this is bbc news i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11:00: displeasure at buckingham palace, after david cameron reveals he sought the queen's help ahead of the scottish independence referendum. i'm not asking for anything that will be in any way improper or unconstitutional butjust will be in any way improper or unconstitutional but just a will be in any way improper or unconstitutional butjust a raising of the eyebrow. the lawyer for former prime minister sirjohn major tells the supreme court that borisjohnson suspended parliament to stop mps "interfering" in brexit. the death of pc andrew harper — prosecutors drop a murder charge against a 20—year—old man. three teenagers appear in court charged with murder. the deadly conflict in afghanistan — we have a special report from one of the busiest hospitals in the country.

i want to firstly thank god. i want to invite my mum up onto the stage. british rapper dave wins the 2019 mercury prize for his debut album, psychodrama. and at 11:30, we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers henry bonsu and olivia utley — stay with us for that. good evening. buckingham palace has expressed displeasure after the former prime minister david cameron revealed that he sought the queen's help during the scottish independence referendum campaign. in a bbc documentary, mr cameron said that in 2014 he had

asked if the queen could intervene because he was concerned scotland was going to vote for independence. the queen later urged people to ‘think very carefully‘ about the future. conversations between the queen and the prime minister are meant to be kept private. but today mr cameron denied that he'd acted improperly. here's our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. it is the relationship at the heart of the british state between prime minister and monarch. the golden rule is that everything that passes between them is confidential, yet today david cameron has revealed how he encouraged the queen to intervene in the scottish referendum and she acquiesced. the summer of 2014 — the dominant political issue was whether scotland would break away from the union. as british prime minister, david cameron was the man tasked with saving the union. it would really be desperately sad to see it torn apart. in early september, a poll predicted

that the yes campaign in favour of scottish independence was in the lead. now, throwing protocol aside, mr cameron has told a bbc documentary how he and royal officials then set to work. conversations i had with my private secretary and he had with the queen's private secretary, and i had conversations i had with my private secretary and he had with the queen's private secretary, and i had with the queen's private secretary, not asking for anything that would be in any way improper or unconstitutional, butjust a raising of the eyebrow, even, you know, a quarter of an inch, we thought would make a difference. although the words were very limited, i think it did put a slightly different perception on things. the queen's eyebrow—raising words, uttered outside a balmoral church, that she hoped people would think very carefully, were made out to be impromptu — infact, they were deliberate, and we now know that mr cameron had had a hand in them.

this morning on the today programme, he accepted he had been indiscreet. i think i don't want to say anything more about this. i'm sure that some people would think, possibly even me, that i've already said a little bit too much. a few hours later, from the palace came the word "displeasure." it's safe to assume that the displeasure comes from the queen herself. however, we should not assume that david cameron was the sole instigator of her remarks. we know that the queen cares deeply about the unity of the united kingdom. at the time of the scottish referendum, several members of the royal family were trying to find some acceptable way to make their concerns known. mr cameron's intervention was perhaps the encouragement they were looking for. for the man who led the snp during the referendum campaign, mr cameron's behaviour was completely unacceptable. it's an astonishing thing to do. it's an even more

astonishing thing to reveal. i mean, has the man got no shame whatsoever? however, the current prime minister was being diplomatic... not only do i not comment on conversations that i may have held with her majesty, but i don't comment on conversations she may have held with anybody else. the queen has now been drawn into a disputed proroguing of parliament and renewed c0 ntrove i’sy over the scottish referendum. for the palace, it is double discomfort. nicholas witchell, bbc news, buckingham palace. the former prime minister, sirjohn major has accused boris johnson of being dishonest about his reasons for suspending parliament. speaking through his lawyer at the supreme court, sirjohn said the only reason mrjohnson wanted a longer than usual suspension of parliament was to stop mps "interfering" in his brexit plans. the government is aruging that it is not a matter for the courts at all. our home editor mark easton reports from the supreme court.

sirjohn major, borisjohnson — two conservative party leaders, two prime ministers. but today, the battle over brexit saw them turn blue on blue — amid accusations of hypocrisy, dirty tricks and lies. as the supreme court began the final day of its hearing into whether mrjohnson unlawfully suspended or prorogued parliament, sirjohn major told the judges in a written note that borisjohnson had ulterior motives, and his stated reasons for ending the parliamentary session could not be true. sirjohn major's lawyer in court, lord garnier, accused a downing street staffer of falsely suggesting thatjohn major himself as prime minister had suspended parliament with ulterior motives. and it was suggested that he had prorogued for base political reasons... the demonstrators are out on the streets again! it was a suggestion of mudslinging, there was nothing base and political about the decision to ask the queen to shut parliament down early,

ahead of the election in 1997. in the cabinet at the time, michael, now lord heseltine, has dismissed the idea as nonsense. there is recent evidence of the downing street press office having been misleading in its announcements. lord garnier also referred to a text sent to the bbc by a downing street source which said... "the claim that the government is considering proroguing parliament in september in order to stop mps debating brexit is entirely false." it later emerged that ministers had discussed asking the queen to suspend the session, although no 10 maintains it wasn't to close down discussion on brexit. we are not concerned with when and how and on what terms the united kingdom leaves the european union. stressing their discussions have nothing to do with brexit, the justices today received an answer to their own question to no 10 — what would government do if they lost the case? now, if the supreme court says the suspension of parliament was unlawful, downing street are considering three options, depending on the exact reasons.

0ne, they don't need to do anything at all. two, they bring back parliament, but they bring forward the queen's speech. 0r three, they immediately go back to the queen again and ask her to suspend parliament again — but this time, lawfully. this afternoon, the government lawyer, lord keen, argued it should never get that far, anyway, because thejudges have no right to rule on the matter. the length of each session of parliament and the frequency between sessions is regulated by constitutional convention, and not by the law. remain campaigner gina miller's lawyer argued the outcome should be the immediate recall of mps. does the prime minister have to do anything to ensure that parliament meet next week? it may be that the speaker of the house of commons and the lord's speaker in the house of lords will take action to ensure that parliament reopens as soon

as possible next week, it is a matter for them, and then parliament can debate. if they follow past practice, the justices will come together in the next few days and each in turn will give their view, starting with the newest member of the supreme court and finishing with the president, lady hale, with a decision next week. it is, as she said, a serious and difficult question of law. cheering and booing and for the world outside the courtroom, a question with profound implications for the great institutions of state, for our democracy and for the citizens of a troubled kingdom. mark easton, bbc news, the supreme court. a 20—year—old man who had been accused of murdering a police officer last month has had the charges against him dropped. pc andrew harper, who was 28, was killed near reading while investigating reports of a burglary. he had married his wife lissie just four weeks earlier. today three teenagers appeared at the old bailey, charged with his murder.

this week the bbc released new research on the conflict in afghanistan — tracing every conflict—related death in the month of august. according to the data that was gathered, on average, more than a dozen civilians died every day. the bbc spent time in one of the country's busiest hospitals in the southern city of kandahar. a warning, viewers may find some of secunder kermani's report distressing. if you want to see what war means in afghanistan, this is where to come. kandahar hospital serves some of the most volatile provinces in the country. medical staff work around the clock, trying to save lives. but resources a re the clock, trying to save lives. but resources are stretched. and every day brings new patients into new tragedies. —— new patients and new

tragedies. —— new patients and new tragedies. this is one of the youngest patients and has 50% of his body in burns. the family brought him here after being struck by a stray bullet. the youngest are often those who suffer the most. this child was injured in an air strike by government or us forces. in a nearby room, a seven—year—old girl recovering after being shot in the head while her family were fleeing the fighting. last year, more children were killed and injured in afghanistan and in any other conflict. the bbc spent one month

here. in that time, staff treated 75 gunshot hymns and more than 90 injuries caused by landmines. most of the time, you only hear about the conflict in afghanistan when there has been a huge bomb blast or an air strike has killed a large number of civilians. spending time here, you realised how often lives are torn apart by incidents that simply are not covered in the media. they may be still smaller in scale but they still leave a devastating impact. this farmerfrom still leave a devastating impact. this farmer from helmand still leave a devastating impact. this farmerfrom helmand province has just been transferred here after stepping on a landmine. he doesn't know whether his legs can be saved 01’ know whether his legs can be saved or whether they will need to be amputated.

civilians are not the only ones paying a heavy price. in a hospital morgue, the body of a policeman killed in a taliban attackjust a few hours ago. waiting outside, his grieving family. a short while later, another ambulance pulls up. this is the second body of a policeman that has arrived this hospital in the space of a few hours. the government no longer releases figures on how many members of the security forces here are dying because of the sheer volume stop in the operating theatre, he has put under —— the farmer has been put under anaesthetic. it is looking like he will need an amputation and for the surgeons, it is never an easy decision to make. do you feel

that psychological trauma yourself? for this baby, there appears to be some good news. his wounds have gradually been recovering with the help of spells in the afternoon sun. his uncle's whole life has been dominated by war. he wonders if his nephew's future will be, too. there are stories of hope and resilience here but the horrors of

the war continue. more relatives arrived to collect more dead bodies. a few days after we finished filming, we learned that this baby has died, too. happy endings are ha rd to has died, too. happy endings are hard to come by here. secunder kermani, bbc news, kandahar. the headlines on bbc news: a royal source suggests david cameron's remarks about seeking the queen's support in the scottish independence vote has caused displeasure at buckingham palace. judges at the supreme court will rule early next week on whether borisjohnson's decision to suspend parliament in the run—up to brexit was lawful. the death of pc andrew harper — prosecutors drop a murder charge against 20—year—old jed foster. three teenagers appear at the old bailey on murder charges. the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau, has issued

a new apology tonight after fresh video emerged of him wearing blackface make—up, a day after he admitted such behaviour was racist. mr trudeau said he'd hurt people who faced discrimination but couldn't say how many times he'd worn blackface. from 0ttawa, nick bryant reports. in this age of celebrity politicians, justin trudeau is a politician who became a celebrity. youthful, telegenic — a leader who seemed to embody the values of modern—day progressiveness, a model of political correctness. put this photo presents a very different picture, showing him wearing blackface make—up at a private—school gala in 2001. an arabian nights costume party where, as a 29—year—old teacher, he was dressed as a charater from aladdin. his message today — "forgive me, i've changed." darkening yourface, regardless of the circumstances,

is always unacceptable because of the racist history of blackface. i should have understood that then, and i never should have done it. more blackface photos have emerged, and a video has surfaced from the early ‘90s showing a young justin trudeau sticking his tongue out and making faces. all this in the midst of an election campaign in which mr trudeau had already been reeling from a corruption scandal. blackface is now recognised as a racist caricature, and his opponents are piling in. any time we hear examples of brownface or blackface, it's making a mockery of someone for what they live, and what their lived experiences are. i think he needs to answer for it. the young prime minister has always sought to portray canada as one of the world's most successfully multicultural countries. here, he greeted syrian refugees at the airport. this damages his political brand. but in the capital, 0ttawa, today, most people we spoke to were forgiving.

it is nothing, because he was very young at the time. and it was canada, it's not the us, we don't have the same history here that they have in the us. do you find it offensive? i do. he's positioned himself as a liberal counterpoint to donald trump, but his golden boy image has been tarnished. nick bryant, bbc news, 0ttawa. millions of people are expected to take part in climate change protests around the world tomorrow ahead a major un summit in new york next week, attended by world leaders. but the growing pressure to curb greenhouse gases has not stopped president trump's efforts to overturn environmental regulations. he's said california shouldn't be allowed to set stricter emissions targets for vehicles and taken a big step towards opening up alaska's wildlife refuge for oil and gas drilling. 0ur north america correspondent aleem maqbool reports from another climate change battleground in colorado. the north fork valley in colorado

is an area of stunning diversity of landscape. lush green valleys besides striking, stark desert terrain, plateau mountains and dense pine forests. but it also sits on one of the largest shale—gas reserves in the us, leaving these pockets of untouched splendour severely under threat — perhaps now more than ever. well, this gas well has been in operation not far from north fork for many years, but the trump administration is pushing aggressively for more wells to be drilled on public lands, but that includes areas of natural beauty and even wildlife refuges. in just its first year, the trump administration offered up nearly 12 million acres of public lands to oil and gas companies,

six times as much as the 0bama administration the previous year. this land was only settled a little over 100 years ago... those opposed to energy companies developing here say they're just not being listened to. why are we trashing some of our remarkable landscapes and pristine landscapes just so somebody can make a profit? it doesn't make sense. why the rush to get at these areas that we'll never be able to put ‘em back in the same way? but the current administration is proud that us oil and gas production is going up. this is an opportunity maybe for us to be able to export. we can export now into japan, we have some contracts... but at what expense to the environment? well, again, i will point to my state, you know, we have some of the most stringent environmental requirements put in place. in fact, environmental regulations, like on emissions, on protecting wildlife, on drilling and pollution, have been overturned at an astonishing rate in favour of oil and gas companies.

we've seen attacks on some of our most fundamental regulations meant to protect our natural resources, really bedrock environmental regulations, and we've seen definite efforts by the trump administration to reduce the amount of input that the community can provide to these important decisions. already, more than 50 rules to protect the environment have been scrapped, and all signs are even more on their way out — good for the us oil and gas industry, bad for the environment and for climate change. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in the north fork valley, colorado. in the last hour the winner of the 2019 mercury prize for music has been announced and it's gone to british rapper dave. his album psychodrama looks at issues of race, class and grief. it's been called the boldest british rap album in a generation.

here's the moment rapper dave won and brought his mum up on stage with him. i want to firstly thank god. i want to invite my mom, i want to invite my mum up on stage. cheering and applausae with me is music journalist georgie rogers, who was at the ceremony tonight. this year's shortlist has been described as the most rebellious ever, with the nominees using their music to comment on climate change, austerity and urban decay. very strong field, very political. why did dave deserve to win it? because i think the album, as the judges said, it recognises the album asa judges said, it recognises the album as a body of work and artistry encourage and that is what is album

presented. such a strong list this year, seven incredible artist —— artists. dave's album is an exploration into masculinity, mental health, the human condition, what it's like being young and black and london growing up without a father and the framework of the therapy sessions that his brother is serving a life sentence is having. a very important record and very dramatic, the production on it, it's incredible. the lyrics, it's so poetic. talk us through some of the other contenders because we started with 200 in the long list and that it's all crunched down. and more political than ever before. certainly for a while, a lot of the albums on this list are touching on issues like gender identity, politics, culture, the time we are living in, there are a lot of albums

on that list which are very reactive to the times at the moment.“ people are not familiar with her, what about the work of anna calvi? anna calvi's work is looking at identity. her performance was one of the standout moments. she really opens up on the track, my man, the vocal performance left a lot of drawers —— jaws dropping. and the biggest chair in the room tonight was for the idols. so much support and love for them. a great album and and love for them. a great album and a great live performance. the camerata of the class of 2019 mercury nominees. slowthai was getting a hug from the idols guitarist and the singer from idols gave his gong to slowthai. there was a lot of love between the act. it was an incredibly strong year in one

of the best mercury prize ceremonies either ever been to. i was reading somebody failed to do a somersault and hita somebody failed to do a somersault and hit a pano somebody failed to do a somersault and hita pano —— piano. somebody failed to do a somersault and hit a pano -- piano. yes, the guitarist from black midi had various calamities around the stage, very much like spinal tap.|j various calamities around the stage, very much like spinal tap. i hope they weren't knocked out by it. in a way, you are unlucky to be on this shortlist because i suppose several of them could have one in another year. you couldn't call it tonight. everyone just year. you couldn't call it tonight. everyonejust did year. you couldn't call it tonight. everyone just did not know who was going to win but dave had been a favourite. he was of the top three output would take it and that album isa output would take it and that album is a really incredible piece of work. why do you think this year there are so many political pieces of work? i thinkjust because in the past, maybe artists have held back a little bit, but with the political

climate, artists are less afraid to say what they think and really put their human experience into it. it is resulting in a lot of exciting and honest work. how helpful to artists is exposure in the mercury prize, whether you win or on the shortlist? really beneficial. all of these albums will see an uplift and it remains to be seen how the numbers break down but every single one of those albums, because it is looking at the 12 best albums of the year, arguably the 12 best so they will all see an effect. dave is in a perfect position, really. he's got a lot of traction, he's had a great year. he's got the kind of music industry machine behind him so i think he will do well off this. and also it's a great investment,

£25,000, to invest in what he goes to do next. a lot to report on tomorrow. georgie, thank you very much for coming in. after 32 years, john humphreys presented his last programme on radio 4, his no—nonsense interviewing style taking on one of the most respected and feared journalists in the country. it's six o'clock on thursday 19th september... the final today forjohn humphrys. he was, for more than 30 years, the bbc‘s interrogator—in—chief. you are sitting here in this studio now talking on the radio... it was gladiatorial on—air combat, here challenging gerry adams of sinn fein. no, let me make this point. you, who i admire as a broadcaster... his terrier—like persistence helped define the political rules of engagement. i'm telling you things have changed, that's all. it's a manifest fact things have changed. he left school aged 15 and started

work as a journalist. the story that shaped him was aberfan. he was the first reporter on the scene — 116 children killed when a coal tip subsided onto the town. he then joined the bbc, here truly in the thick of it in the indo—pakistan war of 1971. there's the big guns falling. there's a sabre just gone overhead. but the place he truly made his mark was today. take this in 2012. the bbc director—general george entwistle under fire after false allegations of child sex abuse in a newsnight report. what's happening here? the second this was brought to my attention last night, i immediately... brought to your attention? do you not read papers? do you not look, do you not listen to the output? george entwistle resigned later that day. have you ever regretted going too

far with a politician? oh, yes, yes, yes, many times. many times. have you ever said sorry afterwards? yes, interrupting is fine, interrupting is inevitable. unless you want a series of party political broadcasts, you have to interrupt. but when you get angry, which i have done once or twice, and i mean only once or twice, that is absolutely unforgivable. he has divided opinion, and he himself has noted that senior politicians are increasingly avoiding these encounters. but at the end, what we got was a glimpse of the softer side ofjohn humphrys. i'm more proud than i can say that you have put up with me for so long. thank you. and that's it from me. good morning. david sillito, bbc news. now it's time for the weather with chris fawkes. hello there. thursday brought us a stunning day of whether, in many cases clear blue skies, pretty

commonplace and more of the same over the next few days until we see the weather change and turn u nsettled the weather change and turn unsettled as we go through the weekend. before, this area of high pressure continues that fine sunny theme but some mist and fog patches early friday, northern ireland, north—west england particularly and the central belt and parts of southern scotland, mist and fog taking a while to clear out and then sunshine pretty much in cloud we've seen sunshine pretty much in cloud we've seen recently in shetland will ultimately start to get displaced into the afternoon so some sunshine to end the day. a warmer day, temperatures widely into the low 20s. weekend weather plus —— prospects, mixed fortunes. high pressure with us but easing to the near continent, south—east wins dragging warm out from france, weather fronts in the west bringing change to the weekend so saturday,

most of us having another decent