another blow to the high street as house of fraser says it plans to close more than half of its stores with the loss of around 6,000 jobs. its flagship on oxford street is among the 31 stores earmarked to shut as part of a rescue plan. there's a tsunami of challenges that have come towards retail over the last five or six years. they've been well documented and they've hit house of fraser very hard. that momentum has built over the last 2a months or so. if the plan is approved, the 169—year—old company will shut many of its stores early next year. also this lunchtime... the brexit secretary, david davis, says he is not resigning amid divisions over customs arrangements for the irish border after brexit. the grenfell tower inquiry is told that firefighters were left in an impossible situation with no safe alternative for residents to the stay put policy. tributes pour in for the nightclub owner peter stringfellow, who has died of cancer at the age of 77. and the microplastics reaching even the most remote parts of the antarctic, as greenpeace calls for urgent action to curb pollutants.

and coming up on bbc news, danny rose reveals he'd been suffering from depression and receives much public support as he and england play theirfinal world cup warm—up match tonight. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. house of fraser is planning to close more than half of its stores across the uk as part of a rescue deal. 31 of its 59 stores, including its flagship on oxford street, look set to be shut with the loss of around 6,000 jobs. the department store chain said it wouldn't have a viable future if the proposal wasn't approved. creditors will vote on the plan later this month. the retailer needs the majority of them to sign up to it, in order to

be able to go ahead. theo leggett reports. the face of the british high street is changing. house of fraser is one of a long list of big names feeling the pressure of a hostile retail environment. the store chain has now proposed a deal with its creditors to reduce the amount of money it has to pay out while it restructures its business and its finances. house of fraser currently has 59 shops, 31 of them will shut in seven months‘ time. 6,000 jobs are expected to go. at house of fraser itself and its in—store concessions. the problem for house of fraser is that department stores like this are expensive to run. there are high rents, business rates and of course all the staff have to be paid. meanwhile, more and more consumers are preferring to do their shopping online, which means even major outlets like this one on london's oxford street are facing closure. the darlington store is another one which may have to shut.

shoppers here said they were disappointed by the news. it's the only shop i bother with in town so i wouldn't be too thrilled. it was a similar story in birmingham. whenever i come to town, i would always pop in with my friends. it was a local place everyone would go to. it's a bit of a surprise. and in cardiff, under the plan there will be no stores left at all. i think it's absolutely terrible. we've lost one or two of the shops in the high street, and that's another one going to go, another big one. it's drastic surgery but the man in charge said he had no choice. there is a tsunami of challenges that have come towards retail over the last five or six years and they have been well documented. they have hit house of fraser very hard. that momentum has built over the last 2a months or so. under the plan, house of fraser will focus on using fewer stores to sell more upmarket brands. but will it be enough

to keep the chain afloat? i think house of fraser has got the right idea in terms of making its products offer more premium and luxury but it's questionable whether it will work across the whole of the uk. many stores opened late today as their staff were told what was going on. unions said it was devastating news for the store chain's employees. but house of fraser is farfrom alone. since the collapse of bhs two years ago, there have been many casualties in the retail sector. toys "r" us has also closed. maplins in administration, mothercare is shutting stores and pound world is reportedly about to appoint administrators as well. but house of fraser's owners are hoping that by taking action now, they can prevent another once great name from disappearing from the high street forever. 0ur correspondent phil mackie is outside house of fraser's wolverhampton branch. 169 years the store has been around.

what's the reaction of customers there? real sadness. people have been genuinely moved and upset learning that bt is as it's known in wolverhampton which has been here since the 1880s is set to close next year. i spoke to one lady who was 90 who had come more or less when it was opened. we have had sweet from some of the city's mps, eleanor smith described it as a blow, pat mcfadden said it was tragic news. andy streeting said it was time for innovative and creative thinking about how to support high streets in the digital age. talking specifically about the threat from online shopping and should know because he used to be the boss at john lewis which incidentally is much more successful than house of fraser, largely because it has worked out its online plant. but

it's not just online worked out its online plant. but it's notjust online shopping that has caused big problems for house of fraser, it's also that people don't have as much money to spend any more and they are out—of—town shopping centres. wolverhampton struggles from a shopping centre down the road in dudley, but people are asking what will happen to this massive site, occupying such a big and important part of the city centre. thank you. the brexit secretary david davis says he is not resigning, following divisions with the prime minister over the uk's brexit "backstop" plan. in the proposal, the uk would retain a temporary customs arrangement with the eu in order to avoid a hard irish border post—brexit. but mr davis had been concerned that there was no time limit included in how long the measure would last. the bbc understands that details of the proposal will be published later today. with further clarity on the time duration of that proposal. 0ur political correspondent ben wright reports. are you about to lose your brexit

secretary? the prime minister was certainly trying to keep him on board this morning, heading early to the house of commons to meet david davis. their dispute, over how to ensure there is no physical infrastructure between northern ireland and the republic in the future. it is the so—called backstop option and the eu has said it must bea option and the eu has said it must be a legally binding part of the final brexit deal. the backstop is there to prevent hard border if the uk and eu failed to strike a trade deal that avoids new checks will stop it would apply after the transition period ends, and would cover customs and regulations. crucially keeping each side closely aligned. are you going to resign, mr davies? at the brexit secretary has had a bust up with number ten about this, arguing the backstop needs an expiry date. at the moment everyone has a concern that these arrangements will continue indefinitely and i don't think that

will be acceptable either to conservative mps or frankly to the wider country as a whole which voted to leave the european union and not to leave the european union and not to remain in some halfway house potentially for ever. with theresa may due to meet eu leaders at the end of the month, brexiteers have this advice for the prime minister. if your chief negotiator wants to have some kind of defined end to this process, if he's your chief negotiator you probably have to give it to him. the prime minister held talks with david davis this morning, and while they talked tory mps i was speaking to the clear this is a very edgy time. there is speculation about possible resignations, everybody on the tory entries knows the discussions going on now in westminster will shape the course of brexit. the prime minister also had face—to—face meetings with boris johnson and liam fox, the cabinet's chief brexiteers. after theresa may

left parliament, a spokesman said none of them had threatened to resign. source close to david davis said the backstop plan had been amended and its time—limited nature spells out. ministers will discuss it this afternoon as negotiations within the government grind on. 0ur assistant political editor norman smith is in downing street. what a morning, all of this doing and froing! you get the impression it came quite close to the edge. one of mr davies' close aide said this morning we all need to calm down. why would you want to calm down? it's been a morning of extraordinary drama with mrs may summoning in the key brexiteers to arm wrestle them into supporting her backstop option, then we were told it was all settled, only to find out that david davis had been summoned back in, fuelling speculation there hadn't

been an agreement and maybe he was still poised to quit. in the last few minutes sources close to david davis has said all 0k, few minutes sources close to david davis has said all ok, the document has been amended and now there is much greater clarity on the time limit to this backstop option. but here is the paradox, when brexiteers examine the document after its published later today, they will be very nervous that there is no fixed end date for the backstop option. but equally they were even more nervous about the prospect of david davis walking the plank because their fear was that if he had kicked over the table and walked out, that would have thrown the brexit negotiations into disarray and even threatened exit itself. norman smith in downing street, thank you. the grenfell fire inquiry has been told that fire commanders had "no obvious and safe alternative strategy" other than to tell residents to stay put in their flats. the fire brigades union said firefighters were left in an "impossible situation".

it comes as it's emerged that the metropolitan police is carrying out a criminal investigation into the fire service's use of the "stay put" policy. richard galpin reports. more than 700 firefighters and other staff were involved in tackling the grenfell fire. and they faced a lot of criticism for telling residents to stay put rather than evacuating quickly as the fire spread. but at the enquiry today, lawyers representing the fire services said there had been very good reasons for that decision. firstly, the building was not designed or constructed to facilitate simultaneous evacuations through the provision of fire alarms. secondly, the absence of any practical mechanism by which to effectively communicate with the occupants of the entire building. thirdly, in the absence of a working firefighter lift, the availability of the single staircase as a fire escape route. this staircase was the only means by which firefighters wearing

breathing apparatus and carrying equipment could access the other floors. the enquiry also heard that when firefighters arrived, they had no idea the tower block had been clad in highly combustible panels. and that there had been what was described as a complete failure in implementing fire safety methods at every stage of the refurbishment several years ago. what's more, lawyers had this to say about the stay put policy. it is not a creation of fire services in the uk. rather, it is a principle of building design, which is provided for in legislation, which fire services are expected to apply and which underpins the development of fire safety and operational policies for buildings of this kind nationally. the pressures on the firefighters were enormous. but still, they managed to rescue many people, despite the overwhelming scale

of the blaze. 0n the night, the lfb control centre was required to handle more calls requiring fire survival guidance from residents within grenfell tower than the total number of such calls in the previous ten years from the whole of london. amongst the suggestions already being made at the enquiry are for there to be a major focus on how refurbishing tower blocks can compromise fire safety. richard galpin, bbc news. our home affairs correspondent tom symonds is at new scotland yard for us. explain what the metropolitan police is going to be investigating now? the met have been giving an update today on their investigation into the grenfell disaster as a whole which covers a lot of areas — the

management of the building, the refurbishment of the building and the companies involved in that. 36 companies have been identified as having most involvement. but it is clear to date and has been from the start that the way in which the emergency response was carried out is part of the criminal investigation. the stay put policy, as we heard from the inquiry this week, one expert said should have been lifted within about half an hour of the fire. that's not the considered final view of the inquiry, but clearly it puts stay put close to the top of the list of reasons why lives may have been lost. there are all sorts of reasons why the policy may not have been able to be lifted, it will all be pa rt able to be lifted, it will all be part of both the inquiry‘s investigation and it seems the police investigation. what charges could result, what offences are being considered? the most likely

are under the health and safety at work act which usually results in a large fine and it is a fine man goes to the company ‘s or the public bodies which are found guilty but the investigation has a long way to go. thank you. human rights campaigners have lost a legal challenge to northern ireland's strict abortion law. the supreme court ruled northern ireland's human rights commission was not entitled to bring a challenge without an actual case of a woman affected by the law. but the court made clear it would have found the abortion law to be incompatible with human rights. 0ur ireland correspondent emma vardy is outside the court in central london. those particular comments that you make there are not legally binding, the once by the supreme courtjudges here, but they will have the effect of increasing the pressure on theresa may and increasing the pressure on the government, to act on northern ireland's abortion laws. the majority ofjudges here at the supreme court today ruled that the

northern ireland human rights commission did not have the power to bring those proceedings, but as you say had the case being brought by an individual, by a woman who felt that she had suffered because of northern ireland's abortion laws, the judges here made it clear in that case they would have made a formal ruling that northern ireland's abortion laws are incompatible with human rights, in the cases of pregnancy by rape, by incest and in the cases of fatal foetal abnormality camorra number on child cannot survive. it is those comments, although not legally binding, which will have been heard loud and clear by mps at the house of commons, because mps on all sides their support changing the law. there are a number of mps who want the westminster intervene, whilst the westminster intervene, whilst the storm want assembly in northern ireland is out of action because that collapsed 17 months ago —— the stormont assembly. there is strong opposition from the northern ireland parted the dup, is strongly anti—abortion party, so that creates problems for theresa may, but

supreme courtjudges' problems for theresa may, but supreme court judges' comments problems for theresa may, but supreme courtjudges' comments here today will add huge weight to the arguments of the mps at westminster who want to find some way through westminster to get this changed. emma, thank you. the night club owner peter stringfellow has died at the age of 77. he'd been suffering from lung cancer. he became known as the king of clubs after opening venues around the world during his six decades in the industry. the beatles, the kinks and jimi hendrix were among those he booked to perform in his clubs. 0ur correspondent david sillito reports. fantastic, here you go. have i got the bestjob, fantastic, here you go. have i got the best job, what, fantastic, here you go. have i got the bestjob, what, i don't know. peter stringfellow was more than just another nightclub owner. the big hair, the leather trousers, he was a household name who created his own very was a household name who created his own very distinctive brand of

glamour. it started out in sheffield from a spell in prison for selling stolen carpets meant that he'd struggled to find work, so he decided to move into the entertainment business. we started many years ago, in church halls, on friday nights. known in those days as friday night hops. we went to the mojo club, to the town centre sheffield, a couple of clubs later we sold out and moved to leeds. jimi hendrix, the beatles, he booked them all, and with cinderella rockefellers he moved from cabaret and chicken in a basket to 70s disco, then came stringfellows in london. this was the big time, champagne, celebrities. it wasn't just successful, he had become famous. he was always great fun, very kind, very generous and a big character. and then in the 90s he began to move into what he described as gentlemen's clubs. he'd been close to ba nkru ptcy as gentlemen's clubs. he'd been close to bankruptcy after a business

failed in america and fashions were also changing. the strip shows saved him, but this man who boasted of sleeping with up to 2000 women denied there was anything degrading or exploitative in this business. indeed he said he was a feminist. or exploitative in this business. indeed he said he was a feministlj don't indeed he said he was a feminist.” don't harm or hurt anyone and i know that this suggestion of exploitation is absolute rubbish. my girls dance, they take money from guys who are watching them dance, and i think that's fantastically in line with feminism. so from draughty church halls to medallions strewn opulence, peter stringfellow, the self—styled king of clubs. peter stringfellow, who has died age 77. our top story this lunchtime. another blow to the high street, as house of fraser says it plans to close more than half of its stores with the loss of around 6000 jobs. and coming up — the women who walked out from ford plants 50 years ago with their demand for equal pay. coming up on bbc news,

the world cup is a week away and england take on costa rica tonight in theirfinal warm up match before travelling to russia. microplastics are reaching the most remote waters of the world, and pollution in the air is contaminating even the freshest snow in antarctica. those are the conclusions of a greenpeace survey, gathered during a three—month expedition earlier this year. scientists say it provides evidence of the pervasiveness of microplastics. the bbc‘s claire marshall was on board the ship when the trawling and testing began. she sent us this report. this is the most remote continent on earth. it looks pristine, but today, there is new evidence that micro plastics are now reaching even these

waters and perhaps more disturbingly there's also pollution from airborne chemicals in freshly fallen snow will stop we'll put it over the side. we were with scientists on board a greenpeace ship injanuary as they began testing waters off the antarctic peninsula. very little data exists. it's a question of picking a tiny bit of the southern 0cean picking a tiny bit of the southern ocean and lowering in a trawling device. any micro plastics should find their way into the net. the tea m find their way into the net. the team searched some of the most isolated places on the planet. this isolated places on the planet. this is hope bay, off the cruise ship trial and not much fishing happens nearby. you won't really seek plastic washed ashore but scientists are worried what may happen here in the future. they also hunted for pollution on land, gathering samples of freshly fallen snow. we didn't know it at the time, but even here, deposited either as a gas or dusk

we re deposited either as a gas or dusk were molecules of man—made chemicals. in almost all the samples of water we collected, we find tiny pieces of micro plastics, maybe only a few fragments of fibres in every litre of water, but given that this is really the end of the earth it's remarkable once again that we are finding micro plastics almost wherever we look. jason roberts has worked in the polar regions for more than 30 years. what's the worst thing you've ever seen? i've seen some quite terrible things with plastics but on the bigger scale what actually is probably more terrible as the smaller scale of micro plastics you can't see, but the things you can see, i seem in south georgia a seal with a fishing net around it, which had been caught in itfora net around it, which had been caught in it for a long time because the net had grown into the skin and the blubber. this will only add to the growing calls for something to be done about plastics, before more of it reaches the end of the earth. claire marshall, bbc news,

antarctica. new figures suggest that only about a third of students in england think they get value for money from their university course. the figures are based on the views of 111,000 students, analysed by the higher education policy institute. separate figures have been released this morning which indicate how much a degree from different universities can boost a student's earnings. amazon has won the rights to show premier league football matches for the first time, giving members of its prime video service access to 20 matches per season, for three years from next year. this is in addition to rights granted to bt and sky. 0ur media editor amol rajan is here. a big moment, this? i think this is a really big deal. it's notjust amazon's entry into the premier league but a change in how the sport will be watched because they'll strea m will be watched because they'll stream all ten matches at the same time, which means viewers can make a choice as to which of the games they follow. it's the first time bt and

sky have lost theirs stranglehold over premier league and it shows the distinction between the internet and tv is basically collapsed now and basically the american tech companies are making the running when it comes to british sport. if you are when it comes to british sport. if you are a when it comes to british sport. if you are a fun it means you'll probably have to fork out more cash from eu will have to pay more if you wa nt to from eu will have to pay more if you want to watch 20 particular games, but if you are as bought its inevitable as it becomes a global audience and global market and their stiff competition, sports rights are increasingly going to be sold to the richest companies in the world and it just so happens richest companies in the world and itjust so happens that most of those companies tend not to be british. amol, thank you. today marks the 50th anniversary of the strike by machine seamstresses at the ford car plants in dagenham and halewood on merseyside, which paved the way for the equal pay act. they walked out in order to get their work recognised as equal to their male colleagues. their actions are credited with bringing in the equal pay act in 1970, which outlawed discrimination on pay and conditions between men and women. it was an historic moment in the campaign for equal pay — the decision to strike by this group of women who stitched the seats for thousands of ford cars in dagenham forced the company

to shut down parts of its plant. we are on strike until the 27th ofjune, thursday 27th ofjune. all of you? all of us, all the machinists, anyway. so no car seat covers for ford? no, not from us, anyway. none of the girls have got any doubts at all. we know what we're fighting for. we're prepared to stay there until we get it. we deeply regret all the men that's been put off through our cause, but the quicker they get down and do something and give us what we want, we'll get back to work and give them all they want. despite the strike being more about grading than money, the impact made was hugely significant. the women wanted to be recognised as semi—skilled workers rather than unskilled ones. female workers at ford's halewood plant on merseyside also walked out in solidarity. the action led to a deal. the women returned to work on 92% of the male pay rate — rather than the 85% they'd been on before the strike — and the move is widely credited with paving the way for the equal pay act of 1970.

let's speak to frances kerwin, part of the 1968 halewood plant walk—out in solidarity with the dagenham workers 50 years ago. if you have travelled down to dagenham tojoin if you have travelled down to dagenham to join other women. if you have travelled down to dagenham tojoin other women. what does it mean to you to be there? absolutely fantastic. give us a sense of what it was like 50 years ago, when you decided to walk out. you had only just ago, when you decided to walk out. you had onlyjustjoined the firm, hadn't you ? you had onlyjustjoined the firm, hadn't you? yes, yeah, i was only a few weeks, yes. at first it was really, really daunting, because women don't go out on strike. and where you are confident then that you could achieve what you wanted to

achieve, equal pay? no, not really, no. we had mixed feelings, everyone had mixed feelings. and when you made some progress you got almost what you wanted, you must have been amazed, you must have been so pleased you actually took the action you did? oh, yeah, absolutely fantastic. because it wasjust, we made history, didn't we? you certainly did. do you feel you have a place in history? not at the time but now we have been told. and what do you think now, given what an issue equal pay still is always yea rs issue equal pay still is always years later? to be honest i don't think there's much changed, because there are still people still struggling, are, especially women. the only ones i know who have got

equal pay is the tennis players. what will you be doing there today? a lot of you have come from pale wood and you are meeting with other women at dagenham. what will you be doing this afternoon?” women at dagenham. what will you be doing this afternoon? i believe both mayors are going to speak to us and they want us to answer some questions, obviously. yeah. amazing to be there 50 years after the strike to began. very nice to talk to you. have a good afternoon. ok, thank you very much. finally, this is how not to drive even if you are fed up of sitting in a trafficjam. traffic cameras in the us state of 0hio captured this vehicle reversing out of the queue of cars after getting into trouble. it is thought the driver continued to drive backwards more than a mile, narrowly missing traffic coming on the slipway. police believe the driver had problems with their automatic

gearbox. the department for transport said motorists with a mechanical problem should stay put and call the emergency services, not drive like that. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. how do i follow that? in terms of the weather today, one showers developing in one or two areas but very few showers around so the vast majority of the country should enjoy a fine day. most of the angry clouds our way to the south of that, closer to the bay of biscay and we have thunderstorms in the forecast across europe over the next couple of days. we're ina europe over the next couple of days. we're in a quiet zone, quiet atmosphere at the moment, so all we are getting is just a few showers developing there, maybe across southern parts of the country, maybe in one or two other areas as well. it's a fine day, beautiful weather across northern england as well, from the lake district, although into northern wales, is lovely sunny

skies. this evening, very little change. 0ne skies. this evening, very little change. one or moving through the midlands and into parts of wales as well, very brief showers but they could be heavy. for the vast majority of the country at the dry night and quite cloudy around the east and the south and through the midlands as well. in fact, some of us midlands as well. in fact, some of us early tomorrow morning will probably see grey skies but then the clouds will break up and it should bea clouds will break up and it should be a bright day. the best of the weather tomorrow, the sunniest of the weather, across more western areas of the country. temperatures will comfortably get up to around 20 degrees, again, one ortwo will comfortably get up to around 20 degrees, again, one or two showers in the forecast. how about the weekend? very little change on the way. we have some changes but not until next week. as far as the weekend goes it's the status quo remains. lots of fine weather but still the