lays out its agenda for the year ahead — but opposition parties call this year's queen speech a sham and a charade. it's the 65th time that the queen has come to parliament to unveil the government's agenda — today the focus was firmly on crime, health and first and foremost delivering brexit. my government's priority has always been to secure the united kingdom's departure from the european union on the 31st of october. it's boris johnson's first queen's speech but without a majority in the house of commons there's little chance of his plans becoming law. we'll be looking at the government's agenda as mps prepare to debate it in parliament this afternoon. also on the programme:

hundreds of colleagues, friends, and family have attended the funeral of pc andrew harper who was killed on duty in august. the parents of harry done say they will only meet the american woman allegedly involved in the crash that killed him if she promises to return to britain. and coming up on bbc news... england have to deliver agaisnt bulgaria — gareth southgate rallies his side as they return to euro 2020 qualifying following friday's surprise defeat to czech republic. good afternoon from westminster, where the queen has just unveiled the plans for the year

for boris johnson's government. she said the government's priority was to take the united kingdom out of the eu at the end of the month. but the queen's speech also set out plans to introduce tougher sentences forforeign offenders, investing more in the nhs and scrapping the rail franchise system. on brexit, there are plans to end free movment of eu citizens to the uk. the queen outlined 26 bills but with the prime minister no longer having a majority, and an election widely predicted, many of them may not become law. labour has described the whole exercise as a political stunt and an uncosted wish list. jonathan blake reports. tradition has its place, even at a time of turmoil. the queen's arrival, part of the spectacle of the state opening of parliament. ancient rituals and splendour on show, but this was westminster preparing for a queen's speech like no other. mps, summoned to the house

of lords to hear plans put forward bya of lords to hear plans put forward by a government with no majority to deliver them. the prime minister said this queen's speech is full of ambition and optimism. labour has dismissed it as a farce. there were details of 22 bills in total. brexit, first and foremost. my government's priority has always been to secure the united kingdom's departure from the european union on the 31st of october. my government intends to work towards a new partnership with the european union, based on free trade and friendly cooperation. beyond brexit, plans for new immigration laws, infrastructure projects and the national health service. new laws will be taken forward to help implement the national health service's long—term plan in england. law and order was also a focus, with

promises of tougher sentences for some. my government is committed to addressing violent crime and to strengthening public confidence in the criminal justice strengthening public confidence in the criminaljustice system. new sentencing laws will see that the most serious offenders spend longer in custody, to reflect better the severity of their crimes. transport, infrastructure, the environment also featured. but opposition parties we re featured. but opposition parties were scathing about the speech‘s substance and its timing. everybody knows this is a sham queen's speech, this is the government's queen's speech, it is supposed to be the legislative programme, and yet we all know that what the government wants is an election tomorrow and a new government, in which they hope they will be the head. we have this saratov a queen's speech which is a long list of promises that the prime minister can't possibly deliver, because the path he is set to go down is one which will make us so

much poorer as a country. if this speech had not been read out by her majesty the queen, you might as well have just said it is a party political broadcast for the conservative party. it is a list of things they think will make them win votes in england, very much a domestic policy agenda. looking at the splendour of the state occasion and hearing the political promises made, it would be easy to think these are normal times at westminster. in reality, they are anything but. the government doesn't have the numbers to push through its plans. there could be a general election in weeks and uncertainty over brexit continues. away from westminster, but hanging over today's events, the brexit negotiations in brussels on a knife edge. for all the ambitious plans set out here, the outcome there will determine the future for this government. jonathan blake, bbc news, westminster. let's talk to norman smith. all of the pomp and pageantry, was there any point in that? it has been one

of the oddest queen's speech as i have ever covered, because we have a great big shopping list of measures, but you're kind of wondering if any will see the light of day. i was watching the queen to see if there was a raised eyebrow, a notion of incredulity. there wasn't, because she is a consummate professional on these occasions. but she must have been wondering, what on earth am i doing here? because borisjohnson simply lacks a parliamentary majority to get any of these measures through, and he won't have a parliamentary majority until, and unless, he wins a general election. but there is a second roadblock to the queen's speech, and that is brexit. we know, surely, from the past three years, that nothing is happening here until brexit is resolved. so until and unless boris johnson can get brexit resolved, none of these measures seem likely to me to ever come about. which leaves you with the question, why on earth is boris johnson leaves you with the question, why on earth is borisjohnson doing it? the reason he is doing it, i think, is

to send out a signal, a signal that the government has more than brexit to offer the country, and once brexit is done and dusted, we can move brexit is done and dusted, we can m ove o nto brexit is done and dusted, we can move onto other issues. this was a queen's speech very much on hold. on hold until we have a general election, and until brexit is sorted. norman, we will talk to you later in the programme. well a crackdown on crime was centre stage in this queen's speech. among the policies unveiled are plans to keep serious criminals in prison for longer, tougher sentences on foreign offenders who return to the uk and providing better protection for victims of domestic abuse. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw is in our bbc newsroom. issues. this was a queen's speech very much on hold. on hold until we have a general election, and until brexit is sorted. norman, we will talk to you later in the programme. at the party he can give us more detail on those. boris johnson has made it absolutely clear that he wa nts made it absolutely clear that he wants law and order to be a priority for the conservative party. in fact, at the party this month, law and

order was in thesaid that law and order was in thesaid that law and order was in thesaid that law and order was in the queen's speech reflect that with a raft of bills that will occupy the home office and the ministry ofjustice, in particular measures that would certainly increase sentences for around 3000 serious criminals or violent criminals, because they would end the automatic release at the halfway point of a sentence. it would now go up to two thirds. it was only a few months ago that the government was talking about restricting the use of short sentences, but now they are increasing sentences, and there will be more whole life sentences for people convicted of murder if the plans get approval. for serious criminals who are deported and try to return to the uk, there will be an increase in the maximum sentence. that will affect around 400 people every year. there are also going to be strengthened rights for victims, legal safeguards for police, who are involved in driving collisions,

those are measures that will certainly please the police service, who have been calling for legislation for a number of years. under the domestic abuse bill comes back. it all adds up to a different sort of direction that borisjohnson has taken the conservative party on, compared to that under theresa may. health also played a key part in the queen's speech with plans for a new independent body with legal powers to ensure patient safety. a plan was also revealed to reduce the number of detentions under the mental health act by ensuring more people get the treatment they need. our health correspondent dominic hughes has more. a series of scandals that saw appalling failures of care, including at the mid staffordshire hospital and the barrow—in—furness maternity unit, means patient safety is now a top priority for health leaders. there have already been a series of reforms to try to prevent a repeat, and protection for whistle—blowers and a duty of candour, meaning families need to be told when things have gone wrong. but the government has signalled it

would like to go further, with the announcement of a new health investigations bill that will create a new independent body with legal powers to ensure patient safety. measures will be brought forward to support and strengthen the national health service, its workforce and resources , health service, its workforce and resources, enabling it to deliver the highest quality care. new laws will be taken forward to help implement the national health service's long—term plan in england. and to establish an independent body to investigate a serious health care incidents. and there are new measures to try to stem the rise in the number of people being detained or sectioned under the mental health act. in 2016, well over 60,000 people were sectioned across the uk, a number that has been increasing sharply. between 2006—2016, the number of detentions increased by 40%. part of the reason is thought to be down to a system under

pressure. so, there is to be a reform of mental health provision to ensure more people get the treatment they need. my ministers will continue work to reform the mental health act, to improve respect for and care of those receiving treatment. the queen's speech also included a pledge to implement long—term plans for the nhs in england, announced earlier this year. but much of this depends on extra money, especially for staff, with around 100,000 vacancies across the nhs in england alone. that means the nhs in england alone. that means the next budget will be closely watched. brexit was centre stage in the queen's speech. the queen says the uk is still aiming to leave the eu at the end of the month. it comes as uk and eu negotiatings teams have been meeting in brussels to try to secure a deal ahead of a key summit on thursday. the eu's chief negotiator, michel barnier, has told european ambassadors that major differences remain on the issue of customs

arrangements in northern ireland. our europe correspondent adam fleming reports. are we heading towards a brexit deal this week? the uk negotiating team are in brussels today for more talks. both sides used the word constructive, but say there is a lot more to do, especially on customs checks and northern ireland. and, yes, there is still plenty of sitting around. arriving for a meeting this morning, european foreign ministers sounded almost optimistic. ireland's simon coveney, much more positive than usual. ideal as possible, it is possible this month. it may even be possible this week. we are not there yet, and as michel barnier said yesterday, there's still a lot of work to do. soi there's still a lot of work to do. so i hope we can make more progress today. the body language from luxembourg said it all. we will find a solution on brexit, i think. the

timeline for achieving a brexit deal this week is incredibly tight. some might say impossibly tight. but here is how it could unfold. the eu chief negotiator, michel barnier, would have to give a positive assessment to european affairs ministers at a meeting tomorrow. negotiations will continue until wednesday, when eu ambassadors would have to give their agreement in principle, before eu leaders officially sign it off at a two—day summit beginning on thursday. then, mps would have their say on saturday, during a rare weekend sitting at westminster. it's not impossible, but the people negotiating in these rooms had to bridge a lot of legal, technical and political gaps for a deal to become possible this week. more likely is that everyone will need more time, the process will drag on. scotland's first minister has said she won't be willing to support a minority labour government unless jeremy corbyn agrees to grant her a second scottish independence referendum.

but nicola sturgeon remains prepared to support the labour leader as a caretaker prime minister for a matter of days if it results in an extension to article 50 and a general election. she was speaking ahead of her speech at the snp conference in aberdeen tomorrow. our scotland correspondent james shaw reports four nicola sturgeon, just like all other party leaders, these are testing times. how will brexit affect her ambition to make scotland an independent country? and, more specifically, how will she get another referendum to make it happen? a deal with labour could be the answer. but she insists she is no fan ofjeremy corbyn. the answer. but she insists she is no fan ofjeremy corbynlj the answer. but she insists she is no fan ofjeremy corbyn. i can't escape the conclusion that he is actually a secret brexiteer and would rather the uk was out. the more fundamental question, though, i think the one you are posing to me, my answer is this, i do not think there is a perfect westminster

a nswer there is a perfect westminster answer for scotland. the westminster system, as far as scotland is concerned, is broken, ithink system, as far as scotland is concerned, is broken, i think it is broken beyond compare. however, she says objections to a referendum cannot be sustained. says objections to a referendum cannot be sustainedlj says objections to a referendum cannot be sustained. i actually think that opposition is cracking. i think that opposition is cracking. i think as public opinion continues to rise in support of an independence referendum, it will not be able to stand. so i'm pretty confident that we will be in a very different position around this very soon, and i will continue, in the meantime, to make the substantive case for independence. among delegates here, there is a growing conviction that independence is closer than it has ever been before. but there is also frustration, impatience, that it depends on westminster allowing it to happen. it isjust inevitable, i think. i think the whole uk is going to break up. every new calamity that the tory party has increases support for independence by another couple of percent. white in truth, what

matters is who is in power at westminster. borisjohnson has ruled out allowing another independence vote, and jeremy corbyn has said it will not be a priority for him. but for these delegates, nothing is more important. we'll have more later but now back tojoanna in the studio. the time is 1:16. our top story this lunchtime. the queen has unveiled plans for the yearfor the queen has unveiled plans for the year for boris the queen has unveiled plans for the yearfor borisjohnson's the queen has unveiled plans for the year for boris johnson's government, with brexit also on the agenda. my government's priority has always been to secure the united kingdom's departure from the european union on the 31st of october. coming up on bbc news, questions are asked over the future of scotland coach gregor townsend, after their failure to reach the quarter finals of the rugby world cup for only the second time.

the funeral has taken place this morning of pc andrew harper, who was killed in august while responding to a burglary in berkshire. hundreds of fellow officers from forces throughout the country lined the route of the funeral cortege through the centre of oxford to christ church cathederal. three teenagers have been charged with murder. jon kay reports. just weeks after his wedding day, the funeral of pc andrew harper. hundreds of his colleagues, from thames valley police, lined the route, as the coffin was taken through the centre of oxford. ina behind,

in a behind, his widow, their families, and friends. a city silent, to remember a 28—year—old officer killed in the line of duty. well, he was so young, he had just got married, he had his life in front of him. it is terrible. to think that a young man, in a peaceful country, just going about, doing hisjob, peaceful country, just going about, doing his job, and peaceful country, just going about, doing hisjob, and something like that happening to him, it is terrible. how important is it for you to show your respect here? very important, where would we be without the police? officers came from across the uk, to christ church cathedral, to pay tribute to a police constable described by collea g u es police constable described by colleagues as a hero. and whose wife described him as the most lovely and selfless person that you would ever meet. they were married forjust 28

days. the dean of christ church told the congregation that pc harper was a truly outstanding young man who represented everything you would ever wa nt represented everything you would ever want in represented everything you would everwant ina represented everything you would ever want in a police officer. the funeral service will be followed by a private cremation later this afternoon. syrian government forces have begun moving into key locations in the north—east of the country after striking a deal with kurdish forces to counter a turkish invasion. it follows america's decision to pull all of its remaining troops from the area controlled by the kurds. the death toll has been rising and more than 160,000 people have been forced from their homes. aleem maqbool has more from the syrian—iraqi border. the area you can see behind me is currently under syrian kurdish —controlled but the way things are looking in the coming days, or hours, even, who knows. this is

going to revert to syrian regime control. that is just one of that innocuous events that people here have found so difficult to grapple with. just over one week ago, the white house, in effect, endorsed a turkish invasion plan, since then, we have seen an assault from turkey, many kurdish deaths, we have seen destabilisation, we have seen islamic state group fighters escape when the facilities that were holding them were shut. in this extraordinary turn of events, we have seen the kurdish administration, that has been in control of some territory since the end of 2011, small pockets, that expanded to cover around one quarter of the country, they have now said, because the us troops are leaving, they want the syrian regime to come m, they want the syrian regime to come in, fill the void, and take on the fight against turkish forces. and, syrian kurds have been left with

just another thing, after having sacrificed so much in the fight against islamic state group. they have now been left reeling and unable to predict what chaos will be brought on them tomorrow. aleem maqbool, reporting there from the turkey—syria border. the parents of harry dunn say they will only meet the american woman allegedly involved in the crash that killed him, if she promises to return to britain. anne sacoolas left the uk under diplomatic immunity during the investigation into the crash in northamptonshire in august. she has said she'd like to talk to harry dunn's parents, who have flown to the us to continue their fight for justice. richard lister reports. seeking justice, only on cbs news... on the other side of the atlantic, harry dunn's parents are pushing for justice for their son, and trying to win american support. in theirfirst interview in the us, tim dunn spoke

about seeing his son for the last time, just after the accident. one of the doctors working on him came to me and said, "he is struggling to breathe" so they were going to sedate him. i spoke to him again, i said, "harry, they are going to sedate you, this is for the best." "you're going to be ok." we will see you later in hospital, something like that. they sedated him. and that was the last time. 19—year—old harry dunn died in august, when his motorbike hit a car which may have been on the wrong side of the road. the accident happened close to a us military base in northamptonshire. the car's driver was this woman, anne sacoolas, the wife of a us intelligence official. she told police she would stay in the uk but she didn't. she flew home, claiming diplomatic immunity. she sent her apologies to harry's parents and offered to meet them. we would love to sit down and talk and bring the parties together but the precondition for doing that

is that mrs sacoolas must commit to returning to the uk to face the authorities. harry's parents say that anne sacoolas's statement of regret is of little comfort. why has it taken so long? it is seven weeks tomorrow. since we lost our boy. and we feel that statement should have come out from her right at the beginning. instead of her getting on a plane and running home. a terrible accident occurred... president trump said last week he would intervene in the case. there has been no sign of that yet, but the family hope, with enough american support, the full story of harry's death can be told, and justice will be served. one of britain's worst paedophiles has been stabbed to death in prison. richard huckle, who was from kent, had beenjailed for abusing up to 200 children overseas. he was found dead in his cell at hmp full sutton in yorkshire yesterday. sarah corker reports.

richard huckle abused up to 200 children over an eight year period in malaysia. he trained to be an english teacher, and went to charities and orphanages in kuala lumpurto charities and orphanages in kuala lumpur to target children. this is him being confronted by police. he had no answerfor his crimes. in 2016, he received 22 life sentences, for raping children and babies. he was found dead in his cell yesterday, at full sutton prison near york, it is understood that he was attacked with what was described as a makeshift knife. richard huckle first visited malaysia on a teaching gap year, when he was 19. he posed as a devout christian, using his faith to get close to children. it is not often that you get intimate access inside

a police sting. it was first identified by detectives in australia, they infiltrated a website on the dark web, where paedophiles shared their own images of abuse. investigators recovered more than 20,000 indecent images from richard huckle's computer. the 33—year—old was one of britain's most prolific paedophiles, humberside police says it is now working with the prison service to investigate his death. the death toll from typhoon hagibis injapan has risen to 56. the typhoon has brought record downpours, with some areas seeing four months of rain in two days. tens of thousands of troops have been drafted in to reach stranded residents. it's the worst storm to hit the country in decades. the supreme court in madrid has given nine catalan separatists lengthy jail terms after a failed bid for independence from spain in 2017. the former vice—president of catalonia, orioljunqueras, received the longest sentence of 13 years. pro—independence groups in catalonia have called for mass civil disobedience. madrid has deployed police

reinforcements in the region. a new arrest warrant for the former cata la n a new arrest warrant for the former catalan president, collis piedmont, has been issued. —— ca rles —— carles puigdemont. england will guarantee their place at the euro 2020 finals if they win away to bulgaria tonight and kosovo fail to beat montenegro. but the match has been overshadowed by fears of racist comments. joe wilson reports. england's footballers are still east, but south — sophia. on friday, they were lost. —— sofia. well, defeat to the czech republic has raised a big question — are england as good as people thought? what you gain in resilience from the defeats are an important part of player's career and a person's life. maybe we were all focussing a lot on next summer and i've always maintained the first

thing is we have to qualify. well, bulgaria's national stadium here in sofia holds over 40,000, if people come. recent performances and attendances have been poor. when bulgaria lost here against kosovo, there was chanting aimed at the kosovans, which was noticed by uefa. it's not been the only recent bulgarian incident and a section of this stadium will be closed for the game against england as a punishment for racism. but bulgaria's manager, through a translator, gave a different perspective. translation: in the championship, we have not had such problems, while there have been incidents in all levels in various levels of english football involving racism, which i consider something normal, because it is a big country with a very diverse population, but we don't have this problem in bulgaria, i can assure you of that.

bulgaria promised a welcome atmosphere, sofia offers plenty for england fans. sunday was marathon day, you could sight see on foot. i'm currently training for a marathon, so i had to do a long run on sunday and this fitted in, so i fitted it in while i'm here. this shows you can find interesting things to do when you're following an england football team ? yes, we don'tjust eat and drink, do we, cat? we will do later on! the marathon has been proving any sporting record can be broken. england have never lost to bulgaria, only tonight counts. returning to the main news now: the queen has outlined the government's plans for the year ahead. let's go back to sophie in westminster 65th queen speech for majesty, 22 bills in total, one third focusing on brexit. assistant political editor norman smith is with me. what proposals did they outline? the most striking thing about the packages,

you felt it was almost a pre—election manifesto package. a huge chunk on brexit, but also, about one third of the bills were law and order bills. popular measures on more cash for the nhs, more cash for schools, new immigration system. what that tells me is two things. one, we are thundering towards a general election. number two, these are the sort of measures that team johnson would calculate would go down well with disillusioned labour voters in traditional labour seats who are perhaps disillusioned with the labour party over brexit. —— team johnson. and perhaps they are iffy aboutjeremy johnson. and perhaps they are iffy about jeremy corbyn and johnson. and perhaps they are iffy aboutjeremy corbyn and what they see as a metropolitan labour party and these bread and butter issues could potentially hoover up votes for borisjohnson could potentially hoover up votes for boris johnson in could potentially hoover up votes for borisjohnson in those constituencies. so, you can see this queen's speech as his route to a general election and he would hope to an election victory. we have talked about crunch weeks for a long time but this really is it, the big

eu summit is coming up, if there is going to be a deal, it must be this week. i have barred myself from saying crunch week or date, but it is hard to see super saturday any other way, it goes two ways, either borisjohnson other way, it goes two ways, either boris johnson returns in other way, it goes two ways, either borisjohnson returns in triumph with a deal, garlands of olives thrown at his feet, he emerges as the man who delivered brexit. more likely, it is impossible to get a deal over the line, which means we are back facing our old friend, mr delay. on the question is whether boris johnson's delay. on the question is whether borisjohnson's do—or—die delay. on the question is whether boris johnson's do—or—die pledge means politically, he dies, or, whether he can survive a delay by blaming it on parliament or the courts. —— mr delay. we don't know the answer to that, i suspect he does not, either. let's have a look at the latest weather forecast now. good weather for ducks once again today, even rubber ones, here

for ducks once again today, even rubberones, here in for ducks once again today, even rubber ones, here in hastings, there has