you're watching bbc news at nine with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines: borisjohnson says he will put forward formal proposals for a new brexit deal shortly, but rejects leaked ideas to replace the irish backstop as "not right". i think that we'll be making a very good offer, and clearly i've seen some... some briefing already from... i don't know where it's come from, i think, possibly, from brussels, which is not quite right. the prime minister confirms there will be customs checks on the island of ireland, but that is not a hard border, he says. china puts on a huge display of military hardware in beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of communist party rule. meanwhile there's been

clashes in hong kong — where pro—democracy protesters are back on the streets to challenge the official vision of national unity. no red alert — experts conclude there's little evidence that eating red meat increases the risk of cancer. coming up: how a treadmill and a large screen might be the key to helping victims of post—traumatic stress disorder heal their mental scars. and in sport, mo farah‘s former coach alberto salazar is banned from athletics for four years after being found guilty of doping violations. good morning and welcome to the bbc news at nine.

the prime minister boris johnson has denied overnight reports that a string of customs posts could be set up just a few miles from the irish border to avoid the backstop — the mechanism to avoid a hard border in ireland. he told the bbc it was absolutely not true that he wanted to simply move border checks away from the physical border itself. but he said he would put forward formal proposals for a brexit deal within days and acknowledged those would have to include customs checks. the prime minister also said he had not asked eu leaders to refuse a further brexit delay as a way of getting around the law which requires him to ask for an extension if no deal has been agreed by october the 19th. our assistant political editor norman smith is at the conservative party conference in manchester. he has been watching those early—morning interviews with boris johnson. normann, we know he loves buses, what you know about his for

brexit? not a huge amount of detail, to be honest. mrjohnson has decided to be honest. mrjohnson has decided to keep most of the gender wraps because he believes if you start giving out the details publicly it hampers you in the negotiations, but i think we know that under the british proposals that would because toms checks on the islands of ireland. what the government says as most of these checks could be done in the depots, in the warehouses of exporters or at the point of destination. but some of the checks where you need to have inspections would have to be done separately. the point of dispute is that the irish government seem to be intimating that these would be five oi’ intimating that these would be five or ten miles set back from the border, in other words the border would be moved five or ten miles back. borisjohnson disputed that this morning and disputed the idea of customs clearance sentence, and i

ta ke of customs clearance sentence, and i take it hit is coming down to an argument about how intrusive or not these customs checks would actually be. but how they listen to what mr johnson said this morning. i think that we'll be making a very good offer and, clearly, i've seen some... some briefing already from... i don't know where it's come from, i think possibly from brussels, which is not quite right. let's just remind people what we're talking about. so there was a leak yesterday that suggested there would be a string of border posts, not on the irish border but not far back. are you saying that simply isn't true? yes, that's not what proposing at all. but i think probably at the moment, nick, if you'll forgive me, i would like to veil our proposals in decent obscurity until beef been able to share them properly with our friends. -- until —— untilwe —— until we have —— untilwe have been able —— until we have been able to share them properly. joining me now is the conservative steve baker, he used to bea conservative steve baker, he used to be a brexit minister so it is very aware of the nature of the

negotiations, and isn't the problem there seems to be no way the irish government will agree to any customs checks? we are leaving the european union, so we will not stay in the customs union on the single market, we will leave. what i had done since resigning since government is trying to work this out, we have worked with prosperity uk who have published a paper setting this out, i would ask your viewers to remember there is already a border on the island of ireland, particularly in excise duty, so there are already spot checks. we are trying to be consistent with the kind of approach which already works on the islands of ireland. if there is a free trade agreement there will be no customs duties, there will be paperwork but it is done electronically, well in advance, without requiring border posts. while this is a small tactical leak to disrupt the negotiations, i am confident this

will be a strong offer which absolutely minimises the inconvenience to businesses, and only a small percentage of trait would need any cheques, after all. google but, to be clear, it would be a hardening of the border if you had traditional customs checks? yes, there will be additional checks and regulations, some compliance and rules of origin and customs, but this is inescapable, we are leaving the eu, we will not stay in the customs union and the single market and that is what the backstop implies. we will not do it. people need to understand it is these arrangements with a deal or with no deal, there is no world in which we are doing something apart from this. doesn't that mean we have to —— doesn't that mean we have to irreconcilable differences, the british position in the irish

position, and you can't square that circle? the only way to square the circle? the only way to square the circle is to remain in the eu, and we will not do that. boris johnson's will to take us out of the eu is clearly absolute. people need to face up to the reality that we are leaving, which will mean change to the status quo, but i am confident this can be a world—class border with the minimisation of inconvenience to business and individuals consistent with the approach adopted today. doesn't it a lwa ys approach adopted today. doesn't it always mean we need to prepare ourselves for no deal? when i wasn't government, were preparing... do you think it is a likely outcome?” think it is a likely outcome?” think we will get into a negotiating channel, which will be frustrating for journalists channel, which will be frustrating forjournalists because nothing will be coming out of it, but i believe they can negotiate some agreements which will work. i believe that boris comes back with a deal, he will only ask me to vote for it if it is good, because i will have to

say to the voters, conservative voters, brexit party voters, nigel farage, that this is a good deal, andl farage, that this is a good deal, and i will not back it if it is not. borisjohnson will put its proposals to the eu after he has made his conference speech tomorrow, so on thursday or friday. a word on the prime minister's denial that he asked eu leaders to potentially refuse a further brexit delay as a way of getting around the benn law. this might influence what mps who wish to avoid a no deal scenario will do? the idea has been kicked around for awhile, getting the eu to rule out in advance the of extensional further delay. rule out in advance the of extensionalfurther delay. if rule out in advance the of extensional further delay. if mr johnson gets a deal, he will say to the mps, it is my deal or no deal. the eu have clearly said they will

not agree an extension, it is pretty much putting a gun to their head, you back my deal or it is what you really, really do want, no deal. there is a question over whether the eu would agree to that because i think there is a view in eu capitals that they do not want to be in the position to be seen to have forced the uk out of the eu, and those mps behind the benn act appear certain that the eu would grant a further extension. thank you very much, norman. let's speak to our ireland correspondent chris page, who's in belfast. never say sense of the reaction to the interviews this morning and the sense that the uk government was proposing customs checks away from the border, which borisjohnson has denied the specifics that were suggested last night? gulp the irish

government have been stressing the point they made repeatedly over the last for weeks, the dublin