this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 11:00pm: the head of mi5 says the uk is facing intense pressure from terrorism. more plots are emerging at a faster pace. inflation has reached 3%, its highest level in more than five years, largely due to rising food and transport prices. us—backed militia in syria say they've taken control of raqqa after months of fighting with islamic state militants. lincoln in the bardo. george saunders wins this year's man booker prize for his novel lincoln in the bardo, becoming the second us author to take home the £50,000 fiction award. anton newsnight we look at the

debate raging in universities across the country about free speech — some stu d e nts the country about free speech — some students are keen to stop offensive views expressed on campus while others say people are offended fata easily. we will hear both sides of the argument. —— far too easily. good evening and welcome to bbc news. britain faces the highest rate of terror attacks in the last 30 years, with some plots hatched in just days and 3,000 extremists currently being investigated. that's according to the head of mi5, andrew parker, who's given a rare interview, and defended the service's record, after four terrorist attacks this year. 0ur security frank gardner reports. —— 0ur security correspondent frank gardner reports. four terrorist attacks in britain, inspired by so—called islamic state,

in the space of six months. most of the attackers were already known to mi5, the security service. today, its director general addressed journalists on the extent of the current threat. we've seen a dramatic up—shift in threat this year. it's at the highest tempo i've seen in my 34—year career. i asked him why mi5 was unable to stop those attacks by known extremists. the likelihood is that sometimes attacks can happen, we've seen that. i've also said the likelihood is that when an attack happens, it may be done by somebody that we know or have known at some point in the past. were that not so, it would mean that we were looking completely in the wrong place. when three men attacked people with a van and knives in southwark in june, it turned out their ring leader was this man, khuram butt, a well—known extremist already on mis‘s radar. what's the point of surveillance if someone

is free to do that? one of the main challenges we've got is that we only ever have fragments of information. we have to try to assemble a picture of what might happen based on those fragments. sometimes, i've talked about today pinpricks of light in an otherwise dark canvas. we have to make professional judgements about where to commit resource, based on the best knowledge we've got each day, against that whole range of extremists. mis‘s list of 3,000 extremists includes returnees, jihadis coming back from the conflict zone. i asked andrew parker if he knew where they are now and what they're doing. so, of that, over800 people who have gone to syria and iraq, a proportion of them are back in the uk from several years ago, having given up on the fighting and come back for different reasons. you're monitoring them? they are part of that 3,000 number i spoke about,

where they're sifted and assessed on an individual basis for risk, and we apply intelligence coverage and police coverage accordingly. mi5 says its director general cannot be 100% perfect. a total of five terrorist attacks have got through this year against 20 stopped over four years. the uk, he says, will face down this challenging threat. prices are rising faster than at any time in the past five years, inflation as measured by the consumer prices index rose to 3% last month, driven up by increases in transport and food prices. the state pension will rise in line with this latest figure. kamal ahmed reports. running almost to standstill. as prices have gone up, our wages have remained stagnant, making that incomes squeeze just that little bit harsher. over the last year, inflation has risen above the increase in our wages.

making ends meet is becoming harder. the basics that i get all the time are going up, sort of 20p, 30p here and there, that affects my food shop every single week and it does make a big difference to what i can get. but higher inflation is not as hard work for everyone. this month's figure is used to set the rise in state pensions next year and pensioners will see weekly payments increase by around £5. well, i think it's fairer than what some people are getting, so i wouldn't complain because i know nurses etc get nothing like that rise. the trouble is they give it in one hand and take it out in the other, so you don't really gain much. mark carney, the governor of the bank of england, told mps that prices were likely to rise further, driven by the fall in the value of the pound. we had signalled in fact prior to the referendum that we felt that the event of the vote to leave, one of the adjustment mechanisms would be through sterling.

and this is a quote, we expected sterling to fall sharply, it did. that passes through to prices. he said that interest rates might rise next month, but, with economic growth weak, it is a finely balanced judgement. in the spotlight, philip hammond, who insisted the economy was strong despite brexit uncertainty. there is great potential to exploit the underlying strengths of the uk economy and boosting productivity is the way to turn those strengths into real wage growth. here at the treasury, and the chancellor has a problem. 0n the one side, those policies that are locked in, like pension increases. 0n the other, a lack of economic growth, stagnant wages and the benefits freeze, which are leaving the young worse off. the challenge for the chancellor, what can he do in the budget next month to bridge that generational divide? well, it's eminently sensible to uprate benefits and the state pension by some kind of cost of living index, whether that's inflation or earnings, but it's definitely not

fair to uprate part of the population's benefits and not the other half. that's going to drive a wedge between the two groups. the road will be tough ahead. the public sector pay cap, stagnant wages, pressure will grow on the chancellor to act to boost incomes. that budget next month, expect new policies to strengthen education and skills and support young people. the international think tank, the 0ecd, says reversing brexit and staying in the eu would significantly boost the uk economy. brexit secretary david davis said the uk is trying for a deal but must be prepared to walk away without one. here's our deputy political editorjohn pienaar. something, someone‘s got to break the deadlock, but who? the brexit secretary is refusing to promise upfront the cash brussels wants. borisjohnson is toughest of all, but this is a risky game. an international think tank

is warning a hard brexit with no deal could harm britain badly, and uncertainty could hinder the economy ahead of any outcome. there is a bit of a... a bit of a bumpy road. it will be crucial that the uk and the eu maintain the closest economic relationship possible. in its latest survey, the 0ecd says the no deal brexit could mean... business investment would seize up and heightened price pressures would choke off private consumption. so business and consumers would suffer. the report even suggests giving voters another referendum and stopping brexit might significantly help the economy. neither the government or its main opponents support that idea. reporter: are you frustrated by the lack of progress with the eu, gents? 0ne cabinet brexiteer says the 0ecd accept the economy's growing despite uncertainty. he's not too worried, though, about getting a brexit deal at all.

no need to fear coming out with no deal, that's the essence of what you're saying? we don't need to fear it. leaving without a deal will not be the armageddon that some people project and leaving with a deal will give us a slightly better growth rate. and i think that we need to concentrate on the realities, get rid of the hyperbole around the debate and focus on the fact that if we can get a good agreement with the eu, both britain and the eu will be better off for it. the speaker: sir keir starmer. but in the commons, concern crosses party lines. 0nly fa ntasists and fanatics talk up no deal. no deal is not good for the uk. no deal is not good for the eu. by their vote onjune eighth, the british people did not give this government any mandate for no deal. the government says it wants a deal, but... if we do not prepare for all outcomes, we leave ourselves exposed to an impossible negotiation.

so hours, days, months of brinkmanship still ahead, while the time remaining before brexit passes all too quickly. in syria, militia backed by the us say they have recaptured the entire city of raqqa in syria, the self—styled capital of so—called islamic state. an alliance of kurdish and arab fighters have battled for more than four months to retake control of the city, which was seized by is in 2014. two years ago, is controlled a large area across iraq and syria but now they only hold a handful of towns on the syrian—iraqi border. 0ur middle east correspondent quentin sommerville has the latest. at the heart of raqqa, they're giddy with victory. the syrian democratic forces controlled the city that the so—called islamic state hailed as its capital. three years ago, is did victory laps

here. paradise circle, it's called, and here they beheaded people. their hatred crossed continents. but their caliphate is now in ruins. a new flag flies in raqqa today. it was arab and kurdish fighters, men and women, who did a jig, celebrating the islamic state group's retreat. this commander told the bbc is are no longer in control anywhere in the city, but we will continue to patrol and keep a look out. the sdf fought in sandals and the most basic of weapons but they had a killer advantage. coalition air power. that helped drive is out, but it also emptied the city of quarter of a million people. hundreds of civilians may have died in the western bombardment. the battle to free the city spared no—one. gunfire as we witnessed. in its final months, the fighting here reached a new intensity. younus 0mar and his family,

though, survived. they've onlyjust managed to escape. is used them and thousands of others as human shields. translation: my brother was shot four times but allah is stronger than them. translation: it was horror. i tried to leave twice but i couldn't because is militants were shooting at me. they were saying, "you are going to the infidels." but the final victory here was delivered not in a gun battle but in a bus ride. here, is fighters are seen leaving one of the last holdouts, the national hospital. they were guaranteed safe passage as part of a peace deal. what's left of raqqa can barely be called a city. and, still, dangers remain. the islamic state's foreign fighters here vanished. some may be hiding in these ruins. their leadership have already fled. the islamic state group may have abandoned their capital but they haven't abandoned

their cause, so the fight against is goes on. george saunders has won the man booker prize for his novel lincoln in the bardo, becoming the second us author to take home the £50,000 fiction award. the book tells the story of abraham lincoln's grief after the death of his young son, and his visits to his tomb. it is the first full—length novel from saunders, previously best known for his short stories, and is set in a graveyard over a single night. i hope you are not planning to spend your nights in a graveyard, but it is certainly a book worth reading if you get the opportunity wherever you are. we are back with more news at midnight. now on bbc news it's time for newsnight with evan davies. a great new cultural battle is being fought in british universities. freedom of expression, versus freedom from the hurt caused by other people's expression. i've paid, not only for my

education, but an experience. a social setting that is comfortable for myself, not only for the one beside me. once you get a few trigger warnings, lecturers will stop presenting... anything that is controversial. identity politics plays a big role on campuses across the country, so tonight we look at one important effect: how students are setting new standards in what is unacceptable to say. is it a new kind liberal authoritarianism, or just plain decency towards fellow citizens? also tonight... we've met up with the president of the european parliament, and we'll be hearing why he thinks the brexit talks are panning out so tough. also tonight who planted the car bomb that killed daphne caruana galizia? tonight we're in malta, which is reeling after the assassination of the country's most fearless journalist. people are in shock and they want answers. we'll be trying to get some answers

from malta's deputy prime minister. and we have viewsnight. hello. people have long argued about the boundaries of free speech: how insensitive or offensive you should be allowed to be. but in universities right now, that old argument has taken on a new life. a generation of students are grappling with what is acceptable to say on campus, and what is not. some are trying to stop certain views being expressed. just as crucially, they are extending the concept of offensiveness. things that might have been disagreeable, are now unsayable — particularly where they touch identity politics and the feelings of minority groups.