this is bbc news, i'm joanna gosling. these are the top stories developing at ham. we are going to take you straight to the labour party conference where the labour party conference where the party's brexit spokesman is giving a speech on labour's brexit position. applause conference, the last two years has not been easy. like many of you, i was devastated by the result of the referendum. like many of you, i had campaigned, i had voted to remain. applause not for the technical benefits of membership, important though they are. but because i'm proud to say that i am an internationalist. applause

i believe that nations achieve more together than they do alone. i believe that the challenges facing oui’ believe that the challenges facing our nation, whether that's conflict, terrorism, climate change, those challenges are best met together with our eu partners. applause and conference, if we think of the opportunities facing our nation. scientific research, medical developments, education, arts and culture. those opportunities are going to be realised best with our eu partners. and conference... those values of collaboration and corporation, they didn't die on the 23rd june 2016. —— and cooperation. and they must guide everything we do as we go through the brexit process,

because we cannot get into the narrow ideology which is driving the tory approach to brexit. applause and conference, that's why we did not stop the challenge of brexit. —— duck the challenge. it would have been easy to wish away the result, but we did not. we stepped up, the stitch together, and we fought the government to and nail. and conference, we were right to do that. we were right to sayjobs and the economy must come first. we were right to say that eu citizens are not bargaining chips. applause we were writes to say, there's going

to need to be transition period so we don't go off the cliff. and we we re we don't go off the cliff. and we were right to say we need a customs union with the eu to protect our manufacturing base and to keep the solemn commitment to no hard border in northern ireland. applause and we were right to argue for a single market deal to go with that customs union. and we were absolutely right, absolutely right, to insist that parliament has a meaningful vote on the article 50 deal that the prime ministers seeks to bring back. and i'm glad we stepped up to those challenges. conference, we are about to be tested again. 0ver conference, we are about to be tested again. over the next few weeks and months, hugely important decisions are going to be made that

are going to be affecting each and every one of us. and what does the prime minister say? even in the aftermath of salzburg? she says, trust me on brexit. trust her on brexit? trust the prime minister whose first choice as warren secretary was boris johnson? whose first choice as warren secretary was borisjohnson? —— foreign secretary? her second choice was the man who has been running down the nhs for the last few years. applause and conference, this prime minister is responsible for the hostile environment. this prime minister... applause this prime minister appointed secretary of state for northern ireland who doesn't understand the basics about northern ireland. let

alone the complexities. so, conference, this prime minister does not deserve our trust. just when we need strong government, strong leadership, what have we got? division, chaos, failure. the government has no credible plan for brexit, weeks out from the deadline. no credible solution for northern ireland, weeks out from the deadline. and it's blindingly obvious that there is no majority for the chequers deal. the prime minister must have been the only person surprise last week that chequers was not going to be accepted either in europe or by her own party. but conference, what has happened is that the tory civil war on europe that has been happening for years, now risks our prosperity. the party, do you remember, that

promised to fix the roof while the sun was shining, is now intent on burning the house down. applause so, conference, i've got a message for the prime minister. if your party wa nts for the prime minister. if your party wants to tear itself apart, that's fine. but you're not taking oui’ that's fine. but you're not taking our country with you. applause and, conference, that is why it labour set six tests for brexit. not just technical tests, but tests that set out the sort of country and sources society that we want, whether well—being of all our communities matter. those tests were not plucked from thin air. they were

taken from promises of commitments that the government made about what it would achieve in these negotiations. the prime minister's response to the test was, that she was determined to meet them, determined to meet them. well, things might be going hopelessly wrong for her, she may have lowered her expectations, but i am not lowering mine. and, conference, i know you want to know, our members wa nt to know you want to know, our members want to know, where we stand on our tests, going into this important vote in the autumn. some say we may vote in the autumn. some say we may vote for the deal the prime minister brings back. maybe abstain, maybe vote for a vague deal. so let me be absolutely clear. if the prime minister returns to the video which does not —— with a deal which does

not beat our tests, and that looks increasingly likely, we will vote against her deal. applause and, conference, if the prime minister thinks she can come back with a vague deal, asking us to leap blindfolded into the unknown, we will vote that down. conference... applause we didn't set tests that could be met by refusing to answer the question. a vague or blind brexit is a leap to know —— nowhere and we will have no part of it. now, conference, let's be clear. this is not about frustrating the process. it is about stopping a destructive

tory brexit. it is about fighting for our values. and it is about fighting for our country. and, conference, when it comes to that vote, in parliament, we do not accept, we do not accept that the choice is between whatever the prime minister manages to cobble together oi’ minister manages to cobble together 01’110 minister manages to cobble together or no deal. that is not a meaningful vote. applause between really bad and even worse? no deal would be a catastrophe. and no government has the right to plunge our country into chaos because of their own failures. applause

so, if parliament votes down the prime minister's deal, or she cannot reach a deal, that is not the end of the debate. and labour must step up again and shape what happens next. 0ur preference, our preference is clear. we want a general election to sweep away this failed government. applause and conference, having swept them away, we want to install radical labour government capable of transforming this country. and that's what should happen after two yea rs of that's what should happen after two years of negotiation ending in failure. but if that is not possible, we must have other options. and conference, that must include campaigning for a public vote.

cheering conference, it is right that parliament has the first say, it's right that parliament has the first say. but if we need to break the impasse, our options must include campaigning for public vote and nobody is ruling out remain as option. cheering and, conference. applause and conference. applause thank you, conference. and can i...

that is why, that is why i'm very pleased that we as a party can put ourfull weight behind pleased that we as a party can put our full weight behind this morning's motion which will be moved by the gmb. and can ijust thank all of the delegates, the hundreds of delegates, who sweated it out with us on delegates, who sweated it out with us on sunday night for nearly six hours, to get a motion that we could put forward. and, conference, you know and our members know that there are differences of opinion on brexit. but what happened in that session is we reached a consensus. we were able to put a united position before conference today. and conference, just to fast forward

a week to contrast the position when we vote on our consensus motion in a united labour party way, fast forward to the chaos you're likely to see at the tory party conference, where they will not be able to agree anything at all. applause now, conference, you will appreciate that all of us in the run on sunday evening missed the last episode of bodyguard. there are nearly 300 people walking around not wanting to know what happened. so if you watched it, please don't tell us. we haven't caught up yet. and conference, one final important point. whatever the deal the prime minister does or does not bring

back, that's only part of the debate. the referendum was notjust about technical membership of the eu. it was much wider, and much deeper than that. it became a vote on the state of the nation. it became a vote on economics and politics. and how they work, or in many cases, do not work. and millions of people sent us a very clear message. that we must transform our economy, rebuild our public senses, tackle inequality wherever it appears and give power back to our communities. there can be no satisfactory response to the referendum unless we have the right relationship with the eu but also the right deal for britain. applause conference, i am under no illusion about the challenge ahead. we're

going through uncertain times. and brexit has divided the country. but we must remain united in the fight for our values. values that hold our party together and values which i think could bring the country back together. that is our challenge, and we must rise to it. thank you, conference. applause thank you. studio: labour‘s brexit secretary sir keir starmer adjusting the conference with that announcement that labour is not ruling out campaigning fora that labour is not ruling out campaigning for a new public vote on brexit without ruling out remain as an option, and a very interesting response in the hall there, at liverpool, to that. half the audience stood in standing ovation to that announcement, the rest remained seated. it seemed simunovic

at the end of his speech, he said, brexit has divided the country but we must remain united. let's go to our assistant political editor norman smith in liverpool, watching that speech. a very interesting response when half of them stood up absolutely delighted to hear that news that they are not ruling out remain but the others remained seated. if you want to know, where the bulk of opinion is, amongst labour party manias, then it was —— at labour party members, then it was clear the prolonged cheering for sir keir starmer after he said first of all no one is ruling out remain being on the ballot paper and he opened the way up for a further brexit referendum. for many ordinary party members, that's what they want, they want another referendum on brexit and they want staying in the eu to be on the ballot paper. equally importantly, sir keir starmer all but confirmed labour

will vote against pretty much whatever deal mrs may manages to get, if indeed she manages to get a deal, saying that she was on course to fail all six tests that labour has set out for getting their support. many people thought it was a lwa ys support. many people thought it was always going to be impossible for mrs may to meet the test of insuring exactly the same benefits as remaining in the single market and the customs union, sir keir starmer saying, actually, she is failing all six tests. in other words, there are six tests. in other words, there are six locks on the labour support for mrs may. the consequent on that, i would suggest, is the risk of no deal goes up markedly. because it becomes increasingly hard to see how the prime minister can expect to get any deal through parliament given we know there is a fairly solid block of tory brexiteers determined to vote against may. now sir keir starmer saying, no ifs, vote against may. now sir keir starmersaying, no ifs, no vote against may. now sir keir starmer saying, no ifs, no buts, labour almost certain to vote

against her. so joining it all up, and seeing how events can potentially unfold from here, there was speculation over the weekend that the tory party may be goering up that the tory party may be goering upfora snap that the tory party may be goering up for a snap election in november, —— gearing up, labour saying they wa nt —— gearing up, labour saying they want there to the election and if there is not, first shout is parliament to get a vote. does this increasingly look like we will get that end point where we do have a second referendum ? that end point where we do have a second referendum?” that end point where we do have a second referendum? i think that is where labour is heading inexorably. because if you talk privately to labour folk, they conceded they do not have the levers to bring about a general election, they would require either the dup to desert mrs may and vote with labour in a no—confidence motion, very unlucky, they will not be huge fans ofjeremy corbyn. if you can't get that, you need tory mps to break ranks and also vote

with them on a no—confidence motion, again equally unlikely. so the most likely scenario is that labour would campaignfor likely scenario is that labour would campaign for another referendum. it is becoming their default brexit strategy in the event that mrs may's chequers deal gets voted down. and given what sir keir starmer said today, that is beginning to look increasingly likely. amidst all the confusion and chaos about what's labour‘s position was, i think getting a clear position, namely that they will vote against mrs may's deal and in all likelihood they will try and campaign for a second referendum and on that ballot paper, we heard it in the hall, there will be the remain option. in other words, the option of staying in the eu, in other words, reversing the brexit referendum. if labour we re the brexit referendum. if labour were to campaign for a new referendum, with it the very

difficult or easy for the government to resist? —— would it be difficult or easy for the government to resist, wooded —— would it be inevitable? the way it would have to happen is that mrs may's deal would have to be voted down. then the labour party would have to work with tory rebels to extend, get an extension of article 50, under which we are meant to leave at the end of march. in other words, they would have to buy time, two in able legislation to be pushed through parliament to set up another referendum. that is not easy but nor is it impossible. it is conceivable that labour, working with tory mps, and we know that there are tory mps who have backed the keeper's vote. if they could get the speaker's commission to amend possibly the motion the prime minister puts before the house for her chequers

deal, or amend the final withdrawal bill, that they could insult a referendum clause. it's slightly convoluted, it's slightly cranky, but it is absolutely not mission impossible. and the prospect that it could happen would seem to me have increased this morning markedly by what we have just heard by sir keir starmer. how significant the moment do you think this is? i think it is significant on many many levels, because it just makes significant on many many levels, because itjust makes mrs may's tasks so much harder. it does i imagine, isa tasks so much harder. it does i imagine, is a huge boost —— come as a huge boost to remain campaigners who have been desperately trying to push labour towards backing another referendum, now i think they are getting to a position where it's seems to have no other obvious alternatives. but it also poses huge risks. if you also talk to labour

leave backers, they warned the party risks decimating support in some of its brexit backing constituencies. they suggested this morning that labour could lose more than 19 seats if they were to come out and campaignfor if they were to come out and campaign for another referendum. there are high risks, and the fear, you find it among shadow cabinet members, i suspect it is the fear we heard expressed by john members, i suspect it is the fear we heard expressed byjohn mcdonnell yesterday and len mccluskey, is that many labour voters would not understand how they may be voted for brexit and yet somehow the labour party is finding itself in a position of backing another referendum. it will be seen by those brexit backing labour supporters as a betrayal. there are clear risks about going down this route but it seems the direction of travel for the labour party. donald trump's nomination to be a us supreme courtjudge has appeared on tv, insisting he is innocent of the claims of sexual

misconduct dating back to when he was a student. brett kavanaugh has been accused by two women, and is due to appear before the senate judiciary committee later this week. but, speaking on fox news, he maintained he would not be withdrawing from the process. barbara plett—usher reports. president trump is attending the united nations super bowl of diplomacy, but his mind is on the political battles in washington. the drama over his nominee for the supreme court took an unexpected turn last night. tonight, supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh breaks his silence for the first time since being accused of attempted rape. i've never sexually assaulted anyone. not in high school, not ever. he was trying to restore the image of a churchgoing family man, after two women accused him of sexual misconduct as a drunken youth. there are reports of a third. i want a fair process where i can defend my integrity. i know i'm telling the truth, i know my lifelong record and i am

not going to let false accusations drive me out of this process. turmoil has also engulfed the justice department, the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein forcing to deny rumours that he offered to resign. reporter: has anyone asked you to resign? forced also to deny reports that he suggested secretly recording reporter: has anyone asked you to resign? forced also to deny reports that he suggested secretly recording mr trump as part of attempts to remove him from office. speculation that the president would fire mr rosenstein dominated his international meetings at the un. i'm meeting with rod rosenstein on thursday when i get back from all of these meetings. we will be meeting at the white house and we will be determining what is going on. but despite the distractions in washington, president trump today has an audience here to address. un members have a better sense now of his views and his style than they did last year, so they are probably less likely to be shocked by anything he might say. but they are dismayed at his record on issues that the un cares about.

issues such as the iran nuclear deal, parties for the agreement met to try and save it after president trump withdrew. he has also pulled the us out of un bodies, he has cut funding and will further press the case for sovereign national rights in this sanctuary of multilateralism. defying the world to protect america's interests, that is his theme. but his struggle is to protect his own interests, back in washington. barbara plett—usher, bbc news, at the united nations in new york. domestic abuse victims and their children in england and wales are being put at risk because offenders are being allowed to drift through their sentences, according to a report by the probation watchdog. the inspectorate of probation found that officers had unmanageable workloads, of up to 60 cases each, and held infrequent meetings with offenders in public places, like cafes, where they couldn't discuss sensitive issues. our home affairs correspondent, june kelly explains. police in northumbria responding to a report of domestic violence.

those convicted of such crimes end up on probation in the community, either after, or instead of a jail term. but many of the private companies which have been given the job of rehabilitating them are failing. that's the conclusion of today's report by the probation watchdog. while offenders are left to effectively drift through their probation supervision period, they are left to go back to live with people that they have abused, to threaten those people, to intimidate and to abuse those people, and that should not be happening. at this rehabilitation centre in merseyside, they are having successes. jamie has received the help he needed to turn around what was a verbally abusive relationship with his partner. i could have potentially been injail, i could have potentially not even had my children. i didn't want my boys to grow up thinking it was ok to speak to women like that,

and i didn't want my girls to grow up to think it was ok to speak to men like that. today's report found generally staff had unmanageable workloads and, as a result, in 70% of cases, work to protect victims and children wasn't good enough. under 20% of offender home visits had taken place, and only 27% of eligible offenders had been referred to a specialist programme aimed at stopping them abusing. the government says it is working to better protect and support victims of domestic abuse and to improve the company is dealing with the perpetrators. june kelly, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with simon king. thank you, joanna. lots of sunshine at the moment across england and wales, it's going to feel quite pleasa nt wales, it's going to feel quite pleasant this afternoon with some fairly light winds. you can see from the map here this afternoon, the clear skies will continue. more

cloud across scotland, northern ireland, rain moving through much of scotland, particularly the west of scotla nd scotland, particularly the west of scotland and a strong wind in the north—west. we are looking at gales, maybe severe gales across the northern isles and the far north—west of scotland. those winds are lighter towards source southeast and cabbages will —— temperatures will be 17 or 18 there. reigning cloud in scotland, northern ireland and the far north of england, so it will be quite mild. in southern areas, clear skies into wednesday morning, quite chilly start again for england and wales. 20 of sunshine through the day, turning even warmer. “— sunshine through the day, turning even warmer. —— plenty of sunshine. scotla nd even warmer. —— plenty of sunshine. scotland and northern ireland will stay cloudy, a little bit of rain around. temperatures back to 18 or 19 celsius. this is bbc news. our latest headlines... labour's shadow brexit secretary, sir keir starmer, has signalled that his party is likely to reject

any brexit deal based on theresa may's chequers plan. speaking at the labour party conference in liverpool, he said labour would vote down any plan that failed to meet the party's tests. if the prime minister thinks that she can come back with a big deal asking us to leap blindfold into the unknown, we will vote that down. theresa may's cabinet has agreed in principle that eu migrants should not be given preferential treatment after brexit. a cabinet source said ministers had decided unanimously to move to a system based on skills rather than nationality. the office for national statistics says life expectancy in the uk has stopped improving for the first time since 1982, after slowing for many years. dup leader arlene foster has denied her party tried to smear a former minister, when he raised concerns about a botched green energy scheme. when asked why she didn't have any

memory of it, she said she did not think it was an important issue at the time. let's joint catherine hooper sports update. good morning. players have been out practising ahead of the ryder cup which starts on friday. the —— europe looking to regain the cup the —— europe looking to regain the cu p after the —— europe looking to regain the cup after losing it two years ago. they are the underdogs. the us team have six of the world top ten, including a resurgent tiger woods, who won his first tour title for five years. ian poulter knows what it feels like to refine your form and how inspirational the ryder can be. i guess when you are at the lower of lowells, and that wasn't that long ago, there is a little

voice in the back of your head that kind of says, you might not get back to as good as you was. i felt, you know, if i work hard, if i refocus properly, restructure things, then i definitely could make this ryder cup team, which i have. i'm pretty proud. the man at the heart of the us team is tiger woods. he won his first pga tour title for five years over the weekend. but his record of the ryder cup is less than glowing. 13 wins, 17 losses. in the past his critics have said he is not a team player. us team captainjim furyk says that has changed. when you look at now comparing past ryder cups to this one, what is so special is that tiger has ingrained himself in our team atmosphere and

become such a big part of the gym and 2016 as a vice captain, then again in 2017 as assistant captain at the presidents cup. i think it is special for at the presidents cup. i think it is specialfor him now at the presidents cup. i think it is special for him now to join this genre of players as a team—mate. england's most capped player, fara williams, is back in phil neville's squad for the briton internationals next month. injury kept out of the qualifying games. the lionesses continue their preparation for the tournament in france with matches against brazil and australia in 0ctober. croatian midfielder luka modric was named the best male player of the fifa football awards in london. he beat ronaldo and mo salah to the honour, recognition for his contribution as the drag won their third champions league title and croatia reached the world cup final. --

and croatia reached the world cup final. —— real madrid. marta was named the women's world player of the year. it is the sixth time she has won. a mixed morning of the world judo championships for great britain. natalie powell is out early. jemima yates brown still has a chance of a bronze medal. she won two about this morning. although she lost her quarterfinal, she could still win a medal through the repechage. power's suffered a shock defeat. i don't thinki started repechage. power's suffered a shock defeat. i don't think i started the fight particularly well. i got caught. i mean, yeah, i came in good shape. yeah... when everything goes right you can expect the result to come. it hasn't on this occasion. that is all the sport for now. more

in the next hour. thank you. let me bring you breaking news out of germany. comments by angela merkel on brexit. she has been giving a speech in which she said it is unclear what britain once in the brexit talks. she said there are basically six to eight weeks left for negotiations to reach an agreement and britain still has not expressed a clear position on its post—brace of relations with the eu. —— post brexit. she said success in the upcoming negotiations largely depends on what britain once —— wa nts. depends on what britain once —— wants. and on this, she said, the discussion has not been entirely clear. the dup leader, arlene foster, has denied that her party tried to smear a former minister when he raised concerns about a botched green energy scheme. mrs foster is giving evidence today to the public inquiry into the renewable heat incentive scheme.

it had a projected overspend of hundreds of millions of pounds, and sparked a row which helped bring down the stormont executive. live to chris page, who's following this story for us. chris, as i said, this is a row that had a huge effect. watmore has she been saying at the enquiry? that's right. there has not been too much going on at stormont for the past 12 months —— 20 months since he devolved government collapsed. there has been an enquiry into the energy scheme which triggered the row which broke down power—sharing early last year. to remind you basically how this scheme works, it was designed to encourage businesses to switch from fossil fuels like coal to more environmentally friendly energy sources like wood chips, for example. but the subsidy paid out was greater than the cost of the

green fuel. that meant lots of people piled in wanting to earn more money than what they earned, essentially. it became nicknamed the cash for ash scandal. the budget spiralled out of control. just shy of half £1 billion over 20 years. those costs have been brought under control through retrospective cuts. arlene foster is giving evidence before the public enquiry. she was the minister who oversaw the scheme when it launched in 2012. she'd ever became finance minister and then first minister. she has been challenged by the chair, sir patrick coughlan, over a meeting that she had injune 2015th when she was finance minister, in which a dup adviser, a special adviser, timothy cairns, told about the problems with the scheme. she was challenged about how she forgot about that meeting. here is some of that exchange. simplyl

simply i did not believe... i don't have a clear recollection of the facts. i didn't think it was an issue of any moment at that time and it them put across as a big issue by mrcairns. it them put across as a big issue by mr cairns. therefore, i didn't think it was of any issue. you didn't bother too much with it?|j it was of any issue. you didn't bother too much with it? i had left the department of them. the point i'm trying to make to you is that you had been the responsible minister for the you had been the responsible ministerfor the of this you had been the responsible minister for the of this unusual new special scheme, and here is a special scheme, and here is a special adviser coming into tell you that something serious has gone wrong. it wasn't just, that something serious has gone wrong. it wasn'tjust, we could have done it better, it was a problem. that is what they had come to tell you. mrs m rs foster mrs foster saying in response that the problems with the rhi scheme we re the problems with the rhi scheme were presented to her as a big problem. since this controversy first broke she has maintained all the way through that the reason she

did not act more was because her officials didn't flag up the seriousness of what was going on. another issue which has been coming up another issue which has been coming up this morning, jonathan bell, the minister in charge of the scheme, as made out the party were trying to smear him, to blame him for the problems with the scheme. mrs foster, any written with this statement, has strongly denied that, saying there was no attempt to form a party narrative and no attempt to protect as party leader. we can expect mrs foster to be questioned more about that specific issue as evidence continues. where does it go after this? the executive has not set for 20 months. what is at stake with this enquiry macro and where does it leave politics going forward ? does it leave politics going forward? there is intense attention here in northern ireland on this enquiry. it has dominated the local press for a number of months. there are no negotiations at the moment between the dup and sinn fein. a lot

of commentators and members of the public have been saying that what is coming out of this enquiry is that there was dysfunction in the administration. there was a toxic relationship between an adviser, jonathan bell... there have been allegations that special advisers within the administration were much too powerful, that they were even making the decisions rather than ministers, that the politicians —— but the politicians have been denying that. if stormont comes back, in what form? should there be a reform of the government system to ensure that a scandal like this can never be allowed to happen again? there is intense attention on what is being said at this enquiry. it will form the backdrop to any new negotiations when they get under way. the british and irish governments hope to start talks sometime this autumn. more than six and a half million counterfeit goods have been seized since 2015, according to national trading standards. and in that year the number

of items stopped at the uk border more than doubled. tim muffett has been to the port of felixstowe, where they check for unsafe and illegal goods. the consumers, particularly in the uk, want it cheap and they want it now. which helps explain why phil and the team at felixstowe are so busy. it is the uk's biggest container port, handling more than 10,000 every day. we are looking to see if the products conform to european and british safety standards. so these are the three and one laser and led light. there's no labelling on it, there's no warning, you don't know what strength the laser is. you can accidentally shoot it in your eye, cause blindness. cheap doesn't always mean unsafe, but it is an indicator that we look at. the number of unsafe or noncompliant

goods being stopped at the uk border has risen rapidly. new figures show that, since 2015, more than 6.5 million items have been detained. in one year alone, the number of goods being stopped by authorities more than doubled. the uk has the fastest—growing online marketplace of anywhere in europe. your laptop or your phone is your shop window, and you can't be certain who you're buying from. the seller may be based anywhere else in the world. and what we're finding is goods like electrical items that explode, there have been fires, there have been personal injuries. last year in the uk, more than 11,500 domestic fires were caused by faulty electrical appliances, according to government figures. in tests, this counterfeit cable gave off toxic smoke within two minutes of exposure to flames. fake fire blankets, which didn't put out fire, were recently detained by the team at felixstowe. and, while those in the uk trying to import counterfeit goods

can face large fines, or even prison, tackling the source of the problem is often harder. the company in china which is trying to bring these products into the uk — is there anything you can do? at the minute, no. 0pening, checking, and if necessary confiscating. at the uk's biggest container port, phil and his team face an almighty challenge. life expectancy in the uk has stopped improving for the first time since 1982, when the office for national statistics started producing the figures. increases in life expectancy have slowed over recent years, but figures for 2015—17 suggest they have now ground to a halt. the slowdown means life expectancy at birth remains at 79.2 years for men and at 82.9 years for women. joining me now from

salford is our health correspondent, dominic hughes. before we discuss why, tell us about the statistics and what they are? for a number of years the office for national statistics has been collecting data on life expectancy. this is the first time these figures have actually flat lined. the rate of increase has been slowing down for a period of years leading up to this. this is the first time these figures have flat lined for the whole of the uk. in fact, in some parts of the uk, life expectancy has dipped very slightly. so, men and women in scotland and wales have a slightly lower life expectancy by just over a month, compared to in 2015 to 2017, compared to the previous year. and in northern

ireland, men have a similar drop. the key thing is that this is the first time these figures have plateaued since they started being collected in 1982. why is that? well, the rate of increase in life expectancy would not be a straight line going up. there will be some slowing down as medical advances catch up with our abilityjust to keep going. but there have been some academic studies that have drawn a correlation, a link, between the yea rs of correlation, a link, between the years of austerity since the crash in 2008, and a decade since then, and the decline in life expectancy. they are pointing to a correlation, an association. whether there is a firm link or not, that is hotly

disputed. if there were to be a link, what the explanation be? experts point out these latest figures coincided with a bad winter, a very bad flu season, a higher number of deaths during the winter than might have otherwise been expected. they will point to that as a reason for this particular plateauing. there is statistical evidence there and medical evidence that that is what lies behind this plateauing we have seen in 2015 to 2017. thank you very much, dominic hughes. in a moment we'll have all the business news. but first, the headlines on bbc news. labour's brexit spokesman has given his strongest indication yet that is party will vote down the government's brexit plans. ministers agree that the immigration system after brexit, should give no special treatment to eu citizens. new figures reveal life

expectancy in the uk has stopped improving for the first time in more than 35 years. hello, i'm ben thompson. these are the top business stories. the summer heatwave led to stronger than expected sales at next in the first six months of the year. the clothing retailer saus that means it will raise its profit forecast for the year by £10 million. more on that shortly. the co—founders of photo—sharing giant instagram are both leaving the firm, after reports the two disagreed with owners facebook. instagram was bought by facebook in 2012 for £760 million, and now has more than one billion users. more than £500 million was stolen from customers of british banks in the first half of 2018. industry group uk finance said £145 million of that was due to authorised push payment scams,

in which people are conned into sending money to another account. good morning. let's get more on those next figures. the retailer got a big boost from the heatwave this summer, which boosted sales to the tune of £10 million. but the company says the uk retail market was volatile and it remained cautious for the year ahead. it also warned that brexit—related risks to its business, included higher tariffs on goods imported into the uk. joining us now is sofie willmott, senior retail analyst at globaldata retail. sophie, good morning. what do you make of these figures? it is rare we talk about a retail firm on the high—street raising its forecasts? yes, it is good news from next. it is quite rare to see in the tough retail environment. 0nline sales

we re retail environment. 0nline sales were up almost 17% whereas store sales were in negative territory. next has been boosted by its online channel. it accounts for a 60% of its sales. it protects the retailers against trends shifting online. they sell through so many channels. they still have the directory business, that catalogue. they have got the stories and the website. they have cornered all the market. but those stores are still pretty costly, aren't they? they are. but next is very careful. it ensures each store is profitable. as the rents come up for negotiation it is considering whether it it needs to keep these stories or not. it is not expanding at any rapid rate. let's talk about the brexit related risks. they have said they are worried about these risks, which in this case is

tariffs, higher tariffs, higher charges on things imported from abroad. we know clothing is one of the things imported from abroad? next is fairly well protected against this. it only gets 10% of its products from the eu. it is not too worried about that. its main concern is the delays we may see at ports due to increased customs declarations, which will notjust affect next but all companies. this isa affect next but all companies. this is a really big concern as they need to get their product into stores and online quickly in time when consumers want them. it could cause a really big problem. i'm loathe to mention this right now but we are getting to that point where we are thinking about christmas. we know that for retailers it is the biggest time of the year. what will they be thinking about to make sure they get this right given the uncertainty? retailers will be preparing as best they can, they will be ensuring their reach —— warehouses are geared up their reach —— warehouses are geared up from black friday onwards, doing

everything they can to push their best sellers, making sure the stock is in place, anything they can do to ca ptu re is in place, anything they can do to capture sales. thank you very much. next, a rare success story. and as we've been hearing, the co—founders of social media giant instagram, kevin systrom and mike krieger, are both leaving the firm. they said they were departing the firm, which is owned by facebook, to "explore our curiosity and creativity again". kevin systrom and mike krieger started the image sharing site in 2010. they continued to run the service after it was bought by facebook in 2012 for $1 billion — that's about £760 million. however, there have been numerous reports of disagreements between the founders and facebook‘s board. instagram currently has one billion users and is growing — unlike facebook, which has seen a slowdown. our business reporter, paul blake,

told me what we know about their departure. initially when they told the facebook leadership they were leaving, they didn't give a reason. they have since released a statement to say they are focusing on their creativity and curiosity. the fact they have departed together has set they have departed together has set the rumour mill alight in silicon valley. the way instagram has been assimilated into the broader facebook. it has been stagnating over the past few months and been hit with these various scandals over data misuse. instagram has largely been able to avoid them. but you have to remember instagram started and had less than 50 million users. todayit and had less than 50 million users. today it has over1 billion users. it seems to be in an upward

trajectory. facebook will see it as its crown jewel as growth of its co re its crown jewel as growth of its core product has stagnated. it is not having the explosive growth it has had in recent years. paul blake. remember, you can get all the business round—up you need in the morning. the ftse 100 just up. next the big gainer on the day. that uplift in its profit forecast for the year after did well out of the warm weather. we're so used to talk about retailers having the wrong stuff in for the weather but they got it right. up 8.4%. sse is snapping up about half of the wind energy firms see green. it has already got the other bit. that still needs approval. much more for you throughout the afternoon. susannah has the details later. back

to you. thank you. police are used to emergency call—outs — but they usually involve human beings. in peru, officers have come to the aid of two rather different creatures, found lost and bewildered, in a rural town. lebo diseko has the story. a search and rescue of a different kind. police in peru on the trail of two runaways, a pair of humboldt penguins found wandering the streets and taken in by someone who lived nearby. translation: when i found the penguins one had wire wrapped around its foot. i kept them in my world —— brother—in—law's eyes for three days but they weren't eating anything and i couldn't watch them so i called the local police. the officers collected the two rather disoriented birds. they were named after cartoon characters in the film madagascar. it is not the first time penguins of this kind have been found on the streets in this area. but this pair

certainly seem to have made a lasting impression. they were taken to alternative accommodation, given something to eat and a bit of tlc. they are now being looked after by officers from the national forest and wildlife ‘s service before being released back into the wild. now the weather. we started off on a chilly note this morning. temperatures close to it is not below freezing in some spots. we started off with some sunshine in england and wales at least. still quite sunny out there in leicestershire. the same for much of england and wales. further north and west, however, look at that white, that cloud, which is also bringing some outbreaks of rain. that rain across scotland will continue through the afternoon. turning heavy and places across western scotland. england and wales stay dry and

sunny. the winds not too much of a problem down towards the south. quite gusty in the north—west. severe gales in the north—west of scotland. 50 to 60 miles per. 13 to 14 scotland. 50 to 60 miles per. 13 to 1a celsius in the north. in the south, 17 to 18 degrees. quite pleasant. through tonight we will continue with that cloud and the rain at times across scotland. northern ireland, the far north of england. we have that cloud and rain, so temperatures not falling below double figures. across the south with those clear spells, temperatures once again in single figures. wednesday again quite cloudy in northern areas. some rain continuing to feed and across northern scotland. the best of the sunshine across england and wales. perhaps more cloud compared to today across northern areas of england. but it will be a warm day. 17 to 21

degrees. for thursday we have still got this weather system across northern parts. the further south you are, it remains dry and sunny. another lovely sunny day for england and wales. the cloud will gradually just break up and moved further south. brighter skies across scotla nd south. brighter skies across scotland and northern ireland. temperatures dropping to 15, 16 celsius. a warm day for england and wales. that warmer weather will move away as we move into friday. we open up away as we move into friday. we open up the door to these north—westerly winds. much cooler feel to things. temperatures dropping down to about 16,17 degrees. temperatures dropping down to about 16, 17 degrees. still plenty of dry and fine weather on friday with sunshine. as we go into the weekend, looking largely dry with some sunny spells. temperatures getting into the meat to high teens. had a good afternoon. bye—bye. this is bbc news, i'm joanna gosling. these are the top stories developing at midday. labour's brexit spokesman has

given his strongest indication yet, that his party will vote down the government's brexit plans. if the prime minister thinks she can come back with a vague deal, asking us to leap blindfold into the unknown, we will vote that down. ministers agree that the immigration system after brexit, should give no special treatment to eu citizens. the bodies of a uk millionaire and his thai wife have been found in northern thailand, nearly a week after what police suspect was a contract killing. new figures reveal life expectancy in the uk has stopped improving, for the first time in more than 35 years. the dup leader, arlene foster, denies her party tried to smear a former minister, when he raised concerns about a botched green energy scheme. also coming up on newsroom live.

exclusive access inside hmp lindholme, a prison with acute problems of drug use and violence. we'll reveal some of the ingenious smuggling going on along its three mile border with the outside world. and with 6.5 million counterfeit products seized by trading standards since 2015, we've been to the port of felixstowe, where they check for unsafe goods. good afternoon. it's tuesday 25th september. i'm joanna gosling. welcome to bbc newsroom live. labour's shadow brexit secretary, sir keir starmer, has told party members that "nobody‘s ruling out remain" as an option if brexit comes to a further public vote.

addressing delegates at his party's conference in liverpool, he signalled that labour would likely reject any brexit deal based on theresa may's chequers plan. delegates will vote later on a motion leaving open the possibility of another referendum on brexit if a general election is not an option. 0ur assistant politcial editor norman smith is in liverpool. we had a lot from keir starmer earlier, including the confirmation that labour would campaign potentially for a referendum without ruling out remain being an option. was that a surprise? no, i don't think so. i think there has been a determination to try and clear up the utter confusion and chaos of yesterday when no one was really sure what on earth labour‘s position was in terms of the second referendum. today, ithink was in terms of the second referendum. today, i think we have learned a number of things. first off we have learned that labour is

almost absolutely certain to vote against whatever brexit deal mrs may brings back from brussels, if she can geta brings back from brussels, if she can get a deal. sir keir starmer saying, no ifs, no buts, if it does not meet labour‘s six tests, we will vote against it. privately they say that she is on course to miss all of those tests so labour is now pretty much certain to vote against the brexit deal. that then means we are potentially in no deal country. the second thing we learned from sir keir starmer is that in that eventuality, yes, labour is ready to campaignfor eventuality, yes, labour is ready to campaign for another referendum and the third thing we learned today is that in the eventuality of such a referendum, remain will be on the ballot paper. and what was interesting, when sir keir starmer set out that point, the sudden surge of cheering from ordinary party

members when he suggested there would be a referendum and remain would be a referendum and remain would be a referendum and remain would be on the ballot paper, a clear indication, i think, of the mood of any —— many ordinary man labour members who do want another referendum and would like to reverse brexit. have a listen to him setting out what happens if labour cannot get a general election. and conference, having swept them away, we want to install radical labour government capable of transforming this country. and that's what should happen after two years of negotiation ending in failure. but if that is not possible, we must have other options. and conference, that must include campaigning for a public vote. cheering conference, it is right that parliament has the first say, it's right that parliament has

the first say. but if we need to break the impasse, our options must include campaigning for a public vote and nobody is ruling out remain as option. cheering and if you look at those pictures, you can see that sharing across the conference hall but also look at the face of dennis skinner, the veteran labourmp, face of dennis skinner, the veteran labour mp, always been a long—standing critic of the eu. and you get a sense of the real tensions within the party, among those who fear that by taking this sort of stance, labour risks betraying those brexit backing labour supporters, often in very traditional labour seats. i'm joined by the labour mp alison mcgovern who is a prominent

supporter of the people's vote. how seriously do you take that risk that that stance you are taking is seen as betrayal by labour voters who backed brexit? the first thing is, we have got to listen to all labour voters. and those who voted brexit, and that we should remain. a lot of them have very serious concerns about how our economy works so we have got a really strong vision to make sure everyone is included in our economy in the future. but the reality is that the brexit that was offered in the referendum campaign just seems to have been forgotten, the money for the nhs seems to have been forgotten, the protection for people'sjobs seems been forgotten, the protection for people's jobs seems to have been forgotten, the protection for people'sjobs seems to have been forgotten. so lots of people are now questioning what this is all about. and i think they see the whites of the eyes and people like jacob rees—mogg who want to radically deregulate the economy and rhett —— rip away people's rights. i know dennis skinner and he voted with us

to get a meaningful deal because the thing that bothers him most of all the lives of working people which is why the labour party is united to stop this hard brexit. let's be clear, the default labour strategy on brexit now is to campaign for a second referendum, because privately, so many labourfigures concede they cannot concede at general election. the only other realistic option is another referendum. in other words, a second referendum. in other words, a second referendum is by default the labour strategy. what we all want is a labour government. that's absolutely clear. we want a labour government. the fact is, politics is turbulent at the moment so we have to have options. what the statement does todayis options. what the statement does today is says we would like a labour government, a positive single market deal sojobs and government, a positive single market deal so jobs and peoplesrights are protected, but if this all goes wrong and we headed towards a tory ha rd wrong and we headed towards a tory hard brexit, then people's vote has got to be on the table. i think you saw the reaction from the labour party members there, the labour

party members there, the labour party is a pro—european party, we believe in solidarity with our european neighbours, we believe in working together to raise standards ordinary working people, whether it is incomes or health and safety, that's who we are in the party and that's who we are in the party and that's what you saw in the hall. the other thing we learned today is that labour will almost certainly, barring a miracle, vote against any deal that mrs may brings back. you produced a report saying mrs may is on course to miss all of the six tests. how can it be right to take such a stance before mrs may has even reached a deal? to be fair, none of that is news because keir starmer set out our six tests for the deal a long time ago. surely you should wait until mrs may comes back. the tests are about making sure thatjobs back. the tests are about making sure that jobs and write protected, as frances 0'grady has said, one way to do that would be to stay in a single market. the prime minister with her red lines and set her face against a positive relationship with

the european union in that way. anyone has seen that we are very likely to vote against the deal and that position has become more than as events have unfolded. what do you say about the labour leave campaign, who backed brexit, who say by taking this stance, labour risks being seen as the party of remain? well, we are. you are? we campaigned for remain in the referendum. the labour party is a pre—european party because... so you ignore the outcome of the referendum ? because... so you ignore the outcome of the referendum? no, not at all, we take very soon see the outcome of the referendum. i have tried —— take very seriously the outcome of the referendum. i have tried to work, i have been keen to find a brexit it that protects people'sjobs and rights but what we do that doesn't happen? do we give up and go home and say, whatever the tories say, accepted? and say, whatever the tories say, accepted ? absolutely and say, whatever the tories say, accepted? absolutely not because our job is to vote for people's jobs and

right and the public services that keep at an strong so we have to find a way through this mess. -- that keep britain strong. we are getting clearer to understanding what labour's brexit strategy is, we know they are almost certain to vote against mrs may's deal, we know they will probably end up campaigning for another referendum and yes, we know that staying in the eu will be on that staying in the eu will be on that ballot paper. thank you much, norman. ministers have agreed in principle that eu migrants should not be given preferential treatment in the government's immigration system after brexit. it's understood the cabinet decided unanimously that highly—skilled workers should be prioritised and people coming to the uk to live and work would be subject to the same rules wherever they're from. ministers will set out further details later this year. 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo is at westminster. there was a report last week effectively outlining that as the position that the government could

adopt going forward, is it any surprise that this is what the government is now saying? you are absolutely right, the migration advisory committee was commissioned by the government to look into what post brexit immigration strategy could look like and it reported last week that eu nationals should be treated no differently from people coming to live and work in the uk from other countries after brexit. and also had a strong priority suggestion for highly skilled workers over lower skilled workers. yesterday the cabinet met and got a briefing from the chair of the migration advisory committee, professor alan running. the cabinet did agree that the new system would work in the best interest of the country but the cabinet agreed in interval to that key recommendation of the advisory committee, to not prioritise eu nationals coming to live and work in the uk after

brexit. this is a significant shift, the first outlined, if you like, of what our post brexit immigration policy would look like. after many months of waiting and hoping the government would come forward with their strategy, this is the first time we have ministers apparently in agreement to that principle, a high level agreement rather than any detail of the matter. this is ministers agreeing that that should be the path that britain follows after brexit. will pressure will be government: the under that? one of the main what pressure will the government have under that? the relationship between britain and eu nationals is still subject to negotiations with the eu. although ministers agree to the principle of the fact that eu nationals will not have preferential access to come and live and work in the uk, certainly it's still on the table that that could be part of the brexit agreement. indeed government sources

are saying that talking about different sorts of access for other countries and their nationals is going to be part of any free trade deal that britain does after brexit. things are by much still up in the. there are some objections from business, who we heard from other time of that migration advisory committee report, who said that the uk economy would suffer if low skilled workers were not prioritise in certain sectors, farm work in particular was one of them. i think there are various points of contention over what this policy will look like. at the moment we only have a broad brush of what that would look like that certainly for the first time, we understand government ministers are in agreement is to follow that key recommendation from the migration advisory committee. much more on that on the bbc news website. more on today's main stories coming up on newsroom live here on the bbc news channel, but now we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. that stay —— let's stay with what we

we re that stay —— let's stay with what we were just talking about, picking that stay —— let's stay with what we werejust talking about, picking up on the recommendations of the independent migration advisory committee last week. we can speak now tojosh hardie who is the cbi's deputy director—general, he joins us from liverpool. thank you for having me. it was clear it was coming but now the government has confirmed this is the position going forward, what do you think? as you say, this is an opening position as so right broad, but you can read in between the lines. firstly, the migration advisory council recognise that there can be a huge immigration dividend. that immigration is really valuable to our country, whether it is building homes, staffing hospitals, whether at the higher end ofjobs. so in porting to hold onto

that. there are two things fundamental to business. even if it isa fundamental to business. even if it is a global arrangement, are there opportunities where we strike great trade deals to have a more flexible system ? trade deals to have a more flexible system? that reflects how we trade with countries we are posted and that should start with the eu. it looks like that's possible, let's build on it. the second is not falling into the trap that this is about the brightest and best. we need people here to build our homes, staff our hospitals, working our hotels. so freedom of movement will end but how do we make sure we reap the immigration dividend available to us? you say it is not about the brightest and best but isn't it exactly that when the preference would be for prop highly skilled workers? i think there is a recognition, or it sounds like one, that it should not simply be about high skilled workers. we are lucky in many ways at the moment that we

have record numbers of implement. we need people of all skill levels to —— employ them. we need people of all skill levels, and if we block that, communities will fail to thrive. finding the right balance is key. with the right control. you are in liverpool for the labour conference, what did you think of the speech holding out for the possibility of a second referendum with remain as an option? it is for labour as a democratic party to work out their position on a second referendum. starting point is where the parliament vote goes, labour have set a high bar on the tests which is abnormal in many ways but we wa nt which is abnormal in many ways but we want to make sure when it comes to the vote they are pragmatic as well. —— they have set a high bar on the test which is admirable in many ways. if we did come back with a deal which could have frictionless

high—level... it could lead to no deal which is in no one's interest. it is business in the interest of having brexit overturned? white now we have won off on the table that cabinet have agreed, —— right now we have one offer on the table. the focus has to be to end the uncertainty and move forward, to high alignment deal and get it through parliament. all this talk of other deals distracts from this, let's give it our best shot and have some confidence and belief we can strike a great deal. on uncertainty, it feels like we are back in that very uncertain territory, a matter of weeks away from the deadline when the deal has to be struck and there is talk of a second referendum potentially. with remain on the table. businesses have already been in many cases deploying their strategies in the event of brexit.

how much has all of this impacted on brexit and what are your concerns going forward? i think businesses have been very resilient, growing and providing jobs wherever possible. but they need to think about the future and planned their investment and the level of uncertainty has to be factored in. we are talking to business every single day which have spent tens if not hundreds of millions of pounds on contingency planning. that is a sunken cost, that can go to wages, that could fit it innovation. —— go to innovation. the sooner we can get the shape of the deal, secure the withdrawal agreement and get transition, the sooner that businesses can turn their eyes to investing in the uk and growing rather than planning a contingency. it isa rather than planning a contingency. it is a matter of urgency, it is affecting growth in the uk at the moment so we need to move forward. thank you forjoining us. the headlines on bbc news. labour's brexit spokesman

keir starmer has said the party will not rule out including the option of staying in the eu in any future brexit referendum. ministers agree that the immigration system after brexit should give n0 special treatment to eu citizens. the bodies of a uk millionaire and his thai wife have been found in northern thailand nearly a week after what police suspect was a contract killing. players have been out practicing on the course at le golf national outside paris, ahead of the ryder cup which starts on friday. europe are looking to regain the cup after losing it at hazeltine two years ago but they're underdogs. the us team have six of the world's top ten plus a resurgent tiger woods, who's just taken his first win in five years. europe's ian poulter says he knows what it feels like to refind your form, and how inspirational the ryder cup can be when you're hoping to make a comeback.

i guess when you are at the low blows and that wasn't that long ago, there is a little, you know, little boysin there is a little, you know, little boys in the back of your head that, you know, kind of says, you might not quite get back to good as you were. ifelt, not quite get back to good as you were. i felt, you not quite get back to good as you were. ifelt, you know, ifi not quite get back to good as you were. ifelt, you know, if i work hard, ifi were. ifelt, you know, if i work hard, if i refocus and properly restructure things, then i definitely could make this ryder cup tea m definitely could make this ryder cup team which i have. so i'm pretty proud. at the heart of the us team is tiger woods, whose first win in five years came at the tour championship in atlanta over the weekend. it was his 80th pga win but his record at the ryder cup isn't as great, 13 wins and 17 losses in 33. the american's recent comeback though gained him a captain's pick even before his tour win. england's most capped player fara williams is back in phil neville's squad for two upcoming internationals next month. injury kept her out

of the last round of fixtures when england secured their qualification for next year's world cup. the lionesses continue their preparation for the tournament in france with matches against brazil on october the 6th, and then australia three days later. it's been a mixed morning for great britain at the world judo championships in baku, the world number two natalie powell is out early butjemima yeats—brown still has a chance of a medal. yeats—brown won two bouts in the under 78 kilo division this morning, and although she lost her quarterfinal, she could still win bronze through the repecharge. but powell's tournament is over after a shock defeat. i don't think i thought that i started the fight particularly bad, i felt it started well and then i got caught. so, i mean, yeah. i came in in good shape. yeah, you come to

some competitions and you feel rubbish going in and everything goes wrong and you get good results, and when everything goes right before you expect the result to come but it hasn't on this occasion. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. life expectancy in the uk has stopped improving for the first time since 1982, when the office for national statistics started producing the figures. increases in life expectancy have slowed over recent years, but figures for 2015—17 suggest they have now ground to a halt. the bbc‘s head of statistics, robert cuffe, is with me now. i love it when we talk statistics! these are particularly interesting, aren't they? i think so. let's pull up aren't they? i think so. let's pull up some of the data that the 0ns has released. as you said, since about 1982, we have seen consistent relatively, increases, sometimes up

a bitand relatively, increases, sometimes up a bit and sometimes down a bit but pretty much every year, since then, a child who was born in 2005 would be expected to live three months longer than a child born in 200a. that has popped up and down but is generally about two months year. 2010 and 2011, hit a peak but since thenit 2010 and 2011, hit a peak but since then it has been coming down surely, and 42017, for the first time, a child who was born this year, you would not expect them to live any longer than a child born last year and that is a worrying trend. why is it? there is some clues in the data but no single magical answer. few look at the difference between regions, you can see in scotland, they have been captain up with life expectancy in england and wales and elsewhere. —— catching up. we think thatis elsewhere. —— catching up. we think that is to do with the high rate of smoking and heart failure robbins in scotla nd smoking and heart failure robbins in scotland that we have seen in the

past, and those dropping down a little bit later than the rest of the uk. so we could say that we have got the low hanging fruit, we have got the low hanging fruit, we have got smoking, we are not gain to get any more benefits. you look at the 2015 winter, a tough winter, a very bad flu season, there was an excessive winter mortality in that year. those are little bits that i get into the solution. there is no one clear obvious thing. in terms of how worrying it is, how concerned should we be? let's take a look at anotherfigure which should we be? let's take a look at another figure which shows you how big a problem it is in the scale of things. it's important to say that this does not overturn the improvement in life expectancy we have seen over the last 30 years and thatis have seen over the last 30 years and that is clearly reflected in the number of people who are aged 90 and over, which hasjust been going up and up. there is one little dip in about 2007. 90 years from 2007,

1917, the middle of the world war, we saw a decrease in birth rate. that kind of event will shift the numbers in terms of our gradually ageing population and our expectation that we are living longer than our parents and their pa rents. longer than our parents and their parents. so what has happened is, for 30 years, the car was going forward , for 30 years, the car was going forward, things are going forward. since 2011, it has slowed down and it has stopped, but i don't know whether we're going to go backwards and we are not really going to get a clear picture until we understand why this is happening. the average ages do sound low bearing in mind modern medicine and expectations, and the elderly people in our own environment, how old they are. you have got to think, tragically, some babies die, people die in their 30s, 40s and 50s so an average is a

combination of the death rate we have seen across all of those ages. some people lived many years longer than that, and some people don't make it there, it'sjust than that, and some people don't make it there, it's just the than that, and some people don't make it there, it'sjust the number in the middle, it's not describing the whole population, just the average. the dup leader, arlene foster, has denied that her party tried to smear a former minister when he raised concerns about a botched green energy scheme. mrs foster is giving evidence today to the public inquiry into the renewable heat incentive scheme. it had a projected overspend of hundreds of millions of pounds, and sparked a row which helped bring down the stormont executive. earlier i spoke to our ireland correspondent chris page, who is following the inquiry. he started with some context about how we've reached this position. there hasn't been too much going on here in stormont for the last 20 months since the devolved government collapsed but one thing which is happening if the public inquiry into the flawed green energy scheme which triggered the final row between the dup and sinn fein which brought down power sharing only last year. to

remind you how the scheme worked, it was designed to encourage visited the switch from fossil fuels like coal to more environmentally friendly energy sources like woodchip, for example. but the subsidy paid out was greater than the cost of the green fuel. so it meant a lot of people piled in wanting to earn more money than they burned, essentially, it became a cash for ash scandal and the budget spiralled way out of control. at one point the overspend was to shy of half £1 billion over 20 years or those those cuts have now been brought under control with retrospective cuts. the dup leader arlene foster was giving evidence today, she was the minister who oversaw the scheme when it was launched in 2012, she then became finance minister and then first minister and he has been challenged this morning by the inquiry chair over a meeting that she had injune 2015 when she was finance minister in which a dup adviser, special adviser, called timothy cairns, told her about the problems with the

scheme. sir patrick challenged mrs foster about why she forgot about that meeting. simply i did not believe the fact that were presented to me, and i don't have a clear recollection and i apologise, i obviously didn't think it was an issue of any moment at that time and it had not been put across as a big issue by mr cairns and therefore i did not think it was an issue. you really didn't bother to much with it? i had left the department then. i know, the point and 20 make and i hope i am making it, is that you had been the responsible minister for the development of this unusual new special scheme. and here is a special scheme. and here is a special adviser coming in to tell you that sirius has gone wrong —— something serious has gone wrong. it was not that it could have gone better, it had gone wrong, that is what they told you. so, mrs foster

saying essentially an response to that that the problems with the rh! scheme were not presented to her as being a big problem. since this controversy broke, she has maintained all the way through the reason why she did not act more is because her officials did not flag up because her officials did not flag up the seriousness of what was going on. another issue which has been coming up this morning, jonathan bell, who was the dup minister in charge of the scheme when it closed, have made up of the party were trying to smear him to blame him for the problems with the scheme. mrs foster in a written witness statement has strongly denied that, saying there is no attempts to form what she called a party narrative and protector as party leader. we can expect her to be questioned more about that through the day. where does it go after this? the executive has not sat for 20 months, what is at stake with this inquiry and where does it leave politics going forward ? does it leave politics going forward? well, there is intense

attention here in northern ireland on this inquiry, it has dominated the local press for a number of months. there are no negotiations at the moment between the democratic unionist party and their former power sharing partners sinn fein, but i think a lot of commentators and members of the public have been saying, what is coming out of this inquiry certainly shows that there was dysfunction in the administration. there was a toxic relationship between an adviser and jonathan bell, the minister i mentioned, who oversaw the scheme whenever it closed. there has been allegations that special advisers within the administration were much too powerful, they were even making the decisions rather than ministers. the politicians themselves have been denying that. it has sparked a debate about whether, if stormont comes back, what one should it come back should there be a whole reform of the government system to ensure that scandal of this level can never be allowed to happen again? there is a lot of spec edition about this

inquiry and it will form the backbone of any negotiations, the british and irish and want to start talks again this autumn. good afternoon. another lovely day for most of england and wales with lots of sunshine. a different story for scotland and northern ireland. a strengthening wind is blowing in more cloud, outbreaks of rain. most of that affecting western parts of scotland. largely dry for northern ireland. the winds will be picking up ireland. the winds will be picking up in north—west scotland. they will lessen a little bit overnight. still a brisk westerly wind keeping cloud coming in across the northern half of the uk. more rain in western scotland. clear skies in southern england. another cold night. not quite as cold as last night. sunshine to come from the word go

here tomorrow. the few spots of rain for scotland and northern ireland. richard brighton—knight. —— it should brighten up. this is bbc news. our latest headlines... labour's shadow brexit secretary, sir keir starmer, has said his party cannot rule out a second eu public vote, saying his party would is likely to reject any brexit deal based on theresa may's chequers plan. delegates will vote later on emotion that keeps open the possibility of another referendum, which would include an option to remain in the eu. if the prime minister thinks that she can come back with a big deal asking us to leap blindfold into the unknown, we will vote that down. theresa may's cabinet has agreed in principle that eu migrants

should not be given preferential treatment after brexit. a cabinet source said ministers had decided unanimously to move to a system based on skills rather than nationality. three suspects have been arrested in connection with a suspected contract killing of an ediburgh millionaire and his thai wife, after their bodies were discovered in northern thailand. the office for national statistics says life expectancy in the uk has stopped improving for the first time since 1982, after slowing for many years. dup leader arlene foster has been challenged to explain to an inquiry why she forgot about a meeting, where she was informed of the problems faced by the now failed cash—for—ash green energy scheme. let's get more now from labour party conference in liverpool, where the shadow brexit secretary told delegates that "nobody s ruling out remain" as an option if brexit comes to a further public vote.

he told members that labour would likely reject any brexit deal based on theresa may's chequers plan. a vague or blind brexit is a deep to nowhere and we will have no part in it. that conference —— now conference, let's be clear. this is not about frustrating the process. it is about stopping a destructive tory brexit. it is about fighting for our values and it is about fighting for our country. applause. and conference, when it comes to that vote in parliament, we do not accept, we do not accept that the

choice is between whatever the prime minister manages to cobble together or no deal. that is not a meaningful vote. between really bad and even worse? no deal would be a catastrophe. and no government has the right to plunge our country into chaos because of their own failures. so, if parliament votes down the prime minister's deal, or she can't reach a deal, that is not the end of the debate. and labour mac —— neighbour must step up and shape what happens next. 0ur preferences tear. we want a general election to sweep away this failed government. cheering.

and conference, having swept them away, we want to install a radical labour government capable of transforming this country. and that is what should happen after two yea rs of is what should happen after two years of negotiations ending in failure. but if that's not possible, we must have other options. and conference, that must include campaigning fora conference, that must include campaigning for a public vote. cheering. conference, it's right that parliament has the first say. it's right that parliament has the first say. but if we need to break the impasse are options must include campaigning fora impasse are options must include campaigning for a public vote and nobody is ruling out remain as an option. cheering.

and conference... cheering. and conference... domestic abuse victims and their children in england and wales are being put at risk, because offenders are being allowed to drift through their sentences, according to a report by the probation watchdog. the inspectorate of probation found that officers had "unmanageable" workloads, of up to 60 cases each, and held infrequent meetings with offenders in public places, like cafes, where they couldn't discuss sensitive issues. our home affairs correspondent, june kelly, explains. police in northumbria responding to a report of domestic violence. those convicted of such crimes end up on probation in the community, either after, or instead of a jail term. but many of the private companies which have been given the job of rehabilitating them are failing.

that's the conclusion of today's report by the probation watchdog. while offenders are left to effectively drift through their probation supervision period, they are left to go back to live with people that they have abused, to threaten those people, to intimidate and to abuse those people, and that should not be happening. at this rehabilitation centre in merseyside, they are having successes. jamie has received the help he needed to turn around what was a verbally abusive relationship with his partner. i could have potentially been injail, i could have potentially not even had my children. i didn't want my boys to grow up thinking it was ok to speak to women like that, and i didn't want my girls to grow up to think it was ok to speak to men like that. today's report found generally staff had unmanageable workloads and, as a result, in 70% of cases, work to protect victims and children wasn't good enough. under 20% of offender home visits had taken place, and only 27% of eligible offenders

had been referred to a specialist programme aimed at stopping them abusing. the government says it is working to better protect and support victims of domestic abuse and to improve the companies is dealing with the perpetrators. june kelly, bbc news. donald trump's nomination to be a us supreme courtjudge has appeared on tv, insisting he is innocent of the claims of sexual misconduct dating back to when he was a student. brett kavanaugh has been accused by two women, and is due to appear before the senate judiciary committee later this week. but, speaking on fox news, he maintained he would not be withdrawing from the process. barbara plett—usher reports. president trump is attending the united nations bodies mind is on the political in washington. tonight,

supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh breaks his silence for the first time since being accused of attempted rape. i have never sexually assaulted anyone at high school, not ever. he was trying to restore the image of a churchgoing family man after two women accused him of sexual misconduct as a youth. there are reports of a third. him of sexual misconduct as a youth. there are reports of a thirdlj him of sexual misconduct as a youth. there are reports of a third. i want a fair process where i can defend my integrity. i know! a fair process where i can defend my integrity. i know i am telling the truth. i know my lifelong record and are not going to let false accusations drive me out of this process. turmoil has also engulfed the justice department. process. turmoil has also engulfed thejustice department. the deputy attorney general forced to deny rumours that he offered to resign. forced also to deny reports that he suggested secretly recording mr trump as part of attempts to remove him from office. speculation that

the president would fire him dominated his international meetings at the un. i have a meeting with on thursday when get back. we will be meeting at the white house and we will be determining what is going on. despite the distractions in washington, president trump today has an audience here to address. there is a better sense of his views and style than last year. they are probably and style than last year. they are pro ba bly less and style than last year. they are probably less likely to be shocked by what he may say. they are dismayed by his record on his use the un cares about. issues such as the un cares about. issues such as the iran nuclear deal. there were attem pts the iran nuclear deal. there were atte m pts to the iran nuclear deal. there were attempts to say that after president trump withdrew. he has also pulled the us out of un bodies, cut funding and will further press the case for supper and national rights in this sanctuary of multilateralism. defying the world to protect america's interests is his theme. but his struggle is to protect his

own interests in washington. the bodies of a british man and his wife have been found buried in the garden of their home in northern thailand, after going missing a week ago. thai police say two men have been arrested and charged with murder of alan hogg and his wife, not suddaen, and a third, the wife s brother, has been charged with conspiring to commit murder and theft. the british embassy in bangkok said they are in contact with thai authorities and providing support to the family. the bbc‘s been given exclusive access inside a yorkshire prison that's been criticised for high levels of drugs and violence. lindholme near doncaster is one of ten uk prisons being given a share of £10 million to try and improve. emma glasbey reports. behind the doors of a prison struggling with drugs and violence. so is it easy for people to get drugs in here? very easy. see drugs on a daily occurrence.

it causes major problems for not only as inmates but for staff as well. stretching almost three miles, lindholme near doncaster has the largest perimeter fence of any prison in the country and faces a huge challenge to keep the drugs out. this was found yesterday, how did it get in? this were thrown over in the industrial area. just thrown over the. . ? thrown over the fence. and then you've got these tiny mobile phones. yeah, they‘ re quite popular within the prison. they're obviously a lot easier to conceal, they'll be a lot less obvious than carrying the likes of a samsung around. the phones help inmates get hold of more drugs, and with the drugs comes increasing violence. you can never actually feel 100% safe in prison. you're in a very volatile environment. but with this introduction of spice, this new synthetic drug, prisons have become ultra—dangerous. 0n the day we filmed at lindholme, a prisoner

was found dead in his cell. a link to drugs is not being ruled out. this category cjail is one of ten prisons getting a share of £10 million of government money to try and turn things around. i think there is a very good working relationship with the prisoners at lindholme and the staff. i think there's some really good work going on, which continues to be developed. it's work in progress but, yes, there has been improvements made. more prison officers have been recruited here, but the number of assaults has quadrupled in the past decade. 0ne officer at lindholme told us staff are at breaking point. i've been assaulted, my colleagues have been assaulted, it's horrible. it affects your life inside the jail and outside the jail. do you think you will stay in the job? i'd like to think i can, but i don't know if i'll be able to. it's hard to say. because it feels like i've failed. the prisons minister has said he'll resign if he doesn't cut the level of drugs and violence. the challenge is huge, but it's one that urgently needs to be met.

emma glasbey, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: labour's brexit spokesman has given his strongest indication yet, that his party will vote down the government's brexit plans ministers agree that the immigration system after brexit, should give no special treatment to eu citizens. the bodies of a uk millionaire and his thai wife have been found in northern thailand, nearly a week after what police suspect was a contract killing. more than six and a half million counterfeit goods have been seized since 2015, according to national trading standards and in that year the number of items stopped at the uk border more than doubled. tim muffett has been to the port of felixstowe, where they check for unsafe and illegal goods. the consumers, particularly in the uk, want it cheap and they want it now.

which helps explain why phil and the team at felixstowe are so busy. it is the uk's biggest container port, handling more than 10,000 every day. we are looking to see if the products conform to european and british safety standards. so these are the three in one laser and led light. there's no labelling on it, there's no warning, you don't know what strength the laser is. you can accidentally shoot it in your eye, cause blindness. cheap doesn't always mean unsafe, but it is an indicator that we look at. the number of unsafe or noncompliant goods being stopped at the uk border has risen rapidly. new figures show that, since 2015, more than 6.5 million items have been detained. in one year alone, the number of goods being stopped by authorities more than doubled. the uk has the fastest—growing online marketplace of anywhere in europe.

your laptop or your phone is your shop window, and you can't be certain who you're buying from. the seller may be based anywhere else in the world. and what we're finding is goods like electrical items that explode, there have been fires, there have been personal injuries. last year in the uk, more than 4,500 domestic fires were caused by faulty electrical appliances, according to government figures. in tests, this counterfeit cable gave off toxic smoke within two minutes of exposure to flames. fake fire blankets, which didn't put out fire, were recently detained by the team at felixstowe. and, while those in the uk trying to import counterfeit goods can face large fines, or even prison, tackling the source of the problem is often harder. the company in china which is trying to bring these products into the uk — is there anything you can do? at the minute, no. 0pening, checking,

and if necessary confiscating. at the uk's biggest container port, phil and his team face an almighty challenge. american comedian bill cosby is due to be sentenced later today. the 81—year—old was found guilty in april on three counts of aggravated indecent assault and could face ten years in jail — more than 60 women have accused him of sexual assault but most of the cases are too old to prosecute. nada tawfik is there. andrea conti stand made a brief statement. she said all she was asking for a wasjustice. statement. she said all she was asking for a was justice. but her family gave a very intimate look into how the family, and how andrea, has been doing since this attack. herfather has been doing since this attack. her father says they are living and breathing her discomfort every day.

and her mother questioned whether bill cosby really ever stopped to consider the pain he has caused the family. thejudge consider the pain he has caused the family. the judge has consider the pain he has caused the family. thejudge has said he will sentence bill cosby on tuesday morning. he has said the defence and prosecution have agreed they will seek a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. thejudge will actually also decide on whether to designate bill cosby as a sexually violent predator. that would require him to checkin predator. that would require him to check in with police and to go through mandatory monthly counselling sessions. what was interesting was a forensic psychiatrist said she thought bill cosby psychiatrist said she thought bill cos by was psychiatrist said she thought bill cosby was likely to reoffend if given the chance. this case is not just a significant for andrea conti stand, but for the more than 60 other women who have accused bill cos by. other women who have accused bill cosby. some of them were in court. they were there to support her. they

also said this was a moment they had been waiting for. some of them for decades. this is of course a stunning fall for a man who was once regarded as america's dad, a man who was a trailblazer for so many in hollywood. and now, the nation will wait to see what his sentence is. this is a significant moment as well for the metoo movement. he is the first high—profile figure to face sentencing and a conviction for sexual assault. the tv and radio presenter richard bacon s life was saved this summer by emergency treatment he received at a nhs hospital in south london, afterfalling ill with a mystery lung infection. he was put into a medically—induced coma for 11 days after experiencing breathing problems on a flight from the usa to britain. earlier, richard spoke to victoria derbyshire about his experience. it is really a lot of bad luck and

it reminds you how fallible human beings are. i live in america. i breathed something in. i got on an aeroplane. they think my timing was terrible. somehow the pressurised cabin caused the infection in both lungs to explode and overwhelm my lungs. i got off the aeroplane. i was taken off in a wheelchair because i was feeling ill. but because i was feeling ill. but because i'm overly optimistic, and that's a consequence of having adhd, which we talked about before, i was like, i'll be all right, i go to the gym a lot. don't worry about. that has no impact on an infection on your lungs. i waited 18 hours to go to a&e. a doctor shouted at me for doing that. if ever you can't breeds, go straight to a&e. don't hang around thinking you will be all right. when i got to a&e in lewisham, that is when it kicked off. and very quickly they said they would have to put you into a

medically—induced coma? would have to put you into a medically-induced coma? it was very quick. they run a lot of tests. use macro that picture there with things attached to my chest. it was the 70th birthday of the nhs. i was pleased to be there that day. i tweeted a joke about how i didn't wa nt to tweeted a joke about how i didn't want to miss a party. i wasn't taking it seriously. when i did take it seriously was my breathing kept dropping off. they gave me a breathing mask. my might —— my wife was there. continuing the optimistic theme i said, do you think i will be able to make that launched tomorrow at fortnum & mason ‘s? and she said, probably not. as he said that the lead consultant appeared and said, we've looked at your x—ray, it's horrible, you need to go into an induced, , horrible, you need to go into an induced,, otherwise you're probably going to die. and the gap between me sane, cani going to die. and the gap between me sane, can i make lunch and being in a coma, was four minutes. i didn't make the launch. their a few things

you missed this summer. how was it for your wife and children? terrible for your wife and children? terrible for her. she has been incredible. i don't really know how she coped. but she managed. there is a lot to manage when your husband is in that state. they reassured me as i went into the coma. they said to me afterwards, we expected you to die. there was a point on the first night we re there was a point on the first night were my blood oxygen was so low i turned blue. they got the crash equipment next to meet waiting for cardiac arrest. i was the most ill person in lewisham hospital, apparently. she is living that in real time. for me, apparently. she is living that in realtime. for me, ifind out apparently. she is living that in real time. for me, ifind out when i wa ke real time. for me, ifind out when i wake up and it is a bit of an anecdote. they were like, you nearly died. iwas anecdote. they were like, you nearly died. i was like, oh, anecdote. they were like, you nearly died. iwas like, oh, right. idid feel a terrible guilt about what rebecca had been through. i think for her every minute is an hour. she didn't want to tell the kids. the

phone is next to the bed and you are waiting for the call. they kept saying to, this is the phrase they used, you need to understand your husband is critically ill. they said that over and over again. richard bacon talking to victoria. fans of the hit bbc sci—fi series doctor who turned out in force for the premiere of the first episode of the new series in sheffield last night. this year sees a woman take up the lead role for the first time since the series began back in 1963, withjodie whittaker playing the 13h doctor. lizo mzimba reports. alien worlds, the past, the future. so far, so familiar. but with a new doctor who it has a more contemporary feel. the launch was in sheffield, a key location in the new series. jodie whittaker is the first woman to play the doctor. it's really emotional because when i was

younger characters that i wanted to be worth a 90% of the time, portrayed by the boys. for some young kids now to realise that you can look up to women, you can look up can look up to women, you can look up two men, but essentially you are looking up to the doctor, who is an alien and represents everyone. the show‘s aim to become more inclusive is done behind the camera as well. 0n the writing and directing team there are more women and more people of colour all bringing the episodes to lie. it's very important this is a show for everyone. it's inclusive for everybody regardless of gender or heritage. it is a big inclusive show. doctor who is about summer reading life and the universe and being alive and that sense of adventure is absolutely open to all. to work best for audiences, doctor who has to have stories that excite viewers of all ages. the team is hoping that in its new home on

sunday nights, it will satisfy traditional viewers and bring in new ones, too. in a moment it's time for the one o'clock news with ben brown. but first, it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello. for most of england and wales it is another lovely sunny day today after that cold and locally frosty start. scotland and northern ireland it isa start. scotland and northern ireland it is a different story. more of an atla ntic it is a different story. more of an atlantic influenced writing in more cloud. we will find some outbreaks of rain. a little bit of rain for northern ireland already. another great deal to come through the afternoon of the wetter weather is pushing its way of the western of scotland. sunshine phrased in scotland. sunshine phrased in scotland. for a sunny skies had further south across england and wales. here it is a little breezy perhaps. the strongest winds where we had the rain in the north—west of scotland. 50 to 60 mph. 0vernight

the winds will lessen. they will keep blowing in a lot of cloud and we will continue to see outbreaks of rain. always wettest over the hills and western scotland. across the north of the uk, temperatures have not changed much from the day. colder across parts of wales, the midlands and southern england. temperatures above freezing in the countryside. that is an improvement on last night. the cloud and the rain courtesy of this weather front, which is stuck on wednesday across northern scotland. higher pressure to the south means more sunshine. spots of rain in england and north wales. rain in northern scotland. brighter conditions in northern ireland, east of scotland and the north—east of england. it will warm up north—east of england. it will warm up as well. 21 degrees in aberdeen. it was the south—east and east anglia, 22 not out of the question. anglia, 22 not out of the question. a sunny start on thursday for

england and wales. the band of cloud and rain moves southwards on thursday across scotland and northern ireland. sunny spells following in the north—west. the air will be much cooler. still warm from the time of the year across wales, the time of the year across wales, the midlands and southern england. temperatures 23 degrees. underneath that band of cloud, it would be cooler. a north—westerly breeze. that will move down the whole of the country on friday. temperatures dropping. high—pressure lingering across the uk. labour say it's all but certain their mps will vote down any brexit deal based on the prime minister's chequers plan. there was a standing ovation at the party's conference, after the shadow brexit secretary said remain could be a option if there were a fresh eu referendum. it's right that parliament has the first say, but if we need to break the impasse, our options must include

campaigning for a public vote, and nobody is ruling out remain as an option. cheering and applause. we'll have the latest from labour's conference in liverpool. also this lunchtime... the cabinet agrees that after brexit, people from the eu should face the same immigration rules as those from the rest of the world. life expectancy in the uk has stopped improving for the first time in decades. donald trump's nominee for the supreme court goes on tv with his wife to deny allegations of sexual misconduct.