hello, everyone. this is afternoon live. i'm rebecca jones. today at 2. making it easier for highly—skilled workers to move to the uk after brexit — the recommendation of a report for government. bmw's mini factory in oxford will close for a month after brexit — the german owner says its bringing forward the annual shutdown to minimise any disruption lib dem leader sir vince cable will call for a ‘movement of moderates‘ to sink theresa may‘s brexit plans. we'll bring you his speech live. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport — with chris and football making the headlines. good afternoon. tottenham are not not far from kick—off in the european champions league. the group stage for them get under way in italy against inter milan. in under

four hours. all very exciting. all very exciting. thanks chris, and it's all about the wind in the weather. darren has the details. we've got some gusty today but at least we do have some sunshine as well. a storm is that a arrive tomorrow. we will have a look at why oui’ tomorrow. we will have a look at why our weather has changed later in the programme. thank you, darren — see you later. also coming up — there was plenty of british success at list night's emmys in los angeles. claire foy, thandie newton, charlie brooker and matthew rhys all picked up awards. we'll bring you all the highlights. hello, everyone, this is afternoon live. a very good afternoon and welcome to afternoon live. immigration was one of the issues in the brexit referendum — and today a report by government

advisers says eu nationals should be subject to the same immigration rules as everyone else after brexit — unless that's part of a trade deal struck with brussels. the migration advisory committee says it should be made easier for highly—skilled workers to come to the uk, and that a cap on numbers of skilled workers from outside the eu should be lifted. the report's expected to guide future government policy on immigration. our correspondent richard lister has this report. immigration, it is at the heart of the brexit debate and here is the question. how should britain control eu migration after we leave? the a nswer to eu migration after we leave? the answer to that could be critical to this garment company in north london. 18% of the machinist from eastern europe. there are 90

employees but the boss wants another 50 and only the eu can supply the expertise they need. they are the ones that are already skilled. in their country they do yea rs skilled. in their country they do years and years of training, experience, and it is really highly regarded as a craft. they are absolute at their profession and it does not have the same standing as a career, here in the uk. today's report says migrant workers have little or no impact on those born in the uk. in terms of wages or job opportunities. but it does say some migrants are more beneficial to britain than others. it says, in the future, eu citizens should not be given preferential access to uk over other migrants. but it does recommend making it easierfor higher skilled workers to come in and lifting a cap on those from outside the eu. while those who are lower skilled, it says, should face restrictions. the problem with free movement is that you don't have control over the

number of migrants and you don't have control of the mix of migrants only think that it migration is managed, there is a way in which it do is that we can accentuate the benefits and mitigate the cost. but proposals to restrict lower skilled workers will sound alarm bells in many sectors of the uk economy. there are a industry and the report says that maybe one area that stars need a bespoke migration process. but the hospitality industry says it needs 200,000 eu workers every year just to fill the currents demand. if adopted, today's report could mean big changes for many british businesses. we need people with university degrees and we need people with intermediate skills. you can be technicians and lavatories, you can help to build the homes we need for future generations. they have a

whole range of skills. the prime minister has already suggested it is time to end the double standard migration from the eu and outside with one harmonised policy. but how how should the barriers be for foreign workers who wa nt barriers be for foreign workers who wantjobs barriers be for foreign workers who want jobs here? this barriers be for foreign workers who wantjobs here? this report should help the government, but an answer to that. let's cross now to westminster — our chief political correspondent, vicki young, is there for us. as theresa may is negotiating she said for many, many months that free movement must answer the idea of uncontrolled immigration from the eu must come to an end because, of course, it became a toxic issue and there are many who feel that the brexit vote, for many people, it was based on their unhappiness with the factor was uncontrolled immigration from the eu so as theresa may looks at what she might still after

brexit, she knows that one of her red lines has to be, and she said it many times, that freedom of movement will end. the question, though, that the politicians will be wrestling with is whether there will be preferential treatment for eu citizens after we leave. so that they are not treated in the same way as non—eu. there is quite a bureaucratic process of getting visas and work permits and put into various different categories but i think there is no doubt that the cabinet knows there has to be control of some kind of matters how they would talk about it. they would say that the economy does need immigration, they're not talking that having none at all from the eu. it is about having the people that the economy needs and deciding who can come into the country, so it is controlled immigration rather than some would say it, a free for all from the eu. now, of course, this could all be decided by the late on the day, after we leave, as the planners at the end of march next

year. then, it is thought that really the details of the talks about a trade deal will get serious and it is as part of that the can see that there might be the option of offering preferential treatment to eu citizens in order to get a better trade dealfor the to eu citizens in order to get a better trade deal for the uk and to eu citizens in order to get a better trade dealfor the uk and i think there are many ministers who would feel that that would be worth offering. for now, thank you. the german carmaker bmw has announced it will be moving its annual maintenance shut down period for its british mini plant to just after britain is due to leave the eu — in case of a no—deal brexit. they company has moved the shut down from august to april — hoping to minimise the risk of disruption to their supply chain. it will close for four weeks not four months as i might have suggested at the top of the programme. 0ur correspondent jamie robertson is with me to unpick this. that is where you are the business

correspondent. why is bmw doing this? it will be four weeks. it is to do was brexit but on the other hand they always close down a august and they're bringing it forward to the month of april. which will cause problems in sort of supplying the way that they supply the retailers and the way they get them at a market. it will cost a bit of my but actually, it is very marginal. why are they doing it? well, the problem but when you're manufacturing does methadone over it and there you have ever been. the series car is being made along the production line. it comes to one point and you see the doors will come in at one point were brought in on a machine and affixed to the side of the number of door sitting outside that factory is probably only about a dozen or so. because the next lot will be delivered as those ones going to be fixed onto the many as it goes down the production line. so you're talking aboutjust—in—time production. staff has to come into

the factory the moment it is needed. that is what it means. and those doors, those extra bits have to come across the channel or comment from abroad and have to get that manufacturing site exactly the point when needed. if you start to have bottlenecks at ports, if you start to have customs checks or if you... the paying of tariffs is obviously going to add to costs but it is the timing which really is absolutely vital. and that is what they're worried about and that is why they wa nt to worried about and that is why they want to have a hiatus of one month than they can paul's and they can say, ok. we'll sort out. if there are bottlenecks hear what are we going to have to do? store 100 doors as awareness warehouse. we'll have to build up a whole lot of carburettors and his warehouse that we can cope problems, if there are problems, which of course there may or may not be. all other companies do something similar? we saw all other companies do something similar? we sanaguar land rover... they were a little bit difference. they were a little bit difference. they said they were good into a three day we just for christmas.

there was a growing problem or a gradual problem of cells within the car industry. particularly within the diesel sector. this is to do with diesel emissions and move back towards petrol and towards electric even though alternative fuels are small share of the market. it is growing very fast and people are not renewing their cause as much. you the slowdown in demand and that is the slowdown in demand and that is the reason they are going on to a three—day week. not so much brexit. in the back of billy's mind is a feeling is going to be this kind of hiatus around march or april as people just simply don't know exactly what is going to happen. and when... there is also a point, at what point is the uncertainty going to clear and we're going to know that we're going to have no deal? point is the uncertainty going to clear and we know we will have an agreement? at that point of course things people might start by a few more cores. production may come back

on again. but at the moment people are playing it very cautiously. most of the afternoon, so i will see. for now, thank you. for now, thank you. let's get the view from brussels now — our europe correspondent gavin lee is there. from this side of the water, bearing in mind you've got most of the leaders who regularly meet here in brussels and for the first time actually does not time you see another part of brussels. i'm usually outside the council with the leaders are. a stone's throw from there is the main square of brussels. busy as it always is today and sometimes come after the summer squad including anglo murk of the german chancellor commie averse time away with their security personnel. what happens in the next 2a hours is interesting. the european leaders, as well as michel barnier, he will

leave brussels and many officials will. their warheads to austria because at the informal summit that they will talk about migration and they will talk about migration and the brexit negotiations. 80% of the withdrawal agreement complete. theresa may says she hopes enough has been given britain's way with the chequers agreement, it has caused huge splits for the eu to compromise and come up with momentum towards a deal. let's get a wider perspective on this. you are the head of european law, eu law. today we're hearing one issue from the migration advisory committee advising the government that in future, you would not treat the eu workers any differently to other workers. it is a preferential status on being skilled. do you have a thought on that? perhaps the effect on future for european workers? 0n perhaps the effect on future for european workers? on one level i can understand that as part of the brexit promise is that the uk will

be able to negotiate free—trade agreement with countries in the modern sophisticated free—trade agreement, one of the issues are appeasers. we saw this just after brexit from theresa may went out to india. an obvious area for free—trade agreement. and visas are very much part and parcel of a vision of services and of a modern free—trade agreement. i can why they would want that bargaining chip on the table for any free—trade agreement. the position we're in now, given that theresa may saying it is my deal orators no deal, six months to go looking ahead at the importance of striking trade deals and problems ahead, what is on your mind? the timing is tight. it was always going to be tight. this drop. it is not actually a drop. if you look at article 50 tears with the unanimity of the member states they can extend that period. serve britain must go back to the eu and so, sorry, parliament can't decide. you'll have

a people's vote, please could we have an extension of time? given generosity of spirit the eu is currently demonstrating and the desire to be dramatised the situation, think it is a serious question that they would look at that seriously. 0ne that seriously. one point you're saying that is not the cut another study of expanding article 50 talks which means that by march next year britain would not leave the eu. that is something that backin leave the eu. that is something that back in the uk there is a feeling of let's get on with it, certainly with a big segment of society. another thought you have is when we talk about this transition deal, there will be a period up until the end of 2022, but the transition deal for new trade talks. you believe that is not long enough? i don't think it is feasible or talks, the solar calendar took seven yea rs talks, the solar calendar took seven years in britain to distinguish itself in me wants to go its own when thames and regulatory systems, etc etc. it is so complex to negotiate a modern free—trade

agreement. you're talking at least 5-7 agreement. you're talking at least 5—7 years. known as a practical issue. writing the software. people. you're talking much, much longer than a two—year period. leaders subtly brussels including donald tusk, the european council president is that in the meeting in salzburg for dinner with your‘ does tomorrow night you will advise that there is a specially arranged november summit with michel barnier suggested that they could have a deal on the withdrawal agreement by them. in fact salzburg might sell it them. in fact salzburg might sell it the agenda. another summit erector above. possible to the wire summit coming up to. possible to the wire summit coming up to. senior police officers say a hard brexit could mean losing access to up to a0 european systems used by forces across britain. officers say falling back on slower alternatives will make it much harder to protect uk citizens . earlier our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, talked us through some of the issues police say they could face. accessed by british officers on

british streets, 539 million times last year. another, the european arrest warrant, which britain uses to extradite criminals. the alternative is to that would take ten times longer, according to police chiefs this morning. they would, for example, make it harder to stop and arrest the suspects in the salisbury poisoning. the general view here was that all these tools help make policing more effective and they‘re not as good as the alternatives. the general point was it will make it harder to keep british people safe and one senior officer said that compared with the millennium bug, that computer problem in 2000 we thought might bring the world to a halt, he said he would rather be dealing with that. then this. scotland was one of the most pro—remain parts of the uk

in the brexit referendum — voting against by 62% to 38. 0ur correspondent catriona renton is in glasgow‘s prince‘s square. catriona. good afternoon from the heart of glasgow‘s shopping area. we are here in princes square. you can see there isa in princes square. you can see there is a bit ofa in princes square. you can see there is a bit of a continental kind of cafe culture going on in here. as you said, scotland voted 62% is to remain in the european union. in glasgow, it was 66%. i‘ve been out of the streets this morning talking to people, asking them for their views on what is happening six months ahead of brexit. many of them saying that they are very unclear. 0thers wondering what the discrepancy is and why that vote was so different between scotland and other parts of the uk. doctor craig mccann guests is from the

organisation called uk and changing europe, and he has been trying to set out the differences. it is very different. i suppose the only part of the uk pitch can really compare the level of support for european membership is london. and if you look at england, one of the major driving forces behind voting for brexit was feeling very english. english national identity. whereas scottish national identities in to be much more comfortable with staying within the european union. scotla nd staying within the european union. scotland is very, very different. and i think the fact that the 62% vote is there is causing a lot of tension within the uk and between the scottish and uk governments because the scottish government can clearly point to that mandate in the scottish people, overall crown overall scottish people did not vote for this. so we need to figure out how we can accommodate or preferences. you‘re hearing about the 62% of

every single local authority area in scotla nd every single local authority area in scotland voted to remain in the european union. and we have been talking to anthony. he is a scottish centre on european relations and he was explaining what he thinks means there has been more support for remain here. the whole point of the european union is about countries working together to try and solve cut problems and that resonates were people might be most comfortable having different identities with a little scottish, british, european as well. clearly people might be persuaded by practical arguments, economic arguments for that scotland benefits from being part of the eu economic leave. migration is very important and eu migrants coming into scotland helps to sustain scotland's economy and scotland's populations of us all a why one might be supportive of eu membership. this is a country that is used to

referendum. it is four years ago exactly today that scotland voted on independence. there has been shut about the outcome of the brexit vote as to whether or not there would be as to whether or not there would be a second scottish independence referendum. that remains very much on the table and we expect the first minister to make some sort of statement about that later this year. of course, the scottish government have said they want to wait and see what the outcome of the deals are before they decide what to do next. but, certainly, more questions remaining here in scotland ahead of that six months until we leave the eu. well, all week we‘re reporting on ‘brexit: six months to go‘. if you are still confused by any brexit terms — do take a look at ourjargon buster on the bbc news website. there‘s been success for british stars at the emmy‘s — america‘s biggest tv awards — with claire foy and thandie newton picking up prizes.

but it was an american director — with a surprise proposal — who stole the show, as james cook reports. ladies and gentlemen, checking every box, please welcome the one of each dancers! the show began by satirising the many scandals of showbiz. hello? 0h, we did not solve it? isee. the nominees were more diverse than ever, but most big winners were still white. claire foy, the crown. applause. this is herfirst emmy. i had the most extraordinary two and a half years of my life — i‘m not going to cry — on this programme. i was given a role that i never thought i would ever get a chance to play and i met people who i will love for ever

and ever and ever. fellow brit thandie newtown was also honoured for westworld. i don‘t even believe in god, but i‘m going to thank her tonight. cheering. more than a0 years after his debut as the fonz in happy days, henry winkler finally won and emmy for the comedy barry. kids —jed, zoe and max — you can go to bed now, daddy won! the welsh actor matthew rhys triumphed in cold war thriller the americans. game of thrones took the big drama award, while 50s period piece the marvelous mrs maisel won best comedy. it‘s about a woman who is finding her voice anew, and something that‘s happening all over the country right now, one of the most important ways that we can find and use our voices is to vote. jan, you are the sunshine in my life... but all the stars were upstaged by this director. you wonder why i don't like to call you my girlfriend, because i want to call you my wife. cheering. acceptance speech turned proposal. will you marry me?

she said yes. hollywood just loves a happy ending. james cook, bbc news, los angeles. the liberal democrat leader, sir vince cable, has called for a public vote on the final brexit deal. sir vince warned ‘fundamentalists‘ in the conservative party were determined to take britain out of the eu, no matter how much economic damage it caused. well sir vince is due to start speaking at the lib dems annual conference at about two thirty, and we‘ll be crossing over to see what he has to say. but first let‘s talk to our political correspondent jonathan blake, who‘s there, about what to expect from the lib dem leader‘s speech. it sounds like you‘ll be using pretty strong language about brexiteers. 0ne phrase in particular which

you‘ll in his speech today to describe brexit, the erotic spasm, as he will put it, the fundamentalist, the true believers, those people you are incredibly enthusiastic about brexit and wanted to happen regardless of what he sees asa to happen regardless of what he sees as a negative economic consequences. we will hear a lot about brexit in his speech to the party members this afternoon. that has been the big theme of the conference. it is one issue with the lib dems can set themselves apart from the conservatives than weber. at a time when they are really struggling to be heard with only a dozen mps, not getting much support in the opinion polls. this week and then telling anyone who‘ll listen that brexiters about ideas and it should be stopped. vince cable would like to see what he calls a people‘s vote, another referendum. a public vote on any deal reached by the government and the eu on the terms of britain‘s would fall from the european union. this afternoon in his speech he will say that theresa may, in his view, deep down, really doesn‘t believe in

brexit and she should show true leadership and open mind the possibility of public vote. the government has consistently ruled that out under any circumstances. but this really has to be the moment with the lib dems can try their best to be heard and to put themselves at the front, forefront of the campaign for a vote. that would be his big message. i‘m sure there will be an attack on his political opponents, it would not be a leader‘s speech without it. we will hear more about him from his proposed changes to the lib dems was a bearded mulling over what he wants to happen to open up the party to nonpaying supporters, to some is not an mp to stand for the party and create what he calls a movement from moderates. a lot of mps are not too sure about that phrase. they will continue in his speech. jonathan, you got there.

your song was a bit intermittent but we‘ll get the gist of it and we will talk to you later. —— your sound was a bit intermittent. let‘s catch up with the weather. it is all about the wind. the windy is changing a few like. this is what we are expecting. we‘re expecting somebody windy conditions at times. some spells of rain. a few add the two together, even a few keep them apart you are still going to find some travel disruption as the may well be some damage as well. in all this sort of conditions, all this very changeable wild weather, it want quality commitment to thejet schemes will look at why this sort of thing is happening. tell me. the jet stream is powered by temperature contrast. what we see at this time of the year in larger temperature contrasts. we have got some big temperature contrast because we‘ve got some tropical there that has

come across to the uk, got really cold air that is diving down from canada. and they power the jet schemes are the jet stream is about 150 mild an hour and that is sweeping its way across the uk. that picks up areas of low pressure, dry some towards the uk, bringing the wind in the rain. that is the next few days. as you move on to jet skiing is going to be in a different position. it is going to be driving its way north of surrey are going to be steering a lot wet and windy weather to the north of the uk and things will come down he returned. today, we have got some blustery winds but at least we‘re seeing some sunshine around out there. a few showers coming in from the west as well. they‘re the moving into western parts of the uk. cloud across northern scotland keeping it across northern scotland keeping it a touch cooler here. blustery winds across england and wales but it is a south—westerly. those are the sort of temperature is widely into the low 20s here. there will be some further bans on shower was coming in from the west tonight. some of them could be a bit lively. here are

spells, too. but overnight we will find increasing cloud, some rain coming into northern ireland. and the wind is really starting to pick up the wind is really starting to pick up as well. during a small mouth course of temperatures 11—14d. this area of cloud is the first storm of the season. storm ali driven on by the season. storm ali driven on by the jet stream. swinging the season. storm ali driven on by thejet stream. swinging damaging winds across northern ireland in central scotland. this is have the pick of the winds and lows of the sort of customer expecting inland. an amber warning them met office. strong gusty winds around elsewhere we re strong gusty winds around elsewhere were together with a reading strong winds in scotland and northern ireland were going to find a spell of rain sweeping its way across during the morning. it will move up towards the north—east and be followed by frequent showers. we will see a band of rain and wales. my will see a band of rain and wales. my ragged, more patchy. remain a key towards the south—east corner. still quite one across england and wales.

cord ova quite one across england and wales. cordova scotland and ireland but that of the least of our worries. let‘sjoin a special let‘s join a special coverage now of the lib dem conference in brighton. we are here on bbc two and the bbc‘s news channel for vince cable‘s speech to the liberal democrat conference. here with me, writer and commentator steve richards and lib dem deputy leaderjo swinson. vince cable will tell his party that brexit fundamentalists will cause the uk yea rs of fundamentalists will cause the uk years of economic pain and called may to back a referendum on the referendum deal she strikes with brussels. so, sirvince

so, sir vince cable is expected to get to his feet in just under ten minutes‘ time and will do is quite a colourful phrase to describe the decision to leave the eu, what is the phrase? i think it is erotic spasm. it is. words i didn't think i would be uttering here! it's a first. are those the words you would use a hardline brexiteers? i'm not sure they are the words i would use but they conjure up a colourful image. i think it is the case that we are pursuing this path and it will lead to huge pain for the country for many years and is basically because a group of people have decided that this is the thing they want regardless of the consequences and have pursued that until where we find ourselves today. do you think it is offensive to those people who have pursued brexit on the way you describe? we will

have do see it in context. i think it is only used to describe a subset of those who voted for brexit. not for everyone who thought brexit is a good idea. did it grab your attention, steve? yes, and i kind of know what he means. there are a group of people, without pursuing the metaphor too intensely, who do get incredibly excited about anything to do with europe and brexit and have done since they were about six months old. it goes beyond reason and objective evidence, to use another rude word. sol reason and objective evidence, to use another rude word. so i kind of know what he means. it's not about 17 million people. there is a group within the conservative party who get overexcited, let's put it like this, overan get overexcited, let's put it like this, over an exit from europe. what about the 17 points 4 million who

voted leave and thought it would be better for the country? people who voted for change. i think we need to recognise there is that the desire for change. as liberal democrats, we believe brexit isn‘t the right change and isn‘t going to be good for the country, but that doesn‘t mean we shouldn‘t be understanding and listening to what has led people to that position. i think vince will be speaking about how we respond to that. i think we will manage to secure a public vote on have a people‘s vote on the deal. brexit is not inevitable, it can still be stopped. whether it happens or not, we still have a lot of problems in society, we still have a lot of people unhappy with the status quo and that has to be addressed by the way. what does this speech have to do? that is a difficult question. frankly, the liberal democrats have a huge problem of being or appearing to be significant at the moment. political journalists to be significant at the moment. politicaljournalists get everything wrong but they can taste and sniff significance. they sniff

insignificant at the moment. it is not your fault or his fault individually, you are a very small parliamentary party. so even on an issue like europe, the key player in a hung parliament is obviously the labour party, because they have the numbers. so it is quite hard, given the context, for him to say or do anything that acquires greater significance at the moment. i think they are in a bad and difficult place and that is largely to do with the size of the parliamentary party, and obviously the broader context, which i know you talked about this week, of what happened in the coalition and whether they lost support for a generation as a result. so, i'm afraid they appear insignificant, because, in some respects in the current context, they are. let's check in with our political correspondentjonathan blake who is in brighton. does it feel insignificant down there? not

as far as the party members are concerned. the lib dems are usually a pretty cheerful bunch, and i have do so, i think they have had what they would consider to be in most cases a good conference over the last few days, because there has been a real focus to it. last few days, because there has been a realfocus to it. whatever you say about the lib dems are struggling to be heard beyond the conference or their own party, there have been a couple of central themes which have got people talking. no doubt about that. sir vince cable‘s focus on brexit and call for a public vote and his proposed changes to the party. that idea that nonpaying members could have an influence over policy, allowing non—mps to stand for the leadership. he has got people talking and it has not been without some resistance. we we re not been without some resistance. we were hearing from some members take you and a session with vince cable on sunday. people talking about this being the end of the party, potentially, and opening up to infiltration from unwelcome individuals. but for every person who has a problem with it, there are

others who say we have to do something if we are going to survive. i think you have heard a lot of senior party figures backing sir vince cable with that proposal. it will of course, for the membership, it will be for them to decide what changes are to be made. those are the main themes that have dominated the conference in brighton and we will hear more from sir vince cable in his speech this afternoon. and there is a warm up going on at the moment ahead of his speech in a few moments time, or that is when we are expecting him. there has been a lot of talk about the rules and opening it up, opening up the party. sir vince cable himself hinted that he might step down at some stage fairly soon, relatively soon. what else have they been talking about in terms of leadership changes?m else have they been talking about in terms of leadership changes? it is a difficult one. as you say, sir vince cable says he doesn‘t intend to fight the next scheduled general election in 2022 but if it is before that, might be him. he said it is uncertain if he will be on the job

by the end of next year but told us in an interview yesterday, he will be very busy for quite a long time. he doesn‘t seem to know how long he will be leader of the party for. a lot of party members here in brighton are also scratching their heads a little bit about that as well. it feels a little bit like the beginning of the long goodbye for sir vince cable. this might be his last speech as leader to the party conference but it might not be. there has been a resistance from the leading contenders, certainly within the parliamentary party of the lib dems, to throw their hat in the ring so far. they have been quite happy to back the changes sir vince cable has proposed. but as for how long he will be on the job, well, has proposed. but as for how long he will be on thejob, well, wejust don‘t know. will be on thejob, well, wejust don't know. 0k, will be on thejob, well, wejust don't know. ok, on that subject... is it wise to talk about when you are going to stand down, when you might stand down? isn‘t itjust sounded the death know of any leadership? vince has set out the things he wants to do, he hasn‘t put a timeline on it. i think in some ways it is an orderly way to do it.

he has been very straightforward about it. i think that is fair enough. he has got a lot on his plate. brexit, these party forms, it is big meaty stuff he‘s trying to sort out, won‘t be twiddling his thumbs. the centralist party added that has been talked about a lot but there is no real evidence of how it could or would be formed, is it the liberal democrats, steve? with would claim to be in the centre ground. i have a problem with this term centre. everybody talks about it. it is the most ubiquitous term in british politics at the moment, and utterly vague and ill—defined. doesn‘t that suit everyone who talks about in that sense? it does when it doesn't. you try forming a political party that you claim is in the ce ntre party that you claim is in the centre without defining very clearly what that means. in the current state of british politics, some on my george osborne claims to be a

centrist, david cameron claims to be a centrist, when i think they objectively are not. you can agree or disagree with them but i don't think they are. jo agrees about. you could argue that parts of labour's manifesto in 2017 would be seen as centrist in northern europe, national education service, very common. so what did these terms mean? i common. so what did these terms mean? lam really common. so what did these terms mean? i am really sceptical about centralism, modernisation, moderate, i don't know what they mean. what about the idea of a people‘s vote? the idea of different groups coalescing around a people's vote is a powerful and potent one, but that does not define an entire political project. it is absolutely immediate and important, but, in a way, the key to whether that happens, bizarrely, is theresa may. you have to have a prime minister getting the legislation for a referendum through, but it is important people

do coalesce around that campaign. isn‘t that what the liberal democrats have done? you have made your entire political project? we have been arguing for a people‘s vote for more than two years and i‘m glad people are backing it, sadiq khan and we‘re working with people across parties to make that happen. that is one of the things i think about this particular parliament, with no government majority, there is much more cross—party working, much more collaborative working, which i think, frankly, is positive for politics. you‘re right, that won‘t be about people you agree with everything but to say, on these things we agree and we will work together and try to make this happen. i think there is a lot of room for that in british politics. i think it is healthy and politics. a people‘s vote to make sure the people decide whether or not to accept the mess brexit is going to create for the country, particularly how we cd negotiations descending into chaos, is incredibly important. let‘s look at this tweet, just spoke

to the man who sells... are you sad about that? tell you what, i love the fact there is a lwa ys what, i love the fact there is always the amusing, i think it is a lib dem image at conference, they do fridge magnets, i think my mother bought one once of the mps. yes, there is always this little diary story about who has been selling the most. it is great layla has been talking about that. did your mother by one of you? yes, but i think that is fairenough! by one of you? yes, but i think that is fair enough! who can save the liberal democrats? in a way, the implication of that question is the same as an earlier one about what does vince cable have to say today. i think they are in a very difficult position, and will be for some time to come. i can't see an individual emerging from nowhere who can wave a

wand and transform this very challenging situation they are in. i think they have one important card to play, which is asjo said, a hung parliament. they are harder for third parties than when there is a landslide government. they might be able to build about that. but i do think, i'm afraid for you, they are ina very think, i'm afraid for you, they are in a very difficult position at the moment and it is notjust about leadership. it is the wider context. in terms of the people‘s vote, just to briefly digress to labour, are they the key to making this happen? they are a hugely important element to it and i think it is significant that to use a phrase that more evasive leaders would have used, they keep the door open, and they are absolutely right to do so. and yes, they are key because in a hung parliament, if you have a labour party backing a referendum, with the lib dems and possibly others, then

you are close to being in a position to get it. it is numbers. they have the numbers. is it wise, jo swinson, for vince cable to rule out, as he seemed to do, any future coalition with labour or the curb won conservatives? i don't think it is a surprise to sayjeremy corbyn‘s politics is so far from where we are at. a conservative government leading us into brexit are not going to be where our liberal democrat party is going to want to have that level... but like pre-2010? what we‘re seeing in british politics is a lot more polarisation than we had evenin a lot more polarisation than we had even in 2005—15 period. i think we are ata even in 2005—15 period. i think we are at a stage where there is a lot more distance between the different parties. i think that is one of the reasons why so many people look at politics and feel a sense of dismay. in those two bigger parties, you don‘t even have people but are within the mainstream of opinion that are in the ascendancy. you have

perhaps those on the fringes of those parties who are calling the shots. certainly that is the case, the conservatives and jacob rees—mogg. they seem on many issues to ta ke rees—mogg. they seem on many issues to take us into quite an extreme type of brexit. lots of people will see the liberal democrats as chasing that position, they should be chasing that position of going into a coalition government as they did in 2010 otherwise they won‘t have an influence again. i think the context of this is partly, i guess, their perception of current politics. trying to escape some of the traumas, i know you won't argue it was wholly traumatic, the last coalition. and so there is this clear line. what i agree with you, i think it is problematic, because you can't... this think it is problematic, because you can't. .. this is think it is problematic, because you can't... this is why they need a much clearer sense of what they are for and where they are going. you can't claim to celebrate pyramids and working with others and then

rule out a coalition, it seems to me. sol rule out a coalition, it seems to me. so i think that is another thing they need to think about again. all right, we can see sir vince cable coming to the podium, let‘s listen to his speech as leader of the party in 2018. thank you, conference. we meet here atan thank you, conference. we meet here at an absolutely crucial moment. because in the next few months, the future of our country will be decided for decades to come. and history will record the liberal democrats have been on the right side of the brexit argument. we were right to oppose brexit in the first place. we were right to predict a bad deal, and we have been right to campaignfora bad deal, and we have been right to campaign for a people‘s vote. applause this party knows better than any

other that there are no prizes for being right. you know, we have to win. and the good news is that we are winning the argument. brexit has left millions of people feeling frustrated and powerless and unrepresented. so, as we campaign for a different future, we are inviting those people into our movement. it‘s not only those who voted remain that tie with us. more and more people are thinking again. —— that are with us. there is now a growing realisation that brexit will be costly and painful. it will be very costly and very painful if we crashed out without a deal. the brexit day may be 29th of march, but

it is only maybe. brexit is not inevitable. it can and it must be stopped. applause over the summer, i spoke to rallies and meetings across britain, from bristol to newcastle to cambridge. i saw that there are huge numbers of people who simply do not accept that we should drift into a messy, costly divorce. who don‘t accept that the country cannot change its mind. or that a narrow majority decision for one generation should blight the chances of the next. there are millions of people out there who

haven‘t given up the fight and nor will we. applause now, i put the conservative brexiteers into categories. there are the true believers, the chances, and the conscripts. and let me say a little bit about each. for the true believers, the fundamentalists, the costs of brexit have always been irrelevant. years of economic pain, justified by the exotic spasm of leaving the european union. economic pain felt, of course, not by them but by those least able to afford it. and the latest piece of nastiness from jacob rees—mogg,

calling into question the right of europeans to stay in britain and britons to stay in europe, creating unnecessary worry and insecurity for millions. now, the public, i don‘t think, mind what these people dream about behind closed doors, so long as their dreams don‘t become nightmares for the rest of us. i mean, it really beggars belief that the army and the police are now being asked to prepare for riots in the chaotic aftermath of a botched brexit. and billions, billions of tax payers‘ money is being spent preparing for disaster. do you remember what we were promised? it was all going to be so easy. a painless quickie, las vegas style divorce. and that brings me to the

chances. and to boris, the chancer in chief. he and michael gove embraced brexit after tossing a coin or making a cold calculation about the quickest route to the top of the conservative party. as boris discovered in the last tory leadership election, michael gove is the ideal man for a penalty shoot out. writes to the last moment, you never know which way he‘ll go. laughter for his part, borisjohnson is a real danger to britain. applause he doesn‘tjust he doesn‘t just resemble he doesn‘tjust resemble trompe. large, loud and blonde —— he doesn‘t just resemble trump. he behaves like

him. his cynical disregard for the truth from his treatment of women and their inflammatory, divisive language, make boris and donald the terrible twins of the rabid right. applause the chancer‘s answer to the prospect of pain is to ignore it. or lie about it or say it‘s all the fault of europe. but the true believers and the chancers will save their greatest contempt for their colleagues. the conscripts. among them the prime minister, the chancellor, the foreign secretary, the business secretary. these are people who have signed up to brexit out of a misplaced sense of duty. they all see the benefits of staying in the single market and the customs

union, but they feel they must pretend otherwise. the conscripts are resigned to a bad outcome, so rather than fight, they‘ve elevated damage limitation to a high principle. they fantasise over something called frictionless convergence. laughter no wonder the public doesn‘t understand what brexit is supposed to mean. i would go so far as to say that some of us are starting to feel sorry for the prime minister. it seems that even the european leaders are moved to pity. and it‘s obvious why. she‘s dutifully delivering a policy she doesn‘t really believe m, policy she doesn‘t really believe in, feeling in negotiations, losing public support, and it‘s all to appease a dwindling group of angry people in her own party who will

denounce her as a traitor whatever she comes up with. when we feel sorry for the country‘s prime minister, something is seriously wrong. our sympathy can only extend so far when she puts the interests of the country‘s second to the whims of the country‘s second to the whims of extremists in her party. applause deep down, i believe, the prime minister knows that brexit is a bad idea. it‘s a bad idea whose time has gone. and even now, theresa may could shock us all by displaying true leadership. she could admit that the brexit project has gone badly wrong, by conceding that the

deal, any deal or no deal, that she will bring back from brussels is not going to be betterfor britain will bring back from brussels is not going to be better for britain than remaining in the european union. instead of kowtowi ng remaining in the european union. instead of kowtowing to her enemies in the conservative party, she could lead her party and the country by opening her mind to a people‘s vote on the final deal. applause it's it‘s far, far easierfor it‘s far, far easier forjeremy corbyn to be brave on brexit and this is his big chance. he used to bea campaigning this is his big chance. he used to be a campaigning backbencher who joined us in opposing the iraq war and defending civil liberties. in his new role, he‘s kept his hands clea n his new role, he‘s kept his hands clean and his image polished by hiring hard left boot boys and girls to do his dirty work. they do the bullying and intimidation and he

claims not to know. he indulges anti—semitic bigots and pleads ignorance. but the nastiness should not be allowed to obscure his abstention from the biggest issue of the day. because next week, hundreds, thousands of labour members and mps will demand that he changes course and backs a public vote on the final deal. and i would say that, ifjeremy corbyn will not say, i will support a people‘s vote andi say, i will support a people‘s vote and i will fight brexit, labour members should waive him goodbye. applause cheering and the reason is that he currently

letting down the many people in labour‘s heartland who now see brexit for what it is. it‘s a tory project pursued for tory ends, of which working people will be the main victims. but when we secure a people‘s vote, we then face a huge challenge, which is winning it. i think we have to recognise that brexit still appeals to many hearts, if not too many minds. the brexit campaign stoked the worst prejudices about race and immigration. do you remember those loathsome advertisers featuring queues of dark skinned people? and the mendacious claim that we need to leave the eu to stop 80 million turks coming to live here? tread. . but that was believe

campaign, not leave voters. —— dreadful stuff. we must sell better the benefits that immigration has brought to this country. the workers who pay taxes to support the welfare state and an ageing population. and who are crucial to everything from the nhs, where there are currently 100,000 vacancies even today, to the high—tech industries. but if we want to be heard, we also have to listen. and we have to recognise that although overall immigration has not depressed wages, there is a strong public perception that it has done so in particular places and particular occupations or exacerbated pressures on housing and services. so, we need to invest in those parts of the country which feel left behind, ensure that public

funding keeps track of population growth, so public services can keep up growth, so public services can keep up with demand. and i don‘t accept the idea that it is some form of racism to want immigration to be managed like other parts of the economy. i mean, ishould say, i have had personal experience of racism. i embarked on a mixed marriage in this country when racism was rife and my wife and children we re was rife and my wife and children were being denounced as people whose very presence here would lead to rivers filling with mud. i was thrown out of the parental home. i will myself never waver in my commitment to call out and stand up to racism in all its forms, but... applause but we must understand that to

dismiss all brexit voters as racist is simply wrong and completely counter—productive. applause and as we persuade people of a future with in the european union, we need to persuade them that the european union is changing. i want liberal democrats to be in the vanguard of a europe—wide movement for reform. opinion polling shows that disillusioned with the european project is not unique to britain. across europe, one in three members of the public express anti—european sentiment. and rather than let that

grow, we‘ve got to take on those who got britain and the european union into the brexit mess. and we can‘t do that byjust going on about the virtues of the status quo. german governments in 2016. whilst free movement is an absolutely fundamental principle of the european single market, the european union may yet conclude that protecting free movement, as we must, means reef forming free movement. sojust as must, means reef forming free movement. so just as staying in the european union is essential to the future of the uk, it is crucial to the future of the european union to

have a british, liberal voice at the table... applause to argue as ed davey did on sunday, for a liberal approach to manage migration and to the refugee crisis. for compassion, for the right to a better life and for respecting family ties. now, more broadly, europe needs a positive message of hope for those who look back to the past, because for them, it seemed genuinely better. and for those who have experienced, for example, aids decade of depressed living standards since the financial crisis, through no fault of their own, the industrialisation, globalisation, competition, liberalisation, automation, all those shams that

we re automation, all those shams that were supposed to represent progress have so often meant a move from skilled and respected jobs to rubbishjobs, from skilled and respected jobs to rubbish jobs, from certainty skilled and respected jobs to rubbishjobs, from certainty to insecurity. for them, winnie davies positive message and a positive argument for a reformed europe. —— we need a positive message. cooperating more and not less on research, on harnessing new technologies and setting world leading standards. it has to be a europe which can stand up to the threats from donald trump‘s america and an increasingly aggressive russia. in short, a better europe, a europe fit for the 21st century, a europe fit for the 21st century, a europe focused on its citizens and with the uk at its heart. applause now, a deep sense of nostalgia has

driven british politics in the last three years, but i want you now to imagineafew three years, but i want you now to imagine a few sharp where the brexit story has reached its conclusion. —— imaginea story has reached its conclusion. —— imagine a future where the brexit story has reached its conclusion. we secured a people‘s vote on how won, we are back at the negotiating table, no longer seeking to leave your about leading the debate. try to imagine what a liberal, social democratic government could then bring to britain. our overriding purpose would be to restore a sense of fairness and opportunity to a country where both had been lost. now, i have always been a believer ina now, i have always been a believer in a liberal approach to the economy, but we are currently

getting all the disadvantages of a market economy and few of the benefits. it is an economy unhealthily built on debt, over indebted households, over indebted companies, over indebted governments, inadequate investment, stag na nt governments, inadequate investment, stagnant wages and grotesque rewards for undeserving fat cats, for short—term performance and often outright failure. it doesn‘t have to be like this. a better approach to business isn‘t an idealistic fa ntasy. business isn‘t an idealistic fantasy. when i left parliament for a brief exile, i became and i remain the chair of one of the country‘s largest social enterprises. perhaps for the benefit of the journalists, it is on paid. a gct is a highly

successful transport company which combines commercial discipline and social bills. many companies can and do operate in this way but it must be the norm and not the exception. we believe that there should be ample opportunities for business to invest and innovate, to make money, why not? and to create jobs. but we also believe that we‘re not afraid to intervene when the market fails. asa to intervene when the market fails. as a minister, i was proud to launch with the help of my lib dem colleagues, the financial tech centre through the british business bank and the green investment bank and the catapult network, which has created a launch pad for many technological advances, as part of a long—term industrial strategy. that

is our model for the future. in the face of relentlessly advancing new technologies, it is easy for people to feel powerless and threatened, so we have do understand and regulate some of the new technologies coming down the track. so that is whyjo swinson and i are setting up a commission to look at how to turn emerging technologies from a threat into an opportunity. and if we embrace these technologies, try to imagine some of the potential. you know, the potential for imagine some of the potential. you know, the potentialfor robotics in ca re know, the potentialfor robotics in care homes, for machine learning, which can detect the first signs of a malignant tumour or detect fraud, which can enable massive clinical

trials and quantum computing which can out compute computers. britain can out compute computers. britain can and should be a leader in these fields, investing massively in our science and technology base. and also imagine how a government that wasn‘t distracted by the cost and the trouble of brexit could use its strength and its borrowing power to invest in the environmentally sustainable infrastructure that britain is so desperately needs. applause if you travel, or try to travel, from workington to hull, or swansea to wrexham 0rd dover to penzance, let alone smaller places and the way, now these are truly epic journeys, which show how poorly

connected modern britain remains. even the much hyped northern powerhouse has dwindled to little more than an unheeded cry for help. now, we can start to put this right by breaking with the economically foolish convention of public sector accounting, which treats rowing for productive investment in the same way as day spending. —— which treats borrowing for productive investment in the same way as day to day spending. the demands of climate change alone require that bonus. if you take south wales, the tory government has killed it and we will resurrect it. applause imagine putting the country to work,

building the green britain of tomorrow, with hundreds of miles of new railways and broadband cabling. that is the future, a liberal, social democratic, reforming government could bring. what we would also want to resurrect, a sense of fair play in the way that government raises money. the tax proposals you endorsed this week will be a start. we need to reverse the trend of fewer and fewer people hoarding the nation‘s well. —— wealth. applause goes on modest incomes should pay less tax, and indeed liberal democrats in government delivered lower taxes for the low paid, but the wealthiest should pay more.

now, our reforms, which you passed this morning, could raise substantial sums. we would not splashed the money on short—term spending. it would be invested in a sovereign wealth fund, saving for the future. and that fund would be further boosted by the eventual sale of rbs shares. the public need reassurance that their taxes are put to good use, and that is why we argue for a penny in the pound on income tax, earmarked for the nhs and social care, as a stepping stone toa and social care, as a stepping stone to a tax specifically set aside for the nhs. applause and we would concentrate its funding on the mental health crisis, building on norman lamb‘s work in

government. and there are other services crying out for money. schools are seriously underfunded. the police have been cut back to dangerous levels and crime is rising as a consequence. and local government has been outrageously undermined. applause addressing these and other interventions requires additional tax, and when the next election comes, our manifesto will allow progressive tax reforms and also an honest approach to tax. the principle is clear: every citizen and company should pay their fair share, and get something back for what they put in. because nothing gets up the noses of honest taxpayers more than a government

squeezing every penny it can out both small firms, while rolling out the red carpet for world—class tax dodgers like amazon, facebook and google. applause and to that end, we want to a new defensive against individual and corporate tax dodging. in addition, we will scrap the outdated business rates, which are destroying our high streets. applause and reformed tax for the digital age. contrast all that with today‘s labour party. from the people around jeremy corbyn, who until very recently worked on the stalinist

wing of the labour party. and based ona wing of the labour party. and based on a nostalgic view of the commanding heights of the economy, which are more relevant to the steam age than the digital age, and, in addition, unlike them, we do not believe in magic money trees and pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. applause what we do believe in is in the power of education. laila moran has set out the blueprint for britain which will prepared young people with both the academic and vocational education they need to get on with in life. putting the education profession back in charge. cutting testing and valuing teaching. applause

reimagining inspection, so that schools are judged not on how many boxes they have ticked but how many children‘s lives they have changed. applause and supporting schools who teach the most disadvantaged children, the pupil premium was a liberal democrat invention, and success, and it must be increased, so that more money is targeted towards helping children from the poorest backgrounds. applause by by contrast, the present government‘s financial squeeze on schools is leading teachers and assista nts schools is leading teachers and assistants to be made redundant and special needs to be neglected. and all the while, scarce resources are diverted to the tory party‘s

ideological hobby whole, grammar schools. selective admissions are creeping back. a generation after the 11 plus was confined to the history books. we should be clear, selection is a byword for division. it sets school against school, pupil against pupil, and it drives down standards overall. it is totally the wrong priority. applause beyond school, we have to ensure a better future for all young people. those with a*s at a level usually leave their home towns and don‘t come back. but those who struggle to get a few gcses stay behind. the biggest cities and towns have their

own university. the rest make do with the local tech. it‘s actually the local tech which should be at the local tech which should be at the forefront of the drive to equip the forefront of the drive to equip the country for wrenching technological change and global competition. applause as the fourth industrial revelation ta kes as the fourth industrial revelation takes hold —— revolution, only the liberal democrats recognise that education is for all for life and not just for the very clever, education is for all for life and notjust for the very clever, the very rich, or at the fortunate. applause —— orthe —— or the very fortunate. government has a key role in making all this happen, so i will bring to the spring conference detailed proposals for the individual learning accounts

to finance training and retraining through life. and contrast that approach with the tories‘ version of the apprenticeship levy which is actively discouraging training, and to the tory tax which has been taken to the tory tax which has been taken to funds for lifelong learning. liberal democrats would offer young people the prospect of a decent education from nursery on, the lifelong learning required for the emerging job markets, and one final piece of the puzzle. the prospect of a decent home. because nothing illustrates the government‘s paralysis of will more than the abject failure to get to grips with the inadequate supply of housing. applause tory governments under churchill and macmillan built 300,000 houses a

year, and now they struggle to deliver half of that for a much bigger population. new social house—building has almost stopped. owner occupation is becoming a distant dream. if you remember, the conservatives used to be the party of the homeowner. they have now become the party of the absentee landlord and the insecure tenant. applause sleeping on the streets has become appallingly commonplace. you‘ve seen it here in brighton. it cannot be justified in a civilised society. applause and meanwhile the government pursues a failed model under which

developers only build, and landowners only sell, when they can confidently expect rising prices. big housing developers like barclay homes and persimmon, these are lands speculation machines with a sideline in house—building. applause laughter so what we insist on is there must be an ambitious programme of council house building by councils building freed from central government control. applause an end to the enforced sale of social housing. applause and we desperately need a programme of low—cost homes for rent, leading

to purchase, for the first time buyers and key workers. applause it can be done. successful long—standing liberal democrat councils like eastleigh have gone on and done it. there is no ideological dogma, it‘s just hard work and commitment. and that is what people have come to expect from their lib dem councils and councillors. applause now, we‘ve begun to imagine a better britain after the brexit nightmare. but the challenge remains, how to give people a way to engage in politics which offers genuine hope that things can get better. and that‘s why last week i put forward proposals to remake and open up our

own party, to turn the liberal democrats into a grey movement. our party is still very pale and very male and we have to change that and keep growing, welcoming more and more people in, extending our trust to supporters by giving them a say in our leadership, opening up the field of leadership candidates and making it easier for people to get involved in community politics and stand for political office. reaching out, we start from 100,000 members, another 200,000 supporters, and 10,000 more have come on board in just the last ten days. applause and thanks to your efforts, we start thejob of building and thanks to your efforts, we start the job of building this movement

from a position of greater electoral strength band was apparent a year ago. at the last conference, i ended my speech by urging that we should all get out there together and win. and i want to say thank you to each and every one of you for answering that call. because we have 75 net gains in the local elections in may. we‘ve got four new councils in liberal democrat control, including mine. we had our best results in 15 yea rs. applause and shortly afterwards, following a massive effort from liberal democrat activists, we had a 19% swing to lucy selleck at the lincoln east by—election. it was actually our

best result against labour for 1h yea rs. best result against labour for 1h years. there can be no doubt the liberal democrats are growing and winning again and this isjust liberal democrats are growing and winning again and this is just the beginning. applause the next step is to win and win big in the local elections next year. willie rennie and jane dodds and caroline pidgeon are readying us for the big devolved elections in 2020, as well. meanwhile, as we grow, the tectonic plates of british politics are shifting beneath us. the two big parties have changed from broad churches into intolerant cults. applause and those who question the fates are not welcome. the labour leadership

is dominated by people who believe in doctrines that are very far removed from the sensible social democratic tradition that prevailed from the days of clement attlee to gordon brown, and they in turn are the mirror image of the tory zealots who have more in common with ukip than their party‘s one nation traditions. applause the so—called old right, the extremists, —— alt right. they operate smoothly across frontiers as any multinational companies. people of moderate, decent and humane views are being marginalised. as this new illiberal international take shape. much depends on the courage of

mainstream mps in the labour and conservative parties. they are losing control and if they can‘t stop the rock, they should leave. but we to must be bold. there may be a temptation to be what we might call the week freeze of british politics, sniffing at newcomers and outsiders who lacked doctrinally impurity and we can‘t afford to do that. we have to become a bigger, more diverse movement. i would say that if you don‘t call yourself a moderate, that‘s fine. i‘m a liberal and social democrat and i‘m very far from moderate in my detestation in what is happening at the extremes of british politics. applause but if others choose to identify

themselves as moderates who hate extremism in their own parties, we shouldn‘t be quibbling about labels. let them in. applause and if they are too shy to come in, you know, let‘s extend the hand of friendship and cooperate with them. because there are millions of dissatisfied people currently out there waiting for a lead. there are millions who can see that the two main parties have been hijacked by those who want to turn their backs on the modern interconnected world. there are millions who can see that there are massive challenges, housing crisis, an ageing population, the damaged environment, a fourth industrial revolution, which our paralysed political system can‘t handle. these millions of

people are potentially on our side. and it‘s ourjob to be on theirs. applause it will require bravery, single mindedness and discipline for those in the progressive centre of british politics to make common cause. but it can be done and i‘m determined that our party should be at the heart of it. leading the resistance to the forces of illiberalism, leading the crusade to give the people the final say on our future in europe, and looking outwards to a changing world with confidence and determination that our values, they will outlast and outclassed the forces ranged against them. so i want... applause

soi applause so i want to address the public directly. if you demand a better future, this is your chance. our movement is your movement. it‘s an open movement with an open leadership. sojoin it, shape it, build it, because together we can and we will win. applause studio: that's applause studio: that‘s the end of vince cable‘s speech. about 45 minutes at the podium. a sombre assessment of british politics and the liberal democrats‘ position, people standing there giving him an ovation as is expected at these events. he‘s just walking across the stage and no doubt departing. he opened unsurprisingly with a rallying cry for a people‘s vote. he wants to revisit the whole brexit question.

he said brexit must be stopped and it can be stopped. he went to say he felt sorry for the prime minister theresa may, who in his words was dutifully delivering a policy she doesn‘t believe in. he got a big cheer from the doesn‘t believe in. he got a big cheerfrom the audience doesn‘t believe in. he got a big cheer from the audience when he called on labour members to leave the party ofjeremy corbyn doesn‘t back his call for a people‘s vote. he asked the audience and the delegates in brighton to imagine life once brexit has been stopped. the liberal democrats would be able to flesh out and focus on other priorities, even though everything, as he said, is influenced by brexit. he spoke of their taxation, education and housing. then he referred to his plans to open up the party into a growing movement because he acknowledged its pale and male. the question is, will it work, steve ? male. the question is, will it work, steve? i thought it was a thoughtful speech but in terms of the work ability, his pitch at the end was

vague, really, in terms of the mechanics because in the early 80s when david steel said go back to your constituencies and prepare for power, the mechanics were in place. there was this alliance forming with the new sdp. it‘s far from there was this alliance forming with the new sdp. it‘s farfrom clear what the mechanics are and as i was saying before the speech, what the values and policies would be. he‘s a thoughtful social democrats, he‘s the stuff on cuba was powerful. it doesn‘t change very much because he hasn‘t got the numbers of the beverage and i think he‘d make a mistake in announcing that he was going to go at some point. it was a thoughtful and interesting speech. he made this big appeal pleading with other members of the parties because they had been hijacked. but

why would they? i think it is not just reaching out to members of the other parties stop it is also reaching out to 97% of people who are not members but are interested in politics and wooded about where things are going. they want to do that because they want to see a better future for the country because they are concerned about brexit. it is also about what that was a brexit. it is also about what that wasa dip brexit. it is also about what that was a dip outlook is and vince has started to flash that out in terms of direct taxation, a system that works better. will anyone listen to lots of an fairer taxation. many people the reason the lib dems were punished in 2015 because they didn‘t live up to that. it got sacrificed the coalition. i have been clear

this week about things where we did make mistakes. we would like to go further but we would like to do that. that was a clear liberal democrat collision. we should have more of that. that is what we are setting out that we need. i'm a pluralist. i am setting out that we need. i'm a pluralist. lam not setting out that we need. i'm a pluralist. i am not going to say that the lib dems will not consider working with others. it is partly about encouraging others to join the lib dems but expanding the hand of friendship to work together. what are the mechanics of that? when you think we were supposed to be leaving at the end of march. if you look at the evidence and the polls and the questions that are put to voters. they‘re still hasn‘t been a seismic

shift. what would bring it about is parliamentary paralysis in the autumn. a sense that the two bigger parties are split over it, a prime minister who cannot get a majority in the house of commons for any option who suddenly decide, whether it is theresa may somebody else, that the only way to this is to return it to a referendum. prime ministers always oppose referendums until they decide they support them. it is not inconceivable that even theresa may could reach the conclusion that the way through this nightmare for her and others a referendum. i think that is the most likely sequence, but it is increasingly possible. let's go to brighton. jonathan is there. increasingly possible. let's go to brighton. jonathan is therelj increasingly possible. let's go to brighton. jonathan is there. i am with three party members in the call for the speech and we can get an immediate reaction. what do you

think? i thought it was...” immediate reaction. what do you think? ithought it was... ithought it was very good. was just something that happened because borisjohnson flicked a kind. without any thought for the people. it is important to explain that to the people and that brexit is not inevitable. it can be stopped and it must be stopped. peter, that was the main focus of the speech. you think the lib dems can get themselves heard?” the speech. you think the lib dems can get themselves heard? i really hope so but it wasn't the only focus. what vince laid out was the importance of liberal values to our country at a time when the other parties are so polarised and how we really need to drive that through to gain more support in the party and lead the country in maintaining those liberal values in future. it

is so important to our country. vince cable said he will step down at some point before the next general election. how long do you think he has got? i can't predict that but i do think he is acting as an excellent leader because he is speaking to what people need to hear. they need to hear about liberal values and integrity. they need to know that if that boat is about brexit, wooded about immigration, race, that is ok, we respect them and understand them. we're not trying to deny anybody the right to have their own ideas and way of speaking. thank you. thank you byjob reaction. some good reviews there. it is obviously a supportive crowd. there was plenty of applause for vince cable throughout the speakers but what went down best thing to be the attacks on his political opponents. he said jeremy corbyn should resign. that call for a second vote on the

brexit deal. thank you very much. is there any danger to anybody who would like tojoin there any danger to anybody who would like to join the lib there any danger to anybody who would like tojoin the lib dems would like tojoin the lib dems would necessarily have to share the same share our values would be welcome? no, there is no danger. because if there were millions knocking at the door there might be some danger. i take your point that the missing element for them and those who describe themselves as centrist is this clear programme. we have a clear programme. we want people knocking on the door but they are not quite at that stage yet. do you think it was his last conference speech as leader? it might be, it might not be. it depends on how long it takes him to accomplish the tasks he set out. brexit and the party reforms at particularly important. it is important that the people that

we sign up as supporters do share our values. i am also confident that millions of people do and it is a challenge of getting those people to look again at the party and concludes that they actually want to do something and take that extra step because a lot of people are concerned about the way things are going but sometimes can feel, is it worth doing anything? yes, absolutely. get stuck in and join the lib dems. is it frustrating? did you sit there and think, gosh, it is such a big mountain to climb. can i do it myself and persuade others, are is it a lost cause? it isn't a lost cause. it is frustrating but you see government is pursuing brexit in the way that they are. that worries me. i have two young sons and are concerned about their future. this feels like it could go on for decades. the one thing that

is less frustrating than shouting at the tally is to get involved in politics so that is what i would encourage people to do. are you itching to get your hands on power cut your mac i am enjoying my role is to delete and you asked me this ten days ago and i won‘t give you a different answer. you haven't change your mind? i have not changed my mind. do you admire their perseverance question mark they have beenin perseverance question mark they have been in similar positions before and have come back. i do. i'd really add my it. to me it looks mountainous for them to say... get into the realms of becoming a significant, to have leaders to change things. even ina hung have leaders to change things. even in a hung parliament, their parliamentary force is so diminished and not big enough to bbb significant in this brexit debate.

that is it for all of us. goodbye. welcome back to afternoon live here on bbc news. good to have your company. attack more on brexit now. immigration was one of the issues in the brexit referendum and today a report by government advisers say eu nationals should be subject to the same immigration bills as everyone else after brexit, unless that is pa rt else after brexit, unless that is part of a trade deal struck with brussels. the migration advisory committee says it should be made easierfor highly committee says it should be made easier for highly skilled workers to come to the uk and that a cap on the numbers of skilled workers should be lifted. the report is expected to guide future government policy on immigration. immigration. it is at the heart of the brexit debate. and here is the question — how should britain control eu migration after we leave? the answer to that

could be critical to this garment company in north london. 80% of the machinists are from eastern europe. there are 90 employees, but the boss wants another 50 and only the eu can supply the expertise they need. they are the ones that are already skilled. in their country they do years and years of training, experience. and it is really highly regarded as a craft. they are absolute masters at their profession. and it doesn't have the same standing as a career here in the uk. today's report says migrant workers have little or no impact on those born in the uk in terms of wages orjob opportunities. but it does say some migrants are more beneficial to britain than others. it says in the future eu citizens should not be given preferential access to the uk over other migrants. but it does recommend making it easier for highly skilled workers to come in and lifting a cap

on those outside the eu. while those who are lower skilled, it says, should face restrictions. the problem with free movement is that you don't have control over the number of migrants and you don't have control over the mix of migrants. so we think that if migration is managed, there is a way in which it can accentuate the benefits and mitigate the cost. but proposals to restrict lower skilled workers will sound alarm bells in many sectors of the eu economy. they are a staple of the british fruit picking industry and the report says that maybe one area that does need a bespoke migration process. but the hospitality industry says it needs 200,000 eu workers every year to fill the current demand. if adopted, today‘s report could mean big changes for many british businesses. we need people with university degrees and we need people with intermediate skills. they can be technicians in

laboratories, you can help to build the homes we need for future generations. they take a whole range of skills. the prime minister has already suggested it is time to end the double standard on migration from the eu and outside with one harmonised policy. but how high should the barriers to the uk be for foreign workers who wantjobs here? this report should help the government come up with an answer to that. senior police officers say a hard brexit could mean losing access to up to 40 european systems used by forces across britain. officers say "falling back" on slower alternatives will make it much harder to protect uk citizens . earlier our home affairs correspondent, tom symonds, talked us through some of the issues police say they could face. something called the schengen information system, accessed by british officers on british streets 539 million times last year.

another, the european arrest warrant which britain uses to extradite him criminals. the alternatives to that would take ten times longer, according to police chiefs this morning. they would, for example, make it harder to stop and arrest the suspects in the salisbury poisoning. the general view here was that all these tools help make policing more effective and they are not as good as the alternatives. the general point was it will make it harder to keep british people safe. one senior officer said that, compared with the millennium bug, that computer problem in 2000 we thought might bring the world to a halt, he said he would rather be dealing with than this. with six months to go until the uk leaves the european union, the bbc has a week of special coverage on what it will mean for all the sectors of the economy and for the regions of the uk. scotland was one of the most pro—remain parts of the uk

in the brexit referendum — voting against by 62% to 38%. our correspondent catriona renton is in glasgow‘s prince‘s square. catriona... you join me here in princes square, a big shopping centre in the centre of glasgow. this is a country that is not used to referendum. four yea rs is not used to referendum. four years ago to the date you had the scottish independence referendum and since then the eu referendum, with 62% of scots voted to remain, that in itself baiting other issues about whether there should be another independent referendum in scotland. with all of these issues on the table, people are wondering what brexit will mean for them. one industry affected by that is the food and drink sector. i am done by tom fleming who runs three... is

that uncertainty for you in your business about brexit? absolutely. there are six months to go. there is still a lot of uncertainty about how brexit is going to affect people financially and unfortunately... the first thing to go is dining out. when we eventually leave the eu hopefully they will have a better idea of how far their money will go. they can come out and enjoy eating out with more certainty. injob range of restaurants you are looking at sourcing products from different places. the eu is a big customer of yours. we have a spanish restaurant, we imported wines from all across eu. without a trade agreement in place it makes you wonder where the prices are going to go. i will expect that they will increase and

that will affect our margins and we will see pisces increase for the customer as well. and staff is a big issue. many people from the eu coming to work investments. we are very lucky to have a really diverse group of employees working from across eu. i think with the restriction of freedom of movement and brexit, it means we will seek less people coming from outside the uk which i think is a shame. it brings a big diversity and experience from all across the rest of europe. something your staff have expressed concerns about? nothing directly but we do have a lot of part—time workers from eu countries

are we really rely on that. if they are we really rely on that. if they are not able to come here and work it may not be affordable for them to come and study in the uk, possibly. thank you very much. he raises many questions there, that people are looking for answers. six months until we leave the eu. looking for answers. six months untilwe leave the eu. thank looking for answers. six months until we leave the eu. thank you very much. all week we are reporting on brexit. six months to go. if you are still confused by any brexit terms — do take a look at ourjargon buster on the bbc news website. and later on bbc news. with six months to go, our economics editor kamal ahmed will be here on the news channel to answer questions about what we can expect from brexit. to take part, you can text your questions to 61124, email to... or tweet using the hashtag bbcaskthis. jamie roberson is here

with us in the studio — in a moment he will be telling us what‘s hot and what‘s not in the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live make it easier for highly—skilled workers to move to the uk after brexit — the recommendation of a report for the government. bmw‘s mini factory in oxford will close for a month after brexit — the german owner says it‘s bringing forward the annual shutdown, to minimise any disruption. lib dem leader sir vince cable has called for a ‘movement of moderates‘ to sink theresa may‘s brexit plans. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. german car—makers bmw, daimler and volkswagen are to face an eu inquiry for allegedly conspiring to restrict diesel emissions treatment systems. it said that, if proven,

this could mean that consumers had been denied the chance to buy less polluting cars. staff at mcdonald‘s restaurants in ten us cities will walk out on tuesday over claims the fast food giant is not doing enough to prevent sexual harassment. the strike comes after 25 women filed complaints against the chain, alleging it failed to enforce company rules against abuse. mcdonald‘s said there was "no place for harassment" at its restaurants. what should you do with an old house of fraser gift card? sports direct, which took over the department stores in august told customers to send them in for "replacements". but a month on, they say they‘ve heard nothing and the chain is not responding to questions. let‘s talk tariffs. let's talk tariffs. it's all to do with the us and china. this has been ratcheted up. we talked about it

going to happen but they have had talks, no agreement has happened between the us and china are now the us said it will impose import taxes on $200 billion worth of goods. about £150 billion. it will start with 10% tariffs and will increase by up with 10% tariffs and will increase by up to 25%. what is interesting is that it by up to 25%. what is interesting is thatitis by up to 25%. what is interesting is that it is a double edged sword because obviously it aches it harder for the chinese to sell things in the us. but it also increases cost of american businesses importing raw materials, parts for their goods to make in the us. you sort apple, dell, a number of big companies saying, please don‘t do this. the trump administration said, all right, we won‘t tax a number of goods. in response, china said

immediately they will do the same. roughly between five and 10% tariffs. about $60 billion worth. they don‘t import as much so they can‘t do as much as they don‘t import as much so they can't do as much as quantity wise, but they can hurt exporters by badly. ata certain at a certain point both parties will have to come to the table and said something out. i have one word for you. cars. we have a lot of car

stories. we have many closing down its operations immediately after brexit for one month. it is not as dramatic as it sounds. they always closed down in the summer, roundabout august. for maintenance and sorting things out. it is not exactly. . . and sorting things out. it is not exactly... making sure it everything is working properly. they have proper forward. is working properly. they have properforward. it is working properly. they have proper forward. it sounds very sensible because they don‘t know what will happen after brexit. there could be a crisis in terms of bottlenecks at port or whatever. whatever happens doesn‘t happen. so they brought it forward. it will be marginally, not expensive, but costly to deliver. most people take holidays in august. they have two be arranged supplies and the timing of supplies into the market. it will be awkward, eight nuisance and a little bit expensive but not a disaster.

that said, there are a lot of cars not getting made in that month of april. around 220,000 cars a year, 1000 cars a day which aren‘t going to be produced in april. i much and they will be preparing for this. the other story about cars is to do with anti—trust, antimonopoly investigation. this is about the diesel story. you had diesel, volkswagen and other car companies being accused of tampering with the testing systems which test the toxic emissions in diesel cars. the interesting thing now is at the european commission is investigating the w, download and bmw for colluding and arranging to restrict the development of this

antipollution kit which goes into their cars. the problem is that why their cars. the problem is that why the —— what they are being accused of, it could be a massive fine. another reputational damage for all these companies. it is a serious business. we talked to david bailey about this earlier. this is a competition policy. it is about whether firms colluded to limit technological development. if found guilty of that, that would breach article 101 of the eu. there could potentially be very serious pine financial penalties. shall we have a look at the markets? sports direct,

there has been a lot of publicity around them. it owns house of fraser. there is that house of fraser. there is that house of fraser gift card story at the moment. not a huge drop there. thank you. there‘s been success for british stars at the emmy‘s, america‘s biggest tv awards , with claire foy and thandie newton picking up prizes. but it was an american director, with a surprise proposal , who stole the show, as james cook reports. ladies and gentlemen, checking every box, please welcome the one of each dancers! the show began by satirising the many scandals of showbiz. hello? 0h, we did not solve it? isee. the nominees were more diverse than ever, but most big winners were still white. claire foy, the crown. applause. this is herfirst emmy.

i had the most extraordinary two and a half years of my life — i‘m not going to cry — on this programme. i was given a role that i never thought i would ever get a chance to play and i met people who i will love forever and ever and ever. fellow brit thandie newtown was also honoured for westworld. i don‘t even believe in god, but i‘m going to thank her tonight. cheering. more than 40 years after his debut as the fonz in happy days, henry winkler finally won an emmy for the comedy barry. kids —jed, zoe and max — you can go to bed now, daddy won! the welsh actor matthew rhys triumphed in cold war thriller the americans. game of thrones took the big drama award, while 50s period piece the marvellous mrs maisel

won best comedy. it‘s about a woman who is finding her voice anew, and something that‘s happening all over the country right now, one of the most important ways that we can find and use our voices is to vote. jan, you are the sunshine in my life... but all the stars were upstaged by this director. you wonder why i don't like to call you my girlfriend, because i want to call you my wife. cheering. acceptance speech turned proposal. will you marry me? she said yes. hollywood just loves a happy ending. james cook, bbc news, los angeles. a gin if she had said no! —— imagine if she had said no. the weather... darren bett has the forecast. some clear spells as well and then

rain arrives in northern ireland and the winds start to pick up. a warm and quite muggy night for the most part. this is where we expected the core of the strongest winds to be. then rain arrives in northern ireland by the end of the night and the wind really start to pick up. a warm and quite muggy night for the most part. this is where we are expecting the core of the strongest of the winds to be, across northern ireland and central scotland. a met office amber warning, travel disruption and damage is quite likely. gusty winds elsewhere, but together with the strengthening winds in scotland and northern ireland we have got a spell of heavy rain. a band of showery rain pushes its way eastwards across england and wales. still warm in the south east. much cooler in those winds in scotland and northern ireland. hello everyone, you‘re

watching afternoon live, i‘m rebecca jones. today at 4. make it easier for highly—skilled workers to move to the uk after brexit — that‘s the recommendation of a report for the government. bmw‘s mini factory in oxford will close for a month after brexit — the german owner says its bringing forward the annual shutdown, to minimise any disruption. the lib dem leader, sir vince cable, tells his party‘s conference that brexit must be stopped. the brexit date may be 29th march, but it is only maybe. brexit is not

inevitable. it can and it must be stopped. russian president vladimir putin says the shooting down of a russian military plane near syria‘s coast was the result of a chain of tragic and chance circumstances. moscow had initially blamed israel for the incident. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with chris and football making the headlines chris. yes, tottenham face the italian giants inter milan yes, tottenham face the italian giants intermilan in yes, tottenham face the italian giants inter milan in the first of their group games. last year they came top of their group. this year it might be harder. they kick off at five to six. chris thanks more from you later and darren it‘s the wind in the weather. yes we have storm ali on the way tomorrow, this is the first named storm of season and it will batter

scotla nd storm of season and it will batter scotland and northern ireland. we will look at that and why the weather has changed later in the programme. thanks darren also coming up — the bbc‘s director—general says its under threat from cuts and calls for debate on how to fund the public service broadcaster in an era of fake news. hello everyone and welcome to afternoon live. immigration was one of the issues in the brexit referendum and today a report by government advisors says eu nationals should be subject to the same immigration rules as everyone else after brexit — unless that‘s part of a trade deal struck with brussels. the migration advisory committee says it should be made easier for highly—skilled workers to come to the uk and that a cap on numbers of skilled workers from outside the eu

should be lifted. the report‘s expected to guide future government policy on immigration. our correspondent richard lister has this report. immigration. it is at the heart of the brexit debate. and here is the question — how should britain control eu migration after we leave? the answer to that could be critical to this garment company in north london. 80% of the machinists are from eastern europe. there are 90 employees, but the boss wants another 50 and only the eu can supply the expertise they need. they are the ones that are already skilled. in their country they do years and years of training, experience. and it is really highly regarded as a craft. they are absolute masters at their profession. and it doesn‘t have the same standing as a career here in the uk.

today‘s report said migrant workers have little or no impact on those born in the uk in terms of wages orjob opportunities. but it does say some migrants are more beneficial to britain than others. it says in the future eu citizens should not be given preferential access to the uk over other migrants. but it does recommend making it easier for highly skilled workers to come in and lifting the cap on those outside the eu. while those who are lower skilled, it says, should face restrictions. the problem with free movement is that you don't have control over the number of migrants and you don't have control over the mix of migrants. so we think that if migration is managed, there is a way in which it can accentuate the benefits and mitigate the cost. but proposals to restrict lower skilled workers will sound alarm

bells in many sectors of the eu economy. they are a staple of the british fruit picking industry and the report says that maybe one area that does need a bespoke migration process. but the hospitality industry says it needs 200,000 eu workers every year to fill the current demand. if adopted, today‘s report could mean big changes for many british businesses. we need people with university degrees and we need people with intermediate skills. they can beat technicians in laboratories, you can help to build the homes we need for future generations. they take a whole range of skills. the prime minister has already suggested it is time to end the double standard on migration from the eu and outside with one harmonised policy. but how high should the barriers to the uk be for foreign workers who wantjobs here? this report should help the government come up with an answer to that. the german car—maker bmw has confirmed it‘s shutting its mini plant in oxford for four

weeks in april. the company says it‘s brought forward its planned annual shutdown, which normally takes place over the summer, as part of its brexit contingency planning to minimise the risk of disruption to the supply chain. earlier our business correspondentjamie spoke to david bailey — a professor of industrial strategy at aston business school. he said they are just preparing for the worst possible scenario. i think what they‘re doing is basically trying to prepare for the worst case scenario. basically trying to prepare for the worst case scenario. the ceo of jaguar said he doesn‘t know come march he will be operate his plants if parts are stuck in lorryjacks. bmw are thinking we could have a ha rd bmw are thinking we could have a hard brexit and it could be messy, we could do with a month out. would it cost them money and will that be

expensive, changing the way you do the annual stoppage? there may be a small cost, but marginal, they‘re usually planning to have a maintenance shut down and they have pulled that forward as part of their contingency planning. sensible approach i think. i‘m joined now by tony burke, assistant general secretary at unite — a union representing workers in the bmw factory. we‘re grateful for you coming we‘re gratefulfor you coming in. it sounds like a sensible move? we think it is a realistic move. bmw are talking to the workforce today to work out the arrangements. we believe it is sensible as david bailey has just believe it is sensible as david bailey hasjust said, believe it is sensible as david bailey has just said, not only did they need to do maintenance opt tracks, but also we‘re getting ready for the production of the new electric mini that will be built in couli. w cowley. they‘re talking precautions for a hard brexit. that

could have massive consequences for the car industry, particularly the just in time supply chain. we could have pa rt just in time supply chain. we could have part and the supply chain could clog up across the uk. can you just explain what you mean by the just in time supply chain. that is the system that all car companies use in the uk, where parts coming in from europe and elsewhere and other parts of uk can are ready to go track—side to be installed in the cars. and you‘re saying there would be a degree of disruption. if there is a ha rd degree of disruption. if there is a hard brexit and there are big tail backs at the ports, with goods coming in, it could affect the production and in fact if we, if bmw had waited until later in the year for their normal shut down and retooling, it could have meant if there is a big problems at the ports, then the shut down would have gone beyond four weeks, in my opinion. the company haven‘t

confirmed that. so shut earlier, will that have an impact on your members. they will be concerned. we‘re going to look after our members and do the bestjob we can for them. we will protect them. but no, the deal that is being negotiated is to ensure they get the normal pay and conditions. but of course it is a worrying time for our members and their families. they‘re highly skilled workers and some of them will be concerned about where them will be concerned about where the future lies, but we believe bmw in consulting early with the union have taken the right precaution. you talk of the risks from a hard brexit. what about if the prime minister gets her way and the chequers plan is agreed, where does that leave the car industry? part of chequers plan does protect

manufactured goods, i think it will be so uncertain, we don‘t know whether that will survive, it doesn‘t look like it at the moment. our concern is the long—term future of the jewel in if crown of manufacturing, which is our car industry. thank you. a jury has found that a bus driver caused the death of two people by dangerous driving. kalash chander, who s 80 and suffers from dementia, was unable to stand trial. in 2015, he lost control of a bus in coventry city centre, smashing into the front of a supermarket, killing a pedestrian and a seven—year—old passenger. our correspondent ben ando is in birmingham. hejoins us now. he joins us now. yes the jury here took just over three he joins us now. yes the jury here tookjust over three hours to reach its ruling. this is no at criminal trial, because thejudge its ruling. this is no at criminal trial, because the judge earlier, after hearing arguments about the

defendant‘s health, ruled he was unable to face criminal charges. instead it was what is known as a trial of the facts. what the jury has found is that the driver did do the act that caused the death by dangerous driving of two people. one a pedestrian. one a seven—year—old boy. he caused serious injury to two other people in an incident that happened so quickly during a busy day in coventry, in 2015, they took just 12 seconds. 82 metres of terror, that is how far down a street this bus careered out of control before smashing into the front of a supermarket in coventry in october 2015. pedestrian dora hancock was hit by the but bus and then a hancock was hit by the but bus and thena lamp hancock was hit by the but bus and

then a lamp pose and a seven—year—old died when the bus struck an awning. the drive had worked three consecutive 75 hour shifts. when the driver is tired, they make mistakes. unfortunately when a mistake is made and a passenger vehicle the consequences can be severe. for three and a half minutes, the driver waited with the bus in gear. not in itself dangerous said the prosecution, but certainly lazy and it meant when he released the handbrake, the bus surged forward. at that moment the driver appeared to panic. cctv subgts suggests at no time were the brakes applied. a former mayor of

lemmington, the defendant had been warned abo his driving after complaints from passengers and several accidents. the company sent a trainer to observe his driving and the report said he found the bus was frequently speeding and on one occasion the driver pulled away with a passenger only just occasion the driver pulled away with a passenger onlyjust on the the platform and the bus doors still open. his employers have pleaded guilty to health and safety violations and will be sentenced later. the driver is now suffering from dementia and will not drive a passenger bus again. but those who lived and the families of those who did notare lived and the families of those who did not are asking why on that day he was allowed behind a wheel at all. what happens now is the judge can sentence the driver to one of

three things — a hospital order, a supervision order or an absolute discharge. as for the company, they have pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching health and safety regulations and they will be sentenced on the same day as the driver and we expect that to be some time in november. thank you. the liberal democrat leader sir vince cable is calling for a "movement of moderates" to sink the government‘s brexit plans. he‘s been speaking at the lib dems annual conference in brighton this afternoon. let‘s talk to our political correspondent jonathan blake, who‘s there, about what the lib dem leader has been saying in his speech. what did you make of it and was what the reaction? well, an hour or so after vince cable received a standing ovation, the liberal democrats are packing up and heading off back to wherever they came from.

today was about vince cable putting forward his argument that brexit is a bad idea and it should be stopped. the best way to do he said, is to have a public vote on any deal reached by the government with the european union. we heard a lot about his plans to open up the party to people who won‘t necessarily have to pay a fee and allow someone who isn‘t an pay a fee and allow someone who isn‘tan mp pay a fee and allow someone who isn‘t an mp to stand as leader. i have to say whilst the crowd seemed to like the majority of what he was saying, it did feel like polite applause rather than enthusiastic support from the liberal democrat party faithful. perhaps that is because they know that he is announced he is going to stand down before the next general election. or perhaps that is because there wasn‘t necessarily anything particularly new in sirvince necessarily anything particularly new in sir vince cable‘s speech. familiar themes that he has been

talking about for some time. but he did talk about brexit not necessarily being inevitable and there was one phrase which we have been talking about all morning that has caught people‘s attention, that brexit is in his eyes an erotic intoes spasm from those who called true believers. but he wasn‘t able to say it in the right way. the brexit date maybe 29th march. but it is only maybe. brexit is not inevitable. it can and it must be stopped. for the true believers, the fundamentalists, the costs of brexit have always been irrelevant. years of economic pain justified by the exotic spasm of leaving the european union. economic pain felt of course

not by them, but by those least able to afford it. so sir vince cable talked about that movement for moderates in his speech, but acknowledged that a lot of party members are not sure that is a good idea and they‘re not particularly happy with the term moderates. they say that radical would be more appropriate for the liberal democrats. but he acknowledged that, saying he shouldn‘t be quibbling about names and made a pitch to members of conservative party or labour party or the public in general who feel politically lost with what he described as extreme choices on the left and right, to join his movement. well that is what sir vince cable wants to be his parting gift to the liberal democrats, whether this was his last speech as leader, we don‘t yet know. but i think you would struggle to describe it as one to remember. thank you for that. you‘re watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: make it easier for highly—skilled workers to move

to the uk after brexit — the recommendation of a report for the government. bmw‘s mini factory in oxford will close for a month after brexit — the german owner says it‘s bringing forward the annual shutdown, to minimise any disruption. sir vince cable telling the liberal democrats that brexit can and must be stopped. in sport the england cricketer ben stokes has been charged with bringing the game into disrepute. he was cleared of affray after an incidents outside a nightclub. but he and alex hales will face a disciplinary committee. harry kane will hope his fortunes change against inter milan. england by

change against inter milan. england rugby have appointed a new defensive coach. i‘m back with more shortly. the bbc‘s director—general has said that the corporation‘s spending is "unsustainable" and said he wants a debate on how it should be funded. speaking during the royal television society conference, lord hall, urged people to support the bbc in an age of fake news and decreasing british content, as amazon and netflix continue to expand their share of the uk audience. we can cross now to the conference and join our media editor, amol rajan. tell us more about what tony hall has said about the bbc operating in an age of increased competition. well it is a sort of amazing spectacle that you have a director general of bbc who says the current model is unsis tainable, if ——

unsustainable and the bbc will have a diminished role in years to come. there were two aspects, the first was financial, he was saying that the bbc‘s current financial model won‘t last, the five bp billion cap is not enough. the bbc has had to stop things. he talked about the loss of formula one. he said the bbc will have to cut more and more to do its current public service remit, because five billion isn‘t what it used to be. he talked of regulation and this situation where lots of people, particularly young people, are consuming more media through internet giants like amazon and there is a big discrepancy between there is a big discrepancy between the bbc that is regulated by ofcom and netflix and amazon that are not. tony hall said the bbc is trying to

compete with those guys not only with less money, but with one hand behind its back. there has been talk ofa behind its back. there has been talk of a new streaming service. tell us about that. there has been. this comes out of an old idea from ten yea rs comes out of an old idea from ten years ago, the idea with the name of project kangaroo, this was an attempt by the bbc and itv and channel 4 to come together to launch a netflix—style streaming service. it didn‘t happen, because the competition authority kiboshed it. that was after commercial lobbying by rivals. now idea has been revived and there is talk and across the whole of the media as to whether it will work. there are some reasons for thinking it won‘t work. it is complicated working out who owns the rights. it is difficult getting all the big organisations to agree on what this service should be and there is a consensus that killing

that project was a mistake and it meant netflix launched in america rather than britain and something has to be done to make britain‘s public service broadcaster compete in this year where others have a huge amount of money and a lot of freedom that people in this country simply don‘t have. freedom that people in this country simply don't have. thank you. russia says syrian forces shot down one of its reconnaissance planes by mistake, killing all 15 crew on board. moscow blamed israel for the downing of the plane over the mediterranean yesterday. it says israeli jets were using the plane as cover while carrying out airstrikes on syria. a short while ago our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford gave us this update. definitely the language he used was very deliberate. he did make clear the statement by the defence ministry, which accused israel of hostile acts and used the words "provocative and irresponsible" to describe israeli action, he did make

clear that was a statement that was agreed with the kremlin, so he said he supported that. but he did not repeat it. those were not words that passed the president‘s lips today and i think that‘s important. i think also the phrase that you just described, his description of what he called a tragedy, as a chain of accidental circumstances is very important. it is obvious that syrian forces are primarily to blame for this plane being brought down, it was that syrian anti—aircraft fire that brought the plane down. that‘s why i think mr putin‘s keen to describe it as an accident. syria is of course a very close ally of russia. russian troops are there fighting alongside and supporting bashar al—assad in syria. but at the same time russia has an important alliance with israel, so whilst the defence ministry and mr putin himself have suggested that israel is to blame for essentially, they‘re saying, hiding behind the russian jet and therefore as they were carrying out their air strikes, i think mr putin was careful not to

repeat that accusation himself and he did make it clear that of course it wasn‘t israeli planes that brought down the russian jet. certainly we know the israeli prime ministerand vladimir putin are expected to speak later today and certainly mr putin said there was a lot still to look into to understand about this incident. but i think he is keen to maintain this delicate balancing act that russia is carrying out in the middle east. it is keen to be an important player and it is keen to be this unique force that is able to talk to and negotiate and have dealings with all sides involved, particularly in syria, but also more broadly in the region. that includes israel and that of course includes syria. so it is a difficult balancing act for the kremlin to pull off, but it‘s one i think mr putin is keen to continue doing. senior police officers say a hard brexit could mean losing access to up to 40 european systems used by forces across britain. officers say falling back on slower alternatives will make it much harder to protect uk citizens . earlier our home affairs

correspondent, tom symonds, talked us through some of the issues police say they could face. something called the schengen information system, accessed by british officers on british streets 539 million times last year. another, the european arrest warrant, which britain uses to extradite criminals. that the alternatives to that would take ten times longer, according to police chiefs this morning. they would, for example, make it harder to stop and arrest the suspects in the salisbury poisoning. the general view here was that all these tools help make policing more effective and they‘re not as good as the alternatives. the general point was it will make it harder to keep british people safe and one senior officer said compared with the millennium bug, that computer problem in 2000 we thought might bring the world to a halt, he said he‘d rather be dealing with that than this.

time for a look at the weather. here‘s darren bett. you have told me we can look forward to high nj weather. i have no idea what that means. are you about to start dancing? i'm not going to break out into dancing. —— high energy weather. we have high energy weather. there is a lot of energy in the atmosphere and it is heading to the atmosphere and it is heading to the uk and we see conditions like this, continuing over the next few days. it has been windy today and it is windier tomorrow. that means some travel disruption. given the trees are in leaf, there will be some damage. the reason why? why? jet stream. it is essentially damage. the reason why? why? jet stream. it is essential ly the jet stream. it is essential ly the jet stream. we need to look at what is happening with the air. we have got

some very warm air coming up from the tropics and colder air coming down from canada. it is the contrast that we start to see in the air at ah latitudes mean we start to move into more energetic weather and more u nsettled. into more energetic weather and more unsettled. stormy weather. it is the temperature contrasts that are powering the jet stream. this is the ribbon ofair powering the jet stream. this is the ribbon of air high up, it picks up low pressure and can deepen them, turn them into storms like we will see on wednesday with storm ali. drive them towards the uk, bringing wind and rain and some damage as well. it is like my own personal going geography lesson.” well. it is like my own personal going geography lesson. i hope somebody else is watching. does this mean the end of summer? well, tropical air mean that yesterday was 26 degrees. today it is about 24. it

is restricted to the south—east. we will probably get 22 on thursday. then its gets cooler on friday. we still have the chance of some warm airto come still have the chance of some warm air to come back. this is crucial. if you‘re on the warmer side, temperatures are ok. on the colder side it is colder. this is crucial, it is across the uk picking up storms. that is the next few days. move things on to next week and the jet stream position is further north. it is moving north and any big ybs of low pressure will get steered to the north of the uk and we are on the warmer side and that is hinting at higher pressure and drier weather. but unless you have the topical air and strong winds, the topical air and strong winds, the nights will be chilly. do i need to ask you any more questions? no, i will carry on. i do like to talk, as you know! let me know you what is

happening. there has been some cloud and sunshine. one or two showers driving in on the blustery westerly winds. it has been gusty today across england and wales. nowhere near as windy as the weather we are expecting tomorrow with storm ali. the temperatures close to mid 20s in the eastern parts of england. as we run through tonight the bands of showers come in from the west. there will be some breaks in the clouds and clearer skies. the winds dropping for a while. as the rain arrives in northern ireland, the wind will pick up and this the arrival of storm ali. a warm night. now, tomorrow, this is storm ali, this deepening area of low pressure and takes damaging winds across northern ireland and pushes into scotla nd northern ireland and pushes into scotland in the morning. as the storm moves, the winds will ease in the afternoon. this is where we have the afternoon. this is where we have the core of the strongest winds. an

amberwind the core of the strongest winds. an amber wind warning from the met office covering tomorrow and with those numbers we can expect some travel disruption and damage. it will be windy elsewhere. those are typical gusts. we see some rain pushing with those strong winds across northern ireland up into scotla nd across northern ireland up into scotland and some frequent showers following. and this band of rain more patchy pushes into england and wales. we still have the warm air to the south—east and east anglia. so temperatures 22 to 24. behinds that still warm across the rest of england and wales, tempered by the strength of the wind. lower temperatures for scotland and northern ireland. but that is the least of our worries. the storm moves out of way, but we are left with a band of rain across england and wales. not sure where it will stop. at the moment it looks like for most of the day the south—east of england and east anglia will be dry and get the rain after dark. you can see how we get this rain developing across many other parts of england and wales. some heavy

rain over wales and knot west england. not far from southern scotla nd england. not far from southern scotland and northern ireland. chilly under that developing rain. the last of the warmth for a few day and some dry weather in the south—east. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. eu migrants should be given no preference over those from the rest of the world, and the cap on skilled workers should be scrapped, says the government‘s migration advisory committee. ajury at birmingham crown court has ruled an 80—year old bus driver — kailash chander — was driving dangerously when he caused the deaths of a pedestrian and a seven—year—old passenger in coventry in 2015. lib dem leader sir vince cable has called for a "movement of moderates" to sink theresa may‘s brexit plans in a speech at the party‘s conference in brighton. the trade war intensifies between the world‘s

two largest economies. the us imposes tariffs on chinese products worth £150 billion. russia says syrian forces shot down one of its military planes — and blames israel for a "set up". sport now. on afternoon live with chris and ben stokes and alex hales cricket making the news again? alex hales and then stokes, they were involved in an incident inside a nightclub last year. then stokes was cleared of affray after a trial in august. the all—rounder then missed the ashes tour in australia last winter. he faced no criminal charges. he will face a disciplinary hearing in december. this is key really, especially for ben stokes. this comes in between their two

winter tours, sri lanka and west indies. then stokes is such a big person in english cricket. he could face a possible ban so everyone will be watching that and what the panel decide in december will be key to his future. football fans will be watching the start of the champions league to night. but it is not tonight necessarily, is it? isn‘t it kicking off earlier? yes, they have changed the rules so more people get to see it at a reasonable hour, especially in asia. so now we have kick—offs in the early evening and late afternoon in europe. 5:55pm, our time. this is across the board

now for the champions league. it is back. the first eight group matches ta ke back. the first eight group matches take place today. eight more tomorrow. for the first time these games are staggered. tottenham are playing into milan at five 50 5pm. spurs did well last season, they won their group. this is a really tough one for them. they have got barcelona and psv eindhoven. into malan have had a pity... he believes his side and into a pretty evenly matched. i think both teams have arrived in a similar situation, a similar mental state and of course both teams, we

are going to fight to try to change that feeling, that emotion. obviously, it is so important to win games. meanwhile... liverpool face paris st germain at home. managerjurgen klopp says defeat in last season‘s final to real madrid didn‘t damage his side at all. they have won their first five matches of the season just like the french champions, who rested star players neymar and kylian mbappe with tonight‘s game in mind. kick off at anfield is at 8pm. i‘d like these challenges but i only liked it because i only have —— i have a really great team. if i was not the manager, i would watch this game! he is smiling now. let's see

how he looks after the game. the world anti—doping vice—president linda helleland says she will vote against lifting the suspension of russia‘s anti—doping agency. wada‘s executive committee meet on thursday next week where they‘re expected to pave the way for russia‘s readmission into international sport after a major doping scandal. but helleland says she will not back that move. in a sperate development international anti—doping leaders from australia, the uk, the usa and japan are among a host countries who issued a statement urging wada not to back down. england have appointed a new defensive coach — new zealanderjohn mitchell will take over through until after the world cup injapan next year. mitchell was part of sir clive woodward‘s coaching team between 1997 and 2000. he will leave his executive rugby role at the south african super rugby side, the bulls, tojoin the england set up later this month. that‘s all the sport for now. i‘ll have more for you in the next hour. now on afternoon live,

let‘s go nationwide and see what‘s happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. let‘s go to peter levy in hull, where archaeologists are working at the site of a housing development at a linconshire village, after roman skeletons were discovered by construction workers. and in salford is rogerjohnson, where more details have been given about the visit of the giant street puppets to liverpool and wirral next month. how was this find made? it is in winterton in north lincolnshire. a housing developer

was preparing 135 homes when the discovery was made. a large number of human remains in winterton. the site is closed —— close to the famous roman road. locals are very excited and fascinated by what is going on and have been kept in the dark to some degree. they are keen to be part of it and want the best ca re to be part of it and want the best care taken of the work that is going on. let‘s go to the site of the dig in winterton. this is one of the archaeologist they‘re working. in winterton. this is one of the archaeologist they're workingm in winterton. this is one of the archaeologist they're working. it is archaeologist they're working. it is a roman burial. it is quite nice for me because it is shallow. what i think has happened is that person was wrapped in a trout because the feet of the skeleton are quite tightly together and also if there was a coughing i would have found

nails, which i haven't. we found this really nice beaker. do we actually know what is in the ground? i have to say the pictures are absolutely fascinating. 60 men, women and children and some teenagers. some were in shallow graves, others in coppins and many of the skeletons are fully intact. they are buried neatly in rows, which makes us think it is a cemetery, and they are romans. they are around 2000 years old. human burials are an important source of information from the past so this is obviously a very big and important fine. what i didn‘t know is that all remains that are found like this have had to be reported to the coroner ‘s office. many people will

be fascinated by this — eventually when all the work is finished they will be on display at a museum in north lincolnshire. the pictures are absolutely fascinating. boy, am i glad that simon is not on this evening! i'm pleased you said that! absolutely fascinating pictures. the pictures are so good. we have had the stories before, but these are stunning. thanks for telling us about that. roger, you are going to tell us about giant... they are not a puppet, they are giants.” apologise, i have come rushing in from the newsroom to tell you about these giant marionette that will be parading through liverpool in

october. people in liverpool will be familiar with them. this is the third time they have been to the city. they came in 2012, 2014 to mark the centenary of the start of the first world war. as you can see, they are huge things. some are up to 40 feet high. that is then been taken 40 feet high. that is then been ta ken across the 40 feet high. that is then been taken across the river mersey. if you look behind the diver there, you can see you look behind the diver there, you can see the number of people pulling on the drugs to make him move. it can take anything up to 40 people to make each one of these giants move as they make their way through the city. they will begin on the friday on the 4th of october, waking up on the saturday, rather on the friday, in liverpool on new brighton beach, wirral. walking around various different routes on saturday and finishing up on the waterfront on sunday. there will be a journey of 20 miles. hundreds of thousands of

people are expected to watch them and liverpool's maher is expecting notjust a spectacle but and liverpool's maher is expecting not just a spectacle but also a big list for the local economy. we have had massive amounts of visitors coming. it is estimated that 1.5 million people will come. that has an impact on hotels. they are already booked out. the restaurants, bars, the two wrist industry, it has been givena bars, the two wrist industry, it has been given a huge boost —— two wrist industry. are we likely to keep on seeing them in liverpool? no, we won't see them anywhere else. the french company have announced that this will be the last appearance anywhere in the world. they are going to be retired. the company is working on something else. you can get the sense of the scale of them. they are enormous. it will be the

la st they are enormous. it will be the last time that they are seen anywhere in the world. liverpool from the fourth to the 7th of october. terrific. it has been great to talk to do. simon is back tomorrow. you need to wear a suit. i don‘t know what it means for you, peter. i dressed up for you, rebecca. we go nationwide every weekday afternoon at 4:30pm here on afternoon at 4:30pm here on afternoon live. he may not be here but his voice still is. let‘s cross now to westminster —

our chief political correspondent, vicki young, is there for us. immigration is thought to have played such a huge part in referendum, brexit and the fact that eu citizens don‘t have many restrictions on freedom of movement compared to non—eu immigrants. theresa may has been very clear from the beginning of negotiations that freedom of movement is something she is not prepared to accept and this report does seem to back her to some extent, saying there is no need to have preferential treatment for eu citizens. i spoke to the former conservative cabinet minister ken clarke and he had a warning about the findings of the report. this report, it moves too far away from the free movement which is

beneficial. the thing to remember is anything we do, but the europeans will obviously apply for brits who wa nt will obviously apply for brits who want to work in the eu. there are many companies who are prepared to go backwards and forwards because they have an multinational workforce. i would prefer to tighten up workforce. i would prefer to tighten up on the free movement and have when we leave. people should have to have a job offer before they come here. ithink have a job offer before they come here. i think the public are still remarkably tolerant. the majority of people don't mind working to mac people don't mind working to mac people working here and are staying here as long as they have a job. let‘s discuss this further with yvette cooper who chairs the home affa i rs yvette cooper who chairs the home affairs select committee. this

report is saying there is no need for special treatment for eu citizens. the report was commissioned by the government. do you make of it as the mac it is quite puzzling. we really need it. we need evidence and a range of options. so we can have a proper, thoughtful public debate. instead they haven‘t looked at the options at all. they seem to have said that we are not going to look at any of the relationship between immigration and thejobs the relationship between immigration and the jobs and trade and economic deal at all. we‘rejust and the jobs and trade and economic deal at all. we‘re just going to assume that immigration is not part of the negotiations, when actually we know that immigration is already a part of negotiations. i think because it is only looked at a narrow set of issues, a narrow set of options, it doesn‘t really give parliament or the government the advice that it needs. do you think that the government should be a bit

swifter about coming forward with what it wants our immigration system to look like after brexit, are at the right to wait until those trade discussions have happened question mark a lot of people do feel that giving preferential treatment to eu citizens could well be in the mix. ideally, we would up at this kind of analysis and background analysis that had been done, about a year ago. and a wide—ranging debate. there are lots of different options, not just the ones there are lots of different options, notjust the ones that there are lots of different options, not just the ones that were there are lots of different options, notjust the ones that were put forward as part of this report today. we could‘ve had a public debate on new consensus around immigration reform. everybody understands that a lot of these things will depend on the negotiations and the final conclusion but that the moment we don‘t even know what the government once there has been no chance for the public to properly have a say. we know from the referendum campaign that the levels of immigration, it

was a source that the levels of immigration, it was a source of anxiety for many people how do you reconcile or tackle that anxiety and make people feel calmer about it and at the same time looking at what employers want? we looked at this as part of a select committee report and looked ata select committee report and looked at a really wide range of options for reform. so, for example, their other countries across europe that have different systems in place. in switzerland they have rules about focusing on local recruitment first. in legend stein they have a system of quotas. it is a small country but it is different. there are other proposals around emergency brakes and proposals about labour market changes, for example, having proper enforcement of labour market rules and stopping employers using and exploiting immigration to undercut wages and jobs. there are a whole range of possible reforms as well as the ones that the government set out

today. i think people want to see out of the brexit negotiations is both ideas around immigration but also on getting the best deal for jobs and the economy. at the moment this report didn‘t put these things together. that is what we need from the government. thank you very much indeed. we will see in the tory conference whether the home secretary are the prime minister decides to address this issue in their speeches. thanks, vicky. jamie robertson is on. he will be given as an update on the business news. make it easier for highly—skilled workers to move to the uk after brexit — that‘s the recommendation of a report for the government. a jury has found that a bus driver caused the death of two people by dangerous driving.

kal—lash chander, who s 80 and suffers from dementia, lost control of a bus in coventry in 2015. the lib dem leader, sir vince cable, tells his party‘s conference that brexit can and must be stopped. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. german car—makers bmw, daimler and volkswagen are to face an eu inquiry for allegedly conspiring to restrict diesel emissions treatment systems. it said that, if proven, this could mean that consumers had been denied the chance to buy less polluting cars. china has hit back at donald trump by imposing tariffs on american goods. it comes after the us slapped duties on $200 billion worth of chinese imports. staff at mcdonald‘s restaurants in ten us cities will walk out on tuesday over claims the fast food

giant is not doing enough to prevent sexual harassment. the strike comes after 25 women filed complaints against the chain, alleging it failed to enforce company rules against abuse. mcdonald‘s said there was "no place for harassment" at its restaurants. so what is happening with the us and china? this is a step change in this trade conflict. the us is imposing new tariffs on $200bn (£150bn) of chinese goods as it escalates its trade war with beijing. they are very big figures. china has done a smaller amount but it‘s proportionally about the same because they import from america about half of what america imports

from china. what is important to remember about this is that, from a us point of view, the chinese goods arrive in the states, a character will be imposed on the price of those goods stop anybody buying those goods stop anybody buying those goods stop anybody buying those goods will have to pay an extra 25% in the new year. if you area company extra 25% in the new year. if you are a company using chinese goods in order to make something in america, the cost will go up. things will become harderfor you the cost will go up. things will become harder for you and the the cost will go up. things will become harderfor you and the price of your goods will be more expensive. it is hurting american companies as well as a chinese companies. a lot of people are losing. it happens the other way round in china as well. what about cars? they are making the headlines in more than one way. many first.

bmw owned many. they produced 220,000 cars every year. they are closing for a month after brexit. it is not quite as terrible as it sounds because they usually close in august. they are bringing it forward because they are worried about brexit. honda has said they are worried about tens of millions of pounds costs that could arrive with eight no—deal brexit. it is because of the cost of carries. also customs checks slow things down. bobby industries, cars are probably the most precariously balanced, so finely tuned in terms of the way the compounds and parts are shifted around the world to come together

for the manufacturing process. it becomes very expensive if there is an interruption. this is about a collusion that they got together to work out a ray of restricting the amount of research and development thatis amount of research and development that is being done on emission treatment in their cars. we will talk to the director at fidelity international. this story about bmw, vw and down like could be serious. if they are found to be colluding. this comes three years to the day to the diesel gate scandal which caused irrefutable damage to the w. we're got five car companies, vw, bmw, download, audi, and porsche involved in these allegations. it is thought

that time has come forward saying that time has come forward saying that it will be a whistle—blower in the inquiry. since the bmw scandal around cheating on diesel emissions, there is very little appetite for this type of colluding in germany. we have seen five exclusive german auto—makers come together for years talking about how they can work together on technology ranging from sun roofs to technology that reduces emissions to shutout sun roofs to technology that reduces emissions to shut out there, but it is. that is the allegation. he is very exit sensitive car companies are putting up more warnings. one is honda, another has come from many, saying they will have a hiatus in april to work out what is happening. last week we heard to raise make

talking to car manufacturers about creating an industry which britain leads on things like technology to reduce emissions. they've responded saying, they are worried about brexit, come polling is, how much of british components versus global components are allowed to be used in the manufacturing of cars. that flow of components across borders. a lot of components across borders. a lot of question marks up for an industry that employs a lot of people. you say download! dimer is the german company. it does not make german ca rs company. it does not make german cars “— company. it does not make german cars —— daimler cars. they are now made byjaguar. we all know about unexpected guest

at weddings but one newlywed couple from the isle of wight was in for a bill surprise when the prime minister turned up. theresa may arrived on a motor cruiser while the couple was being photographed for their big day. mrs may apologised for not being dressed for the occasion before posing between the happy couple and offering her congratulations. we do not know if she danced with them. that‘s it from your afternoon live team for today, next the bbc news at 5pm with huw edwards. time for a look at the weather... here‘s darren bett. set to get windy for tomorrow. storm

ali, the first name storm of the season. those temperatures are above average in most parts of the country. not far off the mid—20s. these showers will push their way eastwards this evening. some heavy ones, clear spells and then rain arrives in northern ireland. winds start to pick up. a warm and quite muqqy start to pick up. a warm and quite muggy night. the core of the strongest winds are in northern ireland and central southern scotland. a met office warning. damage quite likely. strengthening winds in scotland and northern ireland. showery rain pushes its way eastwards a cross ireland. showery rain pushes its way eastwards across england and wales. still warm in the south—east but cooler in scotland and northern ireland. today at 5: an official report says it should be

easier for highly—skilled workers to the move to the uk after brexit. the report by the migration advisory committee also says that eu workers should not be given special access to britain after brexit. so we think if migration is managed there is a way in which it c improve there is a way in which it c improve the benefits and mitigate the costs. i'm in live in brussels getting a sense of european reaction to that news. we will have the latest from brussels and westminster. we‘ll be talking to the former immigration minister damian green. the other main stories on bbc news at 5: two men have been acquitted of negligence