hello. and held for nearly five years in afghanistan has spoken for the first time about the ordeal his family went through at the hands of the taliban. it will be of incredible importance to that we are able to provide a secure santry to that we are able to provide a secure sa ntry for to that we are able to provide a secure santry for our three surviving children to quell a home and to try to make a childhood that they have lost. —— to call a home. the home office is planning to introduce minimum six month prison sentences for people who are repeatedly caught carrying acid, following a surge in attacks. the organisers of the oscars are to hold emergency talks later to discuss claims of sexual misconduct against the film producer harvey weinstein. now on bbc news, it's time for inside out. this week the accountants who disappeared leaving thousands

of lorry drivers owing money to the taxman. and what it's like living with motor neurone disease. hello. this week we are in the historic city of lincoln. coming up, lorry drivers left with thousands of pounds of debt after they accountants disappeared. they have not forwarded anything. to the tune of £11,500. also: three years in the life of a man with motor neurone disease. and later in the programme: two women, one british and one italian tell us their concerns as we prepare to leave europe. over the past few years inside out has shown you some shocking tales of zero hours factory workers and poorly paid parcel delivery drivers.

now it's lorry drivers across the country that had been left owing thousands of pounds in tax after the lincoln—based accountants they used disappeared with the money. lucy hester reports. i walked in expecting to get some driving jobs, i walked out of the office as a director of my own company with no problems at all. thousands of drivers, like ian, get work through driving agencies, and are encouraged to operate as a limited company. companies without assets, with only one employee. their board room? whatever cab they're sitting in at the time. ourjust—in—time economy needs flexible workforce and agency contractors fill a gap. the arrangement suits the agencies very well

but what about the drivers? anyone thinking about setting up a limited company needs someone do their accounts. the agencies for drivers we've spoken to all advised their clients to use the same lincoln—based company — think accounting. the lady at the recruitment agency said probably 75% of her drivers were registered with this think accounting. when i was having a little chat with the kid behind the counter ijust made a comment, tongue—in—cheek, asking was he on commission for introducing me to think accounting and with a bit of a laugh he told me i got £100. paul had signed up for a discount vat scheme which think accounting looked afterfor him. perfectly legitimate. a bit of extra money for being vat—registered. so, let me get my head round how

this flat rate vat scheme works, so if this is your weekly wage, say £100, you're allowed to charge 20% vat on that, aren't you? yeah. so effectively your £100 becomes £120. correct. so then what happens? half of that goes back to the tax man and i keep the other half. so your wage is now £110, and £10 to the tax man. but then think accounting took quite a hefty bit themselves, didn't they? think accounting had been keeping hold of paul's portion of vat. when he asked for this, they sent him a bill for extra accounting services. charging me things like credit control service £750, and that totalled 7000—odd pounds and i never saw a penny of it. do you think you were naive to hand

over your business affairs to someone like think accounting? no, i don't have any skills in accounting, i'm a lorry driver. we've talked to accountants around the country who have inherited clients from think accounting — they tell similar stories. when it comes to the flat rate vat which think accounting stole, and i say explicitly they stole it from the drivers, i took them to court on ten occasions, on nine occasions they actually paid, exactly these circumstances, the same thing. the tenth one, they got a county courtjudgement but they never ended up paying it. worse was to come. demands from hmrc for unpaid tax. my national insurance, corporation tax, vat, think accounting had not forwarded to the relevant parties to the tune of £11,500.

think accounting had been giving drivers a small weekly wage plus expenses and dividends so that they didn't have to pay tax. but hmrc saw this as a tax dodge. ifelt embarrassed, i kind of brushed it under the carpet, didn't want to tell my wife, family. i was expecting bailiffs to knock at the front door. i was having panic attacks. the doctor gave me tablets. i thought prison, honestly thought prison. the drivers couldn't get their missing tax from think accounting — they'd stopped trading. 0wner lee wilson had handed over to a new company, new wave accounting, same address, with director symon williams cooke. neither of them were accountants. it was an utter scam.

hmrc should have put a stop to it straightaway but what they are doing is prosecuting the people that can't defend themselves, the poor innocent victims, and they are making them pay the fine for the perpetrators, which stinks. hmrc tell us they have an excellent record in supporting those in genuine difficulty and they urge anyone who can't pay their tax debts to talk to them, and they'll do all they can to help. in november 2015, new wave accounting changed their name again, to igloo accounting. igloo closed down abruptly, clients were directed, without consultation, to another accountant. that accountant reported to the police. they passed the investigation to hmrc. hmrc say it's important that people thinking of using an agent to deal with their tax affairs understand what the agent is proposing to do on their behalf,

particularly with less usual arrangements, such as a service company. we've contacted some of the agencies involved. they say, they no longer recommend accountants, and they encourage drivers to be paye, not self employed. paul paid his tax bill, but is going to a tribunal to try claim it back. ian, after 2 years of tax demands, got a surprise a few weeks ago. hmrc have cancelled his debt. other drivers, ron included, are still being chased for the money. and they're frustrated. we want to challenge lee wilson, the director of think. ask him for explanation. a lot of people would like to talk to lee wilson and symon williams cooke — but they seem to have disappeared. this is lucy hester calling from bbc‘s inside out programme.

we need to ask him... we've tried family members, business links, and i even rang symon's old mobile number. but the man who answers says he's not symon. he's just put the phone down on me. that's the second time this week he's done that. so no directors, but i'm following the money. these boxes hold think accounting's bank statements. we can't look inside because of data protection. but since we started this investigation, hmrc have hired a forensic liquidator, who can look. they should be able to trace what think accounting did with the drivers‘ money. earlier this year matthew taylor produced a major report on how we work. later this week he'll discuss this with a select committee. we've told him about the drivers‘ experiences. one of the things we argued in our report is to move

towards a system where we pay the same tax on labour. these cons then wouldn't make sense. how do you feel now about think accounting? lower than a snake's belly, fraudulent, conmen, fly— by—nights, 100%. if you've got a story you'd like to tell us about you can contact us on facebook or twitter. coming up: what does the future hold for these two women after brexit? ian pratt has motor neurone disease. three years ago he invited us to follow his battle with his illness. 0ur correspondence has been filming with him ever since. he's recorded his battle to live as normal a life

as possible with his wife and daughter whilst raising awareness of this deadly disease. it's 2014. at home, ian pratt is enjoying his birthday. but since 2012 birthdays have felt different, that's when he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. i was a young father, with a healthy daughter, lovely wife, thinking i want to see her grow up. i was heartbroken. it was confirmation that i had this wicked disease. ian, an australian who'd settled in yorkshire, had always been active and healthy. we started filming with him in the autumn of 2014. he wanted to go public about his illness and its effect on the people closest to him. two years after diagnosis, ian's had to give up his job as an accountant. he finds it harder to walk, but his home has been adapted to help him move around.

his illness is a mental as well as physical challenge. to be fair, we don't really think about what's coming. we think about how we cope with getting through today. i don't tend to think about how the disease will affect me in two years. because it's too destructive to do that. it's hard enough to be positive, to stay positive every single day and to enjoy everything you've got. if i thought about what was coming, then you would just want to end. what have you been doing? that looks wonderful! ian and his wife catherine have something else to keep them busy, their daughter georgiana. it's just being as normal as we can for her. we go for walks, she rides her bike,

i ride my mobility scooter. catherine's having to combine work, being a mum and coping with ian's illness. i don't think about what's going to happen. i know what's going to happen, but i don't want to think about it. i have georgiana who needs to be looked after. i can't be crying in a corner somewhere. if i think about it, i'd be a bucket in the corner, crying. have you ever really thought much further down the line when ian might not be here? it would be a different world. it's time for a hospital visit. ian's seeing his consultant. he's started wearing a face mask at night to help him sleep. it's been working, pretty much in the main. had it on most days. i have it on average at least five hours or so. do you feel better for it?

i do, definitely, i've got more energy. ian's noticed his symptoms are getting gradually worse. how do you feel otherwise? i don't notice the daily change but i notice at the end of the week. it's a disease where cells in the nervous system called the motor neurons get injured and die. they are the cells by which our brain controls our muscles and therefore all our movements. ian has already had to face the fact that many muscles in his body have been affected, particularly difficult and distressing for ian because he has a young daughter who is the apple of his eye and he wants to be around to see her growing up. since his diagnosis, ian's helped run an annual swim at the isle of wight — which has raised thousands of pounds for motor neurone research.

it's a big night in barnsley — the pride of barnsley awards. ian's been nominated for triumph over adversity. the winner is... ian pratt. applause ian's won. it's time to get his award. it is motor neurone disease. it is terminal. i'm going to die. please go and look, find out for yourself, i want to dedicate this award to my gorgeous wife and my gorgeous daughter. i think it is very difficult, emotionally. for ian, life's an emotional rollercoaster and christmas feels more special than ever. georgiana is the virgin mary in her school's nativity play. i'm very proud. it was fabulous. when i was diagnosed, i didn't think i'd get to see it.

it was really special. ian's mum is over from australia. it's a chance to catch up on news about family and friends. when ian was born we travelled backwards and forwards and had cattle around the place. kids used to help us do whatever we had to. he was a good boy. i'm very proud of him for what he's done. and he'll keep that going for as long as he possibly can. doctors try to control ian's symptoms, but there's no cure. he's back at the hospital for tests. he's having a test to check how his lungs are working. blow it out for me. all the way. keep it coming. squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.

all the way to the end. fantastic. ian's lungs are working at 34% of their full capacity — only a slight drop from last time. next he's going to be weighed. catherine lifts him across the room. it's good news — he's put on weight. 58.85. yes! it's encouraging to know my breathing hasn't got worse, roughly the same as i was last time. weight is up. that's good. generally it's really good news. the weight needs to come up a bit more, but his breathing is stable. morning, ian. morning. a year has past, it's early morning and ian is about to start his day, he needs two carers to help them get up. can you feel that pulling?

yes. i feel like a puppet on a string. i've been with ian just over two years. when we first started he was upstairs. he was able to come to a sitting position and walk to the bathroom. so he's deteriorated quite a lot in the last 12 months. now five years have passed since diagnosis. ian has done well. if you look at the average life expectancy from the first symptoms, it's somewhere between two and three or four years. probably. and ian has exceeded that timescale already. whatever the future holds, it's

still clear that ian is fighting. it's been a challenging five years. i think we just keep making the most of what we've got. most people don't get that opportunity with motor neurone disease. more than 30,000 eu nationals live and work in our universities. some of them came under the erasmus scheme, which allows students to study abroad, and many stayed and made lives here. we follow the story of two women. one is italian living in sheffield and the other english and living and living in belgium. we ask what brexit might mean for theirfutures. architect cristina cerulli came to england in 1994 from italy and settled in sheffield. alison abrahams left sheffield for italy 14 years later and has settled in belgium.

both have made major decisions about their lives because of brexit. i wish the eu had a repatriation programme for people who've been caught by surprise by brexit. i came back to brussels the morning of the vote and my colleagues were hugging me and people were so emotional. just suddenly everything i thought i knew was turned upside down and it felt a little bit destabilising. it's 13 years since cristina first began teaching architecture at the university of sheffield. this evening she's celebrating with her final year students for what might be the last time. yes, i seriously am considering relocating following brexit and i'm exploring lots of options. tonight cristina has her two daughters milla and ella with her. both were born in yorkshire but are fluent in italian. i got an emailfrom the italian

consulate this morning with the results of a survey that i took part in, italian academics working in uk universities — 82% say they were planning to leave. and already 30% of eu academic staff at uk universities have left already. alison abra hams works as amnesty international‘s european media manager in brussels. working here in the european union, i think sometimes, french and german people, think the european project is something more than an economic agreement. it's an ideal and i think for people this dream was being shattered. in sheffield, cristina and her husband mark run their own architectural practice. today, jeremy abrahams, who's also the father of alison who lives in brussels,

has come to take their photograph for his own brexit—related project. this project is called remain/leave, and it's about couples, one of whom is a european citizen and the other is a british citizen, and as we're all aware now those couples are potentially in a difficult situation. next month jeremy will stage an exhibition of the portraits together with audio recordings of interviews he's conducted with the couples. i came here as an erasmus student. and i thought it was amazing and i never wanted to go back to florence. i always felt that great britain was much more progressive than italy was at the time. and now i definitely don't think that's the case anymore, i completely fell out of love with great britain. cristina and alison, were both part of the erasmus scheme whereby students study abroad for a year of their degree. 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of the eu funded project but there are fears about its post—brexit future.

it is worrying that in the survey the the british council commissioned with ipsos mori there are 30 per cent fewer young people in france, germany and italy saying that they want to come to the uk to study. in reality nothing has changed but the negotiations are creating uncertainty. we would like the uncertainty to end as soon as possible. this morning alison's coordinating international press coverage of a demonstration outside the eu commission hq against turkey's detention of ten human rights activists. it should be pretty big. i'm hoping we'll see this on a few channels later including the bbc. but alison initially feared for her post brexit career. why would you employ a british person when we're just about to leave and who knows how long we'd have the rights to work here?

so following the leave vote alison, applied for belgian citizenship. after several anxious months waiting she finally heard. i really didn't know whether or not i'd get it. when i got that letter, i said to them "am i belgian does this...?" they said congratulations. i never thought i would have requested that nationality. i didn't need to, i was born in sheffield, grew up in the uk. now my parents always joke we've got a belgian daughter. it feels totally surreal. it's the first anniversary of the brexit vote and 400 miles away in sheffield, cristina and mark are working on a temporary building project commission with an artist and they've made a big life decision. we decided to leave sheffield. and go to florence. we are exploring the feasibility of it.

it will be a little bit like going back to where i started. but mark and the girls would be completely new because they have just visited. after a hectic week at work alison is on her way back to yorkshire on eurostar. i'm on my way back to sheffield, it's my mum's birthday so i'm going to join the party. alison's dad jeremy is still working on his exhibition which features cristina's portrait and opens next month. the two families meet up while alison's in sheffield. my my experience of florence, it felt like chaos. over the summer cristina

has taken a newjob at sheffield hallam university. and after a family holiday in italy there's been a reality check and their planned move there is on hold. we took an emotional decision. to cut ties. we've put it off for at least a year. we are looking into how but we don't want to give up everything here for something that is going to be worse. for alison and cristina, erasmus was a life changing experience but it remains far from clear how easy it will be for the post brexit generation of students to follow in their footsteps. hello there. temperatures have been rising for

many today. there is one weather to come up the next couple of days but also some windy weather. we are keeping a close eye on developments across the eastern side of the atlantic, unusual to see a hurricane here but that is what we have, a fully formed category to hurricane, 0phelia. it will have the potential to bring some very windy weather in western errors on monday. ahead of the storm, we are drawing up some warm air, particularly where there is sunshine. not everybody has sunny skies today, clouds and many northern areas, this is cumbria. it isa northern areas, this is cumbria. it is a bit gloomy earbud far from it in kent. we will see temperatures up to 20-21 in kent. we will see temperatures up to 20—21 in the east this afternoon, dipping away by the time it gets to five o'clock. south wales that, in

the cost, lots of cloud, thicker cloud in north—west england. scotla nd cloud in north—west england. scotland and northern ireland are rather cloudy and in western areas of scotla nd rather cloudy and in western areas of scotland we will see some outbreaks of rain. more rain in northern ireland. achieving this evening and night, wet weather across the far north—west. windy weather developing here as well. it could be gale forced in some spots. temperatures 12—14d. a mild night ended when you consider all well and are in october. sunday, a split in our fortunes. are in october. sunday, a split in ourfortunes. some are in october. sunday, a split in our fortunes. some outbreaks of rain spreading southwards and use words like eating. england and wales, dry weather and 20 is easily achievable, potentially 22—23. mind you, turn

your ice to the south—west. 0phelia is no longer a coveted. —— wet instead, look to the south—west. —— no longer a hurricane. the windy weather will eventually spread in across scotland. meanwhile, south eastern areas will see temperatures continuing decline, may be as high as 23—24. —— continuing to climb. this is bbc news.

the headlines at 3pm: a canadian man, kidnapped with his wife and held for nearly five years in afghanistan, speaks for the first time about the ordeal his family went through at the hands of the taliban. it will be of incredible importance to my family that we're able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call a home, to focus on edification and to try to regain some portion of the childhood that they have lost. tougher sentences for the perpetrators of acid attacks. a cautious welcome is given to new proposals automatic minimum jail terms by campaigners. the fear of going to jail is always a deterrent in some way, even if it's a small way. the start is good, that's what i'm saying. there's more to be done, but a start is always good. emergency talks are set to take place at the oscars over harvey weinstein — following multiple claims of sexual assault. weather forecasters warn that hurricane ophelia is approaching the