officials say the las vegas government planned to flee the scene of the attack. stephen paddock may also have had help planning a massacre in which 58 people were killed. the british author kazuo ishiguro is awarded the nobel prize for literature. he told the bbc he was flattered to win. it's a magnificent honour because... mainly because it means that i'm in the footsteps of you know, the greatest authors. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. wiltshire police say they have enough evidence to have questioned the former prime minister sir edward heath about allegations of historical child abuse made by seven people. had he still been alive. the force says it would have interviewed sir edward under caution about a claim he raped an 11—year—old boy. and also claims, including rape and indecent assault, made by six others. but their investigation has been severely criticised. helena lee is that wiltshire police headquarters in swindon with the very latest. this has been a major investigation for wiltshire police, it has cost £1.5 million and has been carried out over the past couple of years. looking into, as you say, allegations of sexual abuse concerning the former prime minister, sir edward heath. in a news c0 nfe re nce minister, sir edward heath. in a news conference earlier today here at wiltshire police station, we heard from the chief constable, michael veale, who said he was confident and are satisfied they had compelling reasons to look into these allegations, which he says are serious ones. it has come as you say, attracted a lot of criticism, as richard galpin reports. sir edward heath, conservative prime minister in the early 1970s, is remembered for much, including taking the country into what would become the european union. also whilst prime minister, he famously skippered one of the yachts which won the admiral‘s cup. but since his death 12 years ago, allegations of child sex abuse have come to the fore. today, wiltshire police announced that allegations made by seven people would have led to the former prime minister being questioned if he was still alive. the offences where he would have been interviewed under caution are one allegation of rape of a male under 16. three allegations of indecent assault on a male under 16. four allegations of indecent assault on a male under 14. and two allegations of indecent assault on a male over 16. it is clearly inappropriate to speculate what his response would have been to the allegations put to him, and no inference of guilt should be drawn by the decision to interview him. but the police investigation, launched two years ago outside mr heath's house, has been bitterly criticised by those who knew him. it seems to have begun with a conclusion it wanted to reach, and so it has behaved in a way that would enable that to happen. so i don't think it begun with the police saying, "let's see what we find." it began with the police saying, "this is what we want to find, and we will do our damnedest to make sure we get that." there were allegations that the former prime minister abused dozens of other people, but the police dismissed these. some because of undermining evidence, others because the police believed the claims were false. the former director of public prosecutions ken mcdonald believes the whole investigation was an exercise by the police to cover their backs at the expense of a dead man. "shame on them," he wrote. there are calls now for an independent judicial inquiry to try to determine whether or not mr heath was involved in child abuse. but with the former prime minister long dead, the truth may never be known. supporters of sir edward heath say that because he's not here, of course, he cannot answer to those allegations. they say this is simply going to leave a dark stain on the reputation of a man who cannot defend himself. what, if anything, what, ifanything, happens what, if anything, happens next? the crown prosecution service can't comment on the strength of any evidence. they can't advise on any prosecution because edward heath is no longer alive. we know today the independent inquiry into the child sex abuse has requested a copy of the report from wiltshire police and what they say is that they will consider it as part of its westminster investigation. it says it will investigate whether there was any knowledge within westminster institutions and, if so what action to be taken. there were calls for a judge led inquiry into the investigation by police here in wiltshire. but the chief constable here, michael veale, earliersaid he didn't think it was appropriate. and we will be speaking to a sir edward heath's biographer, michael mcmanus, later this hour. spain's constitutional court has suspended a session of the catalan parliament scheduled for monday. local leaders were expected to declare catalonia's unilateral independence from spain at the meeting. the ruling followed a legal challenge by the catalan socialist party, which opposes secession, according to local media. our europe correspondent damian grammaticas is in barcelona for us. there been so many twists in this story, this is the latest. the court really upping the ante. one of the questions is, how will they enforce this? you're absolutely right. certainly upping a new step in this confrontation. a very clear legal ruling, it appears, confrontation. a very clear legal ruling, itappears, coming confrontation. a very clear legal ruling, it appears, coming from the constitutional court in spain. it's just come through in the last 45 minutes, we're waiting for details. it seems clear what they've said is that the monday session of the local parliament here in catalonia is banned. and cannot go ahead. this is interesting. it's a challenge that has been brought by the local socialist party here in catalonia. it's not a challenge brought by the central government in madrid, it's a separate thing. but it has the effect of preventing that parliamentary meeting going ahead. that is the meeting at which the cata la n that is the meeting at which the catalan regional leaders are pushing for this independence declaration, they said they wanted to formally notify the parliament of the results of the referendum, which triggers the possibility for them to make that unilateral declaration. the possibility for them to make that unilateral declarationlj suppose that unilateral declaration.” suppose the fear is of violence, more violence. we saw that heavy—handed police crackdown during the referendum. if the police were sent into maybe barricade the parliament or something that could bring about further violence. this is the unknown in the whole equation. what we had already in this saga was the constitutional court ruling that the referendum was in constitutional and illegal, but the local authority that held back a nyway the local authority that held back anyway in defiance of the constitutional court last weekend. the question is, will play again defied the constitutional court and sick to hold the meeting on monday? the spanish government in madrid has been very clear, it says at every step the local authorities here have been acting outside the law. threatening the unity of spain by holding that referendum. and whether they seek to take the next step and defied a court again, we'll see. if they do, how would the government respond? would they do, how would the government respond ? would it they do, how would the government respond? would it seek to prevent that meeting from happening, as we saw them seek to prevent the referendum from happening. the constitutional court, we understand, has been quite clear. saying if the authorities here go ahead and try to hold their parliamentary meeting, there will be legal consequences for there will be legal consequences for the leaders here in catalonia. it could, i think, the leaders here in catalonia. it could, ithink, increase the leaders here in catalonia. it could, i think, increase the temperature quite significantly in this stand—off. temperature quite significantly in this stand-off. thanks for being with us, damian grammaticas, in barcelona. senior conservatives have urged the party to keep a cool head and focus on the threat from labour, despite swirling rumours about the future of theresa may as prime minister. it's thought that a group of mps is discussing whether to ask her to stand down, rather than mounting a direct challenge. members of the cabinet have pledged their support for mrs may, but one former minister has warned that many inside the tory party are very concerned. leila nathoo reports — and her report does contain some flashing images. this wasn't how it was supposed to go. the chaotic course of a speech meant to bolster her position has left theresa may exposed and vulnerable. this morning, though, senior cabinet ministers have rallied to defend her. what did you think of mrs may's speech? very brave, very good speech. what did you think of mrs may's speech? very brave, very good speech. the prime minister will continue in her role to do an excellentjob. what did you think of mrs may's speech? very brave, very good speech. the prime minister will continue in her role to do an excellentjob. does she still have yourfull support? she has my full support. what did you think of mrs may's speech? very brave, very good speech. what did you think of mrs may's speech? factors beyond her control — a cold, prank, a crumbling set — all conspired to present a leader struggling. she pushed on to the end, winning support from the crowd. but her performance raised questions again about how long she can carry on. in public, most people are being pretty loyal. i think in private people are very concerned. i think there'll be quite a few people who will now be pretty firmly of the view that she should resign. the tory party conference was a great opportunity to reboot in public, most people are being pretty loyal. i think in private people are very concerned. i think there'll be quite a few people who will now be pretty firmly of the view that she should resign. the tory party conference was a great opportunity to reboot in public, most people are being pretty loyal. i think in private people are very concerned. i think there'll be quite a few people who will now be pretty firmly of the view that she should resign. westminster can be a fickle place, where political careers can quickly rise and fall. ever since the election and the loss of her parliamentary majority, there has been talk among tory mps about theresa may's future. now a group of her critics are considering a renewed push to persuade her to go. but what remains unclear is whether a critical mass of backbenchers will materialise to try to force her out. foreign secretary, is the prime minister going to resign? if she does go, who takes her place? he's been touted as a potential successor, but he has plenty of opponents, too. talk of leadership does nothing but shift the momentum towards labour, and nobody wants a general election, and nobody wants us to be distracted from the real challenge, which is showing we have a vision for this country for the 21st—century. that's what theresa may wanted to set out in her speech. away from destabilising talk about the fragility of her position, for now she will be hoping to recover, regroup, and get on with herjob. our political correspondent jonathan blake is at westminster and is following the story for us. is she an any more danger than she was before the speech? the position has been precarious ever since the result of the snap general election she called of her own volition earlier this year and saw her majority in the house of commons wiped out. the fact remains that there are several reasons why conservative mps have not moved since then to try to get rid of theresa may as leader of their party. nobody wants a general election in the party because they fearjeremy corbyn could end up at number ten downing st. brexit negotiations are ongoing and they don't want to destabilise those. there is no obvious successor. the question now is whether what happened yesterday through no fault of theresa may's, those unfortunate sequence of events that led the speech to be such a disaster, a persistent cough, prankster getting on the stage with a p 45, the set collapsing behind her, whether it provides a catalyst and impetus for a minority of conservative mps who are talking about whether this is the time to approach to say it's time for you to go whether that means they close ranks and go for a... there is no sense that will happen any time soon. in fact, several backbench conservative mps have been firing off tweets this afternoon supporting the prime minister, saying plotters be warned, a challenge is nonsense. it's destined to fail. ed vaizey was speaking to the bbc earlier on today and there's quite a few people are now off the mind she should resign. in private he said people are very concerned. charles walker the vice—chairman of the conservative backbench 1922 vice—chairman of the conservative backbench1922 committee was sounding bullish saying the prime minister deserves some credit. here isa minister deserves some credit. here is a woman who stood on stage for an hour with an appalling cold. who did brilliantly well given all the circumstances she had to contend with. i think she comes out of it heroic to be honest. strengthened. i don't buy into this media narrative that somehow you always have to be pitch perfect. you're allowed to be ill occasionally. she was ill, she was ill because she's been working so was ill because she's been working so hard on behalf of this country since she became prime minister, she's been working really hard. an opportunity to reassert her authority and reclaim the political agenda. everything that went wrong with the speech yesterday meant it didn't happen. for now she's still in place. jonathan blake, political correspondent. the latest bbc news headlines... police a former prime minister sir edward heath would have been questioned over seven allegations of indecent assault and rape if he was still alive. a downing street source insists resignation isn't an issue for theresa may as ministers rally round her following the for theresa may as ministers rally round herfollowing the mishaps for theresa may as ministers rally round her following the mishaps she experienced during her conference speech yesterday. police say the las vegas gunmen stephen paddock had planned to escape from the scene of the shooting. and in sport england international zak hardaker has been dropped by castleford tigers for the super league grand final on saturday following a breach of club rules. a big night for three of the home nations, england, northern ireland and scotland, all in world cup qualifying action later, hoping to guarantee their place in russia next year. could the champions league final return to the uk? the uk could bid to host the event in 2023, according to confidential uk sport documents obtained by the bbc. i'll be back with more on all those stories at half past three. police in las vegas say that stephen paddock who shot dead 58 people on sunday may have been planning to escape instead of killing himself. they've not elaborated on what's led them to that conclusion, but have suggested he had been living a secret life and had spent years building up his arsenal of weapons. his girlfriend marilou danley is being questioned by the fbi — but has said she had no idea what he was planning. laura bicker reports from las vegas. police believe stephen paddock had help getting hold of his arsenal of weapons. he legally bought some of his 47 guns here at a shop just outside las vegas. he owned dozens of semiautomatic weapons, which he modified to turn into machine guns. officers are also trying to work out how he moved all of his guns unnoticed into a hotel room on the 32nd floor. from here, he waited until the concert ground was full of thousands of people. and then he started firing. gunfire and screams. what we know is stephen paddock is a man who spent decades acquiring weapons and ammo and living a secret life, much of which will never be fully understood. stephen paddock‘s girlfriend, marilou danley, has been questioned by the fbi. she flew back from her family home in the philippines after hearing about the shooting. she said the 64—year—old paid for her to go, and she thought he was breaking up with her. he wired me money, which he said was for me to buy a house for me and my family. i was grateful, but honestly i was worried at first the unexpected trip home and then the money was a way of breaking up with me. her sisters in australia said she knew nothing about stephen paddock‘s plan. and i know that she don't know anything as well, like us. she was sent away. she was sent away so she will be not there to interfere... america is once again grieving the victims of another mass shooting. it is not fair and it's not right and i will now forever have to have a bullet in my back. for no reason. so i'm just sorry other people have to deal with similar worse injuries or losses. detectives say they still don't know why stephen paddock decided to commit mass murder, but they are building a picture of the killer and they believe he had been planning this attack for some time. laura bicker, bbc news, las vegas. a whistleblowing senior accountant has been giving evidence in london at the trial of three former tesco executives who are accused of fraud and false accounting. amit soni described mounting pressures on managers as the food business under—performed against targets in 2014. our correspondent adina campbell is at the court and gave us this update. on the second day of giving evidence here, a key witness, the tesco a ccou nta nt here, a key witness, the tesco accountant described as the whistle—blower, has been talking about the pressures on him and his tea m about the pressures on him and his team in the lead up to tesco admitting it had overstated its profits by approximately £250 million back in 2014. he said part of his team were starting to give up and there was a sense of disillusionment. he went on to say this team was falling apart and there had been a couple of resignations and more were expected. he's also been describing the low morale within his team and some of the meetings between himself and his commercial director saying there was a high level of anxiety to meet targets. by 2014, august 2014, he admitted to the court that he had given up. the court heard how he had e—mailed colleagues in india are saying the whistle is about to blow. the e—mail said yesterday, after a long time, i slept properly. the fight starts now. the fight i have to have if tesco is to become better. the three men at the centre of this trial are accused of fraud and false accounting. the prosecution alleged they cooked the books and massage the figures to meet challenging financial targets. all three men deny any wrongdoing and the trial continues. the trial of an army instructor accused of trying to kill his wife by tampering with her parachute, has heard from one of the country's most experienced parachutists. victoria cilliers suffered multiple injuries when both her main and reserve parachutes failed to open during a jump over salisbury plain. emile cilliers denies the charges. duncan kennedy is at winchester crown court. this is the trial of a man, husband, accused of trying to kill his wife by sabotaging her parachute and today the jury heard from one of britain's greatest parachute experts, one of those who helped investigate this accident. he showed thejury investigate this accident. he showed the jury the kind investigate this accident. he showed thejury the kind parachute investigate this accident. he showed the jury the kind parachute used investigate this accident. he showed thejury the kind parachute used by victoria on that day and a video showing the safety features incorporated. he said there was no way for the links thatjoined the canopy to the harness itself could have come undone by mistake. around 25,000 parachute jumps are made every year at netheravon airbase near salisbury. and it was the same location for the accident that the prosecution say was attempted murder. they say emile cilliers tampered with the parachute of his wife victoria in an attempt to kill herfor money, and because of his affair with another woman. when she jumped at a height of 4000 feet, both her main and reserve parachutes failed to open. she hit the ground and suffered multiple injuries. the prosecution say emile cilliers, in front here, had taken her parachute into a toilet at the airbase, altered the main chute and removed pieces of kit from the reserve chute. today, the chief instructor at the airbase showed the jury a number of photos and videos with images of the kind of chute used by victoria cilliers. in particular, they were shown the ties, known as slinks, that join the harness to the reserve parachute canopy. the prosecution say emile cilliers removed two slinks so the parachute would fail. the expert witness said there was no way that the slinks could have come undone by accident. they say mr cilliers, an experienced parachutist like his wife, wanted her dead so he could inherit £120,000 from her life insurance policy, and because he was having an affair with a woman he had met on tinder. victoria cilliers spent three weeks in hospital and only survived because she landed in a ploughed field. the jury has heard the official inquiry into the accident had never known a case where both a main and a reserve chute had failed. emile cilliers denies all the charges against him. it is expected to give evidence as a witness later in this trial. emile cilliers was watching as this parachute expert gave evidence this morning at the same expert will continue to give evidence this afternoon, again, concentrating on all the details of the parachute used by victoria on that day in 2015. duncan kennedy reporting. the british author kazuo ishiguro, who wrote "the remains of the day", has been awarded the nobel prize for literature. the swedish academy said his novels had great emotional force, and praised the japanese—born writer's exploration of the themes of memory, time and self—delusion. mr ishiguro said the prize was a magnificent honour that placed him in the footsteps of the world's greatest authors. when we contacted kazuo ishiguru to get his reaction to the news, it was the first he'd heard of it. let's take a listen to his rather stunned — but very happy — response. well... imean... you've got a pretty authentic reaction there, my reaction was... do you have any evidence this is true? i really heard it definitively from you just now. my agent phoned saying they thought i'd won the nobel prize. but we were just going to check it up to see if this wasn't a hoax. obviously not. you seem to have very reliable evidence. in which case, you know, it'll be... it's a magnificent honour. you know. because... mainly because, you know, it means i'm in the footsteps of, you know, greatest, the greatest authors that have lived. so that's a terrific compliment. i'll try to come up with a more articulate response later but it probably won't be any more genuine than that. if it's true, it's flabberg hastingly flattering. i hope all the nobel prizes will be a force for something positive. congratulations to him. you can see a full interview with kazuo ishiguro later this hour with our arts editor will gompertz. let's look at the latest weather prospects with ben rich. hearing warnings about possible flooding from the environment agency. yes, it's because we've got some pretty high seas along the east coast at the moment. a combination of factors, an area of low pressure allowing sea water to lift up slightly bennett crashes into the coastline. we've had very strong winds piling that water into the coastline and spring tides are approaching. this is a combination of factors leading to some pretty rough seas across the east coast. the thames barrier has been closed. elsewhere, things beginning to calm down. the weather will continue to quieten down through the evening, the wind falling light, not too many showers around. there could be the odd folk patch and a touch of frost, particularly out in the countryside, further north at sea temperatures down at freezing or even just a little bit below. tomorrow a nice looking day, light winds, more in the way of sunshine, until we see thicker cloud pushing in from a west later in the day. brain into the far north—west by the end of the afternoon, 12—15d. saturday bringing cloud and some outbreaks of rain. sunday looks dry and hopefully brighter. white this is bbc news — our latest headlines. a police report says former prime minister sir edward heath would have been questioned about seven allegations of sexual assault, including the rape of an 11—year—old boy, if he were still alive. police stressed there was no inference of guilt. if sir edward heath would have been alive today, it has been concluded, he would have been interviewed under caution, in order to obtain his account in relation to the allegations made against him. monday's session of catalonia's parliament has been suspended by a court in madrid, in an attempt to prevent a declaration of independence. preliminary results of sunday's referendum suggest that 90% of those who voted supported leaving spain. a downing street source says that "resignation is not an issue" for theresa may after her conference speech. home secretary amber rudd said the prime minister has her "full support" — but the former culture minister ed vaizey has said many people wanted her to quit. the fbi says it is yet to find evidence that sunday's shooting in las vegas — which killed 58 people — was linked to terrorism. investigators said stephen paddock‘s motives were still a mystery — and nothing was being ruled out. the japanese—born british writer kazuo ishiguro has won the nobel literature prize. mr ishiguro told the bbc the award was "a magnificent honour". those are the latest headlines. now, the sport. our top story first is about black eyed a car who has been left out of the castleford tigers road for saturday's cup final due to a breach of rules. the club has not given any details of the breach but it is clearly a major one to drop such an influential player in the biggest match in their history. he has scored 30 tries in 30 games this year. so, could the champions league final make a return to the uk? the football association says it could bid to host the final in 2020, according to confidential documents we have seen. this year's final was hosted in cardiff. the game is one target for uk sports which is investing millions of pounds over the next five years. other events hoped for our the tour defined in 2020 and the athletics championships. england will be hoping to secure their place in russia with a win tonight in their match. meanwhile, scotla nd tonight in their match. meanwhile, scotland will be knocked out if they don't win against slovakia and northern ireland should find one point is enough to earn them a place in the play—offs. just one problem. their game is against germany. michael o'neill says they are strongbow. we have had three, three and a half years weather has co nsta nt and a half years weather has constant progression. -- michael o'neill says they are strong, though. to be in this position, i wouldn't have said it was something we had jumped off, but it was certainly something we believed we we re certainly something we believed we were capable of after the euros. we are ina were capable of after the euros. we are in a great position going into this game. joanna konta could be losing her grip on the final spot in the atp tour finals at the end of the atp tour finals at the end of the season. her only real threat is through to the quarterfinals in beijing. and as a stark and newton has expressed regret for making a sexist comment at a news conference yesterday. the journalist says she was dismayed by his response when she asked a question, saying it belittled her and all other women in the field. does that give you a little bit of enjoyment? it's funny to hear a female talk about routs like that. it's funny. but it's coming along. this is a big game for him. because of him being from detroit. well, plenty more build—up from tonight's games for england, scotla nd from tonight's games for england, scotland and northern ireland, but for now, back to you. police have said the former prime minister sir edward heath would have been questioned about allegations of raping an 11—year—old boy and indecently assaulting six other people if he was still alive. friends of sir edward have insisted the claims are "groundless". wiltshire police chief constable michael veale said it would have been a dereliction of his duty if he had not investigated the former prime minister. i am satisfied, satisfied there were compelling and obvious reasons to investigate allegations made against sir edward heath. as i have said, sir edward heath was an extremely prominent, influential and high—profile person who was arguably one of the most powerful people in the world commensurate with the public office and political office he held. the allegations against him were of the utmost seriousness and from a significant number of people. i hope people will understand that given these circumstances it would be an indefensible dereliction of the chief constable's duty not to have investigated the allegations against the former prime minister, even though he is deceased. we have also had a statement from the police and crime commissioner from butcher. he said people who have been abused should have the confidence to come forward and know they will be taken seriously and listened to by the police. that is from the police and crime commissioner in wiltshire. i'm joined from westminster by sir edward heath's biographer and former private secretary in the nineties michael mcmanus, who is also a trustee of the heath charitable foundation. thank you so much for being with us. what do you make of what the police in wiltshire have said today? well, they have said a lot, and they are still saying it, by the sounds of things. angus macpherson giving a new statement now. i think the police were dammed if they did and downed if they didn't, to be honest. allegations of this sort had been made and they had to do something about them, i accept that, totally. it should be said, you are right, i ama it should be said, you are right, i am a trustee of the heath foundation. we said at the beginning two years ago that we would co—operate fully with operation conifer and we have done fairly. there were shortcomings in operation conifer and we can deal with that another day. but this is not for dispute, the allegations had to be taken seriously. has the fact these allegations came to light surprised you at all? he was a prominent figure who never married and they used to be a lot ofjoshing and joking about his private life. all i can say is i worked with him for five years and i never had any sense of him having a sexual interest in anyone or anything. he was eventually asexual, i think, he didn't operate on that level. then i spent 18 months talking to people he knew him to write the book i wrote about him last year and these allegations are out there. that press c0 nfe re nce allegations are out there. that press conference happened outside his home and not one person believed them, including people he really didn't like him. i wasn'tjust speaking to his friends and apologists, i was talking to his critics as well and every single person i spoke to who had known him personally dismissed them. that is all i can say. there is a separate question, which is what happens now. the police investigation can only ta ke the police investigation can only take things so far. the bar is rather low for them to say, we would have interviewed them. you would expect them to have interviewed them if there was any hint of credibility about allegations. they now read this down to six or seven allegations. the danger is that nothing happens now, there is a stain on his character and no wonder that those allegations. i think someonejudicial needs that those allegations. i think someone judicial needs to look at them to decide one way or another. it is difficult, isn't it? because police say they have a duty to investigate but on the other hand, supporters of edward heath have said his reputation has been stained and he is not alive to receive these allegations. that is why i said the police were dammed if they did, dammed if they didn't. they have said they would have taken it a little further, they would have interviewed him, but they can't do that because he is dead. they have come to a cul—de—sac. the u nfortu nate come to a cul—de—sac. the unfortunate thing about their investigation was that at the very beginning, it felt like a fishing expedition. they had their man outside heath old —— heath's old house inviting victims, not potential victims, but victims of heath to come forward. it was like the beginning of a football match. i ama the beginning of a football match. i am a west town map fan. i know what about it. if you read the report today, they list all the groups of people they interviewed, former drivers, protection officers, police guarded his house, people who worked for him, and in category after category, nobody offered any evidence to substantiate any of the allegations. i think that is important. you talked a bit about what he was like as a man to work with, that people didn't know his sexuality, or example. what was he like as a man know? we know he was fervent pro—european, he loved classical music, he loved yachting. but what was he like as a man to deal with every day? quite grumpy by the time i worked with him, he was quite old. he wasn't without appreciative as one might have wished. i think he was quite lonely. all the things people say about him, really. he didn't warm up easily. he didn't like physical contact with people. what i think is significant, he didn't like children very much. he found them boring and slightly irritating. the concept of paedophilia for him i find a very odd one. he had no interest in children, really. ithink odd one. he had no interest in children, really. i think he regarded them like yankee dogs. he had no interest of any kind in them that i could see. he wasn't very warm. he could be very funny, and kind. by the time he went to live in salisbury, by the time i worked for him, he was not a very well man. he had swelling in his arms and ankles, he wasn't very mobile and he was in pain quitea he wasn't very mobile and he was in pain quite a lot of the time, i think. a lot of these allegations come late in his life and ifind it ha rd to come late in his life and ifind it hard to believe him having any sexual interest in anybody at that stage of his life, i really do. thank you very much. that's michael mcmanus, the biographer of edward heath and also his former private secretary. just a little more of that statement i was reading out for you from angus macpherson, the wiltshire police and crime in, defending his chief constable. he said, there have been calls for the chief constable to resign all for me to sack him. i consider these to be fundamentally misguided. the chief co nsta ble fundamentally misguided. the chief constable is an experienced to co nsta ble constable is an experienced to constable leading a force that has been independently assessed as one of the most effective and efficient in the country. so that in from the police and crime commissioner in wiltshire. ok, it isjust approaching quarter to four. let's get more now on the news that the british writer kazuo ishiguro has won the 2070 nobel prize for literature. he has been speaking to our arts that are, will converts. the author said at first but he didn't believe he had won the prestigious prize. no, iwas in didn't believe he had won the prestigious prize. no, i was in the middle of writing some e—mails about 45 minutes ago. it hasn't been that long. i was at the kitchen table then i started to get all these phone calls and i haven't come up but then since. i thought in this age of false news, i thought it was perhaps a mistake. did you even know that the prize was being awarded today? i didn't actually, no. i know it is usually around this time. but i can't believe it's been a whole year since bob dylan won it. he is one of my great heroes and i was terribly pleased. it's fantastic to go right after him, isn't it, to receive this award? no, actually, i only started to believe this was true when the bbc rang. i'm quite old—fashioned. i true when the bbc rang. i'm quite old —fashioned. i believe true when the bbc rang. i'm quite old—fashioned. i believe in the bbc. good. why weren't you expecting it? well, why would you expect to win the nobel prize? no, of course i wasn't expecting it. it's not something i generally think about. but it is an amazing honour. i have to say that. it's a cliche for people to say, but i would say the swedish academy has managed to keep itself away from the fray of politics while remaining engaged with world events and politics. i think, for me anyway, they stand for something decent and at a time when the world is very unstable, people are very the world is very unstable, people are very uncertain about values, i do think the nobel prize can mean something. positive and it's a honour to be here and to do terrific honour to be here and to do this alongside great scientists and whoever gets the peace prize. i think it has managed to maintain its credibility as a force for good in the world. once you had got over the idea that it wasn't fake news, how did you feel? i felt very moved. i think this is, we all of us have this kind of idea of the nobel prize and not just the this kind of idea of the nobel prize and notjust the nobel prize for literature, but the nobel prize as being something extremely exulted. and we have this all through our lives. as children, we have all heard of the nobel prize. we have all heard of desert island discs in britain andi all heard of desert island discs in britain and i know that almost every british citizen has the secret wish to be on desert island discs. i don't know if we all dream of winning a nobel prize but it one of these, it seems like an unattainable dream. well, there we are. congratulations to him. just to say, you can congratulations to him. just to say, you can see congratulations to him. just to say, you can see much congratulations to him. just to say, you can see much more congratulations to him. just to say, you can see much more of that interview on the news channel at 5pm. ina interview on the news channel at 5pm. in a moment, a summary of all the business news. before that, our headlines. police say the former prime minister sir edward heath would have been questioned over seven allegations of indecent assault and rape if you were still alive. a downing street source insists resignation is not an issue for theresa may as ministers rally around her following the for theresa may as ministers rally around herfollowing the mishaps for theresa may as ministers rally around her following the mishaps she experienced during her conference speech yesterday. police say the las vegas gunmen stephen paddock had planned to escape from the scene of the shooting. i'm ben bland — in the business news. sales of new cars in the uk are stalling — they fell in september, for the sixth month in a row. demand for diesel cars slumped more than a fifth. according to the society of motor manufacturers and traders new car registrations last month came in atjust over 426,000. more rail strikes across england — for the second time this week. rmt union members at southern, merseyrail, arriva rail north and greater anglia have begun a 24—hour walkout. the industrial action is over plans to remove guards from trains, making them driver—only operated. critics say safety would be compromised. the government has hinted that a cap on gas and electricity prices could come in by this winter. parliament is likely to give the energy regulator ofgem the legal backing it needs to limit prices. but the boss of centrica — which owns british gas — has warned that price caps could mean the end of cheap deals for customers. more than 500 new hardbacks will hit the shelves across the uk today as part of the book industry's ‘super thursday'. bestselling authors dan brown, stephen king and terry pratchett as well as household names mary berry and miranda hart are among the authors vying to top the christmas best seller list. bookshops have faced tough times in recent years facing increasing pressure from online retailers, supermarkets and ebooks— though last year the rate of closures was slower at 3%. let's talk to meryl halls from the booksellers association. this is going to get me into trouble with some viewers, mentioning christmas bestseller lists so early in october. why is super thursday so early? i think we start early because they've got a lot of books to be published, a lot they want attention for, so to get them out early m ea ns attention for, so to get them out early means people can read the books, get to know what's inside before we can recommend them to customers. there are so many of them, 505 to read, so it means people can stagger their christmas shopping. i know people are horrified, talking about it in october, but it means we can get started. why would the book industry time it so all the titles come out at one time? surely they would get more publicity if the book came out a week earlier or a week later? it's interesting, because it is not an orchestrated campaign. its other nominee and which was noticed by one of the trade magazines and it was dubbed super thursday a few years ago because there was this concentration of publishing. i think there is a bit of a push back to it now. some of the bigger publishers are thinking of a different publication date just so they get more media time. it's great for us because we can then focus on our campaign, with book shop day on saturday, allowing book shops to get media backing, media focus on what's going on in their book shops. we are all behind celebrating what book shops can deliver in the book trade to customers and people who love to read. i want to ask you about kazuo ishiguro, who hasjust won read. i want to ask you about kazuo ishiguro, who has just won the read. i want to ask you about kazuo ishiguro, who hasjust won the nobel prize for literature. will his prize -- his prize for literature. will his prize —— his sales go up? prize for literature. will his prize -- his sales go up? i think they will and i -- his sales go up? i think they willand i am -- his sales go up? i think they will and i am so pleased for him. i didn't realise it came as a shock to the author, so that is really interesting. he is a fantastic writer. but shops face so much pressure from the books and online retailers. does this give them a boost? they do. it starts the christmas selling period and with book shop day on saturday, it allows sellers to play to their strengths. with the news that so many books are available, they can then also consolidate what they can do on the high street. they are often a key pa rt high street. they are often a key part of the community and people often go in not knowing what they wa nt often go in not knowing what they want and they will come out with something they didn't know they wanted. community, discoverability, they are all buzzwords and in a real shop you have real people that you can ask for advice, about what you might like to buy for yourself or christmas presents, if that is what you want to do in october. let's ta ke you want to do in october. let's take a look at the markets. london's ftse100 is higher. but the pound has fallen in value against both the dollar and the euro. some analysts say that's because of the speculation over theresa may's future as prime minister. when sterling falls, the ftse often rises. a lot of firms on there trade abroad — and the weaker currency means their foreign earnings are worth more when they are converted back into pounds. two shares i've picked out for you — sofa firm dfs is down. thank you. let's talk now now about monday's shooting in las vegas and police say stephen paddock may have been planning to escape instead of killing himself. they have not elaborated on what has led them to that conclusion but they have suggested he had been living a secret life and had spent years building up his arsenal. we can now speak to elliot atkins, a forensic psychologist who has worked on both criminaland psychologist who has worked on both criminal and civil cases and joins us criminal and civil cases and joins us live now from newjersey. thank you very much for being with us, elliott atkins. from everything we have read and heard about this man, what kind of profile do you think stephen paddock vitz? the first thing we noticed when we listen to the commentary is that all the people who know him, and this is not unusual, they are all saying, this is so out of character. this isn't the person that i knew. theirfirst thought is that i can't imagine that they could possibly do this thing, it's just not they could possibly do this thing, it'sjust not him. they could possibly do this thing, it's just not him. but myjob as a forensic psychologist is to try to make sense out of behaviour that doesn't make sense and the only way that we do that is to try to truly understand the character of the individual. their character is the way in which they cope with what life deals out to them. it's their thinking patterns. and it's my assumption that people don't act out of character very often. in fact, it's usually a part of their character that we don't get to see very often if we see something strange or violent or unusual. it doesn't mean that it's out of character. it probably is more a sense that we haven't seen it, we haven't had access to it, but it's been there. so, in this case, we hear about him being, according to his girlfriend, mild mannered and kind. we have his brothers saying i have never seen him act in a violent way. but there are parts of his personality that are very likely inaccessible to those people, unless they are not being honest and they have seen it, but we have very interesting variables here that we have been given information about. he isa have been given information about. he is a very clear thinking, methodical, sometimes very perfectionist dick in his planning, evenin perfectionist dick in his planning, even in his approach to gambling. he has it down to a science. mathematical probabilities are all thought out before he sits at a slot machine, iam thought out before he sits at a slot machine, i am told. another theory is to go back to his father, who has been described as a sociopath. his father was in and out ofjail, he was up bank robber. so when we hear about 30 in a first—degree relative —— when we hear about a sociopath in a first—degree relative, science has found that there is a much greater chance that a first—degree relative of somebody who is a sociopath is going to be a sociopath. just briefly, you talked about how methodical he was. you know, he clearly built up this arsenal very methodically, this arsenal of guns. he sent money to his girlfriend, bought our tickets and so on. what else does that tell you about how long he was planning this and how methodical he was? it also tells us that he was very angry man and that the angle was sustainable. this was not who snapped. this was not somebody who had a sudden violent reaction to some specific trigger. it is somebody who had been harbouring that anger and took the time to methodically plan out a way of retribution or a way of showing or demonstrating how angry he is. 0k, or demonstrating how angry he is. ok, thank you, we are out of time but thank you so much for that fascinating analysis there. that is elliott atkins forensic psychologist joining us on the line. let's get a look at the latest weather forecast now. thank you. things have been a little bit turbulence over the last 24 hours. we had wet and windy weather last night, some heavy rain for some this morning and there have been pretty rough seas close to the east coast as well. gradually though, things have been calming down. we lost most of the rain, a lot of sunshine around. showers speeding in on the north—westerly breeze. the wind will continue to ease slowly but surely for this evening. many of the showers will fade and under clear skies tonight, it will get very chilly indeed. towns and figures into —— towns and cities into single figures and the countryside could see figures down to freezing or even below in print spots. tomorrow, a nice looking day. things will start a cloud over later in the day in the far north. 11 to 15 degrees. for the weekend, saturday will be a mostly cloudy day with some outbreaks of rain splashing eastwards. sunday, largely dry, with a bit of brightness if you are lucky. this is bbc news — i'm ben bland. the headlines at 4pm: —— ben brown. police say the late former prime minister, sir edward heath, would have been questioned over seven allegations of indecent assault and rape — if he were alive. if sir edward heath would have been alive today, it has been concluded he would have been interviewed under caution, in order to obtain his account in relation to the allegations made against him. i and my siblings had every opportunity at close hand, to observe him, and children being children are not unaware of the sort of things that are being talked about — and we would have noticed anything, and there was nothing, spain's constitutional court suspends monday's session of the catalan parliament, in a bid to stop a possible push for independence. a downing street source insists resignation is not