today at 5pm... another casualty on the high street, as house of fraser announces plans to close more than half of its stores with the loss of 6,000 jobs. the retailer's flagship oxford street store in london is one of 31 earmarked for closure, as part of a rescue plan. it's a big blow for towns and cities gci’oss it's a big blow for towns and cities across the country. beatties in wolverhampton, owned by house of fraser, it has been here since 1877 and nobody here can quite believe it is to close. we'll look at what the future holds for the high street after a difficult few months. the other main stories on bbc news at 5pm... the brexit secretary david davis says he's not resigning, after persuading the prime minister to include an end date in her brexit backstop plan. scotland yard says it's investigating the london fire brigade‘s use of the ‘stay put‘ policy during the grenfell tower fire. amazon wins the right to broadcast 20 premier league games a season on its uk video streaming service.

and how not to get out of a trafficjam. this is the moment cameras in ohio caught a vehicle reversing down the highway for a mile. hello. it's 5pm, our top story... the 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 at 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 in wales 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 in wolverhampton, which is losing its house of fraser store. what's been the reaction there in

wolverhampton? one of great sadness and disappointment. you can see what and disappointment. you can see what a massive site it is, it is all the way down there occupying a whole block in wolverhampton city centre and nobody believes that when it closes there will be another single store that comes in to occupy this site so it will probably be split, redeveloped and it may not even have a retail use because of the way we are shopping now. so a lot of people are shopping now. so a lot of people are upset that it is closing but the reason they are closing is they are not really shopping there any more and it has not been particularly busy today although people coming out of that shop have been telling me how much they're going to miss it. it is probably the people who aren't going and who have caused the problems are house of fraser not just here but across the country. the store has been in the city since 1877 when james

the store has been in the city since 1877 whenjames beattie opened his first draper store so it is part of the fabric of wolverhampton city centre. it is a city that has had some other big economic blows here this year. the cancer had an emergency meeting this —— the council had an emergency meeting this morning. phil, thank you. let's just talk about the wider implications now. we can't talk to the designer wayne hemingway who co—founded hemingway designed. we can speak to him now from chichester in west sussex via webcam. what are the wider implications? is this part of the slow, agonising death of the high street in the uk? not at all and i think first of all it is very important to look at the reasons for this and it is multifaceted and our choices to shop on the internet are affecting it. but also the public are not stupid, the retailers have to ask themselves how relevant are they? there are

better things to do than go shopping for things that you don't need and we all know from having too many things in our wardrobes, cupboards, that we have been tempted in the past to buy things that we don't need. but i think we should be celebrating now that there is a new generation, the millennials and generation, the millennials and generation z that are realising that there are better things to do than just things that you don't really need. and we have also got to understand why they are doing that. i think it is partly a realisation that there are better things to do than shop. you know, getting together having a coffey, have initial chat. if you look at it, holidays are doing pretty well. certain types of street food, events are doing so well. anything that is to do with getting together socially, which is what a high street and what a town centre, we should forget about the term high street and think about the centre of

our towns. for a lot of us, for my generation, go into your town centre was a social thing, not a thing to go and buy things that you didn't really need. and we've also got to look at the situation of the lives of these people who are now at... traditionally at prime shopping time. my generation and other generations have left greater inequality, lower disposable incomes, greaterjob insecurity and increasing difficulty of renting, never mind buying your house, so why go out shopping when there are other things to do with your money? but we are seeing lots of high street where there are empty stores, empty buildings, empty properties, they are boarded up. it is depressing frankly. are you saying that town centres, high street or whatever you wa nt to centres, high street or whatever you want to cool them can be reinvented? absolutely. when i moved to london

in 1979 from blackburn, there were 7 million people living in london, 3 million people living in london, 3 million less than nowhere today. you could rent shops, london was depopulating, high street were depopulated. we started ourfirst company by renting shops that were absolutely so cheap before... institutional landlords came in and snaffled thumb all up and put the prices up. we're going to find that happening again. we should be able to now start to celebrate an independent culture again, which for me and a lot of other people is a real thing to celebrate. you know, how many replicas of shops selling the same thing do you need? why'd you need an maplin is next to a currys, next to all of these things? you just don't need all of that and therefore it is a rebalancing in my opinion. rebalancing though which is going to cost a lot of people a lot ofjobs. but if you've got jobs,

thatis ofjobs. but if you've got jobs, that is a sad thing but if you've got a job that is a sad thing but if you've gotajob in that is a sad thing but if you've got a job in an unproductive industry, which these industries are at the moment. if they were something that people wanted and they wanted people to serve them at work for them than they would be in their shopping. we cannot underestimate people make this choice. the world changes and we've a lwa ys choice. the world changes and we've always been as human beings and society, we have always found productive things to do for people and thejob productive things to do for people and the job situation will change and the job situation will change and will find new ways. thank you very much for being with us with your thoughts. just to say that coming up in the next half an hour orso, coming up in the next half an hour or so, will be speaking to a company who are urging the government to investigate, the increasing use of company investigate, the increasing use of com pa ny volu nta ry investigate, the increasing use of company voluntary agreements. 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's no time limit included in how long the measure would last. the bbc understands details of the proposal will be published later today with further clarity on the time duration of the 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 off early to the house of commons to meet david davis. their dispute? 0ver how to ensure there is no physical infrastructure between northern ireland and the republic in the future. it's the so—called backstop option and the eu has said it must be a legally binding part of the final brexit deal. the backstop is there to prevent a hard border if the uk and eu fail to strike a trade deal that avoids new checks. 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 davis? but the brexit secretary has had a bust up with number ten about this, arguing that the backstop needs an expiry date. and cannot be open—ended. 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 remain in some halfway house, potentially for ever. with theresa may due to meet eu leaders again at the end of the month, brexiteers had 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 then you probably have to give it to him. the prime minister held talks with david davis for more than an hour here this morning. and while they talked, tory mps i was speaking to were clear this is a very

edgy febrile time. there is speculation about possible resignations, everybody on the tory benches knows the discussions going on now in westminster will shape the course of brexit. the prime minister also had face—to—face meetings with borisjohnson and liam fox, the cabinet's chief brexiteers. after theresa may left parliament, her spokesman said none of them had threatened to resign. the government then published its backstop plan, comprimised to keep the cabinet together. it contains a date, the end of december 2021 — that's when the government expects the future trading relationship to be in place. and that's precise enough to keep david davis in the cabinet and it might be vague enough to get eu support. we've had reaction to the document from the eu's chief brexit negotiator michel barnier, who said, we will examine it with three questions: is it a workable solution to avoid

a hard border? 0ur correspondent damian grammaticas is in brussels. just a flavour of the reaction there in brussels from those messages on social media. how has this proposal, this end day of december 21 con down there? well, welcome for the fact there? well, welcome for the fact

there is a proposal on the table, but is worth same first of all because the eu has been asking this for a very long time now. it was backin for a very long time now. it was back in december when the original idea about a backstop was agreed to by both sides, by the uk side. and now the uk has delivered its own version. it has taken a long time but the eu i think we'll be happy it now has something to get its teeth into. but then a lot of scepticism and raised our brows because the one thing they are absolutely clear about here is there can be no time limit. it does not work as a backstop, which is meant to be there orfor all backstop, which is meant to be there or for all eventualities in case there is no other solution found to keep trade flowing across that border in northern ireland. that has to be unlimited until a solution is found, so i think the eu will find it very difficult to accept anything that has even a hint of a fixed time limit. this is a fudge in this but thatis limit. this is a fudge in this but that is can be very difficult and the irish prime ministers today

saying backstop as to exist until such a time if and when there is a new relationship but only that. so they can not be a time limit on it. damian, thank you very much. let's talk to our political correspondence who has more reaction to all of this and he is in kent. chris, what can you tell us? good evening from the country retreat use by amongst others the international trade secretary liam fox. i have just been speaking to him in the last few minutes. the first cabinet minister to talk publicly about this extraordinary day where things seem to have been developing by the minute, particularly around lunchtime when the prime minister's official spokesman briefed reporters that everything was sorted, a matter of moments later david davis their brexit secretary was having a second meeting with the prime minister. what is striking is that this

morning the prime minister met one—on—one, face—to—face three of her cabinet ministers, the three senior brexiteers. here is what david davies had to say to me in the last few minutes when asked to reflect on an extra ordinary day. the conversations i have will be kept confidential but i think it is fairto kept confidential but i think it is fair to say that we wanted to ensure that there would not be mechanism by which the european union would be able to keep britain in a particular arrangement and we would be leaving the eu and any implementation period than any subsequent arrangements by the end of 2021. that was what we agreed some time ago and that is what we have finally got agreed on paper today. let's look at the wording, it says the uk expects the future arrangement to be in place by the

end of december 20 21. that sounds quite vague, doesn't it, expect? will let's remember what we have agreed. we are leaving the european union itself at the end of march 20 19. we agreed that we would do so in a way that would have minimal disruption to business, we agreed the implementation period which runs then until the end of december 20 20. now, we hope that all our arrangements will be completely in place at that point. the irish government of course have particular concerns about the northern ireland, ireland border and say what if we already have an agreement on a withdrawal period. if we haven't already reached an agreement, on our own arrangement. . . already reached an agreement, on our own arrangement... some of the legalities are not done, is it possible to get this backstop to ensure that that can happen? that was for us infinitely preferable to what the european union themselves had suggested and we think this is a proper compromise that helps us understand the anxieties of the irish government but also ensures

that people like me, who voted to leave the european union, are guaranteed that we will be able to exercise due authority well before the next election. for brexiteers on the next election. for brexiteers on the cabinet table and the broader conservative party, i went on though to challenge liam fox about a day like today and to ask him bluntly who governs the uk? is theresa may actually in charge given that today she has been publicly bossed around by members of her cabinet in a way that does not exude a vast amount of dignity. his argument was, and i guess it's the best spin you can put ona guess it's the best spin you can put on a day like this, weather has been public wrangling around the government's top table is that this is cabinet government and each and every one of those ministers has their say. and we have seen that an technicolour today. many thanks. this is bbc news, the headlines at 5.20pm. this new line of enquiry is part of

a wider investigation looking at the refurbishment of the tower and its affect on the tower. 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 measures 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 here. tom, how significant is it the fact

the metropolitan police at say they are investigating this day put policy as it has been described by the london fire brigade?” policy as it has been described by the london fire brigade? i think it becomes more significant because of what we have heard this week from the enquiry itself. stay but is very much one of the big factors that may explain the loss of life because people stayed in their flats and did not leave early on in the fire. now having said that it is part of a massive police investigation, 200 investigators who apparently started reading for e—mail accounts leading to the investigation the 250,000 parts of individual data documents so it is a huge undertaking a man not just looking at the so it is a huge undertaking a man notjust looking at the emergency response, they're looking at the refurbishment of the building and the management of the building. they will have to consider a range of potential offences, anything from the health and safety at work act which stayed put is likely to be considered against. to fraud, it's possible there might have been fraud

in the way in which the paperwork was done for the refurbishment. right up to corporate manslaughter and even individual manslaughter, which could seek individuals sent to prison for gross negligence leading to people's lives being lost, so it isa to people's lives being lost, so it is a very, very big investigation and this is just one is a very, very big investigation and this isjust one part is a very, very big investigation and this is just one part of it. it is moving along, they are now getting to the point where in the next perhaps weeks or months to come they're going to start interviewing suspects on some of those suspects may be arrested. so this is not part of the enquiry but a big attempt to get to the bottom of what went wrong and why these people died. thank you very much, tom. politicians in guatemala say the country's emergency response agency should be investigated for criminal negligence after sunday's volcanic eruption. 0pposition parties say the head of the agency failed to evacuate the area despite warnings that the fuego volcano was going to erupt. 99 people are now known to have died and many others remain unaccounted for. 0n the line from guatemala

is francesco rocca, the president of the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies. thank you for being with others. what is the situation there right now? you can imagine it is very difficult. many are living in temporary shelters but in this very moment ourfocus is temporary shelters but in this very moment our focus is on the support for hundreds of people who are asking for this. there are a few missing and so we're working around the clock to work with the forensic tea m the clock to work with the forensic team which is making the analysis because it is very difficult to identify the bodies. it is very

difficult for the families. can you tell us how many people you believe have died and how many have been injured in this disaster? at the moment, the news is that 100 died but there are still many missing, we don't want to give an official number because it is not up to was but according to the numbers of people that are coming to our reception centre where our volu nteers reception centre where our volunteers are making the interviews, we are very concerned that the number can go very high. thank you very much for talking to is there. the president of the international federation of red

cross and red crescent societies. the premier league's executive chairman richard scudamore has announced he's going to step down by the end of the year. he has lead the organisation for nearly 20 years and is widely credited with overseeing the huge worldwide growth of the premier league. senior figures in the game say that he "has led the premier league with distinction." 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. let's speak to our sports correspondent richard conway. richard, if you are a football fan like me you now have two subscribe have you to sky, bt and amazon making it all much more expensive to watch the a0 on the telly. making it all much more expensive to watch the 40 on the telly. and i think the way the way the packages we re think the way the way the packages were broken down by the premier league it was inevitable that there

was going to be a new entrant into the market. i wanted to tempt the big online tech giants, amazon have of course coming, but they were hoping for that bidding war between the likes of netflix, google, facebook and so what. that did not materialise again. these two packages that been bought by amazon and bt should have been sold in february. negotiations have been ongoing since then and we finally have the announcement that they have been sold. it marks a new way for the premier league to be watched. 0nline streaming clearly the future for lots of tv viewing and live sport is trying to figure out how it fits into that pattern. so amazon taking a chance with this package. they have a limited number of games, only 20 per season for three years so they will want to see if it works for them, how they can monetise it and then the next round of tv rights is perhaps when it will get interesting with the other big internet giant coming in to join

them. we also talked about richard skidmore stepping down from the premier league after 20 years. the premier league after 20 years. the premier league after 20 years. the premier league is an extraordinary product which is so attractive around the world, which is why so much money is spent why in the tv rights to it. yeah, and richard skidmore announcing the last few minutes announcing that he would leave his position by the end of the year. he is a giant of the sport's industry, he's a man credited with taking the premier league on this journey that it has gone on from being a fairly regional to stratospheric levels. the last tv rights deals delivering just under £5 billion domestic league. similar levels of cash coming in from the worldwide growth of the league especially in the north america and asia, he's the man who was put that on but he is going to step aside. he said he is not retiring which is interesting, we could see in a new role in due course but after 20 yea rs role in due course but after 20 years he's going to hand on the batten to someone else. the premier

league send their expected announcement on who that might be in the future. wagon stay with football for a moment because prince william has praised the england footballer danny rose for speaking publicly about being diagnosed with depression. the tottenham defender was sidelined for more than eight months with a knee injury, during which time his uncle committed suicide and he suffered a series of personal incidents. rose was part of the england squad which met the duke ahead of their friendly against costa rica at elland road. now time for the weather with tomasz. we have had a fairly decent day

across the uk, today, with some showers. though showers, the chance of them, could continue into tomorrow afternoon. there could be showers are forming, but the probability is not that high. they are very small showers, and most of us are very small showers, and most of us actually having a dry evening, a dry night, and the next couple of days will be mostly dry, as well. the only real thing that will be having trouble forecasting is the cloud announcement. they tend to va ry cloud announcement. they tend to vary quite a lot across the uk. tonight telling quite cloudy across eastern and southern areas, —— southern areas, and the card will clear away at some point tomorrow afternoon. left with a bright day. some coastal areas might hang the cloud with a little longer. hard to tell which areas. when the sun comes out, damages will be in the 20s. where the cloud continues to the day, it will be only around a0 degrees.

this is bbc news. the headlines: house of fraser announces plans to close more than half of its stores with the lose of 6000 jobs. this is brutal. this is as tough as it gets. we have not taken this decision lightly. it is very dramatic for people we care about a great deal. the government has said that any temporary customs arrangement with the eu is excited to end by december 2020 one. the brexit secretary david davis has insisted that there should bea davis has insisted that there should be a cut of date. scotland yard says it's investigating the london fire bridage's use of the "stay put" policy during the grenfell tower fire. greenpeace calls for urgent action as a report finds microplastics are reaching the most remote waters in the antarctic. now for a round up of

the sport with adam wild. good evening. good afternoon. england play theirfinal warm up game before flying out to russia on tuesday. a last chance for gareth southgate to work out his starting 11 as england take on costa rica at elland road in leeds. 0ur reporterjo currie is there for us this evening and the squad have been given the royal seal of approval today, i understand ? yes, that is right. they werejoined a little earlier by his royal highness the duke of cambridge. prince william, of course, the president of the fa popped in for a quick chat with manager gareth southgate before captain harry kane introduced him to the rest of the squad. prince william, to be fair to him did very well, knowing who most of the players were, and he got to kieran trippier, at which point you have to ask his name? the rest of

the players found it funny. he presented trent alexander—arnold with his first england shout. it will be a huge moment for the liverpool defender tonight. the manager gareth southgate has also said that because this is his last chance to impress, he wants to give as many players as possible minute this evening. we will make a lot of changes. at some point, trent alexander—arnold will get his debut. 0ne alexander—arnold will get his debut. one of the keys for us getting through these two matches, we always had in our minds that we wanted everybody to have a significant game. any time a player whether that is club or in social has ten minutes on the field or 90 minutes on the field, they have got an opportunity to make a statement, in the way that they play, and in the way that they tactically embraced the game and carry out the roles that they are expected to carry out, and certainly

thatis expected to carry out, and certainly that is the case for tonight. and england today have been given a a% chance of winning this world cup? are the chances ready that name?“ you believe the maths, they certainly are. they have given this same stats to cristiano ronaldo's portugal. for the record, same stats to cristiano ronaldo's portugal. forthe record, it same stats to cristiano ronaldo's portugal. for the record, it is brazil who are the most likely to win it, and 21%. but before gareth southgate can start worrying about stats, they have got to get through tonight. not all bad. our reporter life for us at elland road. staying with football,

premier league executive chairman richard scudamore is to stand down by the end of 2018 after nearly 20 years in the role. scudamore was appointed in november 1999 and has overseen a period of sustained growth, culminating in the league's last uk tv deal bringing in some £5.1a billion. world number one simona halep has another chance to finally win her first grand slam title after beating garbine muguruza in the french open semi finals this afternoon. halep has lost three previous grand slam finals, including two at roland garros, but has another chance after beating muguruza in straight sets this afternoon. simona halep will now face stevens. rafael nadal will play del potro after both players one today. and now this has been doing good business on social media. when you head to a major league baseball game it's rare that you'll actually touch, let alone catch a ball. but in the fifth inning of atlanta's 1a one win over san diego, braves outfielder ender inciarte hit

a foul ball and this happened. padres fan gabby dimarco caught it in her beer and then proceeded to drink said beer, with the ball inside the cup. i guess that's what happens when your team is being thrashed at home. that's all your sport for now, we'll have more in sportsday at 6.30pm. here is a riddle for you guys mac what is the connection between baseball and brexit? we will get more now on the government's brexit backstop appraisals. ministers say they expect a backstop customs agreement — to prevent the return of a hard border between northern ireland and the republic — to last until the end of 2021 at the latest. chris morris from reality check is with me now to explain more. first of all, backstop, what is the

connection between baseball and brexit? if the batter hadn't fly pulled it into the crowd, and if the catcher had mist it, it would have hit the backstop, because the backstop is the net behind the catcher, which ensures that the ball does not fly straight into the crowd. it is kind of the safety net. slightly ironic that it takes a turn... where did it come from? it appeared first in december. if you remember, that was when the eu and the uk basically agreed no hard order in northern ireland. if we can't, we need a backstop. bit of a fudge, but everybody went home happy for christmas. interbreed, this happen. —— in february, this happen.

that's to doubt very plainly. —— set it out very plainly. that would mean in effect this thing that is hated by so many people, the tory party and the dup, some sort of customs border down the irish sea. the prime minster had to speak out against that. she said it is something that the uk could —— no uk by minister could ever agree to. today, we have finally seen the proposal written down. what is it? encapsulated for us. the headliners. -- the headline is instead of excepting the customs unionjust is instead of excepting the customs union just another knowledge, it is right across the country. this is for a period starting in december 2020, and the end of the transition after brexit. we have seen coming

and going in downing street, rumours about david davis's edition. will it be time limited? a lot of people wa nted be time limited? a lot of people wanted a date put on it, saying you have got to finish by this time. that would not have been acceptable to the eu. here is the wording that they use: the indication that this would only last for a year, but what is the key word in that sentence? expects. it does not say that it is definitely going to end. i think thatis definitely going to end. i think that is the fear of many people on the brexit side of the table, if there is an something ready, does is temporary arrangement like on and on and on? is this a back door into indefinite membership of the customs union? said they might think it is a bit of a fudge. would this british proposal then solve all these problems, but trying to avoid a hard

irish border? some of them. it would help solve the customs issue, because if we are still in the customs union, there would be no customs union, there would be no customs border, but this is the other issue, the key issue of the irish border. if we leave the single market and the republic of ireland are still in it, there are notjust issues of customs and tariffs and the taxi play when you move from one jurisdiction to another, but there are also rules and regulations. food safety, animal welfare, loads and loads of small manufacturers and producers who move stuff across that border every day, and single market rules governing all of that. this is iraqi mission of that, saying this is our approach on customs, but we realise that there are a whole load of things that need to be addressed. we don't know if the eu will accept this. this is no way near the end of

the road, but the uk has now put its customs cards on the table. from baseball to card in three minutes. thank you very much. let's return now to the news that house of fraser intends to close more than half of its stores as part of a rescue deal. the plan announced by the retailer today will put 6,000 jobs at risk. that includes 2,000 of the department store's own staff, along with a000 working for brands and concessions. 31 out of the chain's 59 shops are earmarked for closure. they're expected to remain open until early next year. among the locations affected are birmingham and cardiff, as well as the flagship oxford street store in london. creditors will vote on the insolvency plan, which involves a company voluntary arrangement or cva, on the 22june. cvas allow firms to pay back creditors over a fixed period and continue trading,

and have already been used this year by other struggling retailers like new look, motherca re and carpetright. the chief executive of house of fraser, alex williamson, told our business correspondent, emma simpson, why house of fraser was also following this route. there is a tsunami of challenges that have come towards retail over the last five or six years. they have been well documented and they have hit house of fraser very hard. that momentum has built over the last 2a months or so and we find ourselves now at a point where we are proposing a cva. if that is approved by our creditors, it will land us in the position where we have a viable opportunity to go forward, but it is necessary today, because without it, we are not a business with a viable future. how manyjobs will go if this deal goes through? so, the announcement today will

affect in the region of 6000 people, and the challenges that creates for the people in our stores, there are 2000 house of fraser colleagues, and about a000 that have come with our brand partners is not lost on us. it is an extraordinary day, with deep challenges for many people, and our focus as a management team is to make sure that we deliver these messages appropriately and show the appropriate levels of support. i just want to ask you about the challenges. how many of these stores are losing money? you talked about the property portfolio being a unsustainable, just expand that? so, as we have watched the changing dynamics of retail with our digital businesses growing, high streets have become increasingly challenging, footfall has fallen every month since april 2016. as a consequence of that, the viability of these stores has become more and more challenged.

and we only see that continuing into the longer term, so therefore when we have reviewed our stores, we have reviewed them based on the dynamic of their specific market, based on the location of the stores and ultimately the store itself. if we could not satisfy ourselves of the viability longer term, then i am afraid they were identified as being not taken forward post the cva. putting it bluntly, the stores were losing money? so most stores have become more challenged in that list of stores that are closing, yes. how perilous a state is house of fraser in? i think i am very clear that the responsibility as a director to propose a cva is that we see this as the last viable solvent opportunity for us. and i can't be any more clear as to the challenges that we face. ed cooke is the chief executive

of revo, which represents retail property companies, and has written to the commons housing, communities and local government select committee warning of a trend for cvas — or company voluntary agreements. ed is here with me now. just explain to me what is a cva?‘ cva is currently the insolvency practitioner's tool of choice to manage credit risk when that company has become insolvent. the principle behind it is that they come to an agreement with bondholders, banks, or indeed with their landlords, and the manage the amounts over the period of time. the problem that we are seeing in our organisation —— and our organisation represents

property owners, is that this tool is being used to unfairly disadvantage one particular group which is owners of retail property. basically a company like house of fraser might get cheaper rents for a while, and you're saying that is unfairon the while, and you're saying that is unfair on the landlords, but a lot of people say that these rents in these high streets have been pretty extortionate for a long time, i'm simply too high. helping to put a lot of businesses out of business? what we are saying is that the process is not being used in the way that it was originally intended, which was as a process that treats all creditor groups in the same way. all creditor groups... clearly we are all in the business types keep these businesses in jobs. are all in the business types keep these businesses injobs. but it is not just a landlord these businesses injobs. but it is notjust a landlord issue, either. we know this, the retailers are increasingly affected by the use of this technique by their competitors

to reduce their viability. it is not just a property owner issue. it is a regional issue and a property owner issue, and there will be people left with big holes on the high street when these retailers accent. people will be saying, if this is the only way to keep our high street alive, and to keep stores like house of fraser in business, then maybe it is a price worth paying? not perfect but worth it? but cva is very daily a symptom of what is happening. they are not the cause. they are the way that the retailers are managing their costs. some of the bigger issueis their costs. some of the bigger issue is leading to some of these this is not performing as well as we wa nt this is not performing as well as we want them to our things like the cost of tax. business rates have gone up by a5% in ten years. corporation tax has only gone up by

10%. the cost of operating from physical space up and down the country is now prohibited from many businesses. at a online onslaught. absolutely. at least be looked at. the chancellor back in 2070 made an announcement that he recognised the need to look at the way that bricks and mortar retail was taxed relative to online retail. we agree that this has to be reviewed. with no preconceptions about the outcome. we are ina preconceptions about the outcome. we are in a different market and we we re are in a different market and we were in ten years ago or even five days ago. now is the time to act if we are to save our high—street. days ago. now is the time to act if we are to save our high-street. you talk about saving the high streets, but there are so many empty properties, boarded—up, shops and stores big names just properties, boarded—up, shops and stores big namesjust disappearing. is it doomed? the old—fashioned british high street? 10096 is it doomed? the old—fashioned british high street? 100% not british high street? 10096 not doomed, but it will only succeed if those roots of retailers and

property owners and council and central government, and the communities that benefit from a vibrant and communities that benefit from a vibra nt and exciting communities that benefit from a vibrant and exciting high—street come together to find a way to transition from places that have been quite heavily reliant on retail to places that are a much greater and more diverse use of civic, cultural offers residential and of course retail. so they are not doomed, but it takes radical action, and against the happen now if we are going to maintain successful training environment up and down the country in towns and cities. thank you very much for being with us. instinct to talk to you, thank you. leaders from the world's richest nations are heading to a small town in the canadian province of quebec tomorrow for the g7 summit. tensions between the us and the other nations over trade tariffs are already threatening to overshadow the meeting. 0ur correspondent, gary 0'donoghue, is in quebec. harry, what a time for them to be

meeting. just after donald trump's very, very controversial tariffs on steel and aluminium? it is usually a pretty anodyne meeting, this annual get—together of the rich and powerful countries. they end up normally with some sort of vanilla statement at the end of it, but this one looks to be different, so different that they are renaming it g six plus one, and the one being the united states with the imposition of those steel and aluminium tariffs on most of its best allies. so that will be a bone of contention, here. already people such as justin of contention, here. already people such asjustin trudeau and macron have voiced their problems with it. he added another additive to that, he called it laughable. so that will

be on the agenda, today. and there will be other things to which may not please the president. things like climate change, reducing plastics in the ocean, those things not very high on his agenda. the one possible area where they might get agreement is on issues around gender equality and perhaps girls' education. there have been some noises coming out of many members that there could have been some progress on that, but no guarantee that at this stage they will be able to produce a final communique to which they can all sign up and that would be a pretty bad situation to find the g7 in. thank you very much. 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 microplastics are now reaching even these waters and perhaps more disturbingly, there's also pollution from airborne chemicals in freshly fallen snow. 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 ocean and lowering in a manta — a trawling device. any microplastics should find their way into the net. the team searched some of the most isolated places on the planet. this is hope bay, it's off

the cruise ship trail and not much fishing happens nearby. you won't really see plastic washed ashore, but scientists are worried what may happen here in the future. we are going to take these three samples. 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 were molecules of man—made chemicals. the samples were taken to a laboratory. what we're finding is in almost all the samples of water we collected, we find tiny pieces of microplastics, maybe only a few fragments or 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 microplastics 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 is the smaller scale, the microplastics you can't see. but the things you can see, i've seen once on a subantartic island in south georgia, a fur seal with a fishing net around it, which had been caught in it for a long time because the net had grown into the skin and into the blubber. this will only add to the growing calls for something to be done about plastic, before more of it reaches the end of the earth. claire marshall, bbc news, antarctica. coming up in a few moments a look at the weather here, but now... and finally, how not to drive, even if you're fed up with sitting in a trafficjam. traffic cameras in the us state of ohio captured this vehicle reversing out of a queue of cars after getting into trouble. it's thought the driver continued to drive backwards for more than a mile, narrowly missing oncoming traffic

on their way up the slipway. police believe the driver had problems with their automatic gearbox, but the department of transport said motorists with mechanical problems should stay put and call the emergency services. time for a look at the weather with tomasz. .we . we had some showers early this morning, and there is a chance of catching a shower in little earlier on this afternoon. the angry looking clouds away towards the south of us. thunderstorms continue across the new continent. but here all we are dealing with is just a couple of showers that may be breaking out in

the southern counties. they should be well inland, away from the coastline, the vast majority of the country should have a dry day. cool on that north sea coast. anywhere from newcastle down to hull and that lincolnshire coast line. tonight, more of the same. cloudy conditions developing across many eastern, central and southern areas. and actually first thing tomorrow morning, if you are an early bird, it could be gloomy and overcast for a time. there might be even one or two showers lingering, that. drain the course of the morning, the cars will break down and it will be a fine day. temperatures to 21 or two degrees. we are looking at a fresh 14 degrees. we are looking at a fresh 1a degrees there in newcastle with an offshore wind. he settled when do —— be settled weather continues, for the weekend, but if you shop showers

for some of us. first thing on saturday, and it's starts off pretty cloudy, but then, the sun developed joni morning into the afternoon, and receive showers developing across scotla nd receive showers developing across scotland and northern ireland. some of this could be quite heavy. most of this could be quite heavy. most of the country enjoying a fine day. big picture across europe— storms around france and germany, but we are fine, here. along tarmac a lot of dry weather on sunday. with the bs is back it will be the best day for most of us. temperatures widely in the high teens although 20s on sunday. brief outlook into next week — jet stream making a beeline for us and that might mean cooler weather next week. goodbye. another big name on the high street runs into trouble — house of fraser plans to shut over

half its stores. the closures could affect 6,000 jobs. the boss says it's a necessary, but brutal, decision. this is as tough as it gets. and, er, we have not taken this decision lightly. it is very dramatic for people that we care about a great deal. we'll be looking at why the high street is proving such a struggle for so many retailers. also tonight... a showdown between the brexit secretary and the prime minister results in a time limit on a customs arrangement with the eu — or does it? firefighters defend their advice to residents of grenfell tower to stay in theirflats while the fire took hold. new data shows graduates in england how what they study — and where — affects their earnings. and peter stringfellow, the king of the disco and stripclub,