made easier for highly—skilled workers to come to the uk after brexit. the migration advisory committee also said that eu citizens hoping to come here to work should not be given preferential treatment after brexit. the impacts of migration depend on things like the skill of the migrants, but not fundamentally on their nationality. and so we don't think there should be a preference for eu citizens over non—eu citizens. the committee also found that overall, the impact of migration from europe to the uk has been relatively small. also tonight: the irish border question — the eu says it's about to make an improved offer to try to break the deadlock in the brexit talks. following the deaths of three men on an sas exercise, two supervisors have been acquitted of negligence, to the dismay of one widow. this is beyond unacceptable. and shows blatant ignorance to a vital need, where, apparently, three deaths are not enough. an elderly bus driver in coventry,

who lost control of his vehicle, killing two people, wasjudged to be driving dangerously at the time. and it's in... and liverpool beat paris saint germain with a late winner in the champions league. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, england cricketer, ben stokes will face a disciplinary hearing despite being cleared of affray. he and alex hales will find out their fate after the tour of sri lanka. good evening. the limit on the number of highly—skilled workers who want to move to britain should be abandoned, according to an official report commissioned by the government. the migration advisory committee, whose report is about immigration

policy after brexit, is recommending a system—based on skills rather than giving preferential treatment to people from the european union. but the committee also found that overall, the impact of migration from europe on the uk had been relatively small. our economic editor kamal ahmed has been studying the findings. east london, making clothes and a factory that is 85% staffed by eu migrants. what are you bringing over to here? for chief executive, jennifer holloway, any change to that could cause some real headaches. they're the ones that are already skilled, they are absolute masters at their profession. if eu workers weren't available to us, i think the adult education budget, which has had lots of reductions over the past two years, could be increased so we could take more people off the unemployment register and give them the technical skills required. today's migration report says eu migrants have boosted the uk economy, paying more in taxes than they receive in public services.

any negative effect on wages has been small, but house prices have been pushed up slightly. a higher population means more demand. leeds, and the view from the market. concern about immigration has fallen since the brexit referendum. there are a lot of people coming out of education and they are a bit worried about theirjob prospects, because there might be more competition. if there is a doctor in nigeria and he cannot get in, if he's good enough and he can bring something to the nhs in britain, let him in for me, i'm all for that. as long as they don't bring in butchers, i'm happy with that. you're not taking myjob. so, what are the big ideas on immigration in this report? first, end free movement for eu workers. second, no preferential access for eu citizens over workers from other parts of the world, once the uk leaves the eu. though the report does say that position could change if immigration

becomes part of the eu negotiations. third, high skilled immigration should be encouraged and low skilled workers discouraged, apart from in the agriculture sector, such as fruit picking. now, to all those that say the free movement of eu workers into the uk has been good for the british economy, you are saying that's not true, that actually free movement should stop? the problem with free movement is that you don't have control over the number of migrants and you don't have control on the mix of migrants. so we think if migration is managed, there is a way in which we can accentuate the benefits and mitigate the costs. taking control of our borders, that was the message from the prime minister following the referendum. and with this report backing that position, the critics are already lining up. i think this report is a missed opportunity. any decision by the government to reduce immigration at the expense

of economic growth will be damaging to london and damaging to our country. the economics of immigration versus the politics and support for more restrictions. when i spoke to unite members after the brexit vote, it was very clear that migration was one of, if not the key issue as to why they voted to leave the eu. so from that perspective, the announcement that there is going to be a much more measured approach to migration will be warmly welcomed. how high will be levels of control be on immigration once the uk leaves the eu? we will know the answer to that when the government announces its new, long—awaited immigration policy in the next few weeks. kamal ahmed, bbc news. our deputy political editor john pienaar in westminster tonight. let's talk about how this set of recommendations is likely to translate into actual policy? these

recommendations are knocking out a politically open door for eu citizens to be treated the same as non—eu citizens. the prime minister and the home secretary have been hinting as much. ministers are keen to be seen to be bearing down on the level of migration. but it is never as simple as that, business leaders are afraid of being deprived of the low skilled labour they need. they are hoping the talks of the future trade relationship might agree to some eu access. but for those talks to get going, some way needs to be found not to have a hard brexit. the whole process looks to be very delicately balanced. meanwhile, the lines are opening up between the big parties and within government. there are ministers who doubt the wisdom of theresa may's promise of keeping net migration below 100,000. that

promise has been broken again and again. labour is interested in keeping down numbers. in the coming party conference speech, there is a bet she will be using it to furnish her credentials as being tough on migration. thank you very much. the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier has said he is ready to come forward with an ‘improved' proposal on the question of the irish border after brexit. he said the eu offer would fully respect the ‘territorial integrity‘ of the uk. the issue of the border between northern ireland and the republic has emerged as the main obstacle to an agreement ahead of the uk's withdrawal in march 2019. let's talk to our correspondent in brussels. what can you tell us? in

the feeble atmosphere we find ourselves and as end—stage of the brexit negotiations, there can be a tendency in the uk to jump brexit negotiations, there can be a tendency in the uk tojump on brexit negotiations, there can be a tendency in the uk to jump on any brexit negotiations, there can be a tendency in the uk tojump on any eu comments, overplay them and misinterpret them. not tonight, we have long said in terms of trying to find a brexit deal, the irish border issue could be the issue this autumn that could bring a deal tumbling down. tonight, head of an eu leader summit, that theresa may will be attending and web brexit will be discussed, even though it won't be negotiated, the eu's chief negotiator said they will make a new and improved offer on island. it is not new comedy eu knows the uk doesn't accept this current proposal. theresa may has said it will constitutionally break up the united kingdom, separating northern ireland from the rest of the uk. in the summer, the european commission has been trying to be traumatised their proposal, take out the

politics and showed this proposal is purely practical. the fact michel barnier went big on this tonight ahead of the eu leader summit is pa rt ahead of the eu leader summit is part of a concerted effort by eu leaders to try and help theresa may. they want a brexit deal this autumn, so they want a brexit deal this autumn, so with words and gestures, they will try to help. but this is not about compromising their principles 01’ about compromising their principles or red lines. thank you for the latest analysis. and we'll be taking a closer look at the irish border question with a special report later in the programme. two men who were in charge of an sas exercise in the brecon beacons, in which three reservists died, have been cleared of negligence. the men died trying to complete the 16—mile march on one of the hottest days of 2013. the judge at the court martial said it was the failures of the military authorities that were to blame, as our correspondent duncan kennedy reports. this is the gruelling route that shows the unforgiving terrain of the brecon beacons, the testing ground for the sas. injuly 2013, lance corporal craig

roberts, trooper edward maher and corporaljames dunsby collapsed on the march and died from heat stroke and organ failure. the two military organisers, known to the court as 1a and 1b, were charged with negligence. but today, thejudge stopped the court martial and ordered that the two men be found not guilty. he said they weren't negligent as individuals, that the real fault lay with what he called the systematic failures of the military authorities to train the men properly. the families of the men who died said the ministry of defence failed in its duty. there is still no official guidance for those conducting endurance training marches in the british army on heat illness, even five years on. this is beyond an acceptable and shows blatant ignorance this is beyond unacceptable

and shows blatant ignorance to a vital need where apparently three deaths are not enough. this was one of the scenes on the day of the incident. the three men had set off on the 16—mile march carrying 50lb backpacks and gps trackers. near the end of the exercise, craig roberts collapsed. edward maher also succumbed to the 30 degrees temperatures. whilst james dunsby, who took an alternative route, was found on the final leg of the march. the mod is immune from prosecution. in a statement today it said: the three men had pushed themselves to their limits to try to join the sas. they died in the pursuit of that

dream, not because of the faults of individuals who were there, but because of a series of fatal shortcomings by the military authorities. duncan kennedy, bbc news. the trade conflct between the united states and china is intensifying, after the us announced the biggest round of tariffs so far against some chinese goods. beijing has hit back by imposing new trade tariffs on a range of american goods. president trump has insisted that tariffs are neccessary to cut the trade deficit between the two countries, currently over $375 billion. in a moment we will hear from our china correspondent, jon sudworth, but first our north america editor jon sopel. it's a good time to be in the container business in the us as more and more goods pour in from abroad. but it's not good for the deficit and donald trump, from well before he became president, has railed at the unfairness of trade between the us and china. we are the piggy bank to the world. we have been ripped off by china,

we have been ripped off by the european union. we have been ripped off by everybody. in 2017, us imports from china amounted to $506 billion. tariffs have so far been applied to $53 billion worth of chinese exports. the tariffs announced today will now affect $200 billion worth of goods from china. and there's a warning that might rise by an additional 267 billion if china attempts further retaliation. because chinese action is already taking its toll on exporters. farmers on land and farmers of the sea are feeling the effects. lobster fishermen in maine are finding a big drop in demand for their luxury produce, which is exported live to china. it is becoming too expensive to consumers there and across america, this is starting to hurt all sorts of businesses. this is a trade world but donald

trump started. but as the commerce secretary put it, china will run out of bullets. at this trade fair today, china was showing off its latest gadgets. it is all part of a plan to create a world—beating high—tech economy, a plan it believes the us tariffs are designed to stop. for policymakers here in china, every line in this latest and extremely long list of us tariffs will be seen as proof of the very real threat to the economic model on which this country's success has been built. exports and state backing for industry. the response has been swift. translation: china has no choice but to retaliate in order to firmly defend our legitimate interests and the global free trade order. in 2017, china imported

$130 billion worth of us goods. the first round of tariffs this year hit 50 billion of that trade and today, almost all remaining imports, $60 billion worth, were targeted. but while china may have few options left, many us businesses do not think the trump tariffs are working. we had a survey recently, only 6% currently were reconsidering moving back to the us. so, the us is hoping forjob creation, we don't really see that happening. it is the grim prospect of economic pain, with no political gain. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. the inquest into the death of pc keith palmer in the westminster terror attack has been told that security at the palace of westminster, hadn't functioned for years. one of the officers on duty at the time of the attack, carried out by khalid masood, said it was possible that an opportunity to save pc

palmer's life had been lost, because nobody guarding the gate was armed. in the deadliest case of so—called friendly fire between syria and its powerful ally russia syrian defences mistakenly shot down a russian militaryjet with the loss of at least 1a lives. the plane came down 22 miles from the syrian coast as it was making its way back to the russian airbase in latakia. 0ur moscow correspondent sarah rainsford joins us now. sarah what has the reaction been there? there has been a fierce reaction response from the russian defence ministry but all the anger has been directed at israel, not that syria for supposedly provoking this incident by using the russian plane as cover for its own air strikes. russia has called that and a hostile act and all day today we have heard from officials who have been

debating how russia should retaliate. there have been calls and some of those were about imposing a no—fly zone in syria and some of them were talking about supplying israel's enemies with sophisticated defence systems. it is clear that russia would not blame syria out right, at least publicly, given its support for president assad but vladimir putin has spent a lot of time cultivating good relations with israel as well, it is part of a delicate balance of alliances in the middle east and i do not think he wa nted middle east and i do not think he wanted to unsettle lap. when he did come out and speak about this, it was to defuse rather than escalate the crisis and he blamed the downing of the plane on a tragic set of circumstances. what this has underlined above all is the great risk that there are in syria with so many competing interests and so many military forces now involved there. sarah, thank you for the latest reaction. a jury in coventry has found that a bus driver caused the deaths

of two people by dangerous driving. kailash chander, who's now 80 and suffers from dementia, was ruled unfit to stand trial. he lost control of his bus 3 years ago and smashed into a supermarket, killing a 7 year—old boy and a woman in her 70s. 0ur correspondent ben ando has more details. 12 seconds of terror as a bus runs out of control through coventry in october, 2015. shoppers scattered. the bus only stopped when it smashed into the front of a supermarket. two people were killed. pedestrian dora hancox, aged 76 was run over, whilst seven—year—old rowan fitzgerald was sitting upstairs at the front of the bus and died in the impact. at the wheel was kailash chander. now aged 80, he suffers from dementia and was ruled too ill to face criminal charges. casper mudenha was on the lower deck. i thought i was going to die. at some point i thought he lost control. but you cannot tell. all i was focusing on was saving my life.

mr chander, a former mayor of leamington had been warned about his driving before. mr chander‘s bosses were so worried that they sent one of their driver trainers undercover to observe his driving. his report makes for shocking reading. he found the bus was frequently speeding, that every bus stop was overshot and that on one occasion, mr chander pulled away with a passenger onlyjust on the platform and the bus doors still open. in the resulting disciplinary hearing six months before the tragedy, mr chander was told not to drive when tired. but his regular 75 hour weeks did not break any rules, leading rowan‘s family to say, we do not want the reasons why rowan and dora died to be forgotten. we want to see something positive come from this and at this time we feel this will only come

from a change in law on the age of bus drivers and hours of work. this would prevent anyone having to go through what we have gone through over the last three years. kailash chander will never drive a bus again, but many are wondering why he was driving on that day at all. ben ando, bbc news. the business of buying land, gaining planning permission, and then selling it on can be hugely lucrative. fuelled by a continuing shortfall in new homes, its a trade that 5 worth billions of pounds a year. but as the proceeds grow, so have calls for more regulation ? perhaps through taxing land profits to help fund affordable housing. our home editor mark easton has been investigating. in the west country, a square metre of agricultural land. on average, in england, this is worth just over two pounds, but if this square metre of land were to be given planning permission for new homes, something magic happens. two pounds is calculated and turns into £600. a field like this one, a little over three hectares, goes from being worth £72,000 as farmland to £20 million with planning permission for new homes.

across england, the increase in value of land, simply by being given planning permission in a single year, is calculated at £13 billion. that is more than the global profits of amazon, coca—cola and mcdonald's combined. for doing absolutely nothing. it is notjust farmland. this old church building in bristol was sold to developers for £200,000 three years ago. they got planning permission for new houses and sold it on for £1.3 million without having built a single one. una goldsworthy heads a housing association that tried to buy it is three years since you tried to get this place. una goldsworthy heads a housing association that tried to buy the plot for affordable and social homes, but, as so often, was outbid. to be honest, we don't do it any more, really. we don't bid for sites on the open market, we cannot get anywhere

near the prices they can get now, so we try to do niche developments that are on the market or public sector land, because there is just no point in bidding. that is the national state. but we desperately need those social houses, those affordable homes. i know. it is so incredible. we have got the money, we have got the resources to do it. britain's original garden city of letchworth and the development of new towns like milton keynes were only made possible by buying land at close to its original value. across the west of england, we need more homes. in the west country, the housing crisis has led to a regional plan for over 100,000 new homes and the infrastructure to go with them, but there are calls for a change to the law, allowing compulsory purchases of land at close to its pre—planning permission value. that change is likely to make all land for development much less expensive. we have to make sure that the land is not being sold at exorbitant prices which enable developers to rule out the delivery of affordable homes.

we need the powers that local authorities have to catch up with where the housing market is. the body representing the owners of half of england and wales has said that depriving people of the value of the land is iniquitous. 0ur worry is that if the scale of that return is significantly reduced, people will simply stop putting land forward for development and do other things with it. we won't get the houses at all. no, exactly. all major political parties appear to accept that more of the windfall that arises, almost by magic, with planning permission, should be captured by the state. but without cross—party agreement on the detail, powerful landowners are likely to hold onto the property and the ambition to build millions more affordable homes may remain just that. mark easton, bbc news, the west country. the liberal democrat leader sir vince cable has said brexit is not inevitable and that it can and must be stopped. in a speech to the party's conference in brighton, he called on both theresa may and jeremy corbyn to support a people's vote, on the final deal the prime minister

negotiates with brussels. from brighton, our political correspondent ben wright reports. hey, hey, theresa may! give us all a final say! this is a party that believes brexit can be stopped. but it's also a party looking for fresh purpose and soon, a new leader after sir vince cable said he would stand down before the next election. he's a lame duck leader now, isn't he? hardly a lame duck, he's not set a specific time, he's said he's got a number of tasks. and one task above all... brexit is not inevitable. it can and it must be stopped. the lib dems want a second referendum on the brexit deal and sir vince urged the prime minister to follow their example. 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. it's not clear how the lib dems would engineer a second referendum

but sir vince was scathing about the tories... boris and donald, the terrible twins of the raving right. before swivelling his sights on true labour's leader. ifjeremy corbyn will not say, i will support a people's vote and i will fight brexit, labour members should waive him goodbye. wave him goodbye. his party hoped for a surge in support following the brexit vote, but it didn't happen. now, vince cable says he wants it to become the home for voters he describes as moderate and perhaps allow non—mps to become its leader. 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. together, we can and we will win. he is putting in new reforms which will really make it an exciting party. i think we're doing well,

but i think we can do a lot better. we are a liberal country and yet the lib dems are not seen as being the people that you naturally go to — but we will be. and that's the challenge? i hope so. but it will be a new generation in charge. ben wright, bbc news, brighton. liverpool have beaten paris saint germain in a memorable opener to their champions league campaign. a 91st—minute strike sealed a 3—2 victory at anfield let's join our sports correspondent andy swiss. as curtain raisers go, this had the makings of something special. liverpool, full of confidence after reaching the final last season against psg, one of the richest clu bs against psg, one of the richest clubs in the world and it certainly lived up to its billing for liverpool, another memorable victory. another spine tingling roar.

would it be another special night? anfield hoped and their heroes soon obliged. daniel sturridge's first champions league start for six years. talk about an impact. paris saint—germain boasts the two priciest players in history, but both neymar and kylian mbappe where wayward and psg all at sea. a penalty converted byjames milner, liverpool in dreamland. but then a bolt from the blue. thomas meunier pulling one back at the break. it was breathless stuff. the second half was no different. with ten minutes left, psg thought they'd snatched a draw as kylian mbappe ruthlessly levelled it up. but deep in stoppage time, the fairy tale finish as roberto firmino fired liverpool to a 3—2 win. drama, glory, just your average anfield night. earlier, tottenham began their campaign at inter milan where they seemed to be heading for three points. christian eriksen‘s first effort doubt, but not his second. hardly pretty, but spurs

were hardly bothered. in truth, they should have had more and how they'll wish they had. with five minutes left, icardi's volley giving inter milan the most spectacular of equalisers. suddenly, tottenham were clinging on and deep into injury time, they capitulated. vecino heading inter to a 2—1victory. spurs will be wondering quite how they lost a first night drama they could have done without. andy swiss, bbc news. we heard earlier about the latest attempt to resolve the irish border question —— a key sticking point in the brexit negotiations. this week bbc news is considering some of the most common questions being asked about brexit and its potential impact. tonight our correspondent damian grammaticas investigates the irish border issue. what will brexit mean for the union? why haven't we left jet? will we be richer or poorer? will problems with the irish border stop brexit? 0n the way to brexit, the biggest roadblock we face, the irish border.

that is it, we havejust that is it, we have just crossed the border, are learned to northern ireland, no markings, just the signs change. today, it is almost invisible. a century ago, the division of ireland, partition and the building of customs posts led to years of troubles. those ended after the good friday agreement brought peace. the fear is, reimposing border checks would risk new violence and be hugely complicated. so, theresa may and the eu have promised to guarantee there will be no border under any circumstances. mrs may says she wants no new customs or other checks here. they would not be needed if the uk quits the eu but stays in its single market and customs union. but mrs may says leaving those, too, is a red line for her. it wouldn't be delivering on brexit.

the border is this stream here. the renahans have farmed here for six generations. their fields stretch over both sides of the border. the neath the republic burden and the uk. these are both your feels? both our fields. ireland will have the uk's only land border with eu and a busy one. 30% of milk from the north goes south to be processed. 50% of lamb does, too and from the south comes 25% of beef used in the north. the eu's proposal is that if any checks are needed, they will not happen along the line between northern ireland and ireland, but in the uk. northern ireland staying under most of the eu's single market and customs rules.