the dup within the du -- dup within the uk which would make the dup within the du —— dup within the uk government are irrelevant. the dup meant they did have a very slim one, but now they haven't even got that. if we move they haven't even got that. if we m ove o nto they haven't even got that. if we move onto bbc online, which is looking at the new trade commissioner, which was announced yesterday, this was announced by ursula von der leyen, who is the new european commission president to be, all these changes take place on october 31. of course they do. ironically. it's a big day. hogan is an irishman, he's pretty close to leave arad car, the prime minister, and he is seen as someone who is pretty against brexit and will be a tough negotiator —— pretty close to leo varadka. he has already come out and said there is progress being made on both sides of this agreement, and this is the conflicting issue about brexit, isn't it? you get from one side you will say mps in the uk, say we all know there is no negotiations going on. then someone from within the eu saying there is progre

it was a fascinating meeting because for so long, the dup we re meeting because for so long, the dup were those central players in the political wrangling is here, as the previous prime minister tried to get various iterations of brexit through the house of commons, the withdrawal agreement in particular. and they had a double role that they propped up had a double role that they propped up the conservatives in government, and the whole question of the backstop in the irish border, the insurance policy to make sure it stays open under any circumstances, they were on the front line of that. they went in today to see the prime minister, and absently crucial to the discussion today is this idea that has been in the ether for a few days about whether the government was warming to the idea of a northern ireland only backstop. in other words, northern ireland stays closer to the eu than the rest of the uk - closer to the eu than the rest of the uk — england, scotland, and whales. therefore you don't need to worry about a border between northern ireland and the republic, but you create wh

certainly, i would like to see the dup change their position. they are out of step with most people here in northern ireland. there is a strong here in northern ireland. there is a strong consensus here in northern ireland. there is a strong consensus in northern ireland, including from virtually all the business community, farmers, the trade unions, the universities, that see the backstop as important. northern ireland voted heavily to remain, and if we can still remain that would be our prince. the dup has taken a very different view and have wrongly portrayed the backstop of some sort of constitutional threat with the notion we do things differently here. the fact is, northern ireland is a very special place. if it is to the uk. a lot of devolution, and even beforehand we do things differently including economic issues on terms of a single electricity market, we already have a single zone in terms of animal health, so that there are many precedents in which we can build. at this stage, northern ireland will proceed with a negotiated brexit, b

more on our top story of the dup meeting borisjohnson more on our top story of the dup meeting boris johnson amid suggestions, and they are only suggestions, and they are only suggestions, that the prime minister is considering possible changes to the backstop. the mechanism which is meant to avoid a hard border in northern ireland. it is one of the key obstacles to an agreement and has been for some time. to get the view from brussels, i am delighted to see that peter fosterjoins us. what you make of the talks between the dup and downing street? is it realistic do you think to expect some kind of breakthrough on this idea of a northern ireland only backstop? i am not sure you will get a breakthrough in the immediate term. mr mrjohnson. the dup do not want to see northern ireland left in a different position from the rest of great britain. they do not want to see northern ireland becoming a regulatory explain of the european union. whether not there can be, people need to be clear about the difference with tina northern island only backstop, the text of which is in the original backs

and whether they do in fa ct lead the dup lead. and whether they do in fa ct lea d to the dup lead. and whether they do in fact lead to any progress in the brexit negotiations more widely. thank you very much. let's pick up on some of those suggestions in some quarters that the dup could drop its objection to northern ireland, continuing to follow some eu rules — in contrast to the rest of the uk. the dup have dismissed these reports this morning. let's talk to sammy wilson the dup‘s brexit spokesperson. you will have heard in the last few moments of the news that the prime minister is going to be talking to young law junker, what minister is going to be talking to young lawjunker, what do you read into that? —— junk law junker. young lawjunker, what do you read into that? -- junk lawjunker. he would talk to whoever he had to talk to to reach a deal by the 31st of october. that is perfectly reasonable for him to do so, indeed, i think we would expect him to do that, because that is a promise he has made will stopjust on the, i mean, you have heard our reporter in brussels ta

and that's something the dup would be absolutely against. to add to that, northern ireland doesn't have a government at the moment so if the uk left the eu without a deal, that would the huge problems and consequences for northern ireland and that is something the dup are thinking about as well. that is according to the times, but looking at the telegraph, they have cabinet allies urging the prime minister to look for a brexit extension, quoting one particular exit in a cabinet minister as saying, ok, one particular exit in a cabinet ministeras saying, ok, we're one particular exit in a cabinet minister as saying, ok, we're going to have to go for a delay. a brexiteer minister has spoken anonymously to the daily telegraph and the daily mail tomorrow. that's your paper, you can tell us who it is! i won't be doing that if i want to keep my job! is! i won't be doing that if i want to keep myjob! this is reflecting these difficult choices and they are saying if borisjohnson has the choice of seeking an extension or breaking the law, the better t

it's not inconceivable that dup could be to this. watch the telegraph suggests is that he could go even further and extend this to all goods or most goods. and that the dup could be open to doing this as long as they did not go into ta riffs as long as they did not go into tariffs and the customs checks. so, really, this would be a form of backstop and inform form of regulatory divergence between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. it would not be the backstop necessarily. how much power do you think they still have? this is the cunning plan. the cunning plan that everyone has been waiting for from the poorest government. you do wonder about it. he tried to explain it and did explain it. brilliantly. whether everybody fully understands the niceties of tariffs and regulatory this at etc is another matter. does the dup, still, as you rightly say, still have the cloud with the new house of commons, when i see the new house of commons, they changed house of commons posts of the events of last week, is another matter. but this is, it

first of all, what is your understanding of the dup's position? because we are hearing some very contradictory things about their view of where these negotiations have reached. yes, we have been hearing from the dup this morning and what we have been hearing is, one thing to the london times newspaper and something else entirely publicly in what arlene foster has been saying. but i think despite all this ebb and flow of expectation around whether there might be some move towards a compromise this week, the irish government, for its part, is remaining remarkably cautious, and also remarkably consistent. leo varadkar has been saying this morning things that were in line with what he said to borisjohnson when he was with the prime minister on monday, and that is that the government here is not going to be willing to give up on the backstop for something that merely amounts to a promise for something that does not stand up to scrutiny as it were, and he says that what he sees coming from the british side now falls very short of meeting the irish gover

under theresa may, the dup held the balance of power. that doesn't apply any more. last week boris johnson threw out 21 conservative mps for voting against him. as @faisalislam puts it. "northern ireland—only backstop no no.10 doesn't — but it still needs a majority of mps — and it controls far fewer than a majority. so the equation has changed but nothing will be easy. the prime minister's office has dampened the speculation — we are not seeking a northern ireland—only backstop," a spokesperson said. although number 10 also denied the government was planning to prorogue parliament. earlier the guardian's brexit correspondent lisa o'carroll explained the twists and turns. it seems like it is a circle that cannot be squared, on the one hand. the dup argue that they should maintain constitutional union with united kingdom, but on the other hand breaks it seems to threaten the good friday agreement. how do you reconcile the two, it's very difficult. as you know it backstop, uk wide backstop was rejected by parliament three times. it was a early option and was

lots of denials of a change in position from the dup, but what's really going on? you're right, the dup has stuck so staunchly to its red lines throughout this process process —— brexit process, it would be extremely uncharacteristic for them to back down now and accept checks over the irish sea which they had a lwa ys over the irish sea which they had always ruled out in the past. we saw the party leader arlene foster last night on twitter rubbishing suggestions that their policies had in anyway started to shift. and again, today, the party underlining that, saying the stories that were on the front page of the times today are actually nonsense. but it does pose the question, are we starting to see the development of something beginning to reveal itself which might look like the landing zone for any last—minute deal? last week, the dup did say it was open to the idea perhaps of an all ireland agrifood zone and having common standards on many food products across the island would remove the need for some checks at the irish border. and there is already an arr

so yes, we could be seeing a change from the dup, a slight softening of their stance, and that could actually have the potential to break this impasse. they will need to get dublin's support, and we heard earlierfrom dublin's support, and we heard earlier from the foreign dublin's support, and we heard earlierfrom the foreign minister saying there has been no feasible plan put forward. yes, which is really concerning given it is so close to the actual deadline. and interestingly, you do have boris johnson and the government saying they are putting plans forward, but yes, the eu seem pretty convinced that there is nothing that is pensive and is a concrete plan yet. and we are also hearing from the government that they are trying to beef up their brexit negotiating team. it does make you wonder why they waited all these weeks to do that, if that was the case. exactly, borisjohnson has understood now that if he can't get an election, he needs to get a deal, so suddenly we are seeing a huge emphasis being put on trying to get a deal. it doesn't seem quite late in the day to be doing this

with the dup out of the picture? saying this to protect the interests of the republic of ireland, this is a very good solution indeed, the trouble is the politics. the numbers now are very fragile for any solution. so would you lose or gain if the dup we re would you lose or gain if the dup were not likely to at all? i could see how it would be a possible way forward. thank you both are very much. we will be answering your questions on all things brexit and what could happen next. i wasjust mentioning that the key dates in the weeks ahead. if you have questions that you want to put to us for bbc ask this, contact details on your screen right now. we will have much more from westminster later this hour. now back to the studio for a round—up of the day's business news. the uk economy grew by 0.3% injuly, compared with june. that's according to the office for national statistics. growth "remained level" in the three months to july 2019. more on that in just a moment. lloyds banking group is facing an extra bill of up

the key bit here is this issue of the dup and its potential flexibility. speak to some people in northern ireland and they say the dup, they would be willing to offer some sort of compromise. we speak to others who know a lot about them and they say you shouldn't call their bluff. this is a party that was effectively set up to say no. and they may well throw a spanner in the works at the last minute. up until now ireland have been able to rely firmly on the rest of the eu allies over what they deem to be a non—negotiable part of the withdrawal agreement, the backstop. they absolutely have. ireland is the key to all of the problem is, if you like, because getting out because the irish border has been the intractable problem. how can believe ina intractable problem. how can believe in a meaningful way and be out of the single market and customs union and have a free trade agreement and keep trade flowing freely without any checks and no one yet has found any checks and no one yet has found a solution and that is why we are still where we are. the daily tel

and the dup said that too. if that they don't want northern ireland to be treated than the rest of the country. boris johnson, with whatever you make of him as a serious union. he's been talking to them all the way through. we have to get our heads around this alternative proposition and i think the dup are already behind it. i don't think they will be the sticking point. ithink don't think they will be the sticking point. i think the sticking point will be the other 27 eu leaders. you can see the subheading, borisjohnson is leaders. you can see the subheading, boris johnson is seeking leaders. you can see the subheading, borisjohnson is seeking to put events brussels of a new agreement with the condition there will be no further extension on offer if mps rejected it. that's the only deal in town, if you reject this then britain leaves despite the laws of the past few weeks ago without a deal on october 31 which means there will be a going to the heads of those mps because it's whether the eu will meet boris ha

the dup and the prime ministerwants an majority with the dup and the prime minister wants an election on the 14th of october but the legislation means he could get the support of the house on the 14th of october and subsequently move the date until after the 31st of october. you think you would possibly do that?” after the 31st of october. you think you would possibly do that? i do not think people have any reason to trust that is prime minister's word. because legislation is framing as it is, he could change the date and when you have a prime minister who says he would not suspend parliament but then decided he would, and saying that categorically he would not call a snap election and then call a snap election, i am afraid he is running out of roads to get people to trust him. tell me what you think this means for the conservative party more generally, we had just seen greening saying she will not stand at the next election and that the tory party is no longer the party for her and others feel the party for her and others feel the same, alistair burt, a former minister in the think

the dup have said they are willing to shift that redline. whereas before they were not willing to accept regulatory checks or anything that treated northern ireland differently from the rest of the uk, there are signs they might be willing to move here now and that would be really interesting because that would open the opportunity to have a new deal. the reason they have taken this new start, a poll has come out suggesting that northern ireland voters would back a reunification over staying in the uk and that seems to be a tipping point. they need dublin's support. we heard from the irish prime minister that they have not been any proposals put forward but let's see if that opens a new door but further talks by the chief brexit negotiator going to brussels. and the time is definitely running out and it is not the first time we have a centre that! boris johnson, if you cannot get an election, does need a deal. we will see if there are any developments. in the financial times, the european central bank has announced this package of measures c

he has lost a majority, boris johnson, he doesn't need the dup anymore. it's interesting, we are going back to things we discussed here two years ago. that is to say, making northern ireland part of a customs union or putting the border on the irish sea, and it was on the table. brian, let's hearfrom you on this. the prime minister did see the irish taoiseach this past week, are you hopeful that things are shuffling in the way of a deal perhaps via dublin, but ultimately in brussels, and you have only got a minute to tell me. it is a bit more hopeful than it was. i think the expression being used is the landing strip. the landing strip is narrow and it is far away and time short. the landing strip is, as agnes says, around the northern ireland backstop. the dup are still important, but there is quite a way to go simply because borisjohnson has put on the table food, food security and checks and everything else, is an all ireland issue, but that only amounts to one third of everything that happens across that border. it amounts to a big chunk... so it is n

that was not acceptable to the dup, they don't want to see a border down the irish sea. then we moved to a uk version of that, which maybe now looks like it is not in order because boris johnson maybe now looks like it is not in order because borisjohnson has talked about ditching the backstop altogether. and now we're back to talking about maybe some kind of mechanism whereby northern ireland would work alongside the republic and the eu on things like agrifood products in order to make sure that that border remains frictionless. and reports today in the times, as you say, suggesting that the dup might suddenly be willing to move their red lines, allow some sort of regulatory differences down the irish sea between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. however, the dup leader, arlene foster, in a tweet last night was pretty clear in dismissing that. and this morning, we've been hearing from the dup mp sammy wilson, the party's brexit spokesman in westminster, and he was very dismissive of the reporters well. —— report as well. of course, we want to see a deal, the

there is also the issue for the conservatives of the dup, and getting some labour votes, or some tory mps who are now independence to pass that through parliament. otherwise they face asking for an extension under the benn act. and this is your newspaper, the reaction that seems to have greeted this is pretty negative so far, but it is early days, obviously. is this new, really, or not? well, obviously we report that this is something the prime minister is considering outlining as an offer in his big keynote conference speech on wednesday. and you would think that he would only do that if he was very confident it was worthwhile, and almost committing to camera, otherwise it would be jolly embarrassing if he then had michel barnier coming back on camera and immediately saying that's very good, but we won't accept it and try again. otherwise he will have to commit to something to show that he is, at the tory conference, trying to get that done, because that is the mantra, by 31 october, they want to make clear. the real question is how, because as maya was touching on, under existing le

did not like it and because they do of dup did not like itand a because they do of dup did not like it and a lot of conservatives did not like it either. it seems to be backin not like it either. it seems to be back in the ether as a conversation again, does it not? is back on ether, but not the northern ireland only backs up as a note. absolutely because on people's pm cues the premise is that absolutely no to the northern ireland backstop. but what isa northern ireland backstop. but what is a diluted version cosmic it is notjust is a diluted version cosmic it is not just about keeping the is a diluted version cosmic it is notjust about keeping the birder open full stop it is not about, as we have seen from suggestions about having to exhibit further back from the body. that does not cut it either. it is about keeping the all ireland economy going. and keeping that infrastructure of the birder and protecting the single market for the ego. as well as protecting the northern ireland peace process —— the birder. when you check the site is coming from the uk, and there are ideas, b

sir jeffrey donaldson from the dup said that would not be acceptable. northern ireland only backstop that separated us in trading terms from britain and created a trade border in the rsc would run contrary to the principles at the heart of the good friday agreement which site there should be no change to the relationship between northern ireland and great britain unless there is consent and there would not be unionist consent. downing street says it is not seeking a northern ireland only backstop but there are several unionist conservative backbenchers who would find that difficult to accept as well. so what does happen next? it is the million dollar question. mps are trying to address this so today a new cross— party address this so today a new cross—party group has been launched called mps for a deal that includes people like the conservative backbencher victoria prentice, nick boles and caroline flint, and they say they will be working to show there are the numbers to get a majority for some sort of deal. the mp alex chalke said the mood in parli

if the dup's votes were no longer needed. there isa votes were no longer needed. there is a big roll of the dice to come with a general election and as things stand, the irish government still says no viable alternatives to the backstop had been put forward. our correspondent damian grammaticas is in brussels. there is an assumption from many europe will say yes to any request to an extension, is there a bat? there is, it is the eu has to agree and say yes. it doesn't happen if the eu leaders don't approve it. we have had over the weekend some noises from the french, remember, a few months ago they were sounding a bit tough about things. when push came to shove, and they'd been saying they would only accept with conditions, they swallowed the bullet and accepted it. the feeling again is the eu does not want to be in the position it is seen to be pushing the uk out. but also, listen to leo varadkar, he said a request foran to leo varadkar, he said a request for an extension particularly with a reason like an election, of course we would look at that. the key thing

, the dup would not agree to what is being discussed about potentially providing a way through. do you think that northern ireland only backstop is going to be the path the government goes down? there have been optimistic noises this week, but it looks very difficult with these numbers in parliament, even if there is a breakthrough. boris johnson has to sell it to his party and now no deal is off the table, it is hard for him to get there. thank you both very much forjoining us. we will have to see what next week in politics brings. two people have been arrested inside the perimeter of heathrow airport, by police investigating a threat by climate change activists to disrupt flights using drones. seven other people were detained yesterday. heathrow says services are operating as normal. earlier this week on the programme, we spoke to some of those planning to take part in the protest. it doesn't show that i don't care. it shows how much i care because i'm prepared to go to prison over this. the responsibility here lies with the government. when you press ahead with a third runway

now ta kes government secured through the dup now takes away the incentive to keep them all on side so they can start to look at alternatives that involve tinkering with the irish settlement that they previously would not have been able to consider because of the risk of losing that arrangement. and obviously the prime minister has a busy weekend and week ahead as well. he is heading to new york. this is the annual united nations general assembly. where he has a whole lot of bilateral meetings with fellow heads of states, including donald trump and european leaders as well, where they will try and make some sort of progress in the margins of the summit. and that is honestly something to watch out for stop let's turn now to the times and. what is you both make of the ship that they should be in school for them to be in the streets protesting? i was very much today should be in school. alarming to me that so many teachers and politicians were actually engaged in applauding students for taking a day off school to take part in a protest. by all means committed in a protest. by all means

there are two other problems for borisjohnson, which is the dup and with the dup is willing to agree to, but also needing to get the numbers he needs to get any deal through parliament. we have seen borisjohnson upset through parliament. we have seen boris johnson upset quite a lot of parliamentarians he needs to get on side. and it's not that it's impossible for him to do that, weathered plans like this would, remains to be seen. he has been feeling some potential ideas. let's have a quick look at what some of the other papers have got on brexit. the ft, john centeno by the weekend whether he has a chance of a brexit deal because tomorrow, it's the ist of october —— johnson by the weekend to know. october 17 is the summit, and the leaders would like to have the proposals a week ahead of time. they wa nt to proposals a week ahead of time. they want to see if they like it, really chill over. the key point is, remember, the timing of all this process. today, we have this very brexiteer friendly proposal leaked out and we reported on the papers. obviously, the eu will not like the s

jeffrey donaldson, a dup mp, is with me, as is chris hazzard, from sinn fein. welcome, both of you, it is good to see here. 67% of your constituents voted to stay in the eu. they didn't wa nt to voted to stay in the eu. they didn't want to brexit, let alone a no—deal, so why not take your seat in parliament to make sure you can influence what happens next? my constituents also voted for a sinn fein mp who wouldn't take his seat at westminster. how do you influence events then? you have to remember the centre of political gravity may well be westminster in britain, but my constituents, it is dublin and brussels in europe. we have been on the other side of the negotiating table so the rights of irish citizens and farmers and the business community and the civic society who live along the body, it is brussels and eu 27 who have protected them and that is where we differ, that is where we have lobbied. no-deal has not been taken off the table, it is still not off the table and it may not be. surely the table and it may not be. surely the stakes are so high you sh

theresa may requested uk wide solution because she needed the support of the dup. supposedly boris johnson has put forward a proposal that means agricultural products could travel freely across that border but others rules and regulations would not apply. the dup will be pretty important to backing such an idea and they push back quite strongly on the idea there would be a body down the irish sea early in the week. although boris johnson says he is cautiously optimistic, michael barnier said the other day there are no grounds whatsoever for optimism. we will wait to see what emerges in the coming day but certainly i do detect this growing sense in downing street, anyway, that they might be close to a breakthrough. but then again, they might be talking it up. they have six weeks to find out, don't they? yes, less than 50 days to go. boris johnson don't they? yes, less than 50 days to go. borisjohnson determined to ta ke to go. borisjohnson determined to take the country out on the 31st of october in spite of the piece of legislation passed by the house of commons wh

they still have the support of the ten dup mps, which means altogether there are 298 mps who would, in theory, back the government in the commons. 0n the opposite benches, there are 216 labour mps. the snp currently have 35. there are, as of today, 16 liberal democrats, there are 14 declared independents, plus five more who belong to the independent group for change. plaid cymru have four mps and there's one green, so, in total, the opposition parties have 320 mps, 22 more than the conservatives and the dup. but, on top of that, there are now 21 conservatives who no longer have the whip and have shown themselves ready to vote against the government, which is why people are saying the government now has a majority of minus a3. or, to put it another way, borisjohnson is 22 short of a working majority. just in case you're keeping count, there are, of course, some other mps in the house of commons who don't vote — the speaker and his deputies by convention don't vote. sinn fein don't take their seats. but, looking at the big picture, what is clear from these benches is that with 341 mps

leo varadkar talking to the dup. politically, he cannot get away with weakening the backstop in any way but what he can say is working with the dup because he says he totally understands the unionists in northern ireland and he wants to work with them and so on. there is movement. what might change this is the verdict of the supreme court. if you haven't been following the case, if you have had better things to do than watch the supreme court rundle is, than watch the supreme court rundle ‘s, what is happening is the scottish —— scottish court decided that boris johnson scottish —— scottish court decided that borisjohnson acted against the law and misled the queen in order to outline his domestic programme and everybody suspected it was because he wanted to close down debate on brexit that according to london, they said it is none of our business. supreme court has had this week argument after argument after argument on both sides and they have to come up with verdict, probably early next week. it could not

during the day, the prime minister held talks with the dup of northern ireland, who said tonight that they'd received assurances that the uk would not agree to a brexit deal that would create a division between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg reports. black rod! the call made, as it always has been. black suits and lace worn in the usual way. desire the presence of this honourable house... but then, there's been nothing — genuinely nothing — ever quite like this. jeering and booing. 0pposition mps‘ fury that the prime minister has closed parliament early. even scuffling to try to keep the speaker in his chair — a symbol of their desire to keep parliament open in these vital weeks. this is not, however, a normal prorogation. it is not typical. it is not standard, and it represents an act of executive fiat. "shame on you," opposition mps shout at conservatives. booing and chanting: shame on you! shame on you! the commons is not so much divided, it's broken into jagged bits. then after those moments of pandemonium, at nearly 1:30 in

during the day, the prime minister held talks with the dup of northern ireland, who said tonight that they'd receieved assurances that the uk would not agree to a brexit deal that would create a division between northern ireland and the rest of the uk. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. black rod! the call made, as it always has been. black suits and lace worn in the usual way. desire the presence of this honourable house... but then, there's been nothing — genuinely nothing — ever quite like this. jeering and booing. opposition mps' fury that the prime minister has closed parliament early. even scuffling to try to keep the speaker in his chair — a symbol of their desire to keep parliament open in these vital weeks. this is not, however, a normal prorogation. it is not typical. it is not standard, and it represents an act of executive fiat. "shame on you," opposition mps shout at conservatives. booing and chanting: shame on you! shame on you! the commons is not so much divided, it's broken into jagged bits. then after those moments of pandemonium, at nearly 1:30 in t

british government and the irish government and as you mentioned the involvement of the leader of the dup in talks in dublin, there is still a big difference in expectations there because what the backstop comprises, what theresa may '5 government had agreed was essentially the solution to the irish border was that we would have no new checks and controls anywhere on the island and the only way to deliver that is for northern ireland to stay in a customs union and single market relationship. the new borisjohnson government have rowed right back from that, rightly, in my view, to say you can avoid a hard border, you can avoid breaching the belfast agreement by using measures that will facilitate trade but it will not be the status quo. and that's where the irish government is still very firmly disagreeing, that it will move towards a position. victoria, thanks very much and of course none of this happening in a vacuum, we are waiting on monday probably the outcome of the supreme court hearing of the prorogation of parliament. victoria hewson talking to us. let‘s look at what the markets

in there to get this right, to sign a deal that can get through this parliament, so that way of the dup does then perhaps blur the lines, except just enough friction does then perhaps blur the lines, exceptjust enough friction in the united kingdom, at the same time the erg would have to accept it, because otherwise they will have to sit back and watch him forced to obey the law by delaying brexit. and of course, then the big problem is the eu, then. because the detail really is going to have to be rewritten, more nuanced,in going to have to be rewritten, more nuanced, in a way they will happily consider. it is asking them to strike down so much of what they have promised, and to create some politically contentious customs posts away from the border. and he is running out of time, let's not beat around the bush, because we're talking about one 0ctober now. by the 19th he needs something, and ideally a little bit before that, because the summit is on the 17th. absolutely, he needs to make sure the ear leaders have something they can seriously chew over. to put it one way, if you are hear

leo varadkar talking to the dup, politically he cannot get away with weakening the backstop in any way. what he can say is he's working together with the dup and he says he understands the unionists in northern ireland and wants to work with them. so white might change all of this is the verdict of the supreme court. if you have not been following the case that had better things to do than watch the supreme court is what is happening here is the scottish court decided borisjohnson happening here is the scottish court decided boris johnson had happening here is the scottish court decided borisjohnson had acted against the law and had misled the queen by suspended parliament in order to have a queens a speech to outline his domestic programme. and everybody suspected it was because he wanted to close down the debate in brexit but according to london they said that's none of our business. the supreme court has had this week argument after argument on both sides and they have to come up with the verdict probably early next week. now, it could not be more contentious, right? you have the co

leo varadkar talking to the dup. politically, he cannot get away with weakening the backstop in any way but what he can say is he's working together with the dup because he's always said he totally understands the unionists in northern ireland and he wants to work with them and so on and so forth. so, i think there's movement. so what might change this in a really big way is the verdict of the supreme court when it comes. if you haven't been following the case, if you've had better things to do than watch the supreme court bundles, what's at root here is the scottish court decided that borisjohnson had acted against the law and had misled the queen by suspending parliament in order to have a queen's speech to outline his domestic programme and everybody suspected it was because he wanted to close down debate on brexit, but a court in london basically said, oh, it's none of our business. so the supreme court has had this week argument after argument after argument on both sides and they have to come up with a verdict,

yes, the dup would be hugely unhappy with that scenario. they have already spoken out against that idea that has been floated around. i think really the pressure is on boris johnson to come up with an alternative at the question everyone is asking, including leo varadkar, who he will be meeting this morning, is what is your alternative to the backstop? he doesn't want the backstop? he doesn't want the backstop in the withdrawal agreement, but there is a feeling amongst those in the eu that he actually hasn't come up with the details. we may hearfrom him before he goes in. they are in fact going to be giving a short statement, taking a couple of questions from the media. whether he will give us an insight into exactly what his alternative is to the backstop, we will have to wait and see. they haven't arrived yet, we were expecting them to come here at 9am. discussions here, not negotiations, according to leo varadkar, but still according to leo varadkar, but still a very important meeting between the two men. thank you very much, we will be

we are absolutely convinced, it is notjust for dup who think that, the irish prime minister met with the prime minister on monday and afterwards, he recognised that the uk government is serious about getting a deal and i think the language we are now getting from dublin, on the taoiseach and also from other leading politicians in dublin is more positive about finding alternative arrangements and their willingness to consider an alternative to the backstop. ultimately, if northern ireland emerges from this with a framework where it is treated differently in some way to other parts of the uk, but is not something that you are going to be able to digest. but is not something that you are going to be able to digestm depends on what those differences are. if they are practical arrangements, for example, to deal with issues like animal health, we already have arrangements in place across the border for that, already have arrangements in place across the borderfor that, or indeed looking at the issue of standards between northern ireland and the republic of ireland, we will look at practica

the financial times covers the dup who had a conference in dublin yesterday signalled that it is perhaps softening its stance. borisjohnson over the last few weeks has been talking about a deal which may cover the agricultural sector across the island of ireland. perhaps not significant enough to be a true new deal but certainly some signs of movement. and there are expected to bea movement. and there are expected to be a few talks between him and merkel at the sidelines of the un next week. we get positive and negative news about the prospects. that is the democratic unionist party that has been helping the conservative party hold the majority in parliament although that does not happen now because borisjohnson has lost his slim majority. it was interesting because many are talking about the fact that emmanuel macron, the president of france, could be the president of france, could be the spanner in the works when it comes to negotiating a new withdrawal agreement. prior, that is, to the summit coming up in the middle of october. is right. if you look at the rhetoric that has come from

may faced pressure from the dup. , any talkn capitals of a deal is not in sight. boris johnson compared himself , throwing- to hulk off the shackles of the eu. british prime minister has told reporters he is feeling cautious about the meeting. we will bring you details as they come through the day. is one day to go until polling stations open across israel for the second parliamentary election of the year. netanyahu and his government held a cabinet meeting in the west bank, where they announced creation of a new settlement. let's get more from our reporter in jerusalem. what are the polls predicting at this stage? >> i can only tell you the polls up to the last 24 hours or so. there is a break. you are not allowed to report of the most current polls. up to friday, things are as they were in the previous election. the two main parties are can -- neck. neck in king maker, the man who will decide between them, the man no , --can rule without >> he was his brother in arms. along the way, he formed his own party and now youou would have o amity -- amity --- amamnity.

we begin with the times and uk prime minister boris johnson who was handed a lifeline by the dup last night, when it agreed to shift its red lines in a move that could help to unlock a brexit deal. the ft leads with the european central bank who has announced its biggest package of rate cuts and economic stimulus in three years, warning governments of the need to act quickly to revive flagging eurozone growth. le figaro reports tech giant google is to pay french authorities almost 1 euro billion to end a long—running investigation into its taxes. it rounds off a four year investigation that saw authorities raid google's paris headquarters in 2016. the guardian says an area of forest the size of the uk is being lost every year around the world, the vast majority of it tropical rainforest, with dire effects on the climate emergency and wildlife. the rate of loss has reached 26m hectares or 64m acres a year. and finally be careful where you place your coffee cup, especially when you're the pilot. a commercial flight bound for mexico with 326 people on board was forced to make an emerge

i wonder if that is a view that is shared by the dup and arlene foster. that is the crucial nub of all of this. ultimately the numbers are the crucial nub and the numbers have changed, not least because the parliamentary majority has changed. borisjohnson was dependent parliamentary majority has changed. boris johnson was dependent for parliamentary majority has changed. borisjohnson was dependent for his parliamentary majority but now he doesn't have one anyway. there is no difference. arlene foster is talking to the irish prime minister and there are signs that they may have softened their stance to crucially it is numbers generally because the reason we are in this pickle and we have been going on about this for so long is that parliament is lit one third one third one third, effectively. a group in the middle wa nt to effectively. a group in the middle want to compromise, a group want to revoke and a group that wants no deal. the key has been to get people on the two extremes to move into the middle ground of compromise. and because each of them has t

but the back comic article also suggests that even the dup may privately be open to some concessions. we will have to see. we will have to see, but the fact he is going to dublin will at least satisfy some people who say that he should be out there talking to the eu partners. after all, that man in leeds said you should be in brussels this week. yes, he was given a very hard time last week, amidst all the other issues he had to deal with by the guy. what are you doing here? you are playing games! so yes, he is making an attempt. i have to say, i am sorry for being a doomster or a gloomster, i am am sorry for being a doomster or a gloomster, lam not am sorry for being a doomster or a gloomster, i am not wildly optimistic. but at the same time, i think if there is no movement on the backstop, i can't see any real prospect of any deal getting through, because something has got to change. but of course, boris johnson was saying, you know, you will cut my legs away if you take away the option of us leaving on 31 october. so, you know, his position may not have been strengthened. it is vara

maybe borisjohnson will try and see if maybe there could be a northern ireland only backstop which the dup initially objected to but maybe a game because of these tax examine what he has been doing to push this to the wire, they may be more agreeable to think of that because they would rather that than no deal. leo varadkar has already been strongly clear that the backstop must be part of any deal. he says he will not move on that and he has the support of brussels on that. and this is the tricky issue because it was the backstop that borisjohnson, when because it was the backstop that boris johnson, when he because it was the backstop that borisjohnson, when he was foreign secretary, he was absolutely dead against it. but i think this is another area where they can start this lid has because you can still have a backstop but maybe it is in northern ireland only. everyone saves a little face, everyone compromises a little bit and boris johnson goes forward and the prime minister of ireland goes forward but ina minister of ireland goes forward but in a slightly reconstituted shape and form

the financial times covers the dup who had a conference in dublin yesterday signalled that it is

he has to try and avoid no deal, he has to talk to the dup and sort out the ireland problem. he has a couple of weeks to try and cobble stuff together, speak to the eu as fast as possible, run back to the house of commons and desperately trying get something through in a parliament where everybody hates him. and at the same time, again, according to bbc bulletins, downing street is playing down this meeting monday with the top brass. what are we to believe? all will be revealed at some stage. just be patient! don and john, thank you so much. —— eu and john. that is it for this hour. they will be back with me at 11:30 p:m.. and don't forget you can see the front pages of the papers online on the bbc news website. it's all there for you — 7 days a week at bbc.co.uk/papers. thanks again to dawn and abdelkader bensalah. ifrom again to dawn and john. we have made it to the weekend and the kind of weather you can expect this weekend depends very much on where you are spending it. the further south you are, a lot of dry weather. those temperatures will climb as the weekend wea

not be as worried about what the dup has to say. francine: when you look at the risk of a no deal brexit come of the house of commons, house of lords are doing everything they can to stop it, but there are questions and hence over the weekend that the prime minister may actually break the law and continue with a no deal. david: extra near suggestions, weren't they? headlines over the weekend -- extraordinary suggestions, weren't they? headlines over the weekend that he could refuse to implement that law passed last week, but , they said they will try and test the law. dominic raab said that yesterday. of course, we are in uncharted territory here. we had the opposition passing a law to tie the government's hands. we had the government calling for election, that the opposition has denied. there are so many twists and turns in this story that it is almost hard to keep up. senioris johnson's ministers resigning because they said there was no plan to avoid no deal. there have been no plans made to the european union or to ireland, so al

the dup is open to shifting its red lines on brexit, helping borisjohnson get a deal with the eu, reports the times. the newspaper understands that the party would accept nortern ireland abiding by some eu rules after brexit as part of a new deal to replace to irish backstop. the guardian leads with the speakerjohn bercow, who has said he will stop the prime ministerfrom breaking the law to push through a brexit the house of commons doesn't agree with. jeremy corbyn is discussing scrapping discounts for independent schools, according to the independent, in what they call a ‘tax raid on private‘ education. and borisjohnson has warned that labour will ‘clobber‘ voters with taxes, reports the express. the eu is preparing to speak of it's ‘grave concern‘ that the home office‘s ‘hostile environment‘ is getting worse for its citizens, says the independent. ‘our world is choking to death‘ says the mirror, as crime gangs set fire to the amazon, putting our environment at risk. and the proportion of women who are married is at an all time low, says the daily mail on its front