tonight at ten. the government sets out its agenda for the year ahead, but the opposition say it's nothing more than a pre election stunt. in the queen's speech at the state opening of parliament bills are proposed on crime, health and the environment but the priority was securing brexit by the end of the month. my my government's priority has always been to secure the united kingdom's departure from the european union on the 31st of october. it was boris johnson's first queen's speech as prime minister but without a majority in the house of commons labour says it's unlikely the bills will become law. let's get on with the proposals and the measures announced in this

queen's speech, let's get on with our vision for a britain where fairness and balance are at the heart of what we do. the prime minister promised that this queen's speech would dazzle us. on closer inspection, mr speaker, it is nothing more than full‘ gold. we'll have detail and reaction and we'll be asking how the parliamentary process is likely to unfold. also tonight. england's euro qualifying match against bulgaria was halted twice tonight after racist abuse from the crowd. the civil war in syria looks set to enter an even more dangerous phase with government forces on the move to help kurdish fighters against turkey. violent protests in barcelona after catalan independence leaders are given long prison sentences by the spanish supreme court. the two winners of the 2019 booker prize forfiction are

the two winners of the 2019 booker prize for fiction are margaret atwood and bernadine everest oh. and a surprise result at this year's booker prize two authors are joint winners of the prestigious literary award. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, paddy mcnair strikes twice as northern ireland beat the czech republic to win a friendly match away from home for the first time in 13 years. good evening. the queen has outlined the governmnent‘s legislative agenda for the year ahead at the state opening of parliament. but this queen's speech, the first in over two years, was delivered in the midst of the political and constitutional crisis provoked by brexit and drafted

by a government with no majority in the commons. so there were immediate questions about the feasibility of boris johnson's programme, which included planned measures on crime, health, and delivering brexit on the 31st october. opposition parties say that with an election in the offing, the queen's speech was a sham as our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. plenty of pomp. but very bizarre circumstances. the band playing for the monarch‘s arrival. the queen and the crown here to announce the government's plans. but they're a wish list at the very best. going through the traditional motions. for a programme that might never happen. black rod! if this first promise is never kept. my government's priority has always been to secure the united kingdom's departure from the european union on the 31st of october.

that's a huge if, and the doubts over brexit dwarf the government's other ambitions. new laws will be taken forward to help implement the national health service's long term plan in england. whether that is more funding for the health service, a points system for immigration or longer criminal sentences. my government is committed to addressing violent crime, and to strengthening public confidence in the criminal justice system. new sentencing laws will see that the most serious offenders spend longer in custody to reflect better the severity of their crimes. this unlikely pair aren't inclined to agree on any of that. whatever small talk boris johnson was trying and failing to make, jeremy corbyn‘s answer was unlikely to be, "sure, no problem." this government has no majority, and the prime minister wants a better outcome than his predecessor. butjust like theresa may, boris

johnson wants an early election. the legislative programme, mr speaker, is a propaganda exercise that the government cannot disguise. this government has failed on brexit for over three years. they are barely beginning to undo the damage of a decade of cuts to our public services. the prime minister promised that this queen's speech would dazzle us. on closer inspection, mr speaker, it is nothing more than fool's gold. prime minister. as we prepare to get brexit done by october the 31st, we are setting out now our vision of an open global free trading united kingdom, a high—wage, low—tax economy, the best place to invest, the best place to start a business, the best place to start a family and send your kids to school, and without being chauvinistic or disrespectful to anywhere else in the world, in important respects,

this country is the greatest place to live and to be. cheered at the end by his own side, this prime minister's fete right now rest elsewhere. in the hands of diplomats and his own negotiators in brussels, waiting, waiting and waiting. after the eu said no, no and no again to the prime minister's proposals, there is now at least an irish may be to deal. a deal is possible, and it's possible this month. it may even be possible this week. but we're not there yet. whether or not there's a deal matters more than anything said parliament today. it is just about possible to see how it could happen this week, but there's a lot of secrecy about exactly how. one cabinet minister said "we are still in the middle of the forest", and even if there is an agreement,

it would still have to get through the commons. there is no form of brexit that would be good for our country, and the liberal democrats will continue to fight to stop brexit. deal or no deal, the prime minister is driving scotland and the uk into economic catastrophe, risking jobs, livelihoods and delivering a race to the bottom on fundamental rights. i do think that the sooner we are able to implement the result of that referendum, the better. but a wish for sooner rather than later just doesn't mean much yet. in modern political life, even traditions take on a different style. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. as we've heard among the policies outlined in the queen's speech earlier, priority was given to taking the uk out of the eu by the 31st of october. there was also a new immigration bill, which would end free

movement and introduce a new points—based system. the sentencing bill called for longer sentences for serious offenders and foreign criminals. and the environment bill would set legally binding targets to reduce the impact of climate change, including improving water quality and cutting air pollution. let's go live to westminster and join our political editor, laura kuenssberg. the blunt question. in is any of this content in the queen's speech likely to become law? this is a wish list, not a workable list, because this is a government that doesn't have a majority to call its own. and therefore unless and until that changes, this is a programme for government that boris johnson would like to enact if he had the numbers, but he doesn't. so u nless had the numbers, but he doesn't. so unless he manages to tip into the general election campaign that he so desires and wins a majority, which is of course a heroic if for the conservative party, as things stand, this is a taste of what the tories would like to do in a different

climate, but absolutely not a series of cast—iron commitments, and what happens in terms of getting a brexit deal or not is the biggest determinant of that. and just one more point on this, which is to do really with the overriding context of brexit, clearly, and the likelihood or not of a deal. where are we there? downing street is trying to be extremely tight—lipped. cabinet ministers tell me that is a good sign, because it means is genuine, the fact that things aren't leaking out all over the place suggest that actually both sides are acting in good faith, both the uk and the eu negotiators are doing their best under trying conditions, but the fact that the proposals are not seeping out to get the oxygen of political criticism, to be torn down from their opponents, is something thatis from their opponents, is something that is actually on the side of a deal happening. the dup, of course whose votes the government wants very dearly, were in downing street tonight. they had talks with the prime ministerfor an tonight. they had talks with the prime minister for an hour and tonight. they had talks with the prime ministerfor an hour and a half. no suggestion really of any

concrete proposals being put forward , concrete proposals being put forward, but it is clear that both sides are willing to budge a leg, budge a little bit, but whether that can come in time to get a deal by the end of this week, we just don't know yet. thank you very much, laura kuenssberg. let's go live to our europe editor katya adler in berlin. what are you picking up from the european union on the likelihood or not of a deal? that's right, huw, i'm in berlin today and i will be in paris tomorrow for background checks ahead of the eu's leaders' summit this week. just to get the idea of whether they think there can be a deal with borisjohnson whether they think there can be a deal with boris johnson or whether they think there can be a deal with borisjohnson or not. it is confusing from the outside, because last week we got the feeling there was an understanding between there was an understanding between the irish prime minister and boris johnson, there was hope in the air. right now there is no sign of smoke that a brexit deal is nigh. the main sticking point remains replacing the

irish backstop, and particularly when it comes to customs. the eu has got two main priorities here. one, protecting the northern ireland peace process, so protecting the northern ireland peace process, so berlin and paris say they are delighted that ireland and the uk are talking. the second priority, though it's protecting the eu's single market after brexit, and eu's single market after brexit, and eu leaders think the prime minister's proposals don't go far enough. they are hoping germany and others, that time pressure and political pressure on the prime minister, he is the one who wanted to promise a new brexit deal this week, will make him pivot towards the eu's preferred solution, which is pretty much keeping northern ireland inside the eu's customs union after brexit. the prime minister has said no, and i don't think there is enough time, nobody does here, to work out a detailed middle ground between the two sides before thursday. tonight there is talk of a possible communique that would say there has been progress but we need more time, and then all eu eyes will turn to westminster to see if they will be a request for a new brexit extension or not. katya,

many thanks once again, our europe editor there, katya adler in berlin. football and england beat bulgaria in their latest qualifier for the 2020 euros. but the game was rather overshadowed by racist chanting, which led to two stoppages. at one point it seemed likely the game would be called off, but those responsible appeared to leave the ground at half—time, and the incident will raise further questions over how the football authorities have responded to these kind of incidents. our sports correspondentjoe wilson has this report. sofia's empty seats were a symbol. antiracism. bulgaria's punishment for previous supporters‘ offences. a stadium partially closed, another city centre partially filled by england fans. and the police, of course, on duty. for england's manager, well, gareth southgate's job was to prepare his players for anything. inside the stadium. england took control of the football almost instantly, marcus rashford's goal the first. but the other dimension

of the game was soon unfolding. racism. commentator: the referee has clearly brought things to a halt here. we've had fears of incidences of racist abuse. england's captain talking urgently to match officials, and we then heard in the statium the first protocol. an announcement warning that the referee might suspend the match because of racism. the goals continued, so did the complaints, with gareth southgate in intense discussions. the match did continue, but a group of home supporters left. england scored the fourth goal before half—time. the message from their football could not be louder. bulgaria's manager had assured us there was no racism in the country's football. the game featured nazi salutes from the stands. on the pitch, england's fifth goal came from raheem sterling, they had come to win, to rediscover their football belief and they did that. they also displayed

the confidence to report racism. and that has forced the issue to the point where it cannot be hidden or ignored again. one england supporter has just told me that he heard monkey noises from bulgarian fans from the first minute of this game. england have experienced this kind of thing before, so what has changed? clearly 110w before, so what has changed? clearly now they have the confidence and determination to report racism, and there was a response. the second piece of the protocol should, could, have involved again being suspended. it could well be argued that england's emphatic victory was the best possible response. gareth southgate, england's manager, has admitted that england has its own issues with racism in football to be addressed, but that this cannot stand. the response from uefa is of utmost importance. that evening, a few thousand seats closed off made no difference. joel wilson, many thanks. the civil war in syria looks set to enter a new and even more dangerous phase with government

forces on the move to help kurdish fighters under attack from turkey. turkish forces crossed into syria last week. the turkish government regards the kurdish fighters as terrorists and wants to occupy a buffer zone reaching 20 miles into syria. the kurds have now turned to syria's president assad for help. today syrian government forces entered several towns just south of the border, setting up a potentially dangerous confrontation with turkey. our international correspondent orla guerin joins us from akcakale on the turkey—syria border. within the past half an hour or so president trump has announced sanctions on turkey over its offensive in northern syria. he accused turkey of treading piece, and security. his critics would say he set always in motion by withdrawing us observers from positions on the border behind me, paving the way for the turkish

invasion. earlier today president one of turkey said his operation would continue until what he called the ultimate victory was achieved and his troops are moving towards the border again tonight. in the international community there is now a growing sense of crisis. rolling in to a heroes welcome. troops of the assad regime. handed a victory without firing a shot. arriving today in this strategic town. and look who is back, the kurds say they had to do a deal with the regime after washington left them alone to face turkish invasion. the choice, they say, was compromise 01’ the choice, they say, was compromise or genocide. further along a key highway and other town also back in

the hands of president assad. loyalists resurfacing. i have kept this picture hidden for years, waiting for this day, he says. but for other syrians this about turn is a painful blow. we met abu and his family on the turkish side of the border, he had planned to go home once kurdish nation had gone but not any more. translation: i was shocked when they told me that the regime is now in control. we we re the regime is now in control. we were happy when the turkish army went in and help to go back and live happily in our village. no one can go back with the regime there. his young relative mohammed wants to study medicine in the uk. he cannot see a future in his homeland. study medicine in the uk. he cannot see a future in his homelandlj think see a future in his homeland.” think this idea is impossible because i think the syrian war is

endless. and that makes you feel sad? i feel sad for my country, for why people. but what i can do for them. this is the latest phase in them. this is the latest phase in the endless war. check it continuing to pound northern syria. here a drone strike. allegedly targeting a kurdish ammunition supply. we work with the precision of a jeweller, president erdogan claim today but the civilian death toll is growing. just across the border here in this syrian town rebels backed by turkey have just raised their flags. less than a week here president erdogan has created a dangerous new reality, north—eastern syria is now a battle ground and the balance of power is shifting. american troops are pulling out. syrian troops are moving in. the turkish leader is

unrepentant. and what of islamic state prisoners being held by the kurds? turkey claims it found an empty prison. it is accusing the kurdish of isd detainees free to create chaos. but turkey has opened the door to a dangerous escalation here. and there are fears that the situation could move rapidly out of control. orla guerin, bbc news. meanwhile three young children, believed to be british, who featured in our reporting yesterday are safe following the turkish airstrikes according to the charity save the children. their parents are thought to have died fighting for the islamic state group. our middle east correspondent quentin sommerville met the children in the camp and discovered they'd been taken to safety. he joins us from beirut. where are these children and what is

happening to them? the three children were plucked from the fire right at the very last minute just as the camp that they were in was about to be overwhelmed by turkish forces, the un extract of the children and in the last few minutes 01’ children and in the last few minutes or hours i should say we received a statement from the charity save the children saying they were moved into the care of a local agency. as the troops advanced they were in the heart of a maelstrom, with turkish forces moving on from one side and of course the regime now moving into that area. the children were moved to rack up with 21 other orphans. worth remembering that these children have seen their parents die in front of them, they witnessed the most incredible atrocities. and they've suffered under the islamic state propaganda for many years. these children are victims and while they are in a safe place at the

moment, syria is not safe at all so it is important that we learn as much information about their relatives back in the uk as soon as possible so we can start the process of bringing these children home. quentin sommerville, in beirut. as we've been hearing the us's decision to pull out all of its troops from the region is a major turning point in the war. on one side is president erdogan, and turkey, with the aim of forcing kurdish borderforces and turkey, with the aim of forcing kurdish border forces from the area. and now following a deal with the assad regime syrian government forces are helping the kurds. and the assad regime is backed by iran and russia. our middle east editor jeremy bowen is in erbil in the kurdish region of iraq. how significant a moment could this turn out to be? it has been a very significant seven days, only that time since the first announcement by president trump that he was going to

pull out american soldiers. in that seven days the warm up of syria has been transformed. the americans have dumped their allies the syrian kurds as well as that they have been opportunities for the turks, for the regime in damascus and its backers, russia and iran and as well as that the jihadists of islamic state. they wa nt to the jihadists of islamic state. they want to reconstitute their organisation and they see a lot of new opportunities to do that right now, they've announced that they will be a new campaign of violence, of killing, right across syria and they may want to try to bust some of theirfighters from they may want to try to bust some of their fighters from the jails where their fighters from the jails where the kurdish forces now at a low ebb are holding them. european countries are holding them. european countries are very concerned about this, they passed the text to stop their operations. when the troubles of the middle east come knocking on european doors their leaders tend to

get a bit rattled. i think the nightmare scenario they have now is that somehow the forces of the regime backed by russia will end up facing off with nato forces from turkey. that is a big worry for many of them. the last thing really is that this has been a big turning point in the syrian catastrophe and may make the end game a bit simpler with the kurdish forces and americans out of the picture but really that leaves president assad, his backers, the russians and the iranians, to do what they need to do to further solidify their victory in this war. jeremy bowen, thank you. hundreds of colleagues, family and friends have attended the funeral of pc andrew harper in oxford today. the 28 —year—old officer who'd been married for just four weeks was killed while responding to a reported burglary in august. three teenagers have been

charged with murder. our correspondentjon kay reports. just weeks after his wedding day, the funeral of pc andrew harper. hundreds of his colleagues lined the route. a city silent. to remember the 28—year—old officer killed in the 28—year—old officer killed in the line of duty. inside the oxford christ church cathedral his widow led the tributes. they met at school and married just 28 days before he was killed. she told the congregation, we often talked about how lucky we we re we often talked about how lucky we were to have found and kept each other, to childhood sweethearts,

loving one another more and more with each passing day. she placed his ceremonial police had upon his coffin, pc harper was killed while responding to reports of a burglary in august. she said, i wish that my most favourite person had not been taken so early, so cruelly, so unexpectedly. i wish as a thought that no one should have to think. your smile was infectious, your humour relentless. even in the darkest of times you made me laugh. your personality shone through in everything you did and i am so very proud of you. in the pouring rain, officers from around the country joined members of the public. he was so joined members of the public. he was so young and he had just got married. he had his life in front of him and it is terrible. how important is it for you to stand and show your respects. very important

because where would be be without the police? jon kay, bbc news, oxford. spain's supreme court has sentenced 9 catalan politicians to between 9 and 13 years in prison for sedition over their role in the 2017 independence referendum. protestors have clashed with riot police at the city's main airport following the sentences. spain's acting prime minister pedro sanchez said the punishments signalled the defeat of the catalan independence movement. our correspondent damian grammaticas reports from barcelona. inside barcelona airport today... ..anger directed at spain and symbols of its authority. but in the airport forecourt, clashes. the spark — the sentences handed out by the supreme court. up to 13 years in jail for sedition

for the leaders who staged the referendum and failed independence bid here two years ago. it has left many catalans incensed. this is supposed to be a democracy. this should not be legal. we just voted — we did nothing wrong, but vote. well, tempers are beginning to flare again here. it'sjust been raining all afternoon, which has soaked the protesters and the police, and everyone else. but still, they refuse to leave, and they have caused enormous disruption here. dozens and dozens of flights canceled or delayed. with access blocked, protesters and passengers had to walk miles just to get to the airport. spain's prime minister insisted today there was nothing undemocratic about prosecuting the independence leaders. in a democracy like spain, nobody is subject to trial for his or her ideas or politics — but rather for criminal conduct as provided by the law.

the question tonight is whether the prosecutions will stifle catalan hopes, or simply fuel the drive for secession? damian grammaticas, bbc news, barcelona. scotland's first minister has told the bbc she won't be willing to support a minority labour government unless jeremy corbyn agrees to grant a second referendum on scottish independence. but nicola sturgeon remains prepared to support the labour leader as a caretaker prime minister for a matter of days if it results in a delay to brexit and a general election. our scotland editor sarah smith reports from the snp conference in aberdeen. the snp have come here with grand ambitions are not just for leading scotla nd ambitions are not just for leading scotland to independence. their leader even says she thinks it might be possible to stop brexit.” leader even says she thinks it might be possible to stop brexit. i will not give up hope around that until the moment that the uk has left the eu. you have to take the view that

it isa eu. you have to take the view that it is a possibility of stopping it ever leaving. do you trustjeremy corbyn? i do not trust him, i'm not a great fan ofjeremy corbyn, i think his lack of leadership on brexit has been woeful. i cannot escape the conclusion that he is a secret brexiteer and would rather uk came out. but you are prepared to make an caretaker prime minister and you are trying to persuade other opposition parties to join with you. i'm trying to get in a position where we get rid of borisjohnson and then we have a very short term interim government that has one purpose, to secure the article 50 extension. it would only be a matter of days. i think the best thing is a vote of confidence, extension to article 50 general election but i'm not ruling anything out. the snp will put at the heart of any election campaign is demand that scotla nd election campaign is demand that scotland must be allowed to hold a second referendum on independence.” have public opinion on my side,

support for independence is rising as it is for a second referendum. those other circumstances exactly in which no uk prime minister would dare to allow you a referendum, they would be terrified to be the prime minister who broke up the uk. even people like boris johnson, minister who broke up the uk. even people like borisjohnson, you cannot end up in a situation inevitably where you are denying people their democratic aspirations and wishes. that opposition is cracking so i'm confident we will be a different position around very soon. a different position around very soon. party members had been persuaded that they have to wait for a legal referendum sanctioned by westminster. an argument they think they can win but not a process that they can win but not a process that they can win but not a process that they can control. sarah smith, bbc news. the booker prize the most prestigious literary award in the uk is awarded to the author who's written the best novel in english published in the uk or ireland. there were six books on this year's shortlist and within the past hour