pro—brexit conservatives produce a plan for dealing with the irish border after britain leaves the eu. the group says it has a technological solution to one of the trickiest issues in the negotiations and denies trying to unseat the prime minister. theresa may has enormous virtues. she's a fantastically dutiful prime minister and she has my support. ijust want her to change one item of policy. labour says tory infighting is risking ireland's stability, with only months until britain leaves the eu. ireland cannot pay the price of theresa may's negotiating strategy. as we come into these final weeks and months, that's a really important message. we'll assess today's proposals with reaction from brussels and westminster. also tonight: vladimir putin insists the two russian men implicated in the salisbury poisonings aren't criminals and that they'll speak publicly soon. the british couple who died on holiday in egypt. the authorities there now say e.coli was a factor in both deaths.

more than 1.5 million people are ordered to leave their homes, as hurricane florence makes its way towards the southeastern us. and, on the waterfront, we tour dundee‘s new design museum in advance of its public opening this weekend. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news: paralympic champion david weir tells the bbc his battle with depression led to suicidal thoughts in the months after the rio paralympics. good evening. a group of leading brexit—supporting conservative mps have produced proposals for the highly contentious issue of how the irish border will be handled

after britain leaves the eu. the european research groups approach is an alternative to what's been laid out in the government's chequers plan and comes amid renewed questions about the support commanded by the prime minister. the proposals include simplified customs procedures, to avoid the need for checks at the border, similar uk and eu regulations for agricultural producers, and a so—called trusted trader scheme for larger companies to clear goods for export and import. here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. plotting a way through not, they say, plotting against theresa may. former cabinet ministers and the first ever first minister of northern ireland say forget the political fuss about brexit and the border. they claim there is a simpler way through. i commend it to you, for its common sense, its practicality, its effectiveness in dealing with all of the serious issues whilst, at the same time, delivering on the promise

to the british people to leave the single market, leave the customs union and therefore leave the european union. these are scratchy times, though. that plea is designed to get the prime minister to ditch her brexit plans altogether and, while this group would never say it, there have been talks about whether to try to force her out. i have long said and repeated again and again that i think the policy needs to be changed but i'm supporting the person. under what they call common sense, customs checks could be carried out miles away from the actual border. those checks could be minimised by better use of technology and having similar rules to the eu in some areas. what is it that makes you think, as a group, that either the uk government or the european union would accept these proposals now when they have shown no sign of doing so so far? there is an iron focus in this paper on answering the eu's problem, not doing what we've done before

and saying how we would like to do it. we're saying, this is the problem you've outlined as the eu and this is how it can be solved from your point of view. and how far are you prepared to push the prime minister if she will not budge and adopt your ideas? we're arguing this on logic, facts and the needs of the european union to protect their own market. that's why they should listen to it. that's why the prime minister should listen. those gathered here reckon she might have to listen because there are enough of them to defeat her in the commons. even if they are coy about that right now. i think if you were saying, what happens if chequers is dead, i think chequers is dead because the eu have already rejected it. the talks have got stuck. it's obvious. and we are beginning to get very close to where we completely run out of time. and pressure for this border plan comes from one side of northern ireland, too. remember, the prime minister relies on support from a clutch of unionist mps and their leader in westminster today backed the brexiteers‘ idea. it is wrong to say that you can't

have any particular outcome because of the irish border problem. that is wrong, it's been proved to be wrong, and the paper today helps to set that out more clearly. but while she is under attack right now for choosing a path that would keep us tucked alongside the eu, theresa may is not budging. when we leave the european union we will be an independent sovereign state, we will have control of our money, our borders and our laws. and labour says tory division puts ireland's stability at risk. i detect rising anxiety about the state of the negotiations. my message, i suppose is this — that ireland cannot pay the price of theresa may's failed negotiating strategy. if that wasn't enough, a reminderfrom europe there is little chance the government's overall proposals will be accepted as they are. that someone who leaves the union cannot be in the same privileged

position as a member state. if you leave the union, you are, of course, no longer part of our single market and certainly not only in parts of it. but in number 10 there's one big plan — keep calm carry on. in a minute, we'll talk to laura in westminster but first our europe editor, katya adler, in brussels. what is being made where you are of what this group has put forward today? well there has been no official reaction from brussels. michel barnier says he does not like to comment on british internal politics and that is exactly how this paper on northern ireland is being viewed here in brussels. there was in fact a very blunt comment from an eu diplomat to me tonight

saying, we, the eu are negotiating with her majesty's government but not with this group of politicians oi’ not with this group of politicians orany not with this group of politicians or any other outside group but privately, eu sources have been making criticisms of the paper. the couple have said to me can i it relies far too heavily, they say, on a system of mutual trusts and recognition the eu does not have with the non—member states, which is what we will become after brexit. we heard whatjean—claude juncker said today. he said, you leave the club, you lose privileges. he also today poured cold water over the warm up words the eu has had of late for the prime minister's checkers proposal for brexit. he said there can be no partial membership of the single market. from all my conversations in brussels and with eu member states, i see no sign of a softening when it

comes to the single market or the irish border. from the eu perspective, the irish border issue remains the biggest obstacle towards reaching a brexit agreement this autumn. laura, what is the erg trying to achieve? they are driving their colleagues mad that they are trying to express widespread displeasure with the government's is in part. they are trying to show a potential way out from what does seem to be quite an impasse in the talks. the other things some brexiteers are trying to do is put the frighteners on theresa may to rattle her cage to say, you must change your mind or else we might force it upon you. i think, in the wider sense, the government is absolutely adamant, whatever that group says finau, there is no chance

of them changing their path unless and until they have absolutely no choice but to do so. the irish border question has long been a tote up border question has long been a tote up the wider struggle for whose version of brexit will win out. after we leave, will we be the best of friends, the most intimate of neighbours living in each other‘s pockets, or will we go to do something different, to do what many brexiteers would feel is the right thing, to make a more dramatic break with the rest of the continent after we leave the european union? in terms of the impact on the report it ups the pressure on theresa may to try to make her budged from her plans. number 10 has try to make her budged from her plans. numberio has no try to make her budged from her plans. number 10 has no intention of doing so at this moment. tomorrow we will see from the government the publication of more of their plans for a no deal scenario, not what the government says they are aiming for, not what seems the most likely scenario but a sign of how fraught

things have become that they think it is the right thing to do. and if you'd like help demystifying the many different terms surrounding brexit, you can find the bbc jargonbuster, at bbc.co.uk/news. russia's president vladimir putin says two men accused by britain of attempting to murder the former spy, sergei skripal, and his daughter, yulia, in salisbury are not criminals. it's a week since alexander petrov and ruslan boshirov were named by the uk as members of russia's military intelligence, and suspects in the novichok poisoning. but president putin says the men are civilians and he's encouraged them to give their version of events. here's our moscow correspondent, sarah rainsford. these are the two men, accused of a nerve agent attack on the streets of salisbury. it's a week since british police released these pictures and named their suspects as russian intelligence agents. a week that russia just spent denying any of this is evidence.

now, vladimir putin has addressed the claims directly. with a half smile, he used the stage at this economic forum to announce that the suspects were not agents but civilians. we know who they are, we have found them. i hope they will appear and explain everything. this will be best for everyone. there is nothing special here, nothing criminal, i assure you. the salisbury poisoning targeted sergei skripal — a former russian spy — who betrayed his country. but his daughter fell sick, too, and a policeman who visited their home. dawn sturgess was poisoned and died three months later. her boyfriend had found a perfume bottle filled with novichok. officials here have been busy mocking the british case against russia as absurd — a soap opera. they have even claimed that cctv footage was faked.

so, it is not clear who might come forward now. uk police say the suspects used aliases. so, could it be men with the same names or the actual men from the mugshots? one former kgb officer told me russia could be behind the salisbury attack but the culprits never expected to be discovered. behind their public statements, he thinks russian officials are worried. all of the elite understands the mess that russia is now in but the leadership sets the tone. they say that the british made it all up and it's all rubbish, but that's just laddish bravado. everybody knows that the consequences will be serious. outrage over the poisoning has already brought diplomatic expulsions and sanctions. after vladimir putin's surprise comments on the suspects, all eyes are on moscow now for the next move. let's talk to sarah in moscow. what

will that be? are we likely to hear from these men? certainly mr putin today did encourage the men to come forward. he suggested they approach the media, which does raise the prospect of them appearing on kremlin controlled television. if these men are the same one scene insoles three, that will mean they have some very serious questions to answer. “— have some very serious questions to answer. —— in salisbury. if they are entirely innocent it begs questions about the real suspects. the fact that mr putin felt the need to speak at all suggests he may be feeling under some pressure. as for the actions of the kremlin, what we can expect to hear of more doubt and more confusion i'll be on top of the denial. —— piled on top. tests carried out in egypt on the british couple, who died while on holiday last month, suggest e.coli

was a factor in both deaths. john and susan cooper from burnley were staying in the red sea resort of hurghada when they fell seriously ill. the couple's daughter, who was on holiday with her parents, disputes the findings. our correspondent, sarah campbell, reports. john cooper collapsed and died in his hotel room. his wife, susan, a few hours later in hospital. both we re few hours later in hospital. both were staying at the hotel with family and friends. after their deaths, their tour operator and mrs coopehs deaths, their tour operator and mrs cooper's employer thomas cook immediately moved the clients from the hotel. more than three weeks after the deaths, the egyptian general prosecutor concluded that both died from complications caused by e. coli infection. 69—year—old mr cooper had underlying heart problems which made his reaction more severe. his wife susan pulis 63, developed a

rare syndrome his wife susan pulis 63, developed a rare syndrome as his wife susan pulis 63, developed a rare syndrome as a result of e. coli. professor brendan wren has been studying foodborne infections for 25 years. it is very unfortunate but possible that both of them get contaminated food source and it had high numbers of the bacteria on the food source. unfortunately it is possible that they could both have very severe symptoms which could lead on to death. their only daughter told the bbc she believes the e. coli findings are not truthful that she has previously spoken of a strange smell in their room the night before they died. -- are not true. my daughter said she smelt something funny that was not right for that they sprayed perking to try to eliminate the smell and then fell asleep. the public prosecutor confirmed the smell was an insecticide used in the adjacent room but it was not linked to their

death. kelly is hoping a further postmortem in this country may provide answers to the questions she still has. the archbishop of canterbury has called for the rollout of universal credit to he halted, in a strongly worded attack on the government's flagship welfare policy. justin welby also hit out at zero—hours contracts and the gig economy, telling delegates at the tuc conference that injustice against workers still exists. today, there are some who view that kind of oppression of the employed asa kind of oppression of the employed as a virtue. the gig economy, zero—hours contracts, is nothing new. it is simply the reincarnation ofan new. it is simply the reincarnation of an ancient evil. the inquests into the death of five people in the westminster bridge terrorist attack have been shown cctv footage of the moment a woman was hit by the car being driven by khalid masood. aysha frade was on her way

to collect her two children from school when she was hit by the vehicle. daniel sandford reports from the old bailey. aysha frade's still grieving husband and two sisters came to court with their lawyer to hear the distressing details of how she died. she was the beloved mother of two young daughters and was on her way to pick them up from school. in one of the last pictures of her, she is texting her husband, unaware of what was about to happen. rob lyon was walking with colleagues on the bridge and saw it all. aysha being hit by the car and landing right beside him and into the path of a london bus. in cctv footage shown in court, aysha frade can be seen walking up the bridge, where she is hit by the vehicle which is travelling straight along the pavement. these protective barriers weren't here then, of course. she is knocked right into the air and then almost directly under

the wheels of a number 53 bus. the inquest was told she would have died nearly instantaneously and without suffering. soon afterwards, a passer—by found her phone ringing on the pavement and answered it. it was aysha's husband. the stranger told him there had been a terrible accident. a police officer broke down in court today when asked about aysha's horrific injuries. richard webb—stephens was the first paramedic to arrive on his motorbike. but he realised there was nothing he could do. the last person to be fatally injured on the bridge was a romanian tourist, andreea cristea. knocked into the thames, she died two weeks later. for the families it has been a gruelling week, watching their relatives' last moments — happy and relaxed, before being hit by the terrorist‘s car. daniel sandford, bbc

news, at the old bailey. talks between the uk and france to end a dispute over scallop fishing in the english channel have ended without agreement. crews clashed last month over laws that allow british boats to gather scallops year—round, but place restrictions on french vessels. the two sides had initially agreed on the principles of a deal. the government has put forward its vision of how farming in england will work after we leave the eu in march next year. the agriculture bill sets out proposals for a ‘green brexit‘ and how the current european subsidies will be replaced. instead of payments based on the size of a farm, money will be allocated for undertaking environmental projects, such as introducing measures to combat climate change. the bill also outlines a greater focus on research and development, which it hopes will make farms more profitable. but critics say the plans will leave farmers out of pocket, and don't address how much food we need to produce after brexit. our rural affairs correspondent, claire marshall, reports

from near dorchester in dorset. the agriculture bill enshrines michael gove's long—held vision of a green brexit. at the moment, farmers are paid subsidies from europe based on the amount of land they own. they make up 40% of james small‘s income. but in the future, to get any direct payments from the state, he will have to prove that his farm benefits the environment. for example, protecting wildlife, improving air and water quality, and tackling climate change. for any business to start losing 40% of its income is a huge hit. we are going to have to look where else we can try to find an income. but the new scheme heralds a brighter future for farming, according to the environment secretary. we acknowledge that some of the wealthiest farmers with the biggest estates will lose a little bit of money at the edges but, as a result of that,

we will be able to invest not just in the environment but in technology and productivity for all farmers. but the bill does not address the central issue of producing food to feed the nation, something the nfu calls a glaring oversight. currently, the uk only produces around 60% of its own food supplies. we rely on imports from europe. also, under the current system, uk farmers receive around £3 billion in eu subsidies. that makes up more than 60% of england's farming income, nearly three quarters in scotland, and 80% in northern ireland and wales. if we remove direct subsidies from farmers, they are not going to make it up in environmental payments. first of all, there will not be the same amount of money, ultimately, and, secondly, the distribution will be different. the department for the environment was also under fire today from a different quarter — a highly critical national audit office report into its brexit preparations. so this may be the vision for a green brexit, but the report out today has highlighted some real

concerns, including mainly the lack of vets and what this could mean for food exports and the health of animals here. this is a routine health check, a staple in the life of a working vet. but the national audit office warns if there is no deal then vets will be bogged down in new paperwork requirements. an emergency recruitment campaign starts in october. if we haven't got sufficient veterinary surgeons to carry out that kind of normal, daily, herd health type of work, then obviously it won't happen or it will be happening less frequently or it won't be happening to the kind of standards we want it to happen. so, as the brexit negotiations grind on, those in the countryside wait to be given a clear direction. claire marshall, bbc news, near dorchester. this weekend is the tenth anniversary of the collapse of lehman brothers bank — a key moment in the global financial crisis. in the period that followed, share prices plunged, the banking system teetered and millions of people lost theirjobs.

the impact is still felt today. research carried out for the bbc has shown that real annual wages are, on average, £800 a year lower than they were a decade ago. our economics editor, kamal ahmed, reports. it's called a financial crisis. you're totally oblivious to it when you're in it. what i was trying to do was make sure there was food on the table, got water, got heating. just happy to be in work. earl martin from manchester. like so many people, unaware events thousands of miles away would still matter now. lehman brothers, america's fourth largest investment bank, goes bankrupt. this is a once—in—a—century type of event. looking back now with his son. have you noticed any big changes in the last ten years? um, yeah. financially, loads. economically, loads. the recession. massive slump. we are slowly, slowly, slowly,

people say, getting out of it. i'm onlyjust getting to the point where i was ten years ago. but with the cost of living, i'm actually still on a loser. what is remarkable is the long—term effects of this crisis. let's look at a household like earl's. if wages growth had continued as it did before the financial crisis, how much better off would the average household be? how about £4246? for many families, as their cost of living, particularly housing, have increased, their living standards have fallen and that is one of the reasons why you have this political dysfunction as well with a populism both of the left and the right galvanising western politics in the united states, in britain and the whole of europe. and stuttering growth

has added to that mix. the economy now, i6% smaller than it would have been without the financial crisis. i spoke to a former treasury adviser about what needed to be done. i think some of the reasons we're not seeing this robust wage growth, these great qualityjobs, is because we aren't seeing the skills coming out of our schools and universities in the way we should and i think, therefore, when we are rethinking how we consider economics — how we consider policy — much more emphasis should be placed back on strong government policy and how we build in long—term government incentives. and here is the man responsible for that — the chancellor. ten years on from the financial crisis, government debts £i.8 trillion, people's real incomes hardly moved over the decade. public services facing cuts. your government, previous governments, really, frankly, have not been very good at dealing with the terrible economic consequences of that

financial crisis. that is a shock from which people are still suffering the effects today. as you say, a decade of stagnation in real wages causing problems for people's standards of living and we are very acutely conscious of that. but, look, we have got through this in much better shape than many of our neighbours. we have not suffered catastrophic rises of unemployment. on the contrary, we have seen employment grow by 3 million jobs. mr hammond said there was light at the end of the tunnel and wage growth is returning. but there is a long way to go before people like earl feel more positive. kamal ahmed, bbc news. millions of americans have been warned that severe winds and rain from a huge storm heading for the states of north and south carolina could last for days. to start hitting the coast late tomorrow, or early

on friday morning. our north america correspondent, chris buckler, is in wilmington in north carolina. right along the coast of the carolinas, marinas have been cleared of boats and homes have been emptied of people. the windows boarded up and shuttered in preparation for florence. the police have been roaming the already quiet streets, warning that, before the storm arrives, families living here should leave for the safety. we've been here 16 years and we've never had to evacuate. no. we've had some... a couple of close calls when we thought the water might rise on the storm surge, but this one downright scares me. on cape fear, they're closely studying the satellite images of this huge hurricane that's slowly approaching from the atlantic. no one can be sure where it will land but along america's east coast they are being told that the gathering clouds could bring a storm that

has an impact for days. florence may stall after it makes landfall and then move very slowly south down the coast. this could mean that parts of north and south carolina near the coast will experience hurricane force winds and hurricane conditions for 2h hours or more. it's almost three decades since the carolinas experienced a storm on that kind of scale. hurricane hugo is still remembered today. and there has been panic buying of water and other essentials in shops. even dozens of miles away from the coast, supermarket shelves have been emptied as people stock up ahead of the forecast ferocious winds and rain. we don't know the devastation of this storm so... forecasters are predicting it could be the storm of a lifetime and protecting lives here is now the priority along this coastline. there are actually people surfing

here this evening but in just two and a half hours' time a mandatory evacuation order comes into place for this beach and other coastal areas. of course there will be people who stayed but they are being warned that hurricane florence remains on track and just as powerful and the storm could cause tens of billions of dollars of thank you, chris. dundee, a city with a rich history of creativity, is celebrating the opening of a new museum. v&a dundee is scotland's first design museum and has been hailed as the jewel in the crown of a £1 billion transformation of the city's waterfront. our arts editor, will gompertz, has been to look around. v&a dundee's concrete—clad form is reminiscent of a jagged, overhanging cliff face or the prow of a ship about to sail up the tay estuary. it is a striking new addition to the city's waterfront —

a low—rise, inverted pyramid with triangular features. it was created as a whole, as in the building. it is the first building in the uk by the respected japanese architect kengo kuma. i got the inspiration from a cliff from scotland. that cliff is a kind of composition between water and land. the far side is a little bit twisted and inclined and as that gesture integrates nature and the city. the building's tone changes when you enter. the cold, grey exterior gives way to a warm, wood—panelled atrium from which you access the two main galleries on the first floor. one will present temporary exhibitions, the other a history of scottish design. we are in the heart of the museum, the part that looks at scotland's