Surf is up. Hello and welcome to todays verified live. Downing street has described as unacceptable remarks alleged to have been made by one of the Conservative Partys biggest donors about the mp diane abbott. The guardian reports that during a Business Meeting in 2019, frank hester said diane abbott made him want to hate all black women and that she should be shot. Mr hester has admitted making comments about her which he described as rude. Mr hester has issued a statement saying that at the meeting in question, he said he abhorred racism. Diane abbott has also released a statement responding to his alleged comments. She said. Government ministers have faced questions from the media and they called his comments unacceptable but stopped short of calling them racist. Well, its clear that what he said was inappropriate. He has, as i understand it, apologised for those remarks. I think the Critical Point here is i dont think what he was saying was a gender based or a race based comment, b
6-9 c scotland, temperatures dipping down 6 9 c into monday morning. on monday, the weather front continues eastwards, most of this rain light and patchy, they all had a bit down pour across east anglia towards the end of the day, the scottish borders, temperatures down to mid 20s. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines. the unite union has announced eight days of strike action by staff at the uk s largest container port, felixstowe, in a dispute over pay. the met police say they had contact with owami davies on the day she was reported missing by her family. daria dugina, the daughter of one of president putin s close allies, dies after her car exploded as she was driving home. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. and this is riga, the capital of the small baltic state of latvia, which was liberated from moscow s rule some three decades ago, and which is now braced for a new era of confrontation with russia. vladimir putin s invasion of ukraine
to the ukrainian armed forces. coming up, hardtalk speak to the latvian prime minister as the war in ukraine continues. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. dockers at britain s largest container port, felixstowe, have gone on strike for the first time in three decades. almost 2000 workers are taking part in the eight day action after rejecting a 7% pay offer. there are warnings that the strike will cause disruption to supply chains for shops and other retailers half of britain s container trade goes through the port in suffolk. the government says supply chains are resilient. let s talk to our correspondent at felixstowe port louisa pilbeam. good afternoon. cheering it is very vocal down here, i can just about hear you, if i can begin one of the workers striking today. why are you striking, what would be doing? why are you striking, what would be doinu ? ., why are you striking, what would be doinu? ., why are you striking, what would be doin. ? ., ., why are you stri
is to simply find a new home. david rhodes, bbc news. now it s time for a look at the weather with elizabeth. mixed fortunes weather wise across the uk as we head through the rest of today with the best of the sunshine towards the north and a lot more cloud further south. also a scattering of showers towards western facing coasts too. here is the rest of the afternoon, some showers towards western scotland, western wales and far south west of england. humidity levels dry, coastal and hill fog by the end of today, lots of low cloud. where front pushing northwards and his works, point of call, mild and muggy filling conditions. clearest of these skies across north east scotland, temperatures dipping down