a former police chief accused of trying to blame liverpool fans for the 1989 hillsborough disaster has had all charges against him dropped. sir norman bettison had faced four counts of misconduct in a public office — accused of telling lies about the culpability of fans and his role in the wake of the tragedy. my involvement in the events around hillsborough has often been misrepresented, even in parliament. since then, i have been forced to deny strenuously that i have done anything wrong in the aftermath of the disaster. the sister of one of the victims of the hillsborough tragedy said she was deeply distressed by the court's decision. it is very disappointing. they have let us families down, they have let the 96 down and they have also let down the families who are no longer alive to see this journey through to the end. we'll bring you all the latest from our correspondent who was in court. also this lunchtime... we're in the money —

official figures show the biggest government surplus forjuly in 18 years. a multi—millionaire businessman leaves tens of millions of pounds to oxfam after he was killed in a plane crash with his family. the bolt is back — eight—time olympic champion usain bolt starts training with an australian football team. commentator: gone again. and the misery mounts with another batting collapse for england on day three of the third test against india. and coming up on bbc news, mourinho's going nowhere. united say there is nothing to discuss regarding rumours that zinedine zidane has been lined up for thejob. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one.

a former police chief, sir norman bettison, who was accused of trying to blame liverpool fans for the 1989 hillsborough disaster, has had all charges against him dropped. he'd been accused of telling lies about whether or not he'd tried to blame fans for the tragedy, and also about his own role in the aftermath. prosecutors said insufficient evidence meant there was no real prospect of a conviction. speaking outside court, sir norman expressed sympathy for the victims but said today's outcome vindicated him. judith moritz reports. although he wasn't centrally involved on the day of the hillsborough disaster, sir norman bettison‘s name has long been linked with its aftermath. in the wake of the tragedy, sir norman, then a chief inspector, was part of a team that gathered evidence about the police for the taylor public inquiry. 96 liverpool fans died when the terraces at hillsborough became overcrowded in 1989.

sir norman was accused of trying to blame the fans. in 1998, he was appointed chief constable of merseyside, home to many of the bereaved families. his appointment was deeply unpopular, and touring tv studios, sir norman asked for support. for goodness' sake, give me a chance, i think that people generally, my experience of life is that people generally and i think people in merseyside in particular, are fair—minded people, they'll judge for themselves, they'll look into the whites of my eyes, they will ask me questions and they will decide for themselves. give me that chance, that's what i'm saying. last year, sir norman was charged with lying about his role in relation to hillsborough when he applied to become merseyside chief constable in 1998. now, those charges have been dropped. sir norman was also facing prosecution for misconduct in public office when he was chief constable of west yorkshire in 2012. he was accused of sending out a press release claiming that he'd never blamed fans for the disaster. those charges have also been dropped.

sir norman has always denied any wrongdoing and now, he will know longer stand trial. five other men are still facing prosecution on separate charges for the disaster and its aftermath. judith moritz, bbc news. sir norman bettison sat at the back of court room number one at preston, yards away from of the families who we re yards away from of the families who were bereaved at the hillsborough disaster. listening to proceedings. a short time afterwards, he came outside and told reporters his positioning connection to hillsborough has been vindicated. my involvement in the events around hillsborough has often been misrepresented, even in parliament. since then, i've been forced to deny strenuously that i have done anything wrong in the aftermath of the disaster. it is nearly 30 years since the

hillsborough disaster, the criminal investigations into that day and the aftermath of the day have been running now for around five years in the families of those who died and the families of those who died and the survivors from the date have been following every twist and turn. some were in court and there was disappointment among that group when the decision was announced and one of them spoke to me afterwards, the sister of andrew who died at hillsborough. i am very disappointed. they have let us families down, they have lacked the 96 down and they have also let down the families who are no longer alive to see this journey through to the end —— they have let down and 96. some of the families have said they are intending to pursue a review of the decision by the crown prosecution service. there was a

meeting inside one of the rooms at court which ended a short time ago and there were family members there asking direct questions of the i/o pc and the cps about why the prosecution has now been dropped. they are talking about bringing a review and we have had in the last hour some reaction from political quarters, some of the north mps, following hillsborough as well, steve rotheram, andy burnham, others, maria eagle, altogether saying they are disappointed to hear the news today, they fully support the news today, they fully support the decision of the families to seek a review. judith moritz, many thanks, outside preston crown court. pressure is mounting on the chancellor to loosen the purse strings ahead of this autumn‘s budget after official figures showed the public finances were in better shape than expected. figures released this morning by the office for national statistics showed that the government took in £2 billion more than it spent last month, the healthiestjuly

surplus for 18 years. andy verity is here. talk us through the figures. the numbers we have been watching for yea rs the numbers we have been watching for years now and austerity and concern about the public finances, the deficit and the debt. the differences between those, if your income is 1000 and you are spending 1100, you have a deficit of 100. in july, we did not have a deficit at all. the borrowing numbers, £2 billion minus, in other words, a surplus of £2 billion injuly. more money coming in than going out. it often happens in july money coming in than going out. it often happens injuly because you better payment from people who are self—employed, just like injanuary, and that means the treasury has more money coming in. but that was bigger than people expected. looking at the national debt, that is 1.7 8 trillion, and a trillion is1 million1 million. as a proportion

of the economy, it is still growing, but because the economy is growing faster, it means it is getting to be less in percentage terms, just 8a.3% of the total value of the economy. so long as it is shrinking, it means all other things being equal, it is getting more manageable, so good news all around for the public finances. we do not know whether it can be sustained but we know it looks good. briefly, what are the implications of this for public spending? this will encourage opponents of austerity who say, look, public finances are manageable, the whole premise of austerity was you needed to bring them under control. if it is looking better, spending pressures, like in the prison and health service, they will mount and people will question austerity measures like the freeze on benefits which are not going up at all with inflation. thank you. 0xfam has been left tens of millions of pounds by british businessman richard cousins, who was killed along with members of his family in a plane crash

in australia last new year's eve. it's thought to be the biggest single donation to the charity. 0xfam has been struggling to recover from a sex abuse scandal, which led to a significant reduction in public donations this year. this summer, 0xfam announced it had to make cuts of £16 million. richard galpin has the story. a tragedy last new year's eve near sydney. a seaplane taking british tourists on a sightseeing tour of the area had crashed into a river killing everyone on board. the businessman richard cousins was head of one of the world's largest catering companies. with him in the plane were his two sons, edward and william, and his fiancee, emma bowden, and her daughter, heather. the uk actually is doing extremely well... mr cousins was known for his humanity. what wasn't known was that he'd reportedly changed his will using a special clause so most

of his money would go to oxfam if he and his children died together. a common tragedy clause is just a clause stipulating who the beneficiaries will be if your immediate family were to all pass away at the same time. so it's also called a wipeout clause and it also could be known as a disaster scenario clause as well. at the 0xfam offices today, there's been astonishment at the money they'll now receive. it could be the biggest amount ever given to oxfam by an individual donor. in a statement, the aid agency said... we are extremely grateful for this bequest, of which we've only recently been notified. we're working with the family and our board of trustees to identify how the money will be used. and it could not have come at a more important time. 0xfam is still reeling from a scandal which has lead to cuts in its funding after some of its staff who were working here in haiti, following the massive earthquake eight years ago, were accused of sexual misconduct.

well, clearly, any charity that receives a donation of that size, it's going to make an incredible difference to the causes that they're working on. so, a donation of this size for 0xfam is going to be incredibly important and i suspect will be something that sustains them for a number of years. 0xfam has been planning to make swingeing cuts to save millions of pounds as a result of the scandal. but now, with the money left by richard cousins, it could help the aid agency turn a corner after one of the worst years in its history. richard galpin, bbc news. nhs providers, which represents hospitals and ambulance services in england, has warned of a risk to services if britain leaves the eu with no deal. in a letter seen by the bbc, the group criticises health bosses and ministers for a lack of planning and says drug supplies could run out if there's no agreement. 0ur political correspondent, iain watson, reports. could we be facing a health

emergency? a group representing nhs hospitals and ambulance services in england have written to senior health service officials expressing concern about what will happen if britain leaves the eu without a deal. in the letter, nhs providers say that while active national leadership is essential, instead hospitals are having to develop contingency plans individually in a vacuum and without national planning and coordination, there could be both stockpiles and shortages of medicine. a former health minister the so—called people's vote on a brexit deal says he shares the concerns. drug shortages, drug shortages, food shortages, medical equipment shortages, staff shortages, the only way out, given this will happen in march next year, is to put this issue back to the

people in another referendum. the labour leadership are not calling for a new referendum but they are claiming the nhs could become a casualty of brexit. there has to be a ready supply of medicines across europe and i am quite frightened of the idea that we have to stockpile medicines in the event of there being a no deal brexit. the government is emphasising its fully expects to get a deal with the eu, the brexit secretary dominic raab is in brussels for further talks today. 0n in brussels for further talks today. on thursday ministers will be issuing advice on how to prepare the new deal and i am told there will be detailed plans for the nhs. —— prepare for no deal. it is very clear that we can avoid any of the scenarios by goodwill on both sides and coming to an agreement over britain's future relationship with europe. whether the fears of some in the nhs are ever realised will depend notjust on what plans are put in place in britain, but also

what is agreed here in brussels. iain watson, bbc news. 0ur europe correspondent, damian grammaticas, is in brussels. there are more talks this afternoon. given all of the talk of no deal, what are the prospects for the discussions? the talk of no deal has been rising will stop we have had that from the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, in the last few days, from the eu side as well, different ministers around different countries putting the risk of no deal, what they call here a disorderly brexit, at 50-59. the they call here a disorderly brexit, at 50—59. the prospects for today are not great. —— 50—50. dominic raab will be arriving in the next few minutes for his third meeting, a hiatus over the summer, but the signs of preparatory talks at the end of last week, technical level talks here, did not go anywhere,

dominic raab will sit down with michel barnier again today, but there is no sign at the minute of anything being put onto the table that would unblock the talks. the issues revolve around the prospect, theissue issues revolve around the prospect, the issue of the border between ireland and northern ireland, how to avoid the checks. the eu side so they are prepared to rework what they are prepared to rework what they have put on the table but they have not heard any other proposal from the uk side. that is where things are stuck. what you will probably start to hear in the meantime is more talk about preparations for no deal and the real discussions about what that might involve starting to begin, but that will put even more pressure here. today and tomorrow, talks, not even at the minute a sign they are preparing for a joint press conference at the end and a clear sign they do not expect huge progress. thank you. home secretary sajid javid is to provide a formal apology to 18 members of the windrush generation who it is believed could have been wrongfully removed

from the uk or detained. of the 18, seven were removed and five detained after 2010. our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw, is here. how significant is this? well, these figures that have been collected by the home office in response to a request from the home affairs committee, sajid javid has been updating the committee with details since the windrush scandal emerged in april. and what home office officials have done is to look through almost 12,000 cases of caribbean nationals who were born before 1973 who have been removed from the uk or detained since 2002. and what they've done with those 12,000 cases is come up with 164 people who were removed from britain 01’ people who were removed from britain or detained, whether both. that may be wrongfully removed or detained, 01’ be wrongfully removed or detained, or not. there are still assessments going on. but out of those 164,

officials have identified 18 cases where they believe people have suffered what they call detriment and they are going to issue those 18 with a full apology. sajid javid said, iam with a full apology. sajid javid said, i am absolutely clear that this should not have happened and the home office is already working to address any wrongs done. those people will be contacted and they will be given advice to get compensation for what has happened to them. but in many cases, compensation will be very, very difficult because some have been removed from the country, they've had their lives altered by decisions made by home office officials. thank you. our top story this lunchtime. former police chief sir norman bettison, accused of trying to blame liverpool fans for the 1989 hillsborough disaster, has had all charges against him dropped. and still to come... we meet the remarkable ensemble made up of blind and partially deaf performers who will make their proms debut next week. coming up on bbc news,

the rugby players' association has called on the rfu to drop its case against the gloucester fly half danny cipriani. the eight—time olympic champion usain bolt has begun training with an australian football team, as he seeks to fulfil his ambition to become a professionalfootballer. since retiring from athletics last year, the jamaican sprinter has trained with several football teams around the world. he's hoping to earn a place with the a—league central coast mariners, but he's had to fend off criticism that he's taking part in a publicity stunt. 0ur australia correspondent hywel griffith has been along to see him in action. he may be the fastest man in the world, but usain bolt has a lot of catching up to do if he really is to become a professional footballer. today is his 32nd birthday, an age when some players start

to think about retirement. but bolt says playing professionally has been a lifelong dream which he is determined to achieve. football has always been something that is a passion of mine, that i enjoy. even when my coach at a professional level would say, "usain, don't play football, you can't be playing football in the middle of the season," i still would play because i enjoyed it. that is something that i enjoy. so now that i have retired and i have the opportunity to play, to play with a top team, and to show what i can do, something i want to do. i want to challenge myself. no one can doubt his athletic ability. still the world record—holder at 100 and 200m, he retired last year as the finest sportsman of his generation. since then, he's trained with football teams in germany, norway and south africa, but so far, no one has offered him a professional contract. if this is just a pr stunt to bring attention to australia's a league, then it's already worked, but if it's to have a more lasting

impact, usain bolt needs to prove his worth notjust in sponsorship and advertising, but as part of a team. his star power could help lift the mariners, who finished bottom of the league last year, and it will definitely help bring new fans to their games. i think it's great. he's going to be fantastic. will it make you watch the football? well, i already have a daughter who's into football so she will be very keen to watch it too. i'm going to get my little daughter a usain boltjersey as soon as it's available so... it's working, then? it's working. you are going to buy the merchandise? absolutely. i haven't bought a mariners jersey yet so definitely looking forward to it. when it came to today's practice match, bolt stuck to the sidelines. no one knows yet if or when he will actually play. manchester united's former assistant manager mike phelan is the sporting director here. he's coming into the game, you know, late, but a dream is a dream at the end of the day and he is ambitious,

he's charismatic, and what he has done is he has brought attention to the coast. whether this is the start of a new career orjust a diversion, usain bolt has already left his mark on australia. hywel griffith, bbc news, on the central coast. a new procedure that uses steam to treat prostate enlargement is to be offered on the nhs. the treatment can be done under local anaesthetic without an overnight hospital stay. one in three men over the age of 50 are affected by the condition. 0ur health correspondent michelle roberts is here. tell us more about this new treatment. so, it is a new option for men with this really common condition, particularly as men get older they can get this enlargement of the prostate. because of where the prostate. because of where the prostate sits, directly below the bladder, when it gets bigger it can cause symptoms because it pushes on the tube that lets urine out so it

can be difficult to go to the toilet. this treatment is less invasive and it involves a probe which is put up and then some steam kills off some of the tissue and it heals so that the tube which lets the urine out can work properly again. the advantage for men is that it can be done as a day case under local anaesthetic and it can spare some of the surgical complications and things like incontinence and impotence. the bbc proms will next week host a performance by a remarkable group of musicians. the resound ensemble is made up of people who are blind, partially deaf, or who have autism. their conductor, who has cerebral palsy, describes their debut at the proms as "a little bit crazy". 0ur disability correspondent nikki fox has been along to meet them. rehearsing mozart, an orchestra like no other. everyone in this ensemble has a disability, and they're about to make their debut at the proms.

the group of six musicians were selected from auditions only nine months ago. they all have different disabilities ranging from hearing loss to autism. james has cerebral palsy and is breaking new ground in the world of classical music by conducting with his head. this is one of the ensemble's final rehearsals before the proms, where they will be performing this bespoke composition alongside 52 members of the bournemouth symphony 0rchestra. so, everything has to be spot on. one man keeping and eye

on rehearsals is alexander campkin. he's used his own experience of living with multiple sclerosis to compose hoping, an intricate six—minute movement. when i was sitting on the audition panel for the group, all of my preconceptions were just smashed to the ground when i realised that we have an absolute wealth of talent. but one consideration he had to make was to incorporate an electronic instrument. you can do a whole octave with very little movement. this is the "linstrument", it's helped charlotte reconnect with music after she lost the ability to play piano when she was 12. let's hope within the next five or ten years that people with disabilities are just the normal part of any orchestra. this will be the group's first major performance and will be held in a less formal setting with a relaxed attitude to movement and noise.

it's hoped it will notjust encourage concertgoers with a whole range of disabilities but that seeing these role models onstage at the proms playing world—class music may untap hidden talent. nikki fox, bbc news. the head of the london fire brigade has criticised the reality tv show love island for reinforcing stereotypes of firefighters as muscle—bound men. commissioner dany cotton said such portrayals discouraged young women from joining the service and she criticised the itv2 show‘s fireman challenge for "rolling out every offensive cliche possible". chi chi izundu reports. rolling about every offensive cliche possible. that is how a senior member of the london fire brigade has criticised this show. commissioner dany cotton, seen here

in the middle, has urged advertisers, journalists and marketers to stop using lazy images of firefighters, saying they reinforce the mic misconception that all firefighters are muscle—bound ben. adding, no wonderso all firefighters are muscle—bound ben. adding, no wonder so many women are put off. just 300 of the fire brigade in london's 5000 operational firefighters are women. the comments come as the brigade launches a campaign to improve equality and gender equality within the organisation. i get off the truck and a point at me and then they go, not a fireman, i don't know what to call you. i have had fireman lady, i have had fire lady, fire person... some people would argue that this is just entertainment. yes, but as with any sort of entertainment you have to be careful about the stereotype that you are portraying and that is not what happens, that is not the stereotype. hi, , not what happens, that is not the stereotype. hi,, we're checking all the smoke alarms on the street... adverts which have appeared on our screens over the years have been

criticised as reinforcing gender stereotypes. the reason it is harmful is because it limits the opportunities and potential of people, sometimes very young people it stops them wanting to grow up to do certain roles and that brings costs to them themselves, to society and to the economy as well. and the dany and to the economy as well. and the da ny cotto n, and to the economy as well. and the dany cotton, the first female to hold the most senior post in the london fire brigade, she's hoping a different portrayal of firefighters will help dispel the idea that the service is a very masculine environment and a sexist field. england's cricketers are facing defeat in the third test against india. test against india. they were set an ambitious target of 521 by the visitors but lost four wickets in the morning session. patrick gearey reports from trent bridge. nottingham loves an outsider, so much so, they build a statue of robin hood, the local outlaw hero, designed to last 6000 years. england's batsmen only have to

survive two days of. 0r score more than 500 runs. it is a defensive game, iget than 500 runs. it is a defensive game, i get a little bit stroppy when i hear people talk about the defensive game being old—fashioned, it's not. defence in batting is every bit as important as attacking. you build an attack on defence so it is not old—fashioned, it's actually really important. in test cricket make a mistake and you won't last five minutes,, or three in keaton jennings' case, he was gone on the fifth ball of the day. alastair cook was next. england's top test run—scorer hasn't made hundred this year. what next? at the crease, 0llie pope, at the other end of his career, thisjust his 0llie pope, at the other end of his career, this just his second test. and what a test. at least he had his for company. butjoe and what a test. at least he had his for company. but joe root and what a test. at least he had his for company. butjoe root was tempted by bumrah. the captain was gone. 0llie pope was suddenly fallible. he didn't need to play at

this but he did. india were so ruthless, joss buttler couldn't believe his luck when he got away with this. more than a day and a half to go, six wickets to take, india go to lunch as very merry men indeed. time for a look at the weather. here's stav da naos i'm sure not many people will be too bowled over by this forecast. it is looking much colder by the end of the week for all of us. but in the short term we hold onto the warm and humid conditions, with some variable cloud but also some good sunshine up and down the country. it's going to remain pretty warm and humid and it could be rather warm depending on the sunshine in places. this area of high pressure is where the humidity is coming from. changes are expected to ta ke is coming from. changes are expected to take place across the north—west as it begins to encroach into the north—west of the country bringing some rain later in the day. for most

of us, variable cloud with sunny spells. maybe a few showers across southern and eastern scotland and northern and eastern england. in the 0uter northern and eastern england. in the outer hebrides this weather front will be pushing in, temperatures beginning to fall away across the north—west. it will become quite heavy during the course of the night. it then spreads into northern ireland and in too much of scotland. quite windy, too. further south it's going to be another dry night with variable cloud and a few clear spells. most places dry and another muqqy spells. most places dry and another muggy night for most away from the extreme north—west. this is the game—changers, this weather front pushing into the north—west. it will continue