tonight at ten — a sharp rise in crime recorded by police in england and wales, with knife attacks at a record high. in the 12 months to march, official figures show knife crime up by 16%, robbery by 30% and murder and manslaughter also rising. as police complain of fewer resources and fewer officers, other figures show the number of crimes being solved has fallen. we can't do as much as we used to do or can't do it as effectively. that causes real frustration to our officiers as well, who simply want to do the bestjob for the public. and that's a real concern. we'll be taking a closer look at the figures and we'll be asking to what extent a lack of police resources accou nts for what's happened. also tonight... the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, is in brussels promising to inject new energy into the uk's approach to the brexit process. four months after the skripals were poisoned in salisbury, there are reports that police know the identity of the russian suspects.

the british—made plastic that's claimed to be biodegradable that could be banned by the european union. and rory mcilory is amongst the leaders after the first day's play at the open. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news... it's his second stage win in two days. geraint thomas retains the yellow jersey at the tour de france and becomes the first british rider to conquer the alpe d'huez. good evening. crime recorded in england and wales has risen sharply, and the sharpest rise was in violent crime, according to the latest figures from the office for national statistics. the number of killings and murders rose by 12% in the 12 months to march. and crimes involving a knife rose

by 16% in the same period. there was a 30% increase in the number of robberies, which include muggings. other data shows that the rate of solving crimes has fallen, as our home affairs correspondent tom symonds explains. when more violent crime is being reported, this is the sort of crime fighting that is needed. we are with a specialist team, tackling the mopeds gangs, tonight active in west london. radio: same suspects are known to carry weapons, including hammers and knives. they use these nippy scooters to steal and terrify, driving up the number of reported robberies. police say they hunt in packs because scooters are hard to stop. we need two or three vehicles to make a box. i don't know where he's going. two men have run a red on a type

of scooter often used by the gangs. come and have a chat. stand there for us... there's no evidence they are involved in robbery. it's all about getting the officers into the right place at the right time in force, to target specific types of crime like this and these officers do believe they are now making a difference. in their area, the city of london, there were 56 moped robberies injanuary, butjust two last month, a small dent in the national crime figures. is it a bit depressing to see the crime figures going up when you're doing this kind of work? it is. it would be wrong of me to say it isn't because we want to be out there, to be seen to be working well. we do know that there are days when we will suffer offences

because we can't be everywhere at the same time. true, reported crime is rising, but increasingly, police also have to deal with other social problems, which aren't crime. simultaneously, police numbers have been cut to 1996 levels. certainly, the officers i lead and my members are really frustrated, as much as the public are, that we can't do as much as we used to do or can't do it as effectively. that causes real frustration to our officers, who simply want to do the bestjob for the public, and that's a real concern. in london today, there were more raids in the fight against knife crime, up again in these figures. 67 people have been arrested in this targeted operation this week. but what the numbers don't describe is the damage violent crime does to people's lives, like the family of daniel fox, stabbed to death in merseyside. another mother losing another son. they were so close. he used to look after herwhen she...

when he was little because linda suffered from illnesses and daniel did look after her. it'sjust devastated the whole family. it is so unreal to us. we still haven't taken it in. stand by, right, right. back in london, they're trying to catch another moped. contrary to what many believe, the police are not banned from pursuing two—wheelers if the risk is manageable. but within seconds, he slips between some bollards and disappears. maybe tomorrow. so, why has the number of crimes resulting in prosecutions fallen? one reason is that police are recording more crimes, including the ones where they don't stand much of a chance of getting a prosecution. another is the national shortage of detectives. it is a difficultjob

with long hours. but also the number of section offences has increased and they can be very hard to investigate. —— sexual offences. one final figure, investigate. —— sexual offences. one finalfigure, the proportion of rape allegations ending up in court is just 3%. the new brexit secretary, dominic raab, has promised to "intensify" and "energise" the negotiations with brussels. he was speaking after his first talks with the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier. the meeting came as the european commission advised eu states to prepare for a no—deal brexit, a situation where no formal agreement would be reached by the end of next march. from brussels, our europe editor katya adler reports. a new face in brussels, confronting the same old brexit challenges. michel barnier, the eu's by—now rather dour chief negotiator, has been in on this process from the start. our challenge will be to find common ground between the fundamental principles that define the eu and the uk positions. the smiling enthusiasm

of the new brexit secretary came in stark contrast. i come out today to discuss the detailed proposals that we have got in our white paper that you will have seen and i'm looking forward to, with renewed energy, vigour and vim, heating up the negotiations and making sure we are in the best position to get the best deal. is the government stable enough to make a deal with brussels? dominic raab‘s upbeat message doesn't quite match the political turmoil we've seen this week in westminster. the eu is not convinced by the new brexit secretary's calm, confident message. are you sure? we really presented several positions and great britain was facing even some resignings of ministers and state secretaries. now we have a new brexit secretary. which has got the eu thinking that the possibility of the uk

crashing out of the club without a deal has become a lot more likely. but what exactly is this no—deal brexit? all this brexit terminology, the political toings and froings, it can make the brexit process seem very theoretical and far away from our everyday lives. which is why the european commission has come up with this, a stark warning about planes, trains and queues at borders, published just as britain's new brexit secretary arrives in town. it's a reminder to eu countries to do more contingency planning, in case, after more than a0 years of being intertwined, the uk and the eu now break apart without any practical agreement in place of how to work together after brexit. remember these kind of border queues when there had been hold—ups in calais in the past? well, expect the same or worse, says the european commission in its paper, if freight trucks, passenger vehicles and travellers themselves are subject to new,

post—brexit checks between the uk and the eu. the eu paper has more warnings of potential disruptions for europeans including airports, if eu—uk aviation and passenger rights deals are no longer valid. businesses, too, could be affected, if the uk is a key exporter or importer of goods or in the financial services sector. and in security terms, with the uk being taken off eu intelligence sharing databases. a no—deal brexit could have a big impact on northern ireland, too. the prime minister arrived there this evening at the start of a two day visit. first stop, a china factory, the perfect setting to make assurances about safeguarding the fragile peace process while preventing the uk from breaking apart. disagreement over the irish border is possibly the biggest elephant in the room in eu—uk brexit talks, with the potential to shatter whatever other progress is made. well, tomorrow, representatives of

all 27 eu countries come here to brussels to discuss their views on theresa may's white paper, her proposalfor a theresa may's white paper, her proposal for a future theresa may's white paper, her proposalfor a future eu in uk relations. this misting meeting will be hosted by michel barnier, the eu's chief negotiator. we saw this week how the paper was fought over in westminster. well, here the eu has plenty of its own doubts and questions. but don't, if huw, expect any great drama out of brussels tomorrow. the eu has no intention of slamming the door on theresa may or her proposal. the eu feels that the brexit negotiations are far too delicate for that, with that threat of the no deal brexit scenario hanging in the air. our business editor simon jack is here. we heard there about some of the

concerns in brussels — how would you characterise the concerns among british business? i would say these warnings are timely because it coincides with a week in which in the boardrooms of the uk there is no doubt that the chance of a no deal brexit has gone up. with westminster and some of the amendments we have seen, if back in december of last year there was an agreement that has a last resort, if we do not come to any agreement, in order to prevent a ha rd any agreement, in order to prevent a hard border in northern ireland, as a last resort we would keep a very close alignment between northern ireland and the republic, even if perhaps the uk and the republican violent. .. the amendments perhaps the uk and the republican violent... the amendments to the white paper make that arrangement illegal. so in a sense they have kicked away that backstop. if we can't get progress in the talks we're having at the moment, with no backstop, there is no withdrawal agreement, no signing of the divorce papers. no signing of the divorce papers. no signing of the divorce papers means no transition period, which means that that cushion we had until december 2020 no longer

exists. that gets business very, very nervy indeed and that is where the urgency we are seeing from the eu is reflected very much here in boardrooms in the uk, it is not a position which anyone in business and few in politics wanted to be in — buta and few in politics wanted to be in — but a clear path has now emerged to the edge of the cliff. thank you very much, simon jack, to the edge of the cliff. thank you very much, simonjack, our business editor. police are reported to have identified several suspects responsible for the chemical attack on a former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury in march. the press association has reported that police believe several russians identified through cctv were involved in the attempted murder of sergei and yulia skripal. earlier this month dawn sturgess from wiltshire died after being poisoned by the novichok nerve agent. her partner remains in hospital. police believe the incidents are linked, as our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. in central salisbury this afternoon, troops in gas masks again, gathering possible evidence of the nerve agent attack. the focus on this occasion, a large plastic container which was taken away for examination.

it is now more than four months since sergei skripal and his daughter yulia fell ill, not long after leaving his home, here in a quiet cul—de—sac, where they had become contaminated by a russian—made military grade nerve agent, novichok, nerve agent, a novichok, that had been smeared or sprayed on his front door. the cnn network in the united states suggested today that detectives have used cctv and facial recognition software to isolate pictures of two suspects seen leaving britain soon after the attack, though it is not known if they are russian and it's not clear they have been fully identified. counterterrorism detectives refused to discuss the reports, leaving only the russian ambassador to comment. unfortunately, we don't have official statements of the british side. i want to hear that from the scotland yard or the foreign office. a lot of versions that we here in the newspapers, they are not supported by the statements of the foreign office. the attack ended up taking

dawn sturgess‘ life. she is thought to have been contaminated by a perfume bottle which somehow ended up in her partner's flat. the inquest into her death opened and adjourned at the local coroner's court today. the coroner confirmed that police had recovered a bottle of liquid novichok. one of the last places dawn sturgess went before falling ill was the queen elizabeth gardens in salisbury. that has been the focus of the police searches for the last two days. detectives now have a bottle of the possible chemical weapon and may have images of two suspects to work with. this unique investigation appears to be edging gently forward. daniel sandford, bbc news, salisbury. let's look at some of the day's other news stories. the discount retailer poundworld is to close all of its remaining stores. the chain went into administration last month, but has been unable to sell its assets. a total of 5,000 jobs will be lost.

the fashion label burberry destroyed unsold clothes, accessories and perfume worth more than £28 million last year. it says it was done to prevent the products being stolen or sold cheaply, and it denied allegations that the process wasn't environmentally friendly. comcast is now the firm favourite to win a lengthy takeover battle for sky. the bbc has learnt that rupert murdoch's 21st century fox is thought unlikely to outbid the us giant for the uk and europe's biggest pay—tv company. if the deal goes through, it will end the murdoch family's long and sometimes controversial pursuit for full control of sky. the government chief whip in the house of commons, julian smith, is facing calls to resign following allegations that he used underhand tactics during this week's parliamentary votes on brexit. the conservative party chairman brandon lewis has apologised after casting a vote despite an agreement that he would not take part. the agreement, known as pairing,

means that mps in opposing parties can both abstain, thereby not altering the outcome. there have been reports that pressure was put on other conservative mps to vote, despite being paired, in order to deliver a narrow win for theresa may. our deputy political editor john pienaar is at westminster. what has been going on? theresa may has lost two cabinet ministers in the past fortnight over brexit and today, downing street had to fend off labour demands for two more scalps over accusations the chief whip and the party chairman broke westminster‘s on a code on voting for the sake of avoiding a defeat for the sake of avoiding a defeat for the sake of avoiding a defeat for the brexit plan this week. pairing is an old custom at westminster, you scratch my back and i'll scratch yours, kind of arrangement, where mps say, "if you don't vote for whatever i won't, either". trouble is, chief whip

judith smith is said to have told and text did a number of conservative colleagues, telling them to break the pledge and one did but that was the party chairman brandon lewis who was paired with a liberal democrat mp on maternity leave. he said it was a mistake and said sorry and the prime minister has said it should not happen again but labour is saying someone is lying about what actually happened and the chief whip or the party chairman or both should resign. a lot of tories i have spoken to are angry about this, too. one of them said it was tacky and dishonest and it has left a sour taste after a parliamentary session which has been something of an ordeal for theresa may and her government. and that the government, the summer break next week can't come quickly enough. john pienaar, there, our deputy political editor at westminster. 8,000 troops, paying new scottish rates of income tax introduced earlier this year, are to receive a rebate from the uk government. 70% of military personnel in scotland pay up to £1,000 pounds in scotland pay up to £1,000 more a year than their colleagues in the rest of the uk. the ministry of defence says it's making the payment to ensure troops

are treated equally. the scottish government says armed forces‘ families benefit from services not available elsewhere, such as free tuition and prescriptions. our scotland editor sarah smith has the story. faslane naval base on the clyde, home to uk's fleet nuclear submarines. keep 20 metres. keep 20 metres, roger. the submariners who operate them, the helicopter pilots who fly in here, are all paying more income tax than their comrades serving elsewhere because they are stationed in scotland. the mod say it is unfair for troops in scotland to be left out of pocket, so they will make a payment to cover the tax changes, at a cost of about £4 million. down the river, the defence secretary is inspecting new navy frigates being built. he has not yet been able to secure a boost in defence spending or a pay rise for his forces but he can afford to make a political attack on scottish tax rates. service personnel don't have a choice as to where they are stationed. that's why we decided it was very important to act because they don't have a say

as to whether they are stationed in scotland, england, wales, or abroad. so we felt that there was a disparity that we wanted to address. an army staff sergeant serving in scotland pays about £117 more in scottish income tax. a full colonel could pay over £1000 more. but 30% of the forces in scotland, the lowest paid, pay less income tax and they will get to keep the difference. the scottish government argues that military families stationed in scotland enjoy more generous public spending. if you are serving armed forces personnel stationed here in scotland, you benefit by the investment we make in public services. so that is why, if you are sending one of your children to university, you don't have to pay £9,000 per year. that is why you don't have to pay £8.80 for a perception charge. that is why you don't have to pay

£8.80 for a prescription charge. now that military personnel are being reimbursed for higher scottish taxes, other people working for the uk government in scotland may hope they will get the same, but there are no plans to extend the compensation beyond the armed forces. plastic bags that biodegrade have been hailed as one answer to the huge amount of plastic polluting the environment. the british manufacturers of so—called "oxo—biodegradable" bags claim they break down to nothing, and the technology is widely used across africa and the middle east. but now the european commission is considering banning the bags because of fears they're not what they seem. our correspondent angus crawford reports. is this a solution to the plastics crisis? ordinary plastic with a simple chemical additive. its makers call it oxo—biodegradable. one of the manufacturers is a british company. its product is called d2w. you know this is going to convert basically organically

to materials similar to a leaf. it couldn't be better. d2w automatically breaks down... they have promotional videos, and big name supporters. here's environmentalist chris packham on the bbc‘s one show. there are technologies out there, now. oxy—biodegradable plastics which will break down very easily... what he didn't declare on the programme, he's one of symphony's paid advisers. the bbc says he's done nothing wrong, and he didn't want to talk to us about it. d2w is now being used in many countries. here in the ivory coast in west africa, for example, where even water is sold in plastic bags. millions per day. they have banned normal bags, encouraging people to use oxo, from manufacturers around the world. including the british d2w. they even have a special police unit, whose job is to track down and seize ordinary plastic.

look at this. it's not popular, but that is the law. hundreds of millions of plastic bags get into the rivers and oceans every year. this technology is meant to provide a solution. if you chuck this away, manufacturers say that within about two years, it will break down to nothing, on land or at sea. but does it really? here's one way to find out. quite a lot of marine life on here now, after several years in the sea... thousands of miles away, hanging in the water, bags placed in the sea at plymouth university. this bag is labelled as d2w. we have had this bag in the sea for more than two years, now. it's probably still strong enough to carry your shopping home in.

what's more, scientists fear when they do break down, they may create tiny pieces. under the microscope, a bag that's more than ten years old. it's degraded as a carrier bag. you could no longer carry your shopping in it, that bit is true. but is this an environmental solution? what we've now got is millions of very small pieces of plastic. the european commission agrees, and is moving to restrict or may even ban oxo products across the eu. it says that there is no evidence oxo—degradable plastic will fully biodegrade in a reasonable time. the eu's report refers to misleading claims to consumers, and warns of a potential increase in littering. it concludes that oxo—degradable technology is not a solution for the environment. that's just bad science, according to one british manufacturer. it insists the product does fully biodegrade. this is what we describe

as an insurance policy, if it ends up in the environment, it probably wouldn't even get to the ocean as a piece of plastic. it would probably end up in the ocean as a biodegradable material. but if you do just drop it in the ocean, which has been our studies, we have shown versus non—degradable products that it degrades and biodegrades an awful lot faster than conventional plastics. in ivory coast, the debate has moved on. the government is now talking about banning all plastic bags, including oxos. the solution here, not better plastic but no plastic at all. angus crawford, bbc news, in the ivory coast. in the last hour, the white house has announced that president donald trump is inviting the russian president to visit the united states in the autumn. discussions about the visit are already under way, according to the president's spokeswoman. our north america correspondent gary o'donoghue is in washington for us. after the very controversial recent

meeting between them, what is the thinking here, do you think? yes, after days of trying to clarify and clean—up the debacle of the helsinki press c0 nfe re nce clean—up the debacle of the helsinki press conference on monday, you may well ask why they want to go through that all over again. i think there's a pretty straightforward answer to that, that they have seen the polling, which says that while a majority of americans disagree with the way president trump handled it, significant majorities among republicans think he handled it well, 68, 71, 79, you take your pick. having said all that, there is still bemusement, complete astonishment amongst the intelligence community here that they were not told about the summit and they still don't know what was said in the room between president trump and president putin, yet he is

coming here again. thank you for the update, gary o'donoghue with the latest in washington. manchester university is the scene of a heated dispute over the cultural legacy of the english poet rudyard kipling. the words of kipling's famous poem if, which featured on a mural at the newly—refurbished students' union, have been painted over by students, who say kipling was a racist who dehumanised non—white people. the words were replaced by those of the american civil rights activist maya angelou, as our correspondent elaine dunkley reports. students at the university of manchester painting over the poem if, one of rudyard kipling's most famous works. it's being replaced with still i rise by the african—american author and black civil rights activist, maya angelou. you may write me down in history... with your bitter, twisted lies... you may trod me in the very dirt... but still, like dust, i rise. i felt angry. i felt a very strong emotional reaction. these students say it's about challenging ideas about historical figures celebrated on campuses.

we want to make sure those brown and black voices are heard, and we want... that's literally what our students wanted, so that's why we decided to take this stance as a whole team. in his poem the white man's burden, he referred to people of colour as half devil, half child. we didn't feel like that was appropriate. is it sanitising, erasing history? you can see physically on the wall, we made the decision not to completely erase kipling's poem. you can still see it in the background. it has been smudged over but our intention was people would come up to the wall and they would see this piece of art and ask questions. so they would be like, "what was there before? why was it painted over?" rudyard kipling was born in india in 1865. his books include children's classics such as thejungle book. but there is also a darker side to his work which celebrates colonialism, imperialism and empire. chanting: rhodes must fall! take it down! controversial figures of the past present modern—day dilemmas. at oxford university,

there's been a high—profile campaign to remove a statue of imperialist cecil rhodes, but some argue it's sanitising history. if we didn't read kipling in the early 21st century, if we didn't read him as part of a wider and nuanced understanding of what empire was and how it came about, then we lose an important part of the story. it's immensely important to look at what we call the subalterns — in other words, the people who were the victims of empire. whilst to some it's rewriting and whitewashing the past, the challenge on campuses is addressing a lack of visible black influential figures and reviewing history with a different lens. elaine dunkley, bbc news. the welsh cyclist geraint thomas leads the tour de france, after winning one of the most gruelling stages of the race on alpe d'huez. he sprinted clear in the final few hundred metres of the climb in the alps to retain the leader's yellow jersey and secure successive stage wins.

his fellow team sky rider and defending champion chris froome is second overall. golf, and the 1a7th open championship has started in carnoustie. rory mcilroy is three shots off the lead held by the american kevin kisner. our sports correspondent katherine downes has the latest. carnoustie, crisping up nicely in the scottish sunshine. a day for ice cream and suncream on a course where only the greens are green. the defending champion came dressed for colder conditions and stayed cool to weave his way to within two of the lead. but slowly, it all unravelled the jordan spieth. forjordan spieth. a tough first day at the office. tough for him and for playing partnerjustin rose. i've just got to find some momentum and just wait for my run, really. obviously, today was slow going, just two birdies. i need to find a couple of rounds where i am making six or seven birdies a day.

he will perhaps wish he was rory mcilroy... lurking left. ..if the former champion can iron out his errors. a few fewer mistakes today, and he would have had the lead. mcilroy still in the mix but must come back and do better tomorrow. it was not pretty off the tee but i got it done and took advantage of some fortunate bounces. you know, i would have taken 69 to start the day. the leader so far, kevin kisner of the usa, five under the score of the day. and how's this for shot of the day, thailand's kiradech aphibarnrat on the bounce. first bounce forward, second bounce never had a chance. there wasn't much bounce in tiger woods at the start of the day. the great champion woke up this morning with a stiff neck. but there are signs the old tiger touch is back. flashes of brilliance in a round that finished level par.