the fbi says it is investigating the sale of hundreds of treasures that could have been stolen from the british museum. hello, i m geeta guru murthy, welcome to bbc news now. three hours of fast moving news, interviews and reaction. we start here in the uk, as the first full week of campaigning gets under way ahead of the general election on july the 4th. the labour leader sir keir starmer has focused on security in his first major campaign speech. he s been telling undecided voters in west sussex on the south coast of england that his party will deliver stability. the labour party says if elected it will carry out a 100 day national security review, looking at all the threats facing britain. sir keir said m years of conservative chaos had damaged trust in politics and british institutions. and he said voters faced a choice about the future of the country . i have changed this labour party, dragged it back to service and i will do exactly the same for westminster. that
in papua new guinea. bangladesh braces for a tropical cyclone. let s return to the general election. the conservatives have announced they will introduce mandatory national service for 18 year olds if they win. it s a plan labour have called desparate and unfunded. earlier this morning, the home secretary, james cleverly, spoke on sunday with laura kuenssberg. what we re putting forward is a mandatory national service, a small element of which will be with the military, and anyone taking that route will volunteer to do so. so whilst you will be compelled to take part in the national service, no one will be compelled to do the military bit. and it s about addressing the fragmentation that we ve seen in society too many young people living in their own bubble, whether it be a digital bubble or a social bubble. and we want to get back to the situation where people are mixing with young people from different areas, different economic groups, different religions, to try and find
labour s rachel reeves, who wants to take charge of your cash, and the home secretary, conservative, james cleverly, are here to start. is it a relief it s finally been called? i love elections, i m a bit funny like that. i love elections, i m a bit funny like that- i love elections, i m a bit funny like that. ., ., ., like that. i m looking forward to tourin: like that. i m looking forward to touring the like that. i m looking forward to touring the country like that. i m looking forward to touring the country and - like that. i m looking forward to touring the country and getting | touring the country and getting labour s touring the country and getting labour s message of change out to the voters labour s message of change out to the voters. we labour s message of change out to the voters. ~ ., labour s message of change out to the watere labour s message of change out to the voters- the voters. we are delighted you are both here. take care ourfact checker
labour s campaign is captured in one word and so far it is a pitch keeping sir keir starmer s party miles ahead in the opinion polls. yesterday, the labour leader pledged to change football governance rules to prevent any super league style breakaways by english clubs. today, the party is highlighting plans to create 350 new banking hubs in britain s towns a move the party claims would bring cash to high streets and help to keep pubs and other shops open. rishi sunak warned voters yesterday not to give labour a blank cheque on polling day. the prime minister knows the situation looks bleak for the tories but said he believes he can win. his tactic is to relentlessly criticise and question labour s tax plans. council tax is the latest focus and the tories say labour should rule out scrapping referenda on council tax hikes an attack labour described as hysterical and desperate. 3, 2, 1. while the two main parties slug it out, the liberal democrat leader ed davey seems to be
our panel tonight from edinburgh, the bbc political correspondent rob watson, and from plymouth, our south west s political editor martyn oates. later in the programme, vladimir putin has just arrived in north korea for a two day summit with kimjong un. and we are watching events at the white house tonight joe biden about to sign an executive order that will grant an amnesty to tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who are married to us citizens. a very warm welcome to the programme. the british billionaire entrepreneur and businessmanjohn caudwell, who gave the conservatives half a million pounds before the last general election, has told the bbc he will vote labour for the first time in his life next month. the founder of the phones au buisness invited our political editor chris mason to his house this afternoon and told him he thought rishi sunak was an absolute dud and that the labour leader sir keir starmer is, for him, hitting all the right notes. no, i ve no id