hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm ben brown. today at two. a downing street source says a brexit deal is now "essentially impossible" following a phone call between boris johnson and germany's chancellor 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. european council president donald tusk warns borisjohnson it shouldn't be about "winning some stupid blame game". a mother breaks down at the contaminated blood inquiry — as she talks about the death of her ten—year—old son

19 people are arrested as police say they've broken the uk's biggest ever drugs operation — more that 50 tonnes of drugs are seized. coming up on afternoon live all the sport — jane dougall. it looks like the andy murray comeback will continue, he will play singles at the australian open in january, for the first time since major hip surgery at a grand slam earlier this year. repeat mode at the moment, blustery winds, scattered showers not only for today but also in tomorrow, more details shortly. the prime minister calls extinction rebellion protestors "unco—operative crusties" as he urges them to stop blocking london's streets — police have arrested

over 400 people so far. hello everyone — this is afternoon live — i'm ben brown. borisjohnson has been accused of engaging in a "stupid blame game" after downing street said the eu had made a brexit deal "essentially impossible". a source at ten downing street claimed angela merkel is reported to have told borisjohnson in a phone call this morning, that a brexit deal is now "overwhelmingly unlikely". angela merkel reportedly said a deal would never be possible unless northern ireland stays in a customs union — which is not part of the uk's proposals. european council president donald tusk reacted furiously, accusing the prime minister of focusing on a stupid blame game and jeopardising the future security of the eu and the uk. our political correspondent

nick eardley reports. is today the day the wheels came off boris johnson's brexit plan? ministers arriving for cabinet this morning with the prospect of a breakthrough increasingly slim. adi brexit talks on the brink of collapse? 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 31st. is it possible we'll have 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 mrjohnson a new deal is overwhelmingly unlikely and one would only be possible if northern ireland stayed

the german government has not confirmed that is it to you, 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. this morning, the president of the european council, donald tusk, the usual diplomatic language out of the window, tweeted the prime minister. at home too an escalation in language — a source said the eu had shown no desire to budge one centimetre and number ten would take an obstructive strategy if forced 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 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. he has not been negotiating seriously. others blame opposition parties for trying to outlaw no deal. our parliament has 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. with 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. let's get more now with our chief political correspondent vicki young. it does seem like these talks are breaking down in acrimony. there has been no formal decision to stop the technical discussions that have been going on but really they have never moved into serious negotiations. the eu summit next week were downing street have said for months they felt any movement that was going to come would be around that time, that is not looking likely either unless this last—minute attempt by downing street to put pressure on eu countries does involve some sort of compromise on their part. but there is this problem of northern ireland, whether they are expected to be in the customs union, something the uk government says they cannot accept. lam... do you government says they cannot accept.

i am... do you think these talks are over? it would appear so. the irish border question, it appears the prime minister came with the answer to the question, the eu change to the question. it was all about the integrity of the single market. borisjohnson's integrity of the single market. boris johnson's rebound plan integrity of the single market. borisjohnson's rebound plan would have accommodated that but it is clear that european union don't want northern ireland and the rest of the uk having its own trade policy, probably a trade agreement by quickly with the usa, and people from the republic of ireland would be looking across the border into the land of milk and honey where they could not enjoy the benefits because they were in the eu. you must have known and the government, ireland and the eu were never going to a cce pt ireland and the eu were never going to accept any kind of checks on the island of ireland, infrastructure? we said there would be no infrastructure on the border. where ever it is, it becomes a target.

both the eu and the republic of ireland have indicated over the last 12 months that they were looking at options which included checks away from the border at the start of the journey. so do you think now there is any compromise that could come from the eu, what if they said there could be a time limit to northern ireland being in the customs union? iam sure ireland being in the customs union? i am sure the government would look at that. the eu are trying to rely on the so—called benn act, the surrender bell. in which case we are heading for if that is implemented the eu is not going to give us a three—month extension, they will say this hasn't worked, six or 12 months, and perhaps try and impose a second referendum on us. this is going to go very badly with the uk population and pushing the government and british people now to a no—deal brexit. government and british people now to a no-deal brexit. they can't impose a no-deal brexit. they can't impose a referendum on us in the sense that would have to go through parliament, there would have to be the numbers in parliament for a referendum. is a

general election more likely? that is what want but unfortunately we have a parliament dominated by romaine mps out of touch by the population. you can see by the polling. we have opposition parties amazingly calling for a general election for two years now running scared of the public. the way they have performed over the last two and healthiest, labour, iam not surprised. lots of them voted for a deal, to leave the eu, but it was a they were hoping to get through parliament. theresa may's withdrawal agreement, tasked with bringing back out agreement, tasked with bringing back our money, borders, laws, but she came back with a deal that gave more power to the european union, made us a vassal state, and left us in the customs union forever. that has been a problem, really, theresa may's deal which managed to get the approval of the eu did not get the

approval of the eu did not get the approval of the eu did not get the approval of parliament and that is why we are where we are today, with really the government still may be trying to get a deal that could be a cce pta ble trying to get a deal that could be acceptable to both sides, but not looking likely at the moment.“ acceptable to both sides, but not looking likely at the moment. if you are wondering what the drums, they are wondering what the drums, they are the extinction rebellion protests to westminster. our europe correspondent damian grammaticas is in brussels. some really strong words from donald tusk saying it is a stupid blame game with boris johnson. you can see the response as well from the irish foreign minister, responding to the donald tusk tweet saying it is difficult to disagree, and donald tusk has always been at key points in the whole brexit saga, the person

from the eu site who speaks bluntly. he has done that on the back of the phone call between merkel and boris johnson. and then frustrated by what was said about that call. angela merkel is a careful, cautious politician trying to keep the brexit talks on the go. she has conceded what she calls serious compromises with theresa may. i think the readout was coming from the dart all the talk of being willing to torpedo the talk of being willing to torpedo the good friday agreement, essentially saying a deal was

impossible now, that didn't sound right. reflect frustration from the eu side, they want a deal and specifically to protect the good friday agreement and the peace process and the talks are still going on here as well. so the eu absolutely clear it will keep talking as long as possible to try to achieve that. michael gove on the latest. for the continued efforts to ensure we can leave the eu with a withdrawal agreement in place. we have put forward a fair agreement in place. we have put forward afairand agreement in place. we have put forward a fair and reasonable compromise for all sites that respects the historic referendum result and we hope the eu will engage with us seriously. in setting up engage with us seriously. in setting up these proposals, we have moved and it is time for the eu to move, too. if it does, there is every chance we can leave with a deal. if the eu does not move, this government is preferred to leave —— we re government is preferred to leave —— were prepared to leave without a

deal on the 31st. we must get brexit done so we can help families with the cost of living, improve school standards, cut crime. in preparing for every eventuality we are publishing our no deal readiness report, a comprehensive summary for the uk's preparedness for leaving without a deal. sets out the preparation the government has made, intensified under the prime minister. and undermines third—party organisations, the steps they need to ta ke organisations, the steps they need to take to get ready. the actions in the report reflects our top priority, the smooth and efficient flow of goods and people from the uk into the eu and vice versa. and also aimed at ensuring we continue to support citizens, upholding the rights and helping them to prepare for the changes ahead. the chancellor, in order to prepare for brexit has doubled funding from 4

billion to 8 billion. and published material related to no deal planning, including guidance for business, traders and citizens should take to prepare. and published 31 country guides for states setting out what eu nationals need to do to get ready for brexit. the trade secretary has published a temporary tariff regime, applying from the 1st of november, liberalising tariffs on 88% of goods. maintains 12% tariffs on beef, lamb, poultry and some dairy products to support farms and producers. as a result of cutting these terms, we should see a 15% reduction in honey from new zealand, 996... reduction in honey from new zealand, 9%... and 7% reduction in the cost of wine from argentina. businesses have raised a number of points in

response to the publication. government listened carefully to these representations and has made three specific changes as a result. reducing tariffs on hgvs entering the uk, adjusting... we are also applying terms to additional clothing products to make sure developing countries have preferential access. it is notjust for government, we need businesses and citizens to get ready. with it systems in place and projects in place, if hauliers don't have the right paperwork, if companies do not prepare, they will face challenges. while the government can of course lobby eu member states to improve their offer to eu members living in their offer to eu members living in their countries, we need them to make arrangements for continued access to health care. the government has invested £100 million in one of the largest public information campaigns in peacetime.

through both mass—market and targeted advertising, we are there to businesses and citizens to the actions they need to take to get ready. and providing a further £108 million for information access. the business secretary has overseen a series of events with businesses around the country designed to provide information on all the steps they need to take to get ready for them including actions supporting them including actions supporting the flow of trade through the short straights. the health secretary has established a trader readiness support unit, supplies of medical products. hmrc is writing to 180,000 businesses setting out the full range of steps they need to take in order to import and export with the eu after we leave. in advance of the sist, eu after we leave. in advance of the 31st, we will continue to use every means at our disposal to communicate to business they need to get ready. i want to pay tribute to the automotive, retail and transport sectors including authorities at the ports of dover and calais including

eurotunnel. 0n ports of dover and calais including eurotunnel. on a recent visit to the west midlands, the heartland of the automotive industry, i was impressed the steps manufacturers are making to prepare and retail businesses have made significant strides. morrisons is a pen for all eventualities. the co—op says it is prepared for the worst case was remain and challenges for some businesses cannot be entirely mitigated even with every possible preparation. the uk economy is in a much better position to meet those risks and challenges thanks to the effo rts risks and challenges thanks to the efforts of these sectors and companies and the chancellor. the impact of no deal on both the e uk and the eu will depend on decisions made by the eu and its member states, rights, data protection, and northern ireland we have taken decisions which will benefit uk nationals as well as eu citizens. i hope the eu will match the generosity and flexibility we have shown. through the eu settlement

scheme we have ensured every eu citizen resident here by the 31st of 0ctober can acquire a formal uk immigration status, protecting the right to live and work in the uk. to date, 1.7 million citizens have applied and 1.5 million have been granted a stated. those who have not yet applied have until the end of december 2020 to do so. so far very few eu member states have made as generous and offered to eu nationals as the uk has made to eu citizen. we don't believe citizens write should be used as a bargaining chip. they are ourfriends be used as a bargaining chip. they are our friends and family, we want them to stay, we hope the eu extends them to stay, we hope the eu extends the same hand of friendship. at the same time keeping ourfellow citizens for safe should be a priority, my right honourable friend the home secretary has written to ensure effective arrangements are in place on name recognition, as well

as the transfer of law enforcement data. we have the eu will respond. personal data should continue to flow freely and legally from the uk to the eu and eea. a swift decision from the eu would reciprocate this arrangement, providing legal certainty to entities in countries. with northern ireland, in order to avoid a heart border, we have committed not to introduce any checks at the border. the limited number of cheques which need to take place due to international obligations will all be carried out well away from the border and will only affect a very small number of businesses. the irish government and the eu have not set out how they will manage the irish border if we leave without a deal, we urge them to match our commitment. let me finally sent to the opportunities for brexit as laid out in this report. for the first time in 50 yea rs, report. for the first time in 50 years, the uk will have an independent trade policy, we will

ta ke independent trade policy, we will take our seat at the wto, introduced a points—based immigration system which prioritises the skills we need isa which prioritises the skills we need is a country. we have will have autonomy over the rules governing our world dating services sector and continue to lead in financial services. we can be a beacon for the world on policies of farming, fishing and the wider environment. we will set our own rules, more responsive and smart regulation. no deal will bring challenges. i have been open about that. as i have been in the past. it is not my preferred outcome nor the government's. we wa nt outcome nor the government's. we want a good deal. whatever challenges no deal might create in the short term, and they are significant, these can will be overcome. worse than the disruption of no deal will be damaged to democracy because by dishonouring the referendum result. 17.4 million people voted to leave. many of them

turning up to vote for the first time in their lives. reverted to ensure there was by which we are governed are set by the politicians in this place whom they elect. they voted for a fair migration system which attracts the brightest and best, to end vast financial contributions to the eu budget and instead invest in the people's priorities, the nhs, our brave police service, that is what the british people voted for and what this government will deliver and i commend the statement today has. keir starmer. the prime ministers should be here. talks with the eur are collapsing xp speak. the proposal the government put forward last week were never going to work. instead of reacting to challenge by adapting the proposals, the government is intent on collapsing the talks and engaging in a reckless blame game, it will be working people who pay the price. the prime minister should be sure to account for his actions. it is no good pretending that the proposals put

forward would work that isn't going to wash. you can't take the uk and northern ireland out of the customs union and avoid customs checks and cannot have customs checks with infrastructure in northern ireland. the government knows that. which is why it refuses to answer the very simple question, where will the checks take place? you can't be serious about the eu's concerns about protecting the integrity of the single market by simply saying we will put that question off until later. you can't be serious about upholding the good friday agreement while proposing what amounts to a veto to one party in northern ireland over the all ireland regulatory zone, consent of all communities in northern ireland is at the heart of the good friday agreement and the government has ridden roughshod over that principle. that is why these proposals were never going to work. but instead of responding to

legitimate questions, by the eu 27 or in this house by actually answering questions, the government appears to be pulling the rug. descending into a reckless blame game instead of putting the country first. sources close to number ten say a deal is overwhelmingly unlikely, it is essentially impossible. sources close to number ten start blaming other people, it is parliament's fault, the benn act, germany, ireland. defining the character of this prime minister, a man who never takes responsibility for his own actions. the stark reality is the government put forward proposals that were designed to failand it forward proposals that were designed to fail and it still won't take responsibility for its own actions. last night, there were even reports that the government was threatening to withdraw security cooperation with the eu. that is an astonishing

statement, if true it is beneath contempt. will the minister take this opportunity to denounce those comments and confirm that that is not the government's condition and will he echo what the northern ireland secretary said this morning when he said, withdrawing security cooperation with ireland is unacceptable and is not in the interest of northern ireland or the union. i know from the statement last week that instead of answering serious questions, the minister prefers to revert to preprepa red attacks and gags. today is not the day for those tricks. can he be straight with the house today, is it the government's official position to end negotiations with the eu and to end negotiations with the eu and to seek to leave on the 31st of 0ctober without a deal? if not, will the government either put forward a different basis for negotiations with the eu or be clear that they will seek an extension as required

under the benn act on october 19? under the benn act on 0ctober19? they have sent this country does some straight answers. i appreciate the minister speaks as if he is giving a statement or reassuring bedtime story about preparations for no deal. but let me remind the house that in the same town last week at that in the same town last week at that dispatch box he said, quote, the automotive sector confirmed it was ready. the retail sector has confirmed it was ready. he knows why we we re confirmed it was ready. he knows why we were in here debating this, that drew a furious response, within hours. the british retail consortium had issued a rebuttal within hours saying it is impossible to com pletely saying it is impossible to completely mitigate the significant disruption which will be because by now deal. the society of motor manufacturers and traders limited did likewise within hours, in response to what the minister said, a no—deal brexit would have an immediate and devastating impact on

the industry undermining competitiveness and causing irreversible and severe damage. hours after the minister said... what the minister tells his house in his reassuring tones and what business said are two different things and the minister noted. this is no longer the time of games. this will be a disaster for the economy and businesses, underlined by today's's hmrc figures, additional cost of £50 billion per year to comply, businesses to comply with arrangement. the iff, 100 billion rises, debt rising... growth that will flatline. it is essential this house passed a insurance policy and we passed it because we feared this government was more focused on delivering it now deal than doing the hard work needed to find a deal.

it is clearer now than ever the act will be needed. thank you, mr speaker. i am gratefulto will be needed. thank you, mr speaker. i am grateful to the shadow brexit secretary for his question. the prime minister is talking to our eu partners attempting to secure a good deal, doing so with the full hearted support of everyone on this side of the house. the question many will be asking outside the house is why does the honourable gentleman say he is so anxious for a deal when he had three opportunities to vote for one and the coin to do so every time. if the honourable gentleman wa nts to time. if the honourable gentleman wants to be taken seriously as an advocate for compromise and a deal, why was then cross—party talks in which we both took part he attempted to erect an obstacle at every turn to erect an obstacle at every turn to consensus across the house. that is the conclusion people will draw and another one, this document was made public three hours before the

right honourable gentleman started asking questions. but he had, having had time to absorb 156 pages, not a single question about no deal preparation, not a single point to make about how any sector could be better prepared, a single suggestion query or contribution to make about how we can secure british business being ina how we can secure british business being in a robust position. itjust a series of questions we have come to expect from him about politics rather than policy, positioning rather than policy, positioning rather than policy, positioning rather than practicalities. he asked about customs checks in northern ireland, he knows, it has been vocal, those customs checks can take place away from the border at the manufacture or distribution site. he also asked how our proposals were serious about maintaining the integrity of the single market. they allow the eu to maintain the integrity of the single market but is he serious about maintaining the

integrity of the united kingdom? he and his party are more than willing to see the customs border erected in the irish sea, we would be the only sovereign nation in the world with such a customs border but he is more than prepared to dance to the eu's tuned rather than standing up for the uk. that is the spirit in which the uk. that is the spirit in which the benn act was passed. it is the case that the benn act signals to the eu that there are people in this parliament who do not want to conclude a deal, do not want to leave by october 31, who want to die. and indeed the right honourable gentleman is one of those. because he has had every opportunity, every opportunity to engage meaningfully with government, notjust only deal but no deal preparations as well. when i last spoke to this house on 25th of last month and he referred to my statement then, i invited any mp in this house to come to the cabinet office to discuss a deal and no deal preparations. 0nly cabinet office to discuss a deal and no deal preparations. only one opposition mp, the memberfor

leicester west, accepted that invitation. and indeed the right honourable lady, two. that is a measure of the seriousness which both his opposition parties take the brexit preparation. they offer an open invitation —— it was rejected and, an opportunity to come and talk. because the right honourable gentleman in 2017 side of the referendum we had a decision and we respect that decision. he also said the labour party cannot spend all of its time trying to rub out yesterday and will not accept a result it is honour bound to respect. as i mentioned earlier, after voting against the deal three times, he rejected the opportunity to come times, he rejected the opportunity to come to times, he rejected the opportunity to come to a times, he rejected the opportunity to come to a consensus times, he rejected the opportunity to come to a consensus between times, he rejected the opportunity to come to a consensus between the front benches in order to get a deal through. we in this government have compromised, we are showing

flexibility, we seek to leave without a deal. but faced with a delaying, disruptive and denying tactics of the opposition, we say on behalf of the 17.4 million, enough, enough, enough, we need to leave! sirjohn redwood. when mrs merkel says that either the uk or northern ireland have to stay in the customs union, is she speaking for the eu following consultation with the other 25, or is she just making it up other 25, or is she just making it up and assuming they will go without totally unrealistic and inflexible view? i thank my right honourable friend for that question. i don't know what the contents of the telephone call were earlier today, but we remain committed to working with the german and other eu governments to find ideal, i am sure we can find a way through. thank you, mr speaker. it saddens me that in the middle of this political crisis, what we have is a pathetic

masquerade from this government, pretending that it is competently arranging our departure from the european union, when in fact eve ryo ne european union, when in fact everyone knows that there is no agreement as to how that departure will take place, and without an agreement it is simply not possible to plan in a proper way how it would ta ke to plan in a proper way how it would take place. and the responsibility for that is entirely of this government his own making, a mixture of its bellicose intransigence in its negotiations with our european partners and its arrogant contempt and trying to establish a political majority in this chamber, and using the brexit a vote for its own narrow political ends. and now it is in a situation where the only thing it can do, the only thing it can possibly do is contemplate crashing out of the eu without ideal. well, i have to remind the chancellor of the duchy of lancaster that that approach would be illegal, because we have passed a law to say that we will not leave the european union without a deal, and therefore, first

of all, i want to ask him — why is he preparing this document, preparedness for no—deal, perhaps it should be called preparedness for breaking the law, because that is the cause that he is engaged in, why is he preparing this, rather than trying to properly come back to this house with proposals that we can debate as to what negotiations are having with the european union? to my eyes and those of many colleagues, it looks as if his government is not in the least bit serious about getting a deal at all, and infact serious about getting a deal at all, and in fact it is engaging in gesture politics, deliberately setting conditions that it knows cannot be met in order to come back here and try and blame everybody but itself for the consequences that result. i have no specific questions in terms of the statement. the spokesman for the opposition referred to the eye of his report. this is a damning report that has come out this morning from the institute for fiscal studies. this ties away all credibility for there

being an economic case for brexit, and the irs is saying that the difference, the difference between asking for an extension and considering this matter further crashing out with no deal in three weeks' time is 4% of gdp, 4% over the next three years. i would invite the next three years. i would invite the secretary of state to tell us, does this now mean that as we com plete does this now mean that as we complete the first decade of tory austerity, he and his government are preparing for a second decade, because that is surely the consequence of the calls we are on, and finally, mr speaker, can i ask about the status of eu nationals? he makes much of this, saying everything is rosy in the garden. the truth is that the 1.5 million people that he refers to who have got some status, most of them have got some status, most of them have got what is called pre—settled status. it is not at all sure that they are going to get settled status, and if he genuinely believes, and if it is government policy that european nationals living in this country should not suffer any death benefit to their

rights as a result of brexit, will he commit now to let each and every one of them have a permanent right to remain in this country?” one of them have a permanent right to remain in this country? i am very grateful to the honourable gentleman for his questions, and on the first question about the ifs report, we respectfully disagree with some but not all of their conclusions, because an extension would only generate further uncertainty, and that would involve us not only continue to pay money into the european union but also that the investment decisions that business wa nts to investment decisions that business wants to make would still be put on pause. business leaders, including many of those who backed remain, like the founder of carphone warehouse, have argued now that we need to leave, deal or no deal, in order to have the certainty on which to plan for the future, that is what business wants overwhelmingly, to leave with a deal but ensure at least that we have certainty. he also asks about eu nationals and makes a very fair point. it is the

case of the majority of those have been granted status have been granted and settled status is for those who have not been in the country cannot demonstrate they have beenin country cannot demonstrate they have been in the country for five years, but once they have been here for five years, they moved to settled status, and it is the case that the number of people who have applied for status is increasing every day, and it is also the case that our offer is significantly more generous than that for all so very tiny number of eu member states. those with a serious questions he asked. i know the honourable gentleman used to be the proprietor of a comedy clu b to be the proprietor of a comedy club in scotland, which is why i thought he was trying his hand at some dadaist and surrealist comrie when he accused this party of trying to establish a majority for political purposes in the house of commons. studio: michael gove in the commons, we will leave there, just outlining the latest on the no—deal brexit preparations, is in the uk economy

is in preparations, is in the uk economy isina preparations, is in the uk economy is in a better position to meet the risks and challenges posed by no—deal brexit. chris morris is with me now watching that, in a better position to meet the challenges and risks ahead, is that right, do you think? a gap that is an awful lot of work going on behind the scenes, thatis work going on behind the scenes, that is clear, , work going on behind the scenes, that is clear,, and his government did say it would step up no—deal preparations, and there is a tremendous amount going on. one of the problems is that the government cannot force all businesses to do everything. this 150 page report has come out today, but it has not updated the numbers which we have had from operation yellowhammer, the reasonable worst—case scenario document which was published every few weeks ago. i am told those numbers are being updated behind the scenes, but at the moment the assumptions of how much, for example in particular the flow of traffic across the strait between dover and calais could be affected, those numbers have not changed, and so

much of no—deal planning will depend on that — can we keep a trade moving in the event of no deal? and as things stand, the document on which the government is relying says it is going to be very difficult, and the flow of trucks across the channel could be reduced to about 40—60% of current levels. if that is the case, then no matter how much planning you have done, it is going to be tricky. let's check the reality of this phone call this morning between borisjohnson phone call this morning between boris johnson and angela phone call this morning between borisjohnson and angela merkel, eight o'clock this morning. according to the government, angela merkel made it clear that a deal is overwhelmingly unlikely — but is that the sort of thing angela merkel would be telling borisjohnson, do you think? interesting exchange in the commons, michael gove saying he would not go into the details of no—deal planning, and keir starmer sing, where is the prime minister? michael gove saying we are talking about policy. the politics is in a difficult place, that is clear, it is clear the eu has not been happy

with the proposal is the government has put forward, particularly on customers. angela merkel, and i have covered her for a long customers. angela merkel, and i have covered herfor a long time, when i was based in brussels, covered three of her elections — she always leaves herself a bit of wiggle room. it is unlikely to come in all guns blazing, it is not his style, and we have only had one fairly undiplomatic version of that phone call from downing street, we have not heard it from the german authorities, who say we will not comment on it. it is clear that the eu is not happy with what the uk is proposing, and if anything, what i have heard in clarification over the last couple of days from the prime minister's brexit envoy who has been in brussels, that has increased their concern, they do not think the suggestion that the uk is putting forward on customs will work and will be compatible with the eu's own customs code, so there is a lot of difficulty behind the scenes, but the language we have seen today in

the language we have seen today in the exchanges in the house of commons feels like so much else, that we are preparing for a pretty feisty election ahead. all right, crispr, thank you much indeed. turkey says it's ready to send forces into north—eastern syria following president trump's controversial decision to start withdrawing us troops from the area. the american president's move has aroused cross—party opposition in the us, where he's been accused of abandoning kurdish fighters in the region. our correspondent martin patience has the latest. the turkish guns on the border are silent, but for how long? they are now trained on kurdish forces who feel betrayed by america. backed by the us, the syrian democratic forces led the fight against the islamic state group. they have lost thousands of men, only for washington to now turn its back. thousands of men, only for washington to now turn its backm symbolises the betrayal by the trump

administration of democracy, of let's say human values, of what let's say human values, of what let's say human values, of what let's say the stf forces have fought for. it is the betrayal of their hope, and infact for. it is the betrayal of their hope, and in fact trump has dashed the hopes of humanity, that isis, let's say, has been eliminated. syria remains a fractured country with rebel and kurdish forces still hold in swathes of territory. the picture made even more complicated as president out and told the un just how far he wanted the safe zone to extend. —— president out again. the us president faced a furious backlash in washington for a p pa re ntly backlash in washington for apparently giving turkey the go—ahead for the offensive. but donald trump believes that fighting endless wars is no longer america's business. we have been in syria for many years, syria was supposed to be

a short—term hit and we were supposed to be in and out, that was many years ago, i have told turkey that if they do anything outside of what we would think is humane, to use the word a second time, we talk about hong kong, we talk about this, they could suffer the rat of an extremely decimated economy. the islamic state thrives on chaos. any conflicts between turkey and the kurds could allow the extremists to stage a comeback. martin patience, bbc news, beirut. president trump has just been tweeting on this, actually, i think we can show you what he has been saying, we may be in the process of leaving syria, but in no way have we abandoned the kurds, who are a special people and wonderful fighters. likewise, our relationship with turkey has been very good, turkey already has a large kurdish

population. so let's get these thoughts now abduct ashok kumar, a lecturer in international political economy at birkbeck university. —— thoughts of dr ashok kumar. president trump under attack in the united states, the accusation that he has abandoned the kurds, but saying in that light is tweety is not doing that at all. what do you think? -- in that latest tweet he is not doing that at all, what do you think you are he is full of bluster, erdogan was on the phone with him and he folded like origami. that's probably not a single thing he has said recently that was accurate. it was trump, not obama, that financed and armed the kurds macro, it was 11,000 kurds and sdf allied forces that your cracker, the isis capital, not a single american diet. two months ago, trump asked the kurds to

ta ke months ago, trump asked the kurds to take down their fought —— their fortification, they complied, and now they are pulling out so that you can have their way. it is sinister, and it is a betrayal, and as your reporter suggested, it will destabilise the region once again, reinvigorate a civil war, increase the refugee crisis, and give strength to some of the most reactionary and chauvinistic forces in the region. when you say turkey will have its way, explain what turkey wa nts will have its way, explain what turkey wants and what you think it will do now in syria. let's look at what attempt he was saying. it's are the sdf forces, which is a multiethnic coalition that fought isis and controls the region. turkey is calling them the terrorists, but thatis is calling them the terrorists, but that is also quite sinister. if you look at the history, turkey is the

one that allowed isis forces a safe passage into syria, that is u nco ntested. passage into syria, that is uncontested. turkey is the one that restricted kurdish fighters from joining their compatriots when they we re joining their compatriots when they were fighting isis for an entire year lest we forget, isis had control of the turkish border for an entire year, turkey did nothing. in fa ct, entire year, turkey did nothing. in fact, turkey bombed sdf forces that we re fact, turkey bombed sdf forces that were attacking isis trying to control that area. we also know that turkey armed ex—isis forces and reform the free syrian army to take over after, and finally the guardian reported just yesterday that isis prisoners in sdf regions predict they will be freed if turkey invades and controls those areas and takes control from kurdish and allied forces. is there anything stopping taking going in now and in writing to michael cope well, the sdf and other forces have organised.

to michael cope well, the sdf and otherforces have organised. —— going on and invading it? you may potentially have the syrian government, but they are in opposition. we need to put international pressure, we need our government, one of the closest allies of the us, to put pressure on the us, and the us is that they will not give up as spies. we need them to turn back the decisions they have made right now. full stop back to europe, we have just made right now. full stop back to europe, we havejust had a made right now. full stop back to europe, we have just had a tweet from michel barnier, the chief brexit negotiator, who said he had a meeting with the italian europe minister, a friendly meeting on the latest developments with the uk. we have a shared objective to reach a deal that is workable and sustainable in order to protect pace and stability on the island of ireland and the eu's single market. slightly more positive take on events of the last 24 hours from

michel barnier. we have a shared objective to reach a deal that is workable and sustainable in order to protect pace and stability on the island of ireland. —— protect piece and stability. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn has promised to improve youth services, if he wins the next election. labour claims that funding in the sector has been cut by more than £1 billion in the past decade. launching the pa rty‘s only young once policy, labour's shadow minister for youth affairs says she wants all young people to have access to high quality youth facilities. the reality is it is a postcode lottery out there for young people as to whether or not they can access services. we are proposing a universal offer of youth services to make sure that every local authority is offering services to every young person and no matter where they live they can access services that are right for them. we are not talking about a top—down approach, i expect them to look different in different parts of the country because the needs are different in different parts of the country. but every young person should have access to

a good youth service. a downing street source says a brexit deal is now "essentially impossible" following a phone call between boris johnson and germany's chancellor. european council president donald tusk warns borisjohnson it shouldn't be about "winning some stupid blame game." a mother breaks down at the contaminated blood inquiry, as she talks about the death of her ten—year—old son. here are your business headlines on afternoon live. productivity in the uk has suffered its sharpest fall in five years for the three months from april to june. according to the office for national statistics, labour productivity, as measured by output per hour, fell by 0.5% year on year in the second qaurter. this follows two previous

quarters of zero growth. a no—deal brexit would push uk debt to a 50—year high, so says the institute for fiscal studies. the think tank said borrowing was likely to rise to £100 billion and total debt would soar to 90% of national income. and sticking with the same theme — the government's announced changes to its tariff regime in the event of no—deal brexit. lorry import tariffs would be cut for the first year after leaving the eu from 22% to 10%. but uk dairy prodcuers have hit out at plans to place tariffs only on selected inbound products, saying they feel betrayed and won't go far enough in the event of a no—deal. the crisis boeing goes on, a huge

lawsuit being launched? yes, this is from pilots from america's southwest airlines, is suing the company for over $100 million in lost compensation they say was caused by the groundings of its 737 max plane. our new york correspondent has all the details, let's cross over to vivienne nunis at the new york stock exchange. just give us the background to this lawsuit, partly to do with that disaster, there was no fatal crashes in less than six months that killed some 346 people, terrible, wasn't it? a that is right, alice, the lion airjet in indonesia and also an ethiopian airlines aeroplane in the space of a few months, and after

those two crashes, aviation regulators grounded the 737 max and launched investigations into what went wrong. this lawsuit we are hearing about has come from the southwest airlines pilots union, one of the biggest operators of this 737 max before the grounding, so now pilots are claiming, as you say, $100 million in lost wages because, they say, 30,000 flights have been cancelled using those planes since they were grounded in march. as ben was saying, this is not the only issue that boeing has as a result of the 737 max. in the last quarter, it has been hit by an array of issues. absolutely, a number of lawsuits launched by victims' families, boeing has set aside $5 billion to pay some of those compensation claims. but going back to the lawsuit, the pilots here have claimed, in some pretty strong language, that boeing misled the pilots by trying to sell them the

737 max is just a slight variation on the 737, the existing model which they have been flying for years. they say in fact it was an unsafe, unair where the plane, and this is a difficult time for boeing, because they had helped to get the pilots on side so that when regulators give it the green light to fly the plane again, they could use the pilots to spread the message that it is a safe way to travel. that strategy is looking pretty difficult now that we are seeing this lawsuit from the pilots union at southwest airlines. good to talk to, vivienne nunis on the floor of a very busy new york stock exchange. how are they markets? they markets, yeah, it is a bit of a sea of red in london in particular, and the biggest fall on the ftse100 is the london stock exchange itself, and that is following investors selling of shares, at one point they

we re selling of shares, at one point they were lower, they have recovered some ground, but this is on the back of the hong kong stock exchange withdrawing its paid for its uk rival. also i want to mention the pound, it has extended its losses against the euro today quite significantly, off the back of the phone call between borisjohnson and angela merkel earlier, putting the prospects of a deal between the uk and further endowed. all right, alice, thank you very much. 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 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 wanted to do. he kept asking to go home. lee had 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 fearing for their lives and the safety of the factor vii! they were using. the government knew it was infected as did the pharmaceutical companies and did nothing. 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 were treated with infected blood in the ‘70s and ‘80s. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. a quick look at what's coming up tomorrow on the bbc news channel. we'll be broadcasting live from penzance in cornwall as part of a special bbc series exploring the challenges and the opportunities facing britain's coastal towns. that's all day tomorrow, here on bbc news.

now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear pretty much what you have got today, and not just in and notjust in penzance, sunny spells and scattered showers, beautiful rainbow pictures being sent in, this one earlierfrom edinburgh, most of the showers have beenin edinburgh, most of the showers have been in the far north—west, western scotland, northern ireland, closest to this area of low pressure, some merging togetherfor to this area of low pressure, some merging together for longer spells of rain. ahead of it, a small weather front, a trough that is enhancing the shower activity as it moves its way down across the pennines, through the midlands, into south—west england, across cornwall as we speak, and it will kill you to drift steadily south and east, keeping the showers going in the north—west. —— it will continue to drift. if you are caught in a train, with the strength of the wind, not feeling right out there at all, top

temperatures through the afternoon likely to peak at around 12—17 degrees. through this evening, there was showers starting to fade away from the south—east, but further north and west, the showers keep going, not only through the evening but through much of the night as well, still quite breezy with it, and with showers and cloud around, the strength of the wind, overnight lows of 8—10 degrees. tomorrow morning, pretty much a repeat performance of what we had this morning, some areas was that lovely with some sunshine coming through, plenty of showers developing out of the west, some of these moving further inland as we go through the day. again, the odd rumble of thunder, hail not out of the question, blustery winds with it, temperatures perhaps fearing just that little bit lower down on what we have seen today, highest value through wednesday afternoon likely of around 11—15 degrees. as we move out of wednesday into thursday, we are still going to see low pressure

in the far north—west of the country, but we will start to see more of a defined weather front feeding wet weather in through thursday and friday. it looks likely on thursday and friday the wettest weather will be further north and west, so belfast, cardiff, some mooring to come for the end of the week, a brighter picture further south. —— some more rain. into the weekend, the detail is more difficult, we are still under the influence of low pressure, heavy rainfora time influence of low pressure, heavy rain for a time as possible across the country, moving steadily north. if you have outdoor plans, keep watching the forecast for the weekend, that is potentially subject to change.

company, hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm ben brown. today at three. a downing street source says a brexit deal is now "essentially impossible" following a phone call between boris johnson and germany's chancellor, but michael gove insists it can still be done. in the setting out these proposals, we have moved. now it is time for the eu to move to. if so, we can still have a deal. the government will still not take responsibility for its own actions. european council president donald tusk warns borisjohnson it shouldn't be about "winning some stupid blame game". a mother breaks down at the contaminated blood inquiry — as she talks about the death

of her ten—year—old son. 19 people are arrested as police say they've broken the uk's biggest ever drugs operation — more that 50 tonnes of drugs are seized. coming up on afternoon live all the sport — jane dougall. organisers of the show in open say andy murray will make his return to grand slam singles at their tournament following major hip surgery earlier this year and his recovery is going well. he is currently serving for the match against fabia fognini at the shanghai open. —— fabia. —— fabia. thanks jane, and louise lear has all the weather — louise. lots of autumn colour, plenty of sharp showers, staying unsettled as we go through the week. thanks, louise.

also coming up — the prime minister calls extinction rebellion protestors "uncooperative crusties" as he urges them to stop blocking london's streets — police have arrested over 400 people so far. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live, i'm ben brown. boris johnson has been accused of engaging in a "stupid blame game" by the european council president donald tusk. his comments come after downing street said the eu had made a brexit deal "essentially impossible". a source at number ten claimed angela merkel said a brexit deal is now "overwhelmingly unlikely" in a phone call this morning. at 8am. labour says the government is trying to sabotage the negotiations. our political correspondent nick eardley reports. is today the day the wheels came off

boris johnson's brexit plan? ministers arriving for cabinet this morning with the prospect of a breakthrough increasingly slim. are the brexit talks on the brink of collapse? 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 31st. is it possible we'll have no deal on the 31st? everything is possible. brussels do deals when things go down to the wire, the offer is there and it is up to them to take it. number ten says the german chancellor angela merkel told mrjohnson a new deal is overwhelmingly unlikely and one would only be possible if northern ireland stayed in a customs union. the german government has not confirmed that is it to you,

confirmed what was said, 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. this morning, the president of the european council, donald tusk, the usual diplomatic language out of the window, tweeted the prime minister. at home too an escalation in language — a source said the eu had shown no desire to budge one centimetre and number ten would take an obstructive strategy if forced 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 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. he has not been negotiating seriously. others blame opposition parties for trying to outlaw no deal. our parliament has brought this about, i understand ago nogotiations were progressing well until the so—called surrender act went through, the benn act, which chopped off the negotiations at the knees. with 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.

nick eardley, westminster. and nick eardley has been speaking to the liberal democrat leaderjo swinson. borisjohnson was never serious about getting a deal, always determined to force a no—deal brexit on this country which would be catastrophic forjobs, the nhs, our environment. the liberal democrats will continue to stand up against borisjohnson will continue to stand up against boris johnson and his will continue to stand up against borisjohnson and his brexit plans. we wa nt borisjohnson and his brexit plans. we want to stop brexit. we think the best way of achieving that is to give the public the final say on the brexit deal, or what passes for that in terms of what boris has put forward. we should have the option to stay in the european union because no deal could possibly be as good as they do we have as members of the european union. how confident are you that as things stand you can avoid a no—deal brexit later this month? the stakes are very high, thatis month? the stakes are very high, that is why the liberal democrats

are working constructively across party including with labour mps, former conservative mps, nationalist parties and the green mp to make sure we pass the benn act so the prime minister has to ask for article thoughts a no—deal brexit would be a disaster. let's get more now with our chief political correspondent vicki young. fascinating, the 8am phone call. between boris johnson fascinating, the 8am phone call. between borisjohnson and angela merkel. if downing street are to be believed, angela merkel was pretty unequivocal that a deal is not likely now. the problem we have is we only have one side of the story and is not an official site of the story. normally you get a readout, an official document form downing street which tells you their version of what happened on the government side, the uk government side. this

is different, it was unofficial, from an unnamed source, talking about what angela merkel said, that is not normally what happens either. i think it is difficult to read too much into it. we can say the fact it is coming from the centre of things in downing street shows how they think things are going, not well. the point is, borisjohnson has been pursuing a deal but is not prepared to a cce pt pursuing a deal but is not prepared to accept a deal at any cost. this whole issue of northern ireland staying in a customs union was a lwa ys staying in a customs union was always going to be a problem. it is like going back to 2017, y theresa may ended up with what she did, effectively the whole of the united kingdom staying in a customs union together. that is why she ended up in the position, because it is so difficult. if you have northern ireland and ireland on different customs union low on the same island, you have to have check somewhere. that has been the crucial sticking point and remain so. the tactics behind all this from downing street, i think it is partly about a

blame game, if it turns out the talks stop at the weekend or sometime early next week, it is about that. and about putting last—minute pressure on the eu to come up with some sort of compromise. the uk government would argue very compromise. the uk government would argue very strongly they have moved because they say northern ireland will stay in a single market but not the customs union. maybe if the eu came back with a time limit to northern ireland in the customs union, could that be some kind of compromise? if not, it looks like we are heading towards no deal. the question is how and where we get there —— might how and when we get there, and i can't see it happening before a general election. michael gove has stood openly house of commons, the person in charge of no deal preparations, and he said... i have been open about that today, as i have been in the past. it is not my preferred outcome nor the government's. we want a good deal. whatever challenges no deal might create in the short term,

and they are significant, these can and will be overcome. far worse than the disruption of no deal will be damaged to democracy because by dishonouring the referendum result. 17.4 million people voted to leave. many of them turning up to vote for the first time in their lives. they voted to ensure there was by which we are governed are set by the politicians in this place, whom they elect. they voted for a fairer migration system which attracts the brightest and best, to end vast financial contributions to the eu budget and instead invest in the people's priorities — the nhs, our brave police service. that is what the british people voted for and what this government will deliver and i commend the statement to the house. of course, if we do get a situation where there is a general election, labour will be standing in that election saying they will promise another referendum. labour took a pretty dim view of what has been happening today. the prime minister should be here.

talks with the eu are collapsing as we speak. the proposals the government put forward last week were never going to work. instead of reacting to challenge by adapting the proposals, the government is intent on collapsing the talks and engaging in a reckless blame game, and it will be working people who pay the price. the prime minister should be sure to account for his actions. mr speaker, it is no good pretending that the proposals put forward would work, that isn't going to wash. you can't take the uk and northern ireland out of the customs union and avoid customs checks and cannot have customs checks without infrastructure in northern ireland. the government knows that. which is why it refuses to answer the very simple question, where will the checks take place? so that issue they are the sticking point and important to remember if we end up with a no—deal brexit, leo varadkar, prime minister of ireland,

has admitted there will of course have to be checks, may be near the border. so trying to avoid that scenario, not accepting boris johnson's over at the moment. in the end, if it is no deal, could end up with even more checks near the border. but at the moment it does not feel as though this atmosphere is going to lead to more compromise. of course, we have the eu summit next week. who knows now what is going to happen there? the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, has met with italian politician vincenzo amendola and just tweeted saying... our europe correspondent damian grammaticas said the eu is frustrated and disagreed

with number 10's view of the conversation between boris johnson and angela merkel. simon coveney, you can see the response as well from the irish foreign minister responding to the donald tusk tweet saying it is hard to disagree, and donald tusk has always been at key points in the whole brexit saga, the person from the eu site who speaks bluntly. who speaks his mind. he has done that on the back of the phone call between angela merkel and borisjohnson.

and the eu frustrated by what was said about that call. angela merkel is a careful, cautious politician who has tried to keep the brexit talks on the go. she has conceded what she calls serious compromises with theresa may. i think the readout that was coming from the uk side... the talk of being willing to veto the good friday agreement, essentially saying a deal was impossible now, that didn't sound right. reflecting frustration from the eu side, they want a deal and specifically to protect the good friday agreement and the peace process and the talks are still going on here as well. so the eu absolutely clear it will keep talking as long as possible.

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 a hundred billion pounds. our economics correspondent, andy verity, explains more. 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 different fiscal rules over the last ten years, most broken, that is going to happen again now because we are on course to break the current set of fiscal rules. the government is beginning to lose an anchor and framework, becoming unclear what it is trying to achieve in terms of debt and borrowing and spending. the chancer i guess we'll try and give us some sense of that in a coming 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.

the economy would grow a little effort all over the next two or three years, borrowing would rise in the event of no deal up to 90 or £100 billion per year, an increase in where we are. we would have to have another period of tax increases or spending cuts to get 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 the ifs says. 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. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines...

a downing street source says a brexit deal is now "essentially impossible" following a phone call between boris johnson and germany's chancellor. angela merkel. european council president donald tusk warns borisjohnson it shouldn't be about ‘winning some stupid blame game". a mother breaks down at the contaminated blood inquiry — as she talks about the death of her ten year old son. organisers of the australian open assaye andy murray will make his return to grand slam singles ads their tournament after major hip surgery, his recovery going well despitejust surgery, his recovery going well despite just losing surgery, his recovery going well despitejust losing to surgery, his recovery going well despite just losing to fabia surgery, his recovery going well despitejust losing to fabia fognini in the second round of the shanghai masters. —— fabio fognini. jack rose has been sacked by sunderland, they are sixth in league 1. the assistant manager is in caretaker charge. and england will not risk delivering a

polar —— billy vunipola if he is not fit, after a scan on an ankle injury is needed. on late sunday night, the white house said us troops in north eastern syria will be removed from the area. turkey has made it clear it's ready to send forces into the area after this was announced. mr trump has warned president erdogan not to launch an attack on kurdish fighters who are long—time american allies in the fight against the group calling itself islamic state. president trump has recently been tweeting about the decision to remove us troops from north eastern syria. he has said...

joining me now to tell us more about this is robert lowe who is the deputy director of the middle east centre at lse. give us your readout in very simple terms on the dangers ahead from that us withdrawal. the planned withdrawal adds greatly to the uncertainty and instability of what is already a very dangerous and volatile area. the war in syria has been going on for eight years now. the north—east of syria has been largely more stable in the main part because the kurds have been able to

farm out their own area, governing by themselves, developing a effective fighting force, fighting alongside the americans against islamic state. the great danger for the kurds now, they are now facing a full—scale invasion by another major threat, the turkish armed forces, with whom they kurds have had extremely difficult and better relations for a long time. indeed, turkey is an already occupation of one town in northern syria, since 2018. the and all—out assault on the kurds by turkey? if that happens, is that com pletely turkey? if that happens, is that completely the responsibility then of donald trump and, as many people have said, a betrayal of the kurds, who have been america's allies? we

don't know what the turks will do. it seems likely turkey would like to move in for into north—east syria, create a buffer zone. they have said approximately 20 miles south of the border, taking in sizable kurdish towns. it may be given what seems to bea towns. it may be given what seems to be a change of heart from donald trump, he has probably received advice from specialist since his initial announcement, turkey might bea initial announcement, turkey might be a little more cautious. there has been sporadic fighting between the sides for a while now. that is likely to increase, whether turkey ta kes a likely to increase, whether turkey takes a full on gamble and goes for these large co—innovation is unclear. it does seem certain that if it happens the kurds will resist. they have made it clear they see an all—out war coming and they would fight to the bitter end. the prospects there are very bleak. if that does happen, the us would have a measure of responsibility for it.

donald trump is trying to say to the turks, luck, don't take on the kurds, don't launch that sort of attack and, if you do, we will destroy your economy. that seems to bea destroy your economy. that seems to be a belated threat he has put out to turkey, perhaps didn't fully appreciate the implications of the decision to withdraw. it has pink we are watching for a while turkey has been waiting for an opportunity to move into the kurdish areas. a very deep—rooted hostility towards the kurdish administration, sees the political party as armed forces there is linked to the group pkk, located in turkey, and on and off decades now has been fought. 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... the fbi says a man who's confessed to nearly 100 murders is now considered the america's most prolific serial killer. 79—year—old samuel little is serving multiple life sentences at a prison in california. he told detectives he'd killed 93 people between 1970 and 2005. most of his victims were strangled. officials say over half of his confessions have been confirmed as being credible. the serial killer admitted innocent people might have been imprisoned wrongly for his crimes.

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 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 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 fearing for their lives and their safety. the government knew the factory being used was infected, as did the pharmaceutical companies and did nothing. 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 were treated with infected blood in the ‘70s and ‘80s. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. residents in finsbury park in north london woke up to flooding of up to a metre deep this morning. a burst water main has caused major issues — with homes and a school being evacuated. the london fire brigade deployed 80 firefighters to the scene on queens drive, where they are still working to pump water away from the area. time for a look at the weather... colorado! yes, quite in the uk.

temperatures into the mid 70s in colorado, you're related with snow at this time of year. record—breaking heat generally in the states. the cold search of air coming down from canada, when the strengthening and temperatures on thursday, that is a daytime maximum at 5am. they will fall through the day. the wind is picking up, feeling more like minus 11 on thursday. 26 to minus 11. t—shirt one day, every other bit of clothing the next. they do everything bigger, bigger portion sizes, cars, houses, weather. we are dull and boring. we like that. fairly straightforward autumn weather actually over the next few days. sunny spells and scattered

showers. lovely rainbows today. most of the shower to the north—west, close to the area of low pressure. we see some of them merging together for a real wet spell of weather through the morning across western scotla nd through the morning across western scotland and northern ireland. this is the radar in the last three hours, this with the weather trough enhancing some showers down through the south midlands across the south—west, tracking south and east to the early evening rush hour. blustery and trendy in the far north—west. —— windy. in some sunshine, sitting at 17 degrees, 63 fahrenheit. through this evening, staying windy. the westerly winds will continue to dry in plenty of showers along west facing coasts, with the wind around, staying mild, no mist orfog. many with the wind around, staying mild, no mist or fog. many of us starting off dry with sunshine around, closer

to the area of low pressure plenty of frequent showers, some with rumbles of thunder mixed maybe some hailstones. could be pretty windy. some showers pushing inland through the afternoon. factor in the wind strength, not particularly great out there. if you are caught in the showers, feeling cool, 14 or 15 perhaps the highest in the sunshine. as we move out of wednesday into thursday we still have the low pressure with us, more frontal rain bringing more wet weather generally across the far north. areas like scotland, northern ireland, north wales could see some rain around through thursday and friday. drier and brighter down to the south as we head into the weekend, still open to a little bit of change. potentially. we still have a low pressure, there isa we still have a low pressure, there is a spell of very wet weather expected to arrive saturday into sunday. the position of exactly where the rain will be sitting is still subject to some uncertainty.

keep abreast of the forecast into the weekend but certainly it looks likely to stay pretty unsettled for all of us. autumn good and proper over the next few days. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. a downing street source says a brexit deal is now "essentially impossible" following a phone call between boris johnson and germany's chancellor, but michael gove insists it can still be done. in setting out these proposals, we have moved. now it is time for the eu to move to. if so, we can still have a deal.

the government will still not take responsibility for its own actions. european council president donald tusk warns borisjohnson it shouldn't be about ‘winning some stupid blame game". a mother breaks down at the contaminated blood inquiry — as she talks about the death of her ten year old son 19 people are arrested as police say they've broken the uk's biggest ever drugs operation — more that 50 tons of drugs are seized. sport now on afternoon live. good afternoon. he thought his career was over but he is bouncing back again.

the organisers of the australian open say that andy murray is to make his grand slam debut with them injanuary, following his hip surgery earlier this year. they've said he'll "return to the main draw with a protected ranking of number two and restored physical powers". if you remember at the australian open this year, murray broke down at the press conference after he was put out in the first round by roberto bautista agut, talking about how much pain he was in. the hip surgery he had has gone well. he's looked strong at the tournaments he's been playing in. china open he got through to the quarterfinals. he's just lost to the italian fabio fogninni in the second round of the shanghai open. he lost the first set after a tie break, took the second set 6—2 and it went to another tie break in the deciding set but fogninni won it. don't forget fabio fogninni is 12th in the world so encouraging from murray.

murray himself has not yet officially entered next year's tournament. but the australian open tournament director, craig tiley has said in a statement that he will take part. what is the latest on the rugby world cup? yes, an impressive display by south africa. ten tries against canada which gives them a bonus point win. the final score 66—7. that means south africa are through to the quarter finals of the compeition, along with england and france. canada managed to get on the scoresheet but not until the second half and they had a player sent off for a dangerous tackle. we're seeing a few of these in this world cup. let's take a look at the action. south africa made an extremely quick start in kobe, scoring seven tries in the first half to secure the bonus they needed nice and early — including a hat trick from scrum half cobus reinach — the fastest in the tournaments history. in the tournament's history.

they were helped too by a red card handed to canada'sjosh larsen for a dangerous tackle. canada did manage to score in the second half, but it wasn't enough to limit the damage — south africa winning 66—7. all the home nations are in action over the next few days, england play france in theirfinalgroup game on saturday, and say they won't risk billy vunipola if there are any doubts over his fitness. he's had a scan on an ankle injury he picked up in their win over argentina. our correspondent andy swiss has been at the team camp in tokyo. stone no definitive news from the england camp on the extent of the injury for billy vunipola but he has been winning a protective boot since hurting his ankle on saturday. anglesey effie is not 100% then they will rest him for the game against france but say they have no concerns about his availability for the knockout stage. there have been some

suggestions that losing against france and finishing second in the group might actually make life easierfor england group might actually make life easier for england because they will be in the opposite half of the draw to new zealand but england are cautious about that theory. this is such a tough tournament that if you start to think too far ahead you just get lost so you have to focus on every day and the next opposition. it is a tough tough tournament. if you look too far ahead you end up getting yourself into a spin. another piece of fitness news, captain owen farrell mist training today because of a stomach bug as continue their preparations for the game against france on saturday. wales will also secure their place in the quarters if they beat fiji tomorrow. that would also give them the chance to win pool d. assistant coach robin mcbryde says their performances are moving in the right direction.

we always get stronger the more tame and we spend with each other. the environment to be unable to create aloes individuals to improve on their game but collectively it makes us stronger as a group as bill and that collective nature get us through the next game against fiji. scotland also play tomorrow. they should win comfortably against russia. the key for their chances of qualifying is how they do againstjapan in theirfinal group game on sunday. the breaking news this hour, sunderland have sacked their manager jack ross after one win in their last four league matches. ross was appointed in may of 2018, but couldn't lead sunderland out of league one last season. they are lying sixth in the table this season. chairman stewart donald said "this is a decision that has been made with a heavy heart. assistant managerjames fowler has been placed in temporary charge. that's all the sport for now.

breaking news from uk athletics, neil black believe his role as performance director at the end of october, they will commence a detailed hand performance staff until his departure and will fulfil his role supporting mo farah at the weekend. breaking news, breaking news from uk athletics, neil black believe his role as neil black believe his role as performance director at the end of october, i'll have more for you in the next hour. the white house has blocked the us ambassador to the european union, from speaking to congress as part of the impeachment investigation into donald trump. gordon sondland was due to answer questions about his involvement in pressurizing ukraine to investigate president trump's political rivaljoe biden. but this morning, he was told not to appear. trump said it was because mr sondland would have been giving

evidence before what he described as a ‘kangaroo court‘. the chairman of the house intelligence committee said this was strong evidence of obstruction. we know that the ambassador has releva nt we know that the ambassador has relevant evidence on whether the meeting with the president that the ukrainians desperately sought with president trump was being conditioned on these investigations that the president believed would help as the election campaign. that the president believed would help as the election campaignm that the president believed would help as the election campaign. it is ha rd to overstate help as the election campaign. it is hard to overstate the significance of not just the hard to overstate the significance of notjust the ambassador‘s testimony but others as well. the failure to produce this witness, the failure to produce this witness, the failure to produce these documents, we consider yet additional strong evidence of obstruction of the constitutional functions of congress.

boris johnson has been accused of engaging in a stupid blame game — after downing street claimed the eu had made a brexit deal "essentially impossible". following a phone call between mr johnson and the german chancellor, downing street sources say angela merkel said a deal was now overwhelmingly unlikely. labour says the government is trying to sabotage the negotiations. let‘s get more now with our chief political correspondent vicki young. how to know exactly where we are. as that readout of the prime minister was my conversation with the german chancellor accurate and as any sort of deal dead? the truth is we have no way of knowing which is why labour are saying the government is trying to sabotage talks because this was not an official readout of that conversation. normally the official ones are pretty bland, talking about how the uk side has

approached the conversation and what they have topped about, not normally about what the other side has done. berman is refusing to engage in all of this. i do think anyone thinks the talks and going well, the main reason being that has been speculation that the eu are insisting that northern ireland stays in the customs union even though the rest of the uk would not. that is something that is unpalatable to many including the prime minister and my guest was with me know, the dup‘s sammy wilson. that is the sticking point that it has been compromised on the uk side to reach a much faster than either to reach a much faster than either to stay in the customs union. considerable compromise including ourselves because we are prepared to acce pt ourselves because we are prepared to accept some negatively alignment albeit with some control over that. that was a huge step forward for ourselves. the government has made compromises on its part as well and i think it is quickly about the eu never i think it is quickly about the eu never had any intention of accepting a compromise deal, they want a deal

which keeps the united kingdom tied to the eu through the single market and customs union and of course as we have said before that means you are not really leaving the eu. you will know that leo varadkhar and dublin and the eu not going to accept any kind of checks are customs checks, they do not want infrastructure or anything that can attract attention and be seen as a new border. this is the irony. all of their tops so far and preparations for no deal and the irish public, the legislation through and there is no mention in the event of a no deal and that legislation of any checks or preparation for checks or money being spent on checks on planning permission being sought for checks along the irish border. they have said in the case of no deal they would be intending to collect taxes on everything that was taxable

moving from northern ireland to the irish republic without any indication that they would require border checks traditional. just confirms what we have been saying all along, there are mechanisms in place for collecting taxes at present and those mechanisms could be employed there is particle bill to reduce. do you think the stocks have broken down? i think they have and we have to us and to the rhetoric of the irish but they have tried to start up instability in northern ireland, talking about postural change by united ireland, trouble along the border much unwillingness to contemplate proposals put forward and some of those proposals we put forward for a limited regulatory alignment where asa limited regulatory alignment where as a result of issues raised by the irish and raised by businesses in northern ireland. it was an attempt to make a compromise and i think who the prime minister is not serious about doing a deal on that we are

not serious about doing a deal, the only have to look at the way in which positions have moved to see that that is not a right allegation, it is not correct, not borne out by the facts but it appears that the intransigence and inflexibility is not with the british government and not with the british government and not with the british government and not with unionists in northern ireland, it is with the eu and the irish government. if we are heading toa irish government. if we are heading to a new deal, no deal after a general election it leaves you not in tune with the majority of people are northern ireland, the do not like the idea of an audio brexit. we don't want a no—deal brexit either which is why we want to make a compromise and are prepared to put forward a deal that was advanced by the prime minister last week. it has been suddenly rejected by the eu. at the end of the day we believe we should leave the eu and the voices of the people of the united kingdom asa of the people of the united kingdom as a whole or to be adhered to and

since we are part of that we expect to leave with the rest of the united kingdom. thank you. it has been no formal what that was talks, preliminary negotiation is have broken down, you have to see whether that does happen. all ahead of the eu summit next week. thank you. 19 people have been arrested in connection with what detectives say is britain‘s biggest ever drugs operation. police 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. 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 24 and 59 is arrested.

all are suspected of being involved in one of the uk‘s biggest ever drug smuggling operations. 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. also raids in manchester and leeds. 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. a large amount of drugs comes into the uk and split across various counties. a lot of vulnerable individuals particularly children and been used and that has a devastating effect on the children and their families and the public and their families and the public and their families and the public and the economy. 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. in a moment we‘ll have the latest business news.

first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. a downing street source says a brexit deal is now "essentially impossible" following a phone call between boris johnson and germany‘s chancellor. european council president donald tusk warns borisjohnson it shouldn‘t be about ‘winning some stupid blame game". a mother breaks down at the contaminated blood inquiry — as she talks about the death of her ten year old son. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. productivity in the uk has suffered its sharpest fall in 5 years for the three months from april to june. according ot the office for national statistics labour productivity — as measured by output per hour — fell by 0.5% year on year in the second qaurter. this follows two previous quarters of zero growth. a no—deal brexit would push uk debt to a 50—year high — so says the institute for fiscal studies. the think tank said

borrowing was likely to rise to £100 billion and total debt would soar to 90% of national income. and sticking with the same theme — the government‘s announced changes to its tariff regime in the event of no deal brexit. lorry import tariffs would be cut for the first year after leaving the eu, from 22% to 10%. but uk dairy prodcuers have hit out at plans to place tariffs only on selected inbound products, saying they feel ‘betrayed‘ and won‘t go far enough in the event of a no deal. so barclays has come under heavy criticism today — from consumer watchdogs — for making it harder for consumer to withdraw cash in remote areas? lots of consumer watchdogs have called out the bank for its decision today to part withdrawal from its tie up with the post office. so barclays — along with a number of other banks

and building societies — is part of a banking framework with the post office, whereby — up and down the country — particularly in rural communities where your local high street may not have a physical bank branch customers have been able to take their debit card into their local ppst office and either deposit or withdraw cash. but from today barclays says that customers will only be able to deposit cash, not withdraw it. over the past four years, more than 3,300 bank branches have closed across the country and thousands of cash machines have started charging or been removed. catherine mcgrath is the md of customer service for ba rclays bank. good to talk to you. the consumer association has described your decision to halt cash with roaster the post office as a shocking. how

do you respond? we are announcing a true today, firstly over 100 branches we are freezing their closure for two years so we can work closely with those local communities to boost demand. for example working out which opening errors would work for them. the second thing we are doing is saying we are changing the way our customers access cash and some of those remote areas through announcing a cash back through the retailer schemes you can get cash when going to a local retailer and your community. as a consequence we are announcing that we are wrong and going to offer over the counter cash withdrawals at the post office from january 2020. you are going to launch this cashback scheme at small businesses in remote areas, where there is no branch within one kilometre. but for many including the elderly and physically impaired,

one kilometre as quite a long way and in some remote areas and might end up being further than that. how is ba rclays end up being further than that. how is barclays going to serve was very vulnerable customers? we have done a lot of looking at how customers are transacting already and we know that over 99% of customers are transacting within one kilometre of a branch on a free to use atm. for any of them who are more vulnerable mode find it more difficult we are going to call them individually in addition to writing to them so we can agree a solution that works for them. if the one that is most important for them as cash over the counter at a post office we have a service called check cashing when they can hand a check over and get cash back. we are very confident all of our customers know have great access to cash. there was an access to cash review written last year which said barclays customers make 1.2 million cash withdrawals from

post offices every month, 1.2 million. she is calling on barclays to reverse this decision saying the cache system that supports them must be cherished and not undermined. we have also heard from consumer watchdog are seeing the unwanted this decision by such an important bank within the country exposes the fragility of the banking system and says it does leave the vulnerable exposed. we also cherish access to cash and think the post office is not the only way to service that. giving customer access at the local retailer does two things, even more convenience, the local retailer is open seven days a week and opening hours are longer than other branches including of the post office. secondly it is convenient to pop out for m4 bread that i can get cash back so we are confident that having a sustainable way to access cash any

longer term something we are committed to and are investing more money with the post office and to make sure customers can get access to cash in their community. thank you. that‘s all the business news. thousands of climate change activists around the world are taking part in a two week protest, calling for urgent government action to reduce carbon emissions. an event in london, organised by environmental campaign group ‘extinction rebellion‘, caused significant disruption yesterday. activists set up blockades and some chained themselves to vehicles and railings. our correspondentjon donnison sent this report from the protest. we are right along the houses of parliament, one of a dozen protest sites in central london and what we have seen this morning as we started off with around two dozen protesters

blocking the road, the police then moved in, shifting tactic to remove the people, no sooner had they done so and that took several hours, then a couple more arrived, they have a drummer is with them at the police have had to give up at this point. i have had to give up at this point. i have one of the protesters here with me, you were arrested yesterday and released this morning. what do you think of this sort of shift in police tactics, moving on but feeling? what we can say here is the energy is so great and that was not here yesterday. the change in police tactics i am not quite sure, it doesn't seem to be working because more people are coming and we are still holding the site. you had a night in the cells, will that deter you? absolutely not. i feelvery strongly otherwise i would not have taken that step. boris johnson overnight without you as

uncooperative, what do you make of that? he would say that and if anyone is uncooperative it is properly him. you feel this is a moment, the numbers are relatively small? we are hoping for a domino effect and is rebuilding momentum and energy more people get involved because at the moment we are grassroots and we are small. for such a big because who would not wa nt such a big because who would not want to be part and we need this course. the police had not been too heavy—handed, it is a bit of a waste of their time. and resources.|j of their time. and resources.” admit as an intravenous but is also an inconvenience for us, i have taken time off work. we do not necessarily want to be here when nobody wants to be here but because is bigger than us as individuals. thank you. this protest has swelled

during the day and these demonstrations are set to go on for two weeks. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with louise lear. good afternoon. sunshine and showers is all i can offer you this afternoon. i have been looking ahead for the next ten days and the story is very unsettled. beautiful rainbow pictures here across edinburgh castle. the showers across eastern scotland have been few and far between, but for the west of scotland and northern ireland there has been a cluster of heavy, frequent showers merging together for longer spells of rain. this week, the weather front slicing down to england and wales is quite a feature, as well. this is the rain radar for the last few hours. there are spells of sunshine to be found as well. get caught in those showers, they will be heavy with rumbles of thunder and hail and some pretty

gusty winds, particularly in the far north—west of scotland. dodge the showers, keep some sunshine and you‘re likely to see highs of 17 degrees. into this evening, as the temperatures start to fall away, we will see some showers easing away from the south—east. the showers will continue going in the far north—west. the area of low pressure is not moving very fast. frequent showers for west facing coasts overnight. temperatures down to around 7—10 overnight. tomorrow morning, eastern areas will fare better with sunnier moments. nearer to the low pressure, we will see those frequent showers. showers will drive further inland and there is the risk of the odd rumble of thunder. it will still be a blustery day, at least the strong winds will drive the showers if you do get them through a quite a pace. in terms of the feel of things, a similar value to what we have seen so far this week,

maybe a degree down, 13—16 the high. moving on to friday, we will see this weather front bringing this pulse of wet weather for a time, particularly across the north on thursday and friday. northern and western areas could see a spell of heavier and more persistent rain. further south and east, it should be drier and brighter. heading into the weekend, it looks as though there is the spell of more wet and windy weather movving its way across the country. the detail of where at the moment is a little uncertain.

hello, you‘re watching afternoon live — i‘m ben brown. today at 4 a downing street source says a brexit deal is now "essentially impossible" following a phone call between boris johnson and germany‘s chancellor, but michael gove insists it can still be done. in the setting out these proposals, we have moved. now it is time for the eu to move to. if so, we can still have a deal. the government will still not take responsibility for its own actions. european council president donald tusk warns borisjohnson it shouldn‘t be about ‘winning some stupid blame game". a mother breaks down at the contaminated blood inquiry — as she talks about the death

of her ten—year—old son 19 people are arrested as police say they‘ve broken the uk‘s biggest ever drugs operation — more that 50 tonnes of drugs are seized coming up on afternoon live all the sport — jane dougall in the last half hour, uk athletics have announced that neil black will leave his role as performance director at the end of the month. it comes after criticism that uk athletics hadn‘t distanced themselves from the banned coach alberto salaza. thanks jane, and we‘ll bejoining you for a full update just after half—past. louise lear has all the weather.

thanks louise. also coming up — the prime minister calls extinction rebellion protestors "unco—operative crusties" as he urges them to stop blocking london‘s streets — police have arrested over 470 people so far. boris johnson has been accused of engaging in a "stupid blame game" by the european council president donald tusk. his comments come after downing street said the eu had made a brexit deal "essentially impossible". a source at number ten claimed angela merkel said a brexit deal is now "overwhelmingly unlikely" in a phone call this morning. labour says the government is trying to sabotage the negotiations. our political correspondent nick eardley reports.

is today the day the wheels came off boris johnson‘s brexit plan? are we heading towards a no deal brexit now? ministers arriving for cabinet this morning with the prospect of a breakthrough increasingly slim. are the brexit talks on the brink of collapse? perhaps gone completely. everyone wants a deal, we 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 31st. is it possible we‘ll have no deal on the 31st? everything is possible. brussels do deals when things go down to the wire, the offer is there and it is up to them to take it. number ten says the german chancellor angela merkel told mrjohnson a new deal is overwhelmingly unlikely and one would only be possible if northern ireland stayed in a customs union. the german government has not

confirmed what was said, but 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. this morning, the president of the european council, donald tusk, the usual diplomatic language out of the window, tweeted the prime minister. at home too an escalation in language — a source said the eu had shown no desire to budge one centimetre and number ten would take an obstructive strategy if forced 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 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. he has not been negotiating seriously. others blame opposition parties for trying to outlaw no deal. our parliament has 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. and that‘s very much to be regretted. with 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.

well, the eu‘s chief negotiator, michel barnier, has also tweeted — with a slightly different tone — he‘s met with italian politician vincenzo amendola and he said... and we‘ve had this reaction from ireland‘s foreign minister simon coveney, to a possible no deal brexit. there is a lot of misinformation going around today so let me say this loud and clear to everybody. the irish government and the eu is working flat out to achieve a deal that sees an orderly brexit at the and of this month. however, that deal cannot come at any cost. the

british government has responsibilities on the island of ireland and brexit must recognise them. we want a fair deal and as close as possible a future relationship with our closest neighbour and we will continue to work as hard as we can to achieve this, and a no deal brexit will never be ireland‘s choice or the eu choice if it happens. it will be a decision made by the british government. let‘s get more now with our chief political correspondent vicki young. there are different interpretations flying around, this briefing from a source at downing street which sounded apocalyptic about the prospects of a deal and then a more compromising word from simon coveney and michel barnier. it's worth

saying this is a different way of going about things. normally you have phone calls between leaders and then you get a readout and the official ones are normally a bit bland, they don‘t tell you much, they are written in diplomatic language but this was an unnamed source at the heart of downing street saying things which you would never normally here and also interpreting what angela merkel had said which is not the kind of thing that normally happens. again it‘s an unattributable source in downing street putting the cat amongst the pigeons which is what they have been doing for the last few weeks and they are getting the predictable responses from people like donald tusk saying it‘s about a lame game but it‘s worth looking at what downing street are trying to achieve. they might be trying to put pressure on eu countries before that some last week, trying to get a

compromise because boris johnson some last week, trying to get a compromise because borisjohnson is pretty cornered and a deal is his best way out of this but it is also about preparing the ground in case we end up with no deal, who will be to blame for the talks and length and it is also aimed at the opposition parties who so far have not really got their act together, they have changed the law to force borisjohnson to ask they have changed the law to force boris johnson to ask for a they have changed the law to force borisjohnson to ask for a delay but they haven‘t agreed what they might do if they vote him down in a vote of no confidence so borisjohnson would like an election, he surprised the opposition haven‘t gone for it, thatis the opposition haven‘t gone for it, that is what these briefings are aiming to do. as to whether the government wants to leave without a deal, this is what michael gove had to say. i have been open about that today, as i have been in the past. it is not my preferred outcome nor the government's. we want a good deal. but whatever challenges no deal might create in the short term,

and they are significant, these can and will be overcome. far worse than the disruption of no deal will be damage to democracy caused by dishonouring the referendum result. 17.4 million people voted to leave. many of them turning up to vote for the first time in their lives. they voted to ensure the laws by which we are governed are set by the politicians in this place, whom they elect. they voted for a fairer migration system which attracts the brightest and best, to end vast financial contributions to the eu budget and instead invest in the people's priorities — the nhs, our brave police service. that is what the british people voted for and what this government will deliver and i commend the statement to the house. the uk government insists they have compromised and when you look at what‘s happened with northern ireland, that deal borisjohnson put on the table saying northern ireland would effectively stay in the single market for good, they come the government and the dup of field that

is something they have given ground on and they want reciprocation from the eu and they don‘t want northern ireland kept in a customs union, separated from the rest of the uk. that is something they would never accept so that is why we are in the stand—off but laboured today sounded unimpressed about the whole thing. the prime minister should be here. talks with the eu are collapsing as we speak. the proposals the government put forward last week were never going to work. instead of reacting to challenge by adapting the proposals, the government is intent on collapsing the talks and engaging in a reckless blame game, and it will be working people who pay the price. the prime minister should be here to account for his actions. mr speaker, it is no good pretending that the proposals put forward would work, that isn't going to wash. you can't take the uk and northern ireland out of the customs union and avoid customs checks and cannot have customs checks without infrastructure in northern ireland.

the government knows that. which is why it refuses to answer the very simple question, where will the checks take place? people point out that if there was a no deal scenario there will have to be checked somewhere on the island of ireland, that has been accepted by leo varadkar. there has been no official and put on this whole process so as far as we are now, they never went into serious negotiations on borisjohnson‘s deal but it isn‘t officially finished yet, we will have to see in the next few days whether one side walks away from the table completely ahead of that eu summit next week where downing street have always said that his where they felt there could be some kind of movement towards a deal, but at the moment the language suggests that is not likely. i‘m joined now by mo hussein —

the former special adviser to amber rudd. thank you for being with us. we have this mystery about this phone call between boris johnson this mystery about this phone call between borisjohnson and angela merkel, a downing street source quoting angela merkel as saying the deal is overwhelmingly unlikely so its all off essentially. can that be believed? we need to take it with a big pinch of salt and look at the wider context. i spent four years in number 10 listening to world leader phone calls and it‘s unusual to brief anything like this, it‘s usually coated in diplomatic language but also to interpret what another world leader may have been saying and to filter it through a downing street source, you are alreadyjumping downing street source, you are already jumping a few downing street source, you are alreadyjumping a few steps so these sources should get back to advising and that ministers do the work of

getting on with these negotiations ina getting on with these negotiations in a credible way to try to get a deal. at the moment it looks like one hand does not know what the other hand is doing, ministers say one thing, the prime minister reassuring cabinet ministers to listen to what he says and not what they read in the papers and advisers are saying something else. it's also been pointed out by a lot of observers in europe that this isn‘t angela merkel‘s style to beat that ordie angela merkel‘s style to beat that or die doctor, her language is usually much softer and she has been saying she will go to any lengths to get a deal so it would be surprising if she used this language.” get a deal so it would be surprising if she used this language. i would be surprised but also, this is one of the biggest players in the eu, germany, but there has to be consensus between 27 countries and

with the sensitivities of the northern ireland border these decisions will notjust be made in berlin or paris but a lot will have to go back to dublin so it feels that this does not represent, we don‘t know what was said but this does not represent the eu position. where are we in terms of a deal, do you think it is possible, it is realistically achievable at this stage? if the conversations are realistic and people‘sconcerns are listened to and there is goodwill to find a compromise, you could get the numbers and find a parliamentary sweet spot but this is also about town and relationships and if you are threatening countries by saying we will not co—operate with you on security or defence, and this is what people are round theresa may tried to connect the two things and it did not work, this does not help in terms of work negotiations go,

and then you have the benn act, which will kick in, so where we are looking at is probably a delay and then an election where people take different positions. how do the government get around the benn act? the act that prevents or is supposed to prevent a no deal, if they are to get around it how do they do that? there are some mines within number 10 who would be looking at parliamentary gimmicks and new poles to try and find that and seek legal advice on the scope of the art. i think this is a past and there were because one of the big arguments on the leaves side was all about parliamentary sovereignty and taking back control in the uk and to ignore what parliamentary have said in this way would lead to challenges in courts and potentially even worse so i think it is an interesting

question that no one can seem to answer, ministers dance on the head ofa answer, ministers dance on the head of a pen saying we will obey the law but we will leave at the end of october but no one can explain how those things fit together so if the government and there was something nobody else does, maybe it will be revealed but it is difficult and the prime minister has not boxed himself ina tight prime minister has not boxed himself in a tight corner. good to talk to you, former special adviser to amber rudd who worked in downing street for a number of years. you‘re watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: a downing street source says a brexit deal is now "essentially impossible" following a phone call between boris johnson and germany‘s chancellor. european council president donald tusk warns boris johnson it shouldn‘t be about "winning some stupid blame game". a mother breaks down at the contaminated blood inquiry as she talks about the death

of her ten—year—old son. and in sport... uk athletics have announced that neil black will leave his role as performance director at the end of the month. it comes after criticism that uk athletics hadn‘t distanced themselves from the banned coach alberto salaza. organisers of the australian open say andy murray will make his return to grand slam singles at their tournament after major hip surgery. his recovery is going well, despite losing to fabio fogninni today in the second round of the shanghai masters. sunderland have confirmed that they‘ve sacked their managerjack ross. assistant managerjames fowler has been placed in temporary charge. sunderland are currently 6th in league one. i‘ll be back with more on those stories later. 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 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 wanted to do. he kept asking to go home. lee had 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 fearing for their lives and the safety of the factor vii! they were using. the government knew it was infected, as did the pharmaceutical companies, and did nothing. the inquiry is 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 were treated with infected blood in the ‘70s and ‘80s. sophie hutchinson, bbc news.

on late sunday night, the white house said us troops in north eastern syria will be removed from the area. turkey has made it clear it‘s ready to send forces into the area after this was announced. mr trump has warned president erdogan not to launch an attack on kurdish fighters who are long—time american allies in the fight against the group calling itself islamic state. president trump has recently been tweeting about the decision to remove us troops from north eastern syria. he has said...

let‘s try and make sense of all of this. joining me now is our chief international correspondent lyce doucet. explain where we are and the dangers of turkey invading and the possible consequences. people follow this story closely and it is complicated, last december president trump announced out of the blue that we we re announced out of the blue that we were leaving, taking all our troops, 1600 out of northern syria where we have been helping the kurdish led forces, that led to the resignation of the american defence secretary, other official saying you cannot change policy with a tweet and let down our allies but suddenly after a phone call with president oregan of turkey, whose patience seems to be

running out, president trump says he will take troops out again. he talks about this number, there is a narrow band on the turkish syrian border and american forces have been patrolling there with kurdish forces. turkey wants to push the kurds much further back, it sees them as a terror group and this is what has led to this. the state department is saying something different to president trump, that the american forces are just moving around, not moving out and the rest of the forces are remaining and they haven‘t given a green light to turkey to remain because that would be explosive. turkey, a nato ally, invading at sovereign country with the blessing of the us and letting down an american ally, so there is a

lot of danger and islamic state is defeated territorially but it is emerging and assyrian democratic forces are the main ally in keeping them at bay. many people see this as a great betrayal of the kurds because they were instrumental in defeating islamic state and this is their reward, to be potentially attacked because of president trump‘s decision. attacked because of president trump's decision. some viewers may remember how the reluctance of britain and the us to get involved with the syrian war, they made an exception after 2014 when this extremist group emerged, britain took part in air raids and the americans went in and set up the syrian democratic forces. it was a creation of the us working with those forces fighting islamic state so at some point the americans will go home. people in the pentagon are

saying we have to bring our forces home but let‘s prepare and make sure that the rate has gone because it isn‘t and if we pull out precipitously we will leave a vacuum and maybe in another year we will have to go back to fight a more dangerous threat. thank you. tonight sees the announcement of building of the year — the stirling prize for architecture. last year, the award went to the bloomberg building, a huge office development in london that cost more than a billion pounds. but this year, the bookies‘ favourite is very different, a small estate of council houses in norwich. it‘s the first time a council house has made it to the shortlist and as david sillito has been finding out, it‘s notjust the rents that make them affordable. goldsmith street, norwich, the first time council housing has ever been acknowledged for britain‘s top architectural award, and is taking

me on architectural award, and is taking meona architectural award, and is taking me on a tour was one of the residents, chloe smith. into the living room. i would never have thought this would be a council property. have a look at how thick these walls are. these houses are designed to be low energy. you aren‘t even allowed a letterbox in the door in case it lets out heat, but for the architects, one of the crucial elements was this. this to me is a snicket. we have been calling it a general. eight child friendly communal space, some part for children to play with their friends. we have a problem with lack of social connectedness and this housing is thinking about how we can

encourage social connections, people meeting each other. but i think there‘s also ideas about how to encourage children to play outdoors. how to get to play areas without crossing roads and make that safe. and it‘s this child friendly safe space that made all the difference for chloe and her partner louis. they‘re never going back to a flat. when you first walked into it... yeah. did you think... what do you think? i thought, "they're lovely. i'd love one." and, yeah, i managed to get one, which is really good. my my partner and i have both said since we moved in, we are here for the long run. it‘s brilliant. goldsmith street — warm, sociable, award—winning, let‘s speak now tojulia barfield, architect and chair of the 2019 stirling prize jury, who‘s at the roundhouse in north london where the award ceremony is being held tonight. thank you for being with us. excitement building there, i‘m sure.

what are the criteria when you are trying tojudge building of the year? we are thinking about the materials used, about the energy, the embedded energy that was used in building itand the embedded energy that was used in building it and the energy in use, about its civic presence, what it does to the surroundings and above all whether the client and the users are happy with it. why do you think are happy with it. why do you think a prize like this matters? what are we trying to psych by discussing architecture in these terms, trying to rank the best building in the country? architecture is really important to everybody‘s lie. you spend a vast amount of your time either in a building or looking at buildings and they make a real difference to the quality of people‘slives so if a building is well designed, then it will obviously be uplifting to

people‘slives and if it‘s not, the reverse , people‘slives and if it‘s not, the reverse, and especially as we all know there is a climate emergency on and construction contributes a large proportion of the problem so as architects it is beholden on us to be part of the solution. do you think we are now more thoughtful about our architecture compared to the 1960s when we were putting up huge tower blocks that many people think were pretty disastrous? what would you say about the state of modern british architecture?m would you say about the state of modern british architecture? it is certainly coming of age in terms of sustainability, this is the year when everybody, not many people realise we need to take the climate emergency seriously but there was a lot of very good public housing built in the 1960s, people remember the worst of it but there was a lot

of good social housing built as well and i‘m happy that there might be a resurgence of that going forward. this year you have quite an array to choose from. we were just seeing about the council homes in norwich, lots of other very different entries on your shortlist. give us an idea of the array of competitors that you are trying tojudge of the array of competitors that you are trying to judge and how you are going tojudge them. are trying to judge and how you are going to judge them. yes, it is apples and pears. they are all very different but superb in their own ways. we have two retrofit projects, london bridge and nether holt opera. we have an innovative radical project that takes waste cork and usesit project that takes waste cork and uses it to build an entire building,

that‘s very ground—breaking as a project, and then we have the distillery in scotland and a gallery in yorkshire, so a real spread geographically as well as in use, which i think xiao is the range of architecture projects that we get all the time. there‘s a prize like this keep architects on their toes? doesn‘t make them more competitive and anxious do well? i would say to send their dna anyway but architects are very competitive. most architects would want to produce the very best building for their client and uses. i think this evening we had six of the best. we are going to see who is the best. we are going to see who is the best. we are going to see who is the best of the best. thank you so much for being with us, good luck this evening. we are going to have

live coverage of which of those six shortlisted entries have been picked as britain‘s best new building and that will be there for you on a special programme tonight here on the bbc news channel at 8:30pm. a quick look at what else is coming up on the news channel. it will be broadcasting all day from penzance. once a witty weather is going to be doing. the weather is stuck in repeat at the moment, sunny spells and scattered showers accompanied by blustery wind. showers so far have been merging for

longer spells of rain across western scotla nd longer spells of rain across western scotland and northern ireland, also nuisance showers through the midlands into the south—west of england as we speak. they drift steadily east, keeping the show was going through the night along west facing coast, continuing to be fairly frequent as well with the the wind and clouds that is not going to bea wind and clouds that is not going to be a cold start to wednesday, overnight close between seven and ten. we start tomorrow with sunny spells, a frequent rational sham is not an west coast to the edge of the pressure, we could see rumbles of thunder and lightning, hail as well, accompanied by a fresh south—westerly wind. that will drive the showers through quickly, topped images twin 12 and 15.

this is bbc news — our latest headlines. a downing street source says a brexit deal is now "essentially impossible" following a phone call between boris johnson and germany‘s chancellor, but in the commons michael gove insists a deal can still be done. in setting out these proposals, we have moved. now it is time for the eu to move to. if so, we can still have a deal.

the government put forward proposals that were designed to fail and still will not take responsibility for its own actions. european council president donald tusk warns borisjohnson it shouldn‘t be about ‘winning some stupid blame game". a mother breaks down at the contaminated blood inquiry — as she talks about the death of her ten year old son, 19 people are arrested as police say they‘ve broken the uk‘s biggest ever drugs operation — more that 50 tons of drugs are seized. significant news from uk athletics this afternoon? yes, the uk athletics performance director neil black will step down from his position at the end of the month. when the news came of alberto salazar‘s four year ban, black said he would review his future in the organisation.

that‘s because in 2015, uk athletics conducted a review and concluded that there was "no concern" about salazar‘s link with double olympic gold medalist sir mo farah. uk athletics had appointed salazar as a consultant to its endurance programme in 2013. salazar was sent home from the recent world athletics championships in doha after it emerged he had been found guilty of doping violations and banned by the united states anti—doping agency. usada‘s investigation into how salazar ran his nike oregon project began in 2015 following a bbc panorama investigation. salazar has denied that the nike oregon project permitted doping, saying he was "shocked" by usada‘s findings and would appeal against the ban. salazar coached britain‘s four—time olympic champion mo farah, between 2011—2017. mo farah has never failed a drugs test. after salazar was banned, farah, said in a statement that he had "no tolerance for anyone

who breaks the rules or crosses a line". good news for andy murray‘s recovery? the organisers of the australian open say that andy murray is to make his grand slam debut with them injanuary, following his hip surgery earlier this year. they‘ve said he‘ll "return to the main draw with a protected ranking of number two". if you remember at the australian open this year, murray broke down at the press conference after he was put out in the first round by roberto bautista agut, talking about how much pain he was in. the hip surgery he had has gone well. he‘s looked strong at the tournaments he‘s been playing in. china open he got through to the quarterfinals. he‘s lost to the italian fabio fogninni in the second round of the shanghai masters. he lost the first set after a tie break, took the second set 6—2 and it went to another tie break in the deciding set but fogninni won it.

don‘t forget fabio fogninni is 12th in the world so encouraging from murray. murray himself has not yet officially entered next year‘s tournament. but the australian open tournament director, craig tiley has said in a statement that he will take part. south africa ran in ten tries against canada to win 66—7 and qualify for the quarter finals of the rugby world cup. the springboks made a quick start in kobe, scoring seven tries in the first half to secure the bonus point they needed — including a hat trick from scrum half cobus reinach — the fastest in the tournaments‘ history. they were helped too by a red card handed to canada‘sjosh larsen for a dangerous tackle. canada did manage to score in the second half, but it wasn‘t enough to limit the damage.

all the home nations are in action over the next few days, england play france in theirfinalgroup game on saturday, and say they won‘t risk billy vunipola if there are any doubts over his fitness. he‘s had a scan on an ankle injury he picked up in their win over argentina. our correspondent andy swiss has been at the team camp in tokyo. still no definitive news from the england camp on the extent of the injury for billy vunipola but he has been wearing a protective boot since hurting his ankle on saturday. england say if is not 100% then they will rest him for the game against france but say they have no concerns about his availability for the knockout stage. there have been some suggestions that losing against france and finishing second in the group might actually make life easier for england because they will be in the opposite half of the draw to new zealand but england are cautious about that theory. this is such a tough

tournament that if you start to think too far ahead you just get lost so you have to focus on every day and the next opposition. it is a tough tough tournament. if you look too far ahead you end up getting yourself into a spin. another piece of fitness news, captain owen farrell missed training today because of a stomach bug as they continue their preparations for the game against france on saturday. 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 bbc look north‘s phil bodmer, who is in leeds and is going to tell

us more about the levels of air pollution in sheffield. and for bbc wales today, jenniferjones is in cardiff — she is going to be telling us about local maternity services. first to phil. . . poor air quality means some children on their way to school inhale the equivalent of nearly a packet of cigarettes a week. that‘s according to research by the university of sheffield. forty five families in the city took part in a test, to see what air pollution levels they were breathing over two weeks. the findings revealed that the fine particles, or particulate matter in the air were found to be in some cases five times the world health organisation legal limits if this trend continued over a year. most of the families experienced air pollution that would breach who limits. so phil, this sounds very concerning? i think ithinka i think a number of parents will be

quite alarmed by this. pollution is one of the leading causes of preve nta ble one of the leading causes of preventable death in the uk today. estimated to be this possible for about 40,000 deaths in the uk every year. pollution is everything from the gases produced during the burning of fuels to the fine particles that come from damaged brake pads or vehicles, where in roads, building sites and general dustin roads, building sites and general dust in the atmosphere. each of these reacts deftly with human body and can cause different health effects. the nitrogen dioxide produced when fuel especially diesel fuel is burned is linked to this bitterly conditions and for people with underlying medical problems like asthma it can trigger breathing problems. a bigger concern to human health and the fine particles or particulate matter, those cold pm2.5. a small number of participants in the trial were

exposed to pollution levels are roughly five times the world health organization limit. that would be equivalent to a total of smoking 35 cigarettes in a total of two weeks, 2.5 per day. that is especially worrying for children and means kids growing up and highly polluted streets have smaller lung capacity as they grew up and the people who conducted the research calculated this by comparing the number of deaths caused by smoking and by air pollution. how have parents reacted? with understandable concern. some have sediment move to a more rural location if it was better for their health. it is quite depressing and as many think about the future of where i want to love and it might not be in such an urban area.” where i want to love and it might not be in such an urban area. i am quite surprised by the result, i would have thought indycar you would

have more protection. it kept me awake at night sometimes, i was concerned. i spoke to my husband about whether we should move house. what has the government said? they feel under pressure and say they recognise the issues and are working hard to reduce pollution levels. saj id working hard to reduce pollution levels. sajid javid recently announced several measures and his september spending review to tackle air pollution across the country. this includes £30 million to help local councils lower emissions and £200 million for the upgrading of bus services. borisjohnson recently said he wants electric buses on our streets. the government is really on this working across departments, business and energy, transport and death trap or linking to tackle this really important issue. we are the first government to set net zero

emissions by 2050, that is ground—breaking and are cleaner strategy has been termed ground—breaking by the who so we are on the right track. the government keen to point out what is going on to reduce air pollution but the former chief scientific adviser told us he believes children are being let down by the government failure to tackle your pollution and they need to act much more quickly than they are. until we see the costs of electric cars coming down making them more widely affordable and more importantly many more charging points outside of london, we are likely to see progress may be as quick as some would like. and in cardiff — an investigation into maternity services at a health board in south wales that have been put in special measures — has found there‘s still a ‘very long way to go‘ before they can be declared safe and effective. jen, tell us some of the background to this.

and relates to a report published in april into maternity services in south east wales. it was printed by concerns over in number of baby deaths, 25 see this incident in total including eight stillbirths and five neonatal deaths between january 2016 ad last september. it identified several areas of immediate concern both at the prince charles hospital and the royal glamorgan hospital at has been described as one of the most damning reports about into health care and wales maternity services were under extreme pressure because of a shortage of midwives and there was a culture of blame amongst staff and it found that women who believe that was something wrong with the baby or try to convey the level of pain they we re try to convey the level of pain they were and were simply ignored or patronised. we have had some truly heartbreaking stories from people like christie who lost three babies.

the care i received was absolutely shocking. it caused me to have a mental breakdown and i am still trying to get myself back up from it. the scars will never heal. it does make a difference whether the change things in the nhs and they have the perfect staff that are the perfectjob is never going to take away all heal the pain any of us are going through. that is something that cannot be reversed. that is quite a backlash after this came to light, the health board chief exec at resigned at the welsh health minister put the services into special measures set up a independent panel to drive through improvements. and months later, that panel has found there are still big problems? said today that are still a long way to go before maternity services can be declared safe and effective. it revealed it will review more than

100 extra cases, not on of them serious but cases for the believe lessons could be learnt. the panel has found what it calls encouraging signs of progress, most of the safety critical issues are down leg identified at have been addressed and staffing are still being looked at. some changes have been put in place but the pace of change does need to be speeded up because it can ta ke need to be speeded up because it can take many years to turn things around but the message to expecting mothers and families right now is that that has been improvement and anyone who has any concerns should feel free to contact the health board and we will have all the latest details on wheels today tonight at six 2pm. thank you.

19 people have been arrested in connection with what detectives say is britain‘s biggest ever drugs operation. police launched dawn raids in london and across the north of england this morning, and say the suspects are part our home affairs correspondent, sarah corker, reports. 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 24 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. a large amount of drugs comes into the uk and split across various counties. a lot of vulnerable individuals particularly children

and been used and that has a devastating effect on the children and their families and the public and the economy. 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. 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: we do not have that clip but he did

call them crusties. in a moment the latest business news.first a look at the headlines on afternoon live a downing street source says a brexit deal is now "essentially impossible" following a phone call between boris johnson and germany‘s chancellor european council president donald tusk warns borisjohnson it shouldn‘t be about ‘winning some stupid blame game". a mother breaks down at the contaminated blood inquiry — as she talks about the death of her ten year old son here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. productivity in the uk has suffered its sharpest fall in 5 years for the three months from april to june. according ot the office for national statistics labour productivity — as measured by output per hour — fell by 0.5% year on year in the second qaurter. this follows two previous quarters of zero growth.

a no—deal brexit would push uk debt to a 50—year high — so says the institute for fiscal studies.the think tank said borrowing was likely to rise to £100 billion pounds and total to £100 billion and total debt would soar to 90% of national income. and sticking with the same theme — the government‘s announced changes to its tariff regime in the event of no deal brexit. lorry import tariffs would be cut for the first year after leaving the eu, from 22% to 10%. but uk dairy prodcuers have hit out at plans to place tariffs only on selected inbound products, saying they feel ‘betrayed‘ and won‘t go far enough in the event of a no deal. the government published its updated proposed tariff regime ahead of the uk‘s scheduled departure from the european union on 31 october — what‘s been the reaction from the business community? mostly the response has not been favourable. but the strength of objection varies. farmers will feel "betrayed"

by a government plan not to impose tariffs on the majority of goods entering the uk in the event of a no—deal brexit, the national farmers union has it says no one once remain audio out, rather than winning picking winners or losers we need the government and the eu to focus on a brexit deal. before we talk to my guest has more detail we shall look at the markets. let‘s do that at the

end of the programme. lawrence gosling is the editorial director of what investment magazine. it seems the government has got this pretty wrong, no sector of the economy is happy with this proposed change to the tariff regime. economy is happy with this proposed change to the tariff regimem economy is happy with this proposed change to the tariff regime. it is quite unusualfor change to the tariff regime. it is quite unusual for everybody to castigate the government on a policy although in fairness to the government had pointed out in these announcements tariffs at their would bea announcements tariffs at their would be a fewer areas post brexit might be a fewer areas post brexit might be good and they talked about brazilian honey and also tennis rackets which would potentially be cheaper. more fundamentally to the economy agriculture and what is coming into the country are more important longer term. against a backdrop of the more productivity. the economy is heading towards a really difficult phase. this is

going to help matters that today we heard from the office of national to sticks that labour productivity fell by 0.5% in the second quarter, the fastest annual pace of decline in five years. it follows two previous quarters of stagnation so the trajectory productivity be sore in the previous year is continuing, what is going on? they were blooming the lack of investment, most businesses hate uncertainty that goes with brexit and that is reducing the amount of investment into capital expenditure on training for staff and that is what is behind the lower productivity. the economy is slowing down going forward, lower productivity slowing the economy raises the problem that the government will have n2 and the next year which we could see the spectre ofa year which we could see the spectre of a decision. the hong kong stock

exchange has dropped, it spread for the london stock exchange. the said the london stock exchange. the said the offer fell substantially short ofan the offer fell substantially short of an appropriate valuation, was that the only reason? this is probably one bit of good news for the government because of it had been successful but i got into a major particle issue because of it and make the chinese government which is behind the hong kong stock exchange would have on the on the stock exchange and this has elements of the huawei problems we had so this is a small but of good news for the government. thank you. and a look at the markets. the ftse has declined, and trusts

the pound slumping to a one—month low. the under stock one of the biggest followers after the hong kong stock exchange pulled out of the deal. us stocks, cannot get them on the board because there wasn‘t space with the effort quite a slump today in morning trading and that is over jitters over the success today in morning trading and that is overjitters over the success of the us china trade talks. most the board. let‘s see what the weather is doing. sunny spells and scattered showers.

we keep the show was going through the night along west facing customer continue to be fairly frequent with the show was the cloud is not going to bea the show was the cloud is not going to be a cold start to wednesday, over they close between seven and ten. starting again tomorrow with sunny spells but a different showers north and west closer to the low pressure, here we can see thunder and lightning, hail mixed in as well, accompanied by a fresh south—westerly wind. that will drive the show was through pretty quickly, top temperatures between 12 and 15.

today at five — a downing street source says a brexit deal is now "essentially impossible" following a phone call between boris johnson and the german chancellor. the source claimed the prospect of a deal had broken down over the issue of the irish border. ministers say a deal can still be done, but labour blames the prime minister. in setting out these proposals we have moved and it is now time for the eu to move as well. if it does then there is still every chance we can leave with a new deal. the stark reality is the government put forward proposals that were designed to failand it forward proposals that were designed to fail and it still will not take responsibility for its own actions. european council president donald tusk warns borisjohnson it