pick up on thatjk rowling story, digging into keir starmer. ji< digging into keir starmer. jif; rowling, as we know, feels very strongly about this. she is a very strongly about this. she is a very strong supporter of rosie duffield, the labour mp, sorry, the labour candidate, who believe she has not been supported by the labour party. jk been supported by the labour party. jk rowling might actually have a bit of impact? she jk rowling might actually have a bit of imact? ,, . ., , jk rowling might actually have a bit ofimact? ,, . ., y,, ., jk rowling might actually have a bit ofimact? ,, . . y,, ., ., of impact? she clearly speaks for a lot of peeple _ of impact? she clearly speaks for a lot of people and _ of impact? she clearly speaks for a lot of people and there _ of impact? she clearly speaks for a lot of people and there are - of impact? she clearly speaks for a lot of people and there are a - of impact? she clearly speaks for a lot of people and there are a lot. of impact? she clearly speaks for a lot of people and there are a lot of| lot of people and there are a lot of people _ lot of people and there are a lot of people who take our views very seriously — people who take our views very seriously. to that extent, yes, she may well_ seriously. to that extent, yes, she may well have an impact. i think what _ may well have an impact. i think what keir— may well have an impact. i think what keir starmer was saying last night _ what keir starmer was saying last night was — what keir starmer was saying last night was that he was concerned about_ night was that he was concerned about the — night was that he was concerned about the way the debate has gone. clearly— about the way the debate has gone. clearly that is not a satisfactory answer — clearly that is not a satisfactory answer for people on both sides. rishi _ answer for people on both sides. rishi sunak is very vocal on this full stop rishi sunak is very vocal on this full sto_ . ,., rishi sunak is very vocal on this full sto_ . , rishi sunak is very vocal on this fullsto_ , ,, full stop also very consistent. one ofthe full stop also very consistent. one of the challenges _ full stop also very consistent. one of the challenges were _ full stop also very consistent. one of the challenges were keir - full stop also very consistent. one i of the challenges were keir starmer is that there are so many examples of him being relatively inconsistent and people not knowing where he sits on things. i think that will be a challenge for many years if he becomes prime minister. thank you all very much _ becomes prime minister. thank you all very much indeed. _ that's it for this week on newsnight, thanks to all our guests. victoria's here on monday. until then, have a great weekend. the netherlands draw with france gives us a perfect excuse to leave you with the dutch fans almost perfectly executed jumping dance. such a joy! sleep well, goodnight. live from london. this is bbc news the reform uk leader nigel farage tells the bbc that europe and nato provoked russia's invasion of ukraine sparking criticism for his comments. pressure on rishi sunak to take "tougher action" in response to claims that conservative insiders made bets on the timing of the general election. more than 1,000 people are feared dead during the annual hajj pilgrimage — as a heatwave grips saudi arabia four members of britain's richest family — the hindujas — have been handed jail sentences in switzerland for exploiting their domestic workers. and a disappointing clash of the titans — france and netherlands play out a goalless draw at the euros. hello, i'm luxmy gopal. there's been criticism of the leader of reform uk, nigel farage, after he claimed that russia's invasion of ukraine was provoked by europe and nato. he told nick robinson, in an edition of the panorama interviews, that he'd previously said he admired vladimir putin as a political operator — but disliked him as a person. and tonight on x, farage reiterated his point about the cause of the war, saying the eu was wrong to expand eastward. the home secretary, james cleverly, accused mr farage of echoing mr putin's own justification for his invasion. 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo reports. it's more like a police interview! time for tough questions for a man who's in charge of a party, standing to be an mp, and sees himself as a future leader of the opposition. nigel farage was asked about his views on president putin. he'd said de disliked him personally but admired him as a political operator, and what about his reaction to russia's invasion of ukraine, which he described as a consequence of eu and nato expansion? we provoked this war. of course it is his fault... 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 happened. and of course everyone said i was a pariah for daring to suggest it. mr farage insists he has been consistent in his views. i stood up in the european parliament in 2014 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 are coming for us again, and to go to war. labour's shadow defence secretary john healey said the comments were disgraceful and accused mr farage being a putin apologist. the former tory defence secretary ben wallace claimed mr farage was refusing to see vladimir putin for what he is. as a leading champion of brexit, that subject also came up tonight. the cab driver who brought me here said, "you tell nigel, i voted leave and i regret it because people like me are no better off". i'm afraid that is what the conservatives have done with it, and that's why... it's always someone else's fault. if you put me in charge it would be very, very different, but of course, they didn't do that, did they? let's imagine you in charge. and the conservative party never believed in brexit, they never believed in it, they picked it up as a political opportunity and they failed to deliver. deregulation and immigration were the gains that we could have had, we haven't had them because of the conservatives. at the helm of reform uk, and with an eye on a seat in parliament, nigel farage can expect plenty more questions like these. leila nathoo, bbc news let's cross live to our political correspondent iain watson. so perhaps not surprisingly, strong reaction to those comments from nigel farage about president putin. certainly conservative politicians have used it as an excuse to get stuck into nigel farage because clearly the reform uk party under his leadership is beginning to rise in the polls are equally some people regard themselves as genuinely outraged of the comments, as he himself was saying, he has actually made similar points in the past within the context of a general election when he needs a party. that is obviously going to attract a lot more scrutiny, and interestingly tonight something he said that supported his position when talking about them in that interview, doesn't appear to be doing so at any longer. if you ever did. that is the former secretary general of nato, also former neighbour defence secretary, lord robinson within speaking on radio four, and taken nigel farage and on, he said saying we provoked russia is by saints if you buy a burglar alarm in some way you buy a burglar alarm in some way you provoked burglars, is complete nonsense and all he's doing is providing new excuses for vladimir putin. no support from that quarter after all for nigel farage, and obviously we have had the labour reaction from john healey, the labour secretary, he said the comments were discrete, and another labour poster and chris bryant who has been a critic of bputting's leadership in russia over many years and no friend of nigel farage. the only aggressor in ukraine is vladimir— the only aggressor in ukraine is vladimir putin my entities shocking that nigel— vladimir putin my entities shocking that nigel farage use this to align himself— that nigel farage use this to align himself with putin, he has become a putting _ himself with putin, he has become a putting apologist. all the other political — putting apologist. all the other political parties in this entry are 100% _ political parties in this entry are 100% behind the people of ukraine in defending _ 100% behind the people of ukraine in defending himself against putting's aggression, and it is a disgrace that this — aggression, and it is a disgrace that this man aspires to sit in parliament. some of the words he was thereby chris brains are aligned with other political words across the mainstream, words such as disgrace and apologist for putin are being regularly deployed this evening, but we must or member that nigel farage is the kind of a logician that believes there is no such thing as bad publicity. he often manages to come if you like, punch about his weight in newspaper headlines by saying commercial things. he said he says certain things that others are thinking but are too nervous or polite to articulate, i'm not sure that's the case in ukraine but certainly by making these kinds of controversial comments and sticking with what he had said, he claims on the way back to 2014 when russia and crimea, effectively by sticking with these comments, he creates a huge talking point and in the context of a general election, where he is representing a party that currently has no members of parliament, then from his point of view, this does no harm as far as his profile is concerned. whether it does political damage, as his opponents would hold, raises questions among potential reform falters about his political judgment is quite another matter. that's our political correspondent iain watson life in westminster for us. 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. we're two weeks away from the result of the general election — and the political parties are continuing their rallies across the country. rishi sunak has been campaigning in wales today, but his efforts to promote the conservatives' 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. - sol hope he'll take . some tougher action. we'll have more on the general election later in the programme — but now let's turn to our other stories. 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 40 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 its 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 seven pounds 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 of drones, dogs and a helicopter. in his home town in lancashire, people have been tying blue ribbons, hoping for his safe return. 0ur correspondent fiona trott has this report. this is the challenge they are facing. police are searching mountainous terrain above masca, dipping down into the ravine not far from where jay slater was last seen. watching on, concerned friends, anxiously waiting for news. and the wait continues back home in lancashire, and when you feel helpless thousands of miles away in 0swaldtwistle, this is what you do — tie ribbons of hope. there's not much obviously we can do over here while they are over there searching so obviouslyjust the blue ribbons and stuff is just to show the family that, as a community, we are all thinking and praying for them. yeah, just quite upsetting, might never see him again, do you know what i mean? it's been four or five days now, |hasn't it, which is a long time. | a long time to be lost. just days before, jay was enjoying his first holiday with friends. they had been to this three—day music festival in the south of the island. in the early hours, he left in a car with two men he had met and came here, to a holiday home 40 minutes away in a national park. we spoke to a neighbour who we understand was the last person to see him. she said jay asked her about bus times and when she told him he would have to wait two hours, he walked away, further into the mountains. the area around the holiday rental has been a focus of their search forjay slater, which is entering its sixth day. fiona trott, bbc news, tenerife. let's turn back to the general election campaign — and 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 2024. 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. 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. let's take a look at some of tomorrow's newspaper front pages. the daily mail leads on what it describes as the "furious" response to comments made by nigel farage in an interview with the bbc. the paper claims that the reform leader "has been branded a danger the telegraph also includes farage's claim that the west provoked russia to attack ukraine on its front page. as also in the telegraph, business secretary kemi badenoch claims labour leader sir keir starmer will reverse brexit if he becomes prime minister. the financial times has a story about wealthy foreigners turning away from the uk on its front page. it says plans by both main political parties to abolish "non—dom" regime which allows foreigners to avoid paying tax on their overseas income are to blame. the mirror says stephen lawrence's killer david norris has applied for parole as his minimum 14—year sentence comes to an end. the guardian has more details on a huge health data hack. the paper reveals that the government is considering striking back against russian hackers who have stolen records covering 300 million patient interactions with the nhs, including the results of blood tests for hiv and cancer. let's focus on football now — because there were emotional scenes as ukraine recorded theirfirst victory at the euros. a 2—1win over slovakia keeps up their hopes of reaching the last 16. elsewhere, austria beat poland by three goals to one. and france versus the netherlands, ended with a goalless draw. but there was some controversy with a di—allowed goal. with a disallowed goal. joe lynskey watched the action. pre—match in leipzig, the dutch, already hopeful. they face an opposition missing kylian mbappe, the face of french football, in a mask and on the bench. with his broken nose, his team's attack seemed disjointed. adrian rabiot, six yards from goal, went to square it. this match at half—time was tied up at 0—0. and as it went on, france still lacked a finish. antoine griezmann stopped here by the keeper. the netherlands had soaked up pressure then thought they had a moment. and in! but the english referees ruled it out for offside. the call had gone against a man who had not touched the ball. it is tough on him, really, really tough. a flashpoint in the first 0—0 of this euros. both teams should go through, mbappe should be back. this was a night that showed how much the french need him. joe lynskey, bbc news. now on bbc news, and it menorah into your election questions and election cost. it's friday, so laura and i thought we would answer some of the many, many election—related questions that newscasters have sent in, so that is what we shall do on this episode of newscast. i said "shall". that seems like a very posh way of saying "will", doesn't it? newscast from the bbc. this is a sort of tradition we've started in the last few weeks of the election on the friday, when maybe there's a bit less like campaign activity... actually, scratch that. there's the same level of campaign activity, but we've just not quite got as much energy to run around after it. we thought this is a great opportunity to get people to send in their questions and we'll do our best to answer them. absolutely. so newscasters will set the running order and we'll do our best to ask questions. and i think, although there is still lots of campaign activity, actually, news stories aside — like the story about betting or the story about d—day — the campaign itself, actually on both sides, it's kind of in a rhythm. and we've had those big moments like the manifestos, we've had most of the debates — not all, but most of the kind of set pieces — so actually it is a good time