you're watching bbc news at nine with me julian worricker. the headlines: jeremy corbyn calls on britain's top civil servant to block the prime minister from forcing through a no—deal brexit during a snap general election campaign. meanwhile, the chancellor pledges to ‘fast—track‘ government spending plans to prepare for leaving the eu. deaths from asthma hit a ten—year high in england and wales — campaigners blame pollution and lack of awareness. they don't act themselves, don't take it terribly seriously. so i think that's an issue. met office weather warnings for most of the uk today, with thunderstorms likely to bring more flash flooding and travel disruption. the cost of cremations — bereaved families face huge variations around the uk, according to new bbc research. the premier league season

gets underway tonight as european champions liverpool take on promoted norwich city at anfield. and stay with us here on bbc news for more on the search for the irish teenager missing in malaysia. good morning and welcome to the bbc news at 9:00. jeremy corbyn has urged britain's top civil servant to block the prime minister if he tries to force through a no—deal brexit during a general election campaign. there has been speculation that borisjohnson could call an election at the start of november if he loses a vote of no confidence in parliament. the labour leader has written to the cabinet secretary saying such a move would be an "nti—democratic

abuse of power". a move would be an "anti—democratic abuse of power". our political correspondent tom barton is in westminster. the significance of this letter, what does it mean. borisjohnson has said repeatedly that britain will leave the european union at the end of october, no matter what. but there are a significant number of mps who are worried that could mean leaving without a deal, having been agreed with the eu. many of those mps are determined to stop that happening. one of the things they are thinking of doing that might be able to avoid that is a no—confidence vote when parliament returns at the end of september. sorry, at the start of september. so that would essentially, try to vote down the government. but, if boris johnson lost that vote and two weeks

past in which an alternative government had not been established, well then there would be a general election. the problem for those who are opposed to no deal is that the man responsible for setting the date for that election is borisjohnson and his advisers, we understand, have been arguing it would be perfectly reasonable for him to set that date at some point in november, after a no deal exit has happened essentially by default. sojeremy corbyn is writing to the most senior civil servant in the country, saying that would be an anti—democratic abuse of power and arguing that the rules that govern election campaigning in the uk essentially ban the existing government from taking any controversial decisions that a future government might disagree with. brexit supporters, downing street and those around borisjohnson argue they wouldn't be taking a decision because the date

of brexit, the 31st of october, is written into the law and they would simply be allowing that law to happen. but that is unlikely to generate much comfort from those who are worried about a no—deal brexit. you highlight the hugely complicated arguments here, is there any constitutional clarity as to where we go potentially, if that confidence post is lost? if the confidence post is lost? if the confidence vote is lost, a lot of this is about deadlines. even if borisjohnson called, this is about deadlines. even if boris johnson called, if this is about deadlines. even if borisjohnson called, if he lost a confidence vote, if a new government was not formed, then yes, it is down to borisjohnson to set the date for a general election but even if he set it at the earliest opportunity, it would be very difficult to get that election on the books before

the end of october. and of course, there is the intervening two weeks, there is the intervening two weeks, the way the rules are constructed, there are two weeks between a vote of no confidence and the decision being taken to hold a general election, during which time, the existing government can try to get another vote of confidence passed in itself, or alternatively, a new government can try to demonstrate that it has the support of a majority of mps in parliament. the problem with that approach is that jeremy corbyn has said that he wouldn't countenance anybody other than him becoming prime minister in that scenario and yet, lots of those mps who are opposed to a no—deal brexit from the liberal democrats, the conservatives, the independence, many of those wouldn't countenance a jeremy corbyn government. which means it is very likely that those

two weeks would expire without either of them having been able to form a government and then you end up form a government and then you end up in this very murky territory of an election. potentially the end of october passing during that election campaign and potentially brexit happening before the election takes place. we understand those advisers in numberten, who place. we understand those advisers in number ten, who work with boris johnson are very relaxed about the idea of allowing a no—deal brexit during an election campaign, obviously as we have seen today. jeremy corbyn, many of those politicians who are opposed to no deal think that would potentially be an unconstitutional move. tom barton, thank you very much. the chancellor, sajid javid, has said the government will "fast—track" efforts to draw up spending plans, to "clear the ground" ahead of brexit. individual departments will have their budgets set for the next 12 months instead of the next three years. labour said the move smacked of "pre—election panic measures".

the announcement comes ahead of estimates, due shortly, that will show the state of the uk economy for the three months from april to june. we can now talk to the shadow transport secretary andy mcdonald whojoins me from middlesbrough. good morning. morning. lets talk aboutjeremy good morning. morning. lets talk about jeremy corbyn‘s letter, good morning. morning. lets talk aboutjeremy corbyn‘s letter, what is that going to achieve, in your view? it brings into very sharp focus, the very unstable territory we are entering into, because if borisjohnson is we are entering into, because if boris johnson is going we are entering into, because if borisjohnson is going to carry through this threat then we are into very difficult, constitutional areas. this is unprecedented and it is entirely anti—democratic to seek to bind an incoming administration by an outgoing administration, once

a general election was called, has never been contemplated before. but it just demonstrates how never been contemplated before. but itjust demonstrates how reckless borisjohnson is itjust demonstrates how reckless boris johnson is being itjust demonstrates how reckless borisjohnson is being with our economy. of course, a crash out of the european union without a deal will not impact on him, dominic collins, orjacob rees—mogg, it will impact on those on middle to low incomes, there will be job losses at large. in my own territory, no deal means no steel, no pharmaceuticals, no chemicals are now automotive. this will be like a firestorm running through our economy. it is unbelievable a prime minister would wa nt to unbelievable a prime minister would want to inflict hardship upon the people who he is there to serve, because he has been elected by 90,000 members of the tory party. he is going to do this to the economy and these are incredible needs

taking place. that is not the way he sees it, you called it anti—democratic, he calls it honouring the results of the referendum? we were told when a further extension was secured for article 50, to use the time wisely and nothing could be furtherfrom the truth. he maintains a deal can be done and he puts no deal as being a remote possibility. that is clearly nonsense. he hasn't lifted a finger to have any sensible conversation or engagement with any european leader since becoming prime minister. he is quite clearly allowing this country to sleepwalk into the biggest economic catastrophe it has ever suffered. it shows he is totally unfit for this office and we must stop no deal because the consequences will be catastrophic. this letter, are you clear that sir mark said well can make any difference in all of this because if he can't, what is the point in writing to him? he is the

head of the civil service and the custodian of the rules, as it were, who govern these events should a vote of no confidence be lost. so he is in vote of no confidence be lost. so he isina vote of no confidence be lost. so he is in a very important position and it is perfectly proper to bring this to his attention that this would be a complete departure from our constitutional practice to bind an incoming government by one that is outgoing during a general election. you say bring to his attention, he is well aware this is going on. i am wondering what this realistically achieves? it has got us talking about it, it is out in the open that this is the subterfuge that boris johnson and dominic cummings are up to. they will blithely walk through this and as i say, they won't be impacted, as austerity didn't impact upon them, and no—deal brexit will not touch them one bit. it is ordinary people who will feel the

pain from this. it is very important everybody understands exactly what games these people are playing. they are playing with our futures and we have got to call a halt to it and stop it dead in its tracks. andy mcdonald, thank you for coming on. andy mcdonald, the shadow transport secretary in middlesbrough. the met office has issued yellow weather warnings for most of the uk today, with a band of heavy rain and thunderstorms likely to bring flash flooding and travel disruption. with winds forecast to reach 60 miles per hour, a number of festivals have been called off or scaled back, as keith doyle reports. it might be the height of summer, but what the met office is calling unseasonal weather is set to hit nearly all of the uk. west lothian and scotland already got a taste of it, with heavy rain causing localised flooding that halted almost all traffic in places. separate weather warnings for wind, then for rain, will cover most of the uk over the weekend.

high winds will hit the south—west and south wales later today. heavy rain, along with strong winds, are forecast for almost everywhere on saturday. that forecast caused the cancellation of the boardmasters festival in newquay. police and organises felt the summer storm was too big a risk for the 50,000 people due to attend. most of them were expected to be camping. a hot air balloon festival was also hit. and this is the site of the houghton dance music festival in norfolk. despite the nice weather in these pictures, heavy rain and high winds forecast for saturday led organisers to cancel it. drivers have been warned to expect difficult conditions and have been advised to consider delaying journeys. train services between edinburgh and dunblane have already been disrupted by flooding, but travellers are being warned that heavy rain over the next few days could cause problems on the railways elsewhere, during this most unseasonal weather. keith doyle, bbc news.

there are fears of further violence in indian—administered kashmir, where heavy security is in place ahead of friday prayers. the region has been in lockdown since the indian government revoked its special status earlier this week. internet and phone connections have been cut off and hundreds of people have been detained. joining me now is rahul tandon in delhi. what is the picture as we speak? what is the picture as we speak7m is difficult to gather what the picture is in indian administered kashmir. it is an area that has been in lockdown and home to millions of people for the past five days since india revoked part of the constitution that gave that state special status. the police chief in the area has had some of those restrictions would be east today to allow muslims to go to the mosque for friday prayers. but what we are hearing from reporters on the ground as it doesn't seem to have happened

so as it doesn't seem to have happened so farand if as it doesn't seem to have happened so far and if anything the restrictions could be even more severe. indian news channels reporting the gates to the mosque in the state capital remain locked. the situation doesn't seem to have changed very much. this comes hours after the indian prime minister address the nation saying there was going to be a new era in kashmir. he was going to bring the regionjobs, better infrastructure. that new era doesn't seem to be very different to the one before with many people still inside their houses, too scared to go out. the trouble is presumably, at some point when the restrictions are eased, the level of anger you and others are telling us about will be more visible? we have to see what that level of anger is. there is no way of being able to gauge anything if people are not allowed to move around freely and we cannot communicate with them. a senior indian politician from the left went to the state capital today

to see the situation for himself. he has not been allowed to leave the airport and we feel there will be anger in the area about the change in the constitution, the removal of autonomy in indian administered kashmir. on sunday we are moving towards eid and it is indian independence day next week. but what mrmodi didn't independence day next week. but what mr modi didn't address in his speech was how long this lockdown would continue for. this is a government that was selected with a pretty resounding majority, it said it would do this in its manifesto, what is the wider view, as far as you can tell? i have just is the wider view, as far as you can tell? i havejust been is the wider view, as far as you can tell? i have just been out on the streets of delhi talking to 20 or 30 people. go on social media, look at the way it is being covered. this is an incredibly popular move within the indian public per se. many of them say if indian administered kashmir is part of this country, why should it have more autonomy and why

can't we go and buy property there. mrmodi isa can't we go and buy property there. mr modi is a very popularfigure. but there is a difference of opinion between the people of india and indian administered kashmir. and presumably pakistan? it is a complex dispute. india has claims over it, it is part of india, indian administered kashmir. pakistan has pakistan administered kashmir. the problem is within all of this it has led to wars, concerns and friction between nuclear powers and the people of kashmir. if you speak to many of them, they are fed up with both countries and they want independence. but that is very unlikely. thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news: jeremy corbyn calls on britain's top civil servant to block the prime minister from forcing

through a no—deal brexit during a snap general election campaign. meanwhile, the chancellor pledges to fast—track government spending plans to prepare for leaving the eu. deaths from asthma hit a ten—year high in england and wales — campaigners blame pollution and lack of awareness. and and lack of awareness. in sport, the new premier l season and in sport, the new premier league season begins tonight as liverpool ta ke season begins tonight as liverpool take on norwich at anfield. juergen klopp says he wants his team to be one that nobody wants to face this season. summer spending in the premier league did not reach record highs the transfer window closed yesterday. the total was £1.41 billion. from a lula car koot left manchester united to join inter milan. wolverhampton wonders beat the armenian side 4—0 in the first leg of their third—round qualifier. they are intoa of their third—round qualifier. they

are into a play—off to qualify for the tournament. i will be back with more on those stories later. the number of people dying from asthma attacks in england and wales is the highest it has been in ten years, according to a charity. asthma uk says the deaths are unnecessary, as too many people are failing to get the basic level of care. here's our health correspondent, dominic hughes. nearly 5 million people in england and wales suffer from asthma, which can cause coughing, wheezing, a tight chest and breathlessness. treated properly, it should be easy to manage, but the number of asthma—related deaths is now at a 10—year high. it may be the result of people not getting really good, very basic care, which we know is a problem. i think there is an issue of complacency. people with asthma don't themselves take it terribly seriously, so i think that's an issue. and then maybe things like weather and different weather patterns

and pollution that could be also causing — have led to those deaths. so i think it's really difficult to pin it down to one single thing. more than 1,400 people died from an asthma attack last year. that's equal to 2.5 people out of every 100,000, dying from asthma. the number of deaths is up by 8% when compared with the previous year. overall, more than 12,700 people have died from asthma in england and wales over the last decade. asthma uk acknowledges there are signs that care is getting better. and nhs england says it's worked with asthma uk to improve standards. but it warns the link between air pollution and asthma shows the challenge is not one the nhs can meet on its own. dominic hughes, bbc news. police in malaysia say they still believe the irish teenager, nora quoirin, who went missing six days ago, is likely to be near the resort where she was staying with her family. search teams have been playing a recording of her mother's voice on loudspeakers

to try to find the 15—year—old. marta newman reports. nora! nora? close to 200 police, local residents and specialist search teams have been working around the clock to find missing nora quoirin. malaysian police say they're not ruling anything out, but believe the teenager could be lost in the jungle. translation: my team and myself are still in high spirits. we're adding more people to help with the search and they're in good spirits, too. we hope and pray we can find her as soon as possible. nora arrived at the dusan forest eco reserve on saturday with her parents and her brother and sister for a two—week family holiday. it was her father who raised the alarm on sunday morning after he found her bedroom empty and the window open. her family fear she may have been abducted.

nora has learning and developmental disabilities, and her parents say she would never have left them voluntarily, as she never goes anywhere on her own. and we ask everyone to keep nora in their thoughts and to continue to support the ongoing search for her. nora is still missing and she's very vulnerable. and we need to do everything we can to bring her home. search teams in malaysia have been playing a recording of her mother's voice, calling out for nora on speakers in the hope that this will find her and provide the breakthrough her family so desperately needs. marta newman, bbc news. our correspondent howard johnson is near the resort where the teenager went missing in malaysia. bring us up today on the search.

bring us up today on the searchlj am just five minutes down the road from where she went missing here. there will be a press conference in the next half an hour or so. the search has been going on through the night, this is the sixth day of search and rescue operations. we flew a drone over the top of the area where they are doing the search and rescue operations and you can see this as a very thick, tropical jungle. it is very thick canopy, the top layer is so thick, no light gets through. one of the drone operators from the police, who has been using thermal imaging, scanning this area and he says it is impossible. they try again at night to see, in cooler conditions they might be able to find something. they are looking for nora out there but the family safe she has been abducted. so the searching in the jungle she has been abducted. so the searching in thejungle might not be the way to go. at the police are not ruling that out, but they will

continue with the missing person's approach first and then look into the abduction angle if some evidence presents itself that is compelling. we saw a press conference from the family and this is dreadful as they try and find answers here, isn't it? imagine you are on yourfamily holiday and on the first night when you arrive, your daughter goes missing in the middle of the night. the window was left open on the bottom floor of the villa they were staying in. they haven't seen or heard from herfor six staying in. they haven't seen or heard from her for six days. they are handing out leaflets, the police are handing out leaflets, the police are handing out leaflets, the police are handing out leaflets with the picture of nora and details of her in the local language, with phone numbers for information. this is a critical time to get any kind of information that might lead to more information that might lead to more information on where she may have gone missing. today we saw at the mosquejust down the gone missing. today we saw at the mosque just down the road, the police handing out these leaflets.

howard, thank you for the update. howard, thank you for the update. howard johnson in malaysia. a man is due to appear before magistrates later charged with attempted murder of a police officer in leyton in east london. the officer suffered multiple injuries in a machete attack in the early hours of yesterday. 56—year—old muhammed rodwan, from luton, is also accused of possessing an offensive weapon. the 28 year old officer remains in a serious, but stable, condition in hospital. a 20 year—old man has been shot dead on a street in erdington in birmingham. the attack happened just before 7:30pm last night. no arrests have been made and police have increased patrols in the area. families are paying a huge variation in cost to cremate loved ones, according to new figures. research by the bbc shows that costs at council—owned sites have risen by almost a fifth since 2015, and bereaved families are paying hundreds of pounds more depending on where they live in the uk. our correspondent emily unia

joins me in the studio. just give us a sense of those variations and costs? in belfast £392 for a cremation. milton keynes, £960. that is the council run crematoria. if you go to a private one, you could play well in excess of £1000. that is before any of the extras, that is the cremation and may be a bit of chapel time. it doesn't account for the coffin, flowers a nd doesn't account for the coffin, flowers and funeral directors and so most funerals run into the thousands of pounds. how do those in charge account for those variations? they say it is a high cost business, cremated need updating and there is environmental standards to consider, that could be millions of pounds. the grounds of a chapel are often very beautiful, they need maintaining, staff costs and energy costs. but there is concern in the sector they may be overcharging. these are above inflation price

increases every year and the competition authority is investigating. they are investigating. they are investigating at the moment and we're looking at that report coming out probably the middle of next year andi out probably the middle of next year and i think we could see a shake—up in the sector. it is not an area is it where people are inclined to shop around because you are not in that mindset that stage? most people are in shock when they are bereaved, it is not the first thing on their mind. someone gives them a price and they think my goodness, we are going to have to pay it. i spoke to one woman who struggle because her pa rents woman who struggle because her parents died within six weeks of each other. she said she felt suicidal it was so bad. we don't talk about that. it is not something we wa nt talk about that. it is not something we want to think about. it is going to come to us all inevitably, but people don't discuss it. you might think i would love a woodland burial 01’ think i would love a woodland burial ora think i would love a woodland burial or a cardboard coffin but you don't tell your family that is what you wa nt tell your family that is what you want and you don't put any cash aside to deal with it. when the end comes, yourfamily

aside to deal with it. when the end comes, your family may aside to deal with it. when the end comes, yourfamily may be aside to deal with it. when the end comes, your family may be left facing some high bills. but there might be changes in the future?|j think might be changes in the future?” think things are shifting. you look at some of the big celebrity deaths, david bowie, and i think prince, they didn't have a full funeral they went for a simple cremation. that was a real shift and a lot of people are thinking, do we have to do it the traditional way, way to cut costs a nd the traditional way, way to cut costs and perhaps the cma, after they have investigated may see things change within the industry. emily, thank you very much indeed for that. in a moment the weather but first let's here's chloe tilly to tell us what's coming up on victoria derbyshire. what happens if your mp is unable to do theirjob. we have contacted parliamentary standards, they don't deal with individuals. we started to try a petition on the government

website, you cannot make a petition about somebody losing their job. website, you cannot make a petition about somebody losing theirjob. all the things that are there to support us, we the things that are there to support us, we were the things that are there to support us, we were told you need to talk to yourmp. we can't, us, we were told you need to talk to your mp. we can't, because we don't have one. that is the issue. we will ask what is going on at his constituency office where his chief of staff is still working after calling his boss a selfish degenerate on twitter. joiners at 10am on bbc two, the bbc news channel and online. now, let's have a look at the weather. there have been atrocious conditions there this morning. atrocious weather moving northward. behind it, heavy and thundery showers across western areas. further east, a little bit drier and plenty sunny spells, but for all of us, the wind picks up. 35 to 45 mile an hour gusts of wind come up to 55 miles an hour down to the south—west of england. but, with that sunshine it

will feel quite warm across eastern areas. 25, 20 six celsius. elsewhere the high teens on the low 20s. tonight and into saturday, the rain clears the north but more showers, heavy at times with thunderstorms throughout saturday across many northern and western areas of the uk. but very windy, especially for england and wales. gales widely, lighter winds for scotland and northern ireland. goodbye. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... jeremy corbyn calls on britain's top civil servant to block the prime minister from forcing through a no—deal brexit during a snap general election campaign. meanwhile, the chancellor sajid javid says the government

is fast—tracking spending plans to get britain ready to leave the eu. deaths from asthma in england and wales are the highest they have been in more than a decade. more unseasonal weather is set to sweep across the country, according to the met office, with torrential rain and winds up to 60mph. a string of outdoor events have been cancelled. the rising cost of cremations — fees vary by hundreds of pounds in different parts of the country, the bbc has found. more now on one of our main stories. the number of people dying from asthma attacks in england and wales is the highest it has been in ten years, according to a leading charity. more than 1,400 adults and children died from asthma attacks in england and wales last year. asthma uk says the deaths are unnecessary, as too many people are failing to get the basic level of care. joining me now to discuss the rising number of asthma—related deaths over the past decade is dr adel mansur, the leading asthma doctor

at birmingham heartlands hospital. good morning. hello, good morning. what is your analysis as to why these figures are going up? yeah, it's quite disappointing, i think, because about ten years ago there was a trend towards lower asthma deaths, but now we are seeing this is... and there was a large study about four years ago, and the message is that there is overreliance of what we call reliever medication, the use of the ventolin and things. because it ta kes ventolin and things. because it takes the symptoms away, people overreliance on that and it is also not using enough of the preventative treatment of asthma, like steroids. so, excessive use of the inhaler and

lack of use of the steroids which stop asthma attacks, make asthma better, was the biggest reason. and we feel there is a failure at two levels. one is getting all asthma patients, recent guidelines say that all asthma patients should have steroids prescribed for everybody and it should be regularly used. but as with any other chronic disease, especially when they get better, the use of regular preventative treatment goes down, and with it, asthma attack risks increase. and overreliance on the inhalers, and less use of the inhaler which contains steroids, leads to the risk of attacks, leads to admissions to hospitals and tragically, to people dying from asthma. and those deaths

really largely avoidable deaths, they shouldn't happen. what might puzzle people is that people are being given advice in terms of what they do with an inhaler, but what you're saying suggests that that advice isn't always right? no, i think largely the advice is right but it's because the flue inhaler —— the blue inhaler, by its nature, makes the asthma symptoms go away very quickly, people seem to rely on them because they feel this is good enough to get them going. but it does hide the asthma problem, the disease inside the lungs. and therefore it gets worse and if the patient are not getting the actual treatment, which is the preventative treatment, which is the preventative treatment, the brown inhaler treatment... so the advice is usually there but it doesn't always get followed, that is one issue. but there is also room for improvement in getting the advice, particularly

there is need for every patient with asthma to have what we call their personalised asthma plan, their own card, to know what to do with their asthma when it gets worse. and regular checks with the asthma nurse 01’ regular checks with the asthma nurse or doctor could happen really every six months or 12 months to ensure that the plan is in place, their medication is being taken as it is prescribed, and just doing those simple things goes a long way to prevent asthma attacks, to prevent admissions and importantly, stop people dying from asthma. thank you very much indeed for coming on, dr adel mansur, leading asthma doctor at birmingham heartlands hospital. we now have the latest gdp figures, which gives us a hint at how the uk economy is faring. joining me now is andy verity, andy what do the figures tell us?

something that we didn't want to hear. the economy shrank in the second quarter of the year by 0.2%, compared to growth in the first quarter of the year of not .5%, and it's worse than most economists expected. most economists were expecting it to be flat between april and june compared to previous, instead, it shrank. you can also break it down into some of the components of that. so, for example, manufacturing is a industrial production, which is things like oil and gas and large—scale industry, that's also shrinking, service sector is stilljust about growing, by not .2%, it has been the service sector that has kept the economy going for a long time now, but also, some gloomy news about our export record, experts were growing in the first quarter of the year, they were down in the second quarter of the year. imports were also down, and one key factor to look at here is

business investment. if we don't get business investment. if we don't get business investment, businesses investing in their future, business investment, businesses investing in theirfuture, then business investment, businesses investing in their future, then we don't have the improvements in productivity you need to make it affordable for companies to pay inflation beating pay rises. and we count on that in order to raise our standards of living. what you've got here is business investment falling. it fell by 0.5% and over the year was down by 1.6%. now, that as i say co m pa res to was down by 1.6%. now, that as i say compares to growing business investment in the first quarter of the year. there may be some of the stockpiling effect that people have talked about, we can't say for sure but it is quite likely, a lot of companies that we have spoken to built up their stocks in the first quarter of the year in anticipation ofan quarter of the year in anticipation of an exit on 29th march. but since then they have been running down their stocks, and that stockpiling effect has gone away. that's why it was predicted that it would be flat. but what we did not anticipate would be that it would be shrinking. clearly now the debate will begin as

to why the figures are as bleak as they are — what else is likely to be raised under that heading? well, the business investment has a lot to do with certainty. businesses we've spoken to have talked about how the uncertainty over when how we're going to strike a deal to leave the european union, that uncertainty is affecting their confidence to invest. as you know, in the case of metals the car industry, they can't have the confidence to invest hundreds of millions of pounds in a new plant or a new model, unless they have a degree of foresight as to what is going to happen to their revenue streams, where they are going to be able to export it, what the tariffs are going to be et cetera as long as that is in doubt it throws their plans into disarray. and what we don't realise until moments like this is how crucial those plans are to the economy. the confidence of those financial managers in corporations who decide weather or not to invest is absolutely key economically. we consumers are the ones who don't

really have much money, who are spending beyond our incomes, who are often getting into debt and we are keeping the economy going. the people who do have the money, surplus investments, cash piles, even, corporate investors, are not investing because they are not confident enough to do so. in terms of similar economies, how does the uk compare at the moment? well, there is a global economic slowdown, and that is part of the reason we're slowing down. our exports will be shrinking partly for that reason. if there is less demand for our goods abroad because of the rest of the world is slowing down, china and the united states have been slowing down, and everywhere there are signs that central banks are no longer preparing to raise interest rates, certainly in the west. but more interested in perhaps even cutting interested in perhaps even cutting interest rates. although of course we've had emergency low interest rates for more than a decade now, there is not much scope to cut those interest rates. so if there is going to be any kind of fiscal policy to

that a second quarter of negative economic growth, which we're not there yet but if that were the case, that would officially be a recession, then that would be all that the central banks could do, they would have to be action from government if they were going to try to revive the economy. the electoral commission has warned that the uk needs laws "fit for the digital age" because the current ones don't account for the huge growth of political campaigning on social media. the cabinet office has made recommendations for changes to the law — but nothing has happened so far. our media editor, amol rajan, reports. there's a lot of talk around about a possible snap election. well, who knows? but while there is such chatter, you're going to see a lot more political ads such as these recent ones from facebook and other social media. facebook, twitter and all the rest arose out of the 20th century advertising industry. they are advertising companies. giant persuasion machines which use thousands of data points to let

advertisers microtarget all of us in a very cheap way. that could be for commercial campaigns or for political ones. here's a recent facebook ad from the conservatives that targets younger people. and here's a similar one that was aimed at older women. many of the uk's election laws were designed when mark zuckerberg was still at school. and now there are calls for election laws which are fit for the digital age. now we've been calling for changes to the law to make political campaigning online more transparent and to make the funding of it known much more quicker than it currently is. known much quicker than it currently is. the electoral commission wants to make sure that digital campaigns follow the current electoral rules in the uk. it wants an imprint on the screen to make it clear who's behind a campaign. it wants spending returns broken down to show how money is being spent. it wants a ban on foreign individuals or organisations spending money here on the uk, and it wants more powers and biggerfines. facebook have made more information about who is advertising publicly

available through their ads library. but there is plenty we still don't know. amol rajan, bbc news. sport now, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn watson. the premier league season gets underway tonight. we'll be talking about that in a moment — but the summer transfer window closed yesterday, with a flurry of deadline day deals which took premier league spending to £1.41 billion. dan jones from deloitte explains the clubs who've been busy. we've seen clubs who want to stay in the premier league, aston villa, spending £125 million on 12 players, changing a lot of the squad. manchester united trying to find their way back into the champions league, manchester city trying to make sure they stay at the top. so it really was across—the—board, lots of interesting deals, and just that

wafer thin margin short of a record window, so we ended up at £1.41 million, compared with £1.43 billion a couple of years ago. one of the more notable deals romelu lukaku, leaving manchester united, joining inter milan for £74 million. and if you wondered what a medical looks like, we saw it all in this video. we saw it all in this video that was posted online, breaking the news of his arrival, the player refused to return to old trafford as he looked to push through a move away. harry maguire the biggest deal of the summer leaving leicester, joining united for £80 million. and other moves refelcted on the back pages. back page of the guardian, picture of andy carroll who's returned to boyhood club newcastle on a free transfer. the daily mail has the same picture,

reporting he's not yet fit to play, following a career plagued by injuries. and the times has an article about world rugby‘s rule change banning rugby tackles above waist height in a bid to improve player safety. liverpool play norwich tonight as the new premier league season gets under way. former liverpool and republic of ireland midfielder jason mcaterr is with me. cani can ijust can i just say, can ijust say, i'm available, or free? . liverpool didn't spend a great deal of money.” free? . liverpool didn't spend a great deal of money. i am around, i do play for the legends, so if jurgen needs a right back... are you going to oust trent alexander—arnold, that's the question? well, he has had an up and down preseason. he needs the experience, perhaps. how is it going

to go later, then? liverpool, champions league winners but they haven't really invested a huge amount over the summer? no, not really gained any momentum during pre—season, either. performances got better and better, second half against man city in the community shield was much improved, but i think you would be awful to think it is just city and liverpool, i wouldn't discard tottenham from the title race. there is a sense that something is building at liverpool, though, isn't there? the players they've got, and having pushed manchester city so close last season, you feel they're on the cusp of something quite incredible? when i think quite incredible was achieved last season with the champions league, obviously that's going to give us great confidence going to give us great confidence going into this season, and feel we belong, but it is the premier league which is the holy grail for us. belong, but it is the premier league which is the holy grailfor us. like isaid, it which is the holy grailfor us. like i said, it was a great performance second half against city, i think another 10—15 minutes we probably would have won it, rather than it going to penalties. they don't have anything to fear, but as you

mentioned there was not a great deal of recruitment in the summer, but get oxlade—chamberlain back, the lanna fit, and we've still got eve ryo ne lanna fit, and we've still got everyone as well, the squad will need to be utilised throughout the season, they will play a lot of football, but we've got the right manager to pick and choose, he knows what he's doing and hopefully we can have a season like last season. it's a big ask for them to go again, isn't it? we hear so much about the riches in football, but we don't often hear about some of the difficulties as well which come with life at the top of professional football, and that's something you yourself have experienced with difficulties with mental health and depression and things and it is something you're heavily involved with? obviously, i put it in my book about the problems i faced after football and what my career brought, which triggered on afterwards and put me spiralling out of control, really. and i needed to get help and obviously when i came out and i mentioned it in the book, a documentary followed which we did through the club, which was fantastic, through the storm, it was

called, and it opened everything else up. it's something i'm heavily involved in, i like to bring awareness to the subject. and obviously through sport, and the club, i'm able to do that. it's interesting as well because seemingly when you finish your career, you spent such a big part of your life playing the game, you almost leave it behind, but some of the new research that has come out has suggested that sport can still play in helping ex—players, ex—professionals, to deal with those issues? absolutely. they have just done a survey and suggested this switching of culture, which is around us now, which i willjust explain, it is kind of, you take all your problems from work and you take them home, so you will sit on the computer at home, even though you have come from work, and you'll do your e—mails, text messages, you just don't switch off. 16% have said they never switch off from the problems that work brings. so, that

is quite a high number, and a lot of people i getting stress and anxiety and depression from it. 44% of people they surveyed as well find sport is a release, weather it's participating or just sport is a release, weather it's participating orjust going to watch. i think it's vitally important that you get into these embodiments, if you're playing football, you've got 15 mates that you go and play saturday and sunday with, you can share your problems, you can destress, you can get away from your work life. on the flipside, if you go to the game, if you're not participating, you can go the match, go and watch rugby, cricket, whatever, get into that community, and then when you feel co mforta ble community, and then when you feel comfortable with the people that you go with, it might be the fairly you sit next to at the match, if you have stress, anxiety or depression, feel that you can speak to them. i think the big thing is the awareness we are trying to push is even though we are trying to push is even though we are trying to push is even though we are males and there is a bit of a bravado about us, say to your mate, to the fellow next to you, and hopefully they will take that on board and put you in the right direction, if not personally they

can show you professional help. wise words, jason. fascinating stuff. are you going to the game late at? i'll be there. i don't know whether i will get a shirt but ifjurgen is watching, i'm available! many thanks indeed, jason. so, the premier league season is almost upon us. we'll be around the clubs today as they hold their pre—match press conferences. and we'll be live from anfield for sportsday at 6.30 ahead of the game between liverpool and norwich tonight. and there will be full match commentary of that game on radio 5 live tonight — the first of 140 live premier league commentaries coming up for listeners over the course of the season. us immigration officials say they have released roughly 300 people who were arrested during a massive raid in mississippi on wednesday. nearly 700 workers employed at food processing plants were arrested for not having the right documents to be in the us. but stories of children

being separated from their parents have sparked outrage. our north america correspondent peter bowes has more on what we know about those who have been released from custody. we've heard from the us immigration authorities now, who say that about 300 of the nearly 700 people arrested for allegedly not having the proper documentation to be in the united states, that those people have been released, some on humanitarian grounds. and we've been hearing a lot about the effect on families and children, some of those, we're told, have been released because there were children at home that needed their parents, and they have said, the authorities have said, that all of the children at the end of the day were with at least one of their parents. but notwithstanding that, there is a tremendous amount of outrage about what has happened. the mississippi centre forjustice said this is forjustice said this is

nothing more than mean—spirited political grandstanding, and again, focused on the effect this has had on families, and also the effect on local businesses, and a lot of local people making the point that nothing has changed and no—one feels any safer. italy's deputy prime minister and league party leader matteo salvini has called for a snap election, saying his party's differences with its coalition partners can't be patched up. it follows a row in the senate over a major infrastructure project. andy beatt reports. a vote that has left italy's government on the verge of collapse, the two coalition parties opposing each other over the future of a high—speed train link to france. backing the project at a rally outside rome, the deputy prime minister and leader of the right—wing league party. he's now declared the governing coalition unworkable. the only way forward —

to hold fresh elections. translation: if a couple who are in love decide to go separate ways, it's better to do it consensually, quickly, and without quarrel. colourful language prompting his partner, leader of the five star movement, luigi di maio, to say his party doesn't fear another vote. it's just over a year since western europe's first populist government took office. the coalition's relationship, always uneasy, becoming increasingly volatile. while five star won more parliamentary seats in 2018, polls suggest salvini's league has surged in popularity. since surged in popularity. he is now hoping to capitalise on that. but critics, including the country's prime minister, say it's not up to him to dictate the steps of a political crisis. pushing the nation back into election mode at the height of summer, when so many are on holiday and parliament

is in recess, would be a big gamble. andy beatt, bbc news. an 18—year—old man remains in a critical condition in hospital after he was pulled from the sea along with two teenage girls, one of whom died. the three teenagers, who are related, got into distress off the essex coast, in clacton, yesterday afternoon. the girl who died was 14 years old. shares in the taxi—hailing firm uber have fallen after the company posted record quarterly losses of more than £4 billion. the losses are more than five times as much as the same period last year. competition has forced uber to hold down prices, while costs for research and development and marketing remain high. campaigners have welcomed a review by nhs england into the use of medicinal cannabis. health officials have recommended that more clinical trials take place into the drug, which can be used to treat illnesses

like severe epilepsy. they also say that doctors need more advice about prescribing it. a full—size helter—skelter has been constructed inside a cathedral to give visitors a unique view of the building. the 16.7 metre high vintage fairground ride took four people two days to build in the nave of norwich cathedral. mike liggins has the story. # the lord is my shepherd... this is the norwich cathedral we've come to know and love — historic, beautiful and traditional. but now, the cathedral is letting its hair down a bit and having some fun. yeah! the

cathedral is hoping the helter—skelter will help people see the building in a new light, a gimmick perhaps? according to the dean, the answer is firmly no. it's certainly not a gimmick, it really isa certainly not a gimmick, it really is a very serious about its fun but it is about really serious matters, in trying to get people to think about the meaning of life, to think about the meaning of life, to think about their place in the world, about their place in the world, about their place in the world, about the way they relate to other people. the helter-skelter took two days to assemble, 55ft high, 36 steps to the top, about six seconds to get it down. there are a lot of people that won't come into a cathedral because they think it's too big, or this is too posh, it's not for me. we hope that people will see that actually the cathedral is here for everyone. it was really good fun, faster than i thought it was going to be. it was really good fun, i enjoyed it. it was tricky but

i tucked it all in and held on tight so it was really fun. the hope is that people will take care and look up that people will take care and look up and see the 1000 year old roof, and when it comes to seeing things differently, how about this? the helter—skelter lit up at night. quite a sight. the duke and duchess of cambridge engaged in some royal rivalry at a regatta on the isle of wight yesterday. they went head to head in a yacht race near cowes, with the duchess accepting a wooden spoon for finishing last. princess charlotte amused the crowd when she stuck her tongue out at photographers. if you're about to butter some toast this morning, don't put the pack straight back into the fridge. you can always get

creative with it instead. this butter sculpture of elmo, from sesame street, was made for the iowa state fair in the us. other creations include a butter cow that would provide enough spread for more than 19,000 slices of toast. and just a word that the uk economy shrank by .2% in the last quarter, more on that to come in the next hour. but now it is time for the weather. we've had some pretty atrocious conditions with heavy rain moving its way northward across the uk. the wind is the biggest element over the next couple of days, you can see the swell of cloud, the area of low pressure. i mentioned the rain moving northward, it is going

to be followed by some showers. but there will be some sunshine as well, particularly across eastern areas this afternoon. but it is the wind which will gradually pick up. let's have a look at the details throughout the afternoon. some heavy bursts you can see. strong winds coming in from the east across scotland, gusts of up to 45mph. showers across northern ireland and northern england. thunderstorms mixed in across england and wales. but look at the black wind arrows, gusts widely of 35—45mph, potentially up to 55mph across the south—west of england. so even though you've got the sunshine and it is going to feel warm in the sunshine, it is the wind which will pick up and potentially cause a few issues. there have been some cancellations of many events. there is the area of low pressure, moving

further north and east as we go into the weekend, you can see the white lines are still close together, its unusual to see this kind of pressure pattern in august, it is more usual in autumn and winter. it is going to bring heavy showers across northern and western areas during saturday. some sunny spells in between the showers. but for england and wales, the winds could be stronger, up to 45—55mph inland. further north, across scotland and northern ireland, the winds will be lighter. that's compared to today. temperatures, 21—23dc, but again if you have got outdoor plans, be prepared for them to be cancelled or postponed. going into sunday, the low pressure moves away, look at the white lines, starting to move apart a little bit more. that means the winds will be lighter during sunday. but there were still be some heavy showers across northern england, southern scotland, wales, the midlands, into the afternoon. there will be some sunny spells but it

will be some sunny spells but it will be some sunny spells but it will be cooler for scotland and northern ireland. temperatures to the south and east, about 20—23dc.

hello it's friday, it's 10:00am, i'm chloe tilley. in today's programme — what happens to you, if your mp is unable to do theirjob? we've been to the office of sheffield hallam mpjared o'mara, who says he's "unfit" to continue and plans to stand down. we've contacted parliamentary standards. they don't deal with individuals. we started to try a petition on the government website. you can't make a petition about someone losing theirjob. all these things that are supposed to be there to support us, we basically got told you need to talk to your mp. but we can't cos we don't have one. that's the issue. and we'll ask what's really going on atjared o'mara's constituency office where his chief of staff, gareth arnold, is still working — after calling his boss a "selfish degenerate" on twitter.