a downing street source says a brexit deal is now "essentially impossible" following a phone call between boris johnson and germany's chancellor. the source claimed the prospect of a deal had broken down over the issue of the irish border — ministers said they were prepared but labour blamed the prime minister. we would like to have a deal, but the eu needs to know we're absolutely going to be ready without a deal, and we're going to leave on the 31st. the government put proposals on the table that were never going to work. they were designed to fail. the president of the european council warned borisjohnson that "what's at stake is not winning some stupid blame game". with the brexit negotiations now in real doubt, we'll bring you all the latest from westminster and brussels. also this lunchtime:

19 people arrested as police break the uk's biggest —— a mother breaks down at the inquiry into the nhs use of contaminated blood products — grieving for her ten—year—old boy who died and coming up on bbc news... andy murray is set to make his grand slam singles return as australian open organisers announce he'll play in melbourne next year. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. a downing street source says a brexit deal with the eu is "essentially impossible," following a phone call between the prime minister and the german chancellor. angela merkel is reported to have told borisjohnson that a brexit deal is now "overwhelmingly unlikely." the source claimed she said a deal would never be possible

unless northern ireland stays in a customs union, which is not part of the uk's proposals. the source went on to accuse the eu of being willing to "torpedo" the good friday peace agreement. the president of the european council, donald tusk, warned the prime minister that trying to win a "stupid blame game" was not the most important issue at stake. our political correspondent nick eardley reports. is today the day the wheels came off boris johnson's is today the day the wheels came off borisjohnson‘s brexiter is today the day the wheels came off boris johnson's brexiter plan? ministers arriving for cabinet this morning with the prospect of a breakthrough increasingly slim. perhaps gone completely. everyone wa nts a perhaps gone completely. everyone wants a deal, they would like to have a deal, but the eu needs to know we are absolutely ready without a deal and we will leave on the sist. a deal and we will leave on the 31st. is it possible be levered no

deal on the 31st? everything is possible. brussels do deals when things go down to the wire, the option is there and it is up to them to take it. number ten says the german chancellor angela merkel told borisjohnson a new deal is overwhelmingly unlikely and one would only be possible if northern ireland stayed in a customs union, something mrjohnson will not accept. the german government has not confirmed that is it to you, number ten says a deal is essentially impossible, not just number ten says a deal is essentially impossible, notjust now but ever. it leaves talks between brussels and london in tatters and sets up a bruising debate about who is to blame. brussels made clear overnight it had real concerns about elements of the new uk plan. the president of the european council, donald tusk, the usual diplomatic language out of the window, tweeted the prime minister.

at home too and escalation in language, a source said the eu had shown no desire to budge one centimetre and number ten would take an obstructive strategy is full to delay brexit. the government put proposals on the table that were never going to work, they were designed to fail. instead of reacting and changing their proposals, they are now collapsing the talks and engaging in a reckless blame game and it will be our economy and working people who will pay the price for this recklessness. borisjohnson has tried pay the price for this recklessness. boris johnson has tried to pay the price for this recklessness. borisjohnson has tried to bully pay the price for this recklessness. boris johnson has tried to bully the eu memberstates, boris johnson has tried to bully the eu member states, independent, sovereign member states. that might have worked on the playing fields of eton, i was not there, i would not know, it does not work with independent states. others blame opposition parties for trying to outlaw no deal. our parliament has

brought this about, i understand ago we re brought this about, i understand ago were progressing well until the so—called surrender act went through, the benn act, which chopped off the negotiations at the knees. but the prospect of a deal fading quickly, number ten might soon be promising a no deal exit. mps here will do everything they can to make sure this does not happen. there are big battles before we know for sure what happens next. in a moment we'll speak to our assistant political editor, norman smith, in westminster. but first, adam fleming is in brussels. adam, donald tusk — the european council president — clearly furious at the words from number ten. what are others saying? that is shared by simon coveney, the deputy prime minister of ireland, who says it reflects widespread frustration across the whole of europe at the situation, and he said what is needed is a uk government

that wants to work with the eu on getting a brexit deal. in turn, that is shared by eu negotiators in brussels, currently sitting down with boris johnson's brussels, currently sitting down with borisjohnson‘s europe envoy david frost for another set of talks, but they say mr frost's room for manoeuvre is so limited and what he is asking for it so unachievable, it calls into question whether the british government was ever serious at all about getting the revised brexit deal it said it wanted. on those comments reported to have been made by the german chancellor angela merkel to the prime minister on the phone this morning, eu diplomats say that does not reflect the agreed language across the 27 other eu member states. they say their position is to keep talking right until the last minute, and they don't want northern ireland to be in the eu customs union forever, just as long as it's strictly necessary, which might not even be necessary at all. it is fair to say there is very

heated rhetoric on both sides of the argument as the clock ticks down. norman, is this the no—deal blame game starting in earnest? i think it is more than a blame game, ithink i think it is more than a blame game, i think we are seeing a potential rupture in relations between britain and the rest of europe, a souring in relations. we heard from adam about the backlash from brussels that even the fact that numberten from brussels that even the fact that number ten has been so ready to brief about the phone call with angela merkel, normally these phone conversations, the readout is usually pretty bland and anodyne and everything is couched in diplomatic nicene a/c language. not so this time, numberten being open, saying it was challenging and difficult. accusing the eu have been prepared to torpedo the good friday agreement. the other consequence is

we are now staring very directly at i'io we are now staring very directly at no deal, it is almost inconceivable, it seems to me, that borisjohnson can resurrect any former deal because of the phone conversation with the chancellor, because of the eu rebuttal and because of an equally difficult phone conversation with the french president on saturday —— with the french president on saturday — — micro with the french president on saturday —— micro resurrect any form of deal. so how does borisjohnson sakhir the no deal outcome given that parliament has passed legislation to block him? we got an inside for some —— from some texts thought to be from his chief adviser dominic cummings, that we will be blooming awkward, uncooperative and difficult in the eu. so much so that other members will want shot of us and veto any extension, so we will had to leave without an agreement. i do not think this is so much a blame game as a full—blown do not think this is so much a blame game as a full— blown crockery throwing, plate smashing, howling

rancorous divorce settlement that is looming. many thanks, norman smith in westminster and adam fleming is in brussels. there's a warning that a no—deal brexit could result in government borrowing soaring to its highest level for half a century. the independent think—tank the institute for fiscal studies says emergency tax cuts and higher public spending could mean borrowing doubles to nearly £100 billion. our economics correspondent, andy verity, is here. thanks, reeta. last month sajid javid claimed he could deliver the biggest boost to spending this decade and still keep government borrowing at less than 2% of the size of the economy. but the institute for fiscal studies says no — he's going to break that rule. in march his predecessor philip hammond had a buffer of £27 billion to use for tax cuts or spending boosts to help the economy if it ran into trouble. but a weaker economy and less tax from corporations has shrunk that buffer to £14 billion — and he's already spent all of that in the autumn spending round. the ifs says the government's now

operating without any fiscal rules. we have had so many fiscal rules over the last ten years, most of which have been broken over the place just before being which have been broken over the placejust before being broken. that will happen again now, we are on course to break the current fiscal rules. the government is beginning to lose an anchor, a framework, it is unclear what it is trying to achieve in terms of debt, borrowing and spending. i guess the chancellor will try to give us some sense of that in a cunning budget, but at the moment we are adrift. far from sticking to the government's 2017 manifesto pledge to balance the budget — spend no more than its income — it's now pledged to spend £325 billion on public services next year, nearly as much as labour promised in 2017. but because the economy's already growing slower than expected there's less tax coming in to cover that spending. the chancellor will have to borrow £50 billion next year, and that's assuming there isn't a no—deal brexit.

the ifs says if that does happen, borrowing next year will be double that. i think if we had no deal, the economy would grow very little, if actual, over the next two or three yea rs, actual, over the next two or three years, borrowing would rise to 90 or $100 billion a year, a very significant increase on where we are. if that happens we would have to have another period of tax increases or spending cuts to get it back under control. if we start borrowing more to cover spending, the government's debt will climb to its highest since the 1960s — 90% of gdp. that is according to the iss. so even if there's a mini—boom for public spending next year, the ifs says that would likely be followed by another bust as the government tries to bring the public finances back under control. under those circumstances, borisjohnson's promises of permanent tax cuts for the country's highest earners look increasingly unaffordable. reeta.

thanks very much, andy. and we will have more on the legal challenges to a no—deal brexit later in the programme. 19 people have been arrested in connection with what detectives say is the uk's biggest ever drugs operation. 150 officers launched dawn raids in london and across the north of england this morning, and say the suspects are part of a network responsible for importing more than 50 tonnes of drugs into britain. our home affairs correspondent, sarah corker, reports. police! open the door! before dawn this morning, a series of coordinated raids in the seven towns and cities across the north of england and here in the capital. this is hammersmith in west london, and one of 13 men aged between 2a and 59 is arrested. all are suspected of being involved in one of the uk's biggest ever drug smuggling operations. the investigation has been running for approximately 18 months in partnership with dutch law

enforcement, and we believe that in excess of 50 tonnes of controlled drugs has come into the country over a specific period amounting to billions of pounds worth of commodity. and in st helens in merseyside, there was further police activity and searches. it is alleged that from february 2017 the crime group used dutch and british fake companies to import the class a drugs. this has been described as a drug smuggling on an industrial scale. an international crime group hiding cocaine and heroin in lorries underneath fruit and vegetables and bringing it through uk ports from the netherlands. and there is a county line element to this. we see now a lot of discussion around the county lines impact across the country. so that has a devastating effect to both the public, particularly vulnerable children, and the economy.

so us taking out this organised crime group this morning will hopefully make a big impact into the fact that drugs are being brought into the uk. today's operation comes after the arrests in april by dutch police of four men and two women in the netherlands, and the national crime agency says they have now dismantled a well established drugs supply route, stemming the flow of class a drugs on to britain's streets. sarah corker, bbc news. the mother of a ten—year—old boy who died after contracting hiv through contaminated blood broke down while telling a public inquiry of the family's ordeal. lee turton died in 1992. his mother denise told the inquiry she believes the government knew the blood products being used was infected, as did the pharmaceutical companies, and that they did nothing. sophie hutchinson reports. this was ten—year—old lee turton.

it was christmas, just four weeks before he died, he was hiv positive and had hepatitis c, infected through the contaminated blood products he was treated with. when we got back to cornwall, they actually told us he had between two and ten days to live. sorry... they said he had an infection on the brain so we insisted that he went home that day because that's what he wa nted home that day because that's what he wanted to do. he kept asking to go home. lee had a severe haemophilia. when it became known he was infected with hiv in the 1980s, his mother said parents didn't want him at school and a teacher wouldn't teach him so they decided to move. the pain of reliving what happened to lee is nothing compared to the pain and suffering he had in his short

life. we lost our beautiful son, brother. haemophiliacs were feeling for their lives and the safety. the government knew the factory being used was infected, as did the pharmaceutical companies and did nothing —— fearing for their lives. the inquiry are still combing through hundreds of thousands of documents and will call experts and former politicians to give evidence about how and why haemophiliacs like lee and blood transfusion patients we re lee and blood transfusion patients were treated with infected blood in the 70s and 80s. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. the time is just after 1:15pm. our top story this lunchtime. a downing street source says a brexit deal with the eu has become essentially impossible, following a frank phone call between the prime minister

and the german chancellor. and the council house estate tipped to win britain's most prestigious architecture prize. coming up on bbc news... south africa run riot in kobe — running in seven tries against canada before half—time as they look to secure their place in the rugby world cup quarter—finals. two people are admitted on average every day to the royal london hospital with injuries from knife crime. the hospital is one of europe's busiest trauma centres. attacks have become commonplace in some communities, and doctors are shocked at people's readiness to stab people over petty disagreements. clive myrie has spent the last few months filming at the hospital and has sent us this report. sirens wail and phone rings at the royal london hospital staff are on alert. another victim of knife crime is about to enter the building. jermaine tyreek took a single blow from a knife to his lowerjaw.

the attacker was trying to slit his throat — a staggering act of aggression in the middle of a petty squabble. this guy couldn't go to his car and come back into our club, that's all it is. it's all it is. it's over nothing. so it's pointless. deprivation and hopelessness can tempt youngsters to join gangs and deal drugs, and the ease of access from any kitchen drawer means knives are ready weapons in any turf war or to settle scores. the fact that we're living in a society where this is normal! roisin keville is based at the royal london hospital, an outreach worker. her team counsels knife crime victims straight after surgery, helping to prevent revenge attacks and so breaking the cycle of violence. it is heartbreaking because you're seeing children, you're seeing families whose lives are destroyed.

i had a young person here a couple of weeks ago, his mum found out on snapchat. she found out on snapchat that her child had been stabbed. now, what does that say about society? can you see that it's kind of oozing here? yes. a society where teenagers are having to be taught life—saving skills because of the prevalence of knife crime. it's come to this. what happens if you are out and you find out someone is carrying a knife, what are you going to do? tell them, what do you think you are doing? laughter people who carry are are not evil people, they do it for fear, they do it for protection, they do it out of peer pressure, to be part of a gang, because that's what everybody else does, because no—one else doesn't do it. but knives make you more likely to be violent because it's in your pocket and you can use it. the key for society,

dissuading young people from putting knives in their pockets in the first place. clive myrie, bbc news. turkey says it's completed preparations to invade kurdish—controlled northern syria, following president trump's surprise decision to pull us troops out of the area. syria is controlled by four separate factions, including government forces. kurdish forces are in charge of a large swathe of land in the north — land that turkey wants to control in order to seal off its border. our correspondent orla guerin is on the syrian/turkish borderfor us now. orla, a very tense situation there? extremely tense, so far today has been quiet and we have not seen any indication of an unusual turkish military build—up. although, local sources have told us in the last half an hour or so that some us military helicopters flew in, possibly bringing american officials

toa possibly bringing american officials to a meeting with the turkish military here at the border but that's unconfirmed. washington spoke very loudly yesterday, although frankly, not always clearly. on the one hand, we had president donald trump warning turkey not to go too far, threatening that, as he put it, if they did anything that was off limits he would decimate the turkish economy. we had the pentagon saying that america was opposed to this bogus operation and would not be pa rt bogus operation and would not be part of it. on the other hand, we had the physical realities on the ground, we had the americans withdrawing some of their special forces from two observation posts here on the border. now, much as the americans have denied it, that is seen very americans have denied it, that is seen very much here as giving the green light to turkey to go ahead with an invasion across the border. that is how it has been understood by america's allies, the syrian democratic forces led by the kurds, who have been a key part in the battle against is. and of course this is one of the major concerns for the international community.

what happened is that battle now if the kurds have to focus on defending themselves against the turks? they have warned they will have to withdraw forces from, for example, detention camps where they are holding is prisoners, so lots of implications and lots of concern in the international community. orla guerin, many thanks. climate change protesters have continued their demonstrations in london, with some activists glueing themselves to government buildings. the prime minister made unflattering comments about the extinction rebellion protesters at a book launch last night. this is what he had to say: my own team didn't want me to come to this event tonight because they said that there were some uncooperative crusties and protesters of all kinds littering the road and they said there was some risk... well, our correspondentjon donnison is in central london at one of the protests. how have these comments gone down? we have arrived alongside parliament now and you have hundreds of protesters blocking sites around 12

different locations around westminster. in the last few hours we have seen a real shift in police tactics, they have begun to forcibly remove people, arrest them, but every time they remove a single person, it seems another half a dozen sit down behind them. in terms of those comments, they have not gone down very well. i put boris johnson's remarks to extinction rebellion spokesperson he quoted gandhi back to me. he said, well, first, they ignore you, then they mock you, then they fight you, then you win. ok, jon donnison, many thanks. three low—paid workers and their union have begun a fresh legal attempt to force boris johnson to seek an extension to the brexit deadline — instead of leaving with no deal. they claim departing without an agreement could damage employees' rights, which are derived from eu law. our legal correspondent, clive coleman, reports. facing an uncertain future, maritza castillo calle is spanish but has lived in the uk

for six years. working in catering, she is one of the 3.5 million eu nationals working here. like many low—paid workers, she relies on rights that come from eu law, rights which the independent workers union of great britain argues could be weakened by a no—deal brexit. translation: many low-paid and precarious workers like me use laws from the eu in order to defend ourselves. and also when a company transfers to another company, to defend our rest, our hours and our rights overall. eu—derived workers' rights apply to all workers in the uk, not simply eu nationals working here. many of the employment rights that we take for granted, such as the right to paid holidays and protection against discrimination, are based in eu law, and if we crash out without a deal, those rights could be at risk from day one, and that's one of the many reasons why it's so important

that the prime minister obey the law and we not put those rights at risk on day one. the case being brought against the prime minister here at the high court couldn't be clearer. borisjohnson has repeatedly said that in the event of no deal, he won't seek an extension to negotiate one, which the so—called benn act, which he calls the surrender act, compels him to seek. the union argues that floats an act of parliament and is as clear the union argues that flouts an act of parliament and is as clear an example of breaching the rule of law as you could possibly have. the union case joins a similar challenge here from the rights group liberty, and one in the scottish courts brought by the snp mp joanna cherry and others. they're on friday. the government stated in court papers that the prime minister would send a letter to the eu asking for a delay if there is no deal by 19th october. it's a conundrum, as the prime minister's position remains this...

so what we're going to do is come out on october 31st, deal or no deal. if the uk appears to be heading towards a no—deal brexit on 31st october, and the prime minister has found a way around the benn act, maritza's and the other legal challenges could all end up at the uk's supreme court in a dramatic and last—minute legal bid to prevent a no—deal departure just days before the deadline. clive coleman, bbc news. tonight sees the announcement of the stirling prize for architecture. this year the bookies' favourite is a small estate of council houses in norwich. it's the first time council housing has made it to the shortlist. david sillito reports.

so this is it. very nice. into the living room. we've got the garden, my little girl absolutely loves the garden. she's got the passageway at the back and she's made so many friends. who is this? that's my dog, rusty. hello, rusty. brilliant, i never thought this would have been a council property. have you turn the heating on? twice since we've been here. twice in a year? yeah. have a look how thick these walls are, these houses are designed to be low energy, you are not even allowed a letterbox in the door in case it lets out some heat and they also made the most of the weather. one thing about it is it is pretty sunny and there is a reason, because they have decided that way, because the roofs are kind of really flat, which means that even in the dark days of winter, even on the 21st of

december, if there is some sunshine it will be coming down here and hitting the bottom of the window. and another key feature is this. this to me is a snicket, coming from scarborough it is a snicket i'm looking at. we have been calling it a ginnel. these are the flats, the first of britain's skyscrapers. the last 50 years or so the flat has more often than not been seen as the best way of making the most of limited space. the architects here we re limited space. the architects here were determined to prove that houses could be high—density. and the reason they wanted them. sociability. i think we've got a real problem with lack of social connectedness and this housing is thinking a lot about how we can encourage social connections, people meeting each other. encourage social connections, people meeting each otherlj encourage social connections, people meeting each other. i think there is also ideas about how to encourage people to play outdoors, how to get

to play areas without crossing roads and making that safe. and it's this child friendly safe space that made all the difference for chloe and her partner louis. they are never going back to a flat. when you first walked into it... yeah? what did you think? i thought they were lovely, i'd love one, and i have managed to get one, which is really good.“ you got the chance to buy it? i'd buy it, 100%, yeah, i'd buy it. they are all going to have a chance pretty soon to buy them, aren't they? i think that's true. under the right to buy scheme, yeah. it would be great if the government would reconsider that policy. my partner andi reconsider that policy. my partner and i have both said it since we moved in, we are here for the long run, ithink, moved in, we are here for the long run, i think, it is brilliant. moved in, we are here for the long run, ithink, it is brilliant. so as soon as you run, ithink, it is brilliant. so as soon as you get the chance? we will buy, yeah, that will be ours. goldsmith street, warm, sociable,

but award—winning, council for new. david sillitoe, bbc news, norwich. there will be live coverage of the awards on a special programme — presented by david — on the bbc news channel at 8:30pm tonight. now, some good news for andy murray fans, his ranking has climbed from 503rd to 289th in a week. he reached the quarterfinals in beijing and won his opening match in shanghai yesterday, only ten months after his career—saving hip surgery. time for a look at the weather. here's nick miller. it is autumn at full throttle at the moment, windy and wet at times but not all the time, because many of us have seen some sunshine so far today but you are never too far away from the next heavy shower arriving. at least there are plenty of rainbows coming in on our weather watcher pictures today because it is a and showers, some of the showers are

quite heavy, accompanied by