hello, you're watching afternoon live. today at 2pm. police! a big rise in violent crime in england and wales, according to new figures. everyone is deeply concerned about the rise in violent crime, the worst we have seen for a decade. and we will want to see an end to it. scotland yard won't discuss press association reports that police have identified several russians they suspect of involvement in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. meanwhile, the inquest into the death of dawn sturgess, who was poisoned by novichok, opens. the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, promises to increase the pace of negotiations with the eu. we will be starting to step up some of those preparations and some of it will become more publicly facing in the weeks and months ahead. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with chris mitchell and news of the open golf championship. kevin kisner leads at carnoustie but

tiger woods has not teed off yet and rory mcilroy is just starting out. and chris fawkes has all the weather. after such dry weather through may andjune, we after such dry weather through may and june, we could see decent falls of rain tonight and tomorrow. but we are looking further afield as well. the weather has been even more extreme across parts of scandinavia and finland, where they are feeling the consequences of that drug. i will be telling you more about that in the next half an hour. also coming up: and up, up and away! we travel to las vegas, where a new flying car has been developed. hello, everyone.

this is afternoon live. there has been a big rise in violent crimes recorded by police in england and wales, with murder, manslaughter and knife crime all up in the i2months to march. official figures for the year to march also show a 30% increase in robberies, but offences involving guns are down. the crime survey, which is an indicator of longer—term trends, suggests no change in overall crime levels. richard lister has more. dawn raids this morning in west london, part of an operation aimed at drug dealers and knife crime suspects. so far this week the operation has seen almost 70 people arrested and nearly 50 charged, part of a growing problem with violent crime. the figures show homicides in england and wales at a ten year high. more than 700 people were victims of murder or manslaughter in the year to the end of march,

a 12% rise on the previous year and excludes terror attacks. the figures suggest knife crime is up by 16% and there were 30% more robberies. we know what works, a combination of robust law enforcement and really effective intervention and that is what our strategy is intent on delivering. the report says recorded crimes involving weapons and violence tend to be concentrated in london and other cities. the crime survey, which asked people across england and wales about their experience of crime, suggests overall levels are stable. the crime survey has a limited sample of the adult population and it seriously under samples young men, who are most likely to be the victims of physical violence so it is no wonder it doesn't show rises that are registering. today's report shows police cannot identify a suspect in more than half of all robberies

and 15% of crimes of violence. home office figures today show the number of police officers in england and wales has fallen for the ninth year running. there is only so much officers can do in the available time they have got and we know from our own survey results that the increased pressure and demand on policing is impacting on our officers to adequately do theirjobs appropriately. another arrest this morning, the government says it is spending almost £1 billion more on policing now than three years ago but today's figures suggest the problems are bigger too. scotland yard has declined to discuss reports that police have identified several russians they suspect of being involved in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. the press association says it has spoken to a source close to the investigation. today, the inquest into the death of dawn sturgess, who was exposed to novichok three

months after the original attack, was opened and adjourned. sarah campbell reports. it's now more than four months since a nerve agent was used to target a former russian spy, sergei skripal and his daughter yulia survived, but the attack led to a huge and complex investigation into how they were poisoned. the british authorities pointed the finger at russia, russia denied any involvement. then last month, two more people fell ill. tragically 44—year—old dawn sturgess died. her partner, charlie rowley, survived. they had come across a small bottle of fluid which turned out to be novichock. the same nerve agent used in the attack in march. the press association says police sources have told them they have pieced together cctv from march and have cross checked with the records of people coming in and out of the uk. several suspects have been identified, and the investigators are sure, according to pa, that the poisoners were russian.

today in moscow, russia's ambassador to the uk gave this reaction. this is the report of the media. unfortunately we don't have an official statement of the british side, i want to hear that from the scotland yard or the foreign office. the metropolitan police have not commented on the reports that suspects have been identified. their investigation continues. sites across salisbury and nearby amesbury remain the subject of finger tip searches. it is painstaking work — so far more than 400 items have been recovered and tested. the forensic element in relation to this, the gathering of forensic evidence, the piecing together of other elements that may well make up the potential prosecution are so exact, and i am reassured by that to some extent, that the forensic side of it is being so painstakingly undertaken by the investigating team. salisbury had just started to return

to normal after the attack in march. the prince of wales tried to help spread the message that it was business at usual. a week later, the second poisoning occurred. a mother of three died and the police are still unable to reassure a worried public there isn't any more discarded novichock. sarah campbell, bbc news. as we heard, the inquest into the death of dawn sturgess has been opened and adjourned. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy is in salisbury for us now. tell us more about the inquest. this was a 20 minute hearing or so at the coroner's office in the centre of the city. as he said, for the purposes of identifying dawn herself and that came in the form of various state m e nts

and that came in the form of various statements from her sister and her mother, who all confirmed that it was here. the coroner said he was satisfied with that. he went into a few of the details surrounding this case. he said that dawn and her partner were taken into hospital on june the 30th and she never regained consciousness, die some eight days later in hospital. the coroner spoke of the novichok nerve agent which was identified. the coroner said that it came in the form of a liquid in that small glass bottle that we know was found at the flat in amesbury. the coroner didn't go into any more detail about that, and nor could he give a cause of death. he said that tests on that were still ongoing, so we still haven't got the official cause of death for dawn stu rg ess. official cause of death for dawn sturgess. he also spoke of the processes involved to take to the postmortem examination that took place a couple of days ago, security arrangements that were in place for that, and said they were no details

yet on whether she is going to be cremated or buried, following on from those police statements which said that dawn had suffered a high level of novichok. 0ne suspect there are discussions in place as to how and where she will be cremated or sell to burial. those matters are still to be decided. —— or sent to be buried. and we have these press association reports which at the moment scotland yard are not commenting on. they are not. that is not surprising in itself. throughout this, the matter has been dealt with by the counterterrorism unit and they don't tend to give us a running commentary on these matters. we certainly had a comment from the russian ambassador, as we heard in the package, pretty much following the package, pretty much following the lying all along that the russians have had no involvement in this, it is not the novichok, it is

not their people, although the ambassador said he wanted more details. it has only come from the media so far. and as you said in your introduction, the british security minister has spoken in the past few minutes, describing these suggestions that the police now have their eye on certain suspects as ill informed and wild speculation. but we have spoken to the press association and they say they are standing by their story, and what they are saying is that the police in this investigation have married at cctv footage, we don't know where from, whether it is salisbury or somewhere else, with the arrivals of certain people into the uk at around the time sergei skripal and yulia skripal were poisoned. as a result, they say the police now know a number of suspects who they are describing as russians, but we have had these denials this afternoon. in many senses that is not surprising.

0ne many senses that is not surprising. one or two other media outlets are reporting the police have more information than they are letting on, but the official line is that, no, we are not getting closer to the suspects. but the press association is standing by its story. thank you very much. the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, is promising to step up the pace of negotiations with the european union. he'll be in brussels this afternoon for his first talks with the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier. the meeting comes as the european commission called on eu countries to increase preparations for the uk crashing out of the eu without a deal, as our political correspondent chris mason reports. imagine for a moment you were this man, dominic raab, the new brexit secretary. he's off to brussels later to negotiate the first of the commons. after a turbulent week here, loads of mps are worried the uk could leave the eu next march without a deal, an arrangements for how to cooperate. the advice the government now seems

to be hinting at for businesses to prepare for a no deal situation looks a lot like the consequences remainers were criticised during the referendum as project fear. can they reassure the contingency plans will take into account often overlooked areas like clacton? the government's own analysis shows no deal would be a disaster and this week the bank of england warned of economic consequences for the uk. the new brexit secretary said... most of our preparations are developed internally with targeted engagement with relevant parties. we are now at a point where more of this delivery will become more public and the government will release a series of technical notices to set out what businesses and citizens in various sectors will need to do in a no deal scenario. it is the responsible thing for any government to do. but with conservative backbenchers saying they could reject the prime minister's proposed eu deal, labour said...

the burning question for the secretary of state is going to be asked again and again in this house, across the country and i have no doubt by michel barnier later today, is whether he personally is prepared to face down that threat. the government said again today it is working hard to get a deal and the eu says the same thing, but they are also preparing for the opposite. this morning, they published this, their plans for no deal. so what's in it? it describes what it calls the cliff edge scenario of the uk leaving the eu without a withdrawal agreement which would mean there would be no transition period, no arrangements in place for eu citizens here or uk citizens in the eu, and the eu would apply its tariffs and regulations at its borders. we are working day and night for a deal, it is clear the uk's

withdrawal will have repercussions with or without a deal and that's why everybody, in particular economic operators, need to be prepared. and arriving here soon, the brexit secretary dominic raab. over to you, brussels. we can speak to our correspondent in brussels, damian grammaticas. so we have got a new broom in the brexit department. he can't necessarily sweep clean but he can quicken the pace, he reckons. how will that go down? i think it has raised some eyebrows because he had they want to quicken the pace. we are over a year into this and time is running really short. he will certainly bring a new approach. we know he is going to have dinner with michel barnier a little bit later.

he will be arriving later for his meeting. he will sit down over dinner as well, trying to construct a new relationship, but there isn't much time and the eu, real questions here about how this process is going to move forward. there are real difficulties. set aside all those questions about customs and future partnerships and trade bills and things, what the eu is focusing on now, it's the withdrawal agreement. the deal that needs to be finished before the end of this year so that the uk can exit next year and the keyissues the uk can exit next year and the key issues in that what michel barnier will be questioning dominic raab about, saying about the irish border particularly. how are they going to solve that? the uk is committed to solving that. is it going to stick to its commitment? if so, how is that going to happen? how

is he going to deliver that? and this morning of a no deal, what from the eu 27 perspective could that mean? well, some very serious implications. it is worth saying that morning, a paper published today by the commission here, they say is not part of the negotiations thatis say is not part of the negotiations that is what they call prudent planning that has been nine months in the works and it is a warning, because of the uncertainties in the negotiation, because they don't know whether there will be a withdrawal agreement, particularly because of that irish border agreement, and that irish border agreement, and that means if there is no agreement they are saying the uk at the end of march this year would fall outside all the eu's legal structures with no transition period, would be treated as a third country, many implications. just to give you an idea, they are talking about trucks, they say they could be long lines of vehicles waiting for customs

procedures because every item being imported would have to go through all those procedures. any medicines produced outside the eu would have to be certified to meet eu medical standards. aviation rules would be impacted. individuals would have to question, according to this, their own status. there would be no specific arrangements in place for eu citizens in the uk or uk citizens in the eu. companies would be affected, financial services. so the government is issuing a warning saying, start to think now in case this comes to pass. thank you. you're watching afternoon live. these are our headlines: there has been a big rise in violent crime across england and where. the press association reports that police believe they have suspected several russian suspects in the

novichok attack in march. the new brexit secretary dominic raab promises to increase the pace of negotiations with the eu. and in sport, rory mcilroy is out on the sunba ked carnoustie and in sport, rory mcilroy is out on the sunbaked carnoustie course. he is four shots off the lead. stage 12 of the tour de france is under way. geraint thomas, stage 12 of the tour de france is underway. geraint thomas, it stage 12 of the tour de france is under way. geraint thomas, it is his first day in the yellowjersey this year. he is a minute and 25 seconds ahead of chris froome in the overall standings. and lewis hamilton signs a new £40 million a year deal with mercedes that will keep him there until the end of 20/20. more on all those stories in about 15 minutes. president trump has now said he holds vladimir putin personally responsible for russian interference in the 2016 us presidential election. his comments follow the backlash against his remarks at the news conference with the russian president in helsinki, when mr trump appeared to value russia's denials

above the findings of his country's intelligence services. he has since said he misspoke. chris buckler reports from washington. when president trump shared a stage with vladimir putin in helsinki, some within his republican party it appeared all too cosy, particularly as he seemed to side with the russian president over america's own intelligence agencies. now, after days of criticism, in an interview with cbs news, he has taken a deliberately tougher line. you were saying that you agree with us intelligence that russia medal in the election in 2016? yes, and i've said that before, i've said that numerous times before, and i would say that that is true, yes. but you haven't condemned vladimir putin specifically. do you hold him personally responsible? well, i would, because he is in charge of

the country, just like i consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country. as the leader of a country, you would have to hold him responsible, yes. after he returned to washington, the president claimed he misspoke when he said at that now notorious news conference in helsinki that he didn't see why russia would have been involved in interference. 0n twitter, donald trump said some people simply hated the fact that he got along well with president putin. something which he called trumped arrangement syndrome. and in reaching out to russia, the president is continuing to defend his own unique style of diplomacy. the former chair of the bbc trust, lord patten, has said the corporation would be ‘crazy‘ to appeal against the ruling in the sir cliff richard privacy case. sir cliff was awarded an initial £210,000 in damages yesterday,

after a judge ruled that the bbc had infringed his privacy with its coverage of a police raid on his home in 2014. jon donnison has more. # congratulations...# for cliff richard and his fans, something to celebrate after a four—year ordeal. 0ne national treasure, pitted against another. and the bbc the big loser. i don't think this is the bbc journalism at its best. the decisions made by some very good people whom i much respect in the bbc were wrong. this case and those decisions, made in part by bbc editors fran unsworth and jonathan munroe, could end up co—ing the corporation millions in license fee payers‘ money. and the bbc is now considering an expensive appeal. i think it would be crazy for the bbc arguing that there is some principle of freedom of speech involved to appeal this decision. i think they should swallow hard, say they made a mistake, apologise as they have to cliff richard, move on and not do it again. after he left court yesterday,

cliff richard said the bbc apology and more than £200,000 in damages was not enough. he said heads deserved to roll at the bbc. there must be something done at that top echelon of people. this has to be something done that says you cannot do this again. you must not do it again and i'll still not sure why they didn't have some kind of legal advice that would stop them. i was never even arrested, let alone charged, and i've had to suffer all of this financially and more importantly emotionally, for what? for absolutely doing zero. but much of the media has backed the bbc‘s argument on press freedom for this case and believe this might not be the end of it. if we are heading down the road towards outlawing the naming of anyone who is under investigation prior to arrest or charge, as some people are advocating, then, this massive change to the law and also to the rights of the press and the public‘s right to know,

would have to go through parliament and the bbc, ifeel would be justified and would get a lot of support across the media landscape if they do decide to take this case to appeal and even potentially through to the supreme court. cliff richard says it will take time to recover from the mental trauma of this case. but with an appeal still possible, it might not be over. eight people who confronted the london bridge attackers or helped on the night of the attack are being recognised for their bravery with a royal medal. a baker who threw bread crates at the attackers and a banker who died while confronting them are among 20 people included on this year's civilian gallantry list, which rewards "outstanding bravery". caroline davies has more. a summer's evening turned to one of terror. lastjune three attackers armed

with knives drove a van into pedestrians on london bridge before launching an attack. eight people were killed, but the number could have been higher if it hadn't been for the bravery of those who stayed to help. one of the first on the scene was pc wayne marks, a police officer with the british transport police. he was severely injured trying to fend off the attackers with only his baton. bravery was the furthest thing from my mind. what was going through my mind was that people were hurt and dying. the only thing that was going through my head and basicallyjust hold on until the cavalry arrived. and back—up did come. pc leon mcleod, and off duty police officer, charles guenigault. autopilot kicks in, and you just do what you think you need to do and that's what it was. i wasn't really thinking too much ahead or even what i was doing, it was just kind of an automatic reaction really. when i wake up, i see the scars on my face, on my body,

and i know what i did. i know how i came through it. there's no point in trying to hide away from it, you just have to accept it and hopefully it changes you for the better. all three have been recognised by the queen for their bravery, included on this year's civilians gallantry list. also listed are the two people who helped save charles' life. ellen gauntlet and her boyfriend justin jones. even when the gunshots were going off, they stayed and took me to hospital, stayed with me in hospital until they basically knew that i was going to get through it really and i cannot thank them enough. the romanian baker, florin morariu, who threw two bread crates at the terrorists and shouted passers by trying to escape was also recognised. not all who showed bravery survived that night. ignacio echeverria, a spanish banker, was killed trying to defend a woman using his skateboard. 0n the anniversary of the attack, ignacio's father spoke about his son's courage.

translation: i think ignacio did what he had to do. i didn't expect anything less. his son and australian nurse kirsty boden, who was killed as she tried to save someone's life, were also given awards. the scars of that night have still not faded. but after a difficult year, the awards are recognition of the fearlessness shown that evening. i couldn't not do anything. and it's the same that goes for many of my colleagues that night and many of the people there. you know, you see people in danger and it's just the will to do something. caroline davis, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes. we are going to the arctic circle

first. our weather has been pretty extreme. we have had high pressure over us for a long time. but it has been even worse across parts of scandinavia, through sweden and norway, where the same system that's been bringing as our dry weather has also been bringing dry weather there. but it has been even worse because the high pressure has been centred right over sweden and norway. just to the east of sweden, we've got a number of wildfires burning at the moment. about 44 burning at the moment. about 44 burning due to the tinder dry conditions, and this is what they look like. plumes of smoke that you can see right out into space. sweden are calling in help from their neighbours, norway, italy, to get some of the fire resources, the planes that drop water on these wildfires, to try and extinguish these blazes. how unusual is this?

it isa how unusual is this? it is a great question and one thing i was looking at, with the temperatures we have seen in sweden, in may, we had an average temperature in stockholm of 16 celsius, that is day and night combined, that is five celsius above average. climate researchers in sweden suspect that this is a three ina sweden suspect that this is a three in a million new event, so it is incredibly rare. the other thing is, this follows on the back of 1993, their previous may record, and this record set this year is 2 degrees above that. it has smashed that record. so we have got a three in a million years event. it is incredibly rare. so our weather, we are expecting it to break a little bit? just for a time. otherwise there is more hot and sunny weather on the way. the satellite which tells

today's story pretty well. we have got a bit of cloud bubbling up. but a whole heap of cloud just out to the north and west and that is rain bearing cloud and that is finally coming our way. ahead of that it is warm. temperatures will reach 29 degrees across south—east england this afternoon. but this evening and overnight, the rain begins to swing its way in. quite heavy at times for northern ireland and scotland. for england and wales is, we are looking ata dry england and wales is, we are looking at a dry night. looking at this band of rain, we are not all going to get heavy rain but it looks like it will bea heavy rain but it looks like it will be a decent fall of rain across scotla nd be a decent fall of rain across scotland and northern ireland, with brighter spells following for the afternoon. and just as millions of people are facing the prospect of a hosepipe ban next month, here comes the rain. you knew that would happen. we may also see some of the rain pushing across southern wales

and south—west england. that is a little bit more uncertain. one thing thatis little bit more uncertain. one thing that is a bit more worrisome, through the afternoon we could see thundery showers break—out and they could target london and the home counties. but worst—case scenario, we are looking at half months worth of rainfall in half an hour. so we could see some pretty nasty localised flooding. into the weekend, i think there will be a few showers knocking around. they could be sunny spells otherwise. low 20s across scotland and northern ireland will stop 20 degrees in the warmest spot of southern england. on monday, there is a rising trend to temperatures. we are looking at highs climbing to 30 degrees in london, 26 degrees in cardiff, and that he is set to build further next week, particularly across the east, where we are likely to see temperatures in the low 30s. too hot

for many but as well as the heat it is going to turn increasingly humid next week. we have got a return to that hot weather. but before we get there, some welcome rain for the gardens as we go through the next 24 hours. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. there's been a big increase in violent offences recorded by police in england and wales, according to figures out today. and after falling for years, the overall number crimes recorded by the police plateaus. scotland yard won't discuss reports that police have identified several russians they suspect of involvement in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. the brexit secretary dominic raab is set to hold his first talks with eu chief negotiator michel barnier in brussels today. it's his first trip there since taking on the job earlier this month. heroes of the london bridge attacks — policemen and members of the public — two of whom were killed —

have been recognised for their outstanding bravery during the london bridge terror attack. sport now on afternoon live with chris mitchell. we will start with the open, looking tinder dry on some of those greens? the greens are the only thing which is green at carnoustie. the conditions are quite tough. the fa i rwa ys conditions are quite tough. the fairways are baked so when the ball hits them in runs and runs. often into the rough or into the bunker, not often into the hole. very difficult conditions but it hasn't been windy. some players have put together good rounds, but they are players you probably haven't heard of. erik van rooyen is one player, he

plays on the sunshine tour, which you probably haven't heard of. kevin kisner has been around a while. danny willett has been suffering from back problems, but he has had a good round. rory mcilroy starting off on his round. not so good. tiger woods begins at 330 so the galleries will be huge for him. a new contract from lewis hamilton? we have been expecting this for a while and we weren't expecting it today, but the contract he has signed means he will stay at mercedes for another two seasons and he will earn 30 million a year. that could rise to £40 million a year depending on bonuses. the best page driver in formula 1 history —— best paid. he and

mercedes have dominated the last couple of years. hamilton signing on again with mercedes. that will trigger other moves in other teams now they know what hamilton is doing. liverpool's new and very expensive goalkeeper — allison — is having a medical today. with roma defnding the decision to sell him! liverpool are paying £67 million for the roma goalkeeper — a new world record for a ‘keeper. the brazilian had a great record in italy's top league and for brazil. and roma have defended selling him saying they don't lack ambition. liverpool's alex oxlade—chamberlain is expected to miss the majority of the new season according to managerjurgen klopp. the england midfielder missed the world cup and hasn't played since injuring his knee ligaments after a tackle during the champions league semi—final with roma in april. ryan hall — known as one of the hardest men in super league to stop — is leaving leeds rhinos. england's all time leading try—scorer will join the sydney roosters in the nrl in 2019. hall won six grand finals and touched down 231 times

during his time with the rhinos. england's shona mccallin says concussion could ruin her career. mccallin won't be playing at the hockey world cup which gets underway this weekend. the olympic gold medal winner is one of a number of players who have been affected by concussion. she took a blow to the head playing argentina earlier this year. it feels a little bit like a hangover in handcuffs. i've had ankle injuries and knee injuries but ican ankle injuries and knee injuries but i can still go out for dinner and get a coffee and drive home for the weekend, but this committee can't. and it takes over your whole life —— but this, you can't. at times i've been looking down a dark tunnel and there is no light at the end. i

going to get back having a normal life come first and foremost, and then get back to playing hockey? if after six months, i have to make a decision, i will have to make that decision. and we now know which grounds will host next year's ashes series. it gets underway at edbaston on the 5th of august. then they're off to lord's before headingly — australia are the current holders of the urn but have not won an away ashes series since 2001 remember. then it's off to old trafford and finally the oval on the 12th of september. you will have to worry about the light and the weather, perhaps. and stage 12 of the tour de france is under way, geraint thomas of wales is in the leader's yellowjersey, you can follow all the action on the bbc sport website. i'll have more for you in the next hour. more now on the brexit negotiations,

and the european commission has instructed other eu states to prepare for a no—deal brexit scenario, in a report published this morning. it comes as the new brexit secretary dominic raab heads to brussels to meet with the eu's michel barnier. we can now speak to roger bootle from the economic research organisation capital economics. roger is part of economists for free trade, a group of pro brexit economists. thanks forjoining us. what is it that you know that mark carney, the cbi and the pharmaceutical industry don't know because they are warning of massive economic consequences if there is no deal? well, they would, wouldn't they? they warned of massive economic consequences if we dead debate from brexit but they did not happen. —— if we dared. there is not happen. —— if we dared. there is no certainty but we have got to be

clear that trading with the eu under ano clear that trading with the eu under a no deal scenario simply means trading in the same way that we trade with most of the rest of the world. this is trading on wto terms, thatis world. this is trading on wto terms, that is how we do most of our trade outside the eu, so what is the disaster? but we haven't left yet, so those implications haven't been found. you don't understand the point, if we are trading under wto terms that will mean we trade under the same terms that we trade with the same terms that we trade with the united states, china, japan and the united states, china, japan and the rest of the world. not a disaster. where does that leave us though in terms of the idea of a ha rd though in terms of the idea of a hard border between ireland and northern ireland ? hard border between ireland and northern ireland? that is a different issue. not primarily economic, this is about politics, andi economic, this is about politics, and i have looked at this to some extent, but frankly, it looks like a problem that has been manufactured,

exaggerated by a combination of the eu, the irish government and a group of remain people, and through a combination of preregistration and random checks there is not really a serious problem about this border. we don't need a hard border between the irish public and northern ireland. there is a border now —— the irish republic. in terms of taxes and vat, so frankly, after we have left my don't think this is a cause for concern. why is either macro planning for over 900 new customers inspectors at airports if it will be that easy question —— why is it that ireland is planning. you have got to ask them, quite frankly, but this question about barriers, it is build—up to be an enormous problem, but all round the world country's export into the eu and they manage to cope somehow. with

these various frictions and obstacles. this is a vastly in saturated problem. what about the tariffs? the exchange of money? -- exaggerated problem. the tariffs are reg retta ble, exaggerated problem. the tariffs are regrettable, and there is an issue about that, but what we decide to do about that, but what we decide to do about our tariffs is up for grabs, but they are no longer the big problem they once were. manufactured goods, the common external tariff, it is less than 4%, not really an enormous problem. how should businesses in britain prepare for a no deal? bearing in mind they might have less than 12 months to adapt. it is not clear what they can or should do, and i've got a good idea of what the government should do, what it should have done from the start, when we say no deal we don't necessarily mean no agreement on

anything, we mean no overarching trading with the eu, and what the government should be doing is trying to work out those various deals we need to do over things like aviation rights, joint bodies we might belong to, all of those things, it needs to prepare those things and get an agreement with the eu on those, but by no deal we don't need no agreement on anything at all. the government has a lot more preparing to do in fact the business has. thanks forjoining us. the police watchdog is warning there could be a rise in hate crimes after brexit — and that forces in england and wales already have "significant problems" in the way they handle the offences. it looked at how forces responded to allegations and found that often police took up to five days before they visited hate crime victims and in some cases didn't respond at all. here's our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw, with a warning that his report does contain some flashing images. hate crime comes in different forms.

anti—semitic graffiti, like this. an arson attack on a garden shed owned by polish people. and white powder sent to a mosque. police guidance says hate crime should be treated as a priority. officers are meant to attend victims within an hour of an allegation being reported. but the inspectorate of constabulary found the police response is patchy, and in many cases not good enough. the report found too many hate crimes were wrongly recorded. it took police an average of five days to visit victims in 40% of cases it looked at. and there were no visits to hate crime victims in over a third of the 180 cases examined in detail. it's important for victims of hate crime to be asked why it is that they think they've been victimised, so that it's identified from the outset. because if it is identified, it can then and it should then be flagged, and that in turn determines

what service they receive. two years ago, there was a spike in hate crimes reported to police after the eu referendum. the inspectorate warns forces to prepare for a similar increase when britain formally leave the eu next march. the college of policing says, in light of the report, it is reviewing the training and guidance for officers on hate crime. danny shaw, bbc news. the uk government is to compensate thousands of soldiers who faced having to pay more income tax because they're stationed in scotland. anyone earning more than about £26,000 a year now pays higher income tax in scotland than elsewhere in the uk. the ministry of defence says about 8,000 military personnel have been affected, but they will be reimbursed — to ensure that all armed forces staff pay the same rate of tax. students at manchester

university have defaced a muralfeaturing rudyard kipling's poem ‘if‘ — in a stand against the work which they have described as racist. the author's 1895 poem was painted on a wall of the university's newly renovated union building. but student leaders erased the work, replacing it with a piece by maya angelou in a bid to reverse "black and brown voices" being written out of history. the union has apologised for failing to consult students on its choice of poem. rachel is here with the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. there's been a big rise in violent crime in england and wales, according to figures out today. scotland yard won't discuss press association reports — that police believe they've identified several russians — suspected of involvement in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, promises to increase the pace of negotiations with the eu.

here's your business headlines on afternoon live. no world cup boost for retail sales as they dropped 0.5% injune compared to may. the markets reacted with the pound falling to its lowest level against the dollar since september. a sharp drop in profits for sport direct. annual pre—tax profits fell to just over £77 million compared to £281 million a year ago. the drop in value of its stake in debenhams was partly to blame. sports direct currently owns almost 30% of the struggling department store. royal mail's shareholders have rejected a rise in pay packages for the firm's executives. over 70% voted against the resolution at the company's agm, however the vote was non—binding. and burberry turns up the heat — the fashion label burned millions of pounds worth of products in the last financial year, to protect its brand. they destroyed unsold clothes, accessories and perfume worth £28.6m to prevent them being stolen or sold cheaply — that was 6% higher than the value of products the company disposed of in the previous financial year.

we've had some new news on the on going bidding war between comcast and disney. this is a confusing story. 21c fox owns 39% of sky — they have been trying to buy the rest of it — but so have the media giants disney and comcast — and actually disney and comcast don'tjust want sky — they also want 21st c fox. but in the last hour we have heard that comcast are pulling out of their bid for 21st c fox — now they are just pursuing sky. we're nowjoined from new york by our north american business correspondent paul blake. paul, is this move by comcast a surprise and why have they done it?

it comes as a surprise. incredibly confusing, this transatlantic bidding war. the potential acquisition cases. as for why they did it, they have not said explicitly, but the reporting here on wall street comes down to a separate media merger deal involving time warnerand 80 separate media merger deal involving time warner and 80 and see, us government has been working to approve government has been working to a p prove at&t government has been working to approve at&t to buy time warner, and this has sent chills to comcast, who say this merger looks likes their attempt to buy 20th century fox. and if at&t are facing convocations, they may also face them. —— complications. what reaction have we

seen on complications. what reaction have we seen on the markets and from the various companies? everyone has been trying to digests this and we are looking at the dowjones, downjust a bit, everyone is looking at disney, interesting report one of the reporters has called the disney ceo and said, what is your reaction? the ceo wasjust ceo and said, what is your reaction? the ceo was just tearing about morning and responded with a surprise. everyone is saying this looks like disney is going to win this bidding war for 215t century fox. what is it that each of the companies are trying to achieve by these bids? why does comcast want sky? we have seen plenty of these media mergers in the last few months, and also acquisitions, and a

lot of it comes down to facing downstream in competition to —— facing down stream competition from networks like netflix. when it comes to disney and comcast trying to buy zist to disney and comcast trying to buy 215t century fox, by a try to access the library of content from the movie and television library, like the simpsons, for example, and they wa nt the simpsons, for example, and they want access to this as they look ahead to the future of streaming entertainment and streaming media and they want to have access so they can put that out on their platforms or license it to other platforms. paul blake, thanks forjoining us. thank you to paul's new friend who walked into shot. the markets? yes, this is interesting. the sky share price was £19 a share but this

morning it was £15, it has fallen. that is because we are maybe singing and —— saying —— seeing an end to this bidding war. the pound is below $1 34 the first time since september. sterling has had a difficult time for the last couple of weeks. we saw the fall in recent retail sales, and combined with the brexit uncertainty, that is really giving the currency a pummelling in the markets. rachel, thanks for joining us. see you in the next hour. as we've been hearing, official figures show that the number of crimes recorded by police in england and wales has increased by 11%, during the year to the end of march. knife crime has gone up by 16% and homicides by 12% but offences involving guns are down. joining me now is assistant chief constable

jackie sebire, who is also the national police chiefs council's lead on serious and violent crime. how would you account for this change in numbers? there are a number of factors, we record crime much better, so that accounts for some of the increase but they are also drivers especially around drugs and the drug market, that fuels violent crime and county lines, as well, where we have urban gang members moving into market towns and using young people to distribute drugs and that creates enhanced serious violence, and we also come back to the issue of resourcing. police numbers are down and youth service provision is down so there are service provision is down so there a re key service provision is down so there are key challenges about working together to deal with what is happening and the increases that have been shown today. people talk about resources, but where is the evidence that this is directly linked with a change in crime figures? instinctively there feels like there will be a correlation, we

have the lowest police numbers in 20 yea rs have the lowest police numbers in 20 years and social care, the nhs, under extreme stress, so an accumulation of changes of resources , accumulation of changes of resources, to me it is about what we do with the resources we have and it's important that we better coordinate the tactics that work and without partners to work on early intervention —— with our partners. and also the education of young people. how alarmed should members of the public be given there are other statistics based on the experience of people of crime, suggesting there is no overall change in crime levels? there is no overall change in crime levels but we know serious violence has risen. i don't want the public to be alarmed and i'm conscious that when we talk about statistics there is a victim on the end of each one of these statistics, so what we want to do is work with communities and our partners and parents especially around getting these important prevention messages out. it cannot

be normalised for our young people to feel they have to carry a knife. assista nt to feel they have to carry a knife. assistant chief constable, thanks for joining assistant chief constable, thanks forjoining us. as we've been hearing, the european commission has called on eu countries to increase preparations for a no—deal brexit. dominic raab will meet michel barnier later this afternoon. we can now speak to louise stewart, from the federation of small business. what do members make of the prospect of no deal? there are concerns, from businesses of all sizes, that we could be heading to a no deal, only 36 away from when we are set to leave the eu. small businesses welcomed the fact the white paper was published and they thought that was published and they thought that was a good step towards negotiations but there needs to be a ramping up preparations were no deal and the problem is for smaller businesses they do not have the resources ——

for no deal. we have heard about airbus and rolls—royce making plans to move their business perhaps out of the uk because of brexit, but smaller businesses don't have those resources so there is a concern about no deal. there it -- there are divisions regarding your members must what preparations are they making for whatever scenario we end up making for whatever scenario we end up with? —— regarding your members, so what preparations. yes, the membership has been split down the middle, those who export to the eu, they would be willing for a deal to happen and those who don't export and are mainly uk—based, and they don't import, they think a no deal would be fine for them, but what they want, and we are representing all business groups, and we lobby

government and we meet government, and we meet the business secretary ona and we meet the business secretary on a weekly basis, we want them to get on with it and to say what it will look like. they will be publishing these 70 documents in august and september and there needs to be small—business provisions so small—business owners know what they are preparing for, and the statistics are 99% of private businesses in the uk are small businesses in the uk are small businesses so they cannot be ignored. how significant to members would be a restriction on skilled migration and skilled labour coming into the country? that is a big one, they want to maintain easy access to skills, and if you look across britain, they will be people in rural areas who have lots of eu workers working for them, picking fruit for example, and i want to have access. those that export are worried that if there is an increase in regulation and costs for exporting, that will impact them,

1196 exporting, that will impact them, 11% have said they would stop exporting if that happened. how problematic is the issue of the irish border? it is a huge issue and small—business owners in ireland have told us for awhile this is a real problem. they will be delighted theresa may is going to the border they want her to see because there it is people working on both sides of the border every day. what they need is a frictionless border and they want to make sure the government delivers that. louise, thanks forjoining us. time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes. the last two months have been incredibly dry in terms of the weather but we have some welcome rain in the forecast around the corner. today is a day for most of us corner. today is a day for most of us dry weather and spells of sunshine, this was the scene earlier in cumbria. looking at the satellite picture, cloud bubbling up in recent hours, and in the southern uplands that might be enough to bring

feeding showers but otherwise it is a largely dry picture. top temperatures bit higher than yesterday, around 20, but to the north and west, cloud gathering and the prospect of decent rain at last. the wet weather moves into scotland and northern ireland overnight, and ahead of that we have clear spells but it will be a warm and humid night, temperatures falling down to around 17. in the london area. looking at friday, wet weather pushing in across scotland and also getting into northern ireland, clearing through the afternoon, following with brighter skies, and just as the hosepipe ban has been announced for north west england, we have rain working in, it looks to be quite heavy at times, getting into northern wales, as well. further south, the weather front will be weakening so become be sure how much rain will fall across these western areas and further east we will see

some heavy thundery showers breaking out, and they could bring as much as 30 millimetres of rain in the space ofan hourso 30 millimetres of rain in the space of an hour so that is half a month of an hour so that is half a month of rain. it could bring localised flooding. it but still very warm in the south—east, temperatures into the south—east, temperatures into the high 20s. we could see showers overnight in england and wales, maybe some left over in and southern areas on saturday morning, but otherwise dry weather and spells of sunshine, temperatures into the high 20s, peaking around 28. through sunday and monday, a lot of dry weather and temperatures will be building so we are looking at highs of around 30 in london sunday and monday and it gets even hotter next week, hot and monday and it gets even hotter next week, hotand humid monday and it gets even hotter next week, hot and humid weather is set to return with temperature peaking at around 33 as we head into next week. hello, you're watching

afternoon live. today at 3pm. police! a big rise in violent crime in england and wales, according to new figures. everyone is deeply concerned about the rise in violent crime, the worst we have seen for a decade. and we will want to see an end to it. scotland yard won't discuss press association reports that police believe they've identified several russians suspected of involvement in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. meanwhile, the inquest into the death of dawn sturgess, who was poisoned by novichok, opens.

the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, promises tough negotiations with the eu as brussels prepares for a no—deal brexit. we will be starting to step up some of those preparations and some of it will become more publicly facing in the weeks and months ahead. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. and the conditions in carnoustie proving interesting for the golfers. interesting and difficult. rory mcilroy is five of the lead. kevin kisner leads. tiger woods is yet to start. and we'll bejoining you for a full update just after half—past. chris has all the weather. we are looking forward to a rare visitor this very dry summer. we have got some rain in the forecast. also coming up:

up, up and away! we travel to las vegas where a new flying car has been developed. hello, everyone. this is afternoon live. there has been a big rise in violent crimes recorded by police in england and wales, with murder, manslaughter and knife crime all up in the 12 months to march. official figures for the year to march also show a 30% increase in robberies, but offences involving guns are down. the crime survey, which is an indicator of longer—term trends, suggests no change in overall crime levels. richard lister has more. dawn raids this morning in west london, part of an operation aimed at drug dealers and knife crime suspects.

so far this week the operation has seen almost 70 people arrested and nearly 50 charged, part of a growing problem with violent crime. the figures show homicides in england and wales at a ten year high. more than 700 people were victims of murder or manslaughter in the year to the end of march, a 12% rise on the previous year and excludes terror attacks. the figures suggest knife crime is up by 16% and there were 30% more robberies. we know what works, a combination of robust law enforcement and really effective intervention and that is what our strategy is intent on delivering. the report says recorded crimes involving weapons and violence tend to be concentrated in london and other cities. the crime survey, which asked people across england and wales about their experience of crime, suggests overall levels are stable. the crime survey has a limited

sample of the adult population and it seriously under samples young men, who are most likely to be the victims of physical violence so it is no wonder it doesn't show rises that are registering. today's report shows police cannot identify a suspect in more than half of all robberies and 15% of crimes of violence. home office figures today show the number of police officers in england and wales has fallen for the ninth year running. there is only so much officers can do in the available time they have got and we know from our own survey results that the increased pressure and demand on policing is impacting on our officers to adequately do theirjobs appropriately. another arrest this morning, the government says it is spending almost £1 billion more on policing now than three years ago but today's figures suggest the problems are bigger too. danny shawjoins me now.

how are detection rates faring? these were mentioned by richard in his piece and i think there is really worrying news for the home office and police forces because not only are they seeing a surge in violent crimes but they are also seeing that fewer fences are being solved. in terms of the number of suspects charged or summons, that is 996. suspects charged or summons, that is 9%. a year ago it was 11%. and in 2015, when these figures were first compiled, it was 15%. that is a really worrying fall in the number of suspects that are potentially brought tojustice. of suspects that are potentially brought to justice. and how our police force numbers faring? this could potentially relate to those issues. the number of police

officers in england and where is now down to about 120 2400. that is the lowest since 1981. there is also signs that police forces are having to make cutbacks to the front line because of the figures show that front—line policing numbers are down to 100 and 4000. that is down 1600 ina year. to 100 and 4000. that is down 1600 in a year. they have actually held up in a year. they have actually held up quite well but they are starting to fall. is that because police chief and are having to make tough decisions about spending cuts and cutting front line as well? this is clearly worrying. what it suggests and what it could possibly mean is that officers are so stretched there are fewer of them there, there are few investigators there, we know there is a national shortage of detectives, and that is why fewer crimes are being solved and fewer perpetrators brought to justice. and yet the public perception of crime tells a different story. it varies according to where you are. people

are very attuned to what is going on in their local area. if you feel safe walking in the streets where you live, they will give a different a nswer to you live, they will give a different answer to if you say, what is the national picture. that does vary. traditionally, the perception of crime and the fear of crime has been a bit out of kilter with the reality. the reality is, overall, this is a pretty safe country, we are safer than we used to be. the overall rate of offending is lower thanit overall rate of offending is lower than it once was, but in those particular high harm categories, murder, knife crime, robbery, there is definitely a spike. thank you very much. scotland yard has declined to discuss reports that police have identified several russians they suspect of being involved in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. the press association says it has spoken to a source close to the investigation. today, the inquest into the death of dawn sturgess, who was exposed to novichok three months after the original attack, was opened and adjourned. sarah campbell reports.

it's now more than four months since a nerve agent was used to target a former russian spy, sergei skripal and his daughter yulia survived, but the attack led to a huge and complex investigation into how they were poisoned. the british authorities pointed the finger at russia, russia denied any involvement. then last month, two more people fell ill. tragically 44—year—old dawn sturgess died. her partner, charlie rowley, survived. they had come across a small bottle of fluid which turned out to be novichock. the same nerve agent used in the attack in march. the press association says police sources have told them they have pieced together cctv from march and have cross checked with the records of people coming in and out of the uk. several suspects have been identified, and the investigators are sure, according to pa, that the poisoners were russian. today in moscow, russia's ambassador to the uk gave this reaction. this is the report of the media.

unfortunately we don't have an official statement of the british side, i want to hear that from the scotland yard or the foreign office. the metropolitan police have not commented on the reports that suspects have been identified. the metropolitan police have not commented on the reports that suspects have been identified. their investigation continues. sites across salisbury and nearby amesbury remain the subject of finger tip searches. it is painstaking work — so far more than 400 items have been recovered and tested. the forensic element in relation to this, the gathering of forensic evidence, the piecing together of other elements that may well make up the potential prosecution are so exact, and i am reassured by that to some extent, that the forensic side of it is being so painstakingly undertaken by the investigating team. salisbury had just started to return

to normal after the attack in march. the prince of wales tried to help spread the message that it was business at usual. a week later, the second poisoning occurred. a mother of three died and the police are still unable to reassure a worried public there isn't any more discarded novichock. sarah campbell, bbc news. the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, is promising to step up the pace of negotiations with the european union. he'll be in brussels this afternoon for his first talks with the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier. the meeting comes as the european commission called on eu countries to increase preparations for the uk crashing out of the eu without a deal, as our political correspondent chris mason reports. imagine for a moment you were this man, dominic raab, the new brexit secretary. he's off to brussels later to negotiate the first of the commons. after a turbulent week here,

loads of mps are worried the uk could leave the eu next march without a deal, an arrangements for how to cooperate. the advice the government now seems to be hinting at for businesses to prepare for a no deal situation looks a lot like the consequences remainers were criticised during the referendum as project fear. can they reassure the contingency plans will take into account often overlooked areas like clacton? the government's own analysis shows no deal would be a disaster and this week the bank of england warned of economic consequences for the uk. the new brexit secretary said... most of our preparations are developed internally with targeted engagement with relevant parties. we are now at a point where more of this delivery will become more public and the government will release a series of technical notices to set out what businesses

and citizens in various sectors will need to do in a no deal scenario. it is the responsible thing for any government to do. but with conservative backbenchers saying they could reject the prime minister's proposed eu deal, labour said... the burning question for the secretary of state is going to be asked again and again in this house, across the country and i have no doubt by michel barnier later today, is whether he personally is prepared to face down that threat. the government said again today it is working hard to get a deal and the eu says the same thing, but they are also preparing for the opposite. this morning, they published this, their plans for no deal. so what's in it? it describes what it calls the cliff edge scenario of the uk leaving the eu without a withdrawal agreement which would mean there would be no transition period,

no arrangements in place for eu citizens here or uk citizens in the eu, and the eu would apply its tariffs and regulations at its borders. we are working day and night for a deal, it is clear the uk's withdrawal will have repercussions with or without a deal and that's why everybody, in particular economic operators, need to be prepared. and arriving here soon, the brexit secretary dominic raab. over to you, brussels. earlier i spoke to our europe correspondent damian grammaticus and asked him what dominic raab was hoping to achieve on his first miisterial trip to brussels. he will certainly bring a new approach. we know he is going to have dinner with michel barnier little bit later. dominic raab will

be arriving shortly for that meeting. he will sit down with him over dinner as well, trying to construct over dinner as well, trying to co nstru ct a over dinner as well, trying to construct a new relationship, but there isn't much time. and the eu, real questions here about how this process is going to move forward. there are real difficulties, the eu has been pointing out today. set aside all those questions about customs and future partnerships and trade bills and things, what the eu is focusing on now is the withdrawal agreement. the deal that needs to be finished before the end of this year so that the uk can exit next year and the key issues in that what barnier will be questioning dominic raab about, saying about this issue about the irish border particularly, how are they going to solve that? the uk is committed to solving that, is it going to keep to its commitment? if so, how is that going to happen? and this warning of a no

deal, what from the eu 27 perspective could that mean? well, some very, perspective could that mean? well, some very, very serious implications. that warning, a paper published today by the commission here, they say it's not part of the negotiations but it is what they call prudent planning that has been nine months in the works and it is a warning, because of the uncertainties in the negotiation, because they don't know whether there will be a withdrawal agreement, particularly because of that irish border agreement, and that irish border agreement, and that means if there is no agreement, the uk at the end of march next year would leave, would fall outside the eu's legal structures with no transition period, would be treated asa transition period, would be treated as a third country, many, many implications. just to give you an idea, they are talking about trucks, they say they could be long lines of vehicles waiting for customs procedures, because every item being

imported would have to go through all those procedures. any medicines produced outside the eu would have to be certified to meet eu medical standards. aviation rules would be impacted. individuals would have to question, according to this, their own status. there would be no specific arrangements in place for eu citizens in the uk or uk citizens in the u. so the eu is issuing this warning to european countries, european businesses and anybody living in the eu, saying, start to now in case this comes to pass. thank you. you're watching afternoon live. these are our headlines: there's been a big rise in violent crime in england and wales, according to figures out today. scotland yard won't discuss press association reports —— that police believe they've identified several russians —— suspected of involvement in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, promises to increase the pace of negotiations with the eu.

and in sport, time to focus. after missing the last two, tiger woods is about to drive off in his opening round at this year's open. it's all about the man in yellow. stage 12 of the tour de france is under way. geraint thomas' first day with the jersey. he under way. geraint thomas' first day with thejersey. he is under way. geraint thomas' first day with the jersey. he is a under way. geraint thomas' first day with thejersey. he is a minute under way. geraint thomas' first day with the jersey. he is a minute and 25 seconds ahead of chris froome in the overall standings. and lewis hamilton signs a new £40 million a year deal with mercedes which will keep him there until the end of 20/20. —— which will keep him there until the end of 20/20. -- 2020. a six—year—old boy has died after falling from a window in lincoln. police were called to a house on lindum avenue on tuesday night. the boy was taken to hospital with serious injuries. officers said they were treating the fall as an accident and are supporting the family. president trump has now said

he holds vladimir putin personally responsible for russian interference in the 2016 us presidential election. his comments follow the backlash against his remarks at the news conference with the russian president in helsinki, when mr trump appeared to value russia's denials above the findings of his country's intelligence services. he has since said he misspoke. chris buckler reports from washington. when president trump shared a stage with vladimir putin in helsinki, for some within his republican party it appeared all too cosy, particularly as he seemed to side with the russian president over america's own intelligence agencies. now, after days of criticism, in an interview with cbs news, he has taken a deliberately tougher line. you're saying that you agree with us intelligence that russia medled in the election in 2016? yes, and i've said that before, i've said that numerous times before, and i would say that

that is true, yes. but you haven't condemned putin specifically. do you hold him personally responsible? well, iwould, because he is in charge of the country, just like i consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country. as the leader of a country, you would have to hold him responsible, yes. after he returned to washington, the president claimed he misspoke when he said at that now notorious news conference in helsinki that he didn't see why russia would have been involved in electoral interference. on twitter, donald trump said some people simply hated the fact that he got along well with president putin. something which he called trump derangement syndrome. and in reaching out to russia, the president is continuing to defend his own unique style of diplomacy. the former chair of the bbc trust, lord patten, has said the corporation would be

‘crazy‘ to appeal against the ruling in the sir cliff richard privacy case. sir cliff was awarded an initial £210,000 in damages yesterday, after a judge ruled that the bbc had infringed his privacy with its coverage of a police raid on his home in 2014. jon donnison has more. # congratulations...# for cliff richard and his fans, something to celebrate after a four—year ordeal. one national treasure, pitted against another. and the bbc the big loser. i don't think this is the bbc journalism at its best. the decisions made by some very good people whom i much respect in the bbc were wrong. this case and those decisions, made in part by bbc editors fran unsworth and jonathan munroe, could end up co—ing the corporation millions in license fee payers‘ money. and the bbc is now considering

an expensive appeal. i think it would be crazy for the bbc arguing that there is some principle of freedom of speech involved to appeal this decision. i think they should swallow hard, say they made a mistake, apologise as they have to cliff richard, move on and not do it again. after he left court yesterday, cliff richard said the bbc apology and more than £200,000 in damages was not enough. he said heads deserved to roll at the bbc. there must be something done at that top echelon of people. this has to be something done that says you cannot do this again. you must not do it again and i‘ll still not sure why they didn‘t have some kind of legal advice that would stop them. i was never even arrested, let alone charged, and i‘ve had to suffer all of this financially and more importantly emotionally, for what? for absolutely doing zero. but much of the media has backed the bbc‘s argument on press freedom for this case and believe this might not be the end of it.

if we are heading down the road towards outlawing the naming of anyone who is under investigation prior to arrest or charge, as some people are advocating, then, this massive change to the law and also to the rights of the press and the public‘s right to know, would have to go through parliament and the bbc, ifeel would be justified and would get a lot of support across the media landscape if they do decide to take this case to appeal and even potentially through to the supreme court. cliff richard says it will take time to recover from the mental trauma of this case. but with an appeal still possible, it might not be over. the government‘s chief whip is

facing calls to make a statement to parliament after claims of underhand tactics during this week‘s knife edge commons vote on brexit. let‘s talk to our political correspondent, who is at westminster. this is about an mp taking part in a vote, it is about pairing, you better explain that, i think. it is about pairing, you better explain that, ithink. it is a about pairing, you better explain that, i think. it is a parliamentary agreement, if you like, between parties, when you have got an mp who is going to be absent from a vote, it is agreed between opposing parties that then another mp from an opposition party who is going to vote in a different way won‘t actually cast their vote, so in effect they are cancelled out. this can be done when an mp is on maternity leave, so a longer term arrangement, or if there is an absence that is known on the night. cast your mind back to earlier this week when we were discussing those really crunch vote on brexit legislation that was going through the commons. on tuesday night, they

we re the commons. on tuesday night, they were a couple of votes on amendments to the trade bill going through the commons and they were really close votes a nd commons and they were really close votes and it was really to the wire as to whether the government was going to win them or not. there was a band of rebels who could have potentially voted against the government. what transpired was that one mp,jo government. what transpired was that one mp, jo swinson, the liberal democrat who is on maternity leave, she was paid up with the conservative party chairman brandon lewis. in that agreement, jo swinson would not vote and brandon lewis would not vote and brandon lewis would not vote and brandon lewis would not have voted either. it turned out that in the two really close votes the government was worried about on tuesday night, brandon lewis did in fact vote. jo swinson very angry, saying this was a breach of an agreement, this is an arrangement between parties. brandon lewis said it was an honest mistake made in hectic circumstances. there

was an apology from the chief whip, julian smith, saying this wasn‘t meant to happen. here is a little bit of brandon lewis being asked about it. what happened last night? what happened? why didn't you stick to the agreement with jo swinson? you we nt the agreement with jo swinson? you went through the division lobbies. what happened? went through the division lobbies. what happened ? you went through the division lobbies. what happened? you are not going to answer our questions? some mps don't believe it was a mistake. what is your response to that? was it really a mistake that you went through the division lobbies? theresa may also said it was an error, she said it wasn‘t good enough, but it was done in error. there is some consideration of

looking at proxy voting instead of this arrangement. what happened this morning, there were further reports saying that in fact, three tory mps had been asked by the chief whip julian smith to break their pairing arrangements. so they were a number of different arrangements going on between mps of different parties on that evening on tuesday, and there we re that evening on tuesday, and there were reports this morning suggesting that three tory mps have in fact been asked about that pairing arrangement because of just been asked about that pairing arrangement because ofjust how tight the votes were. there were more than one or two votes in it but they were very close. those were raised earlier today. it isa raised earlier today. it is a deep regret to me that that breaking of the peer happened in error. i assured the house yesterday... i assured the house yesterday... i assured the house yesterday that it was an error that the chief whip and my right

honourable friend the member for great yarmouth have both —— both apologised for. there were three beers on tuesday, i was one of them, idid not beers on tuesday, i was one of them, i did not receive any call from anyone telling me to vote —— three pairs. the breakdown withjo swinson, the liberal democrat mp, who appeared brandon lewis voted in those two votes, they are insisting that was a mistake but it is understood there was consideration by the chief whip of deliberately breaking other short—term pairing arrangements, so arrangements that were put together on an ad hoc basis for that night for particular vote when mps have other commitments or were out of the country. it is understood none of those actually went ahead but the fa ct those actually went ahead but the fact that there was a consideration of breaking these arrangements, which in effect is what keeps parliamentary votes going, when mps

have to vote physically in person, go through the voting lobbies, and that has caused quite a lot of angen that has caused quite a lot of anger. it has just been raised within the last half an hour or so in the commons. they don't like to hear it but here is what one honourable member from the conservative benches is quoted as saying. julian told me i was needed and told me to come in and vote. of course he knew i was paid, ididn't vote. of course he knew i was paid, i didn't vote, and honoured my peer, and he demanded to know why not afterwards. it then appears he told the prime minister it was all an honest mistake. now, madame deputy speaker, i have no doubt or any reason not to believe that the leader of the house is only relating what she has been told to say. given this, how can we compel the chief whip to come to the dispatch box to account for his actions because if the trust of the pairing system has been abused in this way, he must

surely now resign. so clearly some pressure now on the chief whip, julian smith. we haven‘t heard from him today. we haven‘t heard from him today. we haven‘t heard from him beyond his initial apology to jo swinson, but heard from him beyond his initial apology tojo swinson, but it heard from him beyond his initial apology to jo swinson, but it seems, although it sounds quite technical, it isa although it sounds quite technical, it is a crucial part of parliamentary procedure and how voting takes place. when we are talking about crucial bits of legislation when the stakes are very high, especially during this brexit process , high, especially during this brexit process, there is clearly quite a lot at stake and quite a lot going on, so the government chief whip julian smith under pressure to explain himself, either in the commons or, as you heard from labour and the liberal democrats, calling on the government chief whip to come to the commons to explain himself, and they say if it is proved that he asked for those arrangements to be broken, he should resign. thank you very much. time for a look at the weather forecast. we have got some rain in the

forecast which is a bit of a rarity forecast which is a bit of a rarity for this very dry summer. some rain tomorrow but the rest of the day drive. north—west scotland, there is a weather front moving in, drive. north—west scotland, there is a weatherfront moving in, bringing rain by the end of the day. this area of rain is going to be quite heavy as it moves into scotland and also northern ireland, ringing both welcome falls of rain. further south for england and were, it stays dry overnight. quite humid and temperatures slowly falling back to 17 degrees. looking at the picture for friday, we have got this weather front that is going to bring some rain from scotland and northern ireland, pushing that rain across north—west england and wales, but the weather front will probably wea ken the weather front will probably weaken as it works southwards from there. we could see some torrential thundery downpours breaking out across parts of eastern england tomorrow afternoon. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. new figures show a significant increase in violent crime in england and wales.

and after falling for years, the overall number of crimes recorded by the police plateaus. scotland yard won‘t discuss reports that police have identified several russians they suspect of involvement in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. the brexit secretary dominic raab is set to hold his first talks with eu chief negotiator michel barnier in brussels today. it‘s his first trip there since taking on the job earlier this month. heroes of the london bridge — police officers and members of the public — two of whom were killed — have been recognised for their outstanding bravery during the london bridge terror attack. it‘s been a record breaking year for book publishers — as book sales last year increased by 5% on the year before. but authors warn they‘re seeing less and less of those profits. sport now on afternoon live with chris mitchell. we start with the latest from the open championship

at carnoustie. where the opening players have been making the most of the dry and warm conditions. our reporterjohn watson joins us live now from carnoustie. how is jordan spieth how isjordan spieth doing? how is jordan spieth doing? he was doing very well, but he dropped four shots in his last four, and he has finished in the clubhouse at one over par. war has found the going tough —— rory mcilroy has found the going tough. he is level par at the moment. justin rose, hoping to win the open this year, he has struggled as well, made to pay with a double bogey at the 14th. he is in the clubhouse at one over as well. looking at the leaderboard, kevin

kisner is out in front on five under par. impressive round from the american. he was tied 54th last year. he is putting himself in a good position. erik van rooyen is behind him. notable british players. matthew southgate alongside danny willett on two under par. danny willett on two under par. danny willett producing five birdies in his round. trying to recapture the form that saw him win the masters event. he had bogeys on his last two holes otherwise he would have been higher up the leaderboard. huge crowds gathering around the first tee, tiger woods back here for the first time in two years. huge cheer. we have four groups going out at

around 415. thanks forjoining us. lewis hamilton has signed a new two year contract to stay at mercedes. we understand he‘ll earn at least £30 million a year, but that could rise to £40 million depending on bonuses. it means he remains the best—paid driver in formula one history. "we are on the same wavelength both on and off track", hamilton said. mercedes have dominated f1 since 2014, winning four consecutive drivers‘ and constructors‘ championship doubles. hamilton has won three of those titles, with the fourth going to former team—mate nico rosberg, who retired after becoming champion in 2016. hamilton is eight points behind ferrari‘s sebastian vettel in this year‘s championship before this weekend‘s german grand prix, which marks the halfway point of the season. ryan hall — known as one of the hardest men in super league to stop — is leaving leeds rhinos. england‘s all time leading try—scorer will join the sydney roosters in the nrl in 2019. hall won six grand finals and touched down 231 times during his time with the rhinos. england‘s shona mccallin says concussion could ruin her career. mccallin won‘t be playing at the hockey world cup which gets underway this weekend.

the olympic gold medal winner is one of a number of players who have been affected by concussion. she took a blow to the head playing argentina earlier this year. it feels a little bit like a hangover in handcuffs. i've had ankle injuries and knee injuries but i can still go out for dinner and get a coffee and drive home for the weekend, but this, you can't. and it takes over your whole life. at times i've been looking down a dark tunnel and there is no light at the end. concussion is relentless. am i going to get back to having a normal life, first and foremost, and then get back to playing hockey? if after six months it's not clear, and i have to make a decision, i will have to make that decision. and stage 12 of the tour de france is well under way, geraint thomas of wales is in the leader‘s yellowjersey,

you can follow all the action on the bbc sport website, and live commentary has just started on five live sports extra. i‘ll have more for you in the next hour. eight people who confronted the london bridge attackers, or helped on the night of the attack, are being recognised for their bravery with a royal medal. a baker who threw bread crates at the attackers, and a banker who died while confronting them, are among 20 people included on this year‘s civilian gallantry list — which rewards "outstanding bravery". caroline davies has more. a summer‘s evening turned to one of terror. lastjune three attackers armed with knives drove a van into pedestrians on london bridge before launching an attack. eight people were killed, but the number could have been higher if it hadn‘t been for the bravery of those who stayed to help. one of the first on the scene was pc wayne marks, a police officer

with the british transport police. he was severely injured trying to fend off the attackers with only his baton. bravery was the furthest thing from my mind. what was going through my mind was that people were hurt and dying. the only thing that was going through my head and basicallyjust to hold on until the cavalry arrived. and back—up did come. pc leon mcleod, and off duty police officer, charles guenigault. autopilot kicks in, and you just do what you think you need to do and that‘s what it was. i wasn‘t really thinking too much ahead or even what i was doing, it was just kind of an automatic reaction really. when i wake up, i see the scars on my face, on my body, and i know what i did. i know how i came through it. there's no point in trying to hide away from it, you just have to accept it and hopefully it changes you for the better. all three have been recognised by the queen for their bravery, included on this year‘s civilians gallantry list. also listed are the two people

who helped save charles‘ life. ellen gauntlet and her boyfriend justin jones. even when the gunshots were going off, they stayed and took me to hospital, stayed with me in hospital until they basically knew that i was going to get through it really and i cannot thank them enough. the romanian baker, florin morariu, who threw two bread crates at the terrorists and shouted passers by trying to escape was also recognised. not all who showed bravery survived that night. ignacio echeverria, a spanish banker, was killed trying to defend a woman using his skateboard. on the anniversary of the attack, ignacio‘s father spoke about his son‘s courage. translation: i think ignacio did what he had to do. i didn‘t expect anything less. his son and australian nurse kirsty boden, who was killed as she tried to save someone‘s life, were also given awards. the scars of that night

have still not faded. but after a difficult year, the awards are recognition of the fearlessness shown that evening. i couldn‘t not do anything. and it‘s the same that goes for many of my colleagues that night and many of the people there. you know, you see people in danger and it‘s just the will to do something. caroline davis, bbc news. well, hassan zubier was on holiday with his family in finland last year when he stepped in to stop a man who was stabbing people in the street. two women were killed, but it could have been more had it not been for hassan‘s actions. he suffered life changing injuries as a result and has been awarded the george cross for bravery. i‘m delighted to say that he joins me from norway now. thanks forjoining us. tell us briefly about the incident. we were

in finland. ijust heard a scream andi in finland. ijust heard a scream and i turned my head around and there was this man standing over woman, soaring there was this man standing over woman, soaring on there was this man standing over woman, soaring on her throat, so i rushed to her. the man ran away. i got stabbed four times, in the neck and shoulder and on the left side of my chest, so i lost one and a half litres of blood. i was trying to save this woman who was severely cut in her throat and sadly she died. but that was what basically happened. this sounded is if you did not realise what was happening to begin with when you were under attack? no, it took the third

stabbed when i realised it was a terrorist attack. but i was never afraid. i was trying to do my best to save this girl‘s life, and since i was already stabbed, i was thinking, if he blows me up, it doesn‘t matter. my primary goal was to try to save her life. as a consequence you sustained pretty terrible injuries which you are living with? yes. i'm in a wheelchair and i‘ve got nerve pain andi wheelchair and i‘ve got nerve pain and i can‘t go to the toilet. i can‘t sleep, only about four hours a night. it is a new life for me. very philosophical way of looking at it. you are a paramedic by training and you have been described as a hero but you have brushed off those components? yes. laughter

before the attack i was like nobody, a normal person, and then this attack, i became a hero. i didn‘t like that in the beginning but my friend said if i was someone else who did what i did, wouldn‘t you think they were heroic, and that is true, i would think they were heroic, and that is true, iwould have think they were heroic, and that is true, i would have done. think they were heroic, and that is true, iwould have done. but think they were heroic, and that is true, i would have done. but from my point of view i‘m not a hero, i‘m just a paramedic who did his best to try to save a person‘s life. that is the way i look at it but i understand that people think of me like a hero. you were born in kent and you were now given the george medal, and the committee said that your actions prevented further loss of life that you have now been given the george medal. what does the award main? —— main? —— mean.

the george medal. what does the award main? -- main? -- mean. i'm still getting goose bumps, and i‘m very honoured to receive this matter. but also, i‘m thinking that this medal is also for all those heroes and victims who won‘t receive it. at the end of the day the terrorists or whoever, at the end of the day the victims are still there with the pain and their financial problems, and i think this medal is for the victims and all the heroes who tried to fight off terrorists. but i‘m extremely honoured and since i‘m a royalist, going to buckingham palace and maybe meeting the queen, thatis palace and maybe meeting the queen, that is so big for me. i hope you do. you are immensely modest and it

is richly deserved. thanks for joining us. you are welcome. the police watchdog is warning that there could be a rise in hate crimes after brexit — and that forces in england and wales already have "significant problems" in the way they handle the offences. it looked at how forces responded to allegations and found that often police took up to five days before they visited hate crime victims and in some cases didn‘t respond at all. with me in the studio is will mayrick, a victim of a homophobic hate crime on the london underground in october last year. thanks forjoining us. briefly what happened? i was on the underground with a group of friends going to a fa ncy dress with a group of friends going to a fancy dress event and on the way there a group of guys got on and they started shouting homophobic abuse they carried on going and going. one of my friends said this

is not ok, they carried on. i said, give it a rest. they grabbed hold of me and got me in a headlock and told me and got me in a headlock and told me to apologise for being gay and then they made gestures of trying to sta b then they made gestures of trying to stab me. what was the outcome? after six months they found them after a media appeal but it took time because they were 16 and 17 and the outcome was £150 fine for each of them and a 12 month referral to the police will stop what was your view of that? it is a kick in the teeth because i don‘t feel homophobic hate crime especially when they were possibly threatening me with my life has been taken seriously enough. to have community service or make them work lgbt charity would much more powerful. —— work with eight lgbt

charity for the how were the police? they were fantastic. i was kept informed to a point. at times i did feel like i had to chase it slightly, and i do thank my friends and family for the support i received from them because at times i... it was, he is a leaflet about support for a victim, but there wasn‘t the constant... there was no phone call to say, are you ok? it was, we will find you a leaflet which tells you how you can support a —— contact a support network. which tells you how you can support a -- contact a support network. why we re a -- contact a support network. why were there gaps in the support? there was a stretch because one person was handling up to 30 cases and that was in my case, and because my case was such

and that was in my case, and because my case was such a and that was in my case, and because my case was such a high case, high priority for them, there were other cases that were lower priority, and would have just been, cases that were lower priority, and would havejust been, if cases that were lower priority, and would have just been, if something is became more important, they get left. we have a watchdog now, saying they are expecting significant problems because of a possible rise in these hate crime offences after brexit. what should be done to prevent that? you need more education in schools, and i volunteer for a charity and they do great work in schools for awareness, and also education in the police force to challenge more homophobic slurs and hate. do you do that work asa slurs and hate. do you do that work as a result of this attack? absolutely. i got contacted by one of the charities straightaway to say, would i come and speak in a school, and i spoke in a school in east london at the end of january.

and seeing the effect it had and the change those shown people had and how, when a lot of people put their hand up to say they had been homophobic within the classroom, and then when you tell your story first and, and they realise i‘m gay, but i‘m no different to them —— first—hand. then they think, what was the point of being hobo phobic? —— homophobic. education is very important. at the end of the class the majority of them turned around and said they would not be homophobic ever again because they know the effect it would have. sounds simple but very effective. thanks forjoining us. the uk government is to compensate thousands of soldiers who faced having to pay more income tax because they‘re stationed in scotland. anyone earning more than about £26,000 a year now pays higher income tax in scotland than elsewhere in the uk.

the ministry of defence says about 8,000 military personnel have been affected, but they will be reimbursed — to ensure that all armed forces staff pay the same rate of tax. the race is on to develop the first flying car: aston martin has a prototype in development, and now a company called kitty hawk, which is owned by the founder of google larry page, has developed a version. it‘s taking pre—orders for its model — and our north america techonology reporter dave lee has been to see one in las vegas. so here it is, the kitty hawk flyer. i‘m sitting in it right now. it‘s very very simple in here, just two controls — one for altitude, one for the direction of where this thing can go. around me you‘ll see there are ten propellers, ten motors that keep this thing in the air.

essentially, i guess you could say it‘s just basically a big drone that a human being can fit in. right now, they limit the speed, to around six miles an hour. the battery life will keep it going for around 20 minutes. all of that will improve in time, they certainly make it go faster right now, butjust to be cautious they are keeping it around six miles an hour. in terms of when you can get one of these, the company is taking preorders right now. they won‘t tell us exactly how much it‘s going to cost, but they say it‘s going to be comparable to a high end electric car, so the tens of thousands of dollars, i guess you could say. but what we‘re sitting in, many people think is a glimpse of the future. they say their goal is to eliminate traffic, and that‘s a goal i think many of us can get behind. whether it will be in one of these, that remains to be seen, but it‘s certainly a very interesting and futuristic concept. that was dave lee reporting. rachel is here — in a moment

she will be telling us what‘s hot and what‘s not in the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. there‘s been a big rise in violent crime in england and wales, according to figures out today. scotland yard won‘t discuss press association reports — that police believe they‘ve identified several russians — suspected of involvement in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, promises to increase the pace of negotiations with the eu. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. no world cup boost for retail sales as they dropped 0.5% injune compared to may. the markets reacted with the pound falling to its lowest level against the dollar since september. comcast pulls out of the bidding process for 21st century fox — leaving the door open for disney to seal the deal. however, the two giants are still both in the hunt for sky. royal mail‘s shareholders have rejected a rise in pay packages for the firm‘s executives.

over 70% voted against the resolution at the company‘s agm, however the vote was non—binding. and burberry turns up the heat — the fashion label burned millions of pounds worth of products in the last financial year, to protect its brand. they destroyed unsold clothes, accessories and perfume worth £28.6m to prevent them being stolen or sold cheaply — that was 6% higher than the value of products the company disposed of in the previous financial year. figures out from sports direct today — pretax profit down? the figures came out today. sharp drop in pretax profits — £77m to the end of april — the previous year it was £281 million. a significant drop. now if you strip out one off situations like the fact

the previous years figures were massively boosted by the sale of dunlop and the fact that they have made an £85m loss on their stake in debenhams — the underlying pre—tax profits rose to £152.9m from £113.7m the year before. but what they are actually banking is £77.1m. so let‘s start there with our guest chris wooton the deputy chief financial officer of sports direct. chris, how would you say the company has performed over the last year? i would say as shown by the underlying trading result, it has gone up 12.2%, so it has been an exceptional year. you have covered the reported profit is down for the one—offs you mentioned. we took accounting market to market write—down on dabblings but it is just that, the accounting adjustment. we don't hold our strategic adjustments for short—term

gains, it is about being collaborative and working with them, so collaborative and working with them, so that is the underlying figure we should concentrate. sports direct owns almost 30% of debenhams and 30% is the point at which a takeover bid would be forced. you have taken 85 minute pounds hit on your site. —— an £85 million hit on your state. mike ashley has said he will be smashing into them about why they did not do anything sports direct suggests. mike knows retail and he has the reasonable principles. right place, right product, right time. it not rocket science for the he feels he can add value to debenhams and we are trying to work with them. he can probably give you a better flavour of that but we are still talking to them and hoping to move it forward.

sports direct also has an 11% stake in house of fraser. given those sta kes in house of fraser. given those stakes and the fact you have made those acquisitions looking at the long—term, how are you feeling about the future of the high street? yes, you could say there is a tsunami happening in the high street at the moment but i can only talk about ourselves, we are in a strong place, on ourjourney for our innovation strategy which is led by mike murray and going very well. we are confident in where we are going, but we are cautious and we have got to be careful. our core principles are being conservative and consistent and simple. sd uk sales were down 2% over the year to £2.2bn — is that a concern for the business? that is slightly distorted because la st that is slightly distorted because last year was slightly longer, and

actually it is pretty flat, and that isa actually it is pretty flat, and that is a good result. thanks forjoining us. is a good result. thanks forjoining us. the markets? the ftse is up, a lot of that is to do with sterling. it was down below $1 and 30 for the first time since september. sky share price falling. that is because comcast have pulled out of the bidding war. thanks for joining us. we are keeping a close eye on brussels where michel barnier is going to meet the new brexit secretaryjohn —— dominic raab who is promising an increase in pace of those negotiations. time for a look at the weather. here‘s chris fawkes. the last two months have been incredibly dry in terms of the weather but we have some welcome rain in the forecast around the corner.

today is a day for most of us of dry weather and spells of sunshine, this was the scene earlier in cumbria. looking at the satellite picture, cloud bubbling up in recent hours, and in the southern uplands that might be enough to bring fleeting showers but otherwise it is a largely dry picture. top temperatures bit higher than yesterday, around 27—28, but to the north and west, cloud gathering and the prospect of decent rain at last. the wet weather moves into scotland and northern ireland overnight, and ahead of that we have clear spells but it will be a warm and humid night, temperatures falling down to around 17 in the london area. looking at friday, wet weather pushing in across scotland and also getting into northern ireland, clearing through the afternoon, following with brighter skies. and just as the hosepipe ban has been announced for north west england, we have rain working in,

and it looks to be quite heavy at times, getting into northern wales, as well. further south, the weather front will be weakening so we can‘t be sure how much rain will fall across these western areas. and further east we will see some heavy thundery showers breaking out, and they could bring as much as 30 millimetres of rain in the space of an hour so that is half a month of rain. it could bring localised flooding. but still very warm in the south—east, temperatures into the high 20s. we could see showers overnight in england and wales, maybe some left over in eastern and southern areas on saturday morning, but otherwise dry weather and spells of sunshine, with temperatures into the high 20s, peaking around 28. through sunday and monday, a lot of dry weather and temperatures will be building so we are looking at highs of around 30 in london sunday and monday, and it gets even hotter next week,

hot and humid weather is set to return with temperatures peaking at around 33 as we head into next week. hello, you‘re watching afternoon live. i‘m martine croxall. today at 4.00: we will take you to brussels in a moment. police! a big rise in violent crime in england and wales, according to new figures. everyone is deeply concerned about the rise in violent crime, the worst we‘ve seen in a decade, and we all want to see an end of it. scotland yard won‘t discuss press association reports that police believe they‘ve identified several russians suspected of involvement in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. meanwhile, the inquest into the death of dawn sturgess, who was poisoned by novichok, opens. we can cross to brussels, where brexit secretary dominic raab is meeting the eu‘s chief

negotiator michel barnier. that is for the first time. michel barnier is speaking. translation: also on internal and external security... a close partnership between us is more important than ever. in english: our challenge will be to find common ground between the eu and the uk position. that is all for now. more is to come. stay tuned and i will see you again tomorrow after the council. thank you very much. dominick, now to you. thank you very much but can i also thank your team for the excellent work they have done up until this point. we have made progress in the

withdrawal agreement, particularly on citizens' rights, but uk citizens on citizens' rights, but uk citizens on the continent here but also eu citizens in the uk, and the ample mentation period. there are still gaps to fill but we have taken stock and made good progress and we look forward to making more progress today. it is now baikal we make progress on this... —— it is vital to make progress. i discussed the detailed proposals in our white paper have seen and i am looking forward with renewed energy, and figure, to look at the detail of all of this. as michel barnier has told us, the clock is ticking, sol of this. as michel barnier has told us, the clock is ticking, so i look forward to intensifying and heating up forward to intensifying and heating up negotiations and making sure we are in the best position to get the best deal. thank you very much. we will see you tomorrow. goodbye. short and sweet and rather cordial. welcome, as michel barnier, the eu‘s chief negotiator meets the new

brexit secretary, dominic raab, for the first time. dominic raab to that post after david davis resigned after saying he could not support theresa may‘s plan which came out of the meeting at chequers. some progress, dominic raab says, on citizens rates and the implementation period, but he promises them and figure, an in the negotiations. that is with the eu 27... only this morning the european commission warning eu member countries and businesses to prepare for bridging crashing out of the eu with no deal. they fear there could bea with no deal. they fear there could be a great deal of disruption, particularly for business, if there is no deal. there will be more from brussels later this hour here on afternoon live. there has been a big rise in violent crimes recorded by police in england and wales, with murder, manslaughter and knife crime all up in the 12 months to march. official figures for the year to march also show a 30% increase in robberies, but offences involving guns are down. the crime survey, which is an indicator of longer—term trends, suggests no change in

overall crime levels. richard lister has more. police! dawn raids this morning in west london, part of an operation aimed at drug dealers and knife crime suspects. so far this week the operation has seen almost 70 people arrested and nearly 50 charged, part of a growing problem with violent crime. the figures show homicides in england and wales at a ten—year high, more than 700 people were victims of murder or manslaughter in the year to the end of march, a 12% rise on the previous year and excludes terror attacks. the figures suggest knife crime is up by 16% and there were 30% more robberies. we know what works from the past, a combination of robust law enforcement and really effective prevention and that is what our strategy is intent on delivering, so we can put an end to this scourge of terrible violence. the report says recorded crimes involving weapons and violence tend to be concentrated in london and other cities.

the crime survey, which asks people across england and wales about their experience of crime, suggests overall levels are stable. the crime survey has a limited sample of the adult population and it seriously undersamples young men, who are most likely to be the victims of physical violence, so it is no wonder it doesn‘t show the rises that the police are registering. today‘s report shows police cannot identify a suspect in more than half of all robberies and 15% of crimes of violence. home office figures today show the number of police officers in england and wales has fallen for the ninth year running. there is only so much officers can do in the available time they have got, and we know from our own survey results that this increased pressure and demand on policing is impacting on our officers to adequately do theirjobs appropriately. another arrest under the operation this morning. the government says it is spending

almost £1 billion more on policing now than three years ago, but today‘s figures suggest the problems are bigger too. richard lister, bbc news. i spoke earlier to assistant chief constable jackie sebire, who is the national police chiefs council‘s lead on serious and violent crime. i asked her how she would account for the change in the figures. i think there are a number of factors. first of all, we record crime much better, so that accounts for some of the increase, but there are some real drivers, especially around drugs and the drug market. the drug market does fuel violent crime. and county lines, as well, where we have urban gang members moving into market towns and using young people to distribute drugs, and that create enhanced serious violence. and we also come back to the issue of resourcing. police numbers are down and youth service provision is down, so there are key challenges about working together to deal with what is happening and the increases that have been shown today.

people always talk about resources, but where is the evidence that this is directly linked with a change in crime figures? well, instinctively there feels like there will be a correlation. we‘ve got the lowest police numbers for 20 years, and social care and the nhs are under extreme stress, so there‘s an accumulation of changes of resources. to me it is about what we do with the resources we have, and it‘s important that we better coordinate the tactics that work and with our partners to work on early intervention, and also the education of young people. how alarmed should members of the public be given there are other statistics based on the experience of people of crime, suggesting there is no overall change in crime levels? there is no overall change in crime levels, absolutely, but we do know that serious violence has risen. i don‘t want the public to be alarmed and i‘m conscious that when we talk about statistics

there is a victim on the end of each one of these statistics, so what we want to do is work with communities, work with our partners and parents especially around getting these really important prevention messages out. it cannot be normalised for young people to feel they have to carry a knife. scotland yard has declined to discuss reports that police have identified several russians they suspect of being involved in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. the press association says it has spoken to a source close to the investigation. today, the inquest into the death of dawn sturgess, who was exposed to novichok three months after the original attack, was opened and adjourned. sarah campbell reports. it‘s now more than four months since a nerve agent was used to target a former russian spy. sergei skripal and his daughter yulia survived, but the attack led to a huge and complex investigation into how they were poisoned. the british authorities pointed

the finger at russia, and russia denied any involvement. then last month, two more people fell ill. tragically 44—year—old dawn sturgess died. her partner, charlie rowley, survived. they had come across a small bottle of fluid which turned out to be novichock. the same nerve agent used in the attack in march. the press association says police sources have told them they have pieced together cctv from march and have cross—checked with the records of people coming in and out of the uk. several suspects have been identified, and the investigators are sure, according to pa, that the poisoners were russian. today in moscow, russia‘s ambassador to the uk gave this reaction. this is the report of the media. unfortunately we don‘t have an official statement of the british side — i want to hear that from the scotland yard or the foreign office. the metropolitan police have not commented on the reports that to date via social media this

security minister ben wallace said of this... the metropolitan police have not commented on the reports that suspects have been identified. their investigation continues. sites across salisbury and nearby amesbury remain the subject of finger tip searches. it is painstaking work — so far more than 400 items have been recovered and tested. the forensic element in relation to this, the gathering of forensic evidence, the piecing together of other elements that may well make up the potential prosecution are so exact, and i am reassured by that to some extent, that the forensic side of it is being so painstakingly undertaken by the investigating team. salisbury had just started to return to normal after the attack in march. the prince of wales tried to help spread the message that it was business at usual. a week later, the second poisoning occurred. a mother of three died

and the police are still unable to reassure a worried public there isn‘t any more discarded novichock. sarah campbell, bbc news. the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, is promising to step up the pace of negotiations with the european union. he‘ll be in brussels this afternoon for his first talks with the eu‘s chief negotiator michel barnier. the meeting comes as the european commission called on eu countries to increase preparations for the uk crashing out of the eu without a deal, as our political correspondent chris mason reports. imagine for a moment you were this man, dominic raab, the new brexit secretary. he‘s off to brussels later to negotiate, but first to the commons. after a turbulent week here, loads of mps are worried the uk could leave the eu next march without a deal, an arrangement for how to cooperate. the advice the government now seems to be hinting at for businesses

to prepare for a no deal situation looks a lot like the consequences we remainers were criticised for during the referendum as project fear. can my honorable friend assure me that the government's contingency plans will take into account often overlooked areas like clacton? the government's own analysis shows no deal would be a financial disaster and this week the bank of england governor warned thata no deal brexit would have big economic consequences for the uk. the new brexit secretary said... most of our no deal preparations are developed internally with targeted engagement with relevant parties. we are now at a point where more of this delivery will become more public and over the summer the government will release a series of technical notices to set out what uk businesses and citizens in various sectors will need to do in a no deal scenario, and make public more of our preparations. it is the responsible thing for any government to do. but with conservative backbenchers saying they could reject the prime minister‘s proposed eu deal, labour said... the burning question

for the secretary of state is going to be asked again and again in this house, across the country, and i have no doubt by michel barnier later today, is whether he personally is prepared to face down that threat. the government said again today it is working hard to get a deal, and the eu says the same thing, but they are also preparing for the opposite. this morning, they published this, their plans for no deal. so what‘s in it? it describes what it calls the cliff edge scenario of the uk leaving the eu without a withdrawal agreement, which would mean there would be no transition period, no arrangements in place for eu citizens here or uk citizens in the eu, and the eu would apply its tariffs and regulations at its borders. we as a comission are working day and night for a deal,

and it is clear the united kingdom‘s withdrawal will have repercussions with or without a deal, and that‘s why everybody, in particular economic operators, need to be prepared. and arriving here soon, the brexit secretary dominic raab. over to you, brussels. chris mason, bbc news. that is just where we will go now, to brussels. we can speak to our correspondent in brussels, damian grammaticas. dominic raabe promised more vim and vigour. how will that go down? the eu wants new impetus in the negotiations because they are stuck on the key issues and what we heard a few month ago was michel barnier standing next to dominic raab laying out the two areas where things have to happen. he said in the next 13

weeks, because that is when in october eu leaders meet for the summerand october eu leaders meet for the summer and those two issues at the same and we have heard about all the time. ireland agreeing a legally operable, mr barnier said, time. ireland agreeing a legally operable, mr barniersaid, backstop to assure there is no border, and also the broad framework of a future trading relationship. interesting, mr barnier added, that he said the eu was already offering a close trading partnership, but it was crucial that they also agreed a security partnership, michel barnier‘s words were a close partnership is more important than ever are given the geopolitical situation. you can read into that nato, america, russia, everything going on around us. only this morning the european commission said we must get ready for there being no deal. the european commission is still saying that. interestingly is coming from a different branch of the

commission. you have one department negotiating and the other department has been tasked with preparing for what happens, and they have issued this document today saying we have to prepare or the eu has to prepare for the prospect of the negotiations failing to reach a conclusion in that very short time span. that preparation, the commission is saying, would therefore have to be what happens in the event of no deal being reached. huge legal ramifications of the uk quitting with no legal deal whatsoever... and many, with no legal deal whatsoever... and any with no legal deal whatsoever... and many, many consequences than for individual businesses, countries, trade consequences and ports and customs checks, aviation, transport of medicine, and the individuals being able to carry their professional qualifications and use them in the eu... all sorts of things people will have to look at finding ways around and they are saying those preparations should begin now. thank you very much. our reporter in

brussels... you are watching afternoon live. our headlines... there‘s been a big rise in violent crime in england and wales, according to figures out today. the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, promises to increase the pace of negotiations with the eu as he meets michel barnier in brussels for the first time. scotland yard won‘t discuss press association reports that police believe they‘ve identified several russians suspected of involvement in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. and in sports, time to focus after missing the last two, tiger woods is on his opening round at this year‘s open, a great start. one under, four away from the lead. and at the business end of the stage 12 of the tour de france as the race crimes into the —— climbs into the alps. a lead over chris froome that.

lewis hamilton signed a £40 million a year deal with mercedes to keep in there until the end of 2020. i will be back with more on those stories in about 15 minutes. the government‘s chief whipjulian smith is facing calls to make a statement to parliament after claims of "underhand tactics" during this week‘s knife—edge commons votes on brexit. earlier i spoke to our political correspondent leila nathoo and asked her to explain what the fuss is about. pairing is a parliamentary agreement, if you like, between parties, when you have got an mp who is going to be absent from a vote, it is agreed between opposing parties that then another mp from an opposition party who is going to vote in a different way won‘t actually cast their vote, so in effect they are cancelled out. this can be done when an mp is on maternity leave, so a longer—term arrangement, or if there is an absence that is known on the night. cast your mind back to earlier this week, when we were discussing

the close crunch votes on brexit legislation that was going through the commons. on tuesday night, they were a couple of votes on amendments to the trade bill going through the commons, and they were really close votes and it was really to the wire as to whether the government was going to win them or not. there was a band of rebels who could have potentially voted against the government. what transpired was that one mp, jo swinson, the liberal democrat who is on maternity leave, she was paid up with the conservative party chairman brandon lewis. —— paired up. in that agreement, jo swinson would not vote and brandon lewis would not have voted either. it turned out that in the two really close votes the government was worried about on tuesday night, brandon lewis did in fact vote. jo swinson very angry, saying this was a breach of an agreement, this is an arrangement between parties. brandon lewis said it was

an honest mistake made in hectic circumstances. he did not mean to do it. there was an apology from the chief whip, julian smith, saying this wasn‘t meant to happen. here is a little bit of brandon lewis being asked about it. what happened last night? what happened with the pairing incident? why didn't you stick to the agreement with jo swinson? you went through the division lobbies. you had agreed to abstain. what happened? you are not going to answer our questions? some mps don't believe it was a mistake. what is your response to that? was it really a mistake that you went through the division lobbies? yes, i will text you any second. i have a interview and i will talk to

you... theresa may also said it was an error, she said it wasn‘t good enough, but it was done in error. there are some considerations of looking at proxy voting instead of this arrangement. what happened this morning, there were further reports saying that in fact, three tory mps had been asked by the chief whipjulian smith to break their pairing arrangements. so there were a number of different arrangements going on between mps of different parties on that evening on tuesday, and there were reports this morning suggesting that three tory mps have in fact been asked to break those pairing arrangement because ofjust how tight the votes were. there were more than one or two votes in it but they were very close. those reports in the times were raised earlier today in the commons. it is a deep regret to me that that breaking of the pair happened in error.

i assured the house yesterday... i assured the house yesterday that it was an error that the chief whip and my right honourable friend the member for great yarmouth have both apologised for. there were three pairs on tuesday. i was one of them. i did not receive any call from anyone telling me to vote. the breakdown withjo swinson, the liberal democrat mp, her pair brandon lewis voted in those two votes, they are insisting that was a mistake but it is understood there was consideration by the chief whip of deliberately breaking other short—term pairing arrangements, so arrangements that were put together on an ad hoc basis for that night for particular votes when mps had other commitments or were out of the country. it is understood none of those actually went ahead but the fact

that there was a consideration of breaking these arrangements, which in effect is what keeps parliamentary votes going, when mps have to vote physically in person, go through the voting lobbies, and that has caused quite a lot of anger. it has just been raised within the last half an hour or so in the commons. they don't like to hear it but here is what one honourable member from the conservative benches is quoted as saying... julian told me i was needed and told me to come in and vote. of course he knew i was paired, i didn't vote, and honoured my pair, and he demanded to know why not afterwards. it then appears he told the prime minister it was all an honest mistake. now, madame deputy speaker, i have no doubt or any reason not to believe that the leader of the house is only relating what she has been told to say. given this, how can we compel the chief whip to come to the despatch box to account

for his actions because if the trust of the pairing system has been abused in this way, he must surely now resign? so clearly some pressure now on the chief whip, julian smith. we haven‘t heard from him today. we haven‘t heard from him beyond his initial apology tojo swinson, but it seems, although it sounds quite technical, it is a crucial part of parliamentary procedure and how voting takes place. when we are talking about crucial bits of legislation when the stakes are very high, especially during this brexit process, there is clearly quite a lot at stake and quite a lot going on, so the government chief whip julian smith under pressure to explain himself, either in the commons or, as you heard from labour and the liberal democrats, calling on the government chief whip to come to the commons to explain himself, and they say if it is proved that he asked for those arrangements to be broken, he should resign. our reporter in westminster.

a six—year—old boy has died after falling from a window in lincoln. police were called to a house on lindum avenue on tuesday night. the boy was taken to hospital with serious injuries. officers said they were treating the fall as an accident and are supporting the family. president trump has now said he holds vladimir putin personally responsible for russian interference in the 2016 us presidential election. his comments follow the backlash against his remarks at the news conference with the russian president in helsinki, when mr trump appeared to value russia‘s denials above the findings of his country‘s intelligence services. he has since said he misspoke. chris buckler reports from washington. when president trump shared a stage with vladimir putin in helsinki, for some within his republican party it appeared all too cosy, particularly as he seemed to side with the russian president over america‘s own intelligence agencies. now, after days of criticism,

in an interview with cbs news, he has taken a deliberately tougher line. you‘re saying that you agree with us intelligence that russia meddled in the election in 2016? yes, and i've said that before. i've said that numerous times before, and i would say that that is true, yes. but you haven‘t condemned putin specifically. do you hold him personally responsible? well, iwould, because he is in charge of the country, just like i consider myself to be responsible for things that happen in this country. as the leader of a country, you would have to hold him responsible, yes. after he returned to washington, the president claimed he misspoke when he said at that now notorious news conference in helsinki that he didn‘t see why russia would have been involved in electoral interference. on twitter, donald trump said some people simply hated the fact that he got along well with president putin. something which he called trump

derangement syndrome. and in reaching out to russia, the president is continuing to defend his own unique style of diplomacy. time for a look at the weather. chris is with us and we are looking at scandinavia because they have been having interesting weather. it is the same area of high pressure giving us ourdry it is the same area of high pressure giving us our dry weather, but across into sweden and norway and also finland, we have also been under this high pressure area, and the weather conditions we have seen over the last months taking its toll with wildfires reported across eastern areas of sweden. naturally eastern areas of sweden. naturally east of these red dots here, most of them across sweden, our heat sources or wildfires. you can see the plume of smoke here blowing from some of these wildfires spread across sweden and over into norway as well. you

can see the buyers from space. we have had some extreme weather across sweden in particular. looking at the statistics from these buyers, 44 places at the moment. back in may, temperatures in stockholm reached five celsius above average. climate scientists in stockholm in sweden generally think this is a once three in1 generally think this is a once three in! million year event. it is pretty and follows off the back of may 1993, which sought average is very high as well. they got that was a one in 600 year event but could this be the signs of climate change? one thing when you‘re that climate change and global warming is that arctic regions are wobbling much more quickly than the temperate and mid—latitudes. that is one thing to watch. the other thing that made this dry weather is the jet stream. this makes and moves around our areas of high and low pressure. we had this but in the jet stream often with one part going down to the military ship with low pressure there but we have been underneath

this same dorm high—pressure across norway and sweden and parts of finland, and of course the uk with that extended spell dry weather through may and june and ongoing now. will we have any respite here? a brief blurb, which is good news for the gardeners, because we‘re going to see some significant rain through the next 24 hours. you can see the first signs of this rain bearing cloud working into the north—west of the uk right now. as we go on through the next few hours the woolsack dc rain arrived across western areas of scotland, turning increasingly heavy, wet weather get across into the whole of scotland and northern ireland, bringing welcome rain. for england and wales, add dry night and warm one in london, peeling humid with temperatures slowly easing back to about 17 celsius. this weather front in more detail, for friday, a wet start for scotla nd in more detail, for friday, a wet start for scotland and northern ireland. cloudy skies followed with bright sunny. spells this wet

weather will be arriving across the north—west of england as millions of people faced the prospect of a hosepipe ban, and the rain will be bowling. the peek at the abbey along with north wales. further south, they are more uncertain in how it will ball but still potentially decent rain across southern wales in south—west england but more concerning is the prospect of this heavy thundery downpour pricking out. we could see some of those affecting london and the home counties. with these thunderstorms, worst case scenario, we could see up a month‘s worth of rainfall in the space of an hour. there is a risk of localised flooding tomorrow, could be flash flooding as well. at the weekend, i think there will be some showers knocking around, particularly in southern and eastern pa rt particularly in southern and eastern part of england, where do elsewhere, but some spells of sunshine. temperatures in the low 20s across scotla nd temperatures in the low 20s across scotland and northern ireland and still very warm air and humid conditions across east anglia and south—east england. as we go through sunday and monday, temperatures generally building. across many

areas. . . generally building. across many areas... average is up to 30 celsius in both london on sunday and monday, and hotter than that as we get into next week. we could see temperatures peaking at around 33 celsius. not just hot but also humid. we will have some respite from the dry conditions over the next 24 hours. many areas will see some rainfall. they are most happy and most consistent across northern ireland and scotland, and looking at the potential for some heavy showers which could bring flooding problems across parts of eastern england, but then the weather returns dry and it will turn much warmer as well with temperatures back into the low 30s. that is the latest weather. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. new figures show a significant increase in violent crime in england and wales. and, after falling for years, the overall number crimes recorded by the police plateaus. new brexit secretary dominic raab has said he is looking

forward to intensifying talks with the european union. he‘s has arrived in brussels for his first talks with eu chief negotiator michel barnier since taking the job earlier this month. scotland yard won‘t discuss reports that police have identified several russians they suspect of involvement in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. heroes of the london bridge — police officers and members of the public, two of whom were killed — have been recognised for their outstanding bravery during the london bridge terror attack. good afternoon. we start with the latest from the open championship at carnoustie, where the last of the players are just starting their first rounds. rory mcilroy and tiger woods out on the course and the defending champion has finished his — how did jordan spieth get onjohn? yeah, we will get to tiger woods in

a moment and the leaderboard. we will start with the defending champion, jordan spieth, who was on three under. but four dropped shots on his last four holes saw him on one over. of the brits, justin rose was in the club house on one over. but rory mcilroy is still out there, through 13. he has picked up a birdie and moved to one under. he will hope to pick up a couple more shots and hope he can close in at the top of the leaderboard, which is occupied by kevin kisner of the united states. his best finished was tied 54th last year. but he has set

himself up nicely. behind him eric van rooyen is one of four players on four under par. tiger woods making a return to the open. his first return after a two—year absence. he has picked up two birdies in his first four holes. he is on two under par. of the other brits, matthew southgate on two under and danny willett is with him. it could have been better were it not for two bogeys on his last two holes. looking to rediscover the form of course that saw him win the mav sters. he has —— masters. he is outside the top 100. but he is pleased. it is nice to be stood here after shooting a relatively stress—free 69. you look at the

numberasa stress—free 69. you look at the number as a whole and not how we finish or started, it is another number in the 605. we have had a few in the last couple of months and thati5 in the last couple of months and that is nice and some positive moves. . he is nicely set up heading to friday. changeable conditions expected tomorrow, with rain moving in tonight and it is expected to be wet on the course in the morning. for the early starters conditions will be different tomorrow. always changeable with links golf, but rory mcilroy still going well, tommy fleetwood as well. he is playing well and we wait to see what tiger woods can produce as he finishes his back nine, moving into the back nine later. huge crowds on the course today. former manchester united striker zlatan ibramhimovic has told bbc sport that his former team mate wayne rooney should be himself and embrace

football in north america. rooney recently moved from everton to major league soccer side dc united. rooney should be rooney. continue what he has been doing. do what he is good at. he will enjoy the football here. it‘s different, but you enjoy it. and they do things different here. and he will settle in perfect and they will enjoy his game. especially his team mates. and he will see the game in a different way. and stage 12 of the tour de france is approaching the finish, geraint thomas of wales is in the leader‘s yellowjersey, you can follow all the action on the bbc sport website with live commentary from five live sports extra. i‘ll have more for you in the next hour. now on afternoon live, let‘s go nationwide

and see what‘s happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. rob smith is in tunbridge wells to tell us more about the story of a mother who has a girl with epilepsy and has been legally seeking to bring medicinal cannabis oil through the uk border. and mary rhodes is in birmingham, where the naturalist and wildlife expert chris packham is visiting shropshire today on his whistle—stop tour of 50 nature reserves. welcome to both of you. first to rob, this family wanting to take cannabis oil for medicinal purposes for their daughter. why do they need it. we are talking to the mother of a girlfrom it. we are talking to the mother of a girl from aylesham. by the age of four she was having problems and she

was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition. she has got a range of problems, but the most distressing is she has up to 300 seizures a day. there have been a couple of high profile cases involving people being granted a licence to import cannabis oil. they say it has helped their child with epilepsy and the girl‘s mother said it is killing her to watch her child suffer. she has the backing of her mp. they‘re desperate to see if the drug will be able to help tiegan. you feel like you're letting her down. not being able to help them. that's yourjob a5 a parent. yeah, it hurts. the problem lies with the legality of cannabis oil doesn‘t it? lies with the legality of cannabis oil doesn't it? yes that is it. it is illegal in the uk. the medical

benefits have not been officially recognised. there seems to be evidence that it helps in difficult cases. it is not illegal in canada. recently you will remember there was an incident where the authorities at heathrow confiscated cannabis oil from the mother of a boy. his mother said he had been seizure—free after taking the oil. there was a campaign and the home secretary was persuaded to intervene and the family were given a temporary licence. and 6—year—old alfie dingle was treated with cannabis oil in the netherlands and his mother had been campaigning so and his mother had been campaigning so her son could be given cannabis oil here in britain. now, tiegan‘s family are hoping that similar pressure will work for them. the catch—22 is the fact that the government‘s review panel wants to

see evidence that cannabis oil has worked for the individual involved. but if you can‘t get hold of the drug in the first place, how do you prove it? thank you. mary in birmingham and chris packham is carrying out a nature audit. birmingham and chris packham is carrying out a nature auditm birmingham and chris packham is carrying out a nature audit. it is to highlight the level of threat to our species. it is the first citizen—science audit. chris is known for his energy and enthusiasm. he is packing it in over the next ten years, ten days. among his stop offs is press heath, home of a rare butter fly that lives on an old airfield. at each side the team will be helped by species specialists and volunteers. it is a wonderful thing.

it shows fir5t hi5 volunteers. it is a wonderful thing. it shows fir5t his commitment to wildlife. he is getting around 50 nature reserves in ten days. i don't know how he is doing that. it shows he has highlighted coming here to look at all the fantastic wildlife thati5 look at all the fantastic wildlife that is here and the work that has been done to restore the site back to heathland. it does have a serious purpose. the results of 2018 audit will be recorded to create a bench mark to help measure the rise and fall in the numbers of different species. what will be recorded? just about everything. all forms of life will be investigated in this snapshot of the country‘s wildlife. the aim is to pin point the winners and loser. chris packham said nature reserves a re and loser. chris packham said nature reserves are not enough and a change

of mind set is needed and that goes for here in the west midlands where we have some wonderful biodiversity and right across the uk. there will be plenty more from chris at 6.30. thank you very much. if you would like to find out more about those stories, you can find them on the bbc iplayer. the former chair of the bbc trust, lord patten, has said the corporation would be ‘crazy‘ to appeal against the ruling in the sir cliff richard privacy case. sir cliff was awarded an initial £210,000 in damages yesterday, after a judge ruled that the bbc had infringed his privacy with its coverage of a police raid on his home in 2014. jon donnison has more.

# congratulations...# for cliff richard and his fans, something to celebrate after a four—year ordeal. one national treasure, pitted against another. and the bbc the big loser. i don‘t think this is the bbc journalism at its best. the decisions made by some very good people whom i much respect in the bbc were wrong. this case and those decisions, made in part by bbc editors fran unsworth and jonathan munroe, could end up co—ing the corporation millions in license fee payers‘ money. and the bbc is now considering an expensive appeal. i think it would be crazy for the bbc arguing that there is some principle of freedom of speech involved to appeal this decision. i think they should swallow hard, say they made a mistake, apologise as they have to cliff richard, move on and not do it again. after he left court yesterday,

cliff richard said the bbc apology and more than £200,000 in damages was not enough. he said heads deserved to roll at the bbc. there must be something done at that top echelon of people. this has to be something done that says you cannot do this again. you must not do it again and i'll still not sure why they didn't have some kind of legal advice that would stop them. i was never even arrested, let alone charged, and i've had to suffer all of this financially and more importantly emotionally, for what? for absolutely doing zero. but much of the media has backed the bbc‘s argument on press freedom for this case and believe this might not be the end of it. if we are heading down the road toward5 outlawing the naming of anyone who is under investigation prior to arrest or charge, as some people are advocating, then, this massive change to the law and also to the rights of the press and the public'5 right to know, would have to go through parliament

and the bbc, ifeel would be justified and would get a lot of support across the media landscape if they do decide to take this case to appeal and even potentially through to the supreme court. cliff richard says it will take time to recover from the mental trauma of this case. but with an appeal still possible, it might not be over. rachael is with us with the business news soon. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. there‘s been a big rise in violent crime in england and wales, according to figures out today. the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, promises to increase

the pace of negotiations with the eu as he meets michel barnier in brussels for the first time. scotland yard won‘t discuss press association reports that police believe they‘ve identified several russians suspected of involvement in the nerve agent attack in salisbury in march. burberry turns up the heat — the fashion label burned millions of pounds worth of products in the last financial year, to protect its brand. they destroyed unsold clothes, accessories and perfume worth £28.6m to prevent them being stolen or sold cheaply — that was 6% higher than the value of products the company disposed of in the previous financial year. royal mail‘s shareholders have rejected a rise in pay packages for the firm‘s executives. over 70% voted against the resolution at the company‘s agm, however the vote was non—binding. the uk‘s publishing industry has warned that brexit could damage its record—breaking export business. the warning came as the industry body reported record sales of £5.7 billion in 2017, up 5% on the previous year. last year 36% of its exports were shipped to the european union, making it the largest market for uk books. so what‘s been happening

on the markets? it‘s been another tough day for sterling — at it‘s lowest value against the dollar since september. inflation figures earlier in the week started to make an august interest rate rise look less likely and compounded by retail sales figures showing sales fell injune when they had been expected to rise have really weakened sterling. we‘re seeing real weakness. we also had pretax profits out for sports direct — £77 million, which sounds ok until your compare to the previous year of £281. share price down 7%. and we‘ve had an update on the sky/21st century fox bidding war?

yes have a reminder. 21st century fox owns 39% of sky and it has been trying to buy the rest of sky. come cast say they don‘t want to buy 21st century fox. let‘s speak to our guest about this. the sky share price has risen dramatically in recent months — comast has pulled out of the bidding for fox, but it still wants sky so why is the sky share price down? good afternoon. i think if you look at what's happened to the sky 5hare price5 it has moved up so far ahead

of come ca5t offer, becau5e price5 it has moved up so far ahead of come ca5t offer, because the market5 expected this huge bidding fre nzy market5 expected this huge bidding frenzy to continue. that now looks le55 frenzy to continue. that now looks less likely and shares have fallen back. it looks like the two big bea5t5 in this particular war, that i5 disney and comcast will share the 5poil5. disney will have fox and comca5t will have sky. but the share price is still above the £14.75 that ha5 price is still above the £14.75 that has been offered by comca5t so the market 5till has been offered by comca5t so the market still thinks that fox and disney can come back in over the top. we were discussing the reasons why sterling is so weak. is that the whole picture or is there an element of dollar or euro strength? yeah, i think it has been a poor week

for5terling. there has been lower wage growth and don't forget the political uncertainty which adds to the background. that is shifting focu5 the background. that is shifting focus on to the august bank of england intere5t focus on to the august bank of england interest rate hike. that le55en5 expectations. but they're 5till le55en5 expectations. but they're still high. market5 pricing an 80% ofa still high. market5 pricing an 80% of a rate hike. still high. market5 pricing an 80% ofa rate hike. ithink still high. market5 pricing an 80% of a rate hike. i think things are probably more balanced and i couldn't be surprised to see no rate hike in august. the longer term picture, it doesn't matter, rate5 will rise 5lowly picture, it doesn't matter, rate5 will rise slowly from here. and sports direct, pre—tax profits down. they had previous bumper profits after the sale of dunlop and they took a hit on debenhams. but profits down to 77 million for the year. what are investors thinking? down to 77 million for the year.

what are inve5tor5 thinking?” down to 77 million for the year. what are investors thinking? i think the market reaction tell5 what are investors thinking? i think the market reaction tells you a lot. they're disappointed. i think they might be confused. we know things are not particularly good on the high street and they're probably willing to wear the fact that profit5 willing to wear the fact that profits are down in sports. what is difficult to swallow i5 profits are down in sports. what is difficult to swallow is they have been asked to share in the woe5 of debenhams and house of fraser, becau5e mike ashley ha5 debenhams and house of fraser, becau5e mike ashley has bought large 5ta ke5 becau5e mike ashley has bought large stakes in those 5tore5. so he owns, sport5 direct own5 stakes in those 5tore5. so he owns, sport5 direct owns 30% of debenhams and its share price has collapsed. so that is difficult for investors. thank you. the ftse is up, because sterling is weak. sterling falls and the ftse

rises. sky‘s share price falling. the share price is down because many companies think we were expecting this bidding war and the share price has been pushed up. so they think it will get wrapped up soon. sports direct, investors concerned and share price down. and the dollar below $1.30. thank you. just waiting for my camera! there it is! thanks, ryan. last year was a record—breaker for british book sales. new figures from the publishers association show sales of printed books have risen for the third consecutive year, while sales of digital e—books fell. lizo mzimba reports. jamie oliver‘s best seller. 2017 most popular book. it helped the british publishing industry to achieve

a record—breaking year. sales of printed books were up, with hard back fiction in particular seeing a big rise of almost a third, thanks in part to new thrillers from authors like dan brown, lee child and shari lapena. readers fundamentally still value the printed word. publishers have invested a huge amount of time, effort and resource making sure that books are still really attractive, that people want to buy them, and also obviously they themselves very much to gifts as well. it‘s the third year in a row that sales of physical books have increased, while at the same time sales of digital books have decreased. demonstrating that fears from some that e—books might soon replace traditional books are unfounded. for the time being. i just like having something to hold, really. i don‘t know, it‘s nice when you can, like, i don‘t know, like feel the paper, you have something physical. i'm not into modern technology, and certainly not kindle. it's not the same.

this is something nice about looking at your book shelf, and then seeing all your favourite books on there. this is for my grand daughter, so, you know, this i5ju5t the kind of thing i like to do with her. the income from audio books rose by 25%, but the biggest contributor to the latest record—breaking figures is international trade. most of the british publishing industry‘s income, some 60%, comes from overseas. physical book sales to australasia are up 14%, while sales to the rest of europe, the industry‘s biggest market, have increased to a figure approaching half a billion. lizo mzimba, bbc news. the race is on to develop the first flying car — aston martin has a prototype in development,

and now a company called kitty hawk, which is owned by the founder of google larry page, has developed a version. it‘s taking pre—orders for its model and our north america techonology reporter dave lee has been to see one in las vegas. so here it is, the kitty hawk flyer, i‘m sitting in it right now. it‘s very simple in here — just two controls, one for altitude and one for the direction of where this thing can go. around me you‘ll see there are ten propellors, ten motors, that keep this thing in the air. essentially, you could say it‘s just basically a big drone that a human being can fit in. right now, they limit the speed to around 6mph. the battery life will keep it going for around 20 minutes. all of that will improve in time. they can certainly make it go faster right now, butjust to be cautious they‘re keeping it at around 6mph. in terms of when you can get one of these, the company is

taking pre—orders right now. they won‘t tell us exactly how much it‘s going to cost, but they say it is going to be comparable to a high—end electric car. so the tens of thousands of dollars, i guess you could say. but what we‘re sitting in, many people think is a glimpse of the future. they say their goal is to eliminate traffic. that is a goal i think many of us can get behind. whether it will be in one of these, that remains to be seen, but it‘s certainly a very, very interesting and futuristic concept. a car without a wheel! who would have thought? that is it from afternoon live. next the news at five. now the weather. the last two months have been incredibly dry. but we do have some welcome rain in the forecast around the corner. before we get there, today is a day for

most of us of dry weather and sunshine. that was the scene earlier in keswick in cumbria. looking at the satellite, we have seen some cloud bubble up in recent hours. in the southern uplands, that may bring some showers. otherwise it is largely dry for the rest of the afternoon. top temperatures higher than yesterday, up to 28 degrees. but to the north and west we will see cloud gather and the prospect of some decent rain. wet in scotland and northern ireland. in england and wales some clear spells and warm and humid over night. temperatures down to 17 in london. looking at the weather band for friday, we see some wet weather pushing across scotland and northern ireland. clearing through the afternoon. following with brighter skies later. and just as the hosepipe ban has been announced in the north—west of england, we have got some rain working in. that looks to be heavy

at times. getting into northern wales as well. further south the front will be weakening through friday. so we can‘t be sure how much rain will fall in the west. in the east we will see some heavy, thundery showers. they could bring as much as 30 millimetres of rain in just an hour. that is half an month‘s of rain and could bring some localised flooding. still warm in south—east england, temperatures into the high 20s. we could see showers overnight in england and wales, perhaps some still left in eastern and southern areas to start saturday. otherwise, a fair bit of dry weather with sunshine. temperatures widely into the low to mid 20s. peaking at around 27 or 28 degrees in the south—east of england. from there through sunday and monday there will be a lot of dry weather and temperatures will be building, so highs pushing on to 30 degrees on sunday and monday and it

gets eve n degrees on sunday and monday and it gets even hotter next week. hot and humid weather returning with temperatures peaking at 33 degrees next week. today at five, murder and knife crime in england and wales have gone up again, while detection rates have dropped below 10%. the latest figures reveal a 16% increase in knife crime, during the 12 months till the end of march. everyone is deeply concerned about the rise in violent crime, the worst we‘ve seen in a decade, and we all want to see an end of it. we‘ll have the latest on those figures, and we‘ll be talking

to the police and crime commissioner for the west midlands about whether cuts to policing are to blame. the other main stories on bbc news at 5. scotland yard won‘t discuss press association reports that police believe they‘ve identified several russians suspected of involvement in the nerve agent attack on the skripals in salisbury. the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, promises to increase the pace of negotiations with the eu, as he arrives in brussels for