating him like an apprentice. we want him to learn the game, learn to be respectful of the players around him, earn his stripes. if he does that, he will be in position to play for england. olympic relay silver medallist dan wallace has lost his elite podium funding. he was suspended for three month by british and scottish swimming after admitting drink—driving earlier this year. scottish commonwealth champion ross murdoch has had full funding restored after encouraging performances at this summer‘s world championships. the european 200m breaststroke champion lost elite podium funding last year after a disappointing rio olympics. more now on theresa may‘s

speech in florence. the prime minister proposed a transition of up to two years after britain leaves the eu in 2019, involving continued payments into the eu budget. on citizens‘ rights, mrs may said eu nationals living in the uk were valued, she wanted them to stay and to guarantee their rights. let‘s go back to christian fraser in florence. lots of reaction coming in? iwas florence. lots of reaction coming in? i wasjust reading some of that reaction. let‘s bring you the reaction. let‘s bring you the reaction of michel barnier, who is crucial in the negotiations. he said there was a constructive spirit in there was a constructive spirit in the prime minister‘s speech, a genuine effort to move things forward. again, going back to that line we have heard plenty of times

before, there will be sufficient progress first come he says, in the withdrawal negotiation before we move to the second phase and start talking about the future relationship. he was here in rome yesterday saying time is of the essence. if you start today, we would only have a year to talk about the future relationship, so better to get on with the withdrawal negotiation is as quickly as possible. another line coming through from sinn fein about some of the things that the prime minister said about the border in ireland. there would be no infrastructure on the border, she said. but sinn fein said that theresa may‘s remarks today were incompatible with protecting the good friday agreement. these are comments from the mep martina anderson. she said what we heard in florence from theresa may is heavy on aspiration and light on detail. she did not adequately address any of the concerns around ireland, citizens rights and the need to protect the good friday agreement in all its parts. guy verhofstadt, the parliament‘s negotiator, the eu

parliament‘s negotiator, the eu parliament negotiator, has been an island for two days this week and is still sticking to this special status where there would be no border and perhaps there would be a line of control between ireland and britain, somewhere in the irish sea. so passport controls between ireland and britain. i‘m not too sure that the loyalists think that is a good idea. plenty of raised eyebrows from the dup who, of course, are in cahoots with the conservative party. let‘s get our view from adam fleming. he is in bruges, that was the sight of another important keynote speech in 1988, margaret thatcher expressing concerns about a united europe. apparently he has been at the college of europe today, speaking to students? absolutely right. bruges is famous in eurosceptic history because of that speech in 1988. also famous because the college of europe, the

university year, churns out the eurocrats, diplomats, officials and politicians. you have plenty of former prime ministers, loads of ambassadors, people like the former prime minister of denmark, nick clegg, the deputy prime minister, studied here. what better way of finding out the views of the eu establishment than speaking to some people that are about to join it? lana, from croatia, did theresa may‘s offer of a close relationship between the eu and the uk after brexit ring true? did it win you over? it is hard to win me over. i figured was a realistic proposal. she will seek the best conditions for her country, which is very realistic. this transition period, i don‘t know how it is going to work with the eu. basically, for me, it is very realistic sense of course

the obligations will stay the same the obligations will stay the same the needs and rewards will stay the same. it‘s ok, but i‘m not especially won over because i see this as realistic deals, with no emotions on brexit. you still think brexit is a bad idea? yes, but really it is the emotional part connected to brexit. the stuff she was asking for, is it realistic, is that gettable and the eu rules? as a negotiating party, she should ask for more than she knows she can get. in that sense, it was really unrealistic, i think. in that sense, it was really unrealistic, ithink. fair enough! i don‘t know if that will catch on as a sound bite. the spin coming from the british government is that spanish people living in the uk after brexit don‘t need to worry about their rights, the eu countries that receive money do not have to worry about a black hole in the eu

accounts. were you convinced about that? not at all. for me, it is very difficult to believe the prime minister. more, after the boris johnson article, saying just the contrary, to what theresa may is saying. so i don‘t believe her, she doesn‘t have authority in the government or the country after the elections. for me, this is very difficult. we should be clear, we should be clear what is going to happen to us. some friends are trying to get a job in the united kingdom and they are very worried. some friends are coming to spain, and retired people come to spain to spend their last years. so it‘s very important, just to play with it. in

terms of what the uk has two of the eu after brexit, she talks about security and having a close relationship. do you think that is a goodidea? relationship. do you think that is a good idea? that is probably what is going to happen? i think the security thing, it is the easiest point to have a closer relationship. we are all threatened by daesh, so it is the easiest point to get the european union. it is the easiest point to agree that there are things that are so important, also. i am not sure that we will be able to deal with that. just quickly, did this seem like a different kind of speech from theresa may than what you have heard in the past? yes, i would say it seems slightly a bit

different. it was definitely more appealing towards the eu side. but i think there's is very logical for the circumstances. so it is slightly different, yes, definitely. thanks for your analysis. the views of stu d e nts for your analysis. the views of students at the college of europe who might go on, you never know, we might have heard from a future prime minister and we will get reaction from the real prime minister is in the rest of the eu in the next few hours. the statement from michel barnier, he looks forward to seeing david davis in brussels on monday, the beginning of the fourth round of the negotiations. as always, he said we are preparing for the upcoming round and many of the things that theresa may set out, they are positive in tone but need to be turned into concrete detail. ian birrell is the former deputy editor of the independent and worked as a speech writer for david cameron. independent and worked as a speech writerfor david cameron. good

afternoon. perhaps you could give your thoughts on theresa may‘s speech, did it move is a long way forward ? speech, did it move is a long way forward? clearly, it was a little bit different in tone. it was more consensual towards europe. it was warmer towards europe. i think the difficulties are that he was speaking to four constituencies, the hard—core brexiteers that we have heard a lot about with boris, trying to talk to the mainstream britain and to her party, and reassure business which is really worried, they are planning for the future and worried about what is going to happen, and what the shape of the trading arrangements are going to be. so far, they have been rather nonplussed about what britain is putting forward. it is coming from a week prime minister and a divided party. the real difficulty is explaining to the british public what the end destination is going to be. our own political editor laura kuenssberg said she didn‘t really

give as much detail on that apart from saying that it is going to be great? she talked a lot about let's be creative, there is a lot of talk about creativity, her new boris style buzzword. there really wasn‘t much detail. we know for sure that there will be a transition period. that was a sop to was the more moderate, cautious when of her party. we also now know that we are not going to be in the customs union for sure, we‘re not going to be a member of the single market. there was also all of this talk about trying to do something bigger and different to the canadian deal, but it is hard to see how you can do that in two years when the canadian deal, which was simple, took seven yea rs. deal, which was simple, took seven years. there is still a lot of talk, warm words towards europe and none of the arrogance and haughtiness we have seen from some people in the brexit debate towards europe. there is still an alarming lack of detail given that article 50 was triggered six months ago. just one last one from me, obviously one of the big

sticking point in the negotiation is the primacy of law, if it is the uk courts of the european court. she said today that the uk court would uphold the european rulings when it came to citizens rights. does that move us any came to citizens rights. does that move us any further forward? has been vague talk that we are going to come up with a halfway house type agreement. i think what she is doing is nodding towards that, trying to fumble her way towards an agreement on this whereby there is something which is not the entirely european setup we have at the moment and is not an entirely british setup. ultimately, it will be some kind of shadow system on which is what europe has done with some of the other countries that have loose arrangements like norway and switzerland. some kind of shadow arrangement whereby there is a system setup, a tribunal, a court —based system, which basically walks a thin line between the of them. he does show an attempt to compromise. overall, we still really don‘t have a lot of detail on the shape of this deal. we still have, at heart, the

same core problem that there is a prime minister that has lost a parliamentary majority and she is torn between differing views on how torn between differing views on how to approach this within a party and within the country. you have a prime minister that is fumbling away, trying to find a way through it. the speech, the tone was slightly different. there was brave talk but there is still not a huge amount of clarity on the end destination. very interesting, ian birrell, thank you for giving your thoughts this afternoon. she spent a large part of the day with cabinet yesterday. the speech was still being written until late last night, taking in many of the thoughts from cabinet colleagues. i hear that tomorrow she is going to be inviting around 30 conservative mps to chequers, to talk to them about brexit and were traders going. there is a charm offensive, not only in europe but at home within the pram and‘s party. we will have plenty more reaction from florence. we believe back at five

o‘clock. christian fraser in florence. let‘s get more reaction to theresa may‘s speech. we can speak to the former chancellor kenneth clarke, a famous pro—european of course, a remainer. thank you very much for being with us. theresa may talking about a two year transitional period. is that music to your years? the whole thing had a more grown—up tone about it. i was very reassured by it. a lot of detail to be filled in. but i think it is the beginning of having proper negotiations with the eu. she was not playing to any particular gallery in the united kingdom, she was covering the points. it was much nearer to the tone of a speech that she gave during the referendum campaign, although that was not reported anywhere, than it was lancaster house, which was rather combative. i most anxious that we don‘t stop putting any barriers between trade and investment, between trade and investment, between ourselves on the eu. this was a big step in that direction. we

are going to stay in a single market and the customs union, as far as i can see, for two years, while we work out what arrangement we are going to have beyond that. she was dressing free trade. we cannot have a position where we are saying to the americans, the japanese and all kinds of people, the filipinos, that we wa nt kinds of people, the filipinos, that we want a free trade agreement with you and then start negotiating with the europeans on the basis of putting new barriers in place between ourselves and our biggest market. she covered that, covered a lot of other points as well. it was reasonably reassuring. i think europeans in our partner countries will think, well, we can start talking about all of this. british business, i hope, will be considerably reassured. there is no mad sudden step going to be taken. the very fact you quite like this speech will probably mean that a lot of brexiteers do not like it. we‘ve already heard from nigel farage, talking about it as a betrayal, saying with a two year transitional period it will mean that people who

voted in the referendum to leave the eu, it could be five years before they actually get out of it? nigel farage has this extreme nationalist view. if she had appealed to him, i would be utterly amazed. there are other hardline brexiteers that are going to denounce any agreement we reach as a betrayal. the public voted to leave the eu, which, as she made clear, we are going to. i am sure we will. i think the article 50 vote was conclusive, and tied most politicians to agree to leave. what nobody has previously discussed is what leaving means. i remember during the referendum campaign, borisjohnson was effectively during the referendum campaign, boris johnson was effectively the leader of the leave people and he just said it will scare talk to say there would be any barriers to trade and investment. he said the german cell us mercedes, the italians sell their prosecco. nothing will change. he even said we would have our cake and eat it at one point. all of that

nonsense has gone by, and boris appears to have agreed with this speech. before he was sitting quietly in the audience. the fact is, we are now going to have no new barriers between ourselves and our major market, we will continue under the present rules for two years at least. she did say two years or thereabouts. very briefly, nigel farage does have a point, doesn‘t it? this is not what the british people voted for full stop many of them voted in that referendum to get out of the eu, nobody was talking then about five years or even more? some people may have said that, nobody knew what they were voting for. they were reassured that our present trading and economic arrangements with europe would remain unchanged. an awful lot of eurosceptics said they thought that economic ties with europe were perfectly all right. nigel farage is just putting on to devote what he

wa nts just putting on to devote what he wants it to mean. it would be farcical just to abandon wants it to mean. it would be farcicaljust to abandon every tie we have with europe. she set out quite a lot of institutions, we obviously have to remain in membership with those, and she has accepted that we cannot have access to the market which a conservative government was largely responsible for setting up, without adhering to the laws and making a contribution, as one of the richer countries, like the dutch, the germans, to the cost of it all. again, conservative government were always quite happy with that until the day before we had the referendum vote announced. he did not mean what nigel farage now claims it meant. thank you for your time. so, how will the proposals be greeted by eu leaders? chris morris has been looking at if the offer will be enough to break the financial cell—mate. will be enough to break the financial cell-mate. this speech comes a few days before the fourth round of negotiations on brexit. over the summer, one thing has

become pretty clear. the biggest problem in those negotiations at the moment is money. so, even though they say you should never reveal your cards too early, there has been a lot of talk about what the prime minister would offer to break the impasse. the key issue is this. transition. what would a transition period look like immediately after the uk leaves the eu at the end of march 2019? well, the prime minister has now suggested a transition period under current eu rules and regulations. it would give the uk more time to set up, amongst other things, new customs and immigration systems. she suggested it would last for around two years. that implies the government would make roughly the government would make roughly the same net payments into the eu budget as it does now, a bit more than £9 billion per year, after you ta ke than £9 billion per year, after you take into account the british rebate and money that the eu spends in the uk. that could buy some goodwill, because the eu‘s long—term budget ru ns because the eu‘s long—term budget runs in seven year cycles, and the

current one lasts until the end of 2020. so, a two—year transition could take care of the net amount of around £18 billion that the uk has already said it will pay. there will be no immediate hole in the budget to fill. it makes money one of the better cards in the uk‘s hand, because the eu is relying on british cash at least for a couple of years after brexit. but don‘t be fooled into thinking that would be that. the rest of the eu would not accept it as the rest of the eu would not accept itasa the rest of the eu would not accept it as a final settlement because they did not see paying to maintain our current role in the single market during a transition as the same thing as saddling our past debts. there are plenty of bills that the eu says the uk has to deal with. there is the uk share of money that has been formally committed but not yet paid. it is a bit like a credit card. at current exchange rates, the total outstanding bill is more than £210 billion, which makes the uk share more than £25 billion.

then there is the uk share of the eu pension pot. british civil servants have been working for eu institutions for more than 40 years. that is roughly another £8 billion which the rest of europe expects the uk to cover. and there‘s more. even though theresa may has made what might be seen in london as a generous offer to get talks moving, it will not be the end of the story. and it really is touch and go whether enough progress will have been made before a eu serve ding summit in october to allow the negotiations to move on and considered the outlines of a future trade deal. at the moment, it looks unlikely. chris morris, thank you very much indeed. we have been talking a lot about the prime minister‘s speech in florence. another story to bring you. london‘s transport regulator has decided not to renew the licence of the taxi—app uber, because of concerns about its checks on its drivers. uber says it intends to "immediately challenge" the decision and has 21 days to appeal, during which it can continue to operate. it‘s five years since uber

launched its app in london, and in that time it‘s made its fair share of both enemies and friends, but today transport for london announced that it would not be renewing uber‘s licence to operate in the city at the end of this month. in a statement, they said the company was not fit and proper to hold a licence and had demonstrated a lack of corporate responsibility. tfl‘s concerns relate to four main areas — uber‘s approach to the reporting of serious criminal offences such as sexual assaults by its drivers, for which it‘s been criticised by the metropolitan police, the way the company performs background checks on its drivers, and the way it obtains medical certificates, and finally there are concerns about uber‘s use of a controversial piece of software known as greyball which critics have argued has allowed uber to avoid law enforcement and sting operations on its drivers. i think this is a courageous decision by transport for london, tfl have an important role to

perform in making sure that those that operate private hire vehicles do it safely and securely. uber claims to have 3.5 million users in london, but immediate concerns are for its thousands of drivers. it‘s a devastating decision. there‘s 120,000 private hire drivers in london, and that number has more than doubled in the last five years. all of those people are now facing unemployment, and, worse than that, debt associated with commercial vehicle loans they‘ve taken out to go and work for uber. for its part, uber denies all of the allegations made in tfl‘s announcement and said it will immediately appeal the decision. crucially, the company will retain the right to operate during the appeals process, which could take many months, so serial users of the app shouldn‘t fret about their morning commute just yet. matthew thompson, bbc news. time to check out the latest weather

prospects. a quick look over in the caribbean sea to see what hurricane maria is up sea to see what hurricane maria is up to. at the moment, it is passing to the north—east of the turks and ca icos to the north—east of the turks and caicos islands. in the centre of the storm, wins a 125 mph. some way away from that the turks and caicos islands. hurricane force wind still extends 70 miles from the centre, so they will be getting buffeted where there could be further damage. in there could be further damage. in the uk, still hanging onto sunshine across central and eastern parts of england. this band of rain is becoming increasingly broken and fragmented. it will edge eastwards overnight. there will be patches of rain coming and going in england and wales. clearer skies for parts of northern scotland and here temperatures could get down into low single figures. the start of the day, the start of the weekend, on a cloudy note across england and wales, bits and bobs of rain around. sunny spells breaking through.

probably the best of that across southern part of england and wales to the afternoon. the wind is strong enough to blow some holes in the cloud from northern ireland and scotland. a mild day, temperatures between 17 and 24 most of us. today at 5, we‘re in florence, where theresa may has delivered her speech aimed at breaking the deadlock in brexit talks. the prime minister called for a two—year transitional period arrangement to allow for a lordly exit. —— and orderly exit. so during the implementation period, access to one another‘s markets should continue on current terms and britain should also continue to take part in existing security measures. and i know businesses in particular would welcome the certainty this would provide. watched by members of the cabinet, she said britain would pay its "fair share" to the eu during that period. the uk will honour commitments we have made during the period of our membership. as the prime minister left florence

labour