this you're watching bbc news at nine, with me annita mcveigh. the headlines... it's a big day in westminster, as mps and the house of lords prepare for the state opening of parliament and the queen's speech. the queen will set out the government's plans with an unsurprising focus on brexit, but also on immigration, crime, rail franchises and environmental policies. meanwhile, eu foreign ministers are meeting in luxembourg, where they'll be updated on the intensive brexit talks. eu ambassadors have been told "big gaps" still remain over disagreements about the northern irish border. the family of the teenager killed in a crash involving the wife of an american diplomat say they won't meet her unless she commits to returning to the uk. the kurdish government says the syrian regime has agreed to send its army to try to halt turkey's offensive against them.

we'll be live from the border. good morning and welcome to the bbc news at nine. the first queen's speech of boris johnson's premiership will be unveiled today, with promises to introduce tougher sentences for foreign offenders, tackle violent crime and invest more in the nhs. but events in brussels could still overshadow the prime minister's plans, as he said there was still "significant work" still to do in brexit negotiations. labour has called today's speech an "uncosted wish list", which the government has no intention of delivering. our political correspondent nick eardley reports. today, there will be pomp... fanfare.

..and there will be pageantry. but this week is mostly about politics. first up, the queen's speech, where the government will set out its priorities — delivering brexit, tackling violent crime, investing in the nhs. labour says it's nothing more than a pre—election party political broadcast. this isn't an ordinary queen's speech, though. borisjohnson doesn't have a majority and can't promise he will be able to get these pledges through parliament. add into the mix the fact that he wants a general election and a lot of it feels more like a pitch to the country. and much of what is said today could well be overshadowed by what happens here. talks to try to find a brexit compromise continue in brussels, but there's been no breakthrough and time is running out, with a key summit on thursday and friday. yesterday, borisjohnson told his cabinet there was a significant way to go, but he did still believe a deal was possible.

others are far less confident. can borisjohnson get a new deal? can he persuade mps to back it and, if not, can they force him to delay our departure again? this week, answers to those questions should become clearer. nick eardley, bbc news. our assistant political editor norman smith joins me now from westminster. so, norman, how much is what is in the queen's speech actually going to matter? well, it matters in terms of political signposting, the message of the ministers want to get over is that life isn't just about of the ministers want to get over is that life isn'tjust about brexit, that life isn'tjust about brexit, that they have an agenda beyond delivering on the referendum, so, we get a fairly packed list of measures they want to implement, with a huge focus on law and order, fairly significant measures on reform of the railways, to end the current franchising system, we get the australian style immigration system, there is a suggestion there could be

if not actual measures, then maybe a white paper or green paper on social care. so, there are fairly chunky proposals. and i think the idea is to say, look, life can move on once we have delivered brexit. and therefore it is to underscore the government message of, let's get brexit done, and then the paralysis ends. the problem, of course, is that brexit is not done. and on top of that, it is not clear that even we re of that, it is not clear that even were it done, that the government has the parliamentary ability to get any of these measures passed because it doesn't have a majority, and in the real world, i think most people calculate it is unlikely any of these measures will see the light of day until and unless we have a general election which delivers a government, of whatever colour, with a clear majority. certainly from labour's perspective, they take the view that today's queen's speech is just a sort of party political broadcast on behalf of the tory party, at least that was the view of the shadow cabinet memberjon

trickett. it is ajoke, he doesn't have a majority, he is about 40 mps short of a majority, and it'sjust a piece of show casuals to date. normally it is a year is work, that is what the queen's speech is about, the next year. but even the prime minister is saying there will be an election soon. and during this period there are no votes and there are no questions to be asked. so, it isa are no questions to be asked. so, it is a way of avoiding accountability for his actions and it is really not the right way to run our country, quite frankly. and to underline the government message of, we are getting on with things, they have also announced a date for the budget, which we are told will be on sixth november, just days after the proposed 31st october deadline for oui’ proposed 31st october deadline for our departure. however, here is the wrinkle. we are told that if there is no deal, in other words, despite the last—ditch talks, it is

impossible to get an agreement, then sixth november, will just impossible to get an agreement, then sixth november, willjust be an economic statement, the chancellor will set out some broad economic parameters, and the real budget will bea no parameters, and the real budget will be a no deal budget, delayed for several weeks, to give the treasury time to assess how much impact no deal has actually had on business and consumers, and then to put in place various mitigating policies to try and minimise any difficulties or delay. but the signposting, again, is to say, we are getting on with things, we are governing, life isn't alljust things, we are governing, life isn't all just about brexit. things, we are governing, life isn't alljust about brexit. thank things, we are governing, life isn't all just about brexit. thank you very much, norman. meanwhile, eu foreign minisers are meeting in luxembourg, where they'll be updated on brexit talks. arriving this morning, the irish foreign minister, simon coveney, said that hopefully, progress can be made today. on brexit, the less we say now, the better. we need to give time and space to michel barnier and his task force and the british negotiating team.

i think it's pretty clear what we're trying to do, but there are pretty detailed technical discussions now, and i think we need to give time and space for that to happen — hopefully we can make progress to on it. our correspondent adam fleming is in luxembourg. so, adam, he said that hopefully they can give the time and space to they can give the time and space to the negotiations, but there is so little time, what are the expectations? well, what's interesting about the timeframe is that there is an area where the eu has really softened. think how many times we said, if there is to be a revised deal approved at the summit on thursday, it will have to be ready, the legal text finalised, one week before, so that everyone can look at it. that is gone. the eu negotiating team is prepared to carry on talking to their uk cou nterpa rts carry on talking to their uk counterparts until wednesday, the eve of the summit, which shows you what it is perhaps possible when it comes to timing. in terms of the discussions, there is still what is described as a big gap between the

uk and eu on what sort of customs checks are done on the island of ireland or between great britain and northern ireland and the legal status of northern ireland when it comes to eu and uk customs law. no sign of that logjam being broken. but there does seem to be a bit of movement when it comes to the issue of consent in northern ireland. it looks like the brits have dropped their plan to give the stormont assembly an upfront veto on any of the arrangements coming into force in northern ireland, and that would come as a pleasant surprise to the eu, because they thought that wasn't a very good idea. but the british say they are still pursuing some kind of mechanism to make sure that the people of northern ireland have a say over how these arrangements affect them. thank you very much, adam. stay with us for more on the state opening of parliament and the queen's speech in a bbc news specialfrom 10am. and you can follow all of today's political developments on the bbc news channel and bbc news online. kurds in northern syria say the country's government has agreed to send soldiers to stop the turkish

invasion of their territory. state media is also claiming the syrian army has been deployed along the border to help the kurdish—led syrian democratic forces. it follows the us decision to pull all its remaining troops from the area to avoid them being caught between opposing armies. our correspondent martin patience joins us now from the turkish—syrian border. what impact will the involvement of syrian troops now have on this situation? first of all, we just need to think about this, a week ago, the kurds were allied with america, now that america has pulled out, the kurds have gone over to the syrian regime. now, according to kurdish officials, the syrian army will push up to the turkish border. but what we have to remember, there isa but what we have to remember, there is a propaganda war being fought, and the syrian military is utterly exhausted. but it is worth pointing out, the syrian government is backed

by russia and iran, so therefore, if turkey is to attack kurdish forces, they would also be attacking russia and iran, and i think that gives you some idea of how dangerous this conflict can be. we are at a very dangerous moment. as for the situation in north—eastern syria at the moment, we are hearing it is absolutely chaotic. the turkish advanceis absolutely chaotic. the turkish advance is continuing right along this border, with around 150,000 civilians now having fled the violence. so, it is a chaotic situation, and many syrians are simply running for their lives at the moment. what reaction has there been to that development in turkey? well, i've been reading on twitter, they believe they're in a very strong position. they don't believe that the syrian military is any match for the turkish military. as

far as turkey is concerned, it is going to continue pushing along the border areas. it has got two key objectives, it says, firstly, to push kurdish fighters back from the border, i think most people think they have achieved that, and secondly, they want to create this safe zone, i think that will be harder, in which syrian refugees currently living in turkey can return to their homeland. but turkey is very confident. it is holding talks with the russians, with the iranians, they have very good relations with the backers of the syrian government, so i think turkey will be feeling comfortable, that it has been given the green light for this offensive. and up until now, it hasn't really faced any real pressure, criticism, yes, but no real pressure, to call off this incursion. the family of the teenager killed in a crash involving an american woman say

they won't meet her unless she commits to returning to the uk. anne sacoolas has said she'd like to talk to harry dunn's parents, who have flown to the us to continue their fight for justice. our correspondent duncan kennedy sent this report from new york. harry's parents arrived in new york last night, exhausted but convinced they had to come. they believe harry, who was killed in august, must getjustice, even in death. they've travelled to the us to meet anne sacoolas. she is the american woman who allegedly drove her car on the wrong side of the road before colliding with harry's motorbike in northamptonshire. we travelled with tim and charlotte as they flew to new york, believing only a meeting with mrs sacoolas could begin to make sense of what's happened to them. we felt like we've really got a breakthrough, we finally had confirmed that the immunity that we didn't think she had has been confirmed,

that she doesn't have it. certainly since she absconded back to the usa. the statement from her lawyer is promising, that we we may be able to hopefully get a meeting put together. harry's parents have a very busy round of interviews here in new york today. their story, that of a mother and father trapped in a transatlantic battle forjustice, is huge here. they say what they want to achieve from their visit is simply that harry is not forgotten. last week, donald trump made the death of harry dunn a presidential matter, promising to talk to mrs sacoolas. harry's parents want mrs sacoolas to return to the uk to face questions from british police. they're hoping their trip to america will make that more likely. duncan kennedy, bbc news, new york. the supreme court in spain has sentenced nine catalan separatist

leaders to between nine and 13 years in prison for their role in the region's failed attempt to declare independence in 2017. three other defendants were found guilty of disobedience but will not serve prison sentences. the 12 politicians and activists had all denied the charges. pro—independence groups in catalonia have called for mass civil disobedience. police say there have been more than 1,300 arrests in connection with the ongoing extinction rebellion protests across london. hundreds of activists occupied the crossroads outside the bank of england this morning, targeting financial firms they say profit from climate change. the protests in the capital started last monday and aim to cause maximum disruption. a hearing into whether parents should be allowed to protest against the teaching of lgbt relationships outside a primary school will begin later. earlier this year, birmingham city council issued

a temporary injunction banning campaigners from demonstrating outside the school. the legality of that injunction will be decided at the city's high court. we'll bring you the queen's speech at the state opening of parliament from 10am — now it's time for the victoria derybshire programme with chloe tilley. hello, it's monday, it's 9.15, i'm chloe tilley. the queen is going to set out this government's agenda in a speech to parliament this morning. 22 new bills are planned. but can borisjohnson expect to get any of them passed? he doesn't have a majority in the house of commons, and he's still negotiating a last—minute brexit deal with the eu. it's not alljust it's not all just about brexit, it's not alljust about brexit, as ministers set out their plans for britain after we leave the european union. but is the queen being dragged into a party political broadcast on behalf of boris johnson? and there could be an election within months, too. so, we've brought mps together with voters to find out