looking at quite a hot spell of weather, would you believe it, just in time for the weekend? as we heard from jenny in hamburg, 29 celsius towards london, germany does want to keep britain 26 in cardiff, still in the low 205 close. the idealfor in belfast and edinburgh germany does want to keep britain close. the ideal for germany but in the sunshine it germany does want to keep britain close. the idealfor germany would will feel pleasantly warm. be for them to have a close economic relationship, but that can't mean and that warm, if not hot, weather looks set to last for some watering down the single market. that is what we have seen since the of us into bank holiday referendum. that position has not changed and is unlikely to change today. what we have seen for years monday as well. is british prime ministers from david cameron through to theresa may and now boris johnson, hello, you're watching david cameron through to theresa may and now borisjohnson, coming to berlin to ask mrs merkel to change afternoon live — i'm carrie gracie. today at 2... her mind on those red lines she has the government launches an inquiry into the future laid down, in particular the backstop. it hasn't worked in the of the high speed 2 rail link. with £7 billion already spent on the project, past with previous prime ministers and according to all observers here a final decision is expected within months. in germany, it will not work today. give us exactly where we are up to, what mrs merkel would be prepared to really, genuinely what it would cost talk about what she is hoping mr to complete this project, and then we'll know and we'll be johnson will want to talk about is the future relationship. and there, in a much better position to make that decision go or no—go by the end she has said she is open to the idea of the year. of alternative arrangements to keep

that border on the island of ireland borisjohnson will meet angela merkel later with a call to scrap the irish open. but so far, berlin has said border backstop in order to secure an brexit deal. they haven't had concrete ideas of what those alternatives should be a man accused of murdering pc from britain. until then, andrew harper appears in court and will face trial injanuary. what those alternatives should be from britain. untilthen, until there are more concrete ideas, they thousands of homeless children say the backstop has to stay in the are growing up living in shipping withdrawal agreement. containers and empty office blocks, joining me now to discuss according to england's this is yael selfin, children's commissioner. chief economist at kpmg in the uk. coming up on afternoon live how co—dependent do you think the british and german economies are? all the sport — olly foster. we are talking the ashes again. the they are dependent, but it's a very third test starts tomorrow. england different picture for the uk and for have their own concussion concerns now, but the captain is sure they germany. if you look at germany on can pull themselves level in the its own, and you look at german series. all the details coming up. exports, in terms of total exports, and darren has the weather. goods and services, they represent yesterday, i promised you some dry about 4% of the german economy, the and warm weather. that has not changed. later in the programme, we exports that go to the uk market. will look at how warm it's going to get and why our weather is changing but then you need to look at the uk at last. and their relationship with the eu

asa thanks. and their relationship with the eu as a whole. eu exports represent also coming up — as our focus about half of the total exports of on farming coverage continues, this afternoon we'll be looking live inside a beehive the uk. so it's a very unbalanced relationship. and yet the british with our honeycomb—cam. position seems to be that self interest will drive european leaders, including angela merkel, who borisjohnson leaders, including angela merkel, who boris johnson is leaders, including angela merkel, who borisjohnson is going to meet today, self interest will drive hello, everyone, this these leaders to reconsider their is afternoon live. position on the role of the backstop an inquiry is to be launched and the withdrawal agreement? yes. into whether the h52 high speed rail link should go ahead. £7 billion has already been there will be obviously, and you spent on the scheme, alluded to it already, there will be which is designed to link london, birmingham, manchester and leeds. some industries which will be more the cost of the project has been affected. for example, 14% of cars rising — with recent reports that it produced in germany are being sold could reach £86 billion. in the uk market. and other the inquiry will look at whether the scheme should be affirmed, amended — or simply scrapped. the government says it will make a final decision industries will be more specifically by the end of the year. affected. but overall, the impact on our transport correspondent tom the german economy of a new deal will be much more limited than the burridge has the details. impact on the uk economy. let's high speed 2 is britain's biggest construction project

in living memory. widen this out and look at more of you can see here how the impacts on the uk of a no deal. work on the main hub of the railway in west as chief economist at kpmg, i am london is well under way. sure you have done a lot of work on the taxpayer's, money. this. we all saw the yellowhammer link to on no deal impacts at the but despite buildings going down, weekend. what is your current here on the edge of birmingham, thinking about best and worst case the new transport secretary isn't analysis of the impact of a no deal ruling anything out, including getting rid in october the 31st? the first thing of the scheme altogether. just because you've spent a lot of money on something should not mean that you just carry to bear in mind is that there are on ploughing more and still quite a few unknown unknowns more money into it. where we don't know what will but what we've said happen. but bearing that in mind and and what the prime minister made very clear during his leadership looking at the estimated numbers of election, we want to see great damages, for example from the obr, infrastructure in our country, we could expect gdp to contract by we want to see it stack up and we want to see it work for rail commuters and people 1.596 right across the country. we could expect gdp to contract by 1.5% next year if we had a no deal. the first phase of the railway being built now will link that is the calculation of the obr. london to birmingham, after that, faces 2a and b will link london to manchester and leeds. but last month, it emerged and the economy would gradually

via a leaked letter that a review recover on the back of it. by the current chairman of h52 had obviously, the initial impact would found that the programme be around the exchange rate. we could see the pound falling by about was possibly as much as £30 billion over budget. the budget, as things stand, is still officially 10% straightaway. that is a big job. at least 56 billion. are you saying it would stay 10% below, or would it recover? it could michael cross owned office blocks and land at euston that were compulsory purchased. he said it was undervalued by hs2 and claims the company owe him below, or would it recover? it could be the low that we would gradually hundreds of millions of pounds. see a recovery from as the situation hs2 dispute his claims, but he says the project has settles. thank you for your been poorly conceived. expertise. what they have constructed is not a fast train but a gravy train, a body has been found by members and there needs to be very major of the emergency services enquiries as to who benefited. searching for a six—year—old child who fell into the river stour but hsz limited, the day it was formed, was not fit for purpose. in kent. they have never been in conformity lucas dobson had been with the development missing since saturday. agreement they signed up. kent police say the body hasn't been but business leaders and many formally identified, leading politicalfigures but the little boy's family in the north of england and the midlands say the railway will be a vital link. has been told. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines:

the government announces a review into the future of the hs2 rail link, cutting current train journey times with the transport secretary saying all options — between leeds and burning including scrapping it — them from two hours to just one. are on the table. if we stop the h52 line borisjohnson will meet angela merkel later with a call to scrap the irish at birmingham and don't continue it border backstop in order to the north of england to secure an brexit deal. a man accused of murdering pc andrew harper will and on to scotland through the east stand trial injanuary. and west coast main line, the rest of the country will not benefit from this project and the entire purpose will have been lost. in sport, head of the third ashes with billions already spent and huge areas cleared and land bought up, test that starts tomorrow at hs2 is a work in progress, headingley, england's jason roy has so cancelling it would be been passed fit to test. he passed a costly and controversial. but as the budget goes up, concussion test. but sarri's ollie the scheme‘s value for money drops. pope has been called up as batting altering it might be a more plausible option. cover. england are through to the with me is sirjohn armitt, the chair of the national infrastructure commission. euro hockey semifinals in antwerp. they had a scare against lowly belarus. ireland are out after a draw against germany. wales' captain you were previously in charge of hs ashley williams has been left out of one and you were in charge and the squad for next month? euro network rail. let me acquis what you qualifier against azerbaijan. he is currently without a club after being think is going on here. well, new released by everton. more details on prime minister, new secretary of those stories coming up.

state, a lot of backchat, if you more now on the news like, over the last year about this that the transport secretary, grant shapps, has said that the hs2 project and the eventual cost. so rail project could be scrapped. perhaps surprising, but maybe not the government's announced an independent review surprising that a full review is to consider the costs, benefits, and impact of building being asked for, although it's a the line from london to birmingham fairly quick review, so we don't know how much detail can be gone and then to manchester and leeds. into. and what do you think should we can cross to our westminster studio and speak to amelia womack, happen? if you were conducting the the deputy leader of review or if you were asked for the green party. advice, and for all i know, you may what is your response to this news? be, what advice would you give? iam not what is your response to this news? i am not surprised that we need a review. the costs of this project have been spiralling, notjust the well, fundamentally, this is a economic costs, but the project which has been approved by environmental costs as well which the government in the past. it is a need consideration. it is surprising that they have got the chair of hs2 project which has massive support in the midlands and the north limited onto this review. we need particularly. a lot of development something that is truly independent is already taking place in the middle of birmingham in anticipation and properly peer—reviewed. and of the arrival of high speed 2. put while we are having this review, we must pause construction to stop the continued environmental destruction thatis that together with the high speed 3, continued environmental destruction that is cutting through our countryside and through ancient as it is called, but better woodlands. some people will be

interconnectivity of the railways and the northern cities, and we have puzzled, because they generally the prospect of a massive expect an environmental lobbyist to improvement over the next 20 years. ta ke expect an environmental lobbyist to take the view that rail travel is more environmentally friendly. rail travel is more environmentally friendly and we are not against then why is this new government, high—speed rail as a whole. but this which after all is very much branding itself as i can do, let's project is £56 billion being poured get on with it, make britain great into one piece of railway network. again kind of message, why wouldn't that could be far better spent it just say, we again kind of message, why wouldn't improving railway networks across itjust say, we are going for this, the country. people at home will we have already sunk costs into it, know what the pinch points in their we have already sunk costs into it, we need to stick with the courage of railway network are which mean that oui’ we need to stick with the courage of our convictions etc? why would they not get on with it using that capacity and transport are slowed. language? that is a fair point, it would be better to invest that money across the country. you could because post—brexit, we need to show the rest of the world that we are put 500 million into 114 projects determined, that we have self—belief across the uk in different towns and in our ability to do these large cities to increase capacity and mean that we even have a better connected projects. transport is fundamentally so projects. transport is fundamentally so important to the growth of the rural community with our cities. economy. we have a largely victorian this project is not providing those railway. the roots of our railway benefits. to me, most people i speak we re railway. the roots of our railway to who talk about the barriers to were laid down in the victorian era and as we have seen with high—speed why they don't get on trains is one, the new railways are incredibly because of the cost of that travel.

reliable and bring enormous benefits. so the opportunity here to this white elephant project will put down for the first time in 150 have high costs associated with it and will not make rail fares yea rs put down for the first time in 150 years a new railway through the cheaper. what do you say to those who say we have already sunk £7 central of england, connecting north billion into this, we have bought and south, is a great opportunity. more land which has to be built on yes, it is expensive and i suppose at the end of the day, the cost will now, if you cancel it, that is all costs which are wasted and what's bea at the end of the day, the cost will be a concern, but it is spread over more, some will say you have to 20 years. but i suppose the yes, it commit to big infrastructure projects and they will deliver value is expensive line, people were delivering that in the first place for money over our grandchildren ‘s when it was coming in at one price and great grandchildren ‘s tag and now it may come in at £30 generation. we can't keep sinking billion more, which is more than 50% bad money behind bad money. if it's a bad investment, we shouldn't keep higher. surely that has to drive spending our tax payers' money on people back to the decision and say, do we really want to do this?m that. for the big infrastructure people back to the decision and say, do we really want to do this? if i was involved, yes, you would be saying, can we look at our scope of projects, i believe we need a clear works here, can we look at the vision for transport across the whole of the uk that makes us that specification, is the top line speed are connected. that could mean so specification, is the top line speed so essential? if we pull off the putting money into things like speed a bit, can we save worthwhile cycling projects, better railway infrastructure that means we sums of money? they need to be electrify those lines where electrification has been paused. we

could invest that money in far better way is by having a clear worthwhile to get ourselves to the vision about what the future of right scope of work which reflects transport should look like in the zist transport should look like in the 21st century. i feel like a lot of value for money. but in these vision that has come from the projects, the value for money is government recently has been on past going to be felt for 100 years. ideas. this infrastructure project itself looks like a vision for 0bviously, going to be felt for 100 years. obviously, the victorians used to ta ke obviously, the victorians used to take the attitude, let's work out what we need and then double it when france in the 1980s rather than for we build. we don't any longer have the uk in the 21st—century. we could that worldview. but is there a view challenge for the future of sustainable transport look like if we had that clear big vision that that worldview. but is there a view that we need to have which is that included railways, buses, coaches, for big infrastructure projects, walking and cycling as methods of they will pay back over the long transport. thank you. term? you certainly have to have commitment and belief in what you the man accused of murdering pc are doing. and with major andrew harper has appeared in court via video—link from prison. infrastructure, you know that your the thames valley police officer died last thursday near the village children, your grandchildren and of sulhamstead in berkshire, while investigating a burglary. their grandchildren will benefit duncan kennedy has this update from this for a long time. thank you for coming in. from reading crown court. this whole hearing today only lasted about 30 minutes or so. borisjohnson will meet the german chancellor, angela merkel, in berlin this jed foster wasn't in court himself. afternoon, as he continues to try to persuade the eu to accept fundamental changes

to the brexit withdrawal agreement. he will again press for the irish backstop to be scrapped, something he was present via a video the eu has repeatedly rejected. link from the prison many german industries have been voicing concerns about the prospect that he is being held in. of britain leaving the eu he gave his date of birth and also gave his nationality as british. on one side of the court without a deal. were ten or 15 members of his family and friends. on the other side of the court 0ur europe correspondent were three members of pc andrew harper's family, all of them listening to what was essentially a technical damian mcguinness is in berlin. and administrative hearing today. the main decision taken today yeah, we have seen a lot of worry was that the trial ofjed foster from german industry about the will take place onjanuary the 20th next year. prospects of a no deal, or a chaotic it will take place here at reading crown court, and we are told it will last about three weeks. brexit, as it is called in germany. at the same time today, but in fact, there is widespread thejudge issued an order to the media telling them not to use support from industry at the same time for angela merkel‘s stance. she any photos ofjed foster in future, because he said identification supports the eu, saying that the will be an issue in this trial. there was no application backstop can't be scrapped and that for bail on the part of mr foster's legal team, their withdrawal agreement can't be negotiated. the reason why businesses are supporting her on and he was remanded in custody. this is that they feel that the integrity of the single market and the support for other eu members engineers have constructed a floating platform as part

such as ireland in particular in of their work to reinforce the dam this case with the backstop, is more at whaley bridge. important than the loss of some hundreds of people had to leave their homes in the derbyshire town after the dam trade with britain. already, a lot threatened to collapse. the reservoir behind the dam has of german firms are panning away been drained to reduce the risk from britain and looking at other of flooding and to allow repairs to take place. markets. people are taking this into our correspondent dave guest account in germany, and germany has account in germany, and germany has a lot of other things on its plate reports now from the dam. right now. what is astonishing right toddbrook reservoir, a shadow of its 110w right now. what is astonishing right now and over the last few years is former self. in comparison to what the amount of support that angela it was, its almost like a large, merkel has had from opposition politicians, from industry and muddy puddle. they have pumped out1 voters. there is no sense here that billion litres of water from the anyone is saying she should back reservoir to save the dam which was in such periljust three weeks ago. down to what mrjohnson wants, which is to scrap the backstop. so the then, the water was cascading over this dam. the raf were called in. general mood in berlin today is that there were famous pictures of there is nothing to indicate that chinook helicopters trying to plug mrs merkel will give whatjohnson the hole temporarily. there's bags of cement have been cemented into wa nts. germany has no appetite place. that is a temporary repair, for a no—deal brexit, but it's what the new british prime minister though. they now have to work out is threatening to dish up how they can make this dam safe if he doesn't get what he wants. and in hamburg, where much permanently. in the short—term, they

of the fish comes from british have got the water level down and waters, that's a concern. they will keep it down with those translation: we're not panicking, pumps underneath the pontoons. you but we expect prices to rise. see there are giant pumps, the things with the blue end on them. we will have to pass costs on to the customer. they can pump up to 250 litres a so, should the eu renegotiate second, each pump, if they need to. the terms of britain's departure? they will employ those if the rain suddenly came back and there was a translation: i don't think the eu should give any more. danger of the water level coming europe has gone a long way to make backin danger of the water level coming back in the reservoir. the canal and concessions and i think river trust, who are responsible for we've reached the limit. the dam on the reservoir, say they germany's gateway to the world, are now satisfied that the town of vulnerable to a no—deal brexit. whaley bridge is entirely safe and it's estimated that hamburg they are carrying on the work to would suffer more financial damage per head of population first of all find out why the dam than any other part of the country. failed and then what they need to do other regions worry for their car to repair it. but it will be a long plants, their drug companies. in hamburg, it's aeroplanes. process. they say they will be on the site here for at least 18 months translation: of course to two years. time for a look at the weather. we are worried about what brexit will bring. we're the third biggest aviation industry site i have been promising some dry weather and some much warm weather. after seattle and toulouse. hamburg produces a lot of airbuses, i hope you're not going to break whose wings come from wales. 111,000 jobs depend on that. your promise. i am not, but i will explain what is changing. the jet still struggling over

the same old ground. strea m explain what is changing. the jet stream is the ribbon of high moving europe's queen of compromise encountered plenty of hot air as she toured a geothermal site in iceland yesterday. —— fast—moving air in the sky. the berlin is still not sure whether boris johnson jet stream picks up areas of low is calling europe's bluff. pressure and steers them across the uk, which is why we have had a lot but angela merkel has her red of rain. and we have been on the cooler side of thejet, lines and the irish of rain. and we have been on the cooler side of the jet, so the cooler side of the jet, so the cooler air has come across the backstop is one of them. country. moving to this weekend and the position of the jet stream is in hamburg, they come and they go. going to change significantly. it is but germany has never altered its brexit course. starting to buckle a bit and the you really get the sense here ofjust how close germany position is changing, so thejet and britain have been. strea m position is changing, so thejet stream is now to the north of the they've traded through this uk. that is where we will steer most port for centuries. germany wants to keep britain close. of the areas of north pressure and hence most of the rain, up towards iceland. we have high pressure but it values europe and the single market more. across continental europe, and that those hoping that this country's soft spot for the british can will introduce warmer air from the translate into more brexit land and we will see temperatures concessions may be disappointed. and even as it seeks to prevent it, rising across the country. white this city, this country, is steeling banker how hot is it going to get? itself for a painful farewell. 00:13:53,711 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 jenny hill, bbc news, hamburg. the higher temperatures will be in the south—east and the london area.

you can see how temperatures are rising through thursday, friday and into the weekend. can you remember the last time we had 30 degrees? into the weekend. can you remember the last time we had 30 degree57m looks like summer. you are about to say the 25th ofjuly, weren't you? we had the hottest day ever recorded in the uk. on that thursday when the trains had melting rail lines. in the uk. on that thursday when the trains had melting rail linesm in the uk. on that thursday when the trains had melting rail lines. it is not as hot as that, by 30 degrees will be a massive change from what we have had and we will have a lot of humidity. if we can get 30 degrees on bank holiday monday, that will be the hottest late august bank holiday monday on record. so that is london. what are the temperatures for everybody else? well, the warmth will push across the whole of the uk, but the higher temperatures will be towards the south—east of england. the temperatures are much better than we have had for a while. you will find the low 20s across scotla nd

you will find the low 20s across scotland and northern ireland amid a mid—20s across northern england. scotland and northern ireland amid a mid-20s across northern england. get the picnic rug out. absolutely! for the picnic rug out. absolutely! for the rest of today, we have the best of the weather across southern and eastern parts of the uk. in scarborough, we had some lovely sunshine earlier. towards the west, things look very different, with much more clout. we had heavy showers across wales. those are extending into the north ahead of the main feature of the weather, this area of low pressure and the archicad on the weather front which is bringing some rain. quite heavy rain together with strengthening winds making further progress into scotland. further south, it winds making further progress into scotland. furthersouth, it will winds making further progress into scotland. further south, it will be dry and pleasantly warm in the sunshine. this evening, the rain moves away from northern ireland. overnight, it moves away from scotla nd overnight, it moves away from scotland and then stumbles into

northern england and north wales. ahead of it, some clearer skies. we have got the weather front moving southwards into england and wales overnight thursday, but it will only get so far because it will be anchored by the next weather system coming in from the atlantic. and that will start to move the rain northwards again. so we may have rain to begin with across north wales and northern england which then turns wet for a while in northern ireland and scotland, where it will peg back the temperatures. southern parts of wales and much of the midlands are likely to be dry with sunshine, and we will see temperatures creeping up again to the mid 20s. by the end of the week, we have higher pressure group across the southern areas. that is important. these weather fronts are still running on across the atlantic towards the north of scotland, still bringing ina towards the north of scotland, still bringing in a lot of rain. then as

we change the wind direction to a southerly, we push away the rain from northern scotland. we break up the cloud in most areas and we get some sunshine. that will boost the temperatures even more. as we have seen, that warmth will continue to build into the bank holiday weekend. there is a chance of showers for western scotland and northern ireland on saturday, but on the whole, a little dry weather into the beginning of next week.

this is bbc news — our latest headlines... the government launches an inquiry into the future of the high speed 2 rail link — with £7 billion already spent on the project — a final decision is expected within months. give us exactly where we are up to, really, genuinely what it would cost to complete this project, and then we'll know and we'll be in a much better position to make that decision go or no—go by the end of the year. borisjohnson will meet angela merkel later — with a call to scrap the irish border backstop, in order to secure an brexit deal. a man accused of murdering pc andrew harper appears in court and will face trial injanuary.

thousands of homeless children are growing up living in shipping containers and empty office blocks, according to england's children's commissioner. sport now on afternoon live with olly foster. we will start with cricket again. and the next test is almost upon us. yes, we have been talking a lot about cricket this week. england have been sweating on the fitness of their openerjason roy, he was hit by a ball during a net session yesterday, it was actually a throw down from marcus trescothick, the former england batsman. roy has passed a concussion test but england are playing it safe,

off the back of those delayed symptoms that stopped steve smith from playing. england have called up surrey‘s ollie pope as batting coverjust in case. the england captainjoe root has taken plenty of positives out odf the drawn lord's test, but they have to avoid defeat in this test or the ashes will stay with australia, jason has been monitored closely as you would expect and he has undergone a couple of concussion tests so far and stored really well. as it stands, ifully tests so far and stored really well. as it stands, i fully expect him to be fit and ready to play tomorrow —— scored. i feeljason could be fit and ready to play tomorrow —— scored. ifeeljason could have be fit and ready to play tomorrow —— scored. i feeljason could have a big impact at the start of a game or the start of an innings. you might not have happened just yet but i fully expect him to go out and be able to do just that. it is a big ask. he has had five innings at the top of the order, and he has

averaged just nine which means 45 measly runs. he is due a big innings. and now to england women's hockey. they are through to the championships, but it was fairly tight? really unexpected this, belarus had been the thrashed in their previous two group games conceding 24 goals without reply, this should have been a walkover for england, they won 4—3. lily owsley opened the scoring in antwerp after 10 minutes before isabelle petter got her first england goal. we expected the floodgates to open but belarus, 18 places below england in the rankings, struck back to level twice, it was 3—3 in the final quarter, that spurred england on.

hannah martin sealed victory with 4 minutes to go. we were not good enough across the board, we definitely need to look at today, we cannotjust ignore it and all our focus now is on the semifinal, we do not know who it is against but every one of the three games will be tough. we need to look at today and see where we need to develop and get better and look back to the first—half performance in the germany game and get back some of that play which was really good and we opened up and created chances against the germans so it is good we got the point and through to the semifinals but disappointed. ireland are out, though, they needed to beat germay but could only draw. the germans took the lead after pia maertans found the net with this absolute rocket in the first quarter. ireland levelled from a penalty corner — sarah hawkshaw with the final touch in the last few minutes of that first quarter but it wasn't enough.

wales player ashley williams has been left out of their squad for the euro 2020 qualifier against azerbaijan in cardiff next month. he's been capped 86 times and led wales to the euro 2016 semi finals. manager ryan giggs says he has been left out as he has not had a pre season — he is currently without a club after being released by everton, but is now set to join bristol city. he has not had much game time. i spoke to ashley last week and he was fine about it, it was not a surprise to him. obviously, he has not let me down and he has been brilliant for me as a captain on and off the pitch. it was not an easy decision but we have players who are playing, especially in his position, so just playing, especially in his position, sojust being fair to playing, especially in his position, so just being fair to those players, really. he still remains my captain, though. that's all the sport for now.

more now on our top story. the transport secretary, grant shapps, has said that the hs2 rail project could be scrapped. the government's announced an independent review to consider the costs, benefits, and impact of building the line from london to birmingham and then to manchester and leeds. we can cross to cardiff and speak to liberal democrat peer baroness randerson, who is a supporter of the rail link. thanks forjoining us. are you concerned to hear about this inquiry today? i'm not concerned that there is an inquiry and i've been calling for a complete review of hs2 and its costings for the last year, really, because we value this. we think this is an essential project, essential for the regeneration of the north and of symbolic value as well as being of real practical value. but

the problem is, because costs have escalated, a lot of doubt has fallen on itand escalated, a lot of doubt has fallen on it and we think it is time it was examined in full, costs were brought under control because there are ways in which one can do that without undermining the project. tell me that, because the cost is the thing many people are now focused on. there are two obvious ways in which costs can be reduced considerably. one is to make sure that the terminus is not euston but old oak common, because it will cause ten yea rs of common, because it will cause ten years of ridiculously expensive disruption to bring that railway into euston. the second way in which you can reduce costs is to reduce the highest speeds, and speed costs money, and it can still be a high—speed railway without being the highest speed in the world. since a lot of it is already going to be in

tunnels, you can't go at the highest speed anyway, so what is the point of having the infrastructure that enables the very highest speed at huge cost when actually at a significantly lower cost you can reduce the speed a little bit and still get what you desire as a practical effect? what would that look like? the language today is that the costs have escalated, £30 billion over the original £56 billion over the original £56 billion which was discussed. how much of that additional cost inflammation can you remove by going a bit slower? —— inflation. inflammation can you remove by going a bit slower? -- inflation. you are removing billions, probably in excess of £10 billion, in terms of the cost, if you just do those two basic things, but i noticed the review and its terms of reference will be looking at different ways in which you can reduce costs. there

area number of which you can reduce costs. there are a number of other things which can be done to bring it under control, because it is such an exciting project. i notice that most of the criticism that comes for it comes from people who live in the south of england. in practice, year after yea r, south of england. in practice, year after year, the north of england gets about a third of the amount thatis gets about a third of the amount that is spent on transport for london, the head of the population, and it is time that was addressed and it is time that was addressed and that there was really good projects. transport for the north has a whole set of schemes going east west as well as north—south, because east west is really important in the north of england. to link up those major cities and towns. they have got those projects and they depend at least in part on hs2 being delivered but it —— if it

is going to be delivered in needs to be delivered in a sensible and cost—effective manner. i think the review body is full of very experienced people for whom i have great respect and it has a very fast time so hopefully it won't be an excuse by the government to cancel this project. because it would be disgusting if they cancel the project. thanks forjoining us. president trump has cancelled a state visit to denmark — after its prime minister dismissed his proposal to buy greenland, as ‘absurd'. president trump tweeted that denmark is a very special country with incredible people — but ‘based on prime minister mette frederiksen's comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of greenland, i will be postponing our meeting, scheduled in two weeks, for another time. in response, the danish

prime minister said the trips cancellation will not change the ‘good relations' between denmark and the united states. it is with regret and surprise that i received the news that president trump has cancelled his state visit to denmark on the second and 3rd of september. i had been looking forward to the visit and our preparations were well under way. it was an opportunity, i think, to celebrate denmark's close relationship to the us, he remains one of denmark's closest allies. i was looking forward to having a dialogue on the many shared interests denmark has with the us. furthermore, the development in the arctic region called for further cooperation between the us and greenland, there islands and denmark, and therefore i would like to underline our invitation for

stronger cooperation on artic affairs still stands. a discussion has been raised about a potential sale of greenland and this has clearly been rejected, which is a position i share, of course. this does not change the character of our good relations and we will, of course, from denmark, continue our ongoing dialogue with the us on how we can develop our cooperation and deal with the many common challenges we are facing. the danish prime minister, there. all this week we're taking a look at the farming industry, from how it's dealing with climate change, to what brexit means for the future of agriculture across the uk. today we're looking at some of the issues affecting the world of bee farming.

and we have our very own "bee cam" at a bee farm in buckinghamshire. that is quite hypnotic. and gareth barlow is buzzing around at oakfield honey farm in buckingham for us. you are close to the hive. close enough to have the protective gear on, and this is a busy time of year for arable farmers and bee farmers are no different. here the harvest is about over and we are going to join rebecca who is a bee farmer in charge of these hives. how has this year been? so far so good and we are quite pleased with how it has gone. this is the last week, bringing all the honey, we have not done a tally up the honey, we have not done a tally up but hopefully this is good for us and good for the bees. we are going to put our hoods on. trying to keep out the wasps which are coming in at the same time, what are we going to

see inside here? you can see lots of worker bees, female worker bees, working away and this is on top of the crown board, and in the roof they have built up very strong at this time of the and because the weather is good they have been out foraging. you are lifting the plastic lid off the top, what makes a healthy colony? you want it to be big and strong, so like this, you wa nt big and strong, so like this, you want it to have a good queen which is laying really well and keeping the temperature nice and calm. at the temperature nice and calm. at the back you have the honeycomb they have built, trying to build it and fill up every space they can with honey. you produce honey but these are small hives because you have a different side to your business, selling queens? correct. these are artificially small and they are just used to rear queen bees in and they are only active like this from march

until the next few weeks and then we put the bees into big hives so they can have a bigger colony for the winter. these bees have got their tails in the air, they are busy buzzing away, what are they doing? they have a little bland on the end where there bottom is —— gland. they aren't sending out the scent and they know something is up because we have moved them but they are letting everyone know they are here. have moved them but they are letting everyone know they are harem have moved them but they are letting everyone know they are here. it is a nice sunny day here in buckinghamshire, with regards to the climate a lot of talk about the variability, what do you need in regard to the season to have productive hives and happy bees? you wa nt productive hives and happy bees? you want moisture in the ground which is from rain and that produces the nectar in the flowers. you want it to be sunny so the bees can collect the nectar. whilst you put the lid back on i will take the lid off my head and tell you you can look inside one of these hives if you go

to the bbc website, and then to focus on farming. it is live until three o'clock. it is actually quite gripping to watch that. i really enjoyed that interview, come back again. and for more on the issues we'll be focusing on throughout the week here on bbc news and to see more of beehive live — in a moment we have the latest business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. the government launches an inquiry into the future of the high speed 2 rail link — with £7 billion already spent on the project — a final decision is expected within months. borisjohnson will meet angela merkel later — with a call to scrap the irish border backstop, in order to secure an brexit deal. a man accused of murdering pc andrew harper appears in court and will face trial injanuary.

here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the government says that companies will be automatically enrolled in a customs system — as it speeds up preparations for a no—deal brexit. 72,000 companies have already signed up voluntarily but now a further 88,000 companies will be added to the scheme that will facilitate trade with eu states after brexit. ryanair is in court trying to block its uk based pilots from striking over pay and conditions on thursday. the budget airline hasjust won a similar legal bid at the high court in dublin to stop irish pilots doing the same. barclays has topped the list of banks for suffering the most it shutdowns over the last year. analysis by the bbc shows

that barlcays had 33 digital disruptions, stopping customers from accessing normal services. rival banks natwest had 25 and lloyds had 23. that is not the kind of table you wa nt to that is not the kind of table you want to be on top of. now, what about donald trump and greenland? donald trump's business idea has caused a diplomatic spat. we don't know exactly why. greenland is important from a defence perspective, and it is not the first time a us president has considered acquiring the territory. it has a air force base on it considered acquiring the territory. it has a airforce base on it and is quite close to russia but from a business perspective there is another theory out there got that green and is quite rich in what is known as rare earth minerals. these are things you extract from the ground, natural products, but they are increasingly used in the

manufacture of products like electric cars and wind turbines. and right now most of the world's supply of rare earth minerals comes from china, around 70%, and given the current rate climate between the us and china, they want to become less reliant on china for these. the chinese can rattle the cage on that in the same way that trump has rattled the cage of the chinese on access to tech exports. and they have. beijing made a veiled threat, there was an editorial in one of the newspapers suggesting that maybe china will prioritise its own manufacturers when it comes to the doling out of these rare earth minerals and they are becoming increasingly important as we become a more tech driven society. us does not necessarily have to acquire greenland to obtain the use of its rare earth minerals and they recently signed a deal in fact of cooperation to actually start promoting the development of the industry there. so it's not quite

clear why donald trump has gone off ona clear why donald trump has gone off on a one of sorts when it comes to acquiring the territory. michelle fleury is in new york. a lot of head scratching over there and over here as to whether this is and over here as to whether this is a serious proposal or ever had any business merit, any other theories at your end? we can get into the rumour milland at your end? we can get into the rumour mill and there is plenty surrounding donald trump, is he trying to distract us from something else? if you look at this administration that is one consistency, he has made a key point of trying to constrain china and under the leadership of xi jinping they have been nervous about china flexing its muscle and you point to their dominance of the rare earth minerals, they have been hoovering up minerals, they have been hoovering up the mines in central and southern africa and they controlled much of the world supply said this was a countermeasure from donald trump to

that, i think. countermeasure from donald trump to that, ithink. he countermeasure from donald trump to that, i think. he floated the idea, and how far they ever thought they would get, who knows, but it ties into the broader theme about the national security and containment of china and this broader trade concern america has when it comes to its dealings with china. another story on your patch, walmart, taking to court, what has become one of the world's most notorious companies, tesla. tesla bought up a solar company called solar city, it spent a fairchunk of company called solar city, it spent a fair chunk of change acquiring it and since then the business has been doing so so. this case highlights the problems tesla is having right now with its solar business. walmart basically is saying they were shoddy installations, loose wires, on solar

panels which were installed in the rooms of some of its shops and they we re rooms of some of its shops and they were so bad they were files which caused damaged to of its stores. —— there were fires. notjust caused damaged to of its stores. —— there were fires. not just the buildings, but the merchandising side was damaged, so they are trying to recoup their losses from tesla which could amount to millions of dollars. very interesting. michelle, thanks forjoining us. that's all the business news. the first people to dive down to the wreck of the titanic in 15 years say it's deteriorating — partly because it's being eaten by bacteria. using a submersible built to withstand the immense pressure of the deep — an international team of explorers surveyed it and say that some parts of it are disappearing. at the bottom of the atlantic,

nearly 4000 metres down, the most famous wreck of all time, this is the bow of the titanic, still recognisable more than 100 years after she sank. it was the first time people have been down to see it for themselves for nearly 15 years, but while some of the rack is intact, other parts have disappeared altogether. —— wreck. intact, other parts have disappeared altogether. -- wreck. the most shocking area of deterioration was the starboard side where the ca pta i ns the starboard side where the captains quarters are, and that is a favourite image amongst titanic enthusiasts and that is now gone. that whole deck house on that site is collapsing, taking with it state rooms and the deterioration will continue advancing. despite the near freezing temperatures this far down, life has found a way to thrive on the rack and that is causing the problems. microbes are eating away at the metal —— on the ship wreck. sta la ctites at the metal —— on the ship wreck. stalactites dangle from the ship, so fragile they crumble into dust if

they are disturbed. amazingly the ports are well preserved, and the glass still in place if all those around it are still decaying, giving around it are still decaying, giving a tantalising glimpse into the titanic‘s past. it was the biggest ship of its time, setting sail from southampton in 1912 on its maiden voyage, heading to new york. but it never made it, and it sank after hitting an iceberg, 1500 people lost their lives. these incredibly ornate slippers belong to one of the titanic‘s first class passengers, edith rosenbaum, a fashion buyer who was on her way to new york, one of the lucky ones, who survived, and she brought with her this musical toy pig that she played to soothe the children on the overcrowded lifeboat. this cloak was worn by elizabeth manager who was a second class passenger on board the titanic. every one of the precious

a rtefa cts at titanic. every one of the precious artefacts at the national maritime museum tells a story. but exploring the ship wreck is also crucial. museum tells a story. but exploring the ship wreck is also crucialm is still important to go down and visit the ship wreck and to continue to document the site because the wreck itself is now the only witness we have of the titanic disaster. all of the survivors have now passed away. it is important to use the wreck while it still has something to say. in total the team carried out five sa bah to say. in total the team carried out five sabah dives, spending hours beneath the waves exploring the wreck, and they now begin the job of analysing the footage they have captured, to assess how long before the titanic is lost to the sea. now it's time for a look at the weather. the best of the weather today is across more southern and eastern parts of the uk, lovely sunshine here in scarborough. further west in the uk, a different picture, and

also rain in anglesey wales, with a few showers across wales, pushing their way to the north midlands and northern england. the main feature of the weather today is this area of low pressure and the cloud here, a weather front which is notjust bringing in cloud but also rain which is sweeping across northern ireland and making further inroads into scotland. winds picking up, as well. further south and east a good chance of staying dry and it will feel pleasantly warm in the sunshine. the wetter weather will move away from northern ireland and it will go across scotland. ahead of that, clearer skies and cloud breaking but they will be showers in the far north west of scotland and temperature will be 10—14. a weather front is moving down the uk but it will only get so far because it will be anchored by the next with a system coming from the atlantic and that will move the rain north so we may start to see some rain first thing across north wales and

northern england and then it will get wet across northern ireland and the rain will move into scotland. right across south wales and much of the midlands, warm sunshine and temperatures into the mid 20s, may be an improvement in the picture later for northern ireland. be an improvement in the picture laterfor northern ireland. we have high pressure and southern areas and that will be crucial over the days ahead. we still have the wind coming in off the atlantic further north but we have the weather fronts bringing further rain on friday in the highlands of scotland. the wind direction changes, or southerly, pushing the rain away to northern scotland, and it will break up the cloud in many areas and that will bring spells of sunshine which will give the temperatures a boost. top temperature around 27 in the london area. the outlook continues the fine weather going into the bank holiday weekend. the chance of a few showers for western scotland and northern ireland on saturday but it will be

warmer than it has been at the highest temperatures are likely to be in the south—east of england. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm carrie gracie. today at 3... the government launches an inquiry into the future of the high speed 2 rail link. with £7 billion already spent on the project, a final decision is expected within months. give us exactly where we are up to, really, genuinely what it would cost to complete this project, and then we'll know and we'll be in a much better position to make that decision go or no—go by the end of the year. borisjohnson will meet angela merkel later with a call to scrap the irish border backstop in order to secure an brexit deal. a man accused of murdering pc andrew harper appears in court and will face trial injanuary. thousands of homeless children are growing up living in shipping containers and empty office blocks, according to england's children's commissioner. coming up on afternoon live,

all the sport with olly foster. lots of ashes news for you ahead of the third test that starts tomorrow. england have their own concussion kansanis england have their own concussion kansan is now, but the captain is sure they can pull themselves back into the series. —— they have concussion concerns. thanks, olly, and darren bett has all the weather. for most of august, it has been cool and wet, but the weather is changing. we will look at why it is changing. we will look at why it is changing and how hot it is going to get later in the programme. thanks. also coming up — an eerie sight. scientists visit the world's most famous shipwreck — the titanic — and find bacteria eating away at parts of the wreckage. hello, everyone —

this is afternoon live. i'm carrie gracie. an inquiry is to be launched into whether the hs2 high speed rail link should go ahead. £7 billion has already been spent on the scheme, which is designed to link london, birmingham, manchester and leeds. the cost of the project has been rising — with recent reports that it could reach £86 billion. the inquiry will look at whether the scheme should be affirmed, amended — or simply scrapped. the government says it will make a final decision by the end of the year. our transport correspondent tom burridge has the details. high speed 2 is britain's biggest construction project in living memory. you can see here how work on the main hub of the railway in west london is well under way. in fact, they've already spent more than £7 billion of your, the taxpayer's, money. but despite buildings going down, here on the edge of birmingham, the new transport secretary isn't ruling anything out,

including getting rid of the scheme altogether. just because you've spent a lot of money on something should not mean that you just carry on ploughing more and more money into it. but what we've said and what the prime minister made very clear during his leadership election, we want to see great infrastructure in our country, we want to see it stack up and we want to see it work for rail commuters and people right across the country. the first phase of the railway being built now will link after that, phases 2a and b will link london to manchester and leeds. but last month, it emerged via a leaked letter that a review by the current chairman of hs2 had found that the programme was possibly as much as £30 billion over budget. the budget, as things stand, is still officially at least 56 billion. michael gross owned office blocks and land at euston that were compulsory purchased. he says it was undervalued by hs2 and claims the company owe him

hundreds of millions of pounds. hs2 disputes mr gross's claims, but he says the project has been poorly conceived. what they have constructed is not a fast train but a gravy train, and there needs to be very major enquiries as to who benefited. but hsz limited, the day it was formed, was not fit for purpose. they have never been in conformity with the development agreement they signed up. but business leaders and many leading politicalfigures in the north of england and the midlands say the railway will be a vital link, cutting current train journey times between leeds and burning them from two hours to just one. if we stop the h52 line at birmingham and don't continue it to the north of england and on to scotland through the east and west coast main line, the rest of the country will not benefit from this project and the entire purpose will have been lost.

with billions already spent and huge areas cleared and land bought up, hs2 is a work in progress, so cancelling it would be costly and controversial. but as the budget goes up, the scheme's value for money drops. altering it might be a more plausible option. joining me now from bournemouth is penny gaines, the chair of the stop hs2 campaign. are you celebrating this decision? we are welcoming it cautiously. the review will be undertaken by a former chair of hs2, so he is not quite coming at it from a fresh point of view. some problems. sorry, we lost you for a moment. if you

could go back to after you said you we re could go back to after you said you were not confident that it was an independent enough review, pick up from your subsequent point. independent enough review, pick up from your subsequent pointm independent enough review, pick up from your subsequent point. it is being chaired by a former chair of hs2 limited, so he is already in favour of hs2 in principle. we have seen numerous other government reviews that have come... penny gaines, i apologise, reviews that have come... penny gaines, iapologise, i reviews that have come... penny gaines, i apologise, i think we will have to leave it and come back to it because your line is breaking up too much. we will try and come back to you. let's move another story. borisjohnson will meet the german chancellor, angela merkel, in berlin later this afternoon, as he continues to try to persuade the eu to accept fundamental changes to the brexit withdrawal agreement. many german industries have been voicing concerns about the prospect of britain leaving the eu without a deal. our correspondentjenny hill has been to the northern port of hamburg — where its estimated a no—deal brexit could have more financial impact per head of the population

than in any other part of germany. germany has no appetite for a no—deal brexit, but it's what the new british prime minister is threatening to dish up if he doesn't get what he wants. and in hamburg, where much of the fish comes from british waters, that's a concern. translation: we're not panicking, but we expect prices to rise. we will have to pass costs on to the customer. so, should the eu renegotiate the terms of britain's departure? translation: i don't think the eu should give any more. europe has gone a long way to make concessions and i think we've reached the limit. germany's gateway to the world, vulnerable to a no—deal brexit. it's estimated that hamburg would suffer more financial damage per head of population than any other part of the country. other regions worry for their car plants, their drug companies. in hamburg, it's aeroplanes. translation: of course

we are worried about what brexit will bring. we're the third biggest aviation industry site after seattle and toulouse. hamburg produces a lot of airbuses, whose wings come from wales. 14,000 jobs depend on that. still struggling over the same old ground. europe's queen of compromise encountered plenty of hot air as she toured a geothermal site in iceland yesterday. berlin is still not sure whether boris johnson is calling europe's bluff. but angela merkel has her red lines and the irish backstop is one of them. in hamburg, they come and they go. but germany has never altered its brexit course. you really get the sense here ofjust how close germany and britain have been. they've traded through this port for centuries. germany wants to keep britain close. but it values europe

and the single market more. those hoping that this country's soft spot for the british can translate into more brexit concessions may be disappointed. and even as it seeks to prevent it, this city, this country, is steeling itself for a painful farewell. jenny hill, bbc news, hamburg. our political correspondent peter saull is in westminster. do you get a sense from downing street that they are taking on board the kind of robust noises coming from germany? not really. i suspect borisjohnson will be making many of the same point is that he has since becoming prime minister when he meets angela merkel later this afternoon. that is, that he wants the backstop, that most controversial element of the withdrawal agreement, to be removed entirely from it. he is talking about something that sounds painful,

about something that sounds painful, a backstopectomy. we know angela merkel and others believe this is an absolutely essential aspect of the withdrawal agreement to ensure there are no border checks in the future. they say the uk government needs to come up with something that is legally binding as an alternative. i think it might be convivial this afternoon in berlin. there will be plenty of pomp and ceremony. angela merkel and boris johnson have plenty of pomp and ceremony. angela merkel and borisjohnson have plenty of common issues to talk about, things like climate change and security. but on the matter of brexit, they are still polls apart. as we move towards the october the 3ist as we move towards the october the 31st deadline, the question is whether either side is going to blink. the other big story occupying us this afternoon which has political dimensions is the decision on the hs2 enquiry. its response to that following along party political lines? yeah, there is a clear majority in parliament in favour of

high—speed rail. it is actually almost exactly two and a half years since the first phase from london to birmingham got royal assent. so it came into law at that stage. but this was a pledge that borisjohnson made during the conservative leadership contest. he knows a lot of tory members, particularly those in rural areas of tory members, particularly those in ruralareas and of tory members, particularly those in rural areas and the south—east of england, are sceptical about the high—speed rail project. it is a potential vote winner as well if there were to be a general election. a lot of key marginal constituencies are along that line in the south—east of england and further north. but boris johnson south—east of england and further north. but borisjohnson has also said that this government is committed to bringing in brand—new infrastructure, and this is the biggest piece of infrastructure. it would go down like a lead balloon in the west midlands and the north of england, among business leaders and council leaders if it were to be scrapped. so both politically and logistically, it will be difficult to row back on the first phase. but

the review will only take weeks, it seems. a final report back is due in the autumn, with question marks over whether they are just going through the motions with its. indeed. thank you. a body has been found by members of the emergency services searching for a six—year—old child who fell into the river stour in kent. lucas dobson has been missing since saturday. kent police say the body hasn't been formally identified, but the little boy's family has been told. the man accused of murdering pc andrew harper has appeared in court via video—link from prison. the thames valley police officer died last thursday near the village of sulhamstead in berkshire, while investigating a burglary. duncan kennedy has this update from reading crown court. this whole hearing today only lasted about 30 minutes or so. jed foster wasn't in court himself. he was present via a video link from the prison that he is being held in. he gave his date of birth and also

gave his nationality as british. on one side of the court were ten or 15 members of his family and friends. on the other side of the court were three members of pc andrew harper's family, all of them listening to what was essentially a technical and administrative hearing today. the main decision taken today was that the trial ofjed foster will take place onjanuary the 20th next year. it will take place here at reading crown court, and we are told it will last about three weeks. at the same time today, thejudge issued an order to the media telling them not to use any photos ofjed foster in future, because he said identification will be an issue in this trial. there was no application for bail on the part of mr foster's legal team, and he was remanded in custody. ryanair is at the high court in london to try to stop its pilots from striking from tomorrow for 48 hours. the airline has already this morning succeeded in preventing its pilots based

in dublin from carrying out a similar stoppage. president trump has cancelled a state visit to denmark after its prime minister dismissed his proposal to buy greenland as "absurd". president trump tweeted that "denmark is a very special country with incredible people but based on prime minister mette frederiksen's comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of greenland, i will be postponing our meeting, scheduled in two weeks, for another time. in response, the danish prime minister said the trips cancellation will not change the "good relations" between denmark and the united states. it is with regret and surprise that i received the news that president trump has cancelled his state visit to denmark on 2nd and 3rd of september. i had been looking forward to the visit. our preparations were well under way.

it was an opportunity, i think, to celebrate denmark's close relationship to the us, which remains one of denmark's closest allies. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: the government launches an inquiry into the future of the high speed 2 rail link — with £7 billion already spent on the project — a final decision is expected within months. borisjohnson will meet angela merkel later — with a call to scrap the irish border backstop, in order to secure an brexit deal a man accused of murdering pc andrew harper appears in court and will face trial injanuary in sport, jason roy has been passed fit to play after a concussion test.

but surrey‘s ollie pope has been called up as cover. england are through to the euro hockey semifinals at antwerp, but they had usk were against lowly belarus. they won 4—3. ireland are out. i will be backin won 4—3. ireland are out. i will be back in 15 minutes with more on all those stories. more than 200,000 children in england are homeless, and many are living in converted office blocks, and some in former shipping containers, the children's commissioner has found. local councils say budget cuts mean they're often forced to house families in temporary accommodation. the government says it has invested £1.2 billion in tackling all forms of homelessness. our social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan, reports.

designed to ship goods, these containers now house people. england homeless stacked on top of each other. this two—bedroom property has been home to lulu and herfour children for the past nine months. her oldest son, 13 years old, is severely autistic. his mother says it is no place to raise a family. this is stressing me. it is very sad for anyone who lives here, it is not a good place, this is not a home. you don't call this a home. this is a shipping cargo container where you keep storage, you don't keep human beings in here. the children's commissioner calculates there are more than 210,000 homeless children in england. 124,000 are in temporary accommodation, including converted office blocks and bed and breakfasts, while a further 90,000 are sofa—surfing. this is the real human face of the housing crisis.

it isn't only about homeownership, it isn't only about rough sleeping, it's about these families. let's not forget, more than half of homeless families are working families. it's about families trying to do their best for their children in circumstances where it is impossible for them to do that. this office block in essex was converted into flats to house homeless families. developers don't need planning permission after the government relaxed the rules to boost the housing supply, and tens of thousands of similar properties have been created in recent years across england. councils say the severe shortage of affordable housing has left them with few options. councils too often find their hands are tied when it comes to providing the homes that local families need. central government keeps much of the money that comes from the sale of council houses, councils are restricted when it comes to borrowing in order to be able to invest in development locally, and a number of planning policies have meant that developers have been able to throw up shoddy, poor quality homes without providing social housing, so we need significant changes. ministers say they're working with councils to reduce the number of people living

in temporary accommodation. but for those stuck month after month in a converted shipping container, it does not feel like that. michael buchanan, bbc news. our next guest has built 36 studio flats from shipping containers in brighton. let's speak to andy winter, the chief executive of brighton housing trust. do you think these are appropriate housing? it is not long-term housing in any way, and i agree that it is not appropriate for children to be there week after week, year after year. there week after week, year after yea r. clearly, there week after week, year after year. clearly, it is not an alternative to proper social housing and there is a massive short supply. in brighton, we have produced 36 studio flats for people with a history of rough sleeping. it is transitional housing. we see it as an opportunity for people to move off the streets into somewhere where

they have their own front door, their own kitchen and their own bathroom, to get an experience of having their own tenancy for a short period of time. then we help them to move into alternative and longer term accommodation. but these are 36 people who might otherwise be living on the streets. that can't be a bad thing, and we have no shortage of people wanting to move into our accommodation. so are you housing families with children in these as well? no. absolutely not. we only house single homeless people. but if we can get beyond the physical structure of this accommodation, there are some fantastic examples of where some families are being housed, like the london borough of ealing ina housed, like the london borough of ealing in a development with our partner, qed. they have got family accommodation. the alternative for those families would be to be placed

out of borough, perhaps out of london, where the children would be away from their school. i have been up away from their school. i have been up to borders walk and see what they are doing there. these aren'tjust long, thin shipping containers, as people imagined it. i know when the idea was first suggested to me, i heard it as, we want to house homeless people in steel boxes in a former parking lot. it is not that at all. so are they insulated? one of the concerns that is commonly raised about the idea of shipping containers as even temporary housing is that they can be very cold in the winter, that there can be problems with condensation as well and that in the summer, they can be outrageously hot. that is something that we were aware of when we signed up that we were aware of when we signed upfor that we were aware of when we signed up for this scheme. as long as they are well heated, properly insulated

with all the appropriate levels of ventilation both in the winter to stop condensation and then in the summer to make sure that they don't get too hot. there are wonderful things you can do now with mechanical and natural ventilation. i think this is an exciting possibility to two begin to deal with some of the housing crisis. it is not a long—term solution. we have only got the land on a temporary basis for our development, but it is a quick and affordable way of using the land that might otherwise lay idle. in brighton, we are providing 36 flats for people with a history of rough sleeping. and how do you manage families? you said you were not putting families in these structures and you said that in the borough of ealing in london, people might have to be moved out of borough if they weren't using such structures. but what are the alternatives for families? well,

there are not many alternatives. my organisation which would single homeless people, so we don't provide any temporary accommodation for families. but i know it's a huge challenge for local authorities throughout sussex to provide temporary accommodation for families who need the accommodation, who are homeless through no fault of their own, for financial reasons or other reasons. in brighton and hove, the council has this dilemma, a shortage of accommodation, and some people are being placed out of the city. that is no good for the children. i am not saying our shipping containers would be the solution for those families. they are not designed for it. they are not set up forfamilies, which designed for it. they are not set up for families, which is designed for it. they are not set up forfamilies, which is why designed for it. they are not set up for families, which is why we don't accommodate families. so there is a problem nationwide, and it does require urgent action from government to make sure there is adequate and appropriate temporary

accommodation while peoples needs can be assessed and while longer term solutions can be put in place. what we really need is a massive programme of council house building. u nfortu nately, successive governments haven't invested in bricks and mortar and as a result we have seen the housing benefit bill go through the roof and housing benefit doesn't return any value for the taxpayer. if we could do what the taxpayer. if we could do what the conservative government was doing in the 1950s and labour governments at other times, when we we re governments at other times, when we were building the level of social housing that this country urgently needs, we could begin to pause the housing crisis and hopefully, we could tackle it in the next decade. in the winter, thanks forjoining us. engineers have constructed a floating platform as part of their work to reinforce the dam at whaley bridge. hundreds of people had to leave their homes

in the derbyshire town after the dam threatened to collapse. the reservoir behind the dam has been drained to reduce the risk of flooding and to allow repairs to take place. time for a look at the weather. darren, no risk of flooding this weekend? no risk of flooding and the risk of some high temperatures. that is news. it is a massive change considering how bad it has been this month. this is the upper weather pattern we have had. this is thejet stream, the fast—moving winds high up stream, the fast—moving winds high up in the atmosphere. and this has been the general pattern for most of august. the jet stream been the general pattern for most of august. thejet stream is been the general pattern for most of august. the jet stream is sitting right over the uk. that is why it has been windy and wet and chilly at times. but if you look at the weekend, the pattern looks very different. you have thejet weekend, the pattern looks very different. you have the jet stream to the north of the uk. that will ta ke to the north of the uk. that will take areas of low pressure and hence rain to the north of the uk. we have

high pressure across continental europe. that will have more of an influence. our wind direction changes and we will draw up heat from continental europe. that means the temperatures will be rising. month ago, we were breaking records. we were talking about breaking temperature records. are we in danger of doing that again?|j temperature records. are we in danger of doing that again? i don't think we will, but it is interesting because the 25th ofjuly was the last time the temperature reached 30 degrees. it was 38.7, a new record. we will not get those levels. london is where we are likely to find the highest temperatures. the south—east of england sees the highest temperatures. it could be a new record for late august bank holiday monday. what about the rest of us who are not in london? it will not be as hot or humid. this is what we

can expect this weekend. all these are better than we have seen for a while. comfortable across scotland and northern ireland. tell us more about today. today we have the best of the weather across eastern and southern parts of the uk. this was the picture earlier today at scarborough in north yorkshire. blue skies, very nice indeed. for the rest, things look very different. in anglesey, much more cloud. we have had quite a few showers. but all this cloud is coming in from the atlantic. it is wrapped around the area of low pressure, the weather from wrapped around the area of low pressure, the weatherfrom bringing a band of rain which will push eastwards a cross a band of rain which will push eastwards across the country and make further inroads into scotland. together with that rain, it will be

quite windy. it will be pleasantly warm in the sunshine. some breaks in the cloud and showers coming to the north—west of scotland. we have a weather front moving across the country. it is only going to get so far because we can link it all the way back to the next weather system in the atlantic. that will start to push the ring northwards again. we get wet weather coming quickly into northern ireland tomorrow morning. so we have dry weather for much of wales in the afternoon. we may get a late rise in belfast as the rain clears away. some heavy rain and stronger winds in the north—west of

scotla nd stronger winds in the north—west of scotland later, overnight and into friday. we still have that weather front draped across northern areas, but higher pressure beginning to build in from the south. the wind direction was that the change. so we will have rain across northern scotland. that should clear the mainland as we get that southerly breeze, and we will get sunshine developing more widely across the uk. most places will be dry in the afternoon, temperatures getting a boost. this is the outlook as we head into a bank holiday weekend for most. it is interesting that late june was hot, latejuly was hot and late august is going to be hot as well. the heat will be at its peak across the south—east of the uk, but elsewhere, a lot of dry weather around. some warm sunshine, and it should feel quite pleasant as well.

this is bbc news — our latest headlines. the government launches an inquiry into the future of the high speed 2 rail link — with £7 billion already spent on the project — a final decision is expected within months. give us exactly where we are up to, really, genuinely what it would cost to complete this project, and then we'll know and we'll be in a much better position to make that decision go or no—go by the end of the year. borisjohnson will meet angela merkel later — with a call to scrap the irish border backstop, in order to secure an brexit deal a man accused of murdering pc andrew harper appears in court and will face trial injanuary. thousands of homeless children are growing up living in shipping containers and empty office blocks, according to england's children's commissioner. sport now on afternoon live with olly foster.

iam going i am going to start calling you our concussion correspondent, what is the latest? we have been talking about this all week. concussion protocols in cricket after steve smith was hit by a bouncer at lord's. should he have been allowed to bat on? anyway, he is not going to bat on? anyway, he is not going to play in the next test match. this is crunch time because if england lose the ashes are gone and australia retain them and so england have got to come back fighting. however, concussion raises its head again. england have been sweating on the fitness of their openerjason roy, he was hit by a ball during a net session yesterday. now roy has passed a concussion test but england are playing it safe, off the back of those delayed symptoms that stopped steve smith from playing. england have called up surrey‘s ollie pope as batting coverjust in case,

but speaking this afternoon, the captain seemed fairly sure that roy would be unaffected. jason has been monitored closely, as you would expect and he has undergone a couple of concussion tests so far and scored really well. as it stands, i fully expect him to be fit and ready to play tomorrow. i feeljason could have a big impact at the start of a game or the start of an innings. it might not have happened just yet but i fully expect him to go out and be able to dojust that. this would mean the top of the england order stays the same with him and rory burns, although a lot of questions over the top four of the batting order. roy averaging just 9 in five innings. he needs a big knock. no concussion

for the england women's hockey but england looking very nervy nevertheless? really unexpected, this, belarus had been the thrashed in their previous two group games conceding 24 goals without reply, so this should have been a walkover for england. they won 4—3 in the end. lily owsley opened the scoring in antwerp after 10 minutes before isabelle petter got her first england goal. we expected the floodgates to open but belarus, 18 places below england in the rankings, struck back to level twice. it was 3—3 in the final quarter. that spurred ngland on — hannah martin sealed victory with four minutes to go. last year's world championship runners—up ireland are out, though, they needed to beat germay but could only draw. the germans took the lead after pia maertans found the net with this absolute rocket in the first quarter. ireland levelled from a penalty corner — sarah hawkshaw with the final touch in the last few minutes of that first quarter, but it wasn't enough.

the future of bury football club is looking bleaker by the day, they haven't been able to fulfil any of their fixtures this season in league one because of their financial difficulties. they haven't been able to find a buyer and have until friday to try and convince the football league that they can survive or face expulsion. there were protests at the gigg lane today. a former bury director, joy hart, daughter of club legend les, actually handcuffed herself to a drainpipe outside the club's offices. bury as a town would be far less richer if it would have been if we had survived, so i'm appealing to all the north—west clubs out there to please, please help us. we need you, we need you desperately before friday. we really do. wales captain ashley williams has

been left out of their squad for the euro 2020 qualifier against azerbaijan in cardiff next month. williams has been capped 86 times and led wales to the euro 2016 semi finals. he hasn't played this season after being released by everton but is now set to join championship side bristol city. gareth bale will skipper the side. i basically wanted to pick the squad primarily with the players who are playing and who have done a pre—season and played games in praising —— preseason and have come into the squad fit. ashley doesn't have a club, still keeping fit but thatis have a club, still keeping fit but that is not the same as doing a preseason with the club. i spoke to him and he fully understood that. it was not an easy decision because he is the captain and he has done so well for me on and off the pitch. it wasn't easy. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour.

it's emerged the level of eu migration to the uk has been underestimated for a decade. the office for national statistics says it may also have over—stated migration from countries outside the eu. daniel sandford has been taking a look at the figures. if you imagine, how do you count who is coming in and out of the country? the way it has been relied on for years for years and years is a clipboard survey at airports asking people coming into the country and leaving the country what their plans are, are you coming to work, to visit, are you leaving for good orjust going back to poland for a couple of weeks? that is how the figures were calculated. it has become clear that is a very unreliable way of working out whether people particularly from countries like poland and hungary, are coming here to work or for a short period of time. there has been concern about the statistics because so much of government policy and the conservative party strategy, david cameron's strategy, was built on these quite dicey statistics.

theresa may promised to bring down immigration to the tens of thousands — that was based on this quite flaky set of figures. for example, they didn't even ask people at stansted or luton or liverpool airport for years what they were doing, they were only asking them at heathrow. we all know many people coming out of eastern europe were using low budget flights at airports. the office for national statistics has looked at this and decided, yes, looking at things like national insurance registrations and home office data, it thinks it has been underestimating the net migration of people coming from the eu to britain by about 16%, so quite a significant amount. however, in fact, it is also able to work out people from non—eu countries might have been overestimated so the overall net migration to the uk has probably been, by chance, estimated about right. critically, they have now said the statistics are not reliable, they have been downgraded from being official statistics to being experimental statistics.

china has confirmed that it has detained an employee from the uk's consulate in hong kong. simon cheng hasn't been heard from for nearly two weeks, after he went to the chinese mainland for a meeting. china said the 28 year old has been detained for violating public security laws. protesters gathered outside the british consulate in hong kong to highlight his disappearance. cardinal george pell, the most senior catholic cleric to be found guilty of child sexual abuse, has lost an appeal against his conviction in australia. the 78 year old was jailed for six years in march, for abusing two boys while archbishop of melbourne in the 1990s. his legal team says it's deciding whether to launch a final appeal. phil mercer reports. once part of the pope's inner circle, today george pell arrived to hear his fate in the back of a prison van, hoping to overturn his convictions.

at his trial, pell was found guilty of a brazen and forcible sexual attack on two choirboys at st patrick's cathedral in melbourne in the late 1990s. his lawyer said the case against him was flawed and that the jury was wrong to convict him on the uncorroborated evidence of one surviving accuser. and the man who was australia's most powerful catholic official didn't have to wait long for the chiefjustice to dismiss the appeal. justice maxwell and i accepted the prosecution's submission that the complainant was a very compelling witness, was clearly not a liar, was not a fantasist, and was a witness of truth. outside the victorian court of appeal, there was relief for those who campaign for victims of clerical abuse. it's just a wonderful, wonderful day for survivors, for victims.

i think it sends a message that justice will be served. no matter how high you are or how old you are, or, you know, what yourjob is. this is a crime against children... that innocence. george pell is the most senior catholic figure worldwide to be convicted of child sexual abuse. but this case that has global significance might not be over. pell said he is disappointed by the court's decision and his legal team is considering challenging his convictions in australia's high court. george pell is 78 and is now back in prison in disgrace. he will have to serve more than three years behind bars before he's eligible for parole. phil mercer, bbc news, melbourne. the body of a young boy found

in the river stour has been confirmed as that of six—year—old lucas dobson. the kent chief police inspector has announced this in the last few moments and he has said he can now sadly confirmed they have formally identified the body as lucas and that the family are aware of this. he said the body was found at 915 this morning and that this brings to an end the search which had gone on for several days since the family fishing trip which went so horribly wrong over the weekend. the police chief inspector said he would like to echo lucas's family's message of thanks to all those who came out to search for lucas in the past few days. the community support, he said, has been heart—warming, even in the most tragic of circumstances. all this week we're taking a look at the farming industry, from how it's dealing with climate change, to what brexit means for the future

of agriculture across the uk. today we're asking if the way we grow our crops could change once we leave the eu. our correspondent sally challonerjoins us from a farm near bristol. we are in somerset at the foot of the beautiful mendip hills. i've come away from the milking parlour and we have the 500—year—old farmhouse to my left over there. in front of me this fantastic view. we are talking about nature and biodiversity and we know we have lost half the farmland birds since 1970 and our pollinators are also in trouble so what can farmers do to make things better? johnny, this is beautiful. it is a lovely view. we have done a lot of work. we put of the pond in 30 years ago, the

woodland behind, five acres of trees, and more or less native trees to us, and they went in not long after. we have had a policy really of making use of the ground we can farmer well and farming that, and then the small edges, the corners and the bits we don't want to farm, we have welded in some form or other. that is to encourage nature? —— wilded. it is to encourage nature and to break the ground up a bit. it is good for nature. we saw some deer over there what other wildlife? is good for nature. we saw some deer over there what other wildlife ?l lot of rabbits and hares, the normal things you would expect to see. talking about the loss of farmland birds, and! talking about the loss of farmland birds, and i have heard a lot singing toa birds, and i have heard a lot singing to a but in the east of the

country where we have big arable land it is more difficult? it is more difficult, but if you look at this, these hedgerows, trees, it is important we look after that. it is important we look after that. it is important not just for ourselves as managers of the land but important that people who come out from towns, they can actually see what we are doing and they can see nature and get engaged with the countryside. you would have had some help from the eu inputting entries, what are your concerns about brexit? —— in putting up the trees. good old brexit! there are different schemes running at the moment and i'm sure they will run their course. what the new schemes will be if there are new schemes, i don't know. it is funded until 2022 at the moment? it is. we have schemes on other sites which are funded until then, and what happens after that i'm not entirely sure. there'sa

happens after that i'm not entirely sure. there's a lot that we can do and the maintenance of this kind of thing is very minimal so we can carry on doing this ourselves anyway. there are schemes out there which will finish and it is a worry to some people how they will carry on. do you think farmers are doing enough? there is always more you can do. it is all about funding. we are having a particularly good year and good prices, it makes this kind of thing easier for us to do. the new agriculture bill is going through parliament at the moment, what would you say to policymakers?” parliament at the moment, what would you say to policymakers? i would say to them we have this beautiful country, we want to maintain it, it comes at a cost, though, so look at what we are doing and see where you can help. we are not going to see farmers ripping up fields and margins and that kind of thing. no, most of us who have margins, we have

them for a reason, and most of us who have margins, we have them fora reason, and i'm sure most of them will stay. johnny, thanks for joining of them will stay. johnny, thanks forjoining us. we will go back to watching the dear. —— deer. and for more on the issues we'll be focusing on throughout the week here on bbc news and to see more of beehive live — go to our special section of the bbc news website. in a moment we're going to bring you the latest business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. the government launches an inquiry into the future of the high speed 2 rail link — with £7 billion already spent on the project — a final decision is expected within months. borisjohnson will meet angela merkel later — with a call to scrap the irish border backstop, in order to secure an brexit deal. a man accused of murdering pc

andrew harper appears in court and will face trial injanuary. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the government says that companies will be automatically enrolled in a customs system — as it speeds up preparations for a no—deal brexit. 72,000 companies have already signed up voluntarily but now a further 88,000 companies will be added to the scheme that will facilitate trade with eu states after brexit. ryanair is in court trying to block its uk based pilots from striking over pay and conditions on thursday. the budget airline hasjust won a similar legal bid at the high court in dublin to stop irish pilots doing the same. barclays has topped the list of banks for suffering the most it shutdowns over the last year. analysis by the bbc shows that barlcays had 33 digital disruptions, stopping customers from accessing normal services. rival banks natwest had 25 and lloyds had 23.

chief executives aren't doing as well as they used to? mixed picture in latest data on company boss pay. figures from cipd and high pay centre show change between 2017 and 2018, there's two key numbers to look at. chief executive pay fell on average by 13%. it has been welcomed by almost everyone, including ia which represents shareholders. but there is still a yawning gap between them and everyone else as a whole. 117 times higher on average for executive pay.

the cipd says that gap is still far too high. who's pressure has brought this about? is it people advocating on the part of workers or the investors associating advocating on behalf of shareholders? you would imagine investors would have more muscle. yes, possibly. charles cotton says it might have as much to do with a bad yearfor it might have as much to do with a bad year for executives overall. activity amongst shareholders and increased scrutiny from bodies like ourselves have played a part but also it is because of the chief executives not hitting their performance targets and also organisations feeling they can't give as much as they would like because of backlash from investors. some chief executives have not been ina some chief executives have not been in a position enough to earn a full bonus and also some of the bonuses which are awarded every few years, this year was not one of those years

where the bonuses went into the chief executive's bank account. so not exactly progress butjust more circumstantial. yes, turbulence rather than circumstance. what's going on with spider—man? it's complicated. a big row brewing over at sony pictures and disney over the next spider—man film. all comes down to whether spiderman will continue to appear alongside other superheros in mash up movies with other characters from marvel universe. sony bought spiderman

rights and he's only been appearing alongside other marvel characters with permission of disney which owns them. they have had a row over money and the two sides have walked away from each other. caroline frost is an entertainment reporter. it all sounds like a mess, what has happened? this is an incredibly important existential news for the many fans of the marvel comics universe. we have been using that term ina universe. we have been using that term in a business parlance because of its incredibly influential significance in the market but in terms of update, we have in a statement from sony expressing their disappointment. they clearly don't wa nt disappointment. they clearly don't want to alienate disney any more than they already have and they have expressed their disappointment but

they have said that they wish to be —— to they have said that they wish to be — — to have they have said that they wish to be —— to have this remedied in the future but they think clearly that this will be temporary are permanent. what are your spidey senses telling you about the likelihood of them sorting this out? it is all about money, because what we nt it is all about money, because what went from being sony owning 95% of the rewards has gone from disney now wanting 50—50, so they want more of the pie, that may prove to be a deal breaker, but what it means is that spider—man is splitting off, so sony had to decide what is more important, money or being part of the bigger house party where spider—man gets to stay in with the re st of spider—man gets to stay in with the rest of the marvel characters. they will have to decide what is more valuable in the long term. caroline,

thanks forjoining us. i am assured that tom holland who has been playing spider—man, he is contracted to sony, so whatever happens he will be the next spider—man. to sony, so whatever happens he will be the next spider—manlj to sony, so whatever happens he will be the next spider-man. i began to look at the markets? —— are we going to look. the ftse is doing well because the oil prices have been going up. shell is the biggest on the ftse right now, of course. the pound has been falling. there is the inverse relationship between the pound and the ftse, when the pound does badly the ftse100 does very well. boris johnson does badly the ftse100 does very well. borisjohnson has been talking up well. borisjohnson has been talking up no—deal brexit, as well, getting britain ready for a no deal and investors see that as a likelihood that no deal it's more likely. we shall see you in one hour. the first people to dive down to the wreck of the titanic in 15 years say it's deteriorating — partly because it's being eaten by bacteria. using a submersible built

to withstand the immense pressure of the deep — an international team of explorers surveyed it and say that some parts of it are disappearing. our science correspondent, rebecca morelle, reports. at the bottom of the atlantic, nearly 4,000 metres down, the most famous wreck of all time. this is the bow of the titanic, still recognisable more than 100 years after she sank. it was the first time people have been down to see it for themselves for nearly 15 years, but while some of the wreck is intact, other parts have disappeared altogether. the most shocking area of deterioration was the starboard side where the captain's quarters are. that's a favourite image amongst titanic enthusiasts and that's now gone. that whole deck house on that side is collapsing, taking with it state rooms, and the deterioration will continue advancing.

despite the near freezing temperatures this far down, life has found a way to thrive on the wreck and that is causing the problems. microbes are eating away at the metal. stalactites of rust dangle from the ship, so fragile they crumble into dust if they're disturbed. amazingly, the port holes are well preserved, and the glass still in place even if all those around it are still decaying, giving a tantalising glimpse into the titanic‘s past. it was the biggest ship of its time, setting sail from southampton in 1912 on its maiden voyage, heading to new york. but it never made it, and it sank after hitting an iceberg — 1,500 people lost their lives. these incredibly ornate slippers belong to one of the titanic‘s first class passengers, edith rosenbaum, a fashion buyer who was on her way to new york. one of the lucky ones, she survived, and she brought with her this

musical toy pig that she played to soothe the children on the overcrowded lifeboat. this cloak was worn by elizabeth mellinger who was a second class passenger on board the titanic. every one of the precious titanic artefacts at the national maritime museum tells a story. but exploring the wreck is also crucial. it's still important to go down and visit the wreck and to continue to document the site because the wreck itself is now the only witness we have of the titanic disaster. all of the survivors have now passed away. it's important to use the wreck while it still has something to say. in total the team carried out five sub—dives, spending hours beneath the waves exploring the wreck, and they now begin the job of analysing the footage they have captured, to assess how long before the titanic is lost to the sea.

now it's time for a look at the weather. it is going to get much warmer for eve ryo ne it is going to get much warmer for everyone as we head into the weekend. the best of the weather todayis weekend. the best of the weather today is across southern and eastern parts of the uk. we have a rain band he accompanied by strong winds, pushing into scotland later, but towards the south and east it will be dry and pleasantly warm in the sunshine. likely to stay dry overnight. the rain moves away from northern ireland and school —— scotla nd northern ireland and school —— scotland and then stalls after that. temperatures 11—14. having got so far the temperatures 11—14. having got so farthe rain temperatures 11—14. having got so far the rain will start to move north again on thursday, so rain at first with north wales and northern england and then wet weather returning to northern ireland for a time. it moves over the irish sea and then into scotland. further

south dry wood sunshine and warm as well. disappointing temperatures where we have the rain in the north —— further south, dry with sunshine.

hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm carrie gracie. today at 4... will the high speed 2 rail link go ahead in the uk? the government launches an inquiry into its future. £7 billion has already been spent — a final decision is expected within months. give us exactly where we are up to, really, genuinely what it would cost to complete this project, and then we'll know and we'll be in a much better position to make that decision go or no—go by the end of the year. borisjohnson is due to meet angela merkel shortly — with a call to scrap the irish border backstop in order to secure a brexit deal. thousands of homeless children are growing up living in shipping containers and empty office blocks, according to england's children's commissioner. divers visit the titanic wreckage for the first time in nearly 15 years and say some of the wreck

is deteriorating rapidly. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. the england batsmanjason roy has been passed fit to play against australia in the third test, and his captain has backed him to come good as well as they look to stay in the ashes series. darren has all the weather. we still have an atlantic influence to our weather at the moment. that means when for some areas over the next couple of days, and then i'll airwill be coming next couple of days, and then i'll air will be coming from continental europe, meaning it will warm up and it should turn drier. also coming up — on news nationwide, we'll get the latest on league one one football club bury, who face expulsion from the english football league on friday over their ongoing financial problems.

the transport secretary, grant shapps, has admitted the hs2 rail project could be scrapped after he announced an independent review into its future. the study will look at the costs and benefits of the line connecting london to the midlands and northern england. more than £7 billion has already been spent on it. the government says it will make a final decision by the end of the year. our transport correspondent tom burridge has the details. high speed 2 is britain's biggest construction project in living memory. you can see here how work on the main hub of the railway in west london is well under way. in fact, they've already spent more than £7 billion of your, the taxpayer's, money. but despite buildings going down, here on the edge of birmingham, the new transport secretary isn't ruling anything out, including getting rid

of the scheme altogether. just because you've spent a lot of money on something should not mean that you just carry on ploughing more and more money into it. but what we've said and what the prime minister made very clear during his leadership election, we want to see great infrastructure in our country, we want to see it stack up and we want to see it work for rail commuters and people right across the country. the first phase of the railway being built now will link london to birmingham. after that, phases 2a and b will link london to manchester and leeds. but last month, it emerged via a leaked letter that a review by the current chairman of hs2 had found that the programme was possibly as much as £30 billion over budget. the budget, as things stand, is still officially at least 56 billion. michael gross owned office blocks and land at euston that were compulsory purchased. he says it was undervalued by hs2 and claims the company owe him hundreds of millions of pounds. hs2 disputes mr gross's claims, but he says the project has been poorly conceived.

what they have constructed is not a fast train but a gravy train, and there needs to be very major enquiries as to who benefited. but hsz limited, the day it was formed, was not fit for purpose. they have never been in conformity with the development agreement they signed up. but business leaders and many leading politicalfigures in the north of england and the midlands say the railway will be a vital link, cutting current train journey times between leeds and burning them from two hours to just one. between leeds and birmingham from two hours to just one. if we stop the h52 line at birmingham and don't continue it to the north of england and on to scotland through the east and west coast main line, the rest of the country will not benefit from this project and the entire purpose will have been lost. with billions already spent and huge

areas cleared and land bought up, hs2 is a work in progress, so cancelling it would be costly and controversial. but as the budget goes up, the scheme's value for money drops. altering it might be a more plausible option. with me is piers wood, who's a managing director at alstom uk, one of the biggest train manufacturers in the uk. what is your response to this review? we welcome it. we know projects of this size need to be co nsta ntly projects of this size need to be constantly reviewed in terms of the expense. let's remember the olympics. a lot of reviews went into that in 2012, and look what a success that was. so we welcome the review. and do you think the project should be scrapped, amended or continued? we are sure it will pass with flying colours. we think there isa with flying colours. we think there is a strong business case for hs2 and it should go ahead across the country. despite this enormous inflation of the costs? the costs need to be looked at and it needs to

be value for money, but we think it will pass. what about the suggestion that some of the plans should be altered so that the change should go slower or that the terminus should be changed to bring the cost overrun down? those are opportunities we can look at, but again, we think the whole project should go ahead as an entirety. i am sure the review will flush these things out in the fullness of time, but we welcome the review. what do you say to the investor critics like we saw in tom's report, michael grossed one of them, who said this is not a high—speed train, it is a gravy train? i disagree with that. the british economy needs projects like this and it should be across the whole of the uk. everyone in the uk should benefit from this. and there isa should benefit from this. and there is a strong business case for it. you will be aware that there are people who say the benefits are not split equally, that some people are going to benefit greatly from it, but many weren't and this is an enormous white elephant with huge resources which could be better

spent elsewhere, possibly on different forms of infrastructure. from my point of view, projects like this are expensive. they do need to be reviewed in terms of the cost. they do need to give value for money. i am sure hs2 will go ahead and it will benefit the economy as a whole. so what is its value for money? you have said several times now that you think it should be reviewed, but it should go ahead and it is value for money. what is the evidence for that? people's travelling habits will change. if you are shaving one hour offjourney times between major cities in the country, that has to have a value. thank you forjoining us. andy burnham is the labour mayor of greater manchester and part of the transport for the north partnership — and has been giving his reaction to the announcement of a review of hs2. in some ways, it's not unexpected, because the new prime minister said

he was going to introduce this review. and yet we have to build the right railway, but in a way the country can afford. so it is a legitimate thing to take another look at it. i am not opposed to that, but it worries me that they are two elected representatives from the west midlands on the review and none from the north. ijust asked the question of the government, where is the commitment to building the railway that the north of england needs? we have been waiting five years or more to see it, and this review could further set that back. it's vital that the north of england has a modern railway that ta kes england has a modern railway that takes people north, south and east to west. it is not either/or, it's both. if people go to france or germany, they will see what a modern zist germany, they will see what a modern 21st century railway looks like. the reason why chains got into such difficulty here last year is because trains were going across the north on victorian infrastructure, and it

cannot cope any more. we have to start planning for the long term in this country. we have to build a railway that gets people off the motorways, and on to trains, that is more environmentally sustainable. that is why in my view, if there are changes, iam not that is why in my view, if there are changes, i am not opposed to it, but both hs2, northern powerhouse rail and investment in the north's transport infrastructure has to go ahead. i'm not against the government looking at the costs and seeing whether savings can be made. but i make this warning. if this railway stops at birmingham, then quite frankly, that would be criminal, because essentially, it will entrench the north—south divide for decades if not centuries to come. we were promised by this government a northern powerhouse, and it's up to them to show that those words have meaning, otherwise, ina those words have meaning, otherwise, in a period when trust in politics is so low, it will be destroyed altogether here in the north of england.

we can cross to our westminster studio and speak to the conservative mp bob seely. is there a question of trust here about what will happen to the northern powerhouse under this review? there is a question of trust, because taxpayers' money needs to be spent wisely and anybody who thinks hs2 as it currently stands is good value for money, as one of your people did, needs to ta ke one of your people did, needs to take a basic numeracy test. this thing started off by being costed at 33.4 billion. then it went up to 65 billion. the current estimate is about 85 billion. it will probably end up costing nearly £400 million per mile, making it the most expensive railway in human history, the most expensive mainline railway in human history. that is not good value for money. so do you think it needs to be altered or scrapped?” would personally, ithink needs to be altered or scrapped?” would personally, i think andy burnham is right on one thing. if it

stops at birmingham, it will be a scandal. i love big infrastructure projects, but i don't like white elephants. hs2 as it stands is a monumental half mile elephant. however, if we take that money and ta ke however, if we take that money and take a chunk of it and build northern powerhouse rail and commit to that this year, that would be fa ntastically to that this year, that would be fantastically popular and a massive vote of confidence in the north of england. if we commit to a leeds integrated transport system, one of the big cities in europe that doesn't have an integrated transport system, that would be fantastic. if we have to make hs3 a success, the northern powerhouse route from newcastle to liverpool to hull to leeds to bradford to manchester, if we have to make a success of that by linking it to birmingham, let's get the top half of hs2 built, which most people want to see, but not the london to birmingham bit, which means we are building at the wrong way round. start north and do it chunk by chunk. the bit that doesn't

work is the london to birmingham bit and the exorbitant cost we are asking taxpayers to foot. the problem is that we have already invested quite a lot of it. you're right. ijust invested quite a lot of it. you're right. i just had invested quite a lot of it. you're right. ijust had a meeting with grant shapps and it was great to see him working so hard over the summer period and well done to boris for this announcement. i would apologise for wasting 7 billion rather than wasting 86 billion. i want that money spent on good infrastructure projects. northern powerhouse, leeds metro system, crossrail 2. projects. northern powerhouse, leeds metro system, crossrail2. one projects. northern powerhouse, leeds metro system, crossrail 2. one of the arguments that the new prime minister makes which is a really attractive argument is the moral case for strong and great public transport, because it enables people to get work in the cities and regions that they live without being co—dependent. we need to get on with that. we need to build crossrail 2 in london so you can build 200,000 homes in the lee valley. we need to deliver an hourly service. it takes one hour to get from portsmouth to london or one hourfrom southampton

to london. at the moment, the london to london. at the moment, the london to portsmouth route is slower now than in the 1920s. i will give you another example. in the isle of wight, are rolling stock dates from 1938. the rolling stock on our network rail is older than the stuff we have on our heritage steam railway. we need regional infrastructure investment. that is a long shopping list. however, you now have a new party leader and prime minister who has just run have a new party leader and prime minister who hasjust run up a have a new party leader and prime minister who has just run up a flag for british infrastructure, a son of confidence, hope and commitment to future blah blah. so how does cancelling a big project like hs2 fits with that message of confidence? if you just cancel hs2 without doing anything with the money, you will be criticised. but if you say there is difference between great introductory project and white elephants, and hs2 is a white elephant, we are going to make some fantastic infrastructure projects in its place instead and

commit to northern powerhouse and hs3 and may be manchester to birmingham element of hs2, that would be great. if you're building crossrail 2, if you're building a leeds integrated transport system, if you're getting a faster service between portsmouth and london and southampton and london, if you're investing in the railways that need investing in the railways that need investing in the railways that need investing in and some roads as well, and cycle routes and all these other things, that is a more attractive proposition. hs2, as it stands, is an expensive and unpopular white elephant. if we built hs3 first and northern powerhouse rail first, elephant. if we built hs3 first and northern powerhouse railfirst, with all the other great regional schemes we should be doing, we can turn it into something which will drive investment and regeneration and will be popular with the taxpayers. i hope that instead of starting at the south, we start at the north and prefera bly south, we start at the north and preferably kick hs2 into the sidings and come up with a better use for that money. when you said all of this to the transport secretary, as iam sure this to the transport secretary, as

i am sure you did, what did he say? grant said we need to get to the fa cts , grant said we need to get to the facts, and i agree. the head of the scheme is someone who was in charge of hs2 in the past, so he knows the scheme well. and the deputy will be lord berkeley, a labour peer, but he has been all over hs2 and very critical of the costs. so it is good news that at the end of this, we will get a report we can trust because both sides will sign up to it. well done to the government and boris for agreeing that. thank you. borisjohnson will meet the german chancellor, angela merkel, in berlin shortly as he continues to try to persuade the eu to accept fundamental changes to the brexit withdrawal agreement. many german industries have been voicing concerns about the prospect of britain leaving the eu without a deal. our correspondentjenny hill has been to the northern port of hamburg — where its estimated a no—deal brexit could have more financial impact per head of the population than in any other part of germany.

germany has no appetite for a no—deal brexit, but it's what the new british prime minister is threatening to dish up if he doesn't get what he wants. and in hamburg, where much of the fish comes from british waters, that's a concern. translation: we're not panicking, but we expect prices to rise. we will have to pass costs on to the customer. so, should the eu renegotiate the terms of britain's departure? translation: i don't think the eu should give any more. europe has gone a long way to make concessions and i think we've reached the limit. germany's gateway to the world, vulnerable to a no—deal brexit. it's estimated that hamburg would suffer more financial damage per head of population than any other part of the country. other regions worry for their car plants, their drug companies. in hamburg, it's aeroplanes. translation: of course we are worried about what brexit will bring.

we're the third biggest aviation industry site after seattle and toulouse. hamburg produces a lot of airbuses, whose wings come from wales. 14,000 jobs depend on that. still struggling over the same old ground. europe's queen of compromise encountered plenty of hot air as she toured a geothermal site in iceland yesterday. berlin is still not sure whether boris johnson is calling europe's bluff. but angela merkel has her red lines and the irish backstop is one of them. in hamburg, they come and they go. but germany has never altered its brexit course. you really get the sense here ofjust how close germany and britain have been. they've traded through this port for centuries. germany wants to keep britain close. but it values europe and the single market more. those hoping that this country's soft spot for the british can translate into more brexit

concessions may be disappointed. and even as it seeks to prevent it, this city, this country, is steeling itself for a painful farewell. jenny hill, bbc news, hamburg. in the past few moments, german chancellor angela merkel has been speaking about the upcoming meeting. translation: today, iwill talk translation: today, i will talk with the british prime minister, who is visiting me, about how we can get the most friction free british exit from the european union possible as we must fight for economic growth. we can speak tojenny hill now. what are your expectations of what we are going to see in the next hour or two? well, i don't think anybody either here or in berlin or westminster actually thinks boris johnson will go away from this

working dinner having persuaded angela merkel to crack open the withdrawal agreement and take out the irish backstop. the irish backstop in particular is a real red line for angela merkel for all sorts of reasons. she is particularly concerned about the integrity of the eu's single market. she grew up herself behind the iron curtain. she doesn't want to see a hard border on the island of ireland. there is also concern in the corridors of power that even if germany did suggest to the eu, let's take the irish backstop out, but that would be enough to get the withdrawal agreement through the british parliament. what i do think you can see from mrs merkel is trying to inject a more conciliatory tone into proceedings. people here in berlin have been rather alarmed and bemused by some of the rhetoric that has been coming out of london, boris johnson's war die rhetoric has been a source of some concern here. —— is do ordie

a source of some concern here. —— is do or die rhetoric. that is because of the threat of a no—deal brexit if it can promote can't be achieved is something which worries germany, not just for economic reasons, although those are very uppermost in mrs merkel and economists' heads, because the global economic outlook is looking increasingly insecure. germany pass my own economy is looking a bit wobbly. they are worried about the impact of a no—deal brexit, but politically as well, mrs merkel knows well that a no—deal brexit would cause real complications for the island of ireland. so in advance of this meeting, she is talking about this idea of talking about a frictionless brexit. she says there is still time to find a solution if such a solution exists, which would mean the backstop wasn't necessary. but thatis the backstop wasn't necessary. but that is as far as mrs merkel is going to go. it is worth pointing out that germany's position on brexit simply hasn't shifted in the last couple of years. it is based on this one underlying premise, which is that britain is very important to germany as a trading and political partner. but when push comes to

shove, the eu, the single market, that union is more important. jenny, thanks for that. the next time we took in the next few minutes, let's talk about the personal chemistry, because that will be interesting as well. the body of a young boy found in the river stour in sandwich in kent has been formally identified as six—year—old lucas dobson, kent police have said. lucas has been missing since saturday after he fell into the river while out fishing with his family. the man accused of murdering pc andrew harper has appeared in court via video—link from prison. the thames valley police officer died last thursday near the village of sulhamstead in berkshire, while investigating a burglary. duncan kennedy has this update from reading crown court. this whole hearing today only lasted about 30 minutes or so. jed foster wasn't in court himself. he was present via a video link from the prison that he is being held in.

he gave his date of birth and also gave his nationality as british. on one side of the court were ten or 15 members of his family and friends. on the other side of the court were three members of pc andrew harper's family, all of them listening to what was essentially a technical and administrative hearing today. the main decision taken today was that the trial ofjed foster will take place onjanuary the 20th next year. it will take place here at reading crown court, and we are told it will last about three weeks. at the same time today, thejudge issued an order to the media telling them not to use any photos ofjed foster in future, because he said identification will be an issue in this trial. there was no application for bail on the part of mr foster's legal team, and he was remanded in custody. ryanair is at the high court in london to try to stop its pilots from striking from tomorrow,

for 48 hours. the airline has already this morning succeeded in preventing its pilots based in dublin from carrying out a similar stoppage. president trump has cancelled a state visit to denmark — after its prime minister dismissed his proposal to buy greenland, as "absurd". the president tweeted that denmark "is a very special country with incredible people — but based on prime minister mette frederiksen's comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of greenland, i will be postponing our meeting, scheduled in two weeks, for another time". in response, the danish prime minister said the trips cancellation will not change the ‘good relations' between denmark and the united states. it is with regret and surprise that i received the news that president trump has cancelled his state visit to denmark on 2nd and 3rd of september. i had been looking forward to the visit.

our preparations were well under way. it was an opportunity, i think, to celebrate denmark's close relationship to the us, which remains one of denmark's closest allies. we can speak to signe ravn—hojgaard , researcher at the university of greenland — she joins us from the swedish city of malmo. your prime minister looked somewhat puzzled and she said she was regretful, but it would not change good relations between the two countries. what is your assessment? well, i am a researcher in the greenlandic media, and looking at the reactions there, it's a few hours earlier there, so the prime minister of greenland has just announced that although trump's visit is cancelled, there continued

cooperation is not, and kim kielsen hopes greenland will benefit from the continued attention. other politicians in greenland have said that the cancellation shows that greenland is increasingly important, and it proves that greenland was the reason for trump's visit. so do people feel annoyed that a state visit, which of course involves a lot of work by the host country, that has been cancelled over something which i know many greenlanders thought was somewhat absurd anyway, the proposalfor the united states to buy greenland? yes, that was definitely seen as absurd in greenland. but the visit was not going to be to greenland, but to denmark. so the west of work was in denmark. so the west of work was in denmark that make the waste of work. so in greenland, there is a positive

aspect that this improves how important greenland is and that can be used in the future of greenlandic relations both within the kingdom of denmark and also internationally. so in nuuk, there must be mixed feelings. let's deal with that point you have mentioned a couple of times. why is it that greenland is becoming so much more important strategically the big powers like the us, china and russia economically and in other ways? well, the prime ministerjust said in his announcement half an hour ago that it in his announcement half an hour ago thatitis in his announcement half an hour ago that it is due to global climate change, it is due to increased trade in the arctic. that is also what the other politicians say, as well as what happens in denmark, that they also focus more now on the arctic and greenland. so in a way, because

they arctic passages opening up because of climate change, that ship traffic route, that trade routes, greenland will be on thatjourney. yeah. for example, that is what kim kielsenjust said in his yeah. for example, that is what kim kielsen just said in his statement. thank you forjoining us. i am sure it isa thank you forjoining us. i am sure it is a subject we will return to. more than 200,000 children in england are homeless, and many are living in converted office blocks, and some in former shipping containers, the children's commissioner has found. local councils say budget cuts mean they're often forced to house families in temporary accommodation. the government says it has invested £1.2 billion in tackling all forms of homelessness. our social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan, reports. designed to ship goods, these containers now house people.

england's homeless, stacked on top of each other. this two—bedroom property has been home to lulu and herfour children for the past nine months. her oldest son, 13 years old, is severely autistic. his mother says it is no place to raise a family. this is stressing me. it is very sad for anyone who lives here, it is not a good place, this is not a home. you don't call this a home. this is a shipping cargo container where you keep storage, you don't keep human beings in here. the children's commissioner calculates there are more than 210,000 homeless children in england. 124,000 are in temporary accommodation, including converted office blocks and bed and breakfasts, while a further 90,000 are sofa—surfing. this is the real human face of the housing crisis. it isn't only about homeownership, it isn't only about rough sleeping, it's about these families. let's not forget, more than half of homeless families are working families. it's about families trying

to do their best for their children in circumstances where it is impossible for them to do that. this office block in essex was converted into flats to house homeless families. developers don't need planning permission after the government relaxed the rules to boost the housing supply, and tens of thousands of similar properties have been created in recent years across england. councils say the severe shortage of affordable housing has left them with few options. councils too often find their hands are tied when it comes to providing the homes that local families need. central government keeps much of the money that comes from the sale of council houses, councils are restricted when it comes to borrowing in order to be able to invest in development locally, and a number of planning policies have meant that developers have been able to throw up shoddy, poor quality homes without providing social housing, so we need significant changes. ministers say they're working with councils to reduce the number of people living in temporary accommodation. but for those stuck month after month in a converted shipping

container, it does not feel like that. michael buchanan, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. it's going to get much warmer for all of us as we head into the weekend. today the best of the weather is across southern and western parts of the uk. we are seeing showers across wales which are pushing their way into the. the rain band is accompanied by strong winds. but towards the south and east, it may be dry and pleasantly warm in the sunshine. likely to stay dry here overnight. the rain moves away from northern ireland and then stores across england and north wales. clearer skies behind and eventually, there will be showers in the north—west of scotland. having got so far, the rain is going to start to move northwards again on thursday. so a bit of rain at first for north wales, northern england

and wetter weather returns to northern ireland for a while and heads northwards into scotland. further south is likely to be dry with sunshine. warmer as well, but disappointing temperatures where we have that rain in the north. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. the government launches an inquiry into the future of the high speed rail link hs2 — a final decision is expected by the end of the year. give us exactly where we are up to, really,

genuinely, what it would cost to complete this project, and then we'll know and we'll be in a much better position to make that decision go or no—go by the end of the year. borisjohnson is due to meet angela merkel shortly — with a call to scrap the irish border backstop, in order to secure an brexit deal. thousands of homeless children are growing up living in shipping containers and empty office blocks, according to england's children's commissioner. divers visit the titanic wreckage for the first time in nearly 15 years and say some of the wreck is deteriorating rapidly. sport now on afternoon live with olly foster. it's the third ashes test tomorow and more talk about concussion today. it isa it is a pivotal test tomorrow, a feeling that the momentum is with england after the drawn test match at lord's england after the drawn test match at lords and the introduction of jofra archer and the subsequent injury to steve smith. he is missing the next test match. but if

australia win, they have won the ashes, but england have also had their worries regarding injuries. england have been sweating on the fitness of their openerjason roy, he was hit by a ball during a net session yesterday. now roy has passed a concussion test but england are playing it safe, off the back of those delayed symptoms that stopped steve smith from playing. england have called up surrey‘s ollie pope as batting coverjust in case, but speaking this afternoon, the captain seemed fairly sure that roy would be unaffected. jason has been monitored closely, as you would expect, and he has undergone a couple of concussion tests so far and scored really well. as it stands, i fully expect him to be fit and ready to play tomorrow. i feeljason could have a big impact at the start of a game or the start of an innings. it might not have happened just yet but i fully expect him to go out and be able to dojust that.

he needs a big score. roy averaging just nine in five innings. we were talking about online racial abuse in football regarding paul pogba yesterday and we are talking about it again. on monday evening he missed a penalty that would have won the match for united against wolves, and he got a lot of racist abuse on social media. the chelsea striker tammy abraham had the same thing a week before when he missed a penalty. a suggestion from the women's head coach phil neville that footballers should simply embargo social media, and there has been a lot of pressure on social media companies to try and stamp out abuse. people think they are not doing enough, some of them.

twitter says it's going to send representatives to meet with manchester united and the anti—discrimination charity kick it out to ‘develop shared solutions to this issue' but interestingly they say that they were going to meet with united and ‘any other civil society stakeholders interested in hearing about the proactive work twitter is doing to address online racist abuse towards certain footballers in the uk'. although they have admitted that, ‘they need to do more to protect our users'. we will see how that meeting goes between twitter and other representatives including manchester united. england's women are through to the euro hockey semi—finals — they beat belarus 4—3. lily owsley opened the scoring in antwerp after 10 minutes before isabelle petter got her first england goal. we expected the floodgates to open but belarus, 18 places below england in the rankings, who had been thrashed 13—0 and 11—0 in their previous matches,

levelled twice, it was 3—3 in the final quarter. that spurred england on. hannah martin sealed victory with four minutes to go. if england win the title, that will see team gb qualify for next year's olympics. the future of bury football club is looking bleaker by the day, they haven't been able to fulfil any of their fixtures this season in league one because of their financial difficulties. they haven'tbeen able to find a buyer and have until friday to try and convince the football league that they can survive orface expulsion. there were protests at the gigg lane, the club's ground, today. a former bury director, joy hart, daughter of club legend les, actually handcuffed herself to a drainpipe outside the club's offices. bury as a town would be far less richer than it would have been if we had not survived, so i'm appealing to all

the north—west clubs out there to please, please help us. we need you, we need you desperately before friday. we really do. wales captain ashley williams has been left out of their squad for the euro 2020 qualifier against azerbaijan in cardiff next month. williams has been capped 86 times and led wales to the euro 2016 semi finals. he hasn't played this season after being released by everton but is now set to join championship side bristol city. gareth bale will skipper the side. that's all the sport for now. now on afternoon live — let's go nationwide — and see what's happening around the country — in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk.

let's go to rogerjohnson in manchester to tell us about bury football club, who could be expelled from the english football league on friday due to a lack offunding. phil bodmer is in leeds to tell us about a statue of horse—racing legend lester piggott — which has been unveiled at york racecourse today. yes, one of the legends of racing coming home to the ground where he won on in 1954. roger first, how have we got to this point? bury foot ball clu b have we got to this point? bury football club have until friday or the football league will throw them out. they have been given a notice of withdrawal. they have the debts reportedly in the region of £10 million and they were sold by the previous owner, stuartj, to the current owner, steve dale, forjust a pound back in december last year. he agreed to take on the debts but

he has said the debts are far greater than he realised when he agreed to buy the club. as a result he has done a creditors voluntary agreement with the people who are owed money, and all of them apart from those who have to be paid in full, they have agreed to take just 2596, 2596 in full, they have agreed to take just 25%, 25% in each pound, but he is still trying to sell the club. because of the financial problems the club is in the football league have said you are not in a viable position to complete a season and they were not able to complete their first game. they were not allowed to play their second, third or fourth matches and they have also been kicked out of the league cup. the patience of the league has run out and they have said you have got until friday otherwise we are going to throw you out of the league. there was an offer to buy the club which was turned down yesterday, and steve dale clearly thinks he can get more, but the clock is ticking.

after being formed in 1885, derry foot ball clu b after being formed in 1885, derry football club is staring down the barrel of being thrown out —— bury foot ball barrel of being thrown out —— bury football club. they will have to reformat down the football pyramid and have to work their way up. many of the fans feel very passionately about them ? of the fans feel very passionately about them? you heard from a joy heart earlier, and she chained herself to the drainpipe at gigg lane ——joy herself to the drainpipe at gigg lane —— joy hart. back in the day they were bigger than manchester united and liverpool, hundred odd years ago. they won the fa cup in 1900 and 1903 and they finished in fourth place in the year. in recent years they have been a lower league clu b years they have been a lower league club but they mean so much to that pa rt of club but they mean so much to that part of greater manchester and to the people who are involved. gary and phil neville and tracey neville,

their parents were instrumental in bury's fortunes for many years. neville neville died a few years ago, but you'll neville stepped down la st ago, but you'll neville stepped down last week, she left the club saying she had been the club secretary for decades —— jill neville. she said she could not continue to work their way of the current owner is in place. there have been other clubs who have had problems, bournemouth had problems, portsmouth had problems, southampton had problems, but this is as bad as it gets, or it could be if they get kicked out on friday. let's hope something turns the corner for friday. let's hope something turns the cornerfor them. friday. let's hope something turns the corner for them. feel, friday. let's hope something turns the cornerforthem. feel, racing friday. let's hope something turns the cornerfor them. feel, racing is coming home in the shape of lester piggott? —— phil. coming home in the shape of lester piggott? -- phil. lester piggott is a legend when it comes to the sport of kings, winning the derby at epsom nine times, racking up nine classic

victories, and 116 royal ascot victories, and 116 royal ascot victories, but he rode for the queen in 1954 at york. he secured more than 4500 wins in his career and he was just 12 after his first race committee 1948. —— after his first race in 1948. a statue of the great man was unveiled today at york racecourse. this was his reaction to the statue today. marvellous. i'm over the moon. that is a nice story. yorkshire has plenty of positives in the next couple of days because we have the test match at headingley and a festival and also good weather. we have everything. importantly, weather. we have everything. importa ntly, not only weather. we have everything. importantly, not only the racing in york today but of course the test

match at the pivotal test match at headingley. the england players have been training today ahead of the third test match in what could be the defining moment of the series. australia leading 1—0 but they are without their talisman steve smith. jofra archer was looking on good form in training this morning at headingley so england have every reason to be hopeful. it's the first ashes test match to be played here since 2009 so once again big crowds expected as cricket fans will be savouring the atmosphere in the sunshine as england and australia run out on one of the famous old ground is in england for the first test here in more than a decade at what many people say is the true yorkshire home of cricket. then we have the leeds festival. we have bastille, the foo fighters, and many home local outfits, and as we say the weather is set fair, so that is

why we are known as gods own county. it is the place to be this weekend as i'm sure you will know, carry, as you know from your many visits up north. yes, we are all heading to yorkshire for that. —— north. yes, we are all heading to yorkshire for that. -- carrie. we are also all rooting for bury and we hope they come good in some shape or form before friday. that is it for afternoon —— nationwide today. you can catch up with nationwide on the iplayer and a reminder that we go nationwide every weekday afternoon at 445.

the first people to dive down to the wreck of the titanic in 15 years say it's deteriorating — partly because it's being eaten by bacteria. using a submersible built to withstand the immense pressure of the deep — an international team of explorers surveyed it and say that some parts of it are disappearing. our science correspondent, rebecca morelle, reports. at the bottom of the atlantic, nearly 4,000 metres down, the most famous wreck of all time. this is the bow of the titanic, still recognisable more than 100 years after she sank. it was the first time people have been down to see it for themselves for nearly 15 years, but while some of the wreck is intact, other parts have disappeared altogether. the most shocking area of deterioration was the starboard side where the captain's quarters are. the captain's bathtub is a favourite image amongst titanic enthusiasts and that's now gone.

that whole deck house on that side is collapsing, taking with it state rooms, and the deterioration will continue advancing. despite the near freezing temperatures this far down, life has found a way to thrive on the wreck and that is causing the problems. microbes are eating away at the metal. stalactites of rust dangle from the ship, so fragile they crumble into dust if they're disturbed. amazingly, the ports are well preserved, and the glass is still in place even if all around it is still decaying, giving a tantalising glimpse into the titanic‘s past. it was the biggest ship of its time, setting sail from southampton in 1912 on its maiden voyage, heading to new york. but it never made it, and it sank after hitting an iceberg — 1,500 people lost their lives. these incredibly ornate slippers belong to one of the titanic‘s first class passengers, edith rosenbaum, a fashion buyer who was on her way to new york. one of the lucky ones, she survived, and she brought with her this

musical toy pig that she played to soothe the children on the overcrowded lifeboat. this cloak was worn by elizabeth mellinger who was a second class passenger on board the titanic. every one of the precious titanic artefacts at the national maritime museum tells a story. but exploring the wreck is also crucial. it's still important to go down and visit the wreck and to continue to document the site because the wreck itself is now the only witness we have of the titanic disaster. all of the survivors have now passed away. it's important to use the wreck while it still has something to say. in total the team carried out five sub—dives, spending hours beneath the waves exploring the wreck, and they now begin the job of analysing the footage they have captured, to assess how long before the titanic is lost to the sea.

in a moment we have the latest business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. the government launches an inquiry into the future of the high speed rail link hs2 — a final decision is expected by the end of the year. borisjohnson is due to meet angela merkel shortly — with a call to scrap the irish border backstop, in order to secure an brexit deal. thousands of homeless children are growing up living in shipping containers and empty office blocks, according to england's children's commissioner. here's your business headlines on afternoon live... the government says that companies will be automatically enrolled in a customs system — as it speeds up preparations for a no—deal brexit. 72,000 companies have already signed up voluntarily but now a further 88,000 companies will be

added to the scheme that will facilitate trade with eu states after brexit. rya nair passengers and management are still waiting to learn whether the high court will block uk based pilots from striking this thursday in a row over pay and conditions. the budget airline earlier won a similar legal bid at the high court in dublin to stop irish pilots doing the same. barclays has topped the list of banks for suffering the most it shutdowns over the last year. analysis by the bbc shows that barlcays had 33 digital disruptions, stopping customers from accessing normal services. rival banks natwest had 25 and lloyds had 23. what is your favourite story? the one about executive pay.

chief executives are not doing as well, although if you delve into the figures, it is a more complex picture. figures from cipd and high pay centre show change between 2017 and 2018, there's two key numbers to look at. executive pay on average fell by 13% in that period. everyone is happy about that, apart from the executives. the investment association also represents company shareholders and they think this is a result of their lobbying as well. but this figure still holds true, in 2018 chief executives of companies on average earned 117 times the national average and that is still a pretty big and yawning gap. the copd says the gap is too high and the

question is... what do they say, because they are worth it. the cipd have said it is too high.” because they are worth it. the cipd have said it is too high. i don't mean them, i mean the chief executives. the argument of course is that you have to pay top dollar for these people, and we've heard that. we've heard that the change in executive pay is because there has not been a good year for companies and chief executive. this is because of people not hitting their targets and because of organisations feeling that they cannot give as much as they would like because of a backlash from investors, and some chief executives have not been in position long enough to earn a full

bonus and also some of these bonuses that are awarded every few years, and issue not one of those years when the bonuses went into the chief executive's bank account. charles cotton, there. do you know what a bullet journal is? i can't say i did before seeing our next story. at least 7 million young people across the world are reportedly using them to record — and illustrate — every day of the lives, including things like their living expenses. and then they post to instagram. some of the images are stunning drawings and illustrations and one woman in lancaster says herjournal helped her save for a deposit for a house. victoria park has this report. this is a bulletjournal. some say they are glorified to—do lists, a diary of beautiful drawings. 7 million people have used the hashtags #bulletjournal and #bujo on instagram. and for many bulletjournalists,

they are an effective way to save and make money. hi, i'm rachel, 26, and from lancaster. me and my boyfriend bought our first home last year in december. come inside and i'll show you what helped us do it. tracking my finances through my bullet journal definitely has contributed towards us being able to buy the house. it's a method ofjournalling developed by new york designer ryder carroll that uses bullet points as its core structure. you need a plain notebook, coloured pens, stickers, highlighters and tape. i tend to do a monthly track where i'll put down brunch and coffee, and i sometimes do a weekly one where i just tick off whether i have spent any money that day. bullet journalists say they manage to save money because having their finances all in one place makes them more financially aware. they say it's easy to pull a journal out of your bag and write it all down, rather than opening apps

and using a spreadsheet. i've included train tickets in my bulletjournal to highlight a really good day that i've had out. i love having expensive trackers to help me save up for a big event or something i really want to do. with a journal, it helps me monitor my money flow and lets me know when i am out of my budget. i hope one day to have a trip with that money, thanks to my bullet journalling. some people have even had companies asking to buy their images, or commission something specific. i wasn't even aware that i could or you could earn money with this. and then things just took off from there and offers started rolling in. today, i love working with businesses that sell planners and supplies. journalists share their work on facebook, instagram, pinterest and youtube, and encourage each other to stick to their spending goals. if i haven't posted in a few weeks,

i'll definitely get messages from people asking when my next post will be and if i'm still planning. i do get requests for more financial logs, which is great because it holds me accountable. are bulletjournals glorified to—do lists, or are they an extremely clever way to save and make money? we have some pictures coming to us from berlin. boris johnson we have some pictures coming to us from berlin. borisjohnson arriving to meet for talks with angela merkel. the most important round of talks he has had since becoming the prime minister. probably the first of many meetings he will be having on the first meeting with any of the european leaders since assuming office. we have also got breaking

news from ryanair. we have been watching for developments from the high court about whether a pilot strike which has been scheduled for thursday and friday will be happening. ryanair has been trying to stop its pilots going on strike and we are still awaiting a high court decision on that legal bid but ryanair says they expect to run a full schedule of flights on thursday and friday that will come as a relief to many passengers. they are clearly fairly contingent in their can “— clearly fairly contingent in their can —— fairly confident in their contingency plans if the strike does indeed take place. we can have a look at how the markets have ended the day. the ftse100 has had a good end to the day. similar picture for the european dax. fiat chrysler could be resurrecting merger talks

which could be happening between it and renault and the rising oil price has also been fuelling markets, boosting oil —related stocks, the reason for this being that figures in the us show that actually their stockpiles are running lower than you would normally expect. and part of the reason the ftse is doing well is because the pan has been falling against the dollar —— the pound has been falling. that is because of rising fears of a no—deal brexit. now it's time for a look at the weather. we have warmer and drier weather on the way which should arrive in time for the bank holiday weekend. beautiful in the sunshine in scarborough early on. but in wales, further west, a different story, with quite a few heavy showers. showers are pushing into the north midlands. ahead of what is the main weather feature today and that is the band of thick cloud on the

weather front. that is the band of thick cloud on the weatherfront. that is bringing the band of thick cloud on the weather front. that is bringing some rain and that is moving fairly quickly across northern ireland and making further inroads into scotland late in the day. further south, every chance of it staying dry, quite warm in the sunshine, as well. the rain will push its way away from northern ireland, and sink down into northern england and north wales, we will still have clearer skies ahead of that and behind it but shows coming in over the north—west of scotla nd coming in over the north—west of scotland and temperatures between 10-14. the scotland and temperatures between 10—14. the band of rain is only going to get so far because the weather front is going to get so far because the weatherfront isjoining going to get so far because the weather front is joining with this next with a system coming in from the atlantic and if anything that will turn the rain and push its way north again. we may start with rain over wales and northern england and then we have rain coming into northern ireland. over the irish sea into scotland. limiting the temperatures in the central belt to

17, there might be 20 in belfast, and in much of wales and the midlands and southern england it will be dry and warm. studio: the prime minister boris johnson is arriving in berlin and this is the scene. he is expected to tell his host angela merkel that the brexit withdrawal agreement must be changed. we have just brexit withdrawal agreement must be changed. we havejust seen brexit withdrawal agreement must be changed. we have just seen angela merkel preparing for his arrival. as you can see, we have cars appearing, and boris johnson will you can see, we have cars appearing, and borisjohnson will no doubt emerge at any point. this is his first key european mission as prime minister and indeed his first overseas trip as the prime minister. there is angela merkel and prime minister borisjohnson. there is angela merkel and prime minister boris johnson. a there is angela merkel and prime minister borisjohnson. a warm greeting and a handshake in the german capital. an important moment for both of them as they seek to

find ways out of a highly tense brexit moment as the weeks count down to october the 31st. boris johnson's do or die moment with questions hanging over the risks of a no—deal brexit. talk us through who the prime minister is greeting. the prime minister is currently has just greeted angela merkel. this is quite a historic meeting, the first visit of the british prime minister who wa nts to ta ke of the british prime minister who wants to take britain out of the european union at the end of october, come what may, he said. meeting for the first time the german patch —— german chancellor who is passionate about keeping the european union together. no sign of the difference between them as