19 people are arrested as police say theyve broken the uks biggest ever drugs operation more that 50 tons of drugs are seized. The impact of knife crime on its young victims more than 20 thousand were injured last year alone and for many the trauma continues. We will reveal the winner of this new building best new building of 2019. Join us live here in the news channel for the announcement of this yea rs channel for the announcement of this years stunning price for architecture. Prize. Good evening. A deal with the eu by the end of this month in time for the brexit deadline now looks extremely unlikely. Downing street says brexit talks are close to breaking down after what was described as a challenging phone call between the Prime Minister and the german chancellor this morning. A source at number 10 says Angela Merkel made clear that a brexit deal was overwhelmingly unlikely unless Northern Ireland remained in the Customs Union indefinitely. There was an angry response from brussels as the eus top official, donald tusk, warned borisjohnson not to become engaged in what he called a stupid blame game. 0ur Political EditorLaura Kuenssberg reports. There is nothing about this process, nothing about this government, that takes steps in the usual ways. Are the brexit talks close to collapse . Early this morning, before the cabinet arrived for their weekly meeting, the Prime Minister spoke to Angela Merkel for half an hour. Number ten sources told me she said a brexit deal is overwhelmingly unlikely. Have we reached the end of the road with getting a deal . After the call, without discussion in cabinet, downing streets unofficial conclusion, the talks are close to breaking down. Good morning, how are you . Not at all, going very well. Brussels tend to do the deal is when things go down to the wire, that has always been the way, the offer is there, it is up to them to take it. Everyone wants a deal, we would like to have a deal but the eu knows we are absolutely going to be ready without a deal and we are going to leave on the 31st. In contrast to any traditional political formality, number ten talked about the detail of the call with the german leader, saying Angela Merkel suggested it was almost impossible to do a deal unless Northern Ireland stayed in the Customs Union, following eu rules. That has always been ruled out by the government. Germany would not confirm the contents of the call. But with no change in position, the chances of a deal this month seem almost gone. But listen to this. The Irish Foreign minister suggesting to the Prime Minister if there is no deal, it is not us, it is you. A deal is still possible, but there needs to be a will on both sides to get us there. A no deal brexit will never be irelands choice, it will never be the eus choice. If it happens, it will be a decision made by the british government. And then a tweet to borisjohnson from the Eu Council President , saying he was entering a stupid blame game. Whats at stake is the future of the uk, as well as the security and interests of our people, donald tusk wrote. Despite the hostility, though, the uks negotiator david frost swept into brussels today for more talks. Why are you here, mr frost quizzed about what is the point of these talks . With the opposition accusing them of pushing them to the brink. They put these proposals on the table that were never going to work, they were designed to fail and instead of reacting and changing their proposals, they are now collapsing the talks and engaging in a reckless blame game. Forget that he said, she said. In a way, it is a simple stand off. Borisjohnson wants a different deal with the eu that would mean different customs systems on either side of the irish border, but the eu believes that is not a realistic without serious disruption so is saying no, and that means it is extremely unlikely an agreement can be reached in time for the uk to leave the eu with a deal at the end of this month. Both sides, number ten and the eu, wanted to leave the door at least a fraction open. In public, no one wants to be the first to call the whole thing off. Is a deal still possible . But behind the scenes, it is a different order. Downing street does not expect to shake on a deal next week. Laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. 0ur europe correspondent Damian Grammaticus is in brussels. Damien, have the germans confirmed the contents of this phone call that number ten is leaking, suggesting that Angela Merkel made it clear that Angela Merkel made it clear that norman Northern Ireland has to stay inside the Customs Union. Clive, no, the official german position is, no, not at all. They never go into the details of the chancellors private phone calls with other leaders, and they havent done today. At the view i think in germany and across the eu is that its highly unlikely that whats been leaked or whats been briefed, i should say, rather than leaked, actually really truthfully reflects the nature of the call. They dont really believe that here in germany. We had very close allies of Angela Merkel coming out and saying on twitter that there would be no change in the german position. And it simply dozens, many people think actually reflect the way Angela Merkel would talk or approach things. Shes a very cautious politician, and she has kept the show on the road. So the idea that she would say that things are basically almost over, and that the issueis basically almost over, and that the issue is some sort of ultimatum promising more than ireland had to stay in the Customs Union, that doesnt ring true, and it doesnt call to the eu position anyway. Because the eu position is that this is all a backstop. It doesnt want that to happen, it wants to have it sort of a deep deal with the uk none of that is necessary. So the eu view is that this really sort of political spin aimed at the uk electorates, and we heard this evening, interestingly, the Irish Foreign minister has just been here. More consultations with Michelle Garnier, he said, look there are some people who have an eye on the election. We are not bothered by this. The eu side, what they want is a deal, and thats why they are trying to keep the show on the road at the minute. Sure, but donald tusk has made it clear, apparently, in this tweet, suggesting that mr johnson is trying to win a stupid blame game. Clearly, brussels is sensitive to the suggestion that all of this is their fault, that they are going to pop the blame. Yes, they are. And frustrated, and i think there is a sense in which donald tusk voiced those frustrations, but hes also a sort of politician who is a bit more hot headed, a bit less diplomatic, and sort of went out there, but didnt do, you know, the way that sort of Michelle Garnier and others who are a bit more diplomatic might do, and mightapproach who are a bit more diplomatic might do, and might approach this. I think perhaps, particularly, what might have sort of riled him is this idea that trying to pin the blame on the eu, trying to say that the eu was prepared to sacrifice the good friday agreement to keep Northern Ireland in their Customs Union, because the eu view is clearly, it is trying to protect the good friday agreement, and it is the uk side which committed to an open border on the island of ireland, including borisjohnson when he was foreign secretary, that of uk side, Boris Johnson, is not trying to read style from those commitments. Thats the eu view, and the eu view and the irish view expressed again this evening is that anything that changes the status quote on the island of ireland, it brings in infrastructure, is a serious threat to the peace process. And therefore is not something that they can entertain, and that the uk government says has to acknowledge that, find an alternative way, if it has one, or commit to keeping the border open. 0k, damian, thank you. Live in brussels. Lets get more of us how. Im joined now byjoe 0wen, Programme Director for the institute for governments brexit team. Joe, its good to see you, thanks for coming in. The suggestion coming out of number ten that Angela Merkel side in this phone call that Northern Ireland should stay in a Customs Union permanently. Has that suggestion ever been made by the germans . Well, we dont know who says what within the different eu camps, and the different member states. What we do know is that this was the eus opening pitch way back in february last year. They said, based on the commitments that the uk and eu signed up to at the kind of these negotiations about avoiding these negotiations about avoiding the need for a border on the island of ireland, and aligning with Single Market rules and Customs Union when necessary in order to do it, that you said this is the way you can do it. The only way you can do it is with a Customs Union, and with a Single Market, and through negotiations, theresa mays backstop essentially expanded that Customs Union to beat uk wide. So we do know that the eu thinks that the best way to solve the border problem on the island of ireland is with a Customs Union. Whether that involves just Northern Ireland or at the whole of the uk is a kind of question for negotiation. But that is their opening position. Now, whether they said it must be in perpetuity, and thats the only thing we are ever going to consider, who knows, we werent involved in that call, but it is one of the big sticking point. A huge sticking point, the border there. On the island of ireland. Now it seems, according to number ten, that a deal before the october 0ctober ten, that a deal before the october october 31, is highly unlikely. That means a no deal brexit. 0r october 31, is highly unlikely. That means a no deal brexit. Or does it, if you go by what some in Boris Johnsons government are saying. Well, the uk law is following the benn act, the piece of legislation that parliament passed in Early September says that if a deal has not been agreed by the 19th of 0ctober, not been agreed by the 19th of october, and parliament has not approved no deal, which given the current makeup of parliaments, i thank you can count is pretty unlikely. If neither of those things have happened, than the uk government must seek to obtain an extension. They must write to the eu, the kind of terms of the letter is already written out in that legislation. And they must seek to secure an extension. 50 legislation. And they must seek to secure an extension. So actually, it kind of seems like the default here does not know deal on october the sist, does not know deal on october the 31st, but actually the uk asking for an extension. Rates, but Boris Johnson has made it clear time and time again, he would rather be dead ina ditch time again, he would rather be dead in a ditch that not leave on october the 31st. So how do you square that circle . Well it seems really difficult actually to square the circles of what Boris Johnson difficult actually to square the circles of what borisjohnson is saying publicly, what the law in the legislation sides, and actually what borisjohnson legislation sides, and actually what Boris Johnson and the legislation sides, and actually what borisjohnson and the governments lawyers told the court in scotland earlier this week, that they would be looking to seek an extension. So, you know there are plenty of rumours going around at a possible trapdoor through this piece of legislation. No one has found one, no one can point to what it would be, and so i think it very much looks like we are heading to the uk government having to ask for an extension at the back end of next week. But if that happens, very briefly, it wouldnt be much beyond january, right . Well, thats with the legislation sides. It says end ofjanuary, and then general election territory. All right, we will leave it there. Joe, Programme Director at the institute of brexit. Good to see you thank you. A ceremony to suspend parliament is under way. It is a marked contrast to Prorogue Parliament last month, a decision which was later overturned, and ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court in that historicjudgement. Mps in the house of lords will return to westminster for the queens speech on monday. And well find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrows front pages at 10 a0pm and 11 30pm this evening in the papers. Our guests joining me tonight are the broadcaster, david davies, and anna mikhailova, whos the deputy Political Editor at the daily telegraph. So stay with us for that. Now, thats politics as cleaning, lets talk about the economics of all of this. Today the leading economic think tank the institute for fiscal studies warned a no deal brexit could see the National Debt rise to levels not seen since the 1960s. It comes as the man in charge of no deal brexit preparations michael gove said that even with every possible preparation in place, risks and challenges for businesses still remain. 0ur economics editor faisal islam reports. As a brexit deal looks increasingly unlikely, the planning for and consequences of a no deal brexit and its Immediate Impact on trade up and down the country matter more than ever. The government is yet to update its numbers, but the likes of the institute for fiscal studies has. The ifs predicts that our public finances will be heavily impacted by a no deal brexit, that the level of our annual public borrowing, the deficit, would double over the next two years, approaching 100 billion again and that the total stock of our borrowing, the National Debt, would reach a level that hasnt been seen in over half a century. I think if we had no deal the economy would grow very little, if at all, over the next two or three years, borrowing would rise towards 90, £100 billion a year, which is a very significant increase on where we are. If that happened, i think we would have to have another period of tax increases or spending cuts to get it back under control. The government stresses the opposite, at least immediately. More spending to support affected industries as it presented its latest preparation document praising the efforts made so far. Of course, risks remain and challenges for some businesses cannot be entirely mitigated. Even with every possible preparation in place. But the uk economy is in a much better position to meet those risks and challenges thanks to the efforts of these sectors and companies and the chancellor. But decisions now have been made on which taxes on imports are scrapped to keep Consumer Prices low and which of these import tariffs are raised to protect uk industry from competition. Some farmers are not happy. A no deal is so very different because you look at the tariffs schedule and what would happen to agriculture in this country by taking on imports that are produced to lower standards. Its not Rocket Science but thats the betrayal farmers feel. Both the Political Uncertainty and the possibility of no deal have hit Business Investment over the past three years which in turn has impacted how productive the british economy is. The expert economists behind this report say no deal will impact our trade with europe and lead to a smaller economy compared with brexit being reversed, for example, a gap of over 4 . It could be mostly eliminated if there was still a deal. The government points out that partly because of its preparations, even this prediction for the no deal economic hit has reduced, but it has not been eliminated. Faisal islam, bbc news. The headlines on bbc news. A downing street source says a brexit deal is now essentially impossible following a phone call between Boris Johnson and germanys chancellor, but in the Commons Michael gove insists a deal can still be done. European Council President donald tusk warns borisjohnson it shouldnt be about winning some stupid blame game. The parents of this 10 year old boy who died after contracting hiv from contaminated blood products almost 30 years ago tell the Public Inquiry of their heartbreak sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres austin. Good evening. Englands women are drawing 0 0 with portugal in their friendly in s tubal. Head coach phil neville called it a must win game, after the lionesses have failed to win any of their last five matches. So far, its been another uninspired performance from england. This clearance off the line by portugal was the best of very few chances in the first half. The second half has just got underway, and these are the live pictures from the stadium in portugal. The score still level at 0 0. England have just over half an hour to try and find a winner. And you can watch that match right now on bbc 4. Earlier, waless qualifying campaign had a welcome boost after they beat belarus 1 0. Rachel rowe got the winner with under ten minutes to go, in herfirst game back from a year long injury. Wales stay second in group c. Simone biles has become the most succesful female gymnast in World Championship history, after the usa won the team event in stuttgart. Biles posted the best individual scores on the vault, beam and on the floor to see the us win their fifth consecutive team crown at the World Championships. The gold brings biles individual medal tally up to 21. I know it wasnt our best meats, but you know it, itjust rose the strength that we still came out on top, even after a couple of falls. I worked so hard to get where i am, so to see that i am still improving overall of these years, i think its just an honour to even represent the country. Is a huge day tomorrow for scotla nd country. Is a huge day tomorrow for scotland at the rugby world cup. They face russia in a game theyjust cannot afford to lose. The scouts will be looking for a bonus point win, before they had too yokohama for their final win, before they had too yokohama for theirfinal game win, before they had too yokohama for their final game against japan, where they will have to beat the hosts. Ive played enough of these games, where if you try and score four tries before you square one, you can get ina tries before you square one, you can get in a bit of trouble. You are not thinking about that early on, if it gets to 70 minutes and weve scored one, that might be the case, but we have to back ourselves. We cannot score the fourth until we score the first, we have to literally go through the process, and to be superior to theirs. meanwhile, wales could secure their place in the quarter finals tomorrow if they beat fiji. A win would put them in pole position to wingroup d, with only oe game against uruguay left to come. 0ne one week after. Received a four year ban for doping violations, the performance director of uk athletics, neil black has announced he will step down from the role of the end of the month. Uk athletics appointed salazar as a consultant to its Endurance Programme in 2013. Heres our sports editor, dan roan, speaking to bbc radio 5live. Yesterday, having just led britain to their worst tally of metals at a World Championship in 1a years, black himself admitted his future was uncertain in the wake of the salazar scandal thats cast a shadow over the sport here now as well as in the us. And today, perhaps a little quicker than expected, the governing body, uk athletics, confirmed that they had a performance would be stepping down later this month. It was black after all who was the man that appointed Alberto Salazar as a consultant to his enduring squad in 2013, describing the coach is a genius. But two years later, his judgement was fiercely called into question, of course, when those allegations of wrongdoing by salazar were first made in that bbc panorama documentary, which triggered an investigation by the us anti doping agency. And the game between england and portugal is still 0 0. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in sportsday at half past ten. Austin, thank you for that. The parents of a ten year old boy who died after contracting hiv through contaminated blood products, were given a standing ovation at a Public Inquiry today after describing the familys ordeal. Lee turton died in 1992. His mother told the inquiry she believes the government knew the blood products being used were infected, as did the pharmaceutical companies, but that they did nothing. Hugh pym has been speaking to lees parents. Good morning, son, Merry Christmas to you. Are you all right . I got a stomach ache. Huh . I got a stomach ache. It was lees final christmas. He was ten and only had weeks to live. Hed been infected with hiv because of his treatment by the nhs. I cant get to sleep. He was just four when his parents were told he had contracted hiv after being treated for his haemophilia with contaminated blood products. He never had a childhood, he could never do the things other children did, that was all taken away from him. He used to say how frightened he was. And what can you say . You know, theres a little boy of eight, nine, telling you hes so frightened and you cant take that away. They said they were shunned by other parents. 0ne teacher even refused to have him in the class. They were harassed by the media and felt they had to move. Today, denise told the inquiry about lees final days. They actually told us he had between two and ten days to live. Sorry. So they said that. They said he had an infection on the brain. So we insisted that he went home that day, because thats what he wanted to do. He kept asking to go home. We got him home, with a nurse and he lived for another eight days at home. In that time, he sort of. Demanded that he wanted to go down and see the beach for the last time, so we managed to carry him down to the beach. I think the hardest thing is not knowing the truth about what happened and knowing that its all been covered up. Like other affected families, they hope the inquiry will finally get to that truth. Hugh pym, bbc news. Thirteen men have been arrested as part of an International Investigation into whats believed to be the uks biggest ever drug smuggling operation. The National Crime agency says fifty tons of heroin, cocaine and cannabis said to be worth billions of pounds was imported from the netherlands in lorry loads of vegetables and fruitjuice, before being moved around the uk over an 18 month period. Police have arrested more than 500 protesters over the last two days, including people who have blocked roads and bridges around westminster, to demand action on climate change. The supporters of the Extinction Rebellion movement have hit back at borisjohnsons description of them as uncooperative crusties, saying that theyre ordinary people trying to secure a better future. More than 20,000 people in england and wales were injured by knives or sharp instruments last year and survived, many victims of knife crime. And often theyre left traumatised by their experience, struggling to return to education, training, or the workplace. Ive been speaking to one survivor. This is a tale from a frightened city. Meet gaddi. He survived a knife attack. These guys, they came up to us and they said, where you guys from . And ijust froze, everything froze, i didnt know what to say. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Assaulted on his way home from football practice. Hes 15. I dont even remember them stabbing me here and stuff. And that is when he got me here. I was bleeding, i was bleeding and then i saw loads of blood pouring out and i was just holding it tight, squeezing it. This is gaddi recovering in hospital two days after the attack. A grateful family by his side. Let him be alive, god, please let him be alive. I was praying for him to be alive with all my energy, all my. Those were my feelings as a mum. So they are saying the best thing to do is to move out of the area. Deprivation and a sense of hopelessness can lead some to join gangs, deal drugs, fight turf wars. But theres never any excuse for the savagery of a knife attack and the ease which some are willing to grab a blade. Gaddi was attacked simply because he wandered into the wrong area. Hes now left hospital and hes back at school, but bad memories persist. I cant sleep well at night, because sometimes im still up because im, like, paranoid. Its just like, i think about it and i dont want to sleep. So, you know, its one of those things. So, today, hes meeting a caseworker from the St Giles Trust, a charity that helps victims of Violent Crime adjust to lives transformed. I just get frustrated sometimes. Yes. And illjust be angry. Like, why me . Stuff like that. There was one, i came in on a tuesday and there were 11 new admissions. The St Giles Trust now has an Office Inside the royal london hospital, where gaddi was treated. It means trauma experts can help stabbing survivors straight after surgery. Hundreds in this hospital every year, thousands around the country, who are stabbed and survive but are traumatised. 0ne consultant surgeon says they need compassion and understanding, not suspicion. We live in a society that judges these people based on their demographics and makings of their injury. Nothing else. We pay no attention to their circumstances or their back stories, to what these lads are going back to. And we want them to be better, to be normal, to be fixed. And scared and they deserve what happens to them. And, more importantly, we are going to tolerate it. And that cant be allowed to stand. You are lucky you are still here with us. And dont forget the strain on families, too. Moving away from this part of london, will that give you peace of mind . Probably it will give a little bit of peace of mind. But there is a tension. Im completely against it, to be honest, because i have football and i have school. It is not like they targeted me. I know, i know. It is not about me being safe, its. How do you know they didnt target you . Im not involved in anything. Why would they, attack an innocent person, mum . Why . The dilemma of a loving family. One of many now being driven away by a violence thats staying put. The story there of one knife crime survivor. And coming up, 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 sillito, right here on the bbc news channel in a few minutes time. Now its time for a look at the weather with nick miller. Hello. Whether at the moment, capable of changing several times during the day from sunshine to showers to sunshine to shower again, and the pattern is going to continue for a while longer in the uk. Now, for a while longer in the uk. Now, for a while longer in the uk. Now, fora time, as for a while longer in the uk. Now, for a time, as we go through the night, the shower is already towards the western side of the uk, but the sun will emerge back across south wales and through southern england, but later in the night, clear spells for many of us, many of us just dipping down into single figures, it stays quite blustery out there. Into tomorrow, some early showers, south wales, southern england, could be heavy and thundering and places. Scattered showers elsewhere across the western side of the uk, the showers keep on coming to western scotland, especially to the western highlands, with strong gusty winds may be around a0 mph, maybe a bit more in places. Relatively few showers making their way all the way to the eastern side of the uk, sort more in the way of sunny spells, fewer showers to be found here, but for all of us, it will feel a little bit cooler on wednesday. Compared with