It might be just extraordinarily difficult thing. And it might bejust be on us but if extraordinarily difficult thing. And it might be just be on us but if you look at the votes, we had a very high vote last year in East Londonderry, the highest ever in Assembly Election, and we exceeded that again, another moo on top of last year, in the face of the daily onslaught every day since early december. It was an exceptional result in both constituencies in the north west. Result in both constituencies in the northwest. As far as the overall picture is concerned, we have heard from your colleagues, Arlene Foster is underan from your colleagues, Arlene Foster is under an enormous amount of pressure but if you come back with around 30 seats and your vote is up around 30 seats and your vote is up a little bit and your share is up, 1. 196, a little bit and your share is up, 1. 1 , it will not necessarily be far from a bad day at the office for the dup . What happens after that . Well, thatis dup . What happens after that . Well, that is what needs to happen. I do not think there were many people who voted yesterday who said, were voting this way in whichever box they put the number, to have a protracted series of discussions and no government in place, no devolved government. People want us to get on with the business of doing government and delivering so we need discussions aimed at that deliver quickly and effectively for people in stormont so that they can see some benefit from devolution. That is what they voted for in all of their diverse ways and that is what we need to deliver quickly. Gregory, thank you very much indeed. Gregory campbell at the foyle and East Londonderry count in the north west. Some news to share with you. The Ulster Unionist Party, some good news, doug beattie has retained his seatin news, doug beattie has retained his seat in upper bann, his running mate Jo Anne Dobson was eliminated and alex, again for the Ulster Unionist Party in east antrim, john stewart, confirmed. They will be very pleased that, in the context of losing seats they did not expect to lose but sometimes it is those little nuggets that make the difference between a catastrophic result and a manageable result but it is still a tremendously bad day for mike nesbitt. And that game for the Ulster Unionist Party, catriona ruane, comes at the expense of 0liver Mcmullan sinn fein. That count is completed, you have lost a seat. And i have to say, it is very disappointing for 0liver. Congratulations to the uup but it is very disappointing and oliver was a tremendous local representative. He had been sick but never missed one day in stormont and when i was in sinn fein, he was one of the greatest team players that we have. He isa greatest team players that we have. He is a fighter. We need to live there. Were getting word of a Press Conference happening in east belfast with the Ulster Unionist Party reader, mike nesbitt. Mike nesbitt coming into the room. He isjoined byjim nicholson, the mep and lord mp. Let us hear what he has to say. It has been a miserable night. Everybody knows why we are here so i will make my statement and leave the stage. I have been reflecting on the implications of todays results for the party and for me as leader. Both in pure terms and in contextually and an essay that, i mean the context of the context of three months, i have been criticising Party Leaders for not taking responsibility for actions that occurred on their watch so it would be the height of hypocrisy if they did not take full responsibility and the results today for the ulster unionists. And in pure terms, the buck stops here. I led into the selection, i argued buck stops here. I led into the selection, iargued it buck stops here. I led into the selection, i argued it should be a referendum on rhi and on ten years of the dup and sinn fein leading the executive government. I am the one who suggested that in a normal Society People would vote on performance and the dup and sinn fein did not earn another mandate. And i am the one who said this should be Northern Irelands first post sectarian election based on economy, education, health and housing and i had a different vision. But the electorate disagreed. They did not give me a mandate big enough for me to feel justified in continuing in this position. So i shall not continue in this position. I have spoken to the Party Chairman and i have informed himi Party Chairman and i have informed him i will not allow my name to go forward for this years collection as party leader. He will call the Party Officers as a matter of urgency and they will define the way forward in selecting my successor. I will stay in post until that process has been completed. I want to thank the Party Chairman,jim has been completed. I want to thank the Party Chairman, jim nicholson, who is here. All of our elected representatives and staff and all of the Party Members who have given me the Party Members who have given me the most fantastic support over the last five years. It has been an absolute honour to have led the Ulster Unionist Party and a challenge like no other i have ever experienced in my life. I will never forget it and i will be forever grateful. My only regret is the result seems to indicate that this society is more polarised than ever rather than more united in a shared future, which was my aspiration. But we will get there. Someday Northern Ireland will vote as a normal democracy, we will vote in a post sectarian election, but it is clear it will not happen during the duration of my political life. But it will happen. My final thought is, when i was a journalist, listening to politicians, i used to hear them saying they wanted effective family andi saying they wanted effective family and i would think, what is that about . It is only a job. I understand what it is all about. And i will finish by thanking my family. Thank you very much. So, mike nesbitt has fallen on his sword. He was elected as leader of the uup in march 2012, embracing his wife, lynda bryans, march 2012, embracing his wife, lynda brya ns, the march 2012, embracing his wife, lynda bryans, the former presenter, and his son, pj. At the park avenue hotel in east belfast. I have a panel of guests who will reflect on mathematical development, it has to be said. John mccallister, in march 2012 he defeated you for that position. How do you feel as the person who lost out to him, witnessing him announcing his resignation . I get no pleasure from this because i have not been in politics, having tasted success and defeat, whether it is going for party leader or indeed in the election last year, it is tough. And he is right to thank his family, families make huge sacrifices that politicians can do jobs like this with. 0ften politicians can do jobs like this with. Often it is discounted or overlooked. I do feel for mike nesbitt, it was an honourable decision, i do not know that he had any great choice. It comes back to defining what the party is about, is it unity or opposition . There have been too many mixed messages over the years and that has been a problem. That is not all his fault. Iam not problem. That is not all his fault. I am not sure the party always would have let him go to the places that perhaps mike nesbitt wanted to go. Evenif perhaps mike nesbitt wanted to go. Even if you take Something Like equal marriage, he was challenged, i think were on the wrong side of history this. Yet he was not able to move the party on with Something Like that, around the issues of the party broadly on things like unionist unity. Some of the party feel closer to nigel dodds and Arlene Foster and some feel closer to naomi long. And that has been a problem, getting that carved out. On a personal level, i feel sorry problem, getting that carved out. On a personal level, ifeel sorry for mike having to do that. It was a brave and courageous thing to announce, particularly on a dreadful day. Pretty dreadful day, described asa day. Pretty dreadful day, described as a miserable night, he might have been referring to the weather. The end of his political career. I want to cross over to the park avenue hotel and hear from gareth to cross over to the park avenue hotel and hearfrom gareth gordon, who was in the room for that news conference. He said he spent the last three months criticising another leader, Arlene Foster, for her handling of the situation. It would be the height of hypocrisy if he did not take responsibility for his partys poor performance. The buck stops here . Yes, you could say of the uup were to make inroads on the dup it would have been this election, the dup did not want the selection under these circumstances, but only as the Ulster Unionist Party failed to make inroads, it looks like theyre heading for their worst ever Assembly Election result and asa worst ever Assembly Election result and as a result, mike nesbitt feels he has no other option but to go. He said he will stand down but will remain in post until a successor is found but tonight it is a pretty sad end to a man, who came to the top of the party almost five years ago. Almost in post for five years. Promising something new, radical type of ulster unionist leader but it looks like ending up as other recent leaders, in failure. Did he give any indication as to whether or not he will continue in the medium to long term a mla . He did win his seatin to long term a mla . He did win his seat in strangford this evening. He did not allowance to ask any questions, his Press Officer was shaking his head. He does not intend to remain, i would take that as. Not only is mike nesbitt not going to be the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. Actually, iam the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party. Actually, i am told that he will remain as a ulster unionist mla in strangford, this is a very confused Press Conference. We were not allowed to ask any questions, that does not make it easy. He will remain asa that does not make it easy. He will remain as a mla but will not be the Ulster Unionist Party leader. Who will follow him . Ulster Unionist Party leader. Who will follow him . The Ulster Unionist Party leader. Who will follow him . The natural successor was perhaps Danny Kennedy but he lost his seat in newry and armagh so the Party Tonight is in a state of chaos. I was asking you to engage in some mind reading. You are looking past the camera to the Press Officer to see what he was trying to indicate by semaphore let me ask you something you can answer. Did he simply make mistakes . Did he over claim . Saying simply make mistakes . Did he over claim . Saying he simply make mistakes . Did he over claim . Saying he would return as the largest Unionist Party . And by suggesting that his voters would wa nt to tra nsfer suggesting that his voters would want to transfer high up in this pr election to the sdlp . He seemed to do that without talking to key members of his party. Ambition is not a crime for any political leader so of course he was going into that election making big claims but after the second part of that question, when he indicated he would make a second preference to the sdlp, was ata second preference to the sdlp, was at a fatal mistake . It did not help. It gave a boost to the dup because it took them off the top of the agenda for sundays and it seemed to not go down very well with lots of the partys traditional grassroots. Was that the fatal flaw . Would it have made any difference . We simply do not know. No doubt, this message did not resonate through the party and Danny Kennedy was the first one to make it clear that he did not agree with what mike nesbitt said and Danny Kennedy has lost his seat as well. The Ulster Unionist Party isa as well. The Ulster Unionist Party is a difficult party to lead, a very broad church. It gives out confusing, mixed messages. Certainly, mike nesbitt, the moderniser who felt it would take It Ina Moderniser who felt it would take it in a different direction, he has failed to do so and tonight, what is next for the Ulster Unionist Party . That is the question. Thank you for that. Gareth gordon. If you a letsjoin my colleague. Many departments. Yes, mike nesbitt, thatis many departments. Yes, mike nesbitt, that is the biggest scalp claimed by this election, standing down as you say as Ulster Unionist Party leader. When a successor is found. But announcing his intention to stand down. Hes been leader since 2012. And what struck me in his emotional speech, he said his biggest regret was that he felt Northern Ireland was that he felt Northern Ireland was more polarised than ever as a result of this election. He had run the partys Election Campaign effectively as a referendum on the way sinn fein and the dup had handled the controversy over the rhi, which led to the collapse of the assembly at stormont injanuary. There was some criticism as well as people giving him credit for that. There was a lot of criticism, suggestions that he had confused unionist voters by appealing to the electorate to vote across Traditional Community lines in the interest of change. So tonight he has announced he is stepping down. Let mejust bring has announced he is stepping down. Let me just bring you up to date. Looking at the voting tally so far, we are over the halfway mark. 49 out of 90 seats declared. Sinn fein so far have 21 of those seats, the dup have 111, far have 21 of those seats, the dup have 14, looking set to continue to dominate Northern Ireland politics the Ulster Unionist Party have six seats, alliance party, for, alliance party. With me to talk about the developments is this professor. Very good to have you. What do you make of the dramatic events of today including the resignation from mike nesbitt . It has been remarkable. Sinn fein came in demanding and equality agenda but even the most optimistic supporter didnt expect them to be equal with the dup. I think it shows that the electorate is polarised in Northern Ireland and there is only really one for one Unionist Party, the dup, and one strong Nationalist Party in terms of sinn fein. The Ulster Nationalist Party has stalled and its leader has resigned, its difficult to see where they will go, and there is room for a Centralist Party in terms of the alliance party. But can deal be done from on . The mood music remains gloomy. Sinn fein say they wont work with Arlene Foster as first minister. When we go from here . Sinn fein are giving themselves no wriggle room. The dup are not going to allow them to choose who the dup leader is. We are looking at an impasse which may last months or even years. Do you think there might be someone in the dup who would say to Arlene Foster, you stay as leader but step aside temporarily as first minister. Someone else takes that post temporarily while an enquiry into the rhi temporarily while an enquiry into the rh s claim rhi scheme is carried out. Would she countenance that . It would be a way forward but the whole point of this election is that sinn fein were demanding Arlene Foster stepped aside in advance of the enquiry. Thats why the election was held. So why would she now step aside . She can legitimately claim today she has had her mandate renewed. She is somewhat weakened by the fact that sinn fein have advanced our position so much, capturing a number of seats, theyve done very well. Arlene foster said this was an election that the people did not want. Its quite clear that a lot of nationalists did. Sinn fein has got its vote out very well. The electorate has not rejected the dup today. They have reinforced to some extent Arlene Fosters mandate. How when we go from here . You will have 90 people elected by tomorrow after nine. But the Secretary Of State may be making real decisions on behalf of those 90, just at a time when northern ile islands. You said direct rule was the phrase that are not speak its name. Do you think we are going to end up with that, with direct rule, or will something be worked out to avoid asoro . The obvious fudge is to keep the assembly in place but not have a Northern Ireland government for a number of months. The Secretary Of State cannot simply abolish these institutions. There has to be legislation. With all the government has on its plate with brexit and the constraints of the parliamentary timetable he may be reluctant to do that. These solutions will remain but the idea that Northern Ireland will have a Working Government between the dup and sinn fein will between the dup and sinn fein will be remaina between the dup and sinn fein will be remain a fiction. It will be a Scrutiny Body for the decisions of james brokenshire. They have had their mandates reinforced, cap can get the deal along . Thank you very much. As we head into the evening, we are a little over the halfway mark in terms of the number of seats declared. But i think as we look ahead to tomorrow, the clear themes are there, success for sinn fein in particular, even the dup leader, Arlene Foster, saying sinn fein has had a really good election. The dup and sinn fein might be a little closer at the end of this in terms of the number of seats they have. And where that leaves Northern Ireland politics, it is difficult to say. There are another possible avenues, a number of scenarios, but one thing is for sure whatever negotiations Begin Next Week once all seats are declared, by tomorrow afternoon, there are some difficult negotiations ahead. Thank you very much, anita. We will have continuing coverage as those results come in. Now the pilot of the plane of the shore disaster. The pilot who survive says he remembers nothing of the crash but investigators say he could have aborted his final manoeuvre to avert the accident. Its still shocking. A vintage jet crashing Out Of The Blue a packed road, killing 11 people. Todays report explains what happened. As pilot andy hill begins his loop, hes more than 300 feet too low and nearly 50 mph too slow. At the top of the manoeuvre, the engine should be at full power but its not. Hes still too low and slow but doesnt seem to realise. And four seconds later, by around this point here, he could, potentially still have saved the plane. He didnt. Andy hill says he cant remember anything about the accident, so we may never know why. The investigators found that he was used to flying a much smaller plane and may have got confused. The pilot was also qualified to fly other aircraft at displays, including another vintage jet aircraft called thejet provost. We found that the jet provost, at the top of such a manoeuvre would achieve the speed and height very similar to that achieved in the accident flight. Its certainly a possibility that he had misremembered the figures from the other aircraft type. The report says a lack of Safety Planning was the reason this accident was so deadly. No one was clear who was in charge of safety, was it the organisers, or was it the regulator . Plenty was done to protect people inside the airshow, but almost no thought went into protecting people who happened to be driving by. I remember seeing it hit the ground and at that moment ijust instinctively turned away and covered my face. Thomas was standing on this spot when the hunter crashed just feet away, the fireball burning his hands and legs. Slightly angry that not enough thought was put into the planning, into the risk assessment, the report showing there was a lax culture around the preparation of these displays. The feeling was that it was saved last year, if you put it on again it will be the same. Among the i who died was mark reeves, a 53 year old plane enthusiast whose family gave their reaction. The early days of this crash were getting over, trying to move on with, you know, get back to normality, with the funeral but as time has gone on it has turned to the investigation, why this has happened. Its turned to how it could happen and i dont see a near end in sight. The family now know why this plane crashed but with the pilot still being investigated for manslaughter and the inquests to come, it may be months before they know if anyone will be held to account. Theresa may has accused the snp of focusing on Scottish Independence whatever the cost. She told the Scottish Conservative conference in glasgow there was no economic case for breaking up the uk and said it was her personal priority to strengthen the union. But the snp said she was being hypocritical, because her government was obsessed with a form of brexit that would directly threaten scottish jobs. 0ur Scotland Editor sarah smith was watching. No cuts here welcome to glasgow. A rather lonely little protest came out to greet the Prime Minister, who has come here to try and resist another referendum on Scottish Independence. Theresa may has heard the warnings that the snp really might try to call another vote. She said they should focus on governing scotland. Politics is not a game and government is not a platform from which to pursue constitutional obsessions. A tunnel vision nationalism, which focuses only on independence at any cost, sells scotland short. Butjust in case, shes already rehearsing the arguments against Scottish Independence and for the union. We are four nations, but at heart we are one people. Let us live up to that high ideal, and let us never stop making loudly and clearly the positive optimistic and passionate case for our Precious Union of nations and of people. Thank you. A key message there from theresa may to nicola sturgeon, stop all this talk about independence. The people of scotland dont want another referendum, the Prime Minister says. Its certainly the very last thing she wants. No one here wants to fight a referendum whilst also negotiating brexit. Scottish tories are on the up. 0nce written off, they are now the snps biggest challengers. They insist they want to stop another referendum because it would be divisive, not because they might lose. If there is to be another referendum on Scottish Independence, do you think you would win . I think there is every chance that the no campaign, the unionist campaign, the pro uk campaign could win by even more because the economic case for independence has utterly collapsed and also, the snp forcing this onto a public in scotland that dont want it would see them have an immediate hit and make it a far harder mountain for them to climb. Outside the conference, some people preparing for the fight. Senior snp figures say it is the Prime Ministers refusal to consider a separate, bespoke brexit deal for scotland that may lead to another referendum. I think if the uk government does not reach a Compromise Agreement with the Scottish Government to protect our place in europe, there will be a referendum on scotlands independence because we have to protect our place in europe. Either the Prime Ministers rhetoric mean something and she respects the people of scotland and respects the Scottish Government, or she doesnt. Times running out for the Prime Minister. It is the Scottish Conservative Party who will have to lead the fight for the union if there is to be another referendum. They may soon have a battle on their hands. Officials in ireland say Human Remains of a significant number of babies and Young Children have been discovered in Underground Chambers at the site of a former church run mother and baby home. Excavations were ordered at tuam in County Galway by a Commission Set up by the Irish Government last 0ctober following allegations about the deaths of nearly 800 infants at the home between 1925 and 1961. The taxi app, uber, has lost a high court appeal against a requirement for all its drivers to prove their english language skills. The test for all private hire drivers was introduced by Transport For London last year but the online cab firm argued the level had been set too high. Tfl says the test is vital passenger safety. The Culture Secretary has said she is minded to order an 0fcom investigation into the planned takeover of sky by 21st century fox. Karen bradley said she had concerns about Media Plurality and broadcasting standards and would make a final decision later this month. Both sky and fox are controlled by businessman rupert murdoch, who also owns the times and the sun newspapers. Mr murdoch made a previous bid to take full control of sky in 2010, as our media editor amol rajan explained. No, we dont have that tape at the moment. Instead well bring you the weather. Good evening. Pretty changeable over the next couple of days, keep the umbrellas handy, because there will be rain in all areas. Its moving north today. Followed by showers in the south and west. Those showers will keep going overnight through england and wales. The main band of rain gets stuck across Northern Ireland. 0nce rain gets stuck across Northern Ireland. Once it gets the eastern side of scotland it will be with them for quite some time. 0vernight lows of four or 5 degrees, for bell first,. Rain will move to the north of Northern Ireland, one or two showers but a lot of dry and bright weather. Quite chilly underneath the rain in scotland. Into sunday, we will see wetter weather across england and wales. Rain followed by sunshine and showers, scattered showers across scotland and Northern Ireland. Hello. This is bbc news. The headlines there are signs that both sinn fein and the unionist dup are polling strongly in the Northern IrelandAssembly Election. Ulster unionist leader mike nesbitt has resigned after a disappointing performance by his party