campaigning in wales today, but his efforts to promote the conservative�*s welsh manifesto were overshadowed by questions about tory insiders allegedly gambling on the date of the election. the prime minister insisted multiple independent investigations were under way — and that any tories found to have broken betting rules would be �*booted out�* of the party. lets take a listen: there are full investigations that are currently happening. it's right that those investigations are allowed to proceed. they are independent. they are necessarily confidential, as you will appreciate. there's also a criminal investigation, and these are potentially criminal matters and the police are conducting those. you'll be aware of that. and because of that, i hope you can appreciate there's not much more i can add. what i can tell you is, as i said, if anyone is found to have broken the rules, they should not only face the full consequences of the law, i will ensure that they are booted out of the conservative party, too. labour has accused rishi sunak of a �*total lack of leadership�* for not suspending the candidates over allegations of illegal gambling — here's sir keir starmer speaking on the campaign trail in scotland the prime minister is showing a total lack of leadership on this. let's look at what actually happened. in relation to a general election, the instincts of these tories when the general election is called is not, "how do we make this work for the country," but, "how do i make some money?" and that tells you a broader picture about politics. of course, he should suspend these candidates. if they were my candidates, they'd be gone by now out of the door. he needs to take tough action. he's not even saying today whether there's more involved. so he needs a full account. it's a total lack of leadership. the lib dem leader, sir ed davey also urged the prime minister to take "tougher action" on those accused of breaking betting rules. i think if people know the outcome i of something and they bet on it, i i think that's immoral. and i don't think that looks right. |and too often in this parliament, | we've seen the conservative party and certainly members - of the conservative party looking like they're in it for themselves, | not for public service and what'sj in the best interests of the country. - so i hope he'll take . some tougher action. elsewhere on the campaign trail today — the snp have been promoting their plans for growth as well plans to cut vat for businesses. on a visit to glasgow, the party's deputy leader, kate forbes, said the snp would demand whoever wins the election to commit to cutting the rate of vat for businesses, in an effort to boost business and grow the economy. scotland, under the snp, - has for eight years been a top destination for foreign direct - investment because investors see what we're doing and like it. and that's outside london - and the south—east, of course. we also have an agenda for growth when it comes to abolishing - |or cutting rates for over 100,000| businesses, proposing today a cut to vat for hospitality businesses that have been challenged, - so we believe that there is a record here that scotland can be proud of. we want to go further. meanwhile — the latest from the bbc poll tracker shows support for the conservatives have dropped to 21% — close to their lowest since the last general election in 2019. labour's average also sits lower than at the start of election campaigning — but they still hold a lead of around 20 points. in the last week reform have also moved up in the polls. they're followed by the lib dems. let's cross live to our political correspondent iain watson. how much has the reformuk performance affected how the labour party and conservatives are doing what's in mark it has affected it to an extent. it what's in mark it has affected it to an extent. . , . ' . what's in mark it has affected it to an extent. ., , ., , . ., what's in mark it has affected it to an extent. ., , ., ' . ., ., an extent. it has affected it to an extent. they _ an extent. it has affected it to an extent, they broke _ an extent. it has affected it to an extent, they broke emma - an extent. it has affected it to an extent, they broke emma cuts i an extent. it has affected it to an l extent, they broke emma cuts also edging up slightly and the greens holding steady but once nigel farage came back to that party in a front line role as leader rather than party president, it does seem to have given them a poll boost, we don't know yet exactly whether they are taking more votes from the conservatives than for people might�*ve wanted labour, but the presumption is they are hitting the conservatives more. it is interesting, pulling would say that perhaps the main two parties, labour and conservatives might be unconscious —— on course to return no in the general election to have their lowest shares of the vote, i should clarify that, should labour when, in lowest share what possible for the conservatives since 1906. that's what the policy, as politicians say, single vote has not yet been cast but people are receiving postal votes at the moment, and we will have two very, very intense weeks between now and pulling the. interestingly tonight, you mentioned the reform uk party, we had a interview on the bbc panorama programme, a series of leader interviews, it was nigel farage's turn, and he has been kind of, no honest, no bad publicity kind of, no honest, no bad publicity kind of guy, he says something that is controversial and get direction, and even more publicity in return. tonight he has provoked a reaction from labour and conservative mps because in that interview he seemed to be suggesting that it was a european union and the nato eastward expansion that was somehow responsible for vladimir putin is illegal invasion of ukraine. when vladimir putin sent his troops across the border in �*22, you blamed the west, not him. you said, i'lljust read it to you, and then you can react, that on a tweet, it was a consequence of eu and nato's expansion. is that a judgment you stand by? right, i'll tell you — what you don't know. i stood up in the european parliament in 2014 and i said and i quote, "there will be a war in ukraine". why did i say that? it was obvious to me, that the ever—eastward expansion of nato and the european union was giving this man a reason to his russian people, to say they're coming for us again and to go to war. but you were echoing him. i was — sorry? you were echoing him, that's what putin says. no, no, no, no! sorry, i've been saying this actually, actually, since the 1990s, ever since... well, so's he! whoa, but hang on a second, we provoked this war. you know, of course, it's his fault, he's used what... but we provoked the invasion of ukraine? yes, and very interestingly, once again, ten years ago when i predicted this... by the way, i'm the only person in british politics that predicted what would happen. and of course, everyone said i was a pariah for daring to suggest it. george robertson, former labour cabinet minister, who went on to become the secretary general of nato, has, in the last couple of weeks, said the war is a direct result of eu expansion. but i'm asking you, because it's yourjudgment, you want to be prime minister. let me ask you about someone else. myjudgment has been way ahead of everybody else's, in understanding this. that was the reformuk leader speaking to the bbc�*s nick robinson, and ian, we have had some interesting data about the size of donations to the political parties as well. i donations to the political parties as well. , ., donations to the political parties aswell. ., donations to the political parties aswell. , ., , ., ., ~ as well. i should say before we talk about political— as well. i should say before we talk about political donations, - as well. i should say before we talk about political donations, the - about political donations, the strength of the reaction to what nigel farage was saying, the shadow secretary of defence said this was disgraceful comments, and suggested that nigel farage was trying to lick vladimir putin's boots, and also a denunciation from the foreign defence secretary ben wallace, who said that there should be no sympathy and a pleasure on behalf of a dictator, and he did nonsense from the foreign secretary james cleverly as well, who said he is simply echoing and putting's views on the invasion of ukraine, so widespread condemnation on nigel farage. regarding donation, his party has done pretty well, thousands of pounds in the second week of the camping alone, not the biggest amount that any party has got, that goes to the labour party, more than £4 million for the labour party, much of it, 2.5 million comes from lord david sainsbury, a former chairman of a soup —— famous supermarket chain, he formally donated under 20 blair, but labour got 300,000, but the big surprise the conservatives but less than £300,000, less than the liberal democrats, currently the fourth biggest party at westminster, and somewhere in the region of about 15 times less than the donations that flowed into the labour party, their main opposition.— main opposition. thank you, our olitical main opposition. thank you, our political respondent _ main opposition. thank you, our political respondent iain - main opposition. thank you, our political respondent iain watson | political respondent iain watson life there at westminster. leading representatives from the five most prominent political parties in wales have taken part in a live tv debate. they clashed on issues including the cost of living and the nhs — while first minister, vaughan gething, defended himself following a controversy over donations to his leadership campaign. here's our wales correspondent hywel griffith. welcome to the bbc wales general election debate 202a. ready for kick—off, five leaders lined up for what's also now a regular fixture on our screens — an election debate. this time, focused on wales. we have 29% of our children are poor, 29% child poverty, and my challenge to the conservatives and to labour, if they're in power, is will you abolish the two child cap on our benefits? labour's been the party of devolved government here for a quarter of century. its record under scrutiny. we've had their mismanagement. of the nhs by labour for 25 years. an election... an election is full of weird - and wonderful sights but to me, i one of the most bizarre sights over. the past few weeks was wales' health minister holding up a placard saying "let's modernise the nhs". - the man defending labour also had to explain his own decisions, after taking a £200,000 donation from a company whose owner was convicted for dumping waste. knowing everything that i know now, i would have not have wanted all of the difficulty that has been presented. i don't believe that. i'm very... money talks in our political system — give it back. very good idea. i'm very clear about the way i've conducted myself throughout my time... sojust to be clear... if welsh labour voters weren't convinced, reform seemed to be pitching for them. we are really the new labour party. the labour party was founded to represent the interests... no, no, listen to me, listen very carefully. the labour party was founded to represent the interests of working people. that is why it was founded, from the trade union movement. they are really not the party of labour any more, they're the party of welfare. the final question on immigration, leading to a testy exchange. rwanda is a very good... you still have it on the table. 390... you don't have a plan for immigration. we do! we know what labour's plan for immigration is because we've seen it in wales, it's to try and get people more benefits, whether it's universal, basic income, and then try and get them legal aid as well. 0h, shame on you. that's what you were doing in wales. shame on you. and after 60 minutes, it was over. polite handshakes to end a lively contest. we'll know the final result in a fortnight�*s time. hywel griffith, bbc news, cardiff. families around the world are waiting to hear whether their relatives are among more than a thousand pilgrims who have been reported to have died at the annual hajj pilgrimage — killed by the stifling heat. while saudi arabia hasn't released official figures, more individual countries have confirmed the deaths of their citizens including egypt. the egyptian government has pledged to investigate local brokers, who sent thousands to the holy city of mecca, without the required permits. a saudi official has defended the gulf kingdom's management, telling the afp news agency that the �*state did not fail, but there was a misjudgment on the part of people who did not appreciate the risks,". well, the bbc�*s sally nabil visited the northern province of mennoufiya, and met a bereaved family. a family in mourning over the loss of their mother. this 70—year—old woman went to the muslim holy city of mecca for hajj, a lifelong dream to fulfil her religious duty, a duty that led to her death. she was among hundreds of egyptian pilgrims who lost their lives while performing rituals in the unforgiving saudi heat. her children believe she died of exhaustion. translation: i screamed and couldn't believe it. - she phoned my brother and told him she felt her soul is leaving her body. i wish i was with her. pilgrims who didn't want to pay fees or tackle that bureaucracy made use of a visitor's visa, but this route has turned out to be very costly. she was one of these unregistered pilgrims. selling herjewellery to pay for the trip, she used a local broker. he promised her a flawless service, but reality was different. translation: when | called her, i she was pouring water over her head because of the heat. she could barely open her eyes. she told me the bus dropped her 12 kilometres away from mount arafat and she had to walk all this way on foot. translation: the broker took advantage of her passion - to go and made promises. when i called, her facei was as red as a tomato. they made a tent out of bedsheets. they had no accommodation. official pilgrims have _ air—conditioned tents and meals. my mum's death broke me. many egyptian pilgrims come from poor villages like this one, mostly old people who put their lifetime savings to make this ritual journey. for them, it is a dream to go to mecca. they didn't know that they will never come back. families here have been telling me they have no idea who will be held accountable for this tragedy. the egyptian authorities now say they are going to investigate the tour companies that offer unofficial hajj trips. most of the dead are said to have been unofficial pilgrims. the saudi authorities have initially banned them from joining hajj, but they eventually changed their mind. it appears no preparations have been in place to handle this overflow of people. fears are growing that the death toll will rise even further and more egyptian families might be paying farewell to their loved ones. sally nabil, bbc news, mennoufiya, northern egypt. the united nations is warning that more than a million people in gaza will be facing catastrophic levels of starvation by the middle of next month. the water infrastructure has been heavily damaged in israel's war in gaza. israel has been under pressure to allow more aid across the border, and doctors fear the situation will only get worse, especially for young children. i should warn you there are distressing images from the start of this report by our correspondent jon donnison in jerusalem. five—year—old tala is severely dehydrated and malnourished. at nasser hospital in khan yunis herfather, ibrahim, tries to offer comfort, but he knows that scorching weather close to a0 degrees and a lack of clean water, have brought his daughter close to death. translation: the situation is getting worse. _ you can't imagine the temperature in our tent, and the water you drink is definitely contaminated because both old and young are getting sick. and with their houses destroyed, hundreds of thousands of gazans are now living under canvas with little protection from the scorching sun. getting water, whether it's clean or not, is a daily struggle. long queues form at distribution centres. the un says two thirds of the strips water and sanitation system, poor at the best of times, has been destroyed. translation: we need a tremendous international effort to re-establish - water and sewage networks. we in khan younis have lost between 170 and 200 kilometres of pipes, which have been completely destroyed, along with the wells and the water tanks. the united nations has warned more than a million gazans are facing the highest level of starvation by the middle ofjuly. the international criminal court prosecutor has accused israel of using starvation as a weapon of war. israel strongly disputes this, and its ministers have denied there is a humanitarian crisis. and the most vulnerable are affected, too. this boy is nine years old. he has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, but malnutrition and dehydration mean he's now in hospital. his mother says before the war, he was healthy. translation: where we live now, it's polluted and there's no food, . and we have to walk a long way for water. now i'm worried my other children will also be sick. jon donnison, bbc news. a court in switzerland has sentenced four members of britain's richest family — over exploitation and illegal employment. it was alleged the hinduja family imported workers from india and paid them as little as £7 a day. the family were acquitted on a charge of human trafficking — the prosecutor has called for their immediate arrest. they were not in court to hear the verdict. speaking outside the court, one of the defence lawyers for the hinduja family gave this reaction to the conviction. translation: i am shocked, shocked, obviously. - i am relieved that the case, which was totally excessive, has been dismissed. that said, we have impression that the same sentence has been handed down even though the trafficking has been ruled out. so we are obviously going appeal. it is a judgment that i would say moral and not very legal, and we will fight it to the bitter end. 0ur geneva correspondent, imogen foulkes explained the background to the case. what was alleged is the exploitation of servants of the hinduja family in their geneva home in a very wealthy suburb of geneva. and what was alleged was paying them very, very low wages, but also the allegations that their passports had been confiscated, and that they were not allowed to leave the house. now, the charge of trafficking, which is a very serious one in switzerland, that was dismissed by the judges, but they still, to a certain extent, threw the book at the four members of the family because they have still sentenced them to prison terms of up to four and a half years for the charge of exploitation. the judge told them that they had abused their power over very poor people, some of whom were illiterate, who were, you know, came, agreed to take the work, but then didn't really know the conditions they would be asked to work in. and i think this is, well, we don't know where the four members of the hinduja family are now, but this is britain's richest family, big villa in switzerland. two of them were in court over the course of this week. didn't appear for the verdict today. but as you said in your introduction there, the prosecutor has called for their detention because these are not suspended sentences they've been handed down. these are custodial sentences. rescue teams searching for a british teenager missing in tenerife have been focusing on a ravine. 19—year—old jay slater hasn't been heard from since monday morning. no trace of him has been found, despite the use o