hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2pm: we dont‘t want him here. donald trump's state visit to britain is called into question in the commons, after his twitter row with theresa may. the fact that we work together does not mean that we're afraid to say when we think the united states have got it wrong. and to be very clear with them. and i'm very clear that re—tweeting from britain first was the wrong thing to do. i'm chris paige live on a farm in county fermanagh. the irish border has become the biggest issue in the brexit negotiations ahead of a critical eu summit next month, we have a day of special reports here on bbc news. also coming up, all the sport. big sam is the focus. sam alla rdyce sport. big sam is the focus. sam allardyce will be returning to football. only one match as england manager. he led crystal palace to premier league survival last year.

it could be another rescue job for him this season, he's been tempted back by everton. more on this later on. tomasz has the weather, one word, snow. you can leave your snow boots at home, some eastern parts of the country in for a little more si'iow. the country in for a little more snow. i'll chat with simon about it in halfan snow. i'll chat with simon about it in half an hour. i look forward to that, tomasz. new hope for some of the 8 million migraine sufferers in the 8 million migraine sufferers in the uk after trials of new drugs. hello everyone — this is afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. not long ago they were holding hands outside the white house — now they are swapping angry tweets across the atlantic. the ‘special relationship' is under scrutiny after donald trump hit back at theresa may after she criticised him

for re—tweeting three anti—muslim videos posted by a british far—right group. there was anger in the house of commons today — mps accusing the american president of fuelling hate — and calling for a planned state visit to britain to be cancelled. our political correspondent iain watson reports. i'd like to start by saying how delighted i am that as the leader of the free world you took the time to retweet out three of my videos on twitter today. this is jayda fransen, deputy leader of britain first, an organisation established by former members of the far right bmp. of the far right bnp. donald trump re—tweeted footage that a dutch man was attacked by a muslim. in fact, the assailant was born in the netherlands. all this while the prime minister was visiting countries in the middle east, where the majority of their populations are muslim. a spokesman said donald trump was wrong. she probably wasn't expecting a reaction quite like this. addressing the prime minister directly on twitter, the president said...

so no apology from him. on her visit tojordan so no apology from him. on her visit to jordan today, so no apology from him. on her visit tojordan today, the prime minister stood her ground, too. the fact that we work together does not mean that we're afraid to say when we think the united states have got it wrong and to be very clear with them. and iam very and to be very clear with them. and i am very clear that re—tweeting from britain first was the wrong thing to do. though she clearly wa nted thing to do. though she clearly wanted to contain the row. let me be clear about the relationship between the united kingdom united states, this is a long—term special relationship we have. it's an injuring relationship that is there because it is in both of our national interest for the relationship to be there. using the president's preferred form of

communication, sajiv javid was president's preferred form of communication, sajivjavid was far more robust. he says... labour so it was a strategic error for theresa may to have got so close so for theresa may to have got so close so quickly to the new us president at the start of this year. a state visit to the uk should never have been on the agenda. she should never have invited him, she should never have invited him, she should never have invited him within a few weeks of him being elected. every other american president has had to wait years, they had to settle down and we have to be sure about who it is we have to be sure about who it is we are inviting all who the queen is inviting. the home secretary didn't seem at all certain about when he'd come. mr speaker an invitation for the visit has been extended and accepted. the date and precise arrangements have yet to be agreed. the prime minister has been backed into a corner. she wants a post brexit trade deal with the us. she

will face huge criticism at westminster if she hadn't distanced himself from a president who has distributed british far right material to his 43 million followers on twitter. it's difficult to see how you can defuse a diplomatic, perhaps i should say undiplomatic, i’ow perhaps i should say undiplomatic, row like this. in reality there is very little that can be done, this isa very little that can be done, this is a president that is volatile, this is a president that clearly does not run through the layers of command when disseminating his thoughts. he simply goes through to a direct communication channel, namely twitter. it's difficult to know how this can be resolved quickly unless donald trump himself wa nts quickly unless donald trump himself wants it to be resolved. as coverage on us television demonstrates, tensions remain strained between the traditional transatlantic allies. iain watson, bbc news. our chief political correspondent vicki young is at westminster. this state visit, i mean, there was quite a lot of strong feeling in the

commons this morning. yes, there was, the line from the government, the prime minister's official spokesman, from theresa may herself, it's from the home secretary, the airline has been, the invitation has been put out there, it has been accepted. —— their line. no date has been set. they will have to wait and see. it's pretty clear, i've been talking to ministers here, they don't think it'll happen imminently. in current circumstances it would be extremely difficult to go ahead with all of that. to discuss this more i'm joined by yvette cooper of labour who chairs the home affairs select committee. amber rudd in the house of commons today urged you and others, while condemning mr trump, president trump, also said look at the bigger picture, this is about a relationship between the two countries, the uk and america, and it's very important. it is a very important relationship, our intelligence and security is built oi'i intelligence and security is built on that relationship, which will continue. we have to remember that relationship is based on lesbian peoples who have stood together

against far right extremism and islamist extremism in our history. it is exactly for that reason we cannot pander to president trump when he is promoting far right extremism in this country by retweeting in this unquestioning way tweets from a far right hate group whose members had been convicted of hate crimes in this country. what more does the government need to do? theresa may has condemned it saying he was wrong to do this. the home secretary has done the same, cabinet minister sajiv javid secretary has done the same, cabinet minister sajivjavid said secretary has done the same, cabinet minister sajiv javid said this secretary has done the same, cabinet minister sajivjavid said this is com pletely minister sajivjavid said this is completely unacceptable. is there any more they can do? they said what they can, haven't they?” any more they can do? they said what they can, haven't they? i think they need to make an effort to get president trump to remove the tweets and also to understand why what he has done is so damaging. perhaps the most surprising thing about the home secretary's response today is that she didn't even know whether anybody

in the british government had asked the us administration to remove those tweets. we can'tjust ignore online extremism and online spreading poison and hate when we know some of the violence we've seen oi'i know some of the violence we've seen on our know some of the violence we've seen on our streets, in other countries as well, is triggered by the spreading of online hatred and extremism. that is why it's so serious, they should be attempting to get those tweets taken down. what do you think of the state visit, the invitation was put out there a long time ago and has been accepted. do you think it would be right to cancel that? it would be unprecedented. i don't think you can roll out the red carpet for someone who may then use it to do even more of this kind of tweeting of hatred, spreading of division and discord, in our country and in our communities. i think it would also put queen in a very difficult position. the prime minister should never have extended this invitation

in the first place. i think she now has an obligation on her to find a diplomatic route out of this, to perhaps never ever quite set the date for that state visit. because i don't think that... i think she has an obligation to our communities in this country to make sure you don't have that kind of inflammatory promotion of hatred as a result of a visit. isn't the bigger point here, the wider point, yes, president trump is president of america at the moment but presidents like prime ministers come and go. this is about the relationship two countries, which amber rudd said, the close co—operation has saved british lives, we almost have to look beyond it and cancelling a state visit wouldn't help, it's an invitation to the american people. no, i think we have to continue with that close cooperation, i've long been a strong supporter of that close intelligence and security, cooperation. it must continue for a long time into the

future which means close cooperation between institutions as well as peoples. i don't think the president of the united states speaks for the american people when he is promoting far right extremism in britain. i think we also cannot pander to this, we have two in the end be prepared to say no, to say, this damages our communities, this crosses a line, this is the wrong thing to do. we can't look back on history and say, actually, we should have stood up and said something. yvette cooper thank you. the state visit feels like one of those really long engagements where the proposal has been made, accepted, but the couple never quite get round to setting the date. studio: we'll be talking to you again later, thank you very much. net migration to the uk has seen its biggest fall on record, it dropped by almost a third, that's more than 100,000 from june 2016 tojune this year. net migration is the difference between people coming to the uk for more than a year, and the number of people leaving the uk for a year or more.

most of the fall is due to fewer people coming from other european union countries. our correspondent richard lister has more. at the royal lancaster hotel in central london, more than half the employees are foreign nationals. most from the eu. they are at every level, from making the beds to running the business. there aren't enough british workers to fill the positions available. managers are worried. the open borders policy we have always had has been critical. we are the fourth largest industry for uk gdp. we need 200,000 eu nationals a year just to stand still. the new migration figures cover the years since the brexit vote. they show that 230,000 more migrants came to live in the uk than left it. but that is more than 100,000 fewer than before the brexit vote. most of that decline is due to eu nationals. fewer are coming and more are returning home. immigration has been

on a roller—coaster ride. we had a record rise leading up to the referendum. then we have a record decline in net migration in the year following. it is the largest single year fall in net migration since records began in 1964. builders and other tradesmen from across the eu have been part of british life for years. but the latest figures suggest the uk is becoming less attractive to them as the pound gets weaker and other european economies get stronger. work is the main reason why eu nationals come to the uk. we are seeing very similar numbers coming in who are arriving for a definitejob. i see no change there. where we have seen a change is a full of 43% in those coming to look for work. —— fall. at the royal lancaster, francesca from italy has noticed foreign colleagues leaving the uk.

but she is hoping to stay. for me it will never change because i am still working here. i would like really to stay here and to improve my career. in fact, the figures show the number of eu nationals applying for british citizenship has doubled since brexit. richard lister, bbc news. the irish government says it won't allow brexit negotiations to move on to trade unless given guarantees there won't be what there is called a hard border. the british government refuses to comment on reports it is looking at the possibility of allowing northern ireland to stick to some eu trading rules post—brexit even if regulations change in the rest of the uk. through the day on bbc news are ireland correspondents are travelling along the border from londonderry to newry looking at the issues, options, solutions stalemates. and asking what the reality of the board is now and what

did the people who live along it really think? chris buckler reports. for many months now, politicians have been huddled in brexit negotiations, the uk and the eu both pushing their priorities. and what is decided on one of the key issues will have quite an impact here. the derry donegal vipers are an irish—american football team, and their players come from both northern ireland and the republic. our whole team is split almost down the middle, from either side of the border, which is great. a key question is, what will happen to that border after brexit? in the future, is it possible that people will have to negotiate their way through customs posts as they once did in the past? a hard border would make it difficult, because you pretty much have to go through customs checks to go to training a couple of times a week. they'll think you're suspicious carrying these big bags and helmets across. that is a journey many take on a daily basis. some are wondering

what their morning commute will be like in the future. everybody says they do not want a ha rd everybody says they do not want a hard border, but the detail of what not having a hard border would look like has never been clearly defined for me. she lives in county donegal, and every day crosses the border to go to a job as a principal in londonderry. this is an old customs post right here. that was the place where you were stopped. it's a 15 minute drive and her concerns about a hard border go beyond potential traffic delays. the community is quite seamless. a lot of talk about the economy, and the impact on the economy. much less the social fabric on the society of a border people, which we are. many cross the border regularly to go to school, even hospital. nationals said that the british

government has been too late in recognising the true impact of brexiteer. —— brexit here. they're not thinking about the consequences of brexit. the consequences for people who have become used, and have mortgages and people in college, based upon a livelihood which appreciates the fact that you can move across without tariffs. the biggest obstacle to ensuring there are no obstacles on the many border bridges and roads are to do with customs. the eu says if northern ireland was to stick to the same economic rules, the issue would be sold. ——solved. the prime minister has been very clear in saying that, as we leave the european union, we leave the single market is and we leave the customs union. but we know there need to be specific outcomes to meet the unique circumstances of northern ireland, and the island of ireland as a whole.

that sounds like a desire to deal. the irish government have the ability to block brexit talks from moving on. talks from moving on. they want guarantees about the border. that means there will be more clashes to come. chris buckler at the irish border. let's look in more detail. chris morris, from the bbc‘s reality check team is here now to explain why the northern ireland border has become an issue of such pressing concern in the brexit negotiations. so let's just remind ourselves what we're talking about here — the irish border is one of three issues on which sufficient progress needs to be made before the brexit negotiations can move on. if no one thinks it's a good idea to reimpose a hard border with checks and inspections, why can't we all agree that come what may it simply won't happen? it's because the uk has announced its leading both the eu single market and the customs union. at the moment all rules and

regulations, north and south of the border, are exactly the same. on food safety, animal welfare, you name it, it is a relationship based on agreements covered byjoint membership of the eu. as soon as that changes, border checks may have to begin again. that is why the irish government wants a written guarantee from the uk that northern ireland will continue to follow eu rules so goods can continue to move freely across the border. to put it another way, it wants northern ireland to stay in the single market and customs union. but if that were to happen it would come in effect, push the customs border out into the irish sea. an internal customs border if you like between northern ireland and great britain. would it be acceptable to the uk government 01’ be acceptable to the uk government or its unionist political allies in northern ireland, the dup? in a word, though. what happens next, what is the compromise? the uk side has spoken of technological fixes,

prescreening of goods, trusted trader scheme is. the eu side says it's nowhere near enough to avoid a return of some border checks. irish officials argue there are already cases of rules and regulations being different in northern ireland than in the rest of the uk and point to other examples such as hong kong where there are different regulatory arrangements within sovereign states. so it's time for some creative thinking now. the aim being no diverging tougher regulations in key areas and the creation of some form of customs partnership on the island of ireland which doesn't threaten the constitutional order of the uk. if a fix emerges that seems to turn northern ireland into a back door route into the single market, other eu countries will cry foul. it means even if sufficient progress in ireland is agreed next month, there will be a long, long way to go. simon, it makes the divorce bill

some pretty simple. that's saying something! nigel dodds is deputy leader of the democratic unionist party and was watching that, i suspect. unionist party and was watching that, isuspect. this unionist party and was watching that, i suspect. this issue a convergence with eu regulations after brexit, is it a straight know from the dup? what it is is a straight yes to what's in the economic interests of the people of northern ireland, unionist and nationalist. and all businesses in northern ireland. remember, the vast bulk of our external sales from northern ireland are trade, with the rest of the united kingdom. our primary focus is on what is in the best interest of our businesses, companies, employment prospects and investment. that must mean that we continue to have free, open access to the uk internal market without a customs barrier in the irish sea, which we would certainly reject. or any notion of having to comply with rules which would divert us away from being able to trade openly with

the rest of the united kingdom. the british government is very clear on that, so are we, so is the eu. we must act in the best interest of all of the people of northern ireland. we've been hearing the argument we cannot possibly solve this border issue problem until we have a trade agreement with the eu that works. that sounds to be where you're coming from. yes, it's absolutely common sense. until we know what the final eu uk trade deal is it's very ha rd to final eu uk trade deal is it's very hard to say what is going to be necessary at the dover calais order and between northern ireland and irish republic. we must get onto the next stage of talks. it's in the interest of the irish republic to do that because if we don't have the deal the people most affected by thatis deal the people most affected by that is the irish republic's businesses because they so dependent on the uk market. the irish government has behaved in an aggressive way in recent weeks, they've upped the anti—compare to they've upped the anti—compare to the previous prime minister's approach. they are doing that to

force some political concessions, which are not in the interests of the economic welfare of all the people of northern ireland, but in the interests of the irish republic. that's fair enough from their point of view. we have to have regard to what is in the interest of the people of northern ireland, our economy and the uk as a whole. everything surrounding this debate seems to have negative connotations. i'm sure socially you must meet people who think they've got the most amazing ideas to solve this, can we be creative? is it possible... have you heard something that could work? we have, half of the problem has been sold in terms of the movement of people. it's accepted an both sides, when people are freely available to move in every direction will continue. there isa every direction will continue. there is a positive. this notion people will have to show passports, people crossing the border, add in your clip earlier, that doesn't cause a

problem. the problem is in terms of goods and so on. can't you use the same argument with goods and services? let's have freedom of movement? that's right, that's why we're for a eu— uk free trade deal, it would make sense all around. if the eu and uk could negotiate that in the second stage of trade talks, you're absolutely right, so let's get onto the second phase of talks. there is some reason to be optimistic this isn't the deadlock issue everybody has been saying it issue everybody has been saying it is for months. there needs to be common sense applied, the irish government are dismissing solutions because their preferred solution is to say keep the united kingdom inside the single market and customs union orfailing inside the single market and customs union or failing that keeping northern ireland within it. it's not a cce pta ble northern ireland within it. it's not acceptable because it would be damaging to our economy, catastrophic to our economy, as well as being politically unacceptable. let's get back to organising and looking at practical, sensible arrangements which means there is a frictionless, seamless border, no

infrastructure at the border. there was evidence given to the brexit select committee yesterday by hmrc and others who said this can be done quite easily. the irish have decided not to go down that route for political reasons. and i think they need to be told in no uncertain terms that the break—up of the united kingdom, either economically or politically, is not going to happen. nigel dodds thank you for your time. our correspondents are travelling the length of the irish border. this morning we were in strabane border. this morning we were in stra bane on the border. this morning we were in strabane on the border with clifford. chris baird has now moved toa clifford. chris baird has now moved to a farm in enniskillen near the town of lisnaskea. we can join to a farm in enniskillen near the town of lisnaskea. we canjoin him now. farming is one of the major issues in all of this, subsidies, regulation. i'm on a farm in county fermanagh. derek thornton owns it, a cattle and sheep farmer, what are your thoughts on where we're at

regarding the debate around what may or may not happen to the border?|j or may not happen to the border?” think everybody is lost on this, is lost. but we need a soft border and definitely need to get rid of the regulations. we need to have trade with our counterparts. we can't do without them. this has gone on. the biggest market is on the other side of the sea, the uk market. we definitely have to have it. regulations and imports and exports. they have to be all seem to. and we need, we need to work with our cou nterpa rts need, we need to work with our counterparts in northern ireland as isaid. we counterparts in northern ireland as i said. we have to have regulations. everybody thought it would never happen, brexit would never happen, that we are all, we'll vote in and out... i voted to stay in because nobody said not to vote to get out because nobody knew the difference. it was like tossing a penny. when because nobody knew the difference. it w won e tossing a penny. when because nobody knew the difference. it w won you ssing a penny. when because nobody knew the difference. it w won you won, a penny. when because nobody knew the difference. it w won you won, if penny. when because nobody knew the difference. it w won you won, if you 1y. when because nobody knew the difference. it w won you won, if you lost ilhen because nobody knew the difference. it w won you won, if you lost your you won you won, if you lost your loss, we have to go with the flow

now. i hope it works out for the better. you do cross-border trade, you've been explaining to me. at the moment, say you move some of the scandal over the border into the republic of ireland, you have to goes prisons of the process. yes, there are still regulations, you have to test them. you have to bring them up, when you bring them to the department in the south. vice versa coming back down the road. would you hope there wouldn't be any increase in regulations as a result of brexit? can you see a solution to this issue with the border, that it could be kept soft? the border must be kept soft, and there will be regulations. we don't want all of those regulations. it affects a serious amount of farmers in this particular west of the province. whenever we were younger, bought a lot of travel up the country, we went up and bought them, the regulations came up and down, the

regulations came up and down, the regulations moved. the technology now has moved on. there should be no hassle now, you can get money, move it across the world in five minutes, be sure to get the regulations moved, cattle the same. great to hear your thoughts. thanks for having us here. at yourfarm in cou nty having us here. at yourfarm in county fermanagh. agriculture is a huge industry in northern ireland, let's hear more about the brexit issues affecting the industry from bbc northern ireland's business and economics editorjohn campbell. in the heart of northern ireland's countryside sits willowbrook farm. it's a business which has benefited from the eu's single market. many of its workers from eastern europe. it buys tonnes of letters from spain for its bagged salads and half of its sales are across the irish border. all this could be disrupted by brexit. if there is no trade deal, those salads bound for dublin would be hit with a 10% tariff and

the owner is also worried about possible delays at the border. we have to get straight through. we are operating our production here, the lorry leaves at five in the afternoon and has to be in the depot, cork, five hours drive away, it can't be held up. i don't know the answer. certainly a hard border is not possible. the potential impact on this sector pale into insignificance compared to the possible outcomes for the beef and dairy industries. that's because eu regulation of those products makes a ha rd regulation of those products makes a hard border with checkpoints a distinct possibility. if meat and dairy products are imported into the eu they must come through designated border inspection posts. those are facilities where paperwork is inspected and the goods physically

checked. the rules say at least 20% of meat consignments need to be physically inspected. for dairy it is half of all consignments to be inspected. this issue now appears to be top of the agenda in the current phase of brexit negotiations. an agreement on food regulation will be needed to avoid inspection posts at this frontier. even a deal on food might not be enough to keep the border as it is now. a former director of the world trade organisation says a truly frictionless border is unlikely. i've been looking at existing places, take trade between norway and sweden. they have an extremely open trade with the eu, sweden is a member, norway is not a member, look at the border between sweden and norway. if there is a place where there should be no border, or a

frictionless, seamless, whatever, flexible, creative, it's between sweden and norway. go there. good old border check. at willowbrook, the contingency plan is to open a new factory south of the border. it could provide an opportunity for growth. it's not really an investment they want to make but they fear they may not have a choice. john caple, bbc news. agriculture very profoundly affected by brexit but all aspects of life in northern ireland are affected by the uk's departure from the european union because this is the only place that has a land border with another eu state. we will continue our journey along the border throughout the day here on bbc news. chris, thank you very much. for weather forecasting a moment but it has been snowing. i want to show you some rather dramatic pictures. two giant panda bears. they are playing

here ina giant panda bears. they are playing here in a forest in china. two nine—year old giant pandas. they we re nine—year old giant pandas. they were let out to enjoy the snow and we re were let out to enjoy the snow and were clearly enjoying it, and their own, throwing snowballs and at one point throwing snowballs at each other, in exactly the same weight their ancestors apparently did centuries ago. this forest is used to home wild giant pandas until the region of the emperor... they are back, and it's snowing and we are showing that because we can. but it has been snowing a little closer to home. that is the picture. i have to say, snow in london which means it will come to a standstill! it was for about ten minutes. it ground to a halt. everyone ran out

and looked up the sky and it was just a couple of breaks. it is our first flurry of the season. but look at this. this is a picture from east yorkshire. the sea—level here, snow and that is actually quite rare. because even right in the middle of winter. .. all sorts of because even right in the middle of winter... all sorts of reasons, it's not often we get snow right at sea—level. we shouldn't be surprised, it's winter, scotland in particular, it has snowed there before and got cold there before. yes, today is saint andrew's day. sun andrew's day in the past, in the mid—80s much colder, down to about -21 mid—80s much colder, down to about —21 degrees. and not that long ago we had more than half a metre of snow. so what we have right now, it's not that cold. cold enough. exciting for some. it is. i prefer palm trees in hot weather, but that's just me! there

area weather, but that's just me! there are a couple more pictures, this is scarborough. let's look at one more. i pressed the button to click! to my‘s weather forecast... yes, i pressed the button to click! to my‘s weatherforecast... yes, there isa my‘s weatherforecast... yes, there is a little too much snow flurries. a bit of an update. snow showers falling along some of these eastern coasts here. let's have a look at 6pm. around the rush—hour orjust after, depending where you are, which part of the country, barely above freezing in scotland,. look at the showers from the north—east of england through into york, hull, sheffield, into east anglia, just about into the london area as well. not so many of them across western areas, pembrokeshire on the south—west not cold enough for snow, mostly rain. the thinking is the wind will ,. . , 7

the fiifia'zfi'g um; ell i}? nagging ,., f" ~ friday 2 will ”m f * "w” ' slippery hgt’” ' "'" at time if}; m” —10 id!!!— we some wintry i think ithinklecc— of— , 7 7.-. i think less— of those , 7 w, showers, fewer wintry showers wintry showers, fewer wintry showers tomorrow in eastern areas. the temperatures are just starting to creep up. not two or three any more, more 5—7. for saturday, this forecast hasn't changed intestate, forecasting this high pressure to the west of neighbourhood and that high pressure will roll in the mild air, let's do that again, roll it in. the temperatures. rising through saturday and into sunday. back—up to

eight in glasgow, wow, 10 degrees in stornoway. what comes of that is a lot of moisture, low—grade cloud of the atlantic. you would think it feels so much warmer because it's 10 degrees... with cloud and drizzle, it won't feel that pleasant at all. the thinking is, as we go later into next week, say wednesday, thursday, friday, the thinking is that that northerly wind stream that we have right now will return and it is going to turn cold again. so this milderair going to turn cold again. so this milder air that is arriving is only temporary. that is the latest from me, catch me later. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. theresa may has repeated her assertion that donald trump was wrong to retweet posts from the far—right group britain first. speaking in jordan, the prime minister also said an an invite for a state visit has been extended to the president,