tonight at ten... the grenfell tower inquiry hears from the man who lived in the flat where the fire started. behailu kebede said he was too frightened to give evidence in person and had lived in fear of reprisals. but his lawyer told the inquiry that when the blaze broke out in the kitchen he'd done nothing wrong — he called 999 and alerted his neighbours. it was accidental, and mr kebede bears no responsibility — directly or indirectly — for the fire, its spread, or the dreadful consequences that followed. we'll have the latest from the inquiry. also on the programme tonight... after more than 25 years in charge, the editor of the daily mail, paul dacre is stepping down. reporter: are you bungling brexit, prime minister?! under pressure over brexit — cabinet divisions as the government prepares to set out its plans to avoid a hard border in northern ireland. we'll have reaction from westminster and from brussels. targeted by fraudsters — the boss of tsb admits that more

than a thousand customers lost money after the bank's computer meltdown in april. and the strange tale of the mexican salamander and the nuns who could hold the key to saving it from extinction. coming up in sportsday on bbc news — england consider the prospect of racism at the world cup. but manager gareth southgate things walking off the pitch would be counter—productive. good evening. the grenfell tower inquiry has been told that police were so concerned about the safety of the man who lived in the flat where the fire started that they considered putting him in a witness protection programme. behailu kebede, who'd lived at grenfell tower for 25 years, was too frightened to give evidence at the public inquiry into last year's blaze. but his lawyer said he bore no responsibility for the fire

and had done nothing wrong. here's our home affairs correspondent tom symonds. it's nearly a year now. the tower is slowly being covered up. but there is an unwavering determination to remember those who called it home, with these words appearing today. one of those residents was behailu kebede. his kitchen was where the fire started. this is him making the first 999 call. his lawyer said he fled barefoot, phone in hand, using it to film the first flames. but press reports, including this prominent article in the london review of books, reported that he had packed a suitcase first. elsewhere, it was suggested his fridge had exploded because it was faulty. garbage, said his barrister. he had been scapegoated.

he is a good man. he did nothing wrong. on the contrary, he did the right thing from start to finish. kensington and chelsea council has also been blamed and invaded by protesters... we want justice! ..for commissioning the fatal refurbishment of grenfell tower. today we heard the council's early defence. you will find that there was nothing unique about the royal borough of kensington and chelsea which meant that the fire was destined to take place within its boundaries rather than somewhere else. but the refurbishment was overseen by the independent tenant management organisation, which looked after council housing in the borough. so while tmo is a specialist in the management of social housing stock, it is not a specialist design or construction company and had no in—house expertise in these areas. so it contracted out

to a string of companies, including these four. but victims‘ lawyers say this is developing into a carousel of blame. they are angry that both the public sector bodies and private contractors have given little public detail so far about what happened. the state palpably failed in its primary duty to protect its citizens. and as for the corporates, silence speaks a thousand words. barrister michael mansfield wanted the inquiry to take a short cut, to draft immediate recommendations to improve safety for social housing tenants. this man lived on floor 15. right now, we are talking, people are at risk in towers. they are at risk even in houses.

the risk is not... it doesn't become the same as the grenfell tower. it's not about grenfell tower any more, it's about the uk. but we have had some bits of new information today. the inquiry was told it was the architect, studio e, which selected the cladding for use in the refurbishment, but the council was shown some of the black cladding several times in 2014, and that a fire assessor looked at the cladding at one point and said it needed attention. the families of those lost at grenfell and the survivors have been placed at the heart of this process, but they face a long wait for this inquiry‘s considered answers to their many questions. tom symonds, bbc news, at the grenfell inquiry. the editor of the daily mail, paul dacre, has announced he is stepping down after more than 25 years in charge, ending one of the most influential — and, at times, controversial — reigns in britishjournalism. he will leave his day—to—day editorial responsibilities

in november when he'll become chairman and editor in chief of associated newspapers. our media editor amol rajan, who broke the story, has this report. 426 a26 years, paul dacre has been one of the most powerful people in britain. as editor of the daily mail he channelled and shaped the views of millions of britons, particularly the middle classes beyond london. he was a news hacks to his core who often boasted of being a better subeditor than writer in his 20s he reported from washington, a formative experience, and edited the london evening standard by 1991. rupert medic wanted him to edit the times, but after two mccready is at the cut standard he became editor of the cut standard he became editor of the daily mail. he championed justice for stephen lawrence and greater controls on immigration. tributes were paid by the owner of the daily mail today, pointing to

his campaigns, investigations and crusades. i will remember him as a great campaigning editor in touch with his readers, somebody who understood middle england and was passionate about bringing to his readers what he thought they needed to know. curiously, for someone so determined to help the powerful to account, he refused to do interviews, giving the occasional lecture on speaking to his editorial column. and when he took of causes, allies and enemies could read all about it. he fought vigorously against the recommendations of the leveson inquiry for alternative press regulation. his unforgiving attacks on political enemies were famed, and in brexit he found a cause he first took up when margaret thatcher was in power. you have to handed to him in terms of longevity in the industry and his commercial success. but i think he has been an utterly malign force in british media culture, i have always felt that paul dacre is the worst of british values posing as the best. i think

there has been a poisoning in our culture, of which she is a very big part. dacre, who even today often leads the office at 10pm, is stepping back to take a new role at the parent company. it is unclear when his successor will be announced. print journalism announced. printjournalism is a trade rather than a profession, and paul dacre was the master craftsman. his intuitive understanding of his audience and often ferocious conservatism made him a figure of hatred and all in equal measure. to use a cliche he might have cut out, he is the last of his kind. british newspapers have none of the power they had from paul dacre entered the trade. as the most influential editor of his time, he had an impact on culture which none of his su ccesso i’s on culture which none of his successors will match. the brexit secretary, david davis, has issued a stark warning to the eu not to punish the uk over brexit. he said that if britain was harmed, europe would be harmed too.

the government is preparing to publish its proposals for the official " backstop plan" on how to avoid a hard border between northern ireland and ireland if no deal is reached in the negotiations to leave the eu. but it's already causing divisions among senior ministers. here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. where is the plan? a question that has been asked often enough around here. there is no sign of the government's next brexit blueprint that promised by the end of the month. forget detail, though, there was one plain message to the eu today from the man in charge of the process. the commission's position seems to be shooting itself in the foot just to prove that the gun works. so those who say or think that the uk must be seen to be damaged by brexit should think again, because the truth is, if you harm britain, you harm all of europe. a public telling off for the european union, but there is trouble in private, too. number ten will tomorrow publish the temporary customs arrangement, a fix in case other solutions can't

be found to the long—running problem, but there are big reservations in other parts of government about that whole proposal. as ever, the government's having a hard time agreeing with itself before persuading the rest of the eu. have you personally signed off all the details of the government's backstop proposal we expect to be published tomorrow, and if it comes out without your explicit approval, can you stay in yourjob? that's a question, i think, for the prime minister, to be honest, on the second one! the detail... the detail of this is being discussed at the moment. it's been through one cabinet committee, it is going to another one, and it would be improper of me to pre—empt the negotiation. # rule britannia... he is not the only one who is grumpy, though. the document has no specific time limit for close ties to the eu. one source told me it is like hotel california — we check out of the european union,

but we never leave. what would be troubling for me and others who supported the leave campaign is the idea of being locked into some single market—type arrangement for an indefinite period. yet they are queueing up to tell theresa may what to do. the prime minister must lead, she must sort out the divisions in her cabinet, the british people are fed up with this. remain tory rebels at the downing street gates... we're very supportive of the prime minister. how can the prime minister pacify them all? i trust i shall be able to convert her, too! are you bungling brexit, prime minister? week after week, brexit brings pressure at prime minister's questions. when it comes to brexit, this government has delivered more delays and cancellations than northern rail! the british people voted to leave the european union, and it is this government that is delivering on the vote of the british people! and, of course, none of the shenanigans go unnoticed

in the european union. presidentjuncker, have there been any new proposals from the uk on brexit this week? discussing it, yes, not in the same way. soon david davis and then the prime minister will be back in brussels — will the government still be finger—pointing, or playing nice as friends? we will speak to europe editor katya adler in brussels, but first let's get more from laura kuenssberg in westminster. these proposals are expected to be published soon, what are they expected to say? we know for many months, and our viewers will remember, that how to fix the customs arrangements after brexit has been one of the really tricky things the government has been trying to work out, not least because of the very charged issue of the border on the island of ireland between north and south. earlier

today ten believed they had at least pa rt today ten believed they had at least part of the solution. the fixing case none of this ear wreck local customs arrangements for the future actually come to pass. the idea is essentially closer ties with the eu for longer than had originally been expected, although crucially under what is called the temporary customs arrangements the uk would have the ability to go off and signed its own trade deals. number ten had privately predicted this would be published tomorrow, that on the table at brussels and they could move forward with negotiations. what they had not quite bark and fork was they had not quite bark and fork was the level of resistance from the man meant to be in charge of this process , meant to be in charge of this process, the brexit secretary himself, david davis. like some others he has reservations about this proposal, especially about the fa ct this proposal, especially about the fact that in its current situation it does not have a specific time limit. and pushback from him and other parts of government mean that's what we expect tomorrow might

not come tomorrow, and instead there will be meetings among ministers trying again to find a way forward. it may well be the brexit negotiations, and westminster have beenin negotiations, and westminster have been in this kind of place before, you would think it seems that all is lost for the government and suddenly they snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. but again tonight we see evidence of the fact that the government finds it very hard to unite inside itself. in that sense, they are at a disadvantage when negotiating with the other side. katya adler, how is this likely to go down in brussels? no one here will comment on uk position paper they have not clapped eyes on yet. judging by today's events, brussels feels the government is busy talking to itself rather than coming here with a strong and united position. myeu with a strong and united position. my eu contacts tell me something they have said all along, the eu has fio they have said all along, the eu has no interest to punish the uk for leaving. unlike david davis suggested earlier. brussels says the

eu is -- suggested earlier. brussels says the eu is —— the uk is free to choose whatever type of relationship that wants after brexit, closer or more distant, as long as it does not clash with eu rules. but they say the uk is not free to choose what happens on the irish border, because the government, along with the eu, has signed up to avoiding the reintroduction of the hard border between the republic of ireland and northern ireland, to safeguard the good friday peace accord. this is the reddest of red lines for brussels. even if the government finally comes to agreement, the warning from brussels tonight is that the irish border deal could still bring brexit all tumbling down. the boss of tsb has admitted that fraudsters targeted thousands of people's bank accounts in the aftermath of an it meltdown in april. paul pester told mps that the bank had been overwhelmed by what he called an unprecedented attack by organised crime after a botched systems upgrade. it resulted in money being taken illegally out of 1300 accounts.

simon gompertz reports. the sorry saga of the systems upgrade which left tsb on its knees started six weeks ago, yet customers like photographer paul clark say they're still suffering. the effect has been enormous, a huge amount of mental stress, night and day. not only was paul shut out of his account, it was then raided by fraudsters, exploiting the confusion, who took more than £10,000. then three days hanging on the phone, getting tsb to pay the money back. i have no confidence in their ability either to answer phones or to get my account back into a secure position, so i've had to make the very difficult choice to move to another bank. in charge, amidst customers leaving and the fraud attacks, paul pester, the chief executive. the volume of attacks went to approximately 70 times, seven—zero times, the normal level

of attacks we would see... he told mps he had set up a fraud line for customers after tsb was overwhelmed by an unprecedented attack of organised crime. we're not willing to have customers sit there and see their savings being taken from their bank, see their life savings in some instances being taken from them. we have to resolve this. a new page has now been opened by the regulator andrew bailey, who has launched a major investigation and said there had been 10,000 fraud alerts at tsb. they're in a hole, and they've got to get themselves out of that hole, so that's not the issue for me. i mean, the obvious issue is how on earth did you get in here, and how are you protecting the interests of customers? the fca's investigation into tsb will look at why the board approved the ill—fated upgrade, why it was so chaotic afterwards, and why there was no plan b. and the fca has a big stick —

it can impose unlimited fines on banks, it can fine individuals and ban them from working in the business. the investigation could take more than a year, so it'll be a while before the full story is told of what went wrong at what mps today called the totally shambolic bank. simon gompertz, bbc news. the first of britain's new f—35 lightning stealth jets have landed at raf marham in norfolk this evening, where they will be based. four of the jets — each costing £100 million — made the journey from the united states today. five more are expected by the beginning of august. the defence secretary called them the most advanced jets in british history and said they were set to keep the country safe from the "gravest of dangers". a huge fire broke out this afternoon at a luxury hotel in central london just a week after major renovations had been completed. 120 firefighters tackled the flames on the roof of the mandarin oriental hotel in knightsbridge. the five star hotel has just undergone its most extensive

restoration in its 115—year history, according to its owners. the huge plumes of smoke could be seen from miles around. the cause of the fire is not yet known. the former chief executive of cambridge analytica says the company did receive data from the researcher at the centre of the facebook data scandal. alexander nix said he'd not intended to mislead mps during a previous appearance when he suggested that the group had not been given the data. he had simply misunderstood their line of questioning. at least 75 people are now known to have died in guatemala after the huge volcanic eruption on sunday. almost 200 people are still missing. nearby villages remain buried in volcanic ash and mud which is hampering the rescue operation. the bbc‘s will grant reports from one of the hardest hit areas, los lotes. the tiny community of los lotes stood no chance. flimsy shacks of tin and corrugated iron

offered residents no protection when the awesome power of volcan de fuego thundered through their village. everything was buried under the river of lava and ash. homes, livelihoods, loved ones. some are still looking for survivors, but it is an increasingly forlorn task. instead, the desperate search has turned to the morgues. wendy hernandez has lost everyone she held dear, her entire family gathered for her mother's birthday was wiped out in minutes. her mother, sister, nephews and what's breaking her heart most of all, her two teenage daughters. translation: all i could hear was screams. i begged her to tell me what was going on. but she did not respond. with each passing day, this disaster isn't easing but worsening.

it is now almost impossible that anyone still searching for lost loved ones will have any success, except perhaps in retrieving their bodies for burial. the emergency services are working around the clock, but barely coping. the president says in this poverty—stricken nation there isn't a single extra peso available for the relief effort. and amid it all, fuego is still active. a recent alarm prompted fresh panic among local people, who fled any way they could. they say in latin america, hope is the last thing you lose. but in guatemala, that hope is fading fast. will grant, bbc news, los lotes, guatemala. president trump has granted clemency to a 63—year—old great—grandmother who has been serving life in prison for a non—violent drug offence. the case was highlighted last week when kim kardashian west met

mr trump to lobby for her release. the white house said alicejohnson had been a model prisoner and worked hard to rehabilitate herself. england's danny rose has asked his family not to travel to russia to watch him play in this summer's world cup, over fears of racist abuse. the defender says he's become numb to racism in football, but manager gareth southgate said the team has a plan to deal with any racism levelled at them. the health secretary, jeremy hunt, has said the nhs will receive a significant funding increase, under plans due to be announced in the next few weeks. but it's understood that the deal is far from finalised, amid ongoing talks between the department of health and the treasury. our health editor, hugh pym, is outside the department of health. any idea how significant this increase could be? well, jeremy hunt in an interview with the guardian newspaper has said he is making the case for

significant increases in nhs funding. but it is not clear what that is. health think—tanks today said the nhs needed at least a% per year increases to cope with demographic pressures and i think mister hunt is sympathetic to that but the treasury is holding out the something nearer to 3% or even below that. i understand talks across whitehall are proving tense and difficult. package of measures was promised ahead of the 70th birthday of the nhs next month. there is a lot of work still to do. jeremy hunt has also conceded that there are problems in devising a workforce strategy for the future and he has conceded that a pledge to recruit and 5000 gps in england by 2020 is proving challenging. this week across bbc news we've been considering national identity within the uk — using exclusive research to look at questions of belonging, tradition and expectations. well tonight, we take in the story

from wales and scotland. our special correspondent allan little has this report on how the two nations see themselves, their relationship with the rest of britain — and their optimism for the future. so come on then, do a little bit! stuart fry is teaching me to repair a dry stone wall in snowdonia that was built, he thinks, 1000 years ago. good sedimentary rock, laid down in the southern oceans. ask people in wales what gives them a sense of belonging to where they live, and four out of five say this, the landscape, more than language or accent, more than history, more than poetry, music, culture or heritage. there is something in me that desires to be here. it's the people of the land, you know, the old inhabitants. it's locked up in them. and i think also it's the toil that it represents, to live in this landscape was hard, and so there is that almost sentimentality of our ancestors who grafted, you know. and we need to honour them really by honouring the landscape. but british identity

is robust in wales. 79% say they feel strongly british. that's more than the 62% who say they feel strongly welsh. britishness is least strong among the young, in the generation born after the collapse of the great british industries that were once so strong in wales. coal linked south wales to yorkshire and nottinghamshire, fife and ayrshire, but the memory of that shared british enterprise is slipping away. now only 39% of the welsh say the jobs people do give them a sense of belonging. you've got a hut down there that was there for the rugby and the soccer... asked about political power, 8a% of the welsh say they have little or no influence on the uk government. 73% say the same of the welsh government. lydia king has spent much of her adult life running projects to improve her hometown. this bowls club at blaenau near ebbw vale is on land reclaimed from an old industrial site. what is there here for the children

as they're growing up? 0h, there's... there's love. and that's about it. there was a fewjobs here in the valley, but there's nothing for kids now. they have to travel. all that's here is our heart, and it does keep it going. but it works. it works. in scotland, there is a similar disaffection with politics, not least in dundee. but this is a city reinventing itself. the industrial dereliction that once scarred its waterfront is being swept away in a £1 billion transformation, with a new design museum, the v&a dundee, at its heart. what differentiates england most starkly from scotland and wales is this nostalgic sense of something lost, the idea that the country is not as good as it used to be. that is the prevailing view in england, not so in scotland or wales, where significantly more people believe the country's best years lie ahead of it than behind it. british identity is markedly less

robust in scotland than in wales. 8a% said they felt strongly scottish, 59% strongly british. that figure falls further among younger people. 53% for those aged 18 to 2a, 51% for those aged 25 to a9. isolated heroes is a small fashion design company. it works from a converted jute mill, reflecting the city's post—industrial reinvention. i definitely identify with being scottish. i think there's just such a nice cultural thing about being scottish and there's a sense of community. no matter where you are in the world, if you're on holiday or if you're on a trip, you do seem to find another scottish person and they seem to identify with you. is there any part of you that feels british? i don't know. i don't think there is! i think scotland is completely moving forward and i don't really look back in a nostalgic way. scottish identity is strong across all age groups.

in wales it is british identity that holds up better. but neither country shares a wistful longing for the past that seems so prevalent among their neighbours in england. allan little, bbc news. conservationists from chester zoo have formed an unlikely partnership with an order of mexican nuns in order to save a critically endangered amphibian from extinction. the axolotl is a salamander that is unique to mexico. but it has been almost wiped out by pollution and over—fishing. however, scientists say the nuns could hold the key to saving it. 0ur science correspondent victoria gill has sent this report from central mexico. lake patzcuaro, central mexico. the only place in the world where you just might find a critically endangered axolotl local known locally as the achoce. known locally as the achoce. this vast lake used to be teeming with this species of axolotl, but now the scientists studying them

have set out traps to catch them and this is a half kilometre long line with 100 traps and they're hoping to find just two or three that they can take some samples from. scientists are here on a mission to prevent these strange amphibians from being wiped out completely. deforestation, which is dragging down sediments to the lake, and we have as well pollution — we're probably talking now to make it official that the species is close to extinction, so it was really we arrive right at the last minute. this emergency effort involves rearing the axolotls in captivity. and that's where some unexpected experts come in — the sisters of the immaculate health, who run a true sanctuary for this species. translation: it's a lot of work and a great deal of sacrifice. but it's worth it, to work with nature and to protect what god has given us. we're going to take another dna from rubbing the tongue... but while conservationists and their devout collaborators work together to save a species that's disappearing from the wild,

axolotls are bred in their thousands in laboratories around the world. most people study them because of their ability to regenerate, and it's remarkable. so let's say the limb gets bitten off here, above the elbow. what will happen is, the limb willjust regenerate a perfect mirror image of the limb on the other side. and so many people hope that we can identify some latent ability to regenerate in human tissues by studying and understanding how the axolotl regenerates. this is real good. does it work? for the cough? for centuries, these healing abilities have fuelled a belief that consuming axolotl can cure almost any respiratory element. and the original recipe for this remarkable medicine? developed by the sisters themselves.