Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC Newsroom Live 20240713

We are very peaceful. We are not hippies. We do not smell of hemp. We would love mrjohnson to come and talk to us. And the teenagers being taught life saving skills to deal with the consequences of knife crime. Good morning. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. The german chancellor Angela Merkel has told the Prime Minister that a brexit deal is overwhelmingly unlikely, in a phone call between the two leaders this morning. Quoting a source in downing street, our Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg says that mrs merkel suggested that a deal would never be possible unless Northern Ireland stayed in a Customs Union. The Prime Minister stressed to mrs merkel that in his view, the uk has made a reasonable offer, but there seemed to be no real desire on the eu side for negotiation. The source said that the eus demand on Northern Ireland would make a deal essentially impossible. the source also said that talks in brussels are close to breaking down, despite the fact that the uk has moved a long way. the shadow brexit secretary keir starmer said the comments were a cynical attempt to sabotage the negotiations and borisjohnsons strategy from day one was a no deal brexit. He said it was important for parliament to unite to stop the government crashing out of the eu at the end of the month. Lets go to westminster now and see what the reactions been there. Our assistant Political Editor norman smith joins me. What might cope a pretty devastating assessment. It sounds like its hard to imagine what will go forward from here. I think the question is whether we have reached the end of the road on these talks. Whether we have crashed and burned after three years because Angela Merkels conversation with Boris Johnson seems to have gone spectacularly badly. We believe, because normally in the aftermath of these conversations between leaders there isa conversations between leaders there is a lot of diplomatic niceties nicely and no one wants to be too read about each other. Number ten are saying pretty clearly that mrs merkel made it pretty clear that there was overwhelmingly no chance ofan agreement there was overwhelmingly no chance of an agreement being reached and it sounds that the tone of the conversation was also pretty bad. Numberten conversation was also pretty bad. Number ten described it as challenging, saying it was a clarifying moment. What they mean by thatis clarifying moment. What they mean by that is that mrs merkel said pretty much that if we want to deal, Northern Ireland is going to have to stay in the Customs Union to avoid any friction or checks at the border with the rest of ireland which she believes would threaten the progress thatis believes would threaten the progress that is being made from the good friday agreement. Number ten take precisely the opposite view and say there has to be some sort of custom checks if we are leaving the European Union as the united kingdom, we have to be free to make oui kingdom, we have to be free to make our own kingdom, we have to be free to make our own trade deals and our own customs regime. Their view is that if mrs merkel is going to stick to that position than it is notjust that position than it is notjust that there will not be a deal this week, there will never be a deal at any time. To ram home the point they are accusing mrs merkel of torpedoing the good friday agreement by this insistence that Northern Ireland will have to stay part of the Customs Union. It is hard to see how you would pick up the pieces from this. On sunday night, we had a similar message from president macron. Last night, we had eu negotiators giving a point by point explanation of Boris Johnsons proposals. You are left thinking, what is there actually left to discuss. You just think, anyway, even before the mrs merkel phone conversation, the mindset in the government seems to have moved in a note deal. The transport secretary arriving at cabinets this morning was pretty clear that if it all breaks and we are heading to a no deal. Do you think we are heading towards a no deal brexit if they say no . We would like a deal but the eu needs to be ready without a deal and we will leave on october 31. Do think it is possible to leave without a deal . It is important to stress that we have not heard from berlin. We do not know what the german view is of this conversation. The labour think it is a put upjob that borisjohnson is particularly driving to drive the negotiations into the wall. They suspect that borisjohnson is trying into the wall. They suspect that Boris Johnson is trying to sabotage the negotiations to pave the way for a no deal brexit. Either way, the negotiations to pave the way for a no deal brexit. Eitherway, it seems hard to get the talks up and running in any meaningful sense with the clock ticking down to a deadline that the eu have previously suggested would be this friday. This means we are heading towards an almighty bust up between Boris Johnson, who wants to press ahead with no deal, and parliament, who we know are adamantly opposed to that. They have passed legislation to stop borisjohnson taking they have passed legislation to stop Boris Johnson taking britain out without agreement unless he secures proposals with the eu. First ijust wa nt to proposals with the eu. First ijust want to go to our eu correspondent who is in brussels. This is alljust emerging but it sounds, on the face of it, that there is now no chance of it, that there is now no chance ofa of it, that there is now no chance of a deal. What is your reading there . The first thing to say is to echo what norman was saying. We do not have the German Version of this call. One thing throughout this process is that you need to compare and contrast the two versions. At the end of the phone call to see the little differences and nuances. I suspect there are not many nuances in the british version of this phone call. I just in the british version of this phone call. Ijust spoke in the british version of this phone call. I just spoke to an in the british version of this phone call. Ijust spoke to an eu official who said that the reported comments by Angela Merkel do not reflect the agreed position and terminology across the 27 other eu countries. This is not our language. I think they are pouring a little bit of cold water on that to suggest there might be interpretation going on by the uk. If you look at the facts on the uk. If you look at the facts on the ground, david frost, who has been talking to the eu daily, is due here for further talks been talking to the eu daily, is due here forfurther talks in been talking to the eu daily, is due here for further talks in 52 minutes time in the building behind me. Even if things are looking this rocky diplomatically, the talks are still slated to continue very soon. Some people would say this is surprising because that call suggests it is futile. You are saying that the reported comments by Angela Merkel do not reflect the opinion of the other eu countries. Could this flesh out what the position is . What we have been waiting for all week is the point at which someone involved in this process it says, we have been talking, there was a proposal for some changes from the uk, they are not acceptable and there is no point talking any more. We thought that position might come on friday because it would be then that the eu would have to know if there was a revised deal to be agreed by heads of state at the summit next thursday so we of state at the summit next thursday so we suspected that this sort of thing would happen towards the end of the week. We also suspected that it will never be the eu pulling the plug on this process because they wa nt to plug on this process because they want to be seen as the good guys. They do not want to be seen as the people who hastened a no deal brexit. They want that to entirely be seen as the uks decision. It now looks like, because of this call, it is the uk saying there is no point going further. As they say that, they are doing their darndest to look like it is the uks fault. The blame game has just been turned up to 11. Thank you. Lets go back to norman because you were talking about what would happen next. Text we re about what would happen next. Text were pizzazz in the Public Domain between someone at number ten. In these texts it said if it goes nowhere in the next week. We can do all sorts of things to scupper delay and we will not go into details about that. How will that square with what is going on in edinburgh at the court there and the assurances that have been given to the court. There was a hearing yesterday in which the judge took those assurances at face value that the government would not try to do that. I suspect it depends how much weight because it is willing to put on unsourced briefings from number ten. I suspect they may be a little wa ry ten. I suspect they may be a little wary of doing so unless they know exactly who is responsible for texts. I think the Prime Ministers chief adviser. It does reflect the extent to which number ten has moved between the net beyond the negotiations and life after the talks. They are looking at politically positioning themselves in the aftermath. It is clear, i think the number ten strategy in terms of trying to get around the ban act is to make life so uncomfortable in the eu that at least one eu nation decides that there is no point granting the extension because they will be so awkward that you might as welljust get rid of them and that seems to be the thrust of these Text Messages where britain will cease all cooperative behaviour and that will go down the toilet. We will also pick and choose who our friends and foes are. Those who go along with the idea of extending article 50, they will be accused of going into domestic politics. Those countries that go along with britain and oppose delay, they will be at the front of the queue in terms of future cooperation with britain. It is an extraordinarily competitive approach and quite clearly team johnson are preparing for an aftermath of the break up of negotiations. Thank you norman. Lets talk about the economics in all of this. They have warned a no deal brexit the institute for fiscal brexit studies said government borrowing was likely to climb from over £50 billion to £100 billion and total debt would soar to 90 of national income. This means the uk could be borrowing almost as much as the country earns ina year. And the ifs says the economy is already up to £66 billion smaller than it would have been without the brexit referendum. With me now is carl emmerson, the Deputy Director of the ifs. Thank you for coming in. The quote from your director is that the government is now adrift without any anchor. What is your assessment . Your macro if you look at the forecast for government borrowing next year, just last march, the government was telling us it would borrow about £23 billion. If you update that for some welcome accounting changes which take into accounting changes which take into account the money we lend students, the announcement last month of more spending on schools and police, it looks like we are more likely to be borrowing £50 billion if not more. That would break one of the governments key fiscal targets. Were we to embark on a no deal brexit, the economy wouldnt go as quickly and the deficit would widen further. What would be the impact . |j think further. What would be the impact . think for households in the near term if we were to go to a no deal brexit, you would see fiscal giveaway. Perhaps lower tax to get households through the difficult times that would be caused by this no deal. In the long term you would have lower Economic Growth and will be doing less trade with the European Union so you can support less spending on economic services. It would be a mixed response and a giveaway from government to help the pain of the transition but in the longer term we will be talking about more austerity, deeper cuts and perhaps more likely a combination of both. The governance has any decisions will be made with a view to long term sustainability of the Public Finances. The chancellor and treasury spokesperson said they will be reviewing the fiscal framework as we turn the page on austerity. We will retain. What is your reaction . We already heard that the increase in public spending. If we look at how much the government told us look at how much the government told us they will spend is that they are planning to spend £27 billion more than what they were planning to do a couple of years ago. They Spending Plans are actually closer to what the Labour Party Said they would spend on Public Services than what the conservative party said. They are spending more money and they are not raising taxes to pay for it but they are allowing borrowing to rise. That phrase that i quoted, does that square with this . It seems hard that they are taking the Public Finance problem that seriously. They claimed they wanted to eliminate the deficit but it is not moving in that direction. We have a lot of pressure on Public Finances, notjust brexit, there is always the risk of a recession. Extra pressure is on the health system, we need to work out how to accommodate those pressures and what is going to give. Thank you. A downing street source says brexit talks are close to breaking down claiming Angela Merkel told borisjohnson a deal was overwhelmingly unlikely. Labour says the governments trying to sabotage the negotiations a warning that a no deal brexit could result in government borrowing soaring to its highest level for 50 years and further austerity measures. In syria as President Trump defends his surprise decision to pull out us troops. Andy murrays remarked couple return continues. He will play singles in the Australian Open injanuary if he remains fit. Speculations around the future of the Manchester United manager this morning. They play liverpool this morning and they think a leg in a social could be sackedif think a leg in a social could be sacked if they lose that one badly. Concerns around vinnie turkey says its ready to send forces into North Eastern syria following President Trumps controversial decision to start withdrawing us troops from the area. The american president s move has aroused cross Party Opposition in the us, where hes been accused of abandoning kurdish fighters in the region. Theyre regarded by many in the us as allies in the fight against the Extremist Group so called Islamic State but by the turkish government as terrorists. Mr trump warned turkeys president erdogan not to launch an attack on the kurds, claiming hed obliterate the turkish economy in retaliation if he did. This map gives an idea of which groups are controlling which parts of syria. The orange part in the north east is held by kurdish groups, and turkey is particularly concerned by their presence on its border. This map is based on a document revealed by president erdogan at the United Nations and it gives an idea of how far he wants his forces to move against those kurdish held positions. The Syrian Democratic forces or sdf ,led by the kurds, say they are shocked by the move. Us troops have already been leaving observation posts along the syrian border. Washington says only a small number of troops were moved a short distance, but Kurdish Forces fear they are clearing the way for a turkish invasion. President trump has been defending his decision, explaining that the Us Government wants to bring troops home. Let them take care of it. We wa nt to bring our troops back home. It has been many, many years, decades in many cases. We want to bring our troops back home. And i got elected on that. If you go back and look at our speeches i would say we want to bring our troops back home from these endless wars. As we mentioned earlier, President Trumps move has met with opposition in the us, even from his own party. This was the reaction of republican us senator lindsey graham, speaking on fox news. Here is what is going to happen. It is going to lead to isis re emerging and there is Nothing Better for isis than to to create a conflict between the kurds and turkey. The kurds will now align with assad because they have nobody to count on because we abandoned them. So this is a big win for iran and a big win for isis. I will do everything i can to sanction turkey if they step further in North Eastern syria. We spoke to liz sly from the Washington Post about how president erdogan will choose to respond to all of this. Today, we see that the border is completely quiet. Turkey has been building up troops there for months, even longer than months, threatening this invasion but there isnt actually any movement yet. It is becoming a bit clear that it could be quite difficult for him to move given that there is a lot of International Opposition to it. The americans are pushing back very hard and in some ways he has already won something of a victory by getting trump to concede that america isnt going to stop turkey from making this operation and that america respects and accepts turkeys legitimate security concerns. Borisjohnson has labelled Extinction Rebellion environmental protestors unco operative crusties who should abandon what he called their hemp smelling bivouacs and stop blocking roads. He made his comments at a book launch yesterday evening. Police have arrested 320 people in london since the protests began yesterday. The demonstrations are set to continue for the next two weeks. The metropolitan police says that it has put new conditions on the protests today. Whilst protest is a fundamental human right, it does not give you the right to disrupt other peoples lives. Peoples livelihoods are being damaged. Huge disruption to london. I know of a number of stories of people who are struggling to get to work. It is really important that protesters understand that impact. Today, we have put conditions on the protest under the public order act where people can only lawfully protest in Trafalgar Square. That is off the road. Anyone else protesting in that westminster area are committing an offence and will be arrested today. The protests arent just confined to london, up to 60 cities around the world are taking part over the next two weeks. Yesterday, campaigners in new york drenched wall street in fake blood, traffic was blocked in the centre of madrid and over a hundred people were arrested in amsterdam after setting up a campsite on a main road. Lets get the latest on the protests in london with our correspondentjon donnison. We were just hearing that the Police Strategy is changing and that they will arrest anyone who is not protesting in Trafalgar Square. What is happening on the ground . We are on millbank where several dozen protesters, some who have been here overnight. It started pretty tranquil this morning. In the last few minutes, the police havejust started moving in and started arresting people. To move one person ta kes arresting people. To move one person takes about 15 Police Officers and lifting them off the ground and loading them into police vans. We can now speak to some of these protesters. How do you feel . No one wants to be arrested but this is the point it has gotten to. If this is what it takes the government and people to listen to her than i have to do it. We can see you have locked yourself to this frame behind you. It is going to make it tricky. That is the point. We want to make it as difficult as possible. Boris johnson referred to these protests as uncooperative crusties, what do you think about that . He isjust as uncooperative. We wouldnt be doing this if they were listening to us. But they are not, so we have to do this. You do not feel like you are being taken seriously . Not at all. They say it is an emergency but they are doing things to damage the environment and not working towards the 2025 goal they were environment and not working towards the 2025 goal they were what would you say to people who think it isa would you say to people who think it is a bit pointless . I think a bit of disruption on the road is nothing compared to what will be created by this climate crisis. It looks like the police are moving in now. It is going to take some time just to move these few dozen protesters. Each one is taking ten or 15 minutes. There is taking ten or 15 minutes. There isa is taking ten or 15 minutes. There is a pretty good chance that they will just set up is a pretty good chance that they willjust set up somewhere else. When the police want is for them to move off the streets, of the road, on to Trafalgar Square so they can clear for traffic. Thank you. Lets go back to brexit. Labour says the government is trying to sabotage the government is trying to sabotage the negotiations. We can go back to norman smith will stop thank you very much. There is a discussion on westminster of whether these talks have really broken down or whether borisjohnson has have really broken down or whether Boris Johnson has in have really broken down or whether borisjohnson has in fact pull them down because he wants to pursue a no deal brexit. Where do you stand . This has been a debacle from day one. We think it was always Boris Johnsons plan for a no deal, regardless of how much that hits us personally. He does not care. Boris johnson has tried to bully the Member States of the eu, independent sovereign states. That might have worked on the playing fields of eton but it does not work in other independent states will stop he is not negotiating seriously. Sure he is right in saying that we have reached a clarifying point, that if the eu want to do away with all customs checks in Northern Ireland and the republic of ireland, then we have to have the own customs checks . We already have the best deal we are going to get. Borisjohnson had no clue what he was doing four years ago when he decided to back leave. He still has no clue. I still understand why leavers are feeling let down. He takes this forward, he threatens peace in Northern Ireland, he threatensjobs threatens peace in Northern Ireland, he threatens jobs in threatens peace in Northern Ireland, he threatensjobs in my constituency and others in scotland and the uk and others in scotland and the uk and he needs to be stopped. How do you do that because he had made clear that he will leave on october the 31st come what may. Coming from the 31st come what may. Coming from the texts from a number ten source it seems that he can scupper this plan to stop a no deal. We are talking about a Prime Minister who is willing to break the law. He is the least fit person to be Prime Minister in our lifetime. His breaking the word of his lawyers who said that he would not sign up for an extension as well. He cannot break the law. Lets not forget, boris might be trying to get himself out of a political pickle but he is putting the law at risk and critically jobs putting the law at risk and criticallyjobs and lives at risk. All these areas that British Government have warned about. Do we get a sense of how borisjohnson can do this without breaking the law because it seems the plan is to make the uk one of. They veto an extension, in other words Boris Johnson does not have tea break the law but the eu grants an extension. Not only are we losing lots of revenue but that we want to damage a relationship with our closest partners, borisjohnson relationship with our closest partners, Boris Johnson even relationship with our closest partners, borisjohnson even said it, our closest Economic Partners are those without geographic neighbours. That will remain the case. He wants to damage that relationship. These relationships need to be rebuilt. Increasingly we are seeing that the best friends that we have our honest friends and they are the friends telling is that you are doing damage, untold damage, he doesnt want to listen to them. He doesnt want to listen to any experts. He is taking us over a cliff edge brexit and ordinary people will pay the price. Thank you. It is worth stressing that we still have not heard from berlin to get their side of exactly how that morning conversation went. Thank you for many others, we have had some sunshine this morning and there have been some showers of course when you have sunshine and showers it often leads on to some rainbows. We have had one rainbow, just to the side here. That was a north wales this morning. We might see plenty more through the day as this band of showers moves towards the south east of england. Heavy and may be thundery at times. Strong winds across north england and scotland and ireland. Frequent showers with that into western scotland and Northern Ireland. Maximum temperatures today of 13 to 17 degrees. Through tonight, that rain across the south east of england we re across the south east of england were clear. More showers coming in overnight. I will run the clock through wednesday because we are looking at that mix of sunny spells and showers. Some of those that could be quite heavy and thundery. A little bit cooler and the 13 to 15 full stop goodbye. Hello this is bbc newsroom live with joanna gosling. The headlines a downing street source says brexit talks are close to breaking down, claiming Angela Merkel told borisjohnson a deal was overwhelmingly unlikely. Labour says the governments trying to sabotage the negotiations. There has been a warning that a no deal brexit could result in government borrowing soaring to its highest level for 50 years and further austerity measures. Turkey says its ready to begin a military operation in syria, as President Trump defends his surprise decision to pull out us troops. The Prime Minister calls Extinction Rebellion protestors uncooperative crusties as he urges them to stop blocking londons streets. We are very peaceful. We are not hippies. We dont smell of hemp. We would love for mrjohnston to come to talk to us about our demands for a Citizens Assembly. To talk to us about our demands for a Citizens Assembly. Sport now and for full round up from the bbc sport centre. Good morning. The action is back underway in kobe at the Rugby World Cup as south africa look to confirm their place in the quarter finals. Their final group game is against canada. They need a bonus point victory. They had got off to the best possible start. Their first try came in the third minute, and they have scored two more. It is 1902 south africa. Canada are yet to win a game. One more try will get them the bonus point they need. One more try will get them the bonus point they need. All the home nations are in action over the next few days. England play france in theirfinal group game on saturday, and say they wont risk Billy Vunipola if theres any doubts over his fitness. The number eight sat out of training earlier following an 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 Billy Vunipolas injury, but he has been wearing a protective boot at time since hurting his ankle on saturday. And then say if he is not 100 , and at the moment he is obviously not, they will rest him for the game against france. They 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 in the group might actually make life easier for england because they would 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 just the next opposition. It is a tough, tough tournament. I think if you look too far ahead you end up getting yourself into a spin. One other piece of fitness news from the england camp. Captain owen farrell and Hooker Luke Cowan Dickie both missed training today because of a stomach bug, as england continue their preparations for the game against france on saturday. Andy murrays remarkable return from injury continues apace. Its been confirmed that hell play singles at the Australian Open in january. That will be the first time that hell have played singles at a grand slam since major hip surgery earlier this year. Helljoin the main draw in melbourne with a protected ranking of number two, and restored physical powers, according to the tournaments official website. Murray is currently playing the shanghai open and plays Fabio Fognini in the second round shortly. If murray does play, and it isnt a given as he is still working his way back from injury then it will be a huge comeback from last years Australian Open. That was when we learntjust how close he was to retiring from the sport altogether because of the constant pain he was in. A couple of weeks later he had hip surgery, and hes now moving towards what would be the most incredible of comebacks. Plenty of Womens International football to look forward to today, including wales, who are aiming to reach their first major tournament at the european championships in england in two years time. They continue their road to qualification against belarus tonight, having drawn 2 2 with Northern Ireland last time out. As hosts, england have already qualified so theyre playing portugal in a friednly tonight. Its a testing time for phil nevilles side their defeat to brazil on saturday was their fifth match without a win, and theres growing pressure on the manager to turn theirform around. You can watch that match live on bbc four at 7. 00pm tonight. This has been doing very well on social media this morning tyson fury swapping the boxing ring, for the wrestling ring. Here he is getting into a scrap with pretty much everyone during wwes raw event. All very silly, but there could be a career there for him if he ever decides to hang up his gloves. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Number ten says the german chancellor, Angela Merkel, has made clear to borisjohnson that a brexit deal is overwhelmingly unlikely. The two leaders spoke on the phone this morning. Downing street said mrs merkel insisted that north ireland should stay in a Customs Union after brexit. A spokesman accused the European Union of being willing to torpedo the good friday agreement. Our ireland correspondent chris page is in dublin for us. So, chris, this is a call that was described as challenging from number tens end. We have not had any word from berlin about the content of the conversation. According to a number ten source, Angela Merkel made it clear a deal was overwhelmingly unlikely and it would never be possible unless Northern Ireland stays in a Customs Union following eu rules. If that is what she said, how would that go down . From the Irish Governments point of view, no official reaction yet to what Angela Merkel reportedly has said. The focus here is the budget statement that will be given in about 90 minutes behind me. The Irish Government have been clear that they regard any customs checks on the island of ireland on goods to be a very major barrier to a brexit deal. The other main issue that dublin has had with the proposals on the table from britain is the idea that stormont would have a say in trading rules because under the current voting mechanisms in the Northern Ireland assembly it would mean the dup, who are pro brexit but anti backstop, could have a veto on any arrangement designed to keep the irish border open in the long term. Ireland has been very sceptical about the british proposals. They havent dismissed them out of hand yet, but the sense was, given the comments from people like simon coveney, that if the offer wasnt significantly improved, we would be heading towards new deal. Certainly, ireland has been striking out reasonably pessimistic tone about the british proposals. I dont think we will hear anything from the Irish Government until after the budget statement here. Plans are not budget have been focused around britain leaving the eu without a deal. This will be no ordinary budget here in dublin. The Irish Government dont have the leeway to provide any giveaways, even though this is certain to be the last budget before an election next year. There will be no tax cuts or increases in spending, because the Irish Government has to be preparing for our no deal brexit. They are expecting at least 15,000 job losses. It is expected there will be a Contingency Fund to businesses vulnerable to our no deal brexit, £700 million or so for agri food, manufacturing, entrepreneurs and tourism. For the moment, all the focus in dublin will be on that budget statement. In and around that and throughout this afternoon we will hear the Irish Governments thoughts as to where we are out in the wider Brexit Process. We have just had a brief statement through from Arlene Foster of the dup sank the Prime Ministers proposals have flushed out dublins real intention to trap Northern Ireland in an eu Customs Union forever. The political language has gone up to level 11 in brussels, our correspondent in brussels, our correspondent in brussels said earlier. All the political difficulties around the union and the status of Northern Ireland are very high and it will presumably increase further. The irish republic and Northern Ireland are on the front line of brexit. Simon coveney and leo varadkar gave their initial thoughts on the british proposals last week. We have seen an british proposals last week. We have seen an escalating level of criticism from the democratic unionist towards dublin. Arlene foster accused the dublin government of being intransigent and unhelpful. Today, we see a gay Arlene Foster saying what she has heard reported from the german chancellor, suggesting to her that the Irish Government is trying to keep Northern Ireland in the eu Customs Union, which in unionist eyes would mean dublin are setting the rules for Northern Ireland and it is Northern Ireland being made to step away from the united kingdom. As a unionist, she says that is not something she could stand for. We have always had a big problem through the brexit negotiations, since the dup held the balance of power in westminster, the Irish Government on one side then the only way to solve the problem of the irish border would be to keep it open, is for Northern Ireland to follow the trading rules of the eu. The dup is keeping the conservatives in westminster and they say it wouldnt be acceptable, saying that Northern Ireland has to leave the eu on the same terms as the rest of the uk. As we see from the statements today, it seems that the gap is even bigger. We have just had some reaction from donald tusk, the president of the European Council. This is what he said. That just came through thatjust came through from donald tusk. A brief comment from Angela Merkels spokesman, not saying anything on the conversation other than to confirm that the german chancellor and the Prime Minister did speak on the phone today and saying, as usual, we do make the contents saying, as usual, we do make the co nte nts of saying, as usual, we do make the contents of confidential conversations public. The Royal London Hospital is one of europes busiest trauma centres. On average two people are admitted there every day with injuries from knife crime. Attacks have become so commonplace in some communities that experts are shocked by the ease at which people are willing to use knives to settle the pettiest of scores. Clive myrie has spent the last few months filming at the hospital and sent us this report. Sirens sound and phone rings. At the Royal London Hospital staff are on alert. Another victim of knife crime is about to enter the building. This man took a single blow from a knife to his lowerjaw. The attacker was trying to slit his throat a staggering act of aggression in the middle of a petty squabble. This guy couldnt go to his car and come back into our club, thats all it is. Its all it is. It is over nothing. So it is pointless. Deprivation and hopelessness can tempt youngsters to join gangs and deal drugs and the ease of access from any kitchen drawer means knife are ready weapons in any turf war or to settle scores. The fact that were living in a society where this is normal based at the Royal London Hospital, Roisin Keville is an outreach worker. Her team councils knife crime victims straight after surgery, helping to prevent revenge attacks and so breaking the cycle of violence. It is heartbreaking because youre seeing children, youre seeing families whose lives are destroyed. I had a young person here a couple of weeks ago, his mum found out on snapchat. She found out on snapchat that her child had been stabbed. Now, what does that say about society . Can you see that it is kind of oozing here. A society where teenagers are having to be taught life saving skills because of the prevalence of knife crime. It has come to this. What happens if you are out and you find out someone is carrying a knife, what are you going to do . Tell them, what do you think you are doing . People who carry are are not evil people, they do it for fear, they do it for protection, they do it out of peer pressure, to be part of a gang, because thats what everybody else does, because no one else doesnt do it. But knives make you more likely to be violent because it is in your pocket and you can use it. The key for society, dissuading young people from putting knives in their pockets in the first place. Clive myrie, bbc news. In a moment well have all the Business News, but first, the headlines on bbc news a downing street source says brexit talks are close to breaking down after the Prime Minister and Angela Merkel spoke on the phone this morning. A warning that a no deal brexit could result in government borrowing soaring to its highest level for 50 years and further austerity measures. Turkey says its ready to begin a military operation in syria, as President Trump defends his surprise decision to pull out us troops. The Business News productivity in the uk falls in the second quarter. I will be talking to a leading economist on this in just a moment. 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. Sticking with the potential of a no deal brexit, the government has announced that lorry import tariffs would be cut. The Road Haulage Association pushed for tariffs to be axed altogether, but instead, for the first year after the uk leaves the eu, they will be reduced from 22 to 10 . Labour productivity, as measured by output per hour, fell by 0. 5 year on year in the three months from april to june thats accoridng to the office for national statistics. That was the fastest annual pace in five years and followed two previous quarters of zero growth. Both services and manufacturing saw a fall from april tojune, the ons said. Yael selfin is chief economist at kpmg. So labour productivity has followed that week curve we saw last year. We have seen an increase in hours worked that was higher than the increase in output. It could be that we have got people sorting out things related to brexit that dont actually produce much, as such, that has made it worse. We have also seen a reduction in output due to the destocking effect and that didnt reflect itself in hours worked. We had more negative contributions to productivity there. It could all be temporary. Businesses are stockpiling ahead of a exit from the eu. Did any sectors contribute positively to eu productivity to productivity . A relatively strong contribution from construction, that was mainly because we had less hours worked rather than a big boost in output because we have seen in the pmi service as well that construction is not doing that well. In terms of employment, we have seen less in that sector. In other business stories weve been following, barclays has promised to freeze closures of any braches which are last in town and in remote areas for two years. It says it is committed to its relationship with the post office because customers will still be able to deposit cash. But the Payment Systems regulator, which overseas the cash system, says the decision reduces the number of places their customers can go to get cash. Guitar maker fender has been accused of illegally preventing price discounts on sales in the uk. The competition and markets authority has provisionally found that, between 2013 and 18, the us firm made online vendors sell its guitars at or above a minimum figure. Known as resale price maintenance, or rpm its illegal. The cma will hear from the company before deciding whether there has been a breach of competition law. Chinas state broadcaster has scrapped plans to show two us nba basketball preseason exhibition games, as the row over the Houston Rockets boss tweet in support of hong kong protesters grows. Daryl morley apologised for his quickly deleted tweet, but chinese broadcasters said they would stop showing rockets games and now China Central television says it will immediately suspend plans to show the la Lakers Brooklyn nets games. The London Stock Exchange group itself was the biggest loser on the ftse 100 this morning. Its shares were trading 6. 5 lower at one point as investors started selling the stock after news that the hong kong Stock Exchange had withdrawn its £32 billion bid for its uk rival. Money manager St James Place and just eat are performing strongly this morning performer on the ftse. The pound has extended its losses against the euro as hopes for a deal between the uk and eu continue to fade this morning. Three scientists have been awarded the 2019 nobel prize in physics for Ground Breaking discoveries about the universe. James peebles, michel mayor and Didier Queloz were announced as this years winners at a ceremony in stockholm. They were jointly awarded the prize for work on the evolution of the universe and the discovery of a distant planet around a sun like star in 1995. The winners will share the prize money of around £740,000. Tonight sees the announcement of building of the year the stirling prize. Last year, the award went to the bloomberg building, a huge Office Development in london that cost more than £1 billion. But this year, the bookies favourite is very different a small estate of Council Houses in norwich. Its the first time a Council House has made it to the shortlist and as David Sillito has been finding out its notjust the rents that make them affordable. So this is it. Nice into the living room. The garden. My little girl absolutely loves the garden. Shes got the passageway out the back shes made so many friends. Whos this . Thats my dog, rusty. Hello, rusty. Id never have thought this would have been a council property. Have you turned the heating on . Twice, i think. Twice in a year . Since being here, yeah. Have a look at how thick these walls are. These houses are designed to be low energy. Youre not even allowed a letterbox in the door in case it lets out some heat, and they also make the most of the weather. One thing about it is its pretty sunny, and theres a reason, because they have designed it that way, because the roofs are kind of really flat, which means that even in the dark days of winter, even on december 21st, if there is some sunshine it will be coming down here and hitting the bottom of the window. And another key feature is this. Well, this to me is a snicket. Coming from scarborough, its a snicket im looking at. Weve been calling it a ginnel. These were the 12 storey blocks of flats at jay street, finsbury. The first of britains skyscrapers. For the last 50 years or so, the flat has more often than not been seen as the best way of making the most of limited space, but the architects here were determined to prove that houses could be high density. And the reason they wanted them . Sociability. I think weve got a real problem with social. Lack of social connectedness, and this housing is thinking a lot about how we can encourage social connections, people meeting each other. But i think theres also ideas about how to encourage children to play outdoors. How to get to play areas without crossing roads and make that safe. And its this child friendly safe space that made all the difference for chloe and her partner louis. Theyre never going back to a flat. When you first walked into it. Yeah. Did you think. What do you think . I thought, theyre lovely. Id love one. And, yeah, i managed to get one, which is really good. If you got the chance to buy it . Id buy it. 100 , yeah, id buy it. Theyre all going to have a chance, pretty soon, to buy them, arent they . I think thats true. I think thats true, under the right to buy scheme, yeah. It would be great if the government would reconsider that policy. My partner has said it since we moved in. Were here for the long run, ithink. Its brilliant. So, as soon as you get the chance. Well buy, yeah. Thatll be ours. Goldsmith street warm, sociable, award winning, Affordable Council housing. For now. David sillito, bbc news, norwich. Well have live coverage of which of the six shortlisted has been picked as britains best new building on a special programme presented by david right here on the bbc news channel at 8. 30pm tonight. A quick look at whats coming up tomorrow on the bbc news channel. Well be broadcasting live from penzance in cornwall as part of a special bbc series exploring the challenges and the opportunities facing britains coastal towns. Thats all day tomorrow, here on bbc news. Now its time for a look at the weather with simon king. We have a mixture of sunny spells and showers today. It remains u nsettled and showers today. It remains unsettled over the next few days. With that combination of sunshine and showers, we have had some rainbows today. We will see more showers in the forecast. You can make out the rainbowjust showers in the forecast. You can make out the rainbow just there showers in the forecast. You can make out the rainbowjust there in the picture. The showers are being driven by an area of low pressure situated to the north of the uk. The isobars are close together, so we have some strong winds across the northern half of the uk. These fronts are moving their way south and eastward. In one of those occasions we have a line of showers moving its way across the midlands and south west england. Heavy, perhaps even country downpours for a time. Showers continuing across western scotland and Northern Ireland. Gusty winds particularly towards the lee of the high ground in Northern England and western scotland. Up to 50 miles an hour. The temperatures that afternoon between 13 and 17 degrees. This band of showers in the south east will continue before clearing away this evening. More showers coming into northern and Western Areas tonight. Clear spells in between. Temperatures getting down to about seven and 11 celsius. Low pressure will still be in charge of the weather on wednesday. More of these occlusions coming in from the west. That will bring in showers, mainly across Western Areas throughout wednesday. Frequent showers in the north and west. Some of the showers will be happy, perhaps thundery. In eastern areas, it will stay dry with some sunshine and temperatures a bit lower tomorrow, done by a couple of degrees. For thursday, still the area of low pressure, still a few of these occluded fronts moving through, but then another area of low pressure behind me would bring the cloud and rain across Northern Ireland. That will spread its way into western and south Western Areas of scotland. For eastern areas, more cloud around on thursday, but it is looking largely dry with temperatures at 16 or 17 degrees. For the rest of the week, more persistent rain is likely through saturday and into sunday. That could clear away from south eastern areas after quite a time. Youre watching bbc newsroom live. Its midday and these are the main stories this morning downing street says a brexit deal is virtually impossible after a phone call between Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel, the Eu Council President accuses accuses the Prime Minister of a stupid blame game. Opposition parties say the government is trying to sabotage the brexit negotiations. A warning that a no deal brexit could result in government borrowing soaring to its highest level for 50 years and further austerity measures. Turkey says its ready to begin a military operation in syria as President Trump defends his surprise decision to pull out us troops. The Prime Minister calls Extinction Rebellion protestors uncooperative crusties as he urges them to stop blocking londons streets. We are very peaceful. We are not hippies. We do not smell of hemp. We would love mrjohnson to talk to is for a demand for a Citizens Assembly. And the 2019 nobel prize in physics is awarded to three scientists for Ground Breaking discoveries about the universe. Good afternoon. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Downing street says the brexit talks are close to breaking down, after a phonecall betwen Boris Johnson and the german chancellor Angela Merkel this morning. A source in the Prime Ministers office claimed that mrs merkel suggested that a deal would never be possible, unless Northern Ireland stayed in a Customs Union. Theres been no comment yet from berlin other than to confirm the phone call took place but an eu source says that her reported comments dont represent the eus agreed position. The president of the European Council, donald tusk, tweeted to borisjohnson saying whats at stake is the future of europe and the uk, not winning some stupid blame game. Labour says number 10s comments are a cynical attempt to sabotage the brexit negotiations, and scotlands first minister Nicola Sturgeon said the government was tyring to shift the blame to anyone but themselves. Lets go to westminster now and see what the reactions been there. Norman smith joins me. Quite a surprise at the conversation as it has been reported from downing street and cynicism in the reaction so far. Ring is up to date. Street and cynicism in the reaction so far. Ring is uptodate. At the bottom line is that it is very hard to see how these negotiations can now continue given the briefing from number ten of the nature of that phone call with the german chancellor because usually in the wa ke chancellor because usually in the wake of these phone because there is a diplomatic glass but over any difficulties. In the aftermath of this phone call, number ten are saying pretty much it is over. They saying pretty much it is over. They say because of angered jeweller merkels insistence that Angela Merkels insistence that Angela Merkels insistence. You just get the sense that the tone was a pretty fractious one in the call. Number ten described it as challenging and a clarifying moment so it is very ha rd to a clarifying moment so it is very hard to see how, given an equally difficult conversation with macron, given the point by point rebuttal from borisjohnson last night, whether anything can be salvaged. Do you think it is right to say these negotiations are now over . you think it is right to say these negotiations are now over . I think the briefing this morning from numberten is about the briefing this morning from number ten is about blaming Angela Merkel from something that is from borisjohnson. He must have known that this would not be acceptable to the Irish Government or the eu because it breaks the clear commandment that theresa may gave in 2017. Up until this point, the understanding on all sides was that there would not be checks and a hard border, there would not be infrastructure or anything of that sort. At the moment, borisjohnson is suggesting that there would be. I think it was always going to be difficult for the eu to agree to this. So it was never meant to be accepted . I think we will have to wait for the history books to work that one out. He said that there and get rid of the backstop and tell me. When he didnt get the election he was banking on. I should try and make an effort. Anyone with an understanding of the complexity of this, this is the fourth time that the attempt to get a deal has failed. Now, presumably his policy will be that i want a no deal brexit which parliament is strongly opposed to. We have passed legislation to make sure that does not happen. We are now heading to either no deal or delay. That is where at . I hope that we are not heading for no deal because it would be damaging. Hmrc have said it would add £50 million to british. What is the benefits to companies for that . We see the institute for fiscal studies saying about what it will do to national debt. We passed an act very clearly that if we do not. Providing that the eu will not. Providing that the eu will not give that extension then no deal on the 315t october will be avoided. From those techs are known number ten sauce this morning, it seems that britain will be such an anti social member of the european clu b anti social member of the European Club that one or other club will veto a n club that one or other club will veto an extension because theyjust wa nt veto an extension because theyjust want a shot at this. Niven they have made a terrible mess of this in numberten. Made a terrible mess of this in number ten. Despite the frustration that the eu feels with british politics, i dont think they will say we are pushing you over the edge ofa say we are pushing you over the edge of a cliff. I have always thought that with reluctant but any mag relu cta nce that with reluctant but any mag reluctance they will grant an extension. If the government cannot do this then i think we have to face up do this then i think we have to face up to the real choice, how do we get a decision that brings the first stage of this Brexit Process to an end. My view is that we have to go back to the british people in that referendum. It is the compromise between no deal which borisjohnson once and cancelling the referendum result which is what the lib dems want. The people began this, now we know what we know, lets make the final decision. One thing is very clear, a no deal brexit does not get brexit done. It is the beginning of uncertainty. It may not be the end but it might be the end of a fairly significant chapter because it does seem very significant chapter because it does seem very hard to see how these negotiations can be revived. Maybe we are moving into a new phase. The Prime Minister is pressing for no deal and parliament for a further delay. Thank you norman. Donald tusk described it as a stupid blame game. Meanwhile, a leading Economic Research group has warned that a no deal brexit could send Government Debt to its highest level since the 1960s. The institute for fiscal studies said government borrowing was likely to climb from over £50 billion to £100 billion and total debt would soar to 90 of national income. This means the uk could be borrowing almost as much as the country earns ina year. And the ifs says the economy is already up to £66 billion smaller than it would have been without the brexit referendum. The Deputy Director of the ifs, carl emmerson, said that as brexit in any form would result in weaker economic performance, the governments choices were either to reduce public spending or introduce higher taxes to cope with its Spending Plans. If you look at the forecast for government borrowing next year, just last march, the government was telling us it would borrow about £23 billion. If you update that for some welcome accounting changes which take into account the money we lend students, the announcement last month of more spending on schools and police, it looks like we are more likely to be borrowing £50 billion if not more. That would break one of the governments key fiscal targets. Were we to embark on a no deal brexit, the economy wouldnt grow as quickly and the deficit would widen further. What would be the impact of these figures . I think for households in the near term if we were to go to a no deal brexit, you would see fiscal giveaway. Perhaps lower tax to get households through the difficult times that would be caused by this no deal. And weaker performance, will be doing less trade with the European Union so you can support less spending on economic services. It would be a mixed response and a giveaway from government to help the pain of the transition but in the longer term we will be talking about more austerity, deeper cuts and tax rises, perhaps more likely a combination of both. The governance has any decisions will be made with a view to long term sustainability of the Public Finances. The chancellor treasury spokesperson said they will be reviewing the fiscal framework as we turn the page on austerity. We will retain a fiscal anchor to public spending. What is your reaction . We already heard that the increase in public spending. If we look at how much the government told us they will spend is that they are planning to spend £27 billion more than what they were planning to do a couple of years ago. The Spending Plans are actually closer to what the Labour Party Said they would spend on Public Services than what the conservative party said. They are spending more money and they are not raising taxes to pay for it but they are allowing borrowing to rise. That phrase that i quoted,long term sustainability of finances, does that square with this . It seems hard that they are taking the Public Finance problem that seriously. They claimed they wanted to eliminate the deficit but it is not moving in that direction. We have a lot of pressure on Public Finances, not just brexit, extra pressures on the health system, we need to work out how to accommodate those pressures and what is going to give. Thank you. Are euro correspondent is in brussels. What is the reaction there . No one wants to comment on this phone call. They say they do not want they say it does not reflect the eus agreed language about brexit. Exhibit a, the eu and Angela Merkel in particular, have said they will keep on talking to the very last second to try and get a deal. They do not want to be the ones who pull the plug on the process right now. Second, the eu and germany do not want Northern Ireland to be permanently in the eus ireland to be permanently in the eus Customs Union or trapped. They say they want the option of Northern Ireland being in the Customs Union for a temporary period until Something Better comes along to be included in the brexit treaty and the withdrawal agreement. It is the uk that does not want that to be an option. Quite some scepticism that this is really the message that Angela Merkel gave. People are questioning whether this is a misinterpretation or deliberate to spin because we are entering into a blame game of whose fault it is that there is no progress. Stay with those. Donald tusk has said what is at stake is not winning some stupid blame game but the future of the uk. We will talk about that more in a few moments. More on todays main stories coming up on newsroom live here on the bbc news channel, but now we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. Picking up on those comments of donald tusk, where do you want to go . It is quite an astonishing tweet from donald tusk who will be chairing the summit of eu leaders next week which will be Boris Johnsons first summit as Prime Minister. It is one of those that you have to rub your eyes and think didi you have to rub your eyes and think did i reallyjust read that. It is addressed directly to borisjohnson on twitter and it ends with that question with the latin for which direction are you going in. We all know that the Prime Minister is a lover of classics so it is a very personal tweet. When you think about it, borisjohnson personal tweet. When you think about it, Boris Johnson and personal tweet. When you think about it, borisjohnson and donald tusk have history. In spring, donald tested that Infamous Press conference where he said he was wondering what the special place in hell was reserved for those who led the League Campaign without a sketch ofa the League Campaign without a sketch of a plan to bring the eu out uk out of the eu. He didnt mention him by name then but has mentioned him by name then but has mentioned him by name then but has mentioned him by name today. There is speculation in brussels, would borisjohnson even come to the summit . Boris johnson has not responded on twitter yet. Downing street says a brexit deal is virtually impossible after a phone call between Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel the Eu Council President accuses accuses the Prime Minister of a stupid blame game. A warning that a no deal brexit could result in government borrowing soaring to its highest level for 50 years and further austerity measures. In syria as President Trump defends his surprise decision to pull out us troops. Sport now. The action has been under way at the Rugby World Cup. South africa are well on track to secure their place. Their final well on track to secure their place. Theirfinal group well on track to secure their place. Their final group game is well on track to secure their place. Theirfinal group game is against canada. A dazzling first half performance and the springboks ran seven dries at the scrum half. Canada are down to ten men as someone was sent off canada are down to ten men as someone was sent off for a high tackle. It is 47 0 at half time. In japan they say they will not risk Billy Vunipola if he is not fit to play. Vunipola has had a scan on an ankle injury picked up on their game against argentina. Wales will secure their game if they win in fiji tomorrow. The assistant coach said their performances are moving in the right direction. Traditionally, we always get stronger the most time we spend with each other. The environment that we are able to recreate allows individuals to improve on their game and collectively makes us stronger as a group. The collective nature will get us through the next game against fiji. Gareth bale is apparently angry, fed up and wants to leave real madrid. It looks like bale would leave in the summer after being told he wasnt part of the managers plans. He since forced his way back into the team but its understood he was angry about being left out of the squad. Andy murrays remarkable return continues and it is confirmed that he will play singles in the Australian Open in january. That will be the first time he will have played in a grand slam since major hip surgery. He will have the protected ranking of number two and restored physical powers according to the tournaments official website. He is playing at the shanghai masters. That is all your support for now and i will have more at1 30pm. Borisjohnson has labelled Extinction Rebellion environmental protestors uncooperative crusties who should abandon what he called their hemp smelling bivouacs and stop blocking roads. He made his comments at a book launch yesterday evening. My my team did not want me to come to this event tonight because they said there were some uncooperative crusties and protesters littering the road. Police have arrested 320 people in london since the protests began yesterday. The demonstrations are set to continue for the next two weeks. The metropolitan police says that it has put new conditions on the protests today. Protesters will only be able to protest within the pedestrianised area. In Trafalgar Square. Lets go to our correspondent and see the situation on the ground near westminster. We are right in the shadow of parliament and we have a dozen protesters have camped out and we have seen a shift in Police Tactics. They have begun arresting protesters. Stella, who we spoke to an hourago, who protesters. Stella, who we spoke to an hour ago, who had a bike lock locking her to a trolley, it was cut off and she was arrested. Here is one of the organisers, what do you make of the shift in Police Tactics and how you respond . We didnt think it would be a walk in the park but we didnt expect this hostility. We saw some uncomfortable scenes. Police officers dragged a man into a vehicle. It has not been too aggressive, has it . You could say that for him now but we have not seen that for him now but we have not seen that across all the sites. Will you move to Trafalgar Square . Seen that across all the sites. Will you move to Trafalgar Square . M seen that across all the sites. Will you move to Trafalgar Square . It is in the police interests to give as these sites but if we cannot hold them then we will disperse and become a lot more difficult to police. What do you make of the Prime Ministers comments last night. It would be easy to describe as as such but we have doctors here, teachers here and it is really not the case. I dont think it is an accurate representation of the people here. Let us not forget that our Prime Minister shuts down prime parliament not that long ago. Our Prime Minister shuts down prime parliament not that long agom does not feel like a Mass Movement yet. I would disagree. Does not feel like a Mass Movement yet. Iwould disagree. In does not feel like a Mass Movement yet. I would disagree. In aprilwe had a large number turn out. We are in many countries worldwide, places like lebanon, australia, places we never expected. Thank you. These protests are continuing throughout the day and indeed for a further two weeks. Thank you. Imjoined by professor from lancaster university. Thanks for coming in. Lets talk about what Extinction Rebellion want which is zero Carbon Emissions by 2025. The government targets are that by 2050. Is this actually possible . At the science supports very radical cuts within the next couple of decades. You can argue the case between 2025 and 2050 but what is really important now is that the government sets a clear plan for a low Carbon Society. The government has enshrined that target in law. What is being done to make sure it is reached . Not enough. What we need to see now is the government to give response ability to every government department, right across National Government and local government. We need to see those targets introduced. There isnt really any responsibility dispersed at the moment so we need responsibility dispersed at the moment so we need a responsibility dispersed at the moment so we need a much more competitive response. To hit zero by 2025, what with that actually require . What we need to see is taking all the carbon out of the economy, such as moving to a zero Carbon Transport system, the extraction of fossil fuels here and abroad. We need to do that as quickly as possible. If we aim for 2025 we probably will not get there but it is certain that we need to do that within the next few decades. What is being done to get there at the moment . We have seen Real Progress in the power sector. The transition to Renewable Energy has been impressive. Emissions from aviation are rising and we need to tackle issues like transport, aviation. The target for 2050 was put forward by the committee on Climate Change which is the uks. They Climate Change which is the uks. They think this is achievable. I would like to move the debate onto what is a competitive strategy look like. I would like to start an honest conversation with citizens about what the transition to a zero Carbon Society would look like. They have agreed to hold a Citizens Assembly on Climate Change to talk about how we get to zero carbon and what that will look like full stop i think that is a positive conversation but at the moment the government is really silent about that. Thank you. A lot of fallout with that conversation between Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson with that conversation between Angela Merkel and borisjohnson this morning. It is looking like the only way Angela Merkel is saying to get a deal. This isnt about a stupid blame game is what donald tusk has said, tweeting Boris Johnson directly. Just hearing that the Irish Foreign minister has tweeted to say. There is that tweet. Brussels, there has been no official reaction other than that tweet from donald tusk but the behind the scenes briefing from brussels is that the language that has been put out there by the conversation by downing street is not representative of the position of the eu 27 countries. Lets see how this boils down with norman smith who has more reaction. The bottom line is that it is hard to point to a conclusion that the negotiations are over in the wake of what seems to be a very difficult conversation between borisjohnson and the german chancellor, coming after the point by point rebuttal and his position with the eu. Coming after a difficult conversation with macron on sunday, now we have the backlash from figures in the eu. It is hard to see how you can resurrect these negotiations. I am joined by these negotiations. I am joined by the head of the erg group. Would you accept these talks are over . They are only over now if they are over at all. Borisjohnson is up and salute the right to defend the union and he made a fair and reasonable proposal to go forward so that is a huge failure of statecraft but for people like me who want to get a set of agreements of the kind the eu offered as last march, it is very disappointing that there has not been movement. Does it not mean that we are heading to a straightforward choice between no deal and more delay . It doesnt like that at the moment unless the Prime Minister has found the ace up his sleeve that he can comply with the law and leave on time. I dont think he knows how to get this done but i cannot say today. Our parliament has brought this about. These negotiations were progressing well until the so called surrender act went through, the benn act. How much damage does this do to our relations with other European Countries when we are unable to make progress on these negotiations and they seem to end in this bad blood . All of us should be working hard to avoid that blood. The eu has a treaty obligation to build good relationships. There is a landing zone but we have to get beyond this idea that the eu can demand ireland is the price for leaving. That would bea is the price for leaving. That would be a breach of the good friday agreement what we need instead is good arrangements on that border. I can still see a landing zone but it requires some statesmen and women to ta ke requires some statesmen and women to take stock and decided to reach that landing zone by respecting the integrity of the uk. What would you say to people who say that this is all about the blame game . What i would say is that we need to rise yonder blame and think to the future. The future is one with free trade and. Dealing with any absurd consequences, that is what Donald Tasker offered us on behalf of the eu andl tasker offered us on behalf of the eu and i would say lets try and get beyond the blame game and lets try to reach the landing zone we have not had any detailed brief from berlin. So, details of that conversation are entirely from the downing street side. Good afternoon. We are dodging the downpours today. There is some sunshine out there, but also some heavy showers. There are gusty winds with some of the showers. Some are happy and there may be at the rumble of thunder. Temperatures are size 18 celsius in parts of the east and south east of england. Loads of showers running into western scotla nd showers running into western scotland and a fair few in Northern Ireland, some trundling further south east in the uk. Overnight, most of the showers will initially be in the west, some pushing right across southern england and temperatures between six and 10 celsius. For wednesday, some sunshine, showers again. Look at them packing into the Western Highlands in scotland, with strong gusty winds. Some will push further east across the uk, but not as many. The wind gusts approaching a0 miles an hour in some spots. It will feel an hour in some spots. It will feel a little bit cooler tomorrow compared with today. Hello, this is bbc newsroom live with joanna gosling. The headlines downing street says a brexit deal is virtually impossible after a phone call between Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel. The Eu Council President accuses the Prime Minister of a stupid blame game. Opposition parties say the government is trying to sabotage the brexit negotiations. A warning that a no deal brexit could result in government borrowing soaring to its highest level for 50 years and further austerity measures. Turkey says it is ready to begin a military operation in syria, as President Trump defends his surprise decision to pull out us troops. The Prime Minister calls Extinction Rebellion protestors uncooperative crusties as he urges them to stop blocking londons streets. Turkey says its ready to send forces into North Eastern syria following President Trumps controversial decision to start withdrawing us troops from the area. The american president s move has aroused cross Party Opposition in the us, where hes been accused of abandoning kurdish fighters in the region. Our correspondent martin patience has the latest. The turkish governments 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. It symbolises a betrayal by the Trump Administration of democracy, of human values, of what we have fought for. It is a betrayal of hope. In fact, trump has dashed the hopes of humanity. Syria remains a fractured country with rebel and Kurdish Forces Still Holding sway of serb territory. The picture may get even more complicated as president ed ruane told the gm just how far he wa nted ed ruane told the gm just how far he wanted to save soon to extend. The us president faced the furious backlash of washington for a p pa re ntly backlash of washington for apparently giving turkey to go ahead for their offensive. Donald trump thinks fighting endless wars is no longer americas business. Thinks fighting endless wars is no longer americas business. We have beenin longer americas business. We have been in syria for many years. Syria was meant to be a short term hit, we we re was meant to be a short term hit, we were supposed to be in a doubt. That was many, many years ago. I have told turkey that if they do anything outside of what we would think as humane, they could separate the raft ofan humane, they could separate the raft of an extremely decimated economy. Islamic state thrives on chaos. Any conflict between turkey and the kurds could allow the extremists to stage a comeback. The Royal London Hospital is one of europes busiest trauma centres. On average, two people are admitted there every day with injuries from knife crime. Attacks have become so commonplace in some communities that experts are shocked by the ease at which people are willing to use knives to settle the pettiest of scores. Clive myrie has spent the last few months filming at the hospital and sent us this report. Sirens sound and phone rings. At the Royal London Hospital staff are on alert. Another victim of knife crime is about to enter the building. This man took a single blow from a knife to his lowerjaw. The attacker was trying to slit his throat a staggering act of aggression in the middle of a petty squabble. This guy couldnt go to his car and come back into our club, thats all it is. Its all it is. It is over nothing. So it is pointless. Deprivation and hopelessness can tempt youngsters to join gangs and deal drugs and the ease of access from any kitchen drawer means knife are ready weapons in any turf war or to settle scores. The fact that were living in a society where is normal based at the Royal London Hospital, Roisin Keville is an outreach worker. Her team councils knife crime victims straight after surgery, helping to prevent revenge attacks and so breaking the cycle of violence. It is heartbreaking because youre seeing children, youre seeing families whose lives are destroyed. I had a young person here a couple of weeks ago, his mum found out on snapchat. She found out on snapchat that her child had been stabbed. Now, what does that say about society . Can you see that it is kind of oozing here. A society where teenagers are having to be taught life saving skills because of the prevalence of knife crime. It has come to this. What happens if you are out and you find out someone is carrying a knife, what are you going to do . Tell them, what do you think you are doing . people who carry are are not evil people, they do it for fear, they do it for protection, they do it out of peer pressure, to be part of a gang, because thats what everybody else does, because no one else doesnt do it. But knives make you more likely to be violent because it is in your pocket and you can use it. The key for society, dissuading young people from putting knives in their pockets in the first place. Clive myrie, bbc news. Now all the Business News. In the Business News 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. Sticking with the potential of a no deal brexit, the governments announced that lorry import tariffs would be cut. The Road Haulage Association pushed for tariffs to be axed altogether, but instead, for the first year after the uk leaves the eu, they will be reduced from 22 to 10 . Budget Airline Easyjet says full year profits will come in at the upper end of expectations, with revenues boosted by pilot strikes at rivals British Airways and ryanair. The airline could also now benefit from the failure of holiday firm thomas cook. Easyjet says headline pre tax profits will be £a20 million to £a30 Million Pounds down on last years £578 million. Peter morris is the chief economist at ascent by cirium. Good to talk to you today. Profits down on last year, but still expected to be sizeable, thats despite easyjet having to set aside some £15 million because of the gatwick drone incident. Yes, thats right. I think it is reinforcement of the diversified economic model that easyjet is pursuing, both diapers geographically across europe, and has benefited from the european common aviation area, so it is picking up passengers all across europe and carrying them around rather than being dependent onjust one of two hubs. They have been one of the major beneficiaries of the expansion that has occurred from having a common aviation area across europe. The question is where that goes now. Aside from the expansion of roots, watch at the other external factors, pilot strikes, of roots, watch at the other externalfactors, pilot strikes, ba, the demise of thomas cook, to what extent have those helped easyjet with its profits . It is swings and roundabouts. It is a business in which stuff is always happening one way and another. You just have to deal with it. Some of the things will hit you at the wrong time of year and other things will give you a boost. For example, facing the challenge of having a 20 devaluation in the pound has been a challenge for british companies. On the other hand, they have been able to move a number of their aircraft over to austria, so as to benefit from still being within the eu. One way and another you just have to have as diverse a Business Model as possible, that gives the robustness to deal with the good and bad fortune. Is there anything else that easyj et fortune. Is there anything else that easyjet is doing particularly well compared to its rivals . It is really standing out at the moment in terms of its profits. One of the things is they have appealed across the spectrum, so from the Business Traveller all the way through to the leisure traveller and the visiting friends and relatives traveller, and across multiple countries in europe. That is the thing that stands out most of all. If you look at the business market, what you see is they have carried on expanding the number of routes and the number of opportunities. In comparison with a good number of the majors, they fly more frequently from there and that a tt ra cts more frequently from there and that attracts the Business Traveller again. Interesting. Peter morris, many thanks. Peter morris, many thanks. In other business stories weve been following, barclays has promised to freeze closures of any braches which are last in town and in remote areas for two years, but this is comes as the bank pulls out of a scheme allowing customers to withdraw cash from the post office. It says it is committed to its relationship with the post office because customers will still be able to deposit cash. But the Payment Systems regulator, which overseas the cash system, says the decision reduces the number of places their customers can go to get cash. Guitar maker fender has been accused of illegally preventing price discounts on sales in the uk. The competition and markets authority has provisionally found that between 2013 and 2018 the us firm made online vendors sell its guitars at or above a minimum figure. Known as resale price maintenance, or rpm, its illegal. The cma will hear from the company before deciding whether there has been a breach of competition law. Chinas state broadcaster has scrapped plans to show two us nba basketball preseason exhibition games as the row over the Houston Rockets boss tweet in support of hong kong protesters grows. Daryl morley apologised for his quickly deleted tweet, but chinese broadcasters said they would stop showing rockets games and now China Central television says it will immediately suspend plans to show the la Lakers Brooklyn nets games. The pound has extended its losses against the euro as hopes for a deal between the uk and eu continue to fade this morning. The London Stock Exchange group itself was the biggest loser on the ftse100 this morning. Its shares were trading 6. 5 lower at one point as investors started selling the stock after news that the hong kong Stock Exchange had withdrawn its £32 billion bid for its uk rival. Thats all the Business News. The headlines on bbc news downing street says a brexit deal is virtually impossible after a phone call between Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel. The Eu Council President accuses the Prime Minister of a stupid blame game. A warning that a no deal brexit could result in government borrowing soaring to its highest level for 50 years and further austerity measures. Turkey says its ready to begin a military operation in syria, as President Trump defends his surprise decision to pull out us troops. Three low paid workers and their union are bringing a fresh legal challenge to force the Prime Minister to seek an extension to avoid a no deal brexit. The independent Workers Union of Great Britain argues a no deal brexit could damage workers rights, such as the right to paid holidays, derived directly from eu law. The government has said it will obey the law that requires it to write to the eu to seek an extension, but also says the uk will leave on 31st october creating a contradiction at the heart of the governments policy for leaving the eu. Our legal our Legal Correspondent Clive Coleman reports facing an uncertain future, Maritza Castillo calle is spanish but has lived in the uk for six years. Working in catering, she is one of the 3. 5 million eu nationals working here. Like many low paid workers, she relies on rights that come from eu law, rights which the independent Workers Union of Great Britain argues could be weakened by a no deal brexit. Translation many lowpaid and precarious workers like me use laws from the eu in order to defend ourselves. And also when a Company Transfers to another company, to defend our rest, our hours and our rights overall. Eu derived workers rights apply to all workers in the uk, not simply eu nationals working here. Many of the Employment Rights that we take for granted, such as the right to paid holidays and protection against discrimination, are based in eu law, and if we crash out without a deal, those rights could be at risk from day one, and thats one of the many reasons why its so important that the Prime Minister obey the law and we not put those rights at risk on day one. The case being brought against the Prime Minister here at the high court couldnt be clearer. Borisjohnson has repeatedly said that in the event of no deal, he wont seek an extension to negotiate one, which the so called benn act, which he calls the surrender act, compels him to seek. The union argues that floats an act of parliament and is as clear an example of breaching the rule of law as you could possibly have. The union case joins a similar challenge here from the rights group liberty, and one in the scottish courts brought by the snp mp joanna cherry and others. They are on friday. The government stated in court papers that the Prime Minister would send a letter to the eu asking for a delay if there is no deal by the 19th of october. Its a conundrum, as the Prime Ministers position remains this. So what were going to do is come out on october the 31st, deal or no deal. If the uk appears to be heading towards a no deal brexit on the 31st of october, and the Prime Minister has found a way around the benn act, maritzas and the other legal challenges could all end up at the Uks Supreme Court in a dramatic and last minute legal bid to prevent a no deal departure just days before the deadline. Clive coleman, bbc news. We have just had a new figure we havejust had a new figure in from the metropolitan police over the number of people arrested in the Extinction Rebellion protests. They now are saying that they have arrested 379 protesters as the protests continue away from Trafalgar Square. Protests continue away from Trafalgar Square. Poor air quality means some children inhale the equivalent of nearly one packet of cigarettes every week while on the school run, according to research by the university of sheffield. Three families took part in a test to see whether children who walk, bike or go to school by car breathe in the most pollution. Luxmy gopal reports. Ready to go . Another day, another school run. And its children, their lungs still developing, that are particularly at risk from air pollution and diseases linked to it. Now academics in sheffield have analysed pollution levels on the school run by giving a5 families a monitoring device. Green means good, the other means its quite pollutional, red means bad, and purple means very bad. The study showed children are exposed to pollutants equivalents of smoking 17. 5 cigarettes a week, which theyve caluclated by comparing the number of deaths caused by smoking and by air pollution. The families have been troubled by the results. It did kind of keep me awake at times. I was really concerned. I spoke with my husband whether we should move house. But are some means of travel worse than others . We experimented with three families going to the same school in three different ways to show which has the most exposure to air pollution. Cycling, driving or walking . Time to guess which was worse. Walking cycling walking before the results reveal all. The study shows the air pollution concentration is the highest inside the car, followed by cycling, and then walking. Thats quite surprising. They trap exhaust from cars in front of them, and tunnel them into this toxic box that is the car. The government has let down children in the country and has let them down very badly. Because what we need is to speed up this transition to electric vehicles. The government is working across departments to tackle this really important issue, and dont forget that we are the first government to set net zero emissions by 2050, that is groundbreaking, and our clean air strategy has been termed round breaking by the who. So we are definitely on the right track. Sheffield city council says it has measures including a clean air zone, investing in green vehicles, and discouraging idling vehicles outside school zones. But for parents and these children, clean air cant come soon enough. Three scientists have been awarded the 2019 nobel prize in physics for Ground Breaking discoveries about the universe. James peebles, michel mayor and Didier Queloz were announced as this years winners at a ceremony in stockholm. They were jointly awarded the prize for work on the evolution of the universe and the discovery of a distant planet around a sun like star in 1995. The winners will share the prize money of around £7a0,000. A quick look at whats coming up tomorrow on the bbc news channel. Well be broadcasting live from penzance in cornwall as part of a special bbc series exploring the challenges and the opportunities facing britains coastal towns. Thats all day tomorrow, here on bbc news. Sake tonight sees the announcement of building of the year the stirling prize. Last year, the award went to the bloomberg building, a huge Office Development in london that cost more than £1 billion. But this year, the bookies favourite is very different a small estate of Council Houses in norwich. Its the first time a Council House has made it to the shortlist and as David Sillito has been finding out its notjust the rents that make them affordable. So this is it. Nice into the living room. The garden. My little girl absolutely loves the garden. Shes got the passageway out the back shes made so many friends. Whos this . Thats my dog, rusty. Hello, rusty. Id never have thought this would have been a council property. Have you turned the heating on . Twice, i think. Twice in a year . Since being here, yeah. Have a look at how thick these walls are. These houses are designed to be low energy. Youre not even allowed a letterbox in the door in case it lets out some heat, and they also make the most of the weather. One thing about it is its pretty sunny, and theres a reason, because they have designed it that way, because the roofs are kind of really flat, which means that even in the dark days of winter, even on december 21st, if there is some sunshine it will be coming down here and hitting the bottom of the window. And another key feature is this. Well, this to me is a snicket. Coming from scarborough, its a snicket im looking at. Weve been calling it a ginnel. These were the 12 storey blocks of flats at jay street, finsbury. The first of britains skyscrapers. For the last 50 years or so, the flat has more often than not been seen as the best way of making the most of limited space, but the architects here were determined to prove that houses could be high density. And the reason they wanted them . Sociability. I think weve got a real problem with social. Lack of social connectedness, and this housing is thinking a lot about how we can encourage social connections, people meeting each other. But i think theres also ideas about how to encourage children to play outdoors. How to get to play areas without crossing roads and make that safe. And its this child friendly safe space that made all the difference for chloe and her partner louis. Theyre never going back to a flat. When you first walked into it. Yeah. Did you think. What do you think . I thought, theyre lovely. Id love one. And, yeah, i managed to get one, which is really good. If you got the chance to buy it . Id buy it. 100 , yeah, id buy it. Theyre all going to have a chance, pretty soon, to buy them, arent they . I think thats true. I think thats true, under the right to buy scheme, yeah. It would be great if the government would reconsider that policy. My partner has said it since we moved in. Were here for the long run, ithink. Its brilliant. So, as soon as you get the chance. Well buy, yeah. Thatll be ours. Goldsmith street warm, sociable, award winning, Affordable Council housing. For now. David sillito, bbc news, norwich. It isa it is a day for dodging the downpours. There is some sunshine but also these heavy showers and a fair few but also these heavy showers and a fairfew rainbows coming in from our weather watchers today. There will be plenty more of those on offer through the afternoon, as the showers continue, along with the sunny spells. The showers could be heavy, with a rumble of thunder. There will be gusty winds around these, as well. It is all due to low pressure to the north of us at the moment. The further east you are, there are fewer showers compared to elsewhere. Look at how they are queueing up to run into western parts of scotland, the highland seer. The gusty winds could be around a0 50 miles an hour at times, particularly as the showers move through. Again, there is some sunshine. In england and wales across the afternoon, there will be these drier periods with blue sky. Temperatures may be up to 18 celsius and one or two spots. Into tonight, initially the showers will be mainly across the western side of the uk. Some, particularly in southern england, will move eastwards as the night goes on. Around 6 9dc. Into tomorrow, we will do it again. Sunshine and showers. The showers will be most frequent in the west, but some will push all way eastwards. In north west scotland, these are frequent, heavy showers moving in on a strong and gusty wind. The winds will gust up to a0 miles an houror wind. The winds will gust up to a0 miles an hour or so. It is not a case of being wet all the time, there will be bright blue sky and sunshine occasionally. If anything, tomorrow does feel a little bit cooler. Into the weekend, not so much about showers, but this area of low pressure and the weather fronts around it and spells of rain affecting various parts of the uk at various times going into the weekend. Some of that will be quite heavy. More updates on the weekend as we get closer to it. A downing street source says a brexit deal is now essentially impossible following a phone call between Boris Johnson and germanys chancellor. The source claimed the prospect of a deal had broken down over the issue of the irish border ministers said they were prepared but labour blamed the Prime Minister. We would like to have a deal, but the eu needs to know were absolutely going to be ready without a deal, and were going to leave on the 31st. The government put proposals on the table that were never going to work. They were designed to fail. The president of the European Council warned borisjohnson that whats at stake is not winning some stupid blame game. With the brexit negotiations now in real doubt, well bring you all the latest from westminster and brussels. Also this lunchtime