16/08/2017 BBC News at Six

Brexit borders - the Government wants business as usual

between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Whether it's goods being traded or people on the move,

no check points, no cameras - that's the vision.

We do want to ensure that we don't see a return

to the borders of the past, we don't see a return

But would that leave a back door for EU migration

I think there is blame on both sides.

Here we go again - Donald Trump faces another barrage

of criticism over his latest comments about the

The number of people in work is the highest ever,

but some employers are struggling to get staff.

We can't drive the growth as fast as we're able -

bizarrely, not because of models or orders or finance, but people.

And it's super-frustrating that we can't get the skilled

Homes buried under a mountain of rock and mud -

600 people still missing in Sierra Leone.

The Royal Navy's flagship carrier enters its home port

And coming up in Sportsday on BBC News:

Celtic play the first leg of their Champion League qualifier

tonight at Celtic Park, they take on Kazakhstan

Good evening and welcome to the BBC's News at Six.

After Brexit, people and goods should be able to move

seamlessly across the border between the Irish Republic

and Northern Ireland, much as they do today.

In their latest proposal for life outside the EU,

ministers says there will be no return to check points

But critics say the plan raises as many questions as answers -

not least, what's to stop EU migrants coming into the UK

from Ireland through an unsupervised crossing?

Our Ireland correspondent, Chris Buckler, is in Narrow Water,

Chris. George, people who live at this border rarely recognise it. But

could all that to change once the other side of this water is still

inside the EU and this part is outside of the European Union?

Today, alongside the phrases we have heard so often like there needs to

be a seamless border, we heard another from the British Government,

that there needs to be an unprecedented solution to this

modern Irish problem. And perhaps that gives a sense of the scale of

the challenge facing both the UK and the EU.

For more than 300 miles, crossing fields and bridges,

roads and rivers, there is a political dividing line

But it is a border that cannot be seen, and many want

Soft toys and cushions are the latest protest

Where some kind of barriers could divide towns like Belcoo and

Blacklion in the Republic, they are either side of this bridge and

people in areas like this have jobs, businesses and friends that require

them to cross this border regularly. I cross this border quite

easily 15, 20 times a day, moving goods sometimes,

sometimes just to manage staff, meet people, whatever

is involved in daily work. If there is any sort of checks that

slow that down or anything else, it is going to create a lot

of logistical difficulties. The Government wants to return to

the days when border huts and customs posts marked where the

Norwich Island meets the Republic. This paper seems to dismiss the idea

of a return to infrastructure or cameras at the border. And ministers

say they are determined to protect the Common Travel Area. Allowing the

free movement of people across Ireland and Britain. Ideas and

aspirations that will be welcomed beyond these islands and Brussels,

but ones which raise political and practical difficulties, with claims

that it could allow a back door for people to get into the UK. We do

want to ensure that we don't see a return to the Borders of the past,

we don't see a return to a hard border and that are able to ensure

that the crucial flow of goods and people between Northern Ireland and

the Republic of Ireland is able to continue in the future. Some have

raised doubts about the UK's ability to forge trade deals with other

countries if it agrees to meet the EU's standards for food and

agriculture. And if they customs deal cannot be agreed with the EU,

there are questions about what will happen to the billions of pounds of

trade carried along these busy border roads. The British Government

believes technology and online declarations could be used to

monitor goods carried by bigger firms. But there are concerns about

smuggling and the Irish Government has other doubts. I don't believe

the island of Ireland issue's will be resolved through technology and I

believe this paper but we also accept that, which is a step forward

and I welcome that. It does leave you wondering what the board it is

going to look like and if you are outside of the customs union how you

police that. We are no clear as to knowing what that is going to be,

are we? That is because a negotiation now needs to take place.

And there is a will to find solutions in this negotiation

because tied up with the politics and practicalities are concerns

about the attention impact of peace and prosperity at this, what is

currently the softest of borders. Listening to the reaction, people

still seem to have a lot of questions about these plans. Until

now, the goblet has been accused of a lack of clarity is and confusion

of its approach to Brexit so it is showing it has been working on this

for some time and that it has a vision and key to that is that idea

of an invisible border between Northern Ireland and the Republic

and that idea of frictionless trade. There are some specific ideas about

how that might be achieved. For example, exempting small businesses

from customs checks. But there is great step because their scepticism

about whether this can work in practice and there is concern about

extra checks meaning there could be a back door to immigration which was

central plank of the referendum campaign. Much of this detail is

still to come and it all has to be thrashed out with the EU in those

ongoing negotiations. But while there is clarity the goblet has

provided has been broadly welcomed, it does show that in this complex

jigsaw puzzle that is Brexit, every piece that is revealed only shows

what gaps are still left. Alex, thank you very much.

US President Donald Trump is - once again - facing criticism

from all sides after his latest comments about the violence

in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend.

In a bad-tempered press conference, he's returned to the sentiments that

got him into trouble in the first place, saying that anti-racist

Our North America editor, Jon Sopel, reports.

# Amazing Grace... The memorial service for an

antiracism text are mown down by a white supremacists in

Charlottesville on Saturday, but far from this being an occasion when a

nation comes together, America seems more between divided than ever. They

try to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what? You just magnified

her? This was Charlottesville on Friday night, racist groups chanting

dues will not replace us, carrying Ku Klux Klan stealth tortures and

marching to the slogan white lives matter. Yesterday, the President

blamed both sides for the violence that ensued. You had a group on one

side and you had a group on the other and they came at each other

with clubs and it was vicious and it was horrible and it was a horrible

thing to watch. But there is another side. There was a group on their

side, you can call them the left, you have just called them the left,

that came violently attacking the other group, so you can say what you

want, but that is the way it is. It is true there was violence on both

sides. But the race had protesters had come to dock for trouble. Many

carried guns will stop this is not the Army, but a right-wing militia

that turned up whistling with weaponry. Most had clubs, helmets

and shields with white supremacists insignia. The antiracism

demonstrators were not organisers, they were mostly local people on

whom a small group had come to fight. But Donald Trump seeming to

draw a moral equivalence between swastika carrying Neo Nazis and

antiracism protesters has brought near universal condemnation. The

senior Republican Paul Ryan tweeting...

The only significant voice of support last night came from the

former leader of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke, who said...

There is reported to be deep unhappiness among some senior White

House staff over the President's comments. He had not been due to say

anything and significantly, a new intervention, this time from two

former Republican living presidents George HW Bush and George W Bush,

saying there is no room for bigotry and anti-Semitism in today's

America. The number of people out of work

in the UK is now at its lowest level There's also been a slight rise

in average earnings. Our economics correspondent, Andy

Verity, is here with the details. Yes, the rate of unemployment in

the UK is at its lowest since 1975. The number of unemployed

people is 1.48 million. Part of the reason it's

such a low rate - 4.4% - is because it's a smaller

and smaller percentage There's now a record

32.1 million people in work. With the unemployment rate so low,

in theory, wages should take off - because employers need to pay more

to attract staff and workers have Pay rises did improve slightly -

the average was 2.1%. But in the past, as you can see

here, we used to take it for granted that pay would rise

faster than inflation. After the crisis, pay rises started

falling behind price rises, so we could all buy less than before

- the big squeeze In 2014, that was supposed to have

gone away, when pay rises started But this year, they've flopped back

again, so even though the labour market's tight,

pay is still shrinking The paradox is, we've got super-low

unemployment right down to the level that would normally cause

an acceleration of wages, It's not happening here and it's not

happening in any country in the developed world,

even with low unemployment. For companies like this

upmarket motorbike maker, the tight labour market would be

solved by offering higher pay. It simply can't find enough skilled

staff to meet demand for the bikes. At the moment, I can't drive

the growth as fast as we're able - bizarrely, not because of models

or orders or finance, but people. And it's super frustrating

that we can't get the skilled staff to come in and take advantage

of the orders that we have. Companies used to be able to afford

inflation-beating pay rises because every year,

each worker produced a little bit more per hour,

helped by investment in new technology,

training and skills. But that growth in productivity has

been absent in 2017. Today's figures also show something

interesting about the flow 3.56 million people working

in the UK are non-UK nationals. That number is still rising,

but not as quickly as it has been. In the first three months

of the year, it grew by 207,000 But in the second quarter,

it went up by just 109,000. The Labour MP Sarah Champion

has resigned as Shadow Equalities Minister,

after apologising for an article In the article, which was published

on Friday, she wrote that "Britain has a problem with British Pakistani

men raping and exploiting The MP for Rotherham today

apologised for what she said was an "extremely poor

choice of words". Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn said

he had accepted her resignation. Police are investigating

a robbery at the showroom In footage of the incident,

a number of suspects emerge from the Knightsbridge shop and make

off carrying bags of They used hammers to smash their way

through counter displays. Boodles, which specialises

in diamonds, say no-one Researchers at Newcastle University

say England will need an extra 71,000 care home places by 2025 -

that's less than ten years' time. They say people are living longer,

but many of them need substantial Ida, who's 92, is being shown

how to text at this IT She feels she's making

progress, though sometimes, it's hard to remember

everything she's learned. Sometimes, it gives you a few

minutes, then it comes back and - So, you know, you just have

to work hard at that. The aim of the class

at the Abbey Community Centre, in North London, is to help

the learners with independent lives What this new research highlights

is that while living longer can bring more opportunities,

it can mean declining health - and that means

a greater need for care. The report predicts

rapidly increasing demands on a system which is already

under great pressure. The care needs of the over-65s have

doubled over two decades. Men now require 2.4 years

of substantial care on average, So the report says 71,000 extra

care home places will be needed in England by 2025,

on top of the 220,000 in 2015. Care providers say they need to know

about official plans before trying After confusion in the election

campaign, the Government's consulting on a new social care

policy, which experts We are going to need to spend more

as a nation on looking Some of that money, I think,

should come from us as individuals, some of it needs to come

from the Government. What the Government most needs to do

is come up with a clear strategy. Staying fit and staying

healthy are the priorities Some will live many

years independently, some will need social care,

and the challenge for them - and society as a whole -

is to work out who will pay for it. The time is 6:16pm, the top story

this evening. The government says it wants a seamless border between

Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after Brexit. Still to

come: will you return as James Bond? Yes. It will be the fifth outing as

007 Daniel Craig and, he says, the last.

Mark Stoneman has been named in England's team to face

West Indies in the First Test at Edgbaston tomorrow.

The Surry batsman makes his Test debut.

In Alaska hunters can now shoot bear cubs and hibernating bears even

when they are in conservation areas after President Trump

abolished protections put in place by Barack Obama.

Welfare organisations say the change in the law is inhumane.

However, hunters say they are actually helping conservation.

This report from Claire Marshall in the Chugach National Forest.

Alaska's wildlife refuges are immense.

Each year, tens of thousands of people hunt here but what rules

President Trump has lifted restrictions put

Once again all hunters can use bait and kill mother

Animal rights campaigners are outraged.

But many believe hunters are the best people to manage big game.

Christine has hunted for a decade and she has also won

She lets us follow her up into the mountains

Something I have found hard reading about it is the fact that

you can now kill bears when they are with their cubs.

I do not know anybody, though, who would want to kill a baby bear.

I know a lot of hunters and that's just not what anybody would do.

The game managers tell me oh, these are, there's getting to be too

many bears because you know in a wild place, there

So, clearly if there's too many bears, there is a need

Rather than politicians in Washington, it is now up to local

Alaska state officials that favour hunting to set the laws.

Good news for businesses that depend on the industry.

This will be the beginning of your experience with

Every time we buy a hunting licence we are paying for Fish

and Wildlife officers, we are paying for conservation,

But people that just look at animals down the road,

The amount of money that is brought in by hunters from outside and spent

here is dwarfed by the number of people who come up

Our wildlife is worth far more alive than it is dead.

Back up on the mountain they have spotted a bear and are stalking it.

It looks like a pretty good-sized bear.

I think I can see Christine getting ready to take a shot.

The bear is young and she feels it is not right.

What does this say about you as a hunter?

You could say, well, she doesn't have what it takes.

Or, I would've shot that bear, or I wouldn't have.

I don't think you can let that make the decision.

Because, you know, it's a sleep with yourself decision.

At the heart of all this is balancing the needs of the people

using wildlife refuges and the creatures that live in them.

In Alaska right now it's the hunters that

Claire Marshall, BBC News, in Alaska.

Officials in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, say 105 children are among

the 400 people who are known to have died when flooding caused

a massive mudslide on the outskirts of the city.

At least 600 people are still missing.

Martin Patience reports from Freetown.

In Freetown the ambulances are rushing not at the hospital but to

the main mortuary. They are ferrying the dead, victims buried alive by a

landslide. The relatives wait outside to

collect their bodies. The stench of death is overpowering. Emotions are

raw. She lost her sister. Daniel wasn't home when disaster

struck. But he tells me six members of his family are dead, including

his wife. They died, they died. The grief and anger is tangible

here. This is a nation in mourning the loss of hundreds. And rescue

workers say that authorities are hampering their rescue efforts.

This gaping scar was once a neighbourhood, but now the scene of

a recovery operation on the hoof. Diggers have been drafted in but

there are no sniffer dogs, not enough body bags. The fear is

disease could spread unless hundreds of bodies are found.

A trickle of aid is getting through but many like Adama are now

homeless. I've lost everything, she tells me.

Martin Patience, BBC News, Freetown. Britain's new aircraft carrier,

HMS Queen Elizabeth, sailed into its home port

of Portsmouth for the first She's the largest and one

of the most powerful warships ever Jonathan Beale is on board the

Navy's flagship. Jonathan. As you say, this is the largest

warship ever built for the Royal Navy. To give you a sense of scale

from the top of the mast down to the bottom of the keel is taller than

Nelson's column and from one end to the other is longer than the Houses

of Parliament. The flight deck is four acres, three football pitches

worth of British sovereign territory that in theory will be able to go

anywhere in the world. But all this does not come cheap.

The Royal Navy has never had a ship of this size before.

HMS Queen Elizabeth overshadowed everything around her.

Including Portsmouth harbour, now her new home.

A day to remember for the crowds who woke up early to see her in.

And even a touch of nostalgia for when Britain ruled the waves.

I think it makes the country feel a lot safer.

It puts you, you know, above everybody else

For the past seven weeks the 700 crew have been testing her systems.

It is the most complex warship ever built in UK.

A symbol of power and pride for the Navy.

But they believe, for the whole nation too.

It puts us, the Royal Navy and the British armed forces,

I think for a global, outward facing country

like the United Kingdom, as an island nation,

why wouldn't you want a strong Royal Navy?

This is a big moment for the Royal Navy.

Its largest warship entering Portsmouth for the very first time.

It is also its most expensive warship.

And it still needs jets, and other warships to protect her.

At a time when the Ministry of Defence is having

This former naval officer says the Navy is already

struggling to crew just 19 frigates and destroyers.

Certainly right now there are not enough ships to protect it,

there are not enough submarines to run in advance of it.

And this is the worry, if we are not even in a situation right now,

having delivered the platform itself, to protect the ship,

On her first visit on board, the Prime Minister said the ship

sent a signal that Britain remains a global power.

It will be another year before the first jets fly off

The new F35 will also cost around ?100 million each.

It is a significant investment and a signal of ambition.

But it will stretch already limited resources.

Jonathan Beale, BBC News, Portsmouth.

After months of speculation, Daniel Craig has confirmed

that he will play James Bond again - but just one more time.

Chi Chi Izundu asks if it's really all about the money.

Her report contains some flashing images.

Months of speculation, will Daniel Craig comeback for a fifth time as

007? Will you return as James Bond? Yes. Daniel is the seventh actor to

take on bond and is commercially the most successful of the franchise

with Skyfall being the first to break the $1 billion mark at the box

office, it was only a matter of time before he was back home at MI6,

regardless of how many times it's been destroyed in the films. Despite

the cars, the Martinis on tap and of course the women, let's not forget

that after the release of Spectre Daniel said he would rather slit his

wrists than play the fictional MI6 spy again. And if you believe what

you read in the press, he's going to be well-paid. And while Daniel was

mulling over that offer other names like Idris Elba were discussed. But

for the fans, Daniel is The Man with the Golden Gun. After all of this

regulation we finally have an answer and it's like in August. Daniel

Craig has reinvented bond and his films are among the most successful

and critically acclaimed, so I think we are really glad we got the answer

we are looking for what it bond 25. He will be 51 by the time Bond 25

hits the cinemas in 2019 and the stunts from Spectre left him needing

knee surgery. So it's understandable that he says this time is the last

time. Chi Chi Izundu, BBC News. Time for a look at the weather -

here's Chris Fawkes. Hello. For Your Eyes Only. We have

had some sunshine across parts of England but it has not been sunny

everywhere. This was the scene earlier today across North

Yorkshire. If we look at the forecast we have heard, further west

we have had a band of rain working in, quite heavy at times across

Northern Ireland and Scotland, and beginning to work in to Western

Wales and south-west England bringing heavy bursts. This is what

the cloud and rain looked like this photograph sent to us in the last

half hour coming across parts of Argyll and Bute in Scotland. This

evening and overnight the band will push its way eastwards, the rain

turning heavier as it works across central and eastern areas of England

but it will clear a way for a time further across Scotland and Northern

Ireland. Mild night, temperatures 13-16d. Through Thursday morning

this weather front is slow to clear, damp weather for Eastern and

southern parts of England, staying cloudy in the south, perhaps into

the early afternoon. Away from that, some sunshine, and some showers, a

bit more sunshine around Scotland and Northern Ireland, it will be

milder, temperatures of 19 degrees in this guide 20 in Belfast. Heavier

rain spreads through Thursday night across Northern Ireland, Scotland

and northern England, and this is how weak and Friday, mixture of

sunshine and showers, some heavy with hail and blunder, particularly

across northern part of the UK, cold and blustery winds, temperatures

coming down, 15 or 16 degrees for Northern Ireland, northern Scotland

and northern England. What about the weekend weather prospects? Hurricane

Gert will be gobbled up by this area of normal blood pressure across

eastern Canada. It will head over to the UK and during the latter part of

Sunday it is likely we will get heavy rain from the remnants of

hurricane Gert somewhere across the west of the UK.