conservative pro—brexit mps set out plans for tackling the irish border problem after brexit. they say a hard border can be avoided by using technology, so britain would be able to leave the single market and customs union. it comes as some pro—brexit mps are reported to have discussed how to remove the prime minister from office, though others say she should stay. she is a fantastically dutiful prime minister, and she has my support. ijust want her to change one item of policy. we'll have the latest developments from westminster and belfast. also on the programme... the salisbury nerve agent attack. vladimir putin says the two men britain holds responsible are civilians, not criminals. hurricane florence is likely to be the worst storm to hit the south—eastern united states in decades, more than a million people are ordered to leave the area. a first look at the spectacular news

entities of dundee's billion pounds waterfront regeneration. half a million people are expected to visit in its first year. and coming up on bbc news... as alastair cook takes his final bow, and jimmy anderson breaks records, one former england captain hails a special week for test match cricket. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. a group of conservative pro—brexit mps led byjacob rees—mogg has published a plan for tackling the issue of the irish border after britain leaves the eu, one of the major stumbling blocks in the negotiations. the group insists its proposals would enable the uk to leave the single market and the customs union without the need

for a hard border. the move comes as some tory mps are reported to be planning how to remove theresa may as prime minister if she doesn't abandon her chequers plan. leila nathoo reports from westminster. brexiteers walking tours in westminster this morning with one purpose, to try to prove they have an alternative vision for how britain's departure from the eu would work. but what of talk that some of their colleagues on the tory backbenches are now openly discussing a challenge to the person in charge? does brexit mean new leadership? the prime minister is worthy of support, she is extremely dutiful in attending to the business of brexit, i want a change in policy andl of brexit, i want a change in policy and i have made that clear, as have many of my friends in parliament. they say they have their own plan

for how to resolve the irish border question, the crucial issue at the heart of the brexit talks. the paper isa heart of the brexit talks. the paper is a fabulously practical, sensible process and the only way we are going to resolve this issue and thereby going to resolve this issue and there by unlock the going to resolve this issue and thereby unlock the negotiations, thatis thereby unlock the negotiations, that is what this is about, this is about unlocking the negotiations, and the way to do that is by engaging ata and the way to do that is by engaging at a practical level, which this hey, does in a way which has not yet been done. their solution to keep goods flowing freely between the republic and northern ireland relies on technology and checks away from the border. too late in the day for wrangling, say some. we are running out of room, the final decision is going to be taken, the time for political gains and leadership kids and all of that is over. we will be facing the decision within weeks, not months, which will define the prosperity of the nation for a generation or more. do you have the confidence of your party?

would you fight a leadership challenge... 7 would you fight a leadership challenge...? though would you fight a leadership challenge... 7 though her critics would you fight a leadership challenge...7 though her critics are circling, she is not in imminent danger yet. there are not yet the numbers to force her out or and obvious rival candidates. but in the commons, taunts from the labour leader. the government's brexit negotiations are an abject failure, ican negotiations are an abject failure, i can see that by the sullen faces behind her. and that's notjust the drg group, it's the whole lot of them chewable theresa may was standing firm behind her strategy. what we have put forward is a plan which delivers on the result of the referendum, ensures that we take control of our money and our borders and laws but does so in a way that protects jobs and laws but does so in a way that protectsjobs and and laws but does so in a way that protects jobs and livelihoods across the united kingdom. negotiations with brussels are coming to a head but westminster will see its fair share of brexit battles in the weeks and months to come. leila nathoo, bbc news. our assistant political editor, norman smith,

is in westminster. talk of theresa may and her leadership, what more are you hearing about all of that? well, what was striking is that this morning we saw a whole string of prominent brexit critics of mrs may coming out and swearing loyalty to her and dismissing the idea of a plot. you may think, they do protest too much but actually i think for now — for now — there is no move to get rid of mrs may. what there is, though, is a view that they're going to have to come up with a plan b if plan a doesn't work. that would be to try to get mrs may to change her mind and klopp jackers to try to get mrs may to change her mind and kloppjackers but what do you do if she doesn't blink7 and some of them are beginning to think, if mrs may won't get rid of chequers, maybe we are going to have to get rid of her. but even then they face huge hurdles, not least of which, they don't have an obvious candidate, many love boris johnson,

many loathe him. they have deep divisions within their own ranks, they risk a backlash from tory activists, they could plunge the government into chaos. as michael gove observed this morning, leadership contests tend to be a bit like the british weather, you just have to throw them off. however, like the british weather, as we know, it can be pretty changeable, too. our ireland correspondent emma vardy is in belfast. what are you hearing about the response to these proposals laid out this morning? well, debriefed largest parties here, the dup and sinn fein, remain as bitterly divided as ever on these brexit proposals. they have been saying that the irish border does not have to be such an obstacle, the european research group points out that mostly it is the same companies moving the same goods back and forth and it says there are already structures in place to deal with tax

at the border and that technology can be incorporated after brexit to monitor the movement of goods. now, the one area where the european research group acknowledges that northern ireland might need to remain more tightly bound to eu rules is on agriculture, and they're proposing that there is this a security by ozone under which the island of ireland continues to be treated as this to allow the smooth movement of agricultural products across the board without the need for inspections. again today we have long heard the dup echo the sentiments of the erg, saying that the irish border does not need to be an impediment to getting a free trade agreement. but the reaction sinn fein has been the opposite. again today we have heard them saying that any proposal to use technology is just pure fantasy. russia's president, vladimir putin, says the two men that britain accuses of carrying out the nerve agent attack on sergei and yulia skripal in salisbury are not criminals. britain says alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov are members of russia's military intelligence,

but president putin says the men are civilians, and he hopes they will give their side of events. jenny kumah reports. on their way to allegedly carry out a deadly nerve agent attack in salisbury. the british government says these two men are russian military intelligence officers responsible for the plot to murder the former russian spy sergei skripal and his daughter. they have been named as alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov. russia has always denied any involvement, but now president putin is saying his government has found the two suspects and appears to be saying they are not intelligent agents. translation: we obviously looked at who these people are. we found them. they will appear soon, i hope, and tell you everything themselves. there's nothing particularly special or criminal here.

translation: are they civilians? translation: sorry? translation: are they civilians? translation: i can't hear you. translation: civilians? of course they are. just last week scotland yard and the crown prosecution service announced there was enough evidence to charge the men. the police released images showing their arrival at gatwick airport on march 2nd, two days before the poisoning. from gatwick they travelled to east london, staying in a hotel where investigators found traces of novichok. on sunday, march 4th, they travelled to salisbury by train, and were seen near the skripals' house around the time it's thought the nerve agent was sprayed onto the door handle. just last week a russian spokeswoman dismissed the allegations, saying the whole story was created to punish russia and to introduce sanctions. there is no prospect of the suspects being brought to trial in the uk as russia

doesn't extradite nationals accused of crime. president putin's latest words though at least indicate that the men are in russia and known to the men are in russia and known to the authorities. jenny kumah, bbc news. sarah rainsford is in moscow. are we likely to hear from these two men, does anybody know where they are? i think we are, that is the impression vladimir putin was giving with his comments. said he hoped that they came forward, in fact he essentially called for them to approach the russian state media and to make themselves known and to tell their story. that was not a throwaway comment, i think that is what we will see possibly as soon as today, we don't know. certainly everybody here is watching state media to see when that appearance might take place. i think the question is, who will appear? will this be the two men who were

ca ptu red this be the two men who were captured on cctv footage in salisbury and are the main suspects according to britain? or remember that the british authorities have a lwa ys that the british authorities have always said that they believe that these two men on that video footage we re these two men on that video footage were using aliases, so there is of course the possibility that the two men who may appear here could be in fa ct men who may appear here could be in fact the real ruslan borishov and in that case the investigation will not have got very much further. the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, says the eu will work day and night to achieve a brexit deal with britain. in his annual state of the european union address he repeated the eu's negotiating red lines, but said the uk will always be a close neighbour and partner. mrjuncker also called on the eu to become a bigger player in global politics. adam fleming reports from strasbourg. it's jean—claude juncker‘s last state of the union before brexit. state of the union before brexit. he didn't want to be dominated by brexit. so britain only got a small mention. he wants the uk and the eu to be close friends, but he poured

cold water on theresa may's trade plans. we also ask the british to understand that someone who leaves the union cannot be in the same privileged position as a member state. if you leave the union, you, of course, are no longer part of our single market. and certainly not only in parts of it. the prime minister accentuated the positive in the house of commons a short time later. i want to say to our closest allies in europe, you will never, also never, be an ordinary third party for us. back in strasbourg, jean—claude juncker stuck to his preferred theme, making the eu more ambitious on the global stage, meaning a trade deal with africa and making the single currency, the euro, a rival to the dollar. do you want the eu to be a superpower? i don't know what that really means. i want the eu to become a major player in the global scene.

superpower, i don't like that expression. we have to be super but not a superpower. to make europeans feel safer, he announced more details of an eu border force with 10,000 staff, and plans to make websites take down terrorist content an hour after it's posted. he ended saying he was in love with europe, but his big fear is his last year in office will be dominated by the rise of parties that hate it. adam fleming, bbc news, strasbourg. hurricane florence is being described by the us weather service as a monster and the "storm of a lifetime", and it's expected to strengthen further as it heads towards the southeast of the country. more than a million people have been ordered to leave coastal areas, and emergencies have been declared in several states. forecasters say it could make landfall as early as tomorrow night. peter bowes reports.

slow—moving but potentially deadly. the category four hurricane bearing down on the us east coast is 500 miles wide and is likely to make landfall late on thursday. the three states in its path, north and south carolina and virginia, haven't experienced a hurricane of this magnitude in a generation. this storm is a monster. it's big and it's vicious. it is an extremely dangerous, life—threatening, historic hurricane. taking heed of the warnings, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the roads to try to escape the danger areas. others have decided to stay put, buying up essential supplies and boarding up businesses. we've been here for six years, i haven't been through one this strong, so safety first, family, and just trying to prepare the house as best

as we can right now. president trump has pledged to spare no expense in the government's response. any amount of money, whatever it takes, we're going to do it. but we're already set up, we have food for days, we have emergency equipment and generators for many days, we should be in great shape. this is the calm before the storm, but officials say they're preparing for a disaster that causes widespread damage and loss of life. peter bowes, bbc news. cbs correspondent david begnaud gave us this update from wrightsville beach in north carolina. in wrightsville beach, north carolina, where we are, a mandatory evacuation went into effect at 8am. and in north carolina if you don't follow a mandatory evacuation order, you could be cited with a misdemeanour crime. now listen, it happens all the time in hurricanes. people decide that they can ride it out. and if you do, just know that

forecasters are saying that this could be the storm of a lifetime. in south carolina much of the entire coast of the state is under mandatory evacuation. here in north carolina, officials are evacuating certain areas. local leaders are responsible for deciding what to evacuate and when. in virginia the governor of that state has evacuated certain low—lying areas. where we are in wrightsville beach, this might end up being ground zero for hurricane florence. remember, the storm is massive. in some proportions it's as big as the state of north carolina. where we are, we are being told the storm surge could be up to 13 feet, higher than some of the buildings along the beach. and the rainfall totals could be as high as a0 inches. again, forecasters are using the phrase storm of a lifetime in a very sombre tone as they tell people, "if you are being told to get out, and you haven't already, now is the time to go." i'm david begnaud for cbs news, reporting for the bbc, in wrightsville beach, north carolina. our top story this lunchtime...

conservative pro—brexit mps set out plans for tackling the irish border problem after brexit — they say a hard border can be avoided by using technology. and still to come, why a record number of free—to—use cash machines are closing across the country. coming up on bbc news... gavin whyte steals the show in belfast, scoring on his debut for northern ireland with his first touch of the ball after less than two minutes on the pitch. this weekend is the 10th anniversary of the defining moment of the global financial crisis 7 the collapse of lehman brothers bank. it was the largest bankruptcy in history and sparked a chain of events that led to the worst crisis since the great depression. banks collapsed, markets plunged and millions of people across the globe lost theirjobs.

the impact is still felt today. research for the bbc by the institute for fiscal studies shows that on average, people's real annual are £800 a year lower than they were a decade ago. one of the hardest hit regions in the uk is the east midlands. colleta smith has been to newark to hear one family 5 story. life for mark and claire has changed over the last decade. we struggle from payday to payday. we're only sort of like one payday from going under. she works for a small business. holidays? yes, thank goodness for visa cards, otherwise we wouldn't have a holiday. he used to be a self—employed sports coach, but the work ran dry. i tried to live the dream of being my own boss. it was nice, but it got to a stage where, can we afford the mortgage? so he retrained as a teaching assistant. cuts had to be made.

and i was one of them cuts that was made within schools and sporting organisations. the family budget is under pressure. we are a lot worse off. i'm earning the same amount per hour now than what i was earning ten years ago. the east midlands is one of the most tightly squeezed regions, with pay more than 6% lower than it was ten years ago. yeah. we're not the only ones. there's a lot of families like us. we see more and more school trips not been paid for. so the school has to pay. we can't deny these kids. we can't say, "you can't go because you haven't paid." three or four years ago, maybe we were thinking, oh, are we coming out of this now? are we starting to see the green shoots? but it looks like for you guys as a family, and this area as a whole, maybe you are not really seeing this happening? no. i feel it's getting worse. it's getting worse. the pinch on what we have left every month once the bills are paid, itjust seems to get less.

for you as parents how does that make you feel when you are thinking of your kids? it's sad. it's quite sad. it makes me feel angry because we've always worked, just like other families. we're just normal working—class people. did you ever have an inkling that it would impact yourfamily in this kind of a way? no. you know, it's one of those things you hear on the news. it's going to affect the bankers, it's going to affect the rich city boys. and i thought, you know, you just think, it's just another blip, we've had those before. i now worried that if my wages aren't increasing, that that same is going to happen for the next generation for my kids, and that they're never going to have an opportunity to even get on the housing market. claire and mark are still being rocked by the waves of the economic storm ten years ago. there's a warning that britain's lucrative food export industry would be badly affected by a no—deal brexit, because the government hasn't hired enough vets.

the national audit office says valuable products and livestock could also be held up at the border. the warning comes as the government announces an agriculture bill that it says will "take back control for farmers". jon ironmonger reports. farming, food, environmental standards, controlled by thousands of eu laws. with six months until brexit, dev row‘s to—do list is enormous. the department has achieved a great deal in difficult circumstances, hiring staff and improving it systems. but that it isn't ready for a no deal scenario in several key areas. there will not be enough time to agree export health certificates, with more than 100 countries for animals and animal

products, potentially stopping hundreds of millions of pounds worth of exports. the uk won't be able to recruit enough vets, and could hold shipment at the border. defra has its work cut out. there are more challenges ahead, such as agreeing the uk's continued participation in the uk's continued participation in the european chemicals agency, vital for chemicals and exports worth £70 million. it is food for thought for the environment secretary, who had been hoping to announce his agriculture bill today. the national audit office was in the department earlier this year and challenging us to do more in a number of areas. we have responded to that challenge. we have responded to that challenge. we have rocha —— recognise work needs to be done and have accelerated our preparations for any outcome to ensure that food exports and our territorial waters can be maintained. for nearly 50 years, farmers have received controversial eu subsidies based on the amount of land that they farm. but under new

legislation these subsidies will be replaced with payments for a so—called public goods such as improving air, water and soil conditions, reducing the risk of flooding on the land, providing a natural habitat for wildlife and better access to the countryside. as the uk leads the common agricultural policy, the current system of direct payments will be phased out gradually until 2027. you can'tjust say we will let the market run it because ultimately we live in volatile times. we farm outside the mercy of the weather. this past year has been a very challenging year. we have seen drought, we have seen floods, we have seen snow. all of it has impacted on birmingham. government has a role to play in that. britain has a chance to make big changes to farming, the environment and animal welfare. right now it is still swamped in the paperwork. on the third day of the inquest into the deaths that

resulted from last year's westminster bridge attack, the court has heard evidence about aysha frade. the spanish teacher, who was on her way to pick up her children from school, died when she fell under a bus after being hit by the car driven by khalid masood as she walked on the pavement over the bridge. the inquest heard she was completely unaware of the speed of the car coming quarter. two men have been convicted of involvement in a half a million pound jewellery armed robbery at one of scotland's most exclusive hotels. 42 year old richard fleming was convicted following at a trial at the high court in edinburgh. liam richardson pleaded guilty to his involvement in the robbery at an earlier stage. the pair made off with high—value rolex watches — which have not yet been recovered — from the gleneagles resort. free—to—use cash machines are being closed at a record rate, according to link, the banking alliance which co—ordinates them. the total is falling by more than 250 a month, partly because we're taking out less cash, partly because they've become less economic to run.

here's our personal finance correspondent, simon gompertz. they're essential to get hold of cash, but often we aren't bothering, just paying by card instead. plus, the fee our banks have to pay cash machine operators each time we do use one is being cut. the uk's diminishing ranks of free—to—use cash machines still number more than 53,000. but in the five months tojuly, 1300 closed — 76 of them disappearing even though they were supposedly protected. link, which coordinates the network, has tried to protect free machines in remote areas by persuading banks to pay a higherfee per withdrawal to the operator, but some have been removed anyway. in 21 cases there wasn't even a post office nearby to get cash over the counter. if consumers keep using cash less and less, then yes, atm numbers will keep going down. and what link needs to do is make sure that it

doesn't come out of quiet, rural, remote areas. and if we find we can't do that, then we will need to go and ask for help from regulators and other policymakers. behind this threat to some people being able to take out the cash they need, lies a big business battle between the banks and the independent operators of a lot of the cash machines like this one. now regulators are saying that link will have to intervene to make sure that more of the much needed cash machines are kept open. we are concerned to hear that some communities have lost their free—to—use atm. that's why we're taking strong regulatory action now to put rules in place on link to make sure it's doing everything it can to put those back in place. and it's also why i've written to the banks today, to make sure we understand their commitment to providing their customers with good access to cash. some say banks should be forced to pay for link to run some machines itself, taking them over if other operators decide they're not making enough money from giving us cash when and where we want it.

simon gompertz, bbc news. tottenham hotspur‘s world cup—winning goalkeeper hugo lloris has been fined £50,000, and banned from driving for 20 months, after admitting a charge of drink driving at westminster magistrates court. the 31—year—old — who captains the north london side and the french national team — was found to be more than twice the drink—drive limit when he was stopped by police in central london in august. the v&a, the world's leading museum for art and design, is about to officially branch out beyond its london base. the v&a dundee opens on saturday, and is the centrepiece of the city's waterfront regeneration. our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon, has been given an advanced tour of the museum, and joins us from there now. hello. this is a first look at this

new museum and it is spectacular. this building has pushed the boundaries of engineering and design. the architect, kengo kuma, has described it as a living room for the city, a place for a city to —— for people to visit, to hang out m, —— for people to visit, to hang out in, to learn from and to inspire. it's the show stopping centrepiece of £1 billion riverside restoration. the fee and a dundee, described as a sculpture as much as a building, with curves, sharp pages... the total form of the with curves, sharp pages... the totalform of the building is very different. there is organic movement. it follows the wind flow. that is the basis of this design. with the scottish design galleries, the meticulously restored oak room, and scottish engineering a feature,

scotland's design heritage features large. ocean liners is a major international show. as part of that story scottish engineering and the work done is essential part of the exhibition. it is that aspect of how we approach design which is really important. we need to be appropriate. we need to shine. we wanted to shine within an international context. the museum tells a global story and there is plenty of interest from around the world in its opening. dundee east a city with creativity at its core. this addition to the cultural landscape has ambitions which lie closer to home. my hope is we will create a new generation of designers, artists, engineers and architects coming out of dundee. i hope that thousands, and tens of thousands of people are going to come to dundee to see this great building and of this great collection. and we are going to help dundee finds some of that confidence

which might have been lost in recent decades. this museum brings jobs, decades. this museum bringsjobs, yes, but it is also a bold statement that dundee's design heritage and scotland's cultural clout. a destination not just for scotland's cultural clout. a destination notjust for tourists, but for the people living here. this really is a big dealfor this small city on the banks of the river tay. half a million people are expected to visit the v and a dundee in its first year. the first of those expected through the doors on saturday. lorna, thank you. lorna gordon. time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello. we both get to the uk forecasting a moment. an update, hurricane florence. this looks like a monster storm. a short