Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC Newsroom Live 20240714

Reach the world cup semi finals with a 3 0 win over norway. This was the scene at glastonbury, where festival goers watched the match on the big screens. Demolished, the bridge in genoa which collapsed last year, killing 43 people. Good morning. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Theresa may and Vladimir Putin have begun talks at the 620 summit injapan in which the Prime Minister will demand justice for the victims of the salisbury nerve agent attack. The two leaders were filmed shaking shands, but there was little warmth as they sat down for talks. In an interview with the Financial Times, the russian president has downplayed the poisoning and said he believed the uk was interested in fully restoring relations with the kremlin. The Prime Minister has been speaking to our deputy Political Editor, john pienaar. We saw an innocent british citizen die asa we saw an innocent british citizen die as a result of the use of this nerve agent. We have been clear, we have set out the evidence, charges have set out the evidence, charges have been laid against two russian individuals, i want to see those individuals, i want to see those individuals brought to justice. Russia does not allow the extradition of its nationals, but european arrest warrant out for those two individuals, and if they set outside russia, we will be making every effort to make sure that they are brought to justice. This is a despicable act, we are very clear about the evidence, and that evidence has been recognised by people around the world. We saw an International Response when this happened on the streets of salisbury. Russian Intelligence Officers were evicted from a number officers were evicted from a number of countries around the world, russia needs to recognise that its acts, and stop acting in this way, and stop its other destabilising activities around the world, including the use of this information and cyber attacks. Our moscow correspondent, sarah rainsford, is in osaka. Strong words, and a very stern look from theresa may as she headed into this meeting with Vladimir Putin. That is all we have seen so far, literally the image of the two of them shaking hands here in osaka ahead of their short meeting on the sidelines of the summit. And theresa may doing her best to look extremely stern faced as she met the man who, she believes, is responsible for, or russia is responsible for the attack in salisbury. So she was going into this knowing that Vladimir Putin has denied time and again any russian responsibility for the attack. And he did that again in this interview with the Financial Times. I dont think that position is going to change at all. In fact, it seems to have got Even Stronger for the russian side. But certainly mrs may was determined, she said, to use this meeting to meet mr putin face to face and to put the uks position to him as clearly as she could. So i imagine it was a fairly tense meeting, it certainly wasnt a meeting of minds in any sense at all. The us president , donald trump, held a meeting with Vladimir Putin during which a reporter asked whether he would tell the russian leader not to meddle in the uss 2020 election. And we will have more from osaka are a little later in the programme. Police in Greater Manchester have reminded people against cooling off in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. Its after a 12 Year Old Girl drowned in the river irwell in bury. Greater Manchester Police have called it a tragic incident. Our correspondent Judith Moritz has more. An absolutely tragic event, what more have police said about what happened . We dont have a lot of information. They say that it was 7 55 pm last night, that they got reports that there was this child, this 12 Year Old Girl in the river, the river irwell, which is right at the river irwell, which is right at the point where they got the calls right to the town centre in bury north of manchester. Right in the middle of the town. It was a hot evening, around 20 celsius in bury. Police were called to that point in the river, they began to search, and the river, they began to search, and the underwater search teams were brought in very quickly. Sadly, they recovered the body of the 12 year old child. The police say they dont, that the art no suspicious circumstances, they dont believe there is anything suspicious about this. But they have put a team of detectives on the case to look at what happened, they are supporting the childs family. They are reminding people of the dangers of water in the area, that is the one bit of context that the police have given us today, Greater Manchester police saying that they want to remind everybody that swimming near or in lakes, rivers, reservoirs at this sort of time of year can bring its own dangers. They want to remind everybody of that and urge them not to do it. Judith, thank you. France is on red alert as the country is braced for its hottest day on record, with temperatures expected to hit 45 degrees celsius in places. Large parts of Continental Europe are sweltering in the heatwave, which has also caused wildfires in northern spain. Our correspondent Lucy Williamson reports. This was the heatwaves first strike wildfires in spains northern forests. Fanned by strong winds, theyve already burnt through 10,000 acres. Across the border in france, officials ordered practice drills in forests here. Emergency measures are in place across the country, National Exams postponed, hospitals and care homes on high alert, and hundreds of schools closed. With record breaking temperatures predicted, four regions have been put on red alert, the first time a heatwave has triggered frances highest weather warning. And being out of the sun doesnt necessarily mean being out of the heat. Temperatures on the paris metro can reach 38 degrees. Despite the discomfort, these few hot days arent expected to cause the kind of Health Crisis france has seen in the past. Some have accused the government of acting like a nanny state, with politicians scrambling to show they are prepared. As one paper put it this morning, ministers no longer risk being interviewed in leisurewear by their pool. The paris mayor has mapped out cool spaces around the city, including frances most famous gallery, the louvre. On display in its marble halls, the art of centuries. Outside, simply the art of keeping cool. Our europe reporter, gavin lee, is in paris where, as weve been hearing, temperatures are expected to soar. It looks great, picture postcard, doesnt it . It is 23 degrees, the average forjune is around 23. But today, given that this heatwave, buy around midday, we will be up to about 33. What they call the discomfort index, the index of humidity, that brings the temperatures up to about a0 celsius here. And i think the sense around the south of paris where there is a real warning, orange alerts for the whole country apart from, the first time infour whole country apart from, the first time in four departments in the south where they have a red alert. A risk to life alert where they think, actually, there could be a record temperature broken, it was a record temperature broken, it was a record temperature back in france a few yea rs temperature back in france a few years ago, back in 2003, aa. I celsius. The ranges between a1 and a5 celsius today. So it could break that. It is worth saying that back in 2003, there were 15,000 people who lost their lives are to be towed to the hot weather, already, the Health Minister here in france is saying that he been inundated with calls to the Emergency Services due to the heat. This is the scene around us at the moment, it is not stopping the influences, the instagram is getting their selfies and pictures in what is probably one of the best known spots in the world. Just behind me, you see the fountain to, the trocadero fountain, and around the water, you are not allowed in there. But actually, the police have turned a blind eye for the past few days. They have been hundreds of people in this Public Open Space knowing that it is a cool area. The french authorities have created an app, where ever you are, it will tell you where the nearest cool spaces, trees, a breeze. They talk about things like cemeteries. Also, areas like wine museums which are cooler. Still, it looks great here, it feels pretty uncomfortable at the moment, it is going to get hotter, possible record temperatures. England have reached their second consecutive womens world cup semifinal as they produced a decisive performance to beat norway in le havre. Here is lucy bronze, what a goal lucy bronzes superb second half strike sealed the victory that sees the lionesses become the first Senior England Team to reach the semis at three consecutive major tournaments. Well, theres been plenty of reaction on social media to englands victory. On twitter, the duke of cambridge said. The spice girls said. And even Paddington Bear got involved, tweeting. And news of the result soon reached festivalgoers at glastonbury. Its coming home. Its coming. Footballs coming home. Its coming home. And earlier, jane dougal spoke to us about the match. It was a very convincing win for the lionesses, wasnt it . Goals in the first few minutes they put down a marker to show how determined they were to get through to the semifinal. Then a goalfrom ellen through to the semifinal. Then a goal from ellen white who is through to the semifinal. Then a goalfrom ellen white who is now through to the semifinal. Then a goal from ellen white who is now on five goals, she isjoint top goal from ellen white who is now on five goals, she is joint top scorer of the tournament. She is on to potentially get the golden boot which is fantastic news for ellen white. She has worked so hard for this england team. Then lucy bronze who just put in a fantastic performance last night. She was player of the match and understandably so. She was quite modest about it afterwards. She said she didnt feel she had played that well for such use has been recovering from a bit of illness, her voice was going when she was doing the interview with me afterwards. It really is quite incredible how well she played, especially in the second half, and that goal which we have just watched that goal which we have just watched that just shows that goal which we have just watched thatjust shows how much work they have put in on the training ground. That was a training exercise. She said they had been practising that on the morning of the match. Her manager, phil neville, he said this before but he reiterated that she is the best player in the world. Well, at least she is on the world stage to show everybody that because england are now through to the semifinal, they are playing in leon. I expect very quickly, back to the focus, they are going to be facing either france or the United States. They will be watching that game closely no doubt. Tell us about those two teams, whichever one might go on to face england and how england will be preparing for that next game. Obviously, it is a rest day officially for most of the england squad. The players who didnt play who are on the bench will have a bit of a light training session. The hotel is a bit further up session. The hotel is a bit further up from where we are now, and their Training Base is a bit further down. That is where we are going to watch them train. Then they are going to travel to lyon later today. The members of the squad that i spoke to afterwards, they say they have been watching a lot of football to watch the other teams. A get together in the other teams. A get together in the physio room and they watch the matches together so they can watch as team and do more team bonding exercises. The france and United States game tonight, i think, is going to be one of the best matches of the tournament so far. These two teams have been tipped to take the title. They are favourites to take it, but what is fascinating is that neither team have played to their full potential yet. And france scraped through in their last match, and also the usa were held to a draw against spain who then eventually went on to win in added time. It has really not been a fantastic performance from either of them throughout this tournament. So whichever one gets through to the semifinal to take on england, you would fancy englands chances because england played so convincingly last night. Lets take you straight to exeter. Lets go to exeter now where the next hustings for the tory leadership is being held this morning for Party Members. Borisjohnsonjust borisjohnson just beginning Boris Johnson just beginning his speech. There are some people who point out that we are on around 19 points in the polls, depend on the pole look at. It was very disappointing that in the most recent national election, we scored 996. I recent national election, we scored 9 . I dont think i have known a time when our party has got 9 in eight national election. It is also true that we have two other parties who are profiting from our difficulties in the sense that we have the brexit party and the liberal democrats like two opportunistic puffballs feeding separate physically on the sense of decay in trust in politics at the moment. I acknowledge that we have all of these problems, but i say to you that the hour is darkest before the dawn. And we can turn this thing around, and we can go forward to win, we really, really can. And they arejust win, we really, really can. And they are just three things that we need to do, and three things that we need to do, and three things that we need to get right. Number one, the first and most important thing you need to do in the next few months is what . It is to get brexit done and come out of the eu on october the . 31st, thatis out of the eu on october the . 31st, that is right. Applause lets get going, and Everybody Knows the rough shape of a deal that we have to do, we have to be very friendly to our European Union nationals, lets take that part of the Withdrawal Agreement, the otherwise different Withdrawal Agreement, and treat them the way we should have treated them three years ago. Never to take the £39 billion and put it in a state of, lets say, creative ambiguity, suspended over the negotiations until such time as we get what we want. And lets take the questions of the irish backstop on how to solve the problems of frictionless borders in Northern Ireland and indeed in every border between the uk and the rest of the eu, lets remit all that quite sensibly for resolution in the context of the Free Trade Agreement that we will strike with our friends and partners after we come out on october the 31st. That is what we are going to do. It is very simple. There is a way to ensure that we get that done, and that is of course to prepare to come out on wto terms. Prepare to come out with no deal. This is a great country, isnt it . It isa this is a great country, isnt it . It is a fantastic country. There we re it is a fantastic country. There were some people who say the uk is not capable of coming out with no deal, i have heard people arguing that the planes wont fly and they will be no Drinking Water and who wont be any glucose or milk solids or whey powder to provide the children of this country with mars bars. I want to say that whatever happens on november the 1st, whatever deal we strike, the planes will fly, and there will be Drinking Water, and there will be not only glucose and milk solids, but there will be whey for our children to eat in theirmars bars will be whey for our children to eat in their mars bars whether is a will, there is a way. You can see that one coming. And when we have done that, we will be able to take forward a great modern progressive conservative agenda and unite our country. Very civilly what i want to do as your Prime Minister is to bring this country together in the way that i was able to bring london together during the eight years that iran together during the eight years that i ran it. When i together during the eight years that iran it. When i began, i remind you, four of the six poorest boroughs in the whole of the uk, when it ended, we had nine. We invested in transport introduction, we cut crime very considerably, we boosted education. And that is what we are going to do of the uk, starting of course in the south west, improving. Isnt it time the a303 was modernised. Frankly, i have been driving it for 50 years, and it is incredible that it should remain substantially the same. I think we need education funding, it needs to be levelled up around here stop do you not agree . I think it is quite extraordinary that part of rural england have failed to keep pace with capital provision. The first thing i will do if i am lucky enough to be elected, we what level of education funding. Thirdly. Applause the third thing we need to do is to make sure that we are aware in this country, to make sure that everybody has full fibre broadband. It is a disgrace that there are parts of rural spain that have speed of light access to the internet, parts of rural england and rural britain where people are staring at the revolving pizza wheel of doom, no confidence. If we get all of these things done, get it done fast, that will drive business investment, it will drive business investment, it will drive business investment, it will drive growth, it will drive productivity, and employment. And of course it will enable us to invest yet more through the tax revenues that we produce in a fantastic Public Services such as the nhs, such as defence, and all of the things that we care about. That is the cemetery at the heart of our modern conservative vision. It is a very simple idea. We need to get it across with a new clarity, a new power, and a new conviction. And we need to do it because there is one man who stands in the way of the progress of this country, and we know who he is. He is the leader of a cabal of superannuated marxists from london, he is called Jeremy Corbyn, and i dont want him anywhere in the at the government of this country. Do you want him . Absolutely not this is a guy who would not only back up taxes on virtually everything you can think of, from pensions to income to gardens to inheritance to financial transactions, in order to pay for his crazed programme of renationalisation. He backs her mass he backs him won. When there were poisonings in salisbury, he stood up on the side of Vladimir Putin, we wa nt on the side of Vladimir Putin, we want him in charge of the government of our country . Absolutely not we can defeat him. Let me around you, in conclusion, the last time that i had to face and emanation of that we have cabal of the london labour left, i was able to beat them and beat Ken Livingstone when our party was 17 points behind in london. We came from behind to win. We can win again, we must win again, and with your help, we will win again. Thank your help, we will win again. Thank you very much. Applause thank you. Shall we have a nice gentle thank you. Shall we have a nice ge ntle wa nt thank you. Shall we have a nice gentle want to start with . Of course. Any kind you like. In a couple of hours ago, theresa may Vladimir Putin in osaka, what should she have said to him . And would you like to normalise relations with russia . One of the saddest things that i discovered in the Foreign Office is that every british Prime Minister, every foreign secretary comes into office in the last ten yea rs or comes into office in the last ten years or 0, comes into office in the last ten years or so, thinking that they can have a reset, thinking that they can have a reset, thinking that they can have an organisation. I think it goes for david, for every Prime Minister. Thinking that they can turn things around, it didnt for bill clinton. What happens is they try, they try, and russia always let you down. It is so sad. I wanted things to go better in our relations with russia, but when it comes to Something Like the scrip al skripal poisonings, using chemical weapons on the streets of salisbury is absolutely inexcusable. And i am sure that that is what theresa may will have said to Vladimir Putin. And she is totally right. One of the things i was proudest of when i was foreign secretary was actually orchestrating a Global Response to what happened in the uk. And we got a total of 28 countries to kick out 153 russian diplomats. And that is a lot. When you consider that every country that took that risk was going to face retribution from putin for doing so. So i think that was a testa m e nt, for doing so. So i think that was a testament, not just to for doing so. So i think that was a testament, notjust to the power of the uk boss or influence, but also to the global sense of repulsion at the way russia behaves. A couple of questions on brexit what is your message to your colleague dominic grieve, he says he will try to bring government to hold by using arcane parliamentary procedures, to hold government funding for education and welfare benefits. I make the same to dominic that i, who i like and admire, and who was a neighbour of mine wheni admire, and who was a neighbour of mine when i was in henley, i think people have different views about this question, obviously. But i think we are coming together now as a party in recognition that we are all basically staring down the barrel of electoral extinction u nless we barrel of electoral extinction unless we get this thing over the line. I think that is powerfully concentrating the minds of all collea g u es concentrating the minds of all colleagues in parliament, and indeed collea g u es colleagues in parliament, and indeed colleagues on the labour benches. Because they didnt do that well either, with superhuman incompetence, Jeremy Corbyn actually managed to go back within the recent council elections. Why . Because the public can see that labour is also failing to help get brexit done. They will continue to punish both of us they will continue to punish both of us until we do it on october the sist. Us until we do it on october the 31st. You have the digital minister in an interview today saying that she feels she has more in common withjo swinson she feels she has more in common with jo swinson than she does with you. How can you unite the party given those views . I am very proud of that one of the attractions, i would say, i must fight and die on my natural humidity and bashfulness in moments like this and advertise my case to. I commanded a couple of weeks ago, much to the surprise of the pundits, the support of more than half of the Parliamentary Party. And i dont think that was what was predicted one year or so ago. You follow these things incurably closely, and i dont think people would forecast that result. And our team now has the backing of powerful, strong remain campaign is as well as leave us. Dozens on either side. They are coming together because they want to get this thing done, and they want to help deliver that modern conservative progressive agenda. And thatis conservative progressive agenda. And that is what brings us together. Margot is part of that. Can we clear of this prorogue in parliament think . On newsnight on wednesday, they said absolutely not, but Boris Johnson will not prorogue parliament. You have been slightly more equivocal. Do you want to clear that up . I think liz is right that i dont want to prorogue parliament, i am not attracted to archaic ghouls and ghastly manoeuvres of any kind. That is not what i wanted to do. That is not what i wanted to do. That is not what i believe in. I wa nt to that is not what i believe in. I want to be the Prime Minister of a great representative democracy. I wa nt to great representative democracy. I want to confide in the common sense and the maturity of our mps to get this thing done. And that is going to be my approach. But when it comes to be my approach. But when it comes to weird devices such as prorogues, iam to weird devices such as prorogues, i am certainly not attracted. But he wont rule it out . As i think i said last night, there are all sorts of things that remain on the table, but is it is a big and capacious table. Iam not, let is it is a big and capacious table. I am not, let me. Is it is a big and capacious table. Iam not, let me. I is it is a big and capacious table. I am not, let me. I think people will know where i am coming from. I am not remotely attracted to that kind of device, that kind of device by the executive when we should be trusting in our mps common sense to get it done. Something on the nanny state, the sugar tax which was brought in by the government, the son of have got a story saying that numberten have son of have got a story saying that number ten have got a green paper that they want milkshakes to be subject to the sugar tax. Whether thatis subject to the sugar tax. Whether that is to stop more milk shaking of politicians, i dont know. Is out to discourage people from throwing milkshakes at politicians . Do you wa nt milkshakes at politicians . Do you want to commit now to saving the Great British milkshake . That we have to be realistic, there is an obesity problem in this country. Speaking personally, it is something we all deal with, we all have to wrestle with, and everybody takes their various motives. Not eating is a good solution, by the way. But i am very reluctant to impose new taxes that full disproportionately on those on low incomes. I think you need to think very carefully about whether you go down this route. A new tax on milkshakes seem to me would clobber those, particularly who can least afford it. And what we should be doing, if we want kids to lose weight, we need to make the streets safe, as we did in london by the way, in case i failed to mention it. Encourage kids to walk and cycle to school, which will help them lose weight as well, and generally take more exercise and be more active. It is calories in, calories out. I think that is vastly preferable. I dont know whether that proposal will live long enough to get on the statute book. But we will see. The front page of the times this morning, stamp duty slashed in johnson no deal brexit, the gangbusters plan for economy, ban on new business red tape. Expand. Expand . i think there is already. One of the difficulties i am discovering in this situation is obviously that people want to project onto us and onto our agenda all sorts of things that they think. So you havent offered sajid javid the chancellor . They should have somejob rather, and. So you are accusing sajid javid of planting this . Nobody has been offered a job, nor would that be right. Would you like to see stamp duty slashed or reformed . right. Would you like to see stamp duty slashed or reformed . I do think. Stamp duty tax, particularly in london, is causing huge problems and freezing the property market. I do think i dont think it has the right balance at the moment. I am on the record as having said that many times. Our priority is an incoming government will be to lift the burden on the poorest and neediest in society. I just burden on the poorest and neediest in society. Ijust remind you on what we did in london massively expand the living wage, which was a really good thing, and was a policy that was nicked by George Osborne in an act of theft i wholly condone, and turned into a national policy. I think we conservatives should be proud of that. We put millions of pounds into the pockets of poorer families across this country. That is the right thing to do. Did you really call the french thirds . have no recollection of this comment. It is not very well sourced this story. It seems to have come from the Foreign Office. What do you read into that . He speaks french. The serious question underlying this and what Everyone Wants to know is, cani and what Everyone Wants to know is, can i get a fantastic deal for our country from my french friends . Can we go forward in a friendly, collegiate way . Of course, we can. The french were fantastic after the poisonings here in salisbury. We will do a great deal with all our european friends and partners and we will take this thing forward. I heard the criticism of what happened in the last three years. We have both been too defeatist in our approach. We have been. Applause. We havent really stood up. This is an important point, we havent been sufficiently pro european with a capital e and set out what we want from the new partnership. We need to talk again about bilateral relations. It is a sad fact that the teaching of french and german in our schools has massively declined in the a5 years of our eu membership. I go to other european capitals and i find the bilateral relations in those capitals, even in the embassies have been hollowed out, everything was being done through brussels. Now is our chance to reach out and re engage, notjust commercially but culturally, intellectually and in all sorts of ways. Lets be positive about europe, but not just ways. Lets be positive about europe, but notjust through the institutions of the eu. He is the final quickfire question politicians dread, tell us one thing about you that we dont know . My weight. I think the last time i looked it has gone up again. To what . I think i am about 15 and a half. Which is the a nswer to about 15 and a half. Which is the answer to the milkshake question. Lets move on. Thank god for that. Lets move on. Thank god for that. Lets move on to questions from the audience. I will say who we want first and second so they can indicate for the microphone. The second question will be from alnwick and the first question will be from peta. Where is peter. Good morning, welcome home to the great southwest. At the end of this leadership contest, our new loader leader has to weave our country together in a cloth made of 50 shades of blue, are you the person to do that . cloth made of 50 shades of blue, are you the person to do that . I think i am. Thank you to everybody who worked so hard to make a success of conservatism is in spite of the challenge we in westminster present to you. I have to hold up my hands, we havent made life easy for activists and i want to turn it round. I want to turn it round and even at westminster, particularly at westminster, there is a deep yearning to come together and get this thing done. I really think people have had enough of the vision. They can see where the threat is and now they can see where the opportunity is. The threat is clear, it is the brexit party and the lib dems taking advantage of our failure to get this thing done. The opportunity is also clear. I have neverin opportunity is also clear. I have never in my lifetime known such an idea logically hopeless opponent in Jeremy Corbyn. His mystic appeal defeats me, i dont understand it. It obviously defeats many sections of the uk electorate as well because he is not prospering. We need to capitalise on that, unite the party, unite the country and take forward and modern, conservative agenda. After an echo, we will go to fiona goldsmith. Good morning boris. Since iran with who we have the nuclear treaty, has has bella, the terrorist organisation, can we trust iran to allow full expansion of all uranium producing plants in iran and if so, have sufficient inspections been allowed . Have sufficient inspections been allowed . Thank you, it is a brilliant question. According to the International Atomic agency agency, the iranians are currently compliant with the jcp away. The iranians are currently compliant with thejcp away. They the iranians are currently compliant with the jcp away. They are the iranians are currently compliant with thejcp away. They are pushing at the margins but they are technically compliant. Yesterday was the day they were supposed to have gone over their enrichment limit . That does not mean they are to be trusted. We need to be very, very vigilant about iran and that government because they are bent on all sorts of mischief in the region. Actually, i think one of the areas where donald trump talk sense. There are several by the way, many areas, seriously ithink there are several by the way, many areas, seriously i think it is right for us to work both with the americans and with our european friends to constrain iran in the region. But also, and i make this point, think about the iranian population and their long term future. It is a young and dynamic population and high rates of female literacy, high rates of education. They are very tech savvy. They actually want to engage with us. And we should find ways of getting behind, getting over the mullers grip on their society and engage with young people in iran. That is the future and if we can do that, i am much more optimistic about relations. But for the time being, we have to be incredibly in vigilant, both about Irans Nuclear ambitions, but also about what they are doing to support has bella and many other, many other causes of insecurity in the region. Is there any question that if they do reach this limit, which they said they we re this limit, which they said they were going to do yesterday, we will thermally side with the americans . Of course, if we determine they are in breach of thejcpoa, then clearly that falls away and i am afraid american scepticism will have been vindicated and we will have to draw the consequences. I think it will be very sad for iran and i urge them not to go down that track. I urge them to continue to show restraint. That is the sensible thing. Fiona goldsmith and then mike. Where is fiona . Good morning, boris and welcome to the south west. The government is spending billions of pounds on the Northern Powerhouse, what plans do you have to create a south western powerhouse to address the imbalance between this area and london and the south with the sort of investment in infrastructure and transport the north of england are enjoying . I quite agree and thank you very much. This is the great southwest and it is time we had that kind of focus and in particular i wa nt to kind of focus and in particular i want to look, as i have said already, at the a3 and the a338. There are plenty of things we can be doing to improve road connectivity and rail. I just doing to improve road connectivity and rail. Ijust get to my key message about full fibre broadband. Every home in this country should have full fibre broadband and we should get on and deliver it. It is utterly, utterly pathetic. If the spanish can do it, why cant we . No more manana attitude, i say. But, there is a serious point and often in politics things can take a life of their own and a momentum of their own if there is an agenda everybody buys into. With the Northern Powerhouse and with west midlands, i wa nt to powerhouse and with west midlands, i want to be the Prime Minister who does for Northern Powerhouse rail and connectivity in the west midlands, what we were able to do in london with the tube upgrades and crossrail. We massively expanded the ability for people on modest incomes to get to their place of work quickly and conveniently. That is how you increase productivity. Also socially just, it is how you increase productivity. Also sociallyjust, it is sociallyjust to do that. The south west needs that focus as well and so i think the great southwest programme that is being elaborated now, is one that we should develop further and support very actively indeed. Applause. Mike allen is next and following amanda. Nice to see you boris. Good morning, sir. Will you restore ownership of local cottage hospitals to the communities because it is the volunteers who pay for them . And will you ensure the ccg is and the councils locally, rural proof the health care and policies . Thank you. I will look at the Ownership Structure is very carefully, but i think the crucial thing is to make sure that we retain good, local cottage hospitals and people have the Vital Service near them. Every mp fights for his or her local provision, particularly cottage hospitals because you have got to do that. In rural areas account because a halfan that. In rural areas account because a half an hour road journey can make the difference in the quality of care, the certainty and security people have in their old age. We have got to get it right. I will certainly support that, certainly. Amanda, followed byjulie beaumont. Hello, boris. You have been avoiding head to head debates. In the words of mrs thatcher, are you frit . And if you are frit, are you fit to be Prime Minister . One of the important things and counts in the media, one of the important things is not to come as conservatives, not spend too much time tearing great lumps out of each other in advance of the end of the contest. Applause. My applause. My policies have received a huge amount of scrutiny. What i will say, ronald reagans11th commandment, thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow conservative. You are doing two head to heads withjeremy hunt. Conservative. You are doing two head to heads with jeremy hunt. Only . In the length of this campaign, it doesnt strike me as very many. in the length of this campaign, it doesnt strike me as very many. I am talking to people in the south west, the electorate and buy your own admission i am doing at least two head to head debates which is more than enough to glut the appetite. Ive done loads of debates in my time. Idid ive done loads of debates in my time. I did loads with Ken Livingstone in particular and it went on and on, night after night and people were switching off. Maybe there is a growing appetite for this stuff and they want to screen it prime time, i think people have heard a lot already and they will heard a lot already and they will hear quite a lot more and will hear lots of debates, lots of hustings and be able to make up their minds. Julie beaumont followed by sally stevens. Good morning, boris. Can you tell me what your policy is on tackling illegal immigration . Illegal immigration . When it is illegal, people should face the consequences of what they do in law and we should be catching them and we should be, i am afraid we should be sending them back. That is the way to do it. I dont wish to sound inhumane because i am generally quite pro immigration by talented people and always have been. But if they are breaking the law, then that is another matter. I think as a country, we have spent a long time where we have allowed a lot of very, very experienced and clever lawyers to interrupt the process of return. So it becomes very difficult to send people back to whence they came with the result that more people come. It isa the result that more people come. It is a very serious problem. My general approach would be tough on illegal, but making sure that we remain an open economy to talent. I must be very clear about that. I dont want to slam the gates of britain to everybody. I speak as somebody whose great grandfather came here in fear of his life from turkey and if britain hadnt been an opening and welcome country, well, i dont know. He would have probably been assassinated slightly earlier than he was. What about people who are not necessarily highly talented . In the rural economy, it relies on immigrant labour, seasonal labour . That is right and that is why you need an australian style points based system to sort it out. Applause. Our economy is fantastic, diverse, growing economy. If you look at the rural sector, there are unquestionably farming communities that do need seasonal labour. And it has gone on for decades, if not centuries. A farm in somerset, there would be people who came over. Say ain . Would be people who came over. Say again . Wini pool. Notjust from there, but they came from france, switzerland or anywhere, on a seasonal basis and that is entirely right. But you should do it to the needs of the economy and the needs of the sector. What has gone wrong with the current approach is there has been no control at all. Nobody has been no control at all. Nobody has known on what basis people were coming in. They were able to come with nojob is to go coming in. They were able to come with no job is to go to and coming in. They were able to come with nojob is to go to and no coming in. They were able to come with no job is to go to and no sense that their particular skill was required by the uk economy. Once you have control of your immigration system and you have a points based approach, i think the most important thing you then have is democratic consent for what is going on. That was in very large measure, what the brexit vote was about, people didnt feel they were being consulted all their elected politicians were in charge. But now we are going to be in charge and we will have a system that reflects the needs of the uk economy. We dont just that reflects the needs of the uk economy. We dontjust have people coming in withoutjobs to go to. Economy. We dontjust have people coming in without jobs to go to. You are quite liberal on immigration, i saw it on twitter, so it must be true, when you were foreign secretary met a lot of european ambassadors and you said to them, you didnt have a particular problem with freedom of movement . That is com pletely with freedom of movement . That is completely not true. That was a brea kfast completely not true. That was a breakfast meeting, briefing that i did with them and they produced a wholly distorted account of what i said. Ido wholly distorted account of what i said. I do think freedom of movement does not work because there is no control. What is the population of the eu, 580 Million People who are technically allowed to come and go as they please, treat the uk as it were, as their own country. Ijust dont think that was working for us anymore. We need to have a system, yes we can be open and generous, we can be welcoming of talent, but it needs to be democratically controlled. That is what we are offering and that is the way forward. Sally stevens, followed by steve smith. Which failings as a ministercan steve smith. Which failings as a minister can you learn from the most as Prime Minister . Well, i mentioned my disappointment over skripal. I really thought it was possible to eye ball really thought it was possible to eyeball the russians and get a new relationship. I was very optimistic, i went to moscow. Actually in defiance of a lot of advice. I tried to build a New Friendship and any partnership and itjust isnt there. All the stuff that putin comes up with about liberalism is over, he is wrong. He is totally wrong. Our values, freedom, democracy and the rule of law and free speech, those things are imperishable and they will succeed. I believe that so strongly that i thought it must be obvious to the russians. In the end, it wasnt and we are just going to have to wait and recognise that again, as with iran, putin is not russia, there is a young generations of russians who will want to listen toa of russians who will want to listen to a new message and who are going to a new message and who are going to wa nt to a new message and who are going to want to engage in a different way. That is where we should be focusing on that is where british diplomacy should be focusing as well. Is it possible to be idealistic in terms of Foreign Policy where you confronted by harsh realities . It is not only impossible, it is essential. People in this country have no idea how much we are loved and valued around the world for what we do and for our values. That is even if people are not in power, people look to the uk and listen to what we have got to say, whether it is about female education, about human rights of free speech and think, at least somebody is sticking up for these things, somebody understands what i am campaigning forand things, somebody understands what i am campaigning for and what i believe in. It is incredibly important that we do it. I know people say we should be spending so much on overseas aid, a controversy you havent even asked about, but i will wade into. I think some of it could be much better spent. I would like to see it spent delivering british political commercial objectives, but it delivers massive results around the world and we should be very, very proud of the good the uk does. I think it would be very day if we were to be seen to retreat from global engagement. That is not what brexit is about, is it . Brexit is about producing Global Britain and not an narrow, narrow introverted approach. That wont work. 0. 7 on international aid, you are committed to defend that . work. 0. 7 on international aid, you are committed to defend that . I will defend that if and only if, we use that funding to promote our commercial, diplomatic and political objectives. Other countries do that. I was incredibly frustrated to be in me and ma and to find the japanese we re me and ma and to find the japanese were beating us hollow when it came to getting contracts for railways, because they were prepared to underwrite their exports and their companies in a way that we werent. I would like to see it as being much more proactive in supporting British Business abroad and be much more dynamic in our approach. Applause. We have got ten minutes left and ive got five questions, so lets see if we can do two minutes a question. Steve smith followed by. Do you want me to pad it out or can you have more questions . How will you have more questions . How will you run your government . It will be a team and it will be a widely drawn team. It doesnt matter where it meets, but there is, as i say, a big constellation of talent available in the conservative party. I dont think i remember a time in the tory party had so many brilliant men and women in parliament. We will draw from all sections of the party to ta ke from all sections of the party to take us forward. The way i ran city hall, it was with a fantastic team of deputy mayors, many of whom were women of course and i believe passionately in advancing that agenda as well. Would you commit to 50 of your cabinet being female . We dont have 50 representation within the conservative parliamentary group. That would be invidious at the moment. What about the 3096 as it is in the Parliamentary Party . the moment. What about the 3096 as it is in the Parliamentary Party . I am not going to give some quota at the moment, but we should definitely be advancing the interests of women in parliament and in government. If you wa nt to parliament and in government. If you want to look at how i do it, look at my team in city hall, it was virtually fm inaccuracy, it worked well. You are quite an informal person, is your instinct to sit someone person, is your instinct to sit someone down on the sofa or across the cabinet table from them and be a bit more formal . That is the most trivial question ive ever been asked. It depends on the conversation it is going to be and whether there is going to be coffee or not. Lets move on. David, a different question this and then peter walsh after david. Good morning, boris. Ithink peter walsh after david. Good morning, boris. I think you peter walsh after david. Good morning, boris. Ithink you may peter walsh after david. Good morning, boris. I think you may have partly answered this already but given the amount of working people using food banks would you divert pa rt of using food banks would you divert part of the overseas aid budget to help them . I understand peoples strong feelings about this. People who help run food banks are wonderful. When i was running london, i helped set up loads of food banks and they are fantastic things. The answer is to make sure people on lower incomes get more in their pay packets every week. That is why i championed the living wage and expanded it so much. The country asa and expanded it so much. The country as a whole, particularly people on low incomes need a pay rise. Honestly, we higher pay and not taxes. That should be our approach and we can do it. It is notjust through things like the living wage, it is to better skills, higher productivity and all the stuff we have been talking about early on. Investment in infrastructure and broadband and all those things will help to drive up investment and drive up incomes as well. That is what we should be doing. I think that higher pay for those on low incomes is crucial and that is why i think it was in the times piece this morning, i said what i said about lifting thresholds for National Insurance and those on low pay as well. We have got to do that. People on small incomes are paying too much tax and it simply isnt right. Peter walsh followed by gillian whitelaw. Good morning. Bearing in mind the quality of the two candidates, will whoever is successful, bring the other into their cabinet and if losing, what position would they like . This is one of those difficult questions. Of course, there is a wealth of talent on the conservative benches, but anything i say now about the future shape of personnel of the administration i lead would be counted as measuring the curtains. Ijust dont be counted as measuring the curtains. I just dont think we are yet in that position. I hope to count on your support and get over the line. Ijust think count on your support and get over the line. I just think there count on your support and get over the line. Ijust think there is a long way to go. It would be normal for the winner to put the second place candidate into the cabinet, wouldnt it . That is what has always happened before . Not with dave and dd. That was different, he put him in the shadow cabinet. Did he . Yes, i worked for him. You are quite right. I have a high regard for jeremy. He will not give any guarantee of a job . What i will say is to your previous comments, your analysis, which you are right, it sounds to me eminently fair and logical but i am not making commitments to anybody. I am not making commitments to anybody because he would not expect that. will ask such ofjeremy as well. Gillian whitelaw followed by keith cottrill. Good morning, boris. Given the two emergency loans totalling {6. 2 the two emergency loans totalling £6. 2 billion generously made by the treasury to ireland after the 2008, 2009 banking collapse, has the irish Prime Minister being asked to repay the loan . In the light of continuing intransigence over the backstop . Applause. I dont believe that issue has been raised. I want to say, it is very important we get this right with our friends in dublin. Of course we have got to be sensitive about the issue of the Northern Irish border. But i think it can be done. What it needs isa think it can be done. What it needs is a bit of confidence and we need to look at the Technical Solutions that all sides agree are practicable and deliver them in the context of the Free Trade Agreement. We will engage absolutely, generously and openly with our partners in dublin. We wont be using that kind of tool of negotiation, because i held out the hand of friendship and i recognise how important, how important getting it right is of a leo varadkar and for dublin. We will work with them, but what is non negotiable, we will not have come under any circumstances, a hard border in Northern Ireland. We will not have checks at that border and the whole of the uk will come out of the whole of the uk will come out of the eu entire and united without in any way prejudicing the government of Northern Ireland and we will get it done. It will be a Great Success and we will work with our friends and we will work with our friends and partners in dublin to do it. If you add to this next question in less than two and a half minutes, shall we take our life into our hands and take a spontaneous one . We should take any number of spontaneous ones. Are you committed to ensure that all Animal Welfare legislation, as it currently stands in the eu, will become law in the uk post brexit . In the eu, will become law in the uk postbrexit . Yes, i am, and i would go further and say that leaving the eu will actually give us the opportunity to intensify some protections. And i would point out, for instance, live transport of animals to the continent where we could do more. And we should. And there may be other things as well. There are areas where actually, i think the spirit and feeling of the british people, animal sentience, the feeling of the british people is in favour of protecting animals and protecting Animal Welfare, where there are sensible things that we can do, then we can go beyond the current framework, we should do them. Who would like to ask a question . One in the front row here, if we can get a microphone here. And somebody over this aside, i think you have been a bit neglected. Hello, boris, thank you. It is an absolute pleasure. Get on with it. When you look again at huawei and talk to america and our five eyes partners and say no to having huawei in our Security Network . partners and say no to having huawei in our Security Network . I am very dubious about having anything that compromises our security, obviously i dont want to pitchfork away investment in our country. And i helped to attract a lot of investment from china and india to the uk and i am proud of it. It may even be that there are useful things that can be done in infrastructure, the chinese, as you know, are heavily committed to hinkley point. But as you rightly say, we should not be doing anything that will deter cooperation with our most valuable intelligence partners, the five eyes. And i really saw this as foreign secretary with responsibility for the agencies, this is an unbelievable relationship. And we cannot afford to put it at risk. The final question over here. Applause would you be for or against extending the franchise to 16 year olds . Extending the franchise to 16yearolds . Giving the vote to 16 year olds . How old are you . 16yearolds . Giving the vote to 16yearolds . How old are you . 17. You have only got one year, but you are allowed to vote in this thing, arent you . Yes, i think. Well, there you go. Can he vote in this . Fantastic. Well, look, thats a start. That seems to me. There are a lot of people who cant vote in this contest who cant vote. So congratulations on that. Your foresight in becoming a member of our party at this crucial time. Lets encourage many more people to join, by the way. Because its a great party, and a great time to join. I tell you what, i am not that attracted to reducing the age of the franchise, just because i want people to value their votes. I think for 18 years, you know, we dont get enough 18 2a year olds voting, let alone 16 year olds. I would like to see the 18 to 2a year using their vote before we lower the franchise downwards. Let value our franchise first and lets encourage people out to the polls whenever they come. In case i forgot to mention earlier, they are not going to come anytime soon, if i am lucky enough be successful. We dont want an early election, what we want to do, we wa nt to election, what we want to do, we want to get brexit done by october the we want to unite our party, unite and a fantastic, progressive, modern conservative agenda, and then in due course, in the fullness and richness of time, we are going to wallopJeremy Corbyn. Applause so basically, you are going to wait foran so basically, you are going to wait for an election to allow this young gentleman to vote . My intention is that you should be able to vote in the next general election, by some way. Applause there is a gentleman who is determined to ask a question that we have gone 2. 5 minutes over our time. I will give jeremy hunt an extra 2. 5 minutes because that is fair. Boris johnson, thank you very much. Thank you. So Boris Johnson answering audience questions there at the end of his segment of this hustings event for the two contenders in the conservative leadership race. Jeremy hunt still to come. He made a number of interesting comments, he was asked about the possible prorogue parliament, he said he wasnt attracted to that prospect. When we should be trusting to the common sense of mps to get brexit through. But interviewing him, iain dale said he is not ruling it out and Boris Johnson said dale said he is not ruling it out and borisjohnson said in terms of the range of options open, it is a pretty capacious the range of options open, it is a pretty ca pacious table. The range of options open, it is a pretty capacious table. So he didnt rule out that idea. On of the divorce bill, the £39 million divorce bill, the £39 million divorce bill, the £39 million divorce bill from the eu, he said he would put it in a state of creative ambiguity until we get what we want. That was one of a number of issues that he said were among his priorities if he were elected Prime Minister, getting brexit done, dealing with the £39 billion divorce bill, and also dealing with the backstop. And one of the audience members asked him, you have been avoiding head debates, are you fit to be Prime Minister . He said he had done lots of hustings, which of course are not debates and are not head to head, and he said it is not important to spend too much time tearing lumps out of each other. The audience laughed at that. Interesting to get a feel for that audience reaction. As he was interviewed and as he was answering those questions. Lets talk now to our bbc west of england Political Editor who is there at exeter. Give us editor who is there at exeter. Give us your editor who is there at exeter. Give us your assessment editor who is there at exeter. Give us your assessment of what we have just heard and the answers to those questions. I would say it was a confident, rather chirpy performance from borisjohnson. Confident, rather chirpy performance from Boris Johnson. I confident, rather chirpy performance from borisjohnson. Ithink confident, rather chirpy performance from borisjohnson. I think buoyed by the fact that he is on home territory, to quite a degree here. His family have got a farm on exmoor, not too far from here, his family have got a farm on exmoor, not too farfrom here, his dad was in the audience watching today. As he came in, as he arrived early on, journalists were waiting. We all through questions at him, wanting to know, questions about some of the awkward things that have cropped up like the coverage we have seen cropped up like the coverage we have seenin cropped up like the coverage we have seen in the newspapers of rather rude things which he has said to have said about the french while he was foreign secretary. That was not out by him outside, when he was inside on the stage, his answer to the question did you call the french thirds, . The question did you call the french thirds, . He said he had no recollection. He didnt rule out pro the prorogue of parliament. He said he wasnt attracted to shutting parliament down in order to get his way against the wishes of mps. He has given himself enough wriggle room, and has given himself enough wriggle room, and i would say this is properly characteristic of the presentation of Boris Johnson. Another point to pick out here, he is going very big on his track record of london they are. It came up record of london they are. It came up time after time after time. He brought it up during his speech, he talked about it when he was referring to his track record against labour. Of course, this for the conservatives is one of the big preoccupations, it the conservatives is one of the big preoccu pations, it is the conservatives is one of the big preoccupations, it is one of the reasons why he has got conservative mps of all persuasions, including remainers, because they see Boris Johnson as a leader who could steer them to victory against what a her moments look like enormous odds if you look at the opinion polls. Boris johnson referred to his time in london, his time as mayor, his time there where he defeated left wing labour candidates, as he referred to them, the likes of Ken Livingstone. People who are backed byJeremy Corbyn back in the day. And Boris Johnson reckons he could do the same again if he was Prime Minister of britain. So, yes, it was a confident and very assured performance by borisjohnson here today. That question of whether he would actually do debates, it has come up repeatedly of course. We have been asking him about whether he will do debates or not. He said he would do two debates, two or head to head debates, he said he thought that was enough and would suffice for the time being. Boris johnson enough and would suffice for the time being. Borisjohnson took other questions on some of the subjects which i think mean a lot to the conservatives who have come along here today. Just interesting to note, in terms of audience, they had about 750 people in the room, we make it. They actually had rather more than that who have said they we re more than that who have said they were going to come along to grilled the two candidates. They said about 850 seats, there were some empty. They also had a marquee outside as an they also had a marquee outside as a n ove rflow they also had a marquee outside as an overflow room in case they needed to feel that. But talking to one of the conservative party organisers, they said that they do get quite a high level of dropout, quite a number of conservatives who actually dont come along on the day itself. About 750 members who come here, if you look around at the audience, i was watching them, they were predominately older, definitely very white. This is the south west of england, it is not the most diverse pa rt england, it is not the most diverse part of england, but you have a specific demographic who are conservative Party Members. They are older and whiter, they are almost certainly more middle class, and will be rather more rural in this pa rt will be rather more rural in this part of the world especially. But i think from what they heard today, they probably liked what they have seen a they probably liked what they have seen a borisjohnson. When we talk to conservative Party Members, both here today and previously, around here, there is a sense that he has got much more support on his side. I know the polling is showing that in his favour. He would have been pretty pleased generally with how it has gone today. Jeremy hunt is in the building, he arrived about half an hour ago. He is going to be doing an hour ago. He is going to be doing a similar routine. The format has been agreed, they get up, they do a ten minute speech or so, a few questions from the chair, then it is questions from the chair, then it is questions from the audience. I look forward to seeing whatjeremy hunt delivers on that front. Paul, thank you very much. I dont think paul was able to hear me as i tried to asking a question. But as he was saying, we will be back to see jeremy hunt in a few minutes time. Meanwhile, as jeremy hunt jeremy hunt in a few minutes time. Meanwhile, asjeremy hunt and Boris Johnson vying to become the next Prime Minister and leader of the conservative party, the current Prime Minister has been meeting Vladimir Putin at talks at the g20 summit injapan in which the Prime Minister demanded justice for the victims of the salisbury nerve agent attack. The russian president in an interview with the Financial Times said he thought the uk was interested in restoring relations with the kremlin. We saw an innocent british citizen die as a result of the use of this nerve agent. Weve been clear. Weve set out the evidence. Charges have been laid against two russian individuals. I want to see those individuals brought tojustice. Russia does not allow the extradition of its nationals, but european arrest warrants are out for those two individuals, and if they set foot outside russia, we will be making every effort to ensure that they are brought tojustice. This is a despicable act, we are very clear about the evidence. And that evidence has been recognised by people around the world, we saw an International Response when this happened on the streets of salisbury. Russian Intelligence Officers were evicted from a number of countries around the world. Russia needs to recognise its acts and stop acting in this way, and stop its other destabilising activities around the world, including, for example, the use of disinformation and cyber attacks. We are going to say goodbye to our viewers on bbc two. Now we are going back to exeter to those hustings. Jeremy hunt hasjust to exeter to those hustings. Jeremy hunt has just started speaking. To exeter to those hustings. Jeremy hunt hasjust started speaking. My sister is here today and we had a fantastic time here. This is really one of the best places in the country with the coast, dartmoor, exmoor, you have everything. It is wonderful to be here. We are in a very serious situation for our country. If we get things wrong, there will be no conservative government, no brexit, no conservative party even. But get things right, and we can deliver brexit, unite our party, unleash the incredible potential of our country and send corbyn packing. Applause if you choose me, i will be the first Prime Minister we have had who has a background as an entrepreneur. How many people here set up their own business . Just put up your hand if you. That is why we know this isa if you. That is why we know this is a conservative event, dont we . That is the lifeblood of our party. And what is it that entrepreneurs do . Every day, we negotiate. And one of the golden rules of negotiation, first of all, you have to be prepared to walk away if you cant get the deal you want. Applause and secondly, you have to figure out what the other guys are going to do. At the moment, unfortunately, we have got parliament trying to block no deal, and a no deal brexit as an option. So the quickest way to leave the European Union is to send someone the European Union is to send someone to brussels who can negotiate a deal that can get through parliament. And that is what iam going through parliament. And that is what i am going to do because as foreign secretary, when i go around the world, people look at me and they say, you are one of the oldest democracies in the world. Are you really going to do this brexit thing . And i say to them, yes, we are. Because in this country, people tell politicians what to do and it is not politicians telling people what to do, and that is why we are going to deliver brexit and make it a huge success. Applause and when we do, like many people here, as someone who has set up their own show, i want to fire up their own show, i want to fire up the british economy. We could be the fastest growing, most pro enterprise, pro business, high tech economy in or even the world. And i want to do that by taking our top universities, you have got bristol, exeter, plymouth, fantastic universities. Our technology entrepreneurs, and turning us into the worlds next silicon valley. Why do i want to do that . Because right at this moment in our history, i want to park an economicjumbojet in our history, i want to park an economic jumbo jet en europes doorstep so that in those trade negotiations, they need us every bit as much as we need them. Applause and then, as conservatives, we need to have, not just and then, as conservatives, we need to have, notjust economic missions, but social missions. For me, for a long time, that was the nhs. And in the audience today, we have got two very special people. Where are scott and sue . They are sitting over there. They came and saw me, they asked to come and see me, i didnt know them from adam. Just a few months into being Health Secretary, they told me the terrible story of how they lost their son to sepsis when he was just three years old. And the nhs normally does such a fantasticjob, and the nhs normally does such a fantastic job, but in and the nhs normally does such a fantasticjob, but in this case, when they raised those concerns, they said the shutters came down, no one wanted to meet them, talk to them. And that was properly the moment when i realised that the culture in the nhs needed to change. And i had my battles there, but after nearly six years, we had nearly 3 million more patients using good or outstanding hospitals. And if anyone deserves the credit for that, it is people like scott and sue and patients who campaigned to change the nhs. Lets give them a round of applause. Applause but you know, in the end, politics is about winning elections. I would be the first Prime Minister in half a century who has won a marginal seat, i know what it is like to knock on every single door, need every single vote, i am looking at every single vote, i am looking at every single vote right now. Laughter i love you all i want to make two promises. I promise we will get more young people to vote conservative. Because we. Applause we are the party of aspiration, and we cant be that party of aspiration if the most aspirational people in our country arent supporting us. So we have got to get young people on board. And there is Something Else that i commit to, i will not provoke an election before we have left the European Union. You cannot go back. Applause you cant go back and ask for another mandate until we deliver the mandate we got last time. That is what we are going to do. If we ignore that, we ignore the lesson of peterborough when we were squeezed by the brexit party on the right, the lib dems on the left, and labour came through the middle. Ignore that basic truth, and we ignore the crocodile lurking under the surface of british politics which is a labour party led by the most ruthless, dangerous, anti western, anti british hard left cabal that we have ever seen in british politics and the Jeremy Corbyn. Have ever seen in british politics and theJeremy Corbyn. And we must not let them do that. Applause so faced with a hard left populist likeJeremy Corbyn, we could choose our own populist, or we could do better. We could choose our own jeremy, and this jeremy better. We could choose our own jeremy, and thisjeremy is going to win the argument for enterprise, aspiration, the true socialjustice. Not so much socialjustice for aspiration, the true socialjustice. Not so much social justice for the people in this room, most of us have done ok in our lives. But social justice for young people desperate to find a decently paid job, for families desperate to buy a home, for older people just want to live out their days in dignity and respect. That is who the conservative party is for. We are going to deliver brexit, unleash our potential, look after those people. Let me show you how. Thank you. Applause jeremy, you are missing out on the 620 by being in devon. I dont know how much of a regret that is. But theresa may has met Vladimir Putin this morning. If you are with her, what would you be saying to bellamy or putin . And do you think it is possible to rebuild relations with russia . It is possible to rebuild relations if russia changes its behaviour. But last year, russia used chemical weapons on british soil in salisbury leading to the death of a british citizen. And my worry about russia is that they are up worry about russia is that they are up to their old tricks. And my dad was in the navy, and thanks to that generation, we won the cold war because they never took peace for granted. And that is why i said that i will increase the proportion of ourgdp i will increase the proportion of our gdp that we spend on defence, because at the point of brexit, i wa nt because at the point of brexit, i want people like Vladimir Putin to know that britain, the country that has always delivered aquatic values, the country that has understood the security necessary to protect those values, at the point of brexit, britain is here and back, and our voice is going to be strong. How much would you increase defence spending, because there has been a lot of defence spending increases thrown around by both candidates in this race . At one point, one of you is going to have to deliver on it. Indeed, andi is going to have to deliver on it. Indeed, and i am looking forward to that. I have said that i will increase defence spending to 2. 5 of gdp overfive increase defence spending to 2. 5 of gdp over five years, that means that would go up by £15 billion by the end of the next five year period. That is still less, by the way, as a proportion of gdp that we were spending in the 1990s. But i looked around the world today, and we dont have the cold war, but we have russia doing things that we hope they wouldnt be doing, we also have they wouldnt be doing, we also have the rise of china. And i think that this is a period when we have to recognise that our democratic system our open societies, the things that we treasure the most, are not things that we can ever take for granted. I recognise that this is a bigger call on taxpayers, but i think it is the right thing to do for our country. I think it says the right thing about our country, that we are prepared to stand by our values. Applause switch to brexit. Can you confirm that the current Withdrawal Agreement will not be put before parliament again if you become Prime Minister . Yes. Good. Applause i like answers like that because we can get more questions in. If october the 315t isnt your absolute deadline for leaving the eu, what is . You say it doesnt matter if it is . You say it doesnt matter if it is delayed by a few days or a week, but how many weeks . Burris, in my position on this, is not actually very different. We both want to get out by the 31st of october. I have said that if there is a deal insight, and we are still getting it through parliament in the week running up to the 31st of october, and we havent quite got the bill through parliament but we have a deal, then i am not going to rip the whole thing up and leave, because i think the deal would be betterfor businesses, it would be betterfor the union. I would like to get a deal if i could. If we get to the beginning of october, and we dont have a deal insight, something that can get through the house of commons thatis can get through the house of commons that is not going to have to backstop as it stands now, providing parliament hasnt ta ken backstop as it stands now, providing parliament hasnt taken it off the table, i will be out. Because we have to implement that democratic mandate. It is a fundamental point in this democracy of ours, which is so in this democracy of ours, which is so respected all over the world, that people know that politicians do what we are told to do, even when the political classes as a whole didnt want to do brexit. It is a signal. I would absolutely be prepared to leave without a deal, if there isnt one insight. And i think we will know that pretty soon. What does that mean though . If you dont commit, as Boris Johnson does that mean though . If you dont commit, as borisjohnson has, to the sist commit, as borisjohnson has, to the 315t of october as a hard deadline, people suspect he might be able to go to number30 people suspect he might be able to go to number 30 of, that im, then kick the can down the road in the same way that it has been kicked down the road over the last three years. Im not, because we all know, you will know, i will know, that if there is a deal insight on the 31st of october. If you make it an absolute hard deadline, and then parliament stops you, then you have to have a general election. I wont do that because i think that it doesnt matter who our leader is, we would be crucified if we have an election before we have left the European Union. I think we would find if we did that, we would be risking having corbyn in downing street. And if you have corbyn in downing street, the one thing that is never going to happen is brexit. Because the labour party will never allow corbyn to leave the European Union. Iam here allow corbyn to leave the European Union. I am here because, allow corbyn to leave the European Union. Iam here because, as allow corbyn to leave the European Union. I am here because, as a democrat, i want to deliver brexit, i know we cant do anything else in our country until we have resolved the brexit issue. And as a negotiator, someone who can do deals, i think i am the best placed to deliver that deal, bring it home, and allow us to get on with all the other brilliant things that we want to do for the country. We will come onto those things in a minute. You signed off on theresa mays chequers plan, you signed off on the Withdrawal Agreement with the backstop, you supported her in the cross party talks, therefore legitimising Jeremy Corbyn. You signed up to her effectively offering a customs union. Why should any cap or leave voter trust you . have a voice believes that theresa may was trying her best, and i should be a loyal foreign secretary toa should be a loyal foreign secretary to a Prime Minister that had a very challenging job. But as you know, it doesnt mean that at every stage you agree with the decisions being taken. I personally did not agree with the decision with the backstop. I wanted to negotiate hard and get it to change. I didnt think it would get through parliament. But i am not going to undermine my Prime Minister in those situations because, sincerely, iwish minister in those situations because, sincerely, i wish that we had voted that the through because we would be out of the eu by now. And we would be in a situation. But we are what we are. We now need to negotiate a deal, a better deal, a deal that can get through parliament. And to do that, we have to send someone to brussels that they are prepared to negotiate with, they are prepared to negotiate with, they are prepared to negotiate with, they are prepared to do a deal with. I dont say it will be easy, but it is not impossible. Our country has done much more difficult things in our history in the past. We can make this happen, we can get that deal. We are going to have to be tough, will tell us now, as they are telling us everyday, we wont budge, it is this deal or no deal. They will say all of those things, but in the end, they want to do a deal. If we approach this in the right way, we can get a deal. If we approach it in the wrong way, we could trick ourselves into an election and lose the whole thing. That is why i think we need to get this absolutely right in the next few weeks. Applause i saw applause isawa applause i saw a picture of you in one of the paper of the other day where you are buying a milkshake. In the sun at this morning, there is a story that says that jamie oliver has persuaded numberten to insult says that jamie oliver has persuaded number ten to insult a new clause into a white paper on Childhood Obesity to extend the sugar tax to milkshakes. Do you thinkjamie oliver should mind what is left of his business . Applause i will tell you a secret, i was Health Secretary. That is not a secret. No, not that iwas also Health Secretary. That is not a secret. No, not that i was also an entrepreneur, did you know that . But he wont the son of a bus driver spent six years trying not to go into mcdonalds because people wouldnt approve of the Health Secretary going to dollars. But i did once going to get some happy meals, kids, the staff were so delighted and wanted to take a photo with me which obviously meant the secret was out. But i do like my milkshakes. The way to solve this problem, we do need to tackle our obesity crisis, we have the second worst obesity levels in europe and it disproportionately affects people from poorerfamilies. Disproportionately affects people from poorer families. The disproportionately affects people from poorerfamilies. The quickest way to deal with this crisis is for the people who manufacture milkshakes and other products to reduce the levels of sugar in those products so the taste doesnt change very much but they are much healthier. So you threaten them. You say look, we will be prepared to legislate if you do not label them. But usually if you make that threat you do not have to follow through with the dreaded milkshake tax. saidi with the dreaded milkshake tax. said i would ask you this on the saturday but didnt, how important is character in people making decisions as to who to vote for in this contest . Our private lives of politicians up for grabs . Of course, character matters. All of you are making a judgment on how, as Prime Minister, me or boris is going to be handling those meetings with Vladimir Putin, the negotiations with the eu and character is part of that. But private life should not be pa rt that. But private life should not be part of that. We all have things in our private life, things we did 20 yea rs our private life, things we did 20 years ago that we wouldnt want our mum and dad to find out about. Have you . I have, but i am not going to tell you and my wife is sitting in the front row. I will ask her later. She doesnt know them. I think when we are in a constitutional crisis, frankly the biggest constitutional crisis of my lifetime, it demeans that competition if we start having huge discussions about peoples private lives. I think we should stick to the issues facing the country. Applause. Lets do that now, we have a couple of extra minutes for questions because we ran over a bit with boris. Helen is the first question followed by anthony. Helen . Hello, you talked about being the party of aspiration would you abolish inheritance tax and Capital Gains tax . Well. Just say yes. Will you vote for me if i say yes . I would like to reduce lots of taxes and you know, inheritance tax is one of the most unfair taxes because people have worked hard all their lives, they have saved up and one of the reasons you save up they have saved up and one of the reasons you save up is to pass things onto your children. As conservatives, we worry that inheritance tax discourages people from saving and doing the right thing. But what i would say is that my priority when it comes to tax cuts are the things that are going to fire up our economy. I have said i will do very, very radical cuts to Corporation Tax to the levels they have in the republic of ireland, down to 12. 5 . That is less of a vote winner than an inheritance tax cut. I accept that but our economy is growing at 1. 5 a year. In america it is growing at 3 . If we could boost our growth rates as donald trump has done with his business tax cuts, that would be an extra £20 billion to spend on tax cuts, may be an inheritance tax cuts money for Public Services like the nhs of the social care system. The focus of a conservative government has to start by firing up the economy and then you can start to tackle those other things. What do you feel in your gut is the most unfair tax people have to pay in this country . I think. Unfair tax people have to pay in this country . Ithink. If unfair tax people have to pay in this country . I think. If you are talking about personal taxation, as a businessman, ithink talking about personal taxation, as a businessman, i think Business Rates are absolutely crippling. Applause. And i have found money in the headroom we have to take 90 of high street businesses out of Business Rates. The reason i want to do that is because they are really suffering from the online revolution and i wa nt from the online revolution and i want them to reinvent their businesses and i want our high streets to be thriving. But on a personal level, and this is not a commitment i want to do right away because we dont have the money to do it right away but it is something i would like to do in due course, i think everyone in this country should be able to earn £1000 a month without paying any tax or National Insurance. As conservatives, we should understand that life is very expensive now. Rent is very expensive now. Rent is very expensive in our cities and we should support people just starting out by reducing that tax on the lowest pa id. Out by reducing that tax on the lowest paid. So that would effectively bring the National Insurance level up to the personal Tax Threshold . Correct . Anthony starkey followed by patricia wright. November the ist, independence starkey followed by patricia wright. Novemberthe ist, Independence Day plus one, could you turn your attention to the rail network in the south west which is a barrier to economic development. You slipped that one in, didnt you . The point, anthony, a brexit is a point when we have to Show Confidence to the world about our country. That means sorting out our infrastructure, which i think has trailed other developed countries forfar trailed other developed countries for far too trailed other developed countries forfar too long. I lived injapan forfar too long. I lived injapan for a couple of years in my 20s. Are you sure it wasnt china . for a couple of years in my 20s. Are you sure it wasnt china . I think that was a low shot, dont you . did it to boris and carlisle. They built their high speed rail between tokyo and osaka in 196a. Two years before i was born. We are going to open hs2 in 2026. It is going to be fantastic but it is way too long. Yes, iam fantastic but it is way too long. Yes, i am committed to hs2 and yes i am committed to Northern Powerhouse railandi am committed to Northern Powerhouse railand i think am committed to Northern Powerhouse rail and i think the Train Service from devon to cornwall is inadequate. I know we have got the Electrification Programme to cardiff, but i would like to see it going beyond that to bristol. I would like to see a faster, smoother Train Service to the west country, yes. Because that is the foundation of prosperity. As conservatives, people know we are the only party that understands how to create wealth. But sometimes they dont know about our commitment to spread the wealth throughout the whole country and we cannotjust be the party of london and the south east. We have got to be the party of everywhere. Applause. Patricia, followed by toby. Patricia . Good morning, jeremy. At the 2015 general election. Would you hold the microphone closer to your mouth . Sorry. At the 2015 general election the south west of one u 52 out of its 55 seats. What are you going to help win the ones we lost at the 2017 election . Applause. Did you all hear that . Patricia made the point that we would not have had a conservative government after 2015 if it wasnt for the extraordinary performance in winning seats in the south west. Performance in winning seats in the southwest. The best thing about that was that we kicked out so many lib dems. Applause. Iam applause. I am someone who has, i am afraid, a total aversion to lib dems because my own parliamentary seat, they came with an 861 votes from winning it offers when i became a parliamentary candidate. I had a life or death battle for two and a half years. I know what its like and they are very often dirty campaigners. And i support people in exeter who are trying to get this back to being a conservative held city, because we wa nt conservative held city, because we want a conservative mp in exeter. The answer to your question is two things. First of all we have got to deliver brexit, but we have got to deliver brexit, but we have got to deliver brexit, but we have got to deliver brexit in a way that reassures people on the Centre Ground of politics, that its not change the fundamental character of our country, we are still an open, outward looking, internationally minded country. Which we are going to be under a conservative brexit. And secondly, we have got to be campaigners, in every seat we are targeting, we have got to out the lib dems. We have got to be focused on local issues and we have some brilliant mps in devon and cornwall and our incredible success in cornwall, our success in getting mps elected is an inspiration to how actually, when it comes to local services, local hospitals, buses, it is conservatives that bring home the goods. Applause. If after to by, applause. If after toby, david. Toby . Good afternoon, jeremy. Id pay nearly £10,000 a year for my University Tuition and i only get eight hours of co nta ct tuition and i only get eight hours of contact time a week. Are you committed to ensuring universities provide value for money and if so, how would you intend to do this . Applause. Toby, i support our tuition fee reforms, because we have the best universities in europe. In fact we have three of the top ten universities in the world in our country. We attract students from all over the world who come and study here. One of them is my wife. We are very, very lucky to have a strong university in that sector. I do worry that some of the courses that we offer do not give students value for money, because if you are going to end up your degree with 50, 60 grand of debt and you have absolutely no prospect of earning enough money in your life to pay that debt back, then we have to ask ourselves a question about whether there was value for money in that degree that was being offered. We do need to look at that. But i have a particular worry about the system which is, although on the whole the reforms have worked, i cannot, when i knock on someones door, justify why the Interest Rate on tuition fee loa n why the Interest Rate on tuition fee loan should be 6 . Ijust dont think it is fair. Applause. And i think we risk discrediting the whole system with those unfair Interest Rates and we have got Jeremy Corbyn who is promising it is all going to be free and we know those promises dont add up, but they are very attractive to students and that is why i think we have got to deal with that unfairness and thatis to deal with that unfairness and that is one of the things i promise. If you brought the Interest Rate down, presumably the Interest Rate is so high it is to compensate for the fact that over half the students never pay them back . Exactly, that is the problem with the system. As it stands, half of the students dont pay their loans back. The Interest Rates are so high so they are out of reach. That policy would be £1. 3 billion a year. We can afford it in the headroom we have and my commitment is we will reduce borrowing as a proportion of gdp over the cycle. If you dont want to spend that money, you risk letting into government, someone who was going to scrap the whole system, cost us more and reduce the quality of education in our universities and in the end, be the wrong people for young people. Nafta david, they will be another david. David . Good afternoon, what are your plans to bring the care of the elderly, the young and the mentally ill to world class standard and with your plans be given priority over tax cuts for the well off . Thank you, david. Very, very important issue in this pa rt very, very important issue in this part of the world, where you have a higher than average proportion of over 70s. Obviously no one in this room today, none of you look at day over a0. But david, room today, none of you look at day overa0. But david, i room today, none of you look at day over a0. But david, i was responsible for the nhs and towards the end, myjob title changed to be responsible for health and social care. I got a ten yearfunding settle m e nt care. I got a ten yearfunding settlement for the nhs. My nextjob was to get a ten year funding settle m e nt was to get a ten year funding settlement for social care. I passionately want to do this because we must, as conservatives, be a country, build a country where every single older person is treated with dignity and respect. And i think that local Council Budgets have been very, very stretched and i think we have got to the point where they are not able to discharge the duties in the way that we as conservatives would want. So we do need to put more resources into the social care system. I introduced some big reforms, but we have also got to be, as the party of personal responsibility, we have got to change the culture for younger people so just as people say for their pension, they also say for their pension, they also say for their social care costs. I would like to have a system where, just as we ought to enrol for our pension and we have millions more people saving for their pensions than were saving for their pensions than were saving before 2010, i think we need to create the incentives so the vast majority of people are also saving for the social care costs they are going to have in those last critical months of their life, when all of us would want people to get the care they need. Applause. Just to follow up, some people would say that maca is my microphone working . Some people would say that you were Health Secretary for six yea rs, you were Health Secretary for six years, you had ample time to bring in all of these reforms that would have solved these problems . Let me repeat the question because it was a bit of hostile fire. He said basically, you were Health Secretary for six years and could you have sorted his problems out while you are there . While i was Health Secretary, we were dealing with big shortfalls in cash. We still managed to raise standards to get more people using good or outstanding hospitals. But i recognise that with an ageing population, we needed a fundamentally different financial settlement. And that was why, as we got the economy back on its feet, i made the argument to the treasury and theresa may, for a big increase infunding and and theresa may, for a big increase in funding and we got the extra 20 billion. But i always said in those discussions, that we needed to do something for the social care system as well. There is a very simple reason for that, too many hospital beds are taken up by people who should be discharged into the community. It is cheaper to look after people there, much nicerfor them as well. You cannotjust solve them as well. You cannotjust solve the problems in the nhs and not look at what needs to happen in the social care system. Is this not working either . Turn it on. After david, we will have simon stephens. Before i ask my question, i want to say we would all agree we have two very impressive candidates in front of us today. Applause. I sense something is coming after that. There is a however. I want to ask you jeremy, what are you trying to achieve in this campaign when you do throw the occasional insult at your opponent and i am thinking of the word coward in particular. Applause. David, let me say this. I have been asked about 1000 times in the last week to make comments about boris personal life and i have rejected every single one. We do need to have a debate on very important issues. For example, would you call an election if parliament blocks and no deal brexit . I think it is something the conservative party needs to know where both candidates stand. Isaid needs to know where both candidates stand. I said i wouldnt call an election because i think it would be a mistake. Ithink election because i think it would be a mistake. I think we should have had debates and have these issues out and i think we should have those debates before people cast their votes. This time next week, many of you, if not all of you will actually have your postal ballot papers. And being conscientious conservatives, i expect many people will vote by return. We should allow people to have those head to head debates, see those head to head debates before they vote and at the moment, the other lot are saying they will only have head to head debates after many people have voted. I think that is wrong. Applause. Wright, sally. This isnt working. And ijinxing these microphones. Sally stevens. Followed by anika. Which failings as a ministercan you followed by anika. Which failings as a minister can you learn from the most as Prime Minister . Well, this could be a long answer. Because i think that you make mistakes the whole time in your lives. I think the really important thing is not whether you make a mistake or not or whether you make a mistake or not or whether you make a mistake or not or whether you learn for it. Learn from it. Probably the most difficult and bitter battle that i have had to fight as a secretary of state, was theJunior Doctor fight as a secretary of state, was the Junior Doctor strike. Fight as a secretary of state, was theJunior Doctor strike. It actually lasted for almost as long as the miners strike. It was a very, very bitter and difficult dispute. I felt passionately because of the issues i was talking about earlier, we need to have a seven day nhs where the care is every bit as good on saturday and sunday as it is in the week. So i felt this was an argument i needed to have. But, what i realised in the course of that dispute, i wasnt getting my message across to the Junior Doctors themselves. I got it across to conservative Party Members who were supportive and two colleagues in the house of commons who backed me to the hilt. But these 51,000 Junior Doctors, who are amazing people who are working incredibly hard, who are the future of the nhs, i couldnt get my message across to them. What i learned from that is that all of us as conservatives i learned from that is that all of us as conservatives have to be better on social media. Because i thought they would be listening to the today programme, watching the bbc and all these things, but they are getting the information from facebook and twitter. If you are not present in all those social media groups, you are not getting your message across. So that is why, as Prime Minister, i want to approach social media in a very different way. I think you have to involve people much more in what you are doing, every single day, what you are thinking and the dilemmas you have. I am are thinking and the dilemmas you have. Iam not are thinking and the dilemmas you have. I am not saying are thinking and the dilemmas you have. Iam not saying im are thinking and the dilemmas you have. I am not saying im going to go trump on social media, in case anyone is worrying, but i do think we have to engage. That is probably the biggest thing i have learned. You did get a bit trump like the other day. You are doing your twitter hour. Somebody asked you what your opinion was ofjournalists who write about peoples private lives. He said you were all a bunch of inaudible macro. I think the question was, what do you think about the journalists who get your last name wrong . Anika, followed by peter walsh. Jeremy, welcome to devon, the place of my birth, but brought up on the continent. My question is, since iran, with whom we have the nuclear treaty, is the originator and sponsor of head speller, a terrorist organisation, can we trust iran to allow us full inspection of all uranium producing plants in iran and in that case, do we have sufficient inspections . Thank you for asking that question, anika. Because it reminds us that while we worry about brexit and you know the social care system in our country and all the other things we have been talking about this morning, there are things happening in other parts of the world that could tip us into a global world war, if we get them wrong. Your question about inspections, i am confident we have a system in place for inspecting Irans Nuclear facilities, it is done by the International Atomic and in authority. But, fundamentally, you are right. The root cause of what is going on in the middle east is the fa ct going on in the middle east is the fact that iran is sponsoring terrorism all over the middle east, destabilising countries like syria, yemen, lebanon where his brother, which they sponsor in attacking israel. What is extraordinary, when it is clear as daylight, when iran was attacking these tankers going up the straight of her muse, Jeremy Corbyn goes out and says it is all americas fault. What does that say about how dangerous this man would be if he was allowed to get into number ten. He cannot even tell the difference between right and wrong in something as simple as that. difference between right and wrong in something as simple as that. I am going to read these two questions at myself peter walsh is asking, bearing in mind the quality of the two candidates, will the one who is successful bring the other into their cabinet and on losing, which one would they like . Of course, i would love to have boris in my cabinet. If there was a secretary of state for collective responsibility, i think that would be a good place for him to take responsibility for. Boris is someone of enormous talent. He has changed the course of our history through his leadership of the leave campaign and he should a lwa ys the leave campaign and he should always have a very big role in taking things forward. So in terms of what role he would have, i mean thatis of what role he would have, i mean that is a discussion that i would have with him in that situation. Would high serving . Of course. We are in an incredibly difficult situation. I think you ever doesnt win in this contest needs to put their shoulder to the wheel, served loyally the winner and so we can get through this, get to the other side and give the country all the exciting things that we want to do. I presume you would like to stay in your currentjob . I presume you would like to stay in your current job . I love my current job, but i think these are all the details. The important thing is that both of us should be willing to serve the other if things dont work out the way that we want. Applause. When you say minister for collective responsibility was that another little gibe this gentleman was talking about . It was a light hearted day can no more. I think boris is quite capable of taking a few light hearted digs. Steve smith says, how would you run your government, sofa or boardroom . Iama your government, sofa or boardroom . I am a boardroom person, your government, sofa or boardroom . Iam a boardroom person, but your government, sofa or boardroom . I am a boardroom person, but it sounds more formal. You need small meetings where you can get a group of people sitting round the table on important issues, meeting weekly or sometimes more often than that. The trouble in government compared to the business world, the number of people coming to meetings tends to explode and then you have 20, 30 people who want to sit in the meeting and then 20 or 30 people sitting round the edge of the table. It is difficult to have those frank, precise conversation you need. Are you going to get rid of all these ministers who attend the cabinet . Just have a 22 member cabinet so it actually means something to be a member of the cabinet . In the last nine years, i have seen how cabinet can work and also how cabinets can fail. There are various constitutional reasons why you have people sitting round the table and there is only actually a handful of people who attend cabinet. But the most important thing is that you need to have a cabinet where eve ryo ne need to have a cabinet where everyone is discreet about whats discussed. Because if stuff is relayed to the media afterwards. Applause. You just cant have the frank conversations you need. Adrian, followed by laurie haynes. Jeremy, what is your specific strategy for eliminating what i think is the scourge eliminating what i think is the scourge of illegal drug usage and the associated criminality if you we re the associated criminality if you were to become our next Prime Minister . Thank you, adrian. Let me make two observations. One thing that i have never understood is why we dont have a more active and determined approach to having drugs free prisons. Because we have far too many drugs in our prisons. This isa too many drugs in our prisons. This is a place where you could treat people, to wean them off the addiction they have so that when they go back out into the world, they go back out into the world, they dont need to go back to the criminality to pay for their drug taking. When i was Health Secretary, i started a pilot to see if we could actually have our first drugs free prison and i think that would be a starting point. Studio so jeremy hunt would be a starting point. Studio sojeremy hunt began his speech at the exeter hustings saying that we are in a very serious situation for our country, he said if we get things wrong we would have no conservative government, no conservative party even. He said he wasnt going to rip things up if the government is close to a deal by the 3ist government is close to a deal by the 31st of october, but he was prepared to leave without one if necessary. Theresa may tells the russian president the salisbury nerve agent attack was a despicable act. A stern faced Prime Minister told mr putin the novichok attack was part of a pattern of unacceptable russian behaviour. Russia needs to recognise its acts and stop acting in this way. And stop its other destabilising activities around the world. Including, for example, the use of disinformation and cyber attacks. The two leaders met at the g20 summit injapan, after president putin declared that liberalism is obsolete. Well be live at the summit in osaka