a political win for australia, a personal victory forjulian assange and his family. this is a homecoming we have long been waiting for. julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone, he wanted to be here. but you have to understand, what he has been through. he needs time, he needs to recuperate. and this is a process. needs to recuperate. and this is a rocess. ~ , . ., process. the prime minister welcomed him home. process. the prime minister welcomed him home- i — process. the prime minister welcomed him home- i was _ process. the prime minister welcomed him home. i was pleased _ process. the prime minister welcomed him home. i was pleased to _ process. the prime minister welcomed him home. i was pleased to speak- him home. i was pleased to speak with him immediately _ him home. i was pleased to speak with him immediately upon - him home. i was pleased to speak with him immediately upon the i him home. i was pleased to speak- with him immediately upon the wheels touching _ with him immediately upon the wheels touching the ground. i was quite pleased — touching the ground. i was quite pleased to be the first person here who he _ pleased to be the first person here who he spoke with, which was mutually— who he spoke with, which was mutually worked out. any comment? freedom 41— mutually worked out. any comment? freedom 41 on _ mutually worked out. any comment? freedom 41 on the _ mutually worked out. any comment? freedom 41 on the came _ mutually worked out. any comment? freedom 41 on the came after - mutually worked out. any comment? freedom 41 on the came after an - freedom 41 on the came after an appearance in the us quite on the island of saipan, where he pled guilty to one charge of breaching the espionage act. the us and sentenced him to time already served in belmarsh before allowing him to go. his lawyers maintain the charges should never have been brought in the first place. we should never have been brought in the first place-— the first place. we are absolutely deliahted the first place. we are absolutely delighted after _ the first place. we are absolutely delighted after a _ the first place. we are absolutely delighted after a very _ the first place. we are absolutely delighted after a very long - the first place. we are absolutely delighted after a very long and i delighted after a very long and complex negotiation with the us government that we have reached this plea deal that enabled him to come down to australia as a free man. how does it feel — down to australia as a free man. how does it feel to — down to australia as a free man. how does it feel to be _ down to australia as a free man. how does it feel to be a _ down to australia as a free man. how does it feel to be a free man? it - does it feel to be a free man? [it was does it feel to be a free man? was in 2010 does it feel to be a free man? it was in 2010 that wikileaks published huge amounts of classified information. like this video showing us military gunning down to journalists in iraq. the us accused assange of endangering people's lives. shortly after, he was arrested over rape and sexual assault charges, charges that years later were dropped, but not before taking refuge in the ecuadorian embassy to avoid being sent to sweden for a trial. seven years he spent there before the relationship soured. by then he was wanted by the us, and in the past five years has beenin us, and in the past five years has been in belmarsh fighting extradition. supporters have come to the hotel where julian extradition. supporters have come to the hotel wherejulian assange is staying in the hope of catching a glimpse of him. this is a moment many thought would never happen after years of campaigning, but with diplomatic efforts and politicians here in australia talking to the us, that made all the difference in bringing him home. this marks the end of an epicjourney forjulian assange, a final race across the world back home via a small pacific island. back on australian soil and with that, an end to 14 years of legal battles and diplomatic headaches. the former us director of national intelligence james clapper spoke to nick robinson on the bbc�*s today programme. he said that assange was no hero. first, what he did was wron: was no hero. first, what he did was wrong and — was no hero. first, what he did was wrong and illegal. _ was no hero. first, what he did was wrong and illegal. and _ was no hero. first, what he did was wrong and illegal. and one - was no hero. first, what he did was wrong and illegal. and one of - was no hero. first, what he did was wrong and illegal. and one of our i wrong and illegal. and one of our federal grand juries saw fit to indict him on 18 charges of espionage —related charges. and of course a concern we have, and i was on the government at the time, the potential identity and compromise assets of iraqis and afghans who were helping us. i imagine there are some people, because they were identified as having helped us, and they were doing that on a clandestinely basis when they were outed, i imagine some of them lost their lives. i don't know that, given the situation in afghanistan. what do you say to people who think he is a hero? i what do you say to people who think he is a hero?— he is a hero? i don't agree with that at all. _ he is a hero? i don't agree with that at all. i — he is a hero? i don't agree with that at all, i think _ he is a hero? i don't agree with that at all, i think you - he is a hero? i don't agree with that at all, i think you did - he is a hero? i don't agree with l that at all, i think you did serious damage. but i also have to acknowledge he spent five years in a hard time ukjail in london. and before that, seven years confined in the ecuadorian embassy. we will give you my reaction to that story a little later in our programme. the prime minister, rishi sunak — and the labour leader, sir keir starmer — are preparing to go head to head on the bbc, in the final leaders debate of the election campaign. there is just over a week to go, until polling day. it comes as members of both parties, continue to face difficult questions, about betting on the date and outcome of the election. our political correspondent sean curran reports. the stage is set for the final head—to—head debate of this campaign. tonight rishi sunak and keir starmer will face each other and questions from the audience. it's a sure thing the prime minister will be asked about the gambling row. he has been criticised for taking too long to drop two candidates who are being looked into by the gambling commission. the prime minister is very angry about what has happened here, although we don't know the conclusion of the gambling commission's investigation, but very angry about anybody who has broken the rules in these circumstances. he has taken very decisive action in withdrawing support for two candidates who will not be supported by the conservative party in those seats. the labour leader will also face questions. last night he suspended one of his candidates who had bet against himself. i don't think this is about changing the rules on betting. i think the rules are clear enough. it's about the behaviour of politicians, and it's about the behaviour of leaders when things come to light. i said if any of my candidates were being investigated by the gambling commission they would be out of the door and their feet wouldn't touch the ground and that is what you saw yesterday. but others think politics needs a health check when it comes to gambling. the lib dem leader wants a review of the rules, but admits he has had a flutter in the past. in 2010, i thought we might do quite well, and i was wrong, i'm afraid. so i lost that bet. so you placed a bet on the outcome of the 2010 election? i said that i thought that we would do better as a party, i thought that we were going to gain more seats, i was quite excited, i don't usually bet but i bet on that occasion and i lost. out on the campaign trail, the snp's westminster leader also backed a rethink of the rules. ijust assumed that we were all seeking to do the jobs that we are doing in the best interest of the public to improve their lives, not to get any sort of personal gain out of it. so i'm put pretty disappointed by what i've seen and if that needs to be a tightening of rules, because obviously for sports people it's clear what they can and can not do, i would support that. going into tonight's bbc debate, the stakes are high for the prime minister and the labour leader. they have only got a few more days to convince the voters. sean curran, bbc news. our correspondentjessica parker is travelling with the conservative party campaign. i will talk about the debate any moment, but the noise from the betting scandal remains loud. ministers have been defending the prime minister saying he acted decisively, the critics say exactly the opposite. decisively, the critics say exactly the opposite-— decisively, the critics say exactly theouosite. , , , the opposite. absolutely, you pretty much outlined _ the opposite. absolutely, you pretty much outlined the _ the opposite. absolutely, you pretty much outlined the two _ the opposite. absolutely, you pretty much outlined the two and - the opposite. absolutely, you pretty much outlined the two and fro - much outlined the two and fro between rishi sunak�*s political opponents and those who are his allies defending him. this whole thing just a week out from polling day, i doubt anybody, any politicians who are fighting this general election race expected this to be the dominant topic in the headlines at the moment, so that in itself is unexpected. and then as well, this whole thing has expanded in terms of how we have learned more people are being looked at by the gambling commission, and now as well, ministers or politicians from any party, as they do interviews, come on the airwaves, they are asked, have you ever place any bets in terms of politics? what kind of bets have you placed? it is becoming that kind of conversation, plus as well, there is now this kind of a wider debate about notjust the rules, but the ethics of the whole thing and it is interesting looking at the different party lines coming out, keir starmerfrom labour it has been saying he thinks the culture needs to change, but he doesn't necessarily think the rules need to change. he said he is resistant to that. ed davey from the lib dems thinks it needs to be a review of gambling rules, and mel stride from the conservatives, who we just heard hearing from on the airwaves, saying hearing from on the airwaves, saying he doesn't think there should be a kneejerk reaction, but adding later potentially there should be some kind of band on politicians betting on these kinds of things. it is an ever—growing conversation and i think what is really interesting as well, because we don't know exactly, but could there be more to come? it is not one of those things you see in the campaign, like for example when rishi sunak left the d—day commemorations early, there was followed from that, and it lasted over a few days in terms of being a dominant story, but this keeps developing and coming every day with new lines. it is the longevity of it as we had full steam ahead towards polling day next week.— polling day next week. before that, let's talk about _ polling day next week. before that, let's talk about the _ polling day next week. before that, let's talk about the debate. - polling day next week. before that, let's talk about the debate. is - polling day next week. before that, let's talk about the debate. is it - let's talk about the debate. is it clear to you around the conservatives, what the pitch from rishi sunak will be? that messaging around thought reform, get keir starmer, that doesn't seem to be landing when you look at recent polling. the attacks on labour has not narrowed the polls, do we know what he intends to do tonight? i have to be honest, i really don't know exactly what rishi sunak truss exact plan will be. i can tell you in terms of the conservative campaign bus, we are not seeing rishi sunak out on the trail as part of his national campaign bus. we will see the home secretary james cleverley in nottinghamshire, which is the location we are travelling to at the moment. in part, i am told, because it rishi sunak is today getting ready for this debate. i think that tells you politicians take these debates very seriously, live tv, moments ofjeopardy and opportunity as well. over the last few days, you have seen a continued effort by the conservatives, which i would think rishi sunak might try and keep on that night, around their attacks on labour in terms of tax and spend. lever refute those attacks and try to pin their own on the conservatives, and then there has been this ongoing discussion debates and sir keir starmer�*s record on the issue of how to define a woman and tender, i have seen the conservatives try to push discussions around that as well, so that a slightly speculation, i will admit, in terms of what rishi sunak might try to achieve tonight. but overall what he will try to achieve is to try and land something political punch in terms of his attacks on keir starmer in the hope of trying to turn this thing around, because of course well pulls a not everything and we have to always at that caveat, polling day hasn't happened yet, the conservatives continue to lag behind, they matter what type of tactic they have been trying. irate what type of tactic they have been t int. ~ ., ~ what type of tactic they have been t in. ~ . ~'., ., trying. we will talk again in the comint trying. we will talk again in the coming hours. _ trying. we will talk again in the coming hours, but _ trying. we will talk again in the coming hours, but for - trying. we will talk again in the coming hours, but for now- trying. we will talk again in the i coming hours, but for now thanks very much. just to point to that election debate, you can watch it this evening here on the bbc. that's the prime ministerial debate. mishal husain quizzes rishi sunak and sir keir starmer. tonight at quarter past eight on bbc1 and iplayer. the conservatives are fighting a highly defensive election campaign — with rishi sunak spending time in some of the safest tory seats in the country in recent days. the bbc has been looking at the areas visited by party leaders. the analysis is based on media visits and others covered online since the campaign began. here's bbc verify�*s nick eardley. hello. for weeks, the leaders have been whizzing around the country campaigning to win votes. and there are, of course, a variety of reasons for visiting a particular area. but looking at where the leaders have been also helps us build up a picture of where the parties are putting resources in. so bbc teams have been collecting information about where rishi sunak, keir starmer and ed davey have been. firstly, two things. the map of constituencies has changed from 2019, so we're going to be talking about notional majorities, which is what we calculate would have happened last time based on the new map. secondly, the picture in scotland, you can see in yellow here, is more complicated. the snp are clearly a big part of the equation, but so are the leaders of the scottish labour, conservative and lib dem parties. northern ireland has different parties with different leaders too. so for this, we'rejust going to look at england and wales, but with those caveats, let's dive in and let's start off with rishi sunak. all of these areas highlighted in blue are places where he's been since the start of the election campaign. what i think is really interesting about this is some of the areas where rishi sunak has chosen to spend time early in the campaign, honiton and sidmouth down there, the sort of area where the conservatives, as you can see, were comfortably ahead in 2019. it wasn't all like that. there's redcar where the notional majority is a lot less. but when you look at the last ten days, rishi sunak spending valuable campaigning time in what should be rock solid tory seats like grantham and bourne in the east midlands. huge notional majority for the conservatives here. just about 22,400, it's one of the 50 safest seats in the uk based on notional majority for the tories. another one here — torridge and tavistock down in the south west again a massive notional majority. and the key thing this tells us is that the evidence is that rishi sunak is fighting a highly defensive campaign, often in areas where the tories have won comfortably in the past. actually, keir starmer is focusing on conservative held constituencies too. that's perhaps not that surprising, given that the conservatives won a comfortable majority last time and labour were thumped. but this is the map showing where keir starmer has been since the election was called. and a few interesting examples for you, bassetlaw, where the conservatives again have a notional majority of around 12,500, stevenage here, where again the tories have a notional majority, 8500, but it gets bigger, reading west and mid berkshire, where the conservatives have a notional majority ofjust under 17,000. this all paints a picture of labour parking tanks on conservative lawns. finally, ed davey, the lib dem leader. again, the vast majority of his time is being spent in areas where the lib dems think they can take seats from the conservatives. some examples for you, eastleigh down here. again, this is a conservative notional majority, 8600. dorking and horley there, where the notional majority for the conservatives isjust over 10,000. and again it gets bigger because ed davey has been to chichester, where the conservatives have a notional majority. look at that, just under 20,000. so all of this paints a picture about what the parties are focusing on, focusing their leaders' times, focusing the resources. and it gives us more of an idea about what those battle buses driving around the country are really up to. the very latest from the labour camp, scored through there, it has the latest on every development for the latest on every development for the general election. a couple accused of the manslaughter by gross negligence of their newborn daughter will face a retrial, after a jury failed to reach a verdict on the charge. her body was discovered in a brighton allotment. the original jury brighton allotment. the original jury failed to reach a verdict on that charge. yeah, because reporting restrictions that were imposed in the end of may have now been lifted, we can now tell the public for the first time that a jury here at the old bailey at the end of may found constance marten and mark gordon guilty of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course ofjustice. thejudge had imposed reporting restrictions on those verdicts because the jury were still considering other charges. well, the jury was discharged last wednesday having failed to reach a verdict on other charges. and as a result of that, there was a kind of pause while the prosecution considered what they were going to do. and they have decided, it was announced today, to go ahead with the retrial. the judge said he would schedule that retrial for march next year. they'll look at possible other dates, but it'll most likely be in march next year. and he lifted the restrictions that prevented us reporting those guilty verdicts on concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice. viewers may remember that constance marten and mark gordon first came to public attention in january last year when there was a national manhunt for them after a baby's placenta was found in the back of a burnt—out car on the m62 near bolton in manchester. there was a very, very public manhunt with the police making public appeals. and eventually constance marten and mark gordon were found in brighton on the 27th of february last year. but there was no sign of the newborn baby, and that baby, who had been called victoria, was unfortunately found dead in a shed on an allotment in the hollingbury area of brighton on march 1st last year. so constance marten and mark gordon went on trial injanuary this year, charged with gross negligence manslaughter, with causing or allowing the death of a child, child cruelty, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course ofjustice. that trial then got very, very badly delayed because of things like a fire here at the old bailey, and that's how we've reached where we are today with a retrial next march and us being able to report those two verdicts — concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course ofjustice. both of those guilty verdicts. specially trained dogs have been flown to tenerife to join the search for the missing british teenagerjay slater. the 19 year old from lancashire went missing after going to a music festival with friends on the spanish island ten days ago. his family are also helping to look for him. nick garnett told us about the search on the ground. the search on the ground is now focused on these dogs, these are large area search dogs that were thrown in from madrid yesterday. they started work yesterday afternoon, they are carrying on where in this area today as well. these are the mountain ranges they are searching in, they are huge areas of land that they have got to cover but because of their special skills, they are the best thing they can do to get down on the ground and be able to search. this is the town of santiago, the biggest town in the area, and jay's but it was here yesterday, he was putting up posters. this one says missing, jay slater, last seen last monday, he was wearing a grey t—shirt and grey trousers and great trainers as well. and carrying a black bag. they have put these messages up all over the town in the hope that someone may have seen him or know where he is. the american journalist, evan gershkovich, has gone on trial — accused of spying on a tank manufacturer in russia. both his employer, the wall streetjournal, and the us government, vehemently deny the charges. he's been held in prison in moscow for nearly fifteen months while protesting his innocence. our russia editor steve rosenberg reports from the city of y'katerinburg. this is evan gershkovich, after nearly 15 months in a russian jail awaiting trial. russian prosecutors call him a spy. america says he's being held hostage. as his trial opened, some smiles. but if the us journalist is convicted, the maximum possible sentence is 20 years in a russian penal colony. so we managed to see evan gershkovich briefly. but from this moment on, this trial will be behind closed doors. so no family members, no diplomats, no media allowed in. the next time we may be able to see the american journalist will be at the end of his trial. he was arrested on a reporting assignment here in yekaterinburg and accused of collecting information for the cia. evan gershkovich, his employer the wall streetjournal, and the us government fiercely deny it and call the trial a sham. this is a bogus process. this is outrageous and outlandish. he will not enjoy any of the due process that one would expect in the west, in any western court. it will be closed door, it will be secret. we don't expect any chance, really, of his being acquitted. but could there be a prisoner swap? it's happened before. in 2022, russia freed us basketball star brittney griner. she'd beenjailed on a drugs charge. in return, america released convicted russian arms dealer viktor bout. there have been us—russian contacts over evan gershkovich, but no sign yet of an agreement that would bring his ordeal to an end. steve rosenberg, bbc news, yekaterinburg. now — another problem for boeing's starliner spacecraft, which was due to return to earth tomorrow. it's been delayed while engineers try to get to the bottom of helium leaks found in the vessel. the capsule has been beset by problems, since its launch earlier this month — with its astronauts stuck, waiting to return to earth. our science correspondent pallab ghosh has more. four, three, two, one. ignition. boeing's starliner set off to the international space station at the beginning of this month. it went up with engineers knowing that there was a small leak of helium gas in the propulsion system. they didn't think it was a problem. starliner holding steady in the 10m hold point. but during the flight, four more small helium leaks were identified. starliner at one—and—a—half metres away. just before docking with the space station, five manoeuvering thrusters failed, four of which restarted. the astronauts — suni williams, followed eventually by butch wilmore — were welcomed by the crew on the space station. lots of cheering here in the room. they were supposed to have stayed forjust eight days, but they're still on board as engineers find out what might have gone wrong with the helium leaks and thrusters. the problems we've seen in the last few weeks are not the kind of problems that we anticipated to be facing on the mission at this stage. so the whole point about this was putting astronauts in the loop of controlling a spacecraft, see how the spacecraft performs, all that kind of stuff. instead, we do seem to be dealing with rather more fundamental issues that really should have been ironed out by now. yeah, ijust want to say a big thanks to family and friends who've lived this. nasa has stressed that the astronauts are safe. they're not stranded and could come back on starliner if there's an emergency. but they want to get to the bottom of the problems before they bring butch and suni home. the root cause of the problem is not understood, or it's not been announced that it's understood. and so they're having to make a judgment about calling the return based on incomplete information. if you don't really understand the cause of any one failure, then you can't say for sure whether you've got a systematic problem that will affect both your prime system and your back—up and any further back—ups. nasa says it'll bejuly at the earliest before any return to earth. but when starliner comes back, questions will be asked about whether it should have been launched, knowing there was a small helium leak. pallab ghosh, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. another hot and humid one, a particular across england and wales but there are big changes ahead and for the rest of the weekly conceit pressure conditions and windier conditions as well, especially to the north—west. driving things is this big swiss roll of a cloud wrapped in around an area of low pressure, which is to the south of iceland at the moment. it works its way in and brings windier conditions, but dry this week a cold front across the country, introducing cooler and fresher conditions. it is heat and humidity for england and wales into the evening, temperatures still in the upper 20s. evening, temperatures still in the upper20s. looking evening, temperatures still in the upper 20s. looking at the teams into the evening, low 20s across scotland and northern ireland. sunshine in places, showers across the north and west, but through tonight this is the low pressure gradually working its way towards us, the cold front by the end of the night will be some way from northern scotland down through north—west england, wales towards the south—west. temperatures holding up for most in the morning but humid airto holding up for most in the morning but humid air to the east of that. bright humid start across many eastern areas, there is a cold front, nothing more than odd isolated showers that spread its way to east anglia and the south—east, sunshine comes out but showers be driven in on strengthening wind. whilst to get special for most through the day, we will see temperatures higher today in the north—east of scotland and out of the eastern coast, but in the west temperatures will be really tempered somewhat by strong to gale—force winds, driving in frequent showers and some longer spells of rain to its west of scotland and northern ireland, the chow in northern england is a good through the evening. through the night that area of low pressure pulled away slightly so it remains windy and another system approaching, but we will see wind in between. still some showers across scotland certainly on friday, when seizing down relative to what we have seen to start with, as sunny spells and even though it feels pressured the sun is strong. it was still there warmer in the sunshine and out of the breeze, temper closer to where we should be at this stage injune. a quick look at the start of the weekend, we will have a weather front setting across parts of northern england and wales and ireland, brings and ireland, bringing the muppets sunshine either side of it, because up a little bit with this stage injune. a quick look at the start of the weekend, we will have a weather front setting across parts of england and wales and ireland, bringing the rates of rain, a bit of sunshine either side of it, this is bbc news. the headlines: the wikileaks founder, julian assange, arrives back in australia a free man, reuniting with his family after pleading guilty to espionage in a us court. it's revealed constance marten and mark gordon were convicted in may of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice. a final head—to—head debate for rishi sunak and keir starmer — the last one before polling day next week. and coming up — how this male snake has given birth to 14 baby snakelets, in an extremely rare phenomena known as virgin birth. more on all of those stories here in a moment or two. let's return to the election campaign. they are a familiar feature of election campaigns, but there are questions about the degree of influence that polls have on voters, politicians and the media. our analysis editor ros atkins has been taking a closer look at how polling works — and what kind of accuracy we can expect. in this general election campaign, you can't have missed the polls. this is the bbc�*s poll tracker. for months, polling has shown a large lead for labour. but how reliable are polls and how influential are they? back in 2015, they were wrong — suggesting a hung parliament when, in fact, the conservatives won a majority. polling methodology has evolved since then — so has the amount of polling. in this campaign, the bbc tracker has used data from more than 80 polls. as a sort of seismic election, and that's driven one of the reasons for there being more polls, and that is that there are more media clients wanting to publish and, in most cases, pay for polls. that increased number of polls can help overall, because, when put together, there's a bigger data set from which to track voter sentiment. and this is how most polls work — between 1,000 and 3,000 people are asked how they'd vote if there was an election tomorrow. that data is then weighted to be representative of the country. there are also mrp polls. they interview tens of thousands of voters and, using a range of data models, they project a result for every constituency. and mrp polls are generating headlines. for example, this telegraph front page about a tory wipe—out. but mrps don't follow a standard methodology. each of the polling companies have their own modelling assumptions. they're a bit more opaque. they kind of want to keep those a bit closer to their chest. but exactly what goes into their models and the assumptions they make make these differences, as well. this means different mrp polls are using different methodology and projecting different results. they can't all be right. a well—conducted mrp is a very, very powerful way of looking at how the election is affecting different places. but what is a well—conducted mrp? we'll have a really good idea onjuly the 5th. if that's mrps, overall polling is under scrutiny. here's the bbc�*s tracker again. it shows the average support for each party. but the true position for the conservatives and labour might be within five percentage points of our average. that's 5% above or below. and given the prominence of the polls, there are questions about their influence. labour's campaign chief is pat mcfadden. in a private memo to candidates, he talks of the danger of polls influencing voters and making them think the election is a done deal. there may also be other factors influencing voters. there is some evidence, in fact, that if the polls suggest a really, really clear result, that does have an effect on lowering turnout. but in this election, because there are so many people who are clearly fed up with the whole political process, it's quite likely we'd have a low turnout with no polls at all. experts say measuring the overall influence of polling is very hard to do, but some countries are cautious. in italy, publication of opinion polls is forbidden in the two weeks before an election. there are no plans for that in the uk. polls are a part of our election campaigns. they can and do inform us about the electorate, but a degree of caution is always advised. just a line of breaking news coming from the dup candidate in this election saying that he will not be deterred after his constituency office was attacked, samuel wilson saying a firearm of some sort was used in the attack, a window and a door were damaged. police have said they are trying to establish the circumstances around the incident. the police superintendent said people standing as candidates in our elections or involving canvassing are a key part of our democratic process and it is unacceptable when they become the subject of abuse. sammy wilson saying he did not know who carried out the attack are what the motive was, but news just coming in from northern ireland that the constituent office of samuel wilson has been attacked. we will get more from our correspondent a little later in the programme. just over a week until election day, which meansjust under a week for bbc newsbeat to complete their race across the uk. the team are making their way from one end of the country to the other, speaking to young voters about the issues that matter most to them. newsbeat reporter andrew rogers has made it to their latest checkpoint in liverpool. welcome to the programme. i know you had an early start, tell me about your leg of this race. it had an early start, tell me about your leg of this race.— had an early start, tell me about your leg of this race. it was a very early starts. _ your leg of this race. it was a very early starts, 5am _ your leg of this race. it was a very early starts, 5am alarm _ your leg of this race. it was a very early starts, 5am alarm has - your leg of this race. it was a very early starts, 5am alarm has neverj early starts, 5am alarm has never been worth it, because we are on a grand road trip across the country talking to listeners about what they care about at this general election. if you wonder why i got up so early, it was to meet our politics reporter who just got off a ferry from northern ireland where he has been for the last few days and now we are at checkpoint ten in liverpool. what we're doing is together as a team, as a relay team, to get this microphone from one end of the country to the other, so we started in newquay and we will hopefully end “p in newquay and we will hopefully end up somewhere in scotland. catch is it is our listeners are setting the checkpoint so we do not know entirely where we go, it will be where people want us to go and what they want us to talk about. let’s they want us to talk about. let's talk about _ they want us to talk about. let's talk about what _ they want us to talk about. let's talk about what they _ they want us to talk about. let's talk about what they want - they want us to talk about. let's talk about what they want to - they want us to talk about. let's talk about what they want to talk about because i know one of the topics you have been having a lot of conversations about its transport and public transport.— and public transport. loads of conversations _ and public transport. loads of conversations about - and public transport. loads of| conversations about transport, and public transport. loads of. conversations about transport, a and public transport. loads of- conversations about transport, a lot of people messaging us and we thought we had just got off a ferry, let's try and use every type of transport, i have been on a bus, train, talking about how everything works and how much it costs. some people perfectly happy but a lot of people perfectly happy but a lot of people saying they really want to change and the key thing is, when it comes to the buses, is reliability. i was talking tojess and emily who travelled in from the city to look at you needs today and they said the bus they were on was packed, could not sit together. —— to look at universities. and on trains, again, the availability to get a seat, they say they this money and cannot sit down, a lot of trains are cancelled and they think it should be easier to get refunds or cheaper in the first place. luke and jordan, one lives in bristol, the other here in liverpool, they said it was an absolute nightmare to cross the country using trains. aha, absolute nightmare to cross the country using trains.— country using trains. a lot of questions — country using trains. a lot of questions about _ country using trains. a lot of questions about that, - country using trains. a lot of questions about that, i - country using trains. a lot ofj questions about that, i know country using trains. a lot of. questions about that, i know a country using trains. a lot of- questions about that, i know a new speed has been asking younger voters about what they think about the betting scandal, what have they been saying? the betting scandal, what have they been sa int ? .,, , saying? the most interesting thing about it is pretty — saying? the most interesting thing about it is pretty much _ saying? the most interesting thing about it is pretty much everyone i saying? the most interesting thing| about it is pretty much everyone we spoke to had heard about it so it is a story that is cutting through, everyone has an opinion on it. in lots of cases, people we spoke to said actually, it did not really change their mind, because they already had a pretty low opinion of politicians. that being said, we spoke to one person who was originally going to vote conservative but off the back of what he has heard on the bets being placed he will change his vote. tbs, placed he will change his vote. a quick final thoughts because we have had weeks now of this campaign, what are generally young people saying to you about whether there has been enough that has really been directed at them from the major parties? i think a lot of people do feel like they are not being listened to. i think for a lot of the people we speak to every day, it is the first time voting, and they don't feel like they are necessarily getting the information they need, that politicians are going after their boatin politicians are going after their boat in a major way and the big things they speak to us about our primarily the cost of living, things becoming really expensive and housing, not having a secure place to live. lots of people we are speaking to say they have to live at home or in rented accommodation which they would much rather not living, so those are really the big issues i think younger voters would like to hear more about. irate issues i think younger voters would like to hear more about.— like to hear more about. we will leave it there, _ like to hear more about. we will leave it there, but _ like to hear more about. we will leave it there, but thank - like to hear more about. we will leave it there, but thank you - like to hear more about. we willl leave it there, but thank you very much and good luck for the remainder of your leg of this relay. thank you for talk to us. just a reminder, head to the website, the live page and the app to keep up with what andrew is doing and our teams as we countdown to that head—to—head debate between rishi sunak and sir keir starmer. research carried out for bbc wales suggests that the imminent closure of the two blast furnaces at the tata steelworks in port talbot could cost the local economy more than £200 million a year. the company says it still wants to build a new electric furnace, with promises of financial help from all main political parties, although a deal has not yet been signed off. wyre davies reports. the steelworks at port talbot dominate the landscape. in an increasingly post—industrial world, a throwback to an era when steel and coal were king. 20,000 people used to work here. the ovens which turn coal into coke have already fired their last, and the two huge blast furnaces will soon fall silent. the consequence of losing £1 million a day, says tata steel — which has owned the site since 2007. we are haemorrhaging cash. and it's not because of the lack of efforts of the people or the amount of money that we are spending. it's simply because we have a set of assets which are end—of—life. we've got to act now in order to make sure that you have a business in the near future. ajob here is no longer a job for life. owen is the third generation of his family to work at port talbot — and perhaps the last. i'm training to become an operator on the full furnace. when my two years is up, i will be on a full—time role. obviously, with all this news, i am not sure what's going to happen then. there have been a lot of rumours, a lot of murmurs. you can imagine in a place like this with 3000 jobs on the line. there has been a steelworks here since before the war, i since the '20s and '30s. and since that one went upl after the second world war, port talbot has become steel, - and steel has become port talbot. research we have commissioned suggests that with the knock—on effects of so manyjob losses in coming months, £200 million a year in local wages could disappear. that is £200 million a year gone from the local economy. until those people find newjobs or other employment comes in. in the same way as the miners�* strike and the end of the era for the valleys, this is the end of an era for industrial south wales. not everything is closing at port talbot. imported steel will still be rolled here, and if a £500 million deal with the current conservative government is signed off, a green electric arc furnace will be built on the site. labour says it would offer a better deal — without giving details. but successive administrations have been accused of failing to plan for change. we have gotjust one or two green steel projects in the pipeline, europe has around 40. and it is notjust europe. china, the us, the rest of the world is also looking at the future of steel. the uk can't really afford to stand still. the rest of the world is moving and unless we move with it, unfortunately there might be some more job losses. the uk is playing catch up. on the surrounding hills, the kind of green energy that could be powering new industries, including well—paid jobs in green steel. but what role will port talbot play in that bright new future? wyre davies, bbc news, port talbot. and you can see town of steel — bbc wales investigates on the iplayer. now, when ibrahim, a moroccan student, went to study in ukraine in 2019, he never thought he would end up enrolling in the army, and spending a year fighting against the russians. he was captured in mariupol, and after months being held hostage, he was sent back home to morocco at the end of 2022. but since then, ibrahim has been denied his passport, and has been closely followed by the country's security agencies. sally nabil has been speaking to him. they were like a group of people — not one, not two, i mean, four people were all kicking and stepping on me. i had a couple of broken ribs actually and it was funny because they didn't care to call a doctorfor me, because i was asking for medical help. plus endless electrocution sessions. they drag you out and sit you in a chair and start electrocuting you and asking you random questions. in the harsh mariupol cold back then, i was stripped naked, and they made me stand there for very long time. ibrahim went to ukraine in 2019 as a moroccan student. when russia invaded ukraine, his life took a totally different path, including being held in russian captivity. he can never forget his darkest moments, when the russians besieged the ukrainian city of mariupol for around three months. when we were doing the siege of mariupol, we knew we would not walk out there alive. i mean, we got captured because we got lucky and we didn't die, because a lot of people actually did die, so we were the lucky ones that got captured. so i, at night, was getting ready and accepted the fact i am a dead man. so, like, after hearing the death sentence, it was not much. he was detained by the russians for nearly three months and eventually sentenced to death for being a mercenary. in an agreement mediated by saudi arabia, ibrahim was released. itjust felt like i was born again. i don't know, it's a feeling ofjust rebirth. i volunteered to join the army because i used to live in ukraine, and ijust developed a lot of friendships there and decided that it's really worth defending. he went back home in 2022, after fighting for a few months alongside the ukrainian army against the russian forces. for nearly two years, ibrahim has been waiting to get his passport from the moroccan authorities. i can understand that there might be some security concerns, since the public here is extremely disfavourable of me possibly going back to ukraine and causing more trouble. he said he never did it for money, as his monthly salary from the army was low. but since his return to morocco, he felt a sense of hostility. he believes some people see him as a mercenary. you can hear people on the street saying very, very crazy stuff. i can hear some people shouting, "you should have killed yourself, "you are fighting the russians, why you fight the russians? "you pig." i can't go out somewhere not local in my neighbourhood without me wearing sunglasses. or wearing some form of camouflage to hide my face. neither morocco nor russia answered our requests for replies. ibrahim only hopes to have his moroccan passport so that he can go to finland, join his two sisters, pursue his studies and start a new life. sally nabil, bbc news. more online retailers are starting to charge customers to return unwanted clothes. the ability to try on at home and send back for free, was always sold as one of the big benefits over traditional shops. but now, nearly 40% of online stores are making buyers pay the return postage. ben boulos has more. we have become used to having free delivery and free returns when buying clothes online, but that may be changing. the online fashion retailer pretty little thing was criticised this week for deactivating some customer accounts because of the number of times they returned items. it recently introduced a fee of £1 99 on returns which is deducted from the amount of your refund. the retailer as part of the boohoo group but it has also been introduced by other online retailers. about 30% of crows bought online are returned according to one study. once an item is back and processed, it cannot be resold at full price. that is costly for an industry that has been struggling following a puma during covid. someone like a source who was so ahead of their time putting video on the website and i don't know why more are not doing that, seeing the video you understand the fit, the drape, the conspiracy of the fabric, how it moves, so i think that has dramatically reduced returns. irate dramatically reduced returns. we s - oke dramatically reduced returns. we soke to dramatically reduced returns. we spoke to some shoppers in york. dramatically reduced returns. we - spoke to some shoppers in york. you can'tt it spoke to some shoppers in york. you can't try it on — spoke to some shoppers in york. you can't try it on online so if it doesn't _ can't try it on online so if it doesn't fit _ can't try it on online so if it doesn't fit i won't return it. maybe --eole doesn't fit i won't return it. maybe people will — doesn't fit i won't return it. maybe people will stop — doesn't fit i won't return it. maybe people will stop shopping - doesn't fit i won't return it. maybe people will stop shopping online i doesn't fit i won't return it. maybe | people will stop shopping online as much _ people will stop shopping online as much. it— people will stop shopping online as much. ., ~ , people will stop shopping online as much. . ~ , , , people will stop shopping online as much. w , , , , people will stop shopping online as much. ,, , , much. it makes sense but people need to sho on much. it makes sense but people need to shop on the — much. it makes sense but people need to shop on the high _ much. it makes sense but people need to shop on the high streets _ much. it makes sense but people need to shop on the high streets more. - much. it makes sense but people need to shop on the high streets more. it i to shop on the high streets more. it is a delicate balance, wanting to deter people but at the same time not wanting to lose business from customers who may be put off by the charges and decide not to make a purchase in the first place. now to a fascinating story. a snake, which was originally thought to be male, has given birth to 14 babies, or snakelets as they're called, despite never having a mate. it's an exceptionally rare phenomena or "virgin birth" and came as something of a surprise to its keepers. lauren moss has more. the arrival of these little snakelets, or baby snakes, caused a surprise that was off the scales when they suddenly appeared at the city of portsmouth college. nine years after rescuing a boa constrictor named ronaldo, owner pete quinlan was shocked to discover that not only was ronaldo not the male he'd always believed, but had also reproduced alone without a mate, and had 14 babies. our students came in as usual and approached the vivarium as they normally would do. they tend to the animals. one of the students alerted our fellow members of staff to the fact that there was baby snakes moving around inside. ronaldo's achievement is so rare it's only been previously recorded three times in a female boa constrictor. she's given birth without seeing a male. certainly not in the time that i've had her. after doing a little bit of research, we found that on a very rare occasion, snakes can do this. reproducing like this is very unusual among animals. it's called parthenogenesis from the greek word meaning virgin birth or creation, where an egg becomes an embryo without being fertilised by sperm. it is quite common among plants and insects like mayflies. mammals can't do this naturally. and why asexual reproduction happens is still a bit of a mystery among reptiles. in most cases when animals reproduce the cells of an egg divide when it meets the sperm. but in parthenogenesis, the female snake has been able to fertilise her own eggs and form an embryo mimicking sexual reproduction. one of the theories is that it allows them to quickly colonise new habitats. snakes and some other animals have different sex chromosomes to ourselves, which means that the females have the ability to produce young without having contact with males. they still have those urges and those drivers to reproduce. and so, yeah, they canjust fertilise their own eggs. ronaldo's snakelets will now grow up without much involvement from their mother. herjob is done, but together they've all made history in portsmouth. the gates of worthy farm have opened to more than 200,000 festival—goers as this year's glastonbury gets under way. one of the most famous music festivals, headliners include dua lipa, coldplay and country music legend shania twain, who's been speaking to our entertainment correspondent colin patterson. glastonbury is growth. at eight o'clock, glastonbury is growth. at eight o'clock. gates _ glastonbury is growth. at eight o'clock, gates were _ glastonbury is growth. at eight o'clock, gates were open. - glastonbury is growth. at eight o'clock, gates were open. we i glastonbury is growth. at eight - o'clock, gates were open. we reckon it all ear o'clock, gates were open. we reckon it all year to — o'clock, gates were open. we reckon it all year to open _ o'clock, gates were open. we reckon it all year to open the _ o'clock, gates were open. we reckon it all year to open the gates, - o'clock, gates were open. we reckon it all year to open the gates, see - it all year to open the gates, see everyone here, is amazing. the first time since the _ everyone here, is amazing. the first time since the festival— everyone here, is amazing. the first time since the festival began - everyone here, is amazing. the first time since the festival began in - time since the festival began in 1970, two of the three headliners are female. on friday, seven time brit winner dua lipa, and on sunday, us superstar sza. i brit winner dua lipa, and on sunday, us superstar sza.— us superstar sza. i have been workin: us superstar sza. i have been working on — us superstar sza. i have been working on this _ us superstar sza. i have been working on this for _ us superstar sza. i have been working on this for a - us superstar sza. i have been working on this for a long - us superstar sza. i have been l working on this for a long time. us superstar sza. i have been - working on this for a long time. why has it taken — working on this for a long time. why has it taken so _ working on this for a long time. why has it taken so long? there - working on this for a long time. why has it taken so long? there are - has it taken so long? there are fewer female _ has it taken so long? there are fewer female headliners - has it taken so long? there are fewer female headliners but i has it taken so long? there are | fewer female headliners but we has it taken so long? there are - fewer female headliners but we are working on that. it fewer female headliners but we are working on that.— working on that. it was clear there were even — working on that. it was clear there were even more _ working on that. it was clear there were even more cowboy _ working on that. it was clear there were even more cowboy hats - working on that. it was clear there were even more cowboy hats than | were even more cowboy hats than usual, due to a country star shania twain are playing this year's legend slot. man, i feel like a woman... the usual trolley — man, i feel like a woman... he usual trolley malfunctions. man, i feel like a woman... the usual trolley malfunctions. i - man, i feel like a woman... the i usual trolley malfunctions. i have made my bed _ usual trolley malfunctions. i have made my bed and _ usual trolley malfunctions. i have made my bed and i _ usual trolley malfunctions. i have made my bed and i have - usual trolley malfunctions. i have made my bed and i have to - usual trolley malfunctions. i have made my bed and i have to sleepj usual trolley malfunctions. i have i made my bed and i have to sleep on it. ., ., �* ., i. made my bed and i have to sleep on it. ., ., �* ., , that it. you haven't made your bed! that is a tood it. you haven't made your bed! that is a good point- _ it. you haven't made your bed! that is a good point. there _ it. you haven't made your bed! that is a good point. there were - it. you haven't made your bed! that| is a good point. there were veterans of 20 glastonbury _ is a good point. there were veterans of 20 glastonbury is. _ is a good point. there were veterans of 20 glastonbury is. this _ is a good point. there were veterans of 20 glastonbury is. this is - is a good point. there were veterans of 20 glastonbury is. this is my i of 20 glastonbury is. this is my favourite place, _ of 20 glastonbury is. this is my favourite place, you _ of 20 glastonbury is. this is my favourite place, you get - of 20 glastonbury is. this is my favourite place, you get away i of 20 glastonbury is. this is my i favourite place, you get away from everything — favourite place, you get away from everything else. and favourite place, you get away from everything else-— favourite place, you get away from everything else. and pioneering new attem ts everything else. and pioneering new attempts on — everything else. and pioneering new attempts on how— everything else. and pioneering new attempts on how to _ everything else. and pioneering new attempts on how to be _ everything else. and pioneering new attempts on how to be found - everything else. and pioneering new attempts on how to be found in i everything else. and pioneering new attempts on how to be found in a i attempts on how to be found in a crowd. ., , , , attempts on how to be found in a crowd. .,, , , ., �* attempts on how to be found in a crowd. as , , ., �* , crowd. hopefully they don't fly awa . i crowd. hopefully they don't fly away- i am _ crowd. hopefully they don't fly away- i am a — crowd. hopefully they don't fly away. i am a bit— crowd. hopefully they don't fly away. i am a bit worried i crowd. hopefully they don't fly away. i am a bit worried about| away. i am a bit worried about spider-man's _ away. i am a bit worried about spider-man's health. - away. i am a bit worried about spider-man's health. i - away. i am a bit worried about spider-man's health. i trust i away. i am a bit worried about i spider-man's health. i trust baby shark to pull— spider-man's health. i trust baby shark to pull through. _ spider-man's health. i trust baby shark to pull through. and i spider-man's health. i trust baby shark to pull through. and you i spider-man's health. i trust baby i shark to pull through. and you know ou are at shark to pull through. and you know you are at glastonbury _ shark to pull through. and you know you are at glastonbury when - shark to pull through. and you know you are at glastonbury when there l shark to pull through. and you know| you are at glastonbury when there is a live interview. i havejust met the napier is from halifax... i a live interview. i have just met the napier is from halifax... i have something — the napier is from halifax... i have something crazy — the napier is from halifax... i have something crazy to _ the napier is from halifax... i have something crazy to tell _ the napier is from halifax... i have something crazy to tell you, i i the napier is from halifax... i have something crazy to tell you, i have | something crazy to tell you, i have a boyfriend — something crazy to tell you, i have a boyfriend-— a boyfriend. you have something cra to a boyfriend. you have something crazy to tell— a boyfriend. you have something crazy to tell me, _ a boyfriend. you have something crazy to tell me, you _ a boyfriend. you have something crazy to tell me, you have i a boyfriend. you have something crazy to tell me, you have a i crazy to tell me, you have a boyfriend, that is quite a declaration to make a national tv. my declaration to make a national tv. my daddy said he will look him in a tower~ _ my daddy said he will look him in a tower. he— my daddy said he will look him in a tower. ., . ., ., tower. he will not claim an eight-hour! _ tower. he will not claim an eight-hour! glastonbury i tower. he will not claim an i eight-hour! glastonbury 2024, tower. he will not claim an - eight-hour! glastonbury 2024, the eight—hour! glastonbury 2024, the mayhem hasjust eight—hour! glastonbury 2024, the mayhem has just begun. eight—hour! glastonbury 2024, the mayhem hasjust begun. —— he will block him in a tower! we will get more from the general election campaign, don't forget we are in the countdown for that head—to—head in nottingham with rishi sunak and keir starmer, the last big set piece of this general election campaign with so much analysis of that. keir starmer going head—to—head with the prime minister and the prime minister really needing to move the dial, given what all the polling has said over recent weeks. you can see on that live web page we have running, the gambling scandal still dominating, keir starmer saying the culture of politics is to change. we will play you more of what the labour leader has been saying about that, but we will also be with nicky who is live with us in nottingham ahead of that debate. all of that will be covered here on the bbc a little later. a lots more coming up in the next hour. hello. it's another hot and humid out there today, particularly across england and wales. but there are big changes ahead in the next 24 hours. and for the rest of the week, we're going to see much fresher conditions set in across the country and also windier conditions, too, especially to the northwest. driving things is this big roll of a cloud wrapped in around an area of low pressure, which is to the south of iceland at the moment. but as it works its way in, will bring the windier conditions but drive this weaker cold front across the country. at the moment, though, its heat and humidity still for england and wales into the evening. temperatures still in the upper 20s looking at the teens into the evening, low 20s across scotland and northern ireland. little bit of sunshine in places, a few showers, the north and west and just one or two elsewhere. but through tonight, this is our low pressure, gradually working its way towards us. the cold front by the end of the night will be somewhere from northern scotland down through northwest england, wales towards the southwest. temperatures still holding up for most into the morning, but humid air to the east of that. so bright, humid start across many eastern areas. there's our cold front, nothing more than just the odd isolated showers. it spreads its way towards east anglia and southeast for the early afternoon. sunshine comes out, but showers will be driven in on strengthening wind through scotland, northern ireland and northwest england. now whilst it gets fresher for most through the day, we'll still actually see temperatures higher than today in the northeast of scotland and down through some eastern coast. but in the west the temperatures will be really tempered somewhat by strong to gale—force winds driving in frequent showers, even ireland, the odd shower, too, in northern england. as we go into the evening. and through the night, that air of low pressure just pulls away slightly. so it remains windy. between. still some showers across scotland, certainly on friday. winds easing down relative to what we've seen to start with. elsewhere, sunny spells. and even though it does feel fresher, the sun is strong, it will still feel warm out there in the sunshine and out to the breeze. temperatures closer to where we should be this stage injune. quick look at the start of the weekend. we'll have a weather frontjust sitting across some parts of northern england, wales and ireland, bringing some outbreaks of rain, a bit of sunshine either side of it. temperatures up a little bit towards the southeast corner — that works through into sunday and most a dry sunday in store. mostly live from london, this is bbc news... the wikileaks founder julian assange arrives back in australia a free man, reuniting with his family after pleading guilty to espionage in a us court. julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. he wanted to be here, but you have to understand what he has been through. a final head to head debate for rishi sunak and keir starmer, the last one before polling day next week. iam i am livelier at nottingham trent university where the debate will take place in the building behind me at 8:15pm live on the bbc. it is the last set piece event for the party leaders ahead of the general election next week. it's revealed constance marten and mark gordon were convicted in may of concealing the birth of a child, and perverting the course of justice. and aiming to impress, shania twain tells us how she's preparing for glastonbury, where the festival gates have opened. hello, i'm matthew amroliwala. the wikileaks founder, julian assange, has landed in australia as a free man. 14 years of legal battles, including five years in a british prison ended in a deal with the us government, and a guilty plea to espionage. he leaked vast amounts of secret military information, leaving him facing a potentially lengthy sentence in a high—securityjail. our correspondent, katy watson's report contains some flashing images. a political win for australia. a personal victory for julian assange and his family. this is a homecoming they had long been waiting for. julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. he wanted to be here. but you have to understand what he has been through. he needs time. he needs to recuperate. and this is a process. the prime minister welcomed him home. i was pleased to speak with him immediately upon the wheels touching the ground. i was quite pleased to be the first person here who he spoke with, which was mutually worked out. freedom for assange only came after an appearance in a us court on the island of saipan, where he pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching the espionage act. the us sentenced him to time already served in belmarsh before allowing him to go. his lawyers maintain the charges should never have been brought in the first place. we are absolutely delighted after a very long and complex negotiation with the us government that we have reached this plea deal that enabled him to come home to australia as a free man. how does it feel to be a free man, mrassange? in 2010 wikileaks published classified information like this video showing us military gunning down twojournalists in iraq. the us accused him of endangering lives. shortly after he was arrested over rape and sexual assault charges, charges that were later dropped, but not before taking refuge in the ecuadorian embassy to avoid being sent to sweden for a trial. seven years he spent there before the relationship soured. by then though, he was wanted by the us. for the past five years he has been in belmarsh fighting extradition. supporters have come to the hotel wherejulian assange is staying in the hope of catching a glimpse of him. this is a moment that many thought would never happen after years of campaigning, but with diplomatic efforts and politicians here in australia talking to the us, that made all the difference in bringing him home. this marks the end of an epic journey forjulian assange. a final race across the world, back home via a small pacific island. back on australian soil and with that an end to 14 years of legal battles and diplomatic headaches. katy watson, bbc news, canberra. the former us director of national intelligence — james clapper spoke to nick robinson — on the bbc�*s, today programme — saying assange was no hero. first, what he did was wrong and illegal. and one of our federal grand juries saw fit to indict him on 18 charges of espionage—related charges. and of course a concern we have, and i was on the government at the time, the potential identity and compromised assets of iraqis and afghans who were helping us. i imagine there are some people, because they were identified as having helped us, and they were doing that on a clandestine basis when they were outed, i imagine some of them lost their lives. i don't know that, given the situation in afghanistan. what do you say to people who think he is a hero? i don't agree with that at all, i think he did serious damage. but i also have to acknowledge he spent five years in a hard time ukjail in london. and before that, seven years confined in the ecuadorian embassy. let's speak to former british army officer and nato commander — hamish de bretton gordon. welcome to the programme, your reaction to what we have seen over the last 36 hours? i reaction to what we have seen over the last 36 hours?— reaction to what we have seen over the last 36 hours? i think, as james cla er the last 36 hours? i think, as james clapper has— the last 36 hours? i think, as james clapper has said. — the last 36 hours? i think, as james clapper has said, a _ the last 36 hours? i think, as james clapper has said, a lot _ the last 36 hours? i think, as james clapper has said, a lot of— the last 36 hours? i think, as james clapper has said, a lot of very i clapper has said, a lot of very important information was put out onto the internet for our enemies, the taliban in afghanistan, al-qaeda and isis in iraq, no doubt the russians, it wasn'tjust and isis in iraq, no doubt the russians, it wasn't just security assets that were compromised, but also the tactics and procedures of the americans and the british and the americans and the british and the australian troops operating in those countries as well, and as a soldier, when you are fighting an enemy, and the enemy knows more about you than you do them, it makes life incredibly difficult. as a journalist, he has a responsibility to report wrongdoing, but also a responsibility not to give the enemy information that is beneficial to them, so his motivation to do that, ijust don't understand at them, so his motivation to do that, i just don't understand at all. them, so his motivation to do that, ijust don't understand at all. you talk about assets _ ijust don't understand at all. you talk about assets being compromised. we were listening earlier to the press conference, his team, they have been saying there is no evidence of anyone being harmed as a result of what was exposed. i evidence of anyone being harmed as a result of what was exposed.— result of what was exposed. i would be very interested _ result of what was exposed. i would be very interested to _ result of what was exposed. i would be very interested to know - result of what was exposed. i would be very interested to know where i be very interested to know where they get that evidence from. i was in afghanistan and iraq. these revelations, and there was a lot of really serious fighting going on. a lot of casualties for us brits in afghanistan, and with the enemy knowing how you operate, that makes things incredibly difficult, and some of these people who are working undercover for the americans and ourselves in afghanistan would probably disappear without trace, so i suspect the team had no backing to do that, and he has admitted guilt to pitting us military secrets on the internet, and i hope you're convinced there are suggesting he has done nothing wrong, but i agree with james clapper. if the americans think he served his time, fine. but i hopejournalists moving forward will understand they have a responsibility to report, but also to make sure they do not give information that is obvious to enemies. ,, , , information that is obvious to enemies-— information that is obvious to enemies. ,, , ., . ., enemies. supporters ofjulian assante enemies. supporters ofjulian assange took _ enemies. supporters ofjulian assange took that _ enemies. supporters ofjulian assange took that freedom i enemies. supporters ofjulianj assange took that freedom of enemies. supporters ofjulian - assange took that freedom of speech in the first amendment in america, and the point was made on that news conference that there has been no case of an american convicted with the first amendment. would it not have been odd for a journalist outside the us to be convicted of something they haven't convicted in us journalist of doing? i am something they haven't convicted in us journalist of doing?— us journalist of doing? i am a legal exert, so us journalist of doing? i am a legal expert. so i— us journalist of doing? i am a legal expert. so i am _ us journalist of doing? i am a legal expert, so i am probably _ us journalist of doing? i am a legal expert, so i am probably not i us journalist of doing? i am a legal expert, so i am probably not the i expert, so i am probably not the best person to comment, but i have beenin best person to comment, but i have been in these countries and had to fight these people most of my life, and the information that came out of the files that were produced in 2010 and 2011 with our enemy an advantage that they shouldn't have. and the fact he has pleaded guilty to pitting secrets out there, which in effect he is spying for somebody else, i am not saying he is edward snowden, and has taken russian gold as it were, but in order to have a democracy sometimes you need to fight for it, and if you have got one or two hands tied behind your back by giving the information to your enemies, it makes life incredibly difficult if not impossible. tbs, incredibly difficult if not impossible.— incredibly difficult if not impossible. incredibly difficult if not imossible. �* . ., impossible. a final quick thought in terms of the _ impossible. a final quick thought in terms of the takeaway, _ impossible. a final quick thought in terms of the takeaway, the - impossible. a final quick thought in l terms of the takeaway, the president this may be sets, your view on where we are left? == this may be sets, your view on where we are left?— we are left? -- be president. certainly _ we are left? -- be president. certainly all _ we are left? -- be president. certainly all the _ we are left? -- be president. certainly all the journalists i l we are left? -- be president. i certainly all the journalists i know certainly all thejournalists i know what the bbc report on these things understand what the public needs to know and what they don't need to know, and i would hope the takeaway is that journalists are know, and i would hope the takeaway is thatjournalists are a bit more circumspect in future and rather than going for a big headline, think twice they give that information that could be of value to our enemies. that could be of value to our enemies-— that could be of value to our enemies. ~ ., ., ., enemies. we have to leave it there, but thank you _ enemies. we have to leave it there, but thank you for _ enemies. we have to leave it there, but thank you for your _ enemies. we have to leave it there, but thank you for your time - enemies. we have to leave it there, but thank you for your time and i enemies. we have to leave it there, | but thank you for your time and your reaction to what we've heard earlier today. the prime minister, rishi sunak — and the labour leader, sir keir starmer — are preparing to go head to head on the bbc, in the final leaders debate of the election campaign. there is just over a week to go, until polling day. it comes as members of both parties, continue to face difficult questions, about betting on the date and outcome of the election. our political correspondent sean curran reports. the stage is set for the final head—to—head debate of this campaign. tonight rishi sunak and keir starmer will face each other and questions from the audience. it's a sure thing the prime minister will be asked about the gambling row. he has been criticised for taking too long to drop two candidates who are being looked into by the gambling commission. the prime minister is very angry about what has happened here, although we don't know the conclusion of the gambling commission's investigation, but very angry about anybody who has broken the rules in these circumstances. he has taken very decisive action in withdrawing support for two candidates who will not be supported by the conservative party in those seats. the labour leader will also face questions. last night he suspended one of his candidates who had bet against himself. i don't think this is about changing the rules on betting. i think the rules are clear enough. it's about the behaviour of politicians, and it's about the behaviour of leaders when things come to light. i said if any of my candidates were being investigated by the gambling commission they would be out of the door and their feet wouldn't touch the ground and that is what you saw yesterday. but others think politics needs a health check when it comes to gambling. the lib dem leader wants a review of the rules, but admits he has had a flutter in the past. in 2010, i thought we might do quite well, and i was wrong, i'm afraid. so i lost that bet. so you placed a bet on the outcome of the 2010 election? i said that i thought that we would do better as a party, i thought that we were going to gain more seats, i was quite excited, i don't usually bet but i bet on that occasion and i lost. out on the campaign trail, the snp's westminster leader also backed a rethink of the rules. ijust assumed that we were all seeking to do the jobs that we are doing in the best interest of the public to improve their lives, not to get any sort of personal gain out of it. so i'm put pretty disappointed by what i've seen and if that needs to be a tightening of rules, because obviously for sports people it's clear what they can and can not do, i would support that. going into tonight's bbc debate, the stakes are high for the prime minister and the labour leader. they have only got a few more days to convince the voters. sean curran, bbc news. our correspondentjessica parker is travelling with the conservative party campaign. she explained how allegations of election betting has impacted campaigning. this whole thing just a week out from polling day, i doubt anybody, any politicians who are fighting this general election race, expected this to be the dominant topic in the headlines at the moment, so that in itself is unexpected. and then as well, this whole thing has expanded in terms of how we have learned more people are being looked at by the gambling commission, and now as well, ministers or politicians from any party, as they do interviews, come on the airwaves, they are asked, have you ever placed any bets in terms of politics? what kind of bets have you placed? it is becoming that kind of conversation, plus, as well, there is now this kind of wider debate about notjust the rules, but the ethics of the whole thing, and it is interesting looking at the different party lines coming out, keir starmerfrom labour has been saying he thinks the culture needs to change, but he doesn't necessarily think the rules need to change. he said he is resistant to that. ed davey from the lib dems thinks there needs to be a review of gambling rules, and mel stride from the conservatives, who we just heard from on the airwaves, saying he doesn't think there should be a kneejerk reaction, but adding later potentially there should be some kind of ban on politicians betting on these kinds of things. it is an ever—growing conversation and i think what is really interesting as well, because we don't know exactly, but could there be more to come? it is not one of those things you see in the campaign, like for example when rishi sunak left the d—day commemorations early, there was fallout from that, and it lasted over a few days in terms of being a dominant story, but this keeps developing and coming every day with new lines. it is the longevity of it as we head full steam ahead towards polling day next week. turn to labour because keir starmer has rejected calls for politicians to be banned from betting on politics, arguing it is a corporate reflection on the behaviour of politicians rather than the rules. i don't think this is about changing the rules of betting, i think the rules are clear enough, it is about behaviour of politicians and it is about the behaviour of readers when things come to light. i said if any of my candidates were being investigated by the gambling commission, they would be out the door and your feet wouldn't touch the ground, and that is what you saw yesterday. contrast that with the prime minister, days and days to make a decision. with; prime minister, days and days to make a decision.— prime minister, days and days to make a decision. why don't you 'ust ban it? i think �* make a decision. why don't you 'ust ban it? i think in i make a decision. why don't you 'ust ban it? i think in a i make a decision. why don't you 'ust ban it? i think in a case i make a decision. why don't you 'ust ban it? i think in a case like i make a decision. why don't you just ban it? i think in a case like this, i ban it? i think in a case like this, you can see why the tories want to take this debate to should the rules change? take this debate to should the rules chan . e? ., take this debate to should the rules chance? . ., ,, , take this debate to should the rules chante? . w , , take this debate to should the rules chance? . , ,., change? that takes the focus away from the real— change? that takes the focus away from the real issue _ change? that takes the focus away from the real issue which - change? that takes the focus away from the real issue which is - change? that takes the focus away from the real issue which is the i from the real issue which is the behaviour of politicians. the reaction of the public tells you everything you need to know, they know exactly it is wrong, and those politicians on the tory side should have known it, the prime minister should have done decisive action straightaway. he failed to do so, and it is evidence of the change on offer next week and the general election. there has been 14 years of the toys behaving like this, it is not going to change. that was obvious from the past two weeks. we will turn a page, different leadership and we will move forward. let's speak to damian grammaticas, our political correspondent who has been on the labour campaign bus today. that was interesting listening to keir starmer because labour have seized on that issue about how leaders have handled this question, the contrast between keir starmer and rishi sunak, but i was listening to liz kendall on the radio this morning and she was really struggling to answer that basic question, should politicians be banned from betting. it is question, should politicians be banned from betting.— banned from betting. it is a question — banned from betting. it is a question you _ banned from betting. it is a question you had _ banned from betting. it is a question you had me i banned from betting. it is a question you had me put i banned from betting. it is a question you had me put to banned from betting. it is a i question you had me put to keir starmer because asjessica was just telling you, this issue has come to be the one that is on the forefront and at the front of the questions, keir starmer was that a gp surgery in leicestershire a short drive away from nottingham, and about half the questions he faced were not about gps and his plans to end the atm gp rush to get an appointment today, and what he wanted to talk about, it was about this betting issue. as you heard there, he said he doesn't think there needs to be any change in the rules, he doesn't think people should be banned, but that is partly because he wants to focus to be on the behaviour of individuals and there is one labour candidate who has been suspended and five conservative party people linked to the conservative party who are being looked into by the gambling commission, so keir starmer saying this is an issue about the behaviour of individuals and leaders, and he wants to draw that political point about the contrast between the way he has handled that one case and help rishi sunak has handled cases on the conservative side. but it is a question that kept being put to him, and he was asked, do think that should be a review about this, and he kind of didn't even want to go there, hejust said he kind of didn't even want to go there, he just said we need to focus on that behaviour of individual people. one other little thing that is worth saying is asjess was saying, individual candidates and individual behaviour is now being asked about. keir starmer was asked if he had gambled, he said not on politics but on the horses. he said the only occasionally and on one occasion, he said he, he had a winning event of his kids i thought it had it be in great example. he said he had won £30 and he had spent it on a meal at mcdonald's. i think you can see keir starmer in betting and politics, not a big gamble as suchin and politics, not a big gamble as such in the way he goes about things. but trying to turn this issueit things. but trying to turn this issue it about leadership. tbs, things. but trying to turn this issue it about leadership. a quick . uestion issue it about leadership. a quick question about _ issue it about leadership. a quick question about the _ issue it about leadership. a quick question about the debate i issue it about leadership. a quick. question about the debate tonight. as keir starmer now gone into a huddle to have the final hours of preparing for that? after that first head to head, a lot of focus on the fact that he was on the back foot for a long while on that issue on tax. , ~ for a long while on that issue on tax. , ,, ., , ., ., tax. yes, i think not 'ust on that issue on tax. yes, i think not 'ust on that on tax. h tax. yes, i think not 'ust on that issue on tax, and i tax. yes, i think notjust on that issue on tax, and the _ tax. yes, i think notjust on that issue on tax, and the issue i tax. yes, i think notjust on that issue on tax, and the issue of i tax. yes, i think notjust on that l issue on tax, and the issue of his previous support for a previous party leaderjeremy corbyn, that has come back again and again at him when he has been in these debates and he had struggled at times to answer the question about what each genuine pen about saying he thought jeremy corbyn would be a great prime minister. he knows that he will face my tough questions, he was there today at this campaign stop with his close team around him, and they have headed off no more campaign events, thatis headed off no more campaign events, that is why we are here in nottingham. it was not far away and he will be coming to this event later. one little piece of insight, i did have a chance to have a word with him, and i said how are you feeling about the debate tonight, and he said it, he said the bit over the look forward to, that he looks forward to as the questions from the audience because he feels you get a sense of people plus my own experience that they are drawing on, he said he prefers that to the questions from the moderator. i am sure he didn't _ questions from the moderator. i am sure he didn't enjoy _ questions from the moderator. i am sure he didn't enjoy that question last time around when asked if he was a robot. let's see what they questions this time are thrown at both keir starmer and rishi sunak. thank you very much. let's cross to a different part of nottingham where that debate is taking place. let's cross live to nicky schiller in nottingham. welcome to nottingham trent university which is where the debate will happen in the room just behind me, if you are wondering why i am not allowed in their it is because it is now a security lockdown as the production team do their last checks ahead of the broadcast later. i have to say both leaders have been to have a look around at the set earlier today. have a look around at the set earliertoday. it have a look around at the set earlier today. it is the last big set piece event for the two of them in this general election campaign, throughout the campaign we have moments like this, so that was the original one work rishi sunak called the election, you then have the disillusionment of parliament where mps become candidates, you have a campaign and when the manifestos, and finally the tv debates, and this one tonight as they head they head to head between rishi sunak and sir keir starmer. we have had a lot of this campaign, but this is only the second time they will actually go head to head. the first one was that itv debate at the beginning of the month, and it was a little ill tempered at times, especially on the discussion around immigration where they were told to keep their voices down, it will be interesting to see if that happens at the debate tonight, i am joined if that happens at the debate tonight, iamjoined by if that happens at the debate tonight, i am joined by appalling export, how important is this debate tonight with the leaders? —— joined by eight polling experts. hugely important because of anything is going to have an impact, it will be best in terms of set piece events. really it is the optimum configurations are having an impact. it is configurations are having an impact. it is close _ configurations are having an impact. it is close to — configurations are having an impact. it is close to polling day where we know _ it is close to polling day where we know most — it is close to polling day where we know most people will be paying attention, it is on prime time in a bbc one. — attention, it is on prime time in a bbc one, and that is the maximum audience _ bbc one, and that is the maximum audience it— bbc one, and that is the maximum audience it will manage, but also there _ audience it will manage, but also there is— audience it will manage, but also there is a — audience it will manage, but also there is a big gap in the polls, and so rishi _ there is a big gap in the polls, and so rishi sunak, if he is to close that— so rishi sunak, if he is to close that gap— so rishi sunak, if he is to close that gap will have to pull something out of— that gap will have to pull something out of a _ that gap will have to pull something out of a hat. i don't think that playing — out of a hat. i don't think that playing it _ out of a hat. i don't think that playing it safe is an option, so it will be _ playing it safe is an option, so it will be interesting to see what he actually _ will be interesting to see what he actually goes for, because if you cannot— actually goes for, because if you cannot make a change after this, if you cannot — cannot make a change after this, if you cannot turn this talking point into a _ you cannot turn this talking point into a turning point, it is going to be very— into a turning point, it is going to be very difficult to see how he can change _ be very difficult to see how he can change the — be very difficult to see how he can change the overall result that we have _ change the overall result that we have seen — change the overall result that we have seen in the polls, notjust consistently through the campaign but through many years now. andi but through many years now. and i assume it is _ but through many years now. and i assume it is the _ but through many years now. and i assume it is the opposite - but through many years now. and i assume it is the opposite for i but through many years now. fific i assume it is the opposite for keir starmer, hejust needs assume it is the opposite for keir starmer, he just needs to get through the debate, pushing home the point that he wants to.— point that he wants to. absolutely, this is about _ point that he wants to. absolutely, this is about not _ point that he wants to. absolutely, this is about not making _ point that he wants to. absolutely, this is about not making mistake, l this is about not making mistake, many— this is about not making mistake, many have — this is about not making mistake, many have talked about a ming vase strategy. _ many have talked about a ming vase strategy, although other vases are available — strategy, although other vases are available. we have this delicate obiect _ available. we have this delicate object that you are trying to carefully and safely move from one site or _ carefully and safely move from one site or the — carefully and safely move from one site or the other and that is what they are — site or the other and that is what they are trying to do with the campaign, to get through the campaign, to get through the campaign without making any mistakes, without making any errors or scaring _ mistakes, without making any errors or scaring any horses. type will be about _ or scaring any horses. type will be about stability and about calmness, and about _ about stability and about calmness, and about the continuing of themes we have _ and about the continuing of themes we have seen from labour throughout the campaign. it is we have seen from labour throughout the campaign-— the campaign. it is interesting that the campaign. it is interesting that the questions _ the campaign. it is interesting that the questions are _ the campaign. it is interesting that the questions are for— the campaign. it is interesting that the questions are for members i the campaign. it is interesting that the questions are for members of. the campaign. it is interesting that i the questions are for members of the public in the audience rather than political viewers. that public in the audience rather than political viewers.— public in the audience rather than political viewers. that is right, we have had various _ political viewers. that is right, we have had various configurations i political viewers. that is right, wej have had various configurations of the debate but this is about the public— the debate but this is about the public asking questions of the two people _ public asking questions of the two people that will realistically become prime minister, so the isos they provide to the member of the public— they provide to the member of the public in _ they provide to the member of the public in her crucially they connect with those — public in her crucially they connect with those members of the public will be _ with those members of the public will be really important, because it is att— will be really important, because it is all very— will be really important, because it is all very well, the kind of political— is all very well, the kind of political interviews that they are used _ political interviews that they are used to — political interviews that they are used to day in and day out, this is now about — used to day in and day out, this is now about normal people, the average person— now about normal people, the average person on— now about normal people, the average person on the street, and the people that engage in the average person on the street _ that engage in the average person on the street. it is that engage in the average person on the street. , ., ., ., the street. it is harder for them to come back — the street. it is harder for them to come back at _ the street. it is harder for them to come back at a — the street. it is harder for them to come back at a member _ the street. it is harder for them to come back at a member of - the street. it is harder for them to come back at a member of the i the street. it is harder for them to i come back at a member of the public that a professional interviewer. that is right, a question may not be something — that is right, a question may not be something they are expecting, but more _ something they are expecting, but more likely they are not going to be able to— more likely they are not going to be able to say— more likely they are not going to be able to say i reject the premise of that, _ able to say i reject the premise of that, or— able to say i reject the premise of that, or i — able to say i reject the premise of that, or i don't share your review, or i that, or i don't share your review, or i don't— that, or i don't share your review, or i don't believe your experience, something — or i don't believe your experience, something like that really will not io something like that really will not go down — something like that really will not go down well in that room and it will not — go down well in that room and it will not go — go down well in that room and it will not go down well with voters. do you _ will not go down well with voters. do you think it is likely to change the poor? i do you think it is likely to change the oor? ., ., ~' the poor? i do not think it will have a significant _ the poor? i do not think it will have a significant lasting i the poor? i do not think it will. have a significant lasting change, but if— have a significant lasting change, but if the — have a significant lasting change, but if the last ten years have taught — but if the last ten years have taught us anything, nothing in british— taught us anything, nothing in british politics can be ruled out. a british politics can be ruled out. couple of little snippets for you of information that i have gathered. they are standing at two podiums, and you probably wonder how we decide who stands among podium and his dance at the other, it is on the toss of the coin and the same toss of the coin has been used because at the end of the debate, each of the leaders will get 30 seconds to put their pitch to the public as to why they should vote for them, and again they should vote for them, and again the order that that will go in has been decided on a toss of the coin, it is hosted by our colleague michelle hussein who have seen looking in there looking very calm. i think she is going to do amazingly well tonight and the debate is live on bbc one at 8:15pm, if you are watching on the news channel you will be able to see it with signing as well. and of course we will have as well. and of course we will have a reaction in the spin room after it is all finished at half past nine this evening.— is all finished at half past nine this evening. is all finished at half past nine this evenina. ., ~' ,, ., ,, i. this evening. thank you. thank you very much. — this evening. thank you. thank you very much. getting _ this evening. thank you. thank you very much, getting well _ this evening. thank you. thank you very much, getting well ahead i this evening. thank you. thank you very much, getting well ahead of. very much, getting well ahead of yourself because we will talk about that debate in a little more detail on this programme in about five minutes' time, we will be joined on this programme in about five minutes' time, we will bejoined by tim montgomery, former social justice advisor to borisjohnson and a labour peer and former mp. let's pause for weather. hello. it's another hot and humid out there today, particularly across england and wales. but there are big changes ahead in the next 24 hours. and for the rest of the week, we're going to see much fresher conditions set in across the country and also windier conditions, too, especially to the northwest. driving things is this big swiss roll of a cloud wrapped in around an area of low pressure, which is to the south of iceland at the moment. but as it works its way in, will bring the windier conditions but drive this weaker cold front across the country. at the moment, though, its heat and humidity still for england and wales into the evening. temperatures still in the upper 20s looking at the teens into the evening, low 20s across scotland and northern ireland. a little bit of sunshine in places, a few showers to the north and west and just one or two elsewhere. but through tonight, this is our low pressure, gradually working its way towards us. the cold front by the end of the night will be somewhere from northern scotland down through northwest england, wales towards the southwest. temperatures still holding up for most into the morning, but humid air to the east of that. so a bright, humid start across many eastern areas. there's our cold front, nothing more than just the odd isolated shower. it spreads its way towards east anglia and the southeast for the early afternoon. sunshine comes out, but showers will be driven in on strengthening wind through scotland, northern ireland and northwest england. now whilst it gets fresher for most through the day, we'll still actually see temperatures higher than today in the northeast of scotland and down through some eastern coast. but in the west the temperatures will be really tempered somewhat by strong to gale—force winds driving in frequent showers, even longer spells of rain to ireland, the odd shower, too, in northern england as we go into the evening. and through the night, that air of low pressure just pulls away slightly. so it remains windy. still some showers across scotland, certainly on friday. winds easing down relative to what we've seen to start with. elsewhere, sunny spells. and even though it does feel fresher, the sun is strong, it will still feel warm out there in the sunshine and out to the breeze. temperatures closer to where we should be this stage injune. quick look at the start of the weekend. we'll have a weather frontjust sitting across some parts of northern england, wales and ireland, bringing some outbreaks of rain, a bit of sunshine either side of it. temperatures up a little bit towards the southeast corner — that works through into sunday and for most a dry sunday in store. this is bbc news. the headlines: the wikileaks founder julian assange arrives back in australia a free man, reuniting with his family after pleading guilty to espionage in a us court. a final head—to—head debate for rishi sunak and keir starmer — the last one before polling day next week. it's revealed constance marten and mark gordon were convicted in may of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice. and coming up — how this snake has given birth to 14 baby snakelets, in an extremely rare phenomena known as virgin birth. let's look ahead to tonight's leader's debate. joining me now to discuss tonight's leader's debate and the election so far are tim montgomerie, former social justice advisor to borisjohnson, and lord george foulkes, labour peer and former mp. thanks both of you forjoining us here on bbc news. tim, first, is this the last chance to really get the dial moved the rishi sunak? probably, yes. i don't think i would be sharing a great secret to say this has not been the most successful of conservative campaigns since rishi sunak stood in the rain in downing street. there have been times during this campaign where the leader of my party has almost looks like the wind has gone out of his sails, almost defeated. i think there was a debate earlier in the week for the sun newspaper where it looked like he had a bit more life in him, a bit more fight, but tonight is a big occasion and a big bbc audience, the last chance really we will be able to see the two people, it will be keir starmer or rishi sunak as prime minister after this election, no one else, and this is the opportunity for rishi sunak ready to put the labour leader under the spotlight and score some runs because otherwise, if he doesn't tonight, we really will be seeing the biggest defeat for the conservative party in our post—war history and rishi sunak will not want to go down as the prime minister who delivered that. i will come back to _ minister who delivered that. i will come back to some _ minister who delivered that. i will come back to some of— minister who delivered that. i will come back to some of that detail in a moment. george foulkes, to you, in terms of tonight's debate, what would you say are the dangers of sir keir starmer?— keir starmer? instantly, i am in strasbourg _ keir starmer? instantly, i am in strasbourg and _ keir starmer? instantly, i am in strasbourg and along _ keir starmer? instantly, i am in strasbourg and along with i keir starmer? instantly, i am in strasbourg and along with my i strasbourg and along with my brittiant — strasbourg and along with my brilliant colleague here, voted the first three — brilliant colleague here, voted the first three judges for the court of human— first three judges for the court of human rights. i think keir starmer is in danger— human rights. i think keir starmer is in danger only if he makes a big mistake _ is in danger only if he makes a big mistake and i haven't seen him make any mistakes of any size during the whole _ any mistakes of any size during the whole of— any mistakes of any size during the whole of the campaign. i must say, i think— whole of the campaign. i must say, i think tim _ whole of the campaign. i must say, i think tim and all his colleagues who come _ think tim and all his colleagues who come on _ think tim and all his colleagues who come on these programmes are very brave _ come on these programmes are very brave because the campaign has been a disaster~ _ brave because the campaign has been a disaster. to start it off on the fourth — a disaster. to start it off on the fourthjuty_ a disaster. to start it off on the fourthjuly when we a disaster. to start it off on the fourth july when we have the euros, wimbledon, all sorts of distractions, it was a crazy thing to do— distractions, it was a crazy thing to do and — distractions, it was a crazy thing to do and there is no way he can pull off— to do and there is no way he can pull off 20 — to do and there is no way he can pull off 20 points by a debate. he has looked dejected and understandably so. has looked dejected and understandabl so. ,, ., , ., understandably so. quite a bit of fitht in understandably so. quite a bit of fight in the _ understandably so. quite a bit of fight in the last _ understandably so. quite a bit of fight in the last head-to-head, l understandably so. quite a bit of i fight in the last head-to-head, tim, fight in the last head—to—head, tim, let me ask you a question of how rishi sunak pictures this, because we have seen the basic messaging that a vote for reform is a vote for keir starmer, that does not seem to have landed, in the various other strategies he hasn't narrowed to the polls with labour, what should his targets be tonight? i polls with labour, what should his targets be tonight?— polls with labour, what should his targets be tonight? i have to agree with george. _ targets be tonight? i have to agree with george. he — targets be tonight? i have to agree with george, he won't _ targets be tonight? i have to agree with george, he won't turn - targets be tonight? i have to agree with george, he won't turn round l targets be tonight? i have to agree l with george, he won't turn round the 20 point lead tonight, labour are going for the next government, but he needs to look down the barrel of the camera and say to the british people the next few days are the last few days you can possibly change the next five years. polling stations close at 10pm next thursday and then you won't be able to do anything to stop the prospect that faces the british people is keir starmer could have the largest majority in british post—war history, he will be able to do anything he wants on tax, crime, immigration. christmases will roll by, summer will roll by and the people will not be able to stop a labourjungle. keir starmer hasn't labour jungle. keir starmer hasn't made labourjungle. keir starmer hasn't made a mistake in terms of campaigning, but he has made one fundamental mistake, he hasn't got a mandate for real change. this country does need a shake—up and keir starmer has really made very little promises, nothing of consequence, and i think that is the danger. i consequence, and i think that is the dancer. . ., consequence, and i think that is the dancer. . ,, ., consequence, and i think that is the dancer. ., , ., danger. i will come back to george without pointing _ danger. i will come back to george without pointing a _ danger. i will come back to george without pointing a moment, i danger. i will come back to george without pointing a moment, but i danger. i will come back to george | without pointing a moment, butjust respond directly to that point i was making about reform, because at different stages in this campaign, there has almost been a reluctance to go after reform and we can all see in terms of numbers of polling where tory voters in large parts are ending up. i where tory voters in large parts are endin: u. ~ ., where tory voters in large parts are endin: u. ~ . .,, where tory voters in large parts are endin: u. ~ . , where tory voters in large parts are endin: u. ~ . .,, , ., ending up. i think that has begun to chance. if ending up. i think that has begun to change- if you _ ending up. i think that has begun to change. if you look _ ending up. i think that has begun to change. if you look at _ ending up. i think that has begun to change. if you look at the _ ending up. i think that has begun to change. if you look at the last i ending up. i think that has begun to change. if you look at the last few l change. if you look at the last few opinion polls, reform were going up in the polls and they are now beginning to soften their support. not dramatically, but there is a sign that vote is going down and thatis sign that vote is going down and that is because i have seen on the doorstep they are beginning to wrestle with that question, do you want to give keir starmer more power than any prime minister has ever had, and reform photos may not like the conservative party or the record of rishi sunak, but they are beginning to ask themselves that question. and as well as nigel farage's remarks on ukraine and russia, we are beginning to see a bit of a sign that reform are fading. bit of a sign that reform are fadint. , ,, ., bit of a sign that reform are fadint. , ,., ,, ., ., fading. does so keir starmer need to be a bit more — fading. does so keir starmer need to be a bit more nimble _ fading. does so keir starmer need to be a bit more nimble than _ fading. does so keir starmer need to be a bit more nimble than last i fading. does so keir starmer need to be a bit more nimble than last time? we saw him on the back foot around that tax issue and that did seem to land for rishi sunak. he was also in the sky debate really awkward when there was that direct question from a member of the audience who said perhaps they might have voted for him before but he was a bit robotic and seemed really thrown by that. but the tories and rishi sunak say labour— but the tories and rishi sunak say labour are — but the tories and rishi sunak say labour are going to put the taxes up, labour are going to put the taxes up. up _ labour are going to put the taxes up. up in — labour are going to put the taxes up, up in scotland the snp say we will continue tory austerity, you can't _ will continue tory austerity, you can't have — will continue tory austerity, you can't have it both ways. what we are actually _ can't have it both ways. what we are actually doing is being cautious, because — actually doing is being cautious, because the economy is in a mess because _ because the economy is in a mess because the economy is in a mess because the tories have trashed the economy. _ because the tories have trashed the economy, starting with liz truss. it has been _ economy, starting with liz truss. it has been a — economy, starting with liz truss. it has been a total disaster and we have _ has been a total disaster and we have to — has been a total disaster and we have to sort things out. the nightmare scenario for the tories, however. — nightmare scenario for the tories, however. is — nightmare scenario for the tories, however, is it is not nigel farage and reform that could be the official— and reform that could be the official opposition, i think the liberats— official opposition, i think the liberals could win enough, the liberat— liberals could win enough, the liberal democrats could win enough seats _ liberal democrats could win enough seats to _ liberal democrats could win enough seats to be — liberal democrats could win enough seats to be more than the tories and form the _ seats to be more than the tories and form the official opposition and that would really be the end of the tory party — that would really be the end of the tory party. let that would really be the end of the to -a . ., ,~' that would really be the end of the to -a . ,., tory party. let me ask you, george, but one of— tory party. let me ask you, george, but one of the — tory party. let me ask you, george, but one of the things _ tory party. let me ask you, george, but one of the things you _ tory party. let me ask you, george, but one of the things you said i but one of the things you said there because you talked about caution, but there is clearly within this campaign and efforts not to scare voters, but surely labour needs to enthuse voters and when you hear polling groups again and again not enthused. but polling groups again and again not enthused. �* . . polling groups again and again not enthused. �* , , ., enthused. but it is better to under romise enthused. but it is better to under promise and _ enthused. but it is better to under promise and over _ enthused. but it is better to under promise and over deliver - enthused. but it is better to under promise and over deliver and i enthused. but it is better to under promise and over deliver and that | enthused. but it is better to under. promise and over deliver and that is what the _ promise and over deliver and that is what the last labour government did. gordon_ what the last labour government did. gordon brown and tony blair brought in some _ gordon brown and tony blair brought in some really dramatic changes, some _ in some really dramatic changes, some of— in some really dramatic changes, some of which they had not promised, but because _ some of which they had not promised, but because they were able to do it, so it is_ but because they were able to do it, so it is better not to overpromise and under— so it is better not to overpromise and under deliver. but so it is better not to overpromise and under deliver.— so it is better not to overpromise and under deliver. but people want to know about _ and under deliver. but people want to know about the _ and under deliver. but people want to know about the cost _ and under deliver. but people want to know about the cost of - and under deliver. but people want to know about the cost of living, i to know about the cost of living, how their lives might improve, let alone the nhs and all those other things. does there need to be more directness about the sort of change that labour plans to do? the directness about the sort of change that labour plans to do?— that labour plans to do? the only thin i that labour plans to do? the only thing i would _ that labour plans to do? the only thing i would say _ that labour plans to do? the only thing i would say is _ that labour plans to do? the only thing i would say is i _ that labour plans to do? the only thing i would say is i think- that labour plans to do? the only thing i would say is i think he - thing i would say is i think he ought — thing i would say is i think he ought to— thing i would say is i think he ought to see a bit more about the multimillionaires, the people who have made more and more money in the last few— have made more and more money in the last few months on pfi, that vip lane, _ last few months on pfi, that vip lane, michelle mone, the appalling thln- lane, michelle mone, the appalling thing she _ lane, michelle mone, the appalling thing she did with her husband, and 0ther— thing she did with her husband, and other things like that, and the prime — other things like that, and the prime minister himself has made a huge _ prime minister himself has made a huge amount of money and the rich are getting — huge amount of money and the rich are getting richer and the poor are suffering _ are getting richer and the poor are suffering and there will be a big change — suffering and there will be a big change in — suffering and there will be a big change in that. the cost of living has gone — change in that. the cost of living has gone up dramatically, dramatically for poor people but not of course _ dramatically for poor people but not of course for the people at the very top. of course for the people at the very to -. of course for the people at the very to . _ ~ ., ., of course for the people at the very to -. ~ ., ., ., ., top. tim montgomerie, a final auestion top. tim montgomerie, a final question to — top. tim montgomerie, a final question to you _ top. tim montgomerie, a final question to you and _ top. tim montgomerie, a final question to you and i - top. tim montgomerie, a final question to you and i will- top. tim montgomerie, a final| question to you and i will come top. tim montgomerie, a final- question to you and i will come back to george in a moment, how important is likeability in a debate like this? is that important? and a fundamental question about the tory campaign, do you think people are still listening to rishi sunak? that reall is an still listening to rishi sunak? twat really is an incredibly important question. on the likeability thing, i think the us presidential elections that usually do a test, he would you most likely to have a beer with? and it is that person they generally vote for. and the thing is with rishi sunak and keir starmer, neither of them quite have the common touch of someone like nigel farage. i don't think people are listening to the tories about believing they should be the government, i think our time is over now after iii busy years, i think if rishi sunak is the fundamental questions of keir starmer which he hasn't really asked of what he wants to do, i think people will listen to that. people know that every labour government in history has raised taxes and so will this one, so focus on labour it would be my advice to rishi sunak. on labour it would be my advice to rishi sunak-— on labour it would be my advice to rishi sunak. keir starmer has been around, rishi sunak. keir starmer has been around. the — rishi sunak. keir starmer has been around, the man _ rishi sunak. keir starmer has been around, the man in _ rishi sunak. keir starmer has been around, the man in the _ rishi sunak. keir starmer has been around, the man in the street - rishi sunak. keir starmer has been around, the man in the street has. around, the man in the street has been _ around, the man in the street has been seeing him everywhere, all around _ been seeing him everywhere, all around the uk, he has spoken at nreetings — around the uk, he has spoken at meetings. his around the uk, he has spoken at meetinus. , ., , ., ., , ., meetings. his ratings are low before he has even — meetings. his ratings are low before he has even become _ meetings. his ratings are low before he has even become prime - meetings. his ratings are low before| he has even become prime minister, he has even become prime minister, he has even become prime minister, he has not captured the imagination of people at all. the he has not captured the imagination of people at all-— of people at all. the one piece of advice i would _ of people at all. the one piece of advice i would give _ of people at all. the one piece of advice i would give to _ of people at all. the one piece of advice i would give to him - of people at all. the one piece of advice i would give to him is - of people at all. the one piece of advice i would give to him is use | advice i would give to him is use the sense — advice i would give to him is use the sense of humour a bit more that i the sense of humour a bit more that t know— the sense of humour a bit more that t know he _ the sense of humour a bit more that i know he has and that gordon brown used to— i know he has and that gordon brown used to use _ i know he has and that gordon brown used to use and that is one thing he could _ used to use and that is one thing he could improve on, but otherwise he is honest. _ could improve on, but otherwise he is honest, straightforward, cautious. _ is honest, straightforward, cautious, because we are in a terrible — cautious, because we are in a terrible economic situation given to us by— terrible economic situation given to us by the _ terrible economic situation given to us by the tories and we have to sort that out— us by the tories and we have to sort that out first — us by the tories and we have to sort that out first and then we can give people _ that out first and then we can give people hope. month by month, year by year, people hope. month by month, year by year. and _ people hope. month by month, year by year, and things will improve and i think— year, and things will improve and i think people are beginning to realise~~~ _ think people are beginning to realise... ., ., , think people are beginning to realise- - -_ realise... inflation is already down, britain _ realise... inflation is already down, britain is _ realise. .. inflation is already down, britain is now- realise... inflation is already down, britain is now one - realise... inflation is already down, britain is now one of| realise... inflation is already i down, britain is now one of the fastest—growing in europe, we have now turned the corner and labour may reap the benefit will stop i have been trying to get in the last couple of moments— been trying to get in the last couple of moment been trying to get in the last coule of moment , .., , ., ., couple of moments because i have to draw a line. — couple of moments because i have to draw a line. we _ couple of moments because i have to draw a line, we caprari _ couple of moments because i have to draw a line, we caprari go _ couple of moments because i have to draw a line, we caprari go on - couple of moments because i have to draw a line, we caprari go on until. draw a line, we caprari go on until the start of the debate but we have to go to other elements. —— we have to go to other elements. —— we have to probably go on until the start of the debate. two of the five main parties in northern ireland are launching their manifestos today. some of our opponents are abstentionist, they're very honest about that, very open about it, they have been that way for 100 years. of course, they also used to not go to dail eirinn or stormont or support the european union, so perhaps someday they'll get common sense around abstentionism. my view is, when i'm speaking to people on the doors, they want mps to go, to stand up, to speak up for you. but the choice is very clear. and in a lot of these constituencies, people talk about our big majorities. that was li.5 years ago — this election is next week. no commentator, nojournalist, no pundit or pollster gets to tell you what happens. no vote has been cast yet. so there are no majorities. if you actually want people to go to westminster to stand up and speak up for you, you have to actually vote for it. this is not a pr election. there are lots of good candidates from other parties but you've got to think very, very carefully about how you use your vote. in other elections here, it's a one, two, three, four. if you vote for another candidate, that vote tends to come back and you end up somewhere in a common—sense position. but in this election, if you stray from the one or two people who you think can win, that vote dies away and never gets used. 50, think very carefully, i would say to people, about how you cast your ballot next week. don't listen to what commentators tell you, there are no big majorities, there are no sure things. if you want sdlp mps to go to westminster to speak up for you, you have to actually vote for them. do not waste your opportunity in that election. don't wake up the next day and say, i thought they were safe. i thought we could risk voting for this candidate or the other candidate. you can't. you have to come out and vote. other people talk about sending a message — let's send a message but let's also send hard—working mps who will be there, do the hard slog. none of us want to go to westminster but that's there the power is, that's where the job is to be done, and we will continue to do thatjob if people support us. thank you very much. straight to breaking news away from the election campaign. we are hearing from the cps, the crown prosecution service, news that the driver of a 4in that ploughed into a school in wimbledon in south—west london injuly of last year, killing two eight—year—old girls will face no criminal charges after having had an epileptic seizure at the wheel. those are pictures from when the vehicle was removed, but news that the driver of that 4in that ploughed into school killing two eight—year—old girls will face no criminal charges after having had an epileptic seizure at the wheel. that is the only detail we have had from the prosecution service but an important detail and if there is more we will obviously return to that. in the last few seconds, news from the euros, the england camp and from the euros, the england camp and from our sports editor, news that phil foden is to temporarily return home from the euros. not a great deal of detail but news that phil foden has temporarily left the england camp and returned to the uk for a pressing family matter. and absolutely core part of gareth southgate's side, phil foden, but he has temporarily returned home from the euros, a pressing family matter. no other detail we are told, but that word being used in that couple of lines. it is temporary and one expects from that he will return at some point to the england squad. england's next game of course comes on sunday. again, that news, only a couple of sentences, we will give you more when we have learnt more details. it can be reported today that constance marten and mark gordon were convicted in may of perverting the course ofjustice, and of concealing the birth of their child. the couple will now face a retrial, accused of the manslaughter by gross negligence of their newborn daughter, whose body was discovered in a brighton allotment. the originaljury failed to reach a verdict on that charge. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford gave us this update from outside the old bailey. yeah, because reporting restrictions that were imposed in the end of may have now been lifted, we can now tell the public for the first time that a jury here at the old bailey at the end of may found constance marten and mark gordon guilty of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course ofjustice. thejudge had imposed reporting restrictions on those verdicts because the jury were still considering other charges. well, the jury was discharged last wednesday having failed to reach a verdict on other charges. and as a result of that, there was a kind of pause while the prosecution considered what they were going to do. and they have decided, it was announced today, to go ahead with the retrial. the judge said he would schedule that retrial for march next year. they'll look at possible other dates, but it'll most likely be in march next year. and he lifted the restrictions that prevented us reporting those guilty verdicts on concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice. viewers may remember that constance marten and mark gordon first came to public attention in january last year when there was a national manhunt for them after a baby's placenta was found in the back of a burnt—out car on the m62 near bolton in manchester. there was a very, very public manhunt with the police making public appeals. and eventually constance marten and mark gordon were found in brighton on the 27th of february last year. but there was no sign of the newborn baby, and that baby, who had been called victoria, was unfortunately found dead in a shed on an allotment in the hollingbury area of brighton on march ist last year. so constance marten and mark gordon went on trial injanuary this year, charged with gross negligence manslaughter, with causing or allowing the death of a child, child cruelty, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course ofjustice. that trial then got very, very badly delayed because of things like a fire here at the old bailey, and that's how we've reached where we are today with a retrial next march and us being able to report those two verdicts — concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course ofjustice. both of those guilty verdicts. specially—trained dogs have been flown to tenerife to join the search for the missing british teenagerjay slater. the i9—year—old from lancashire went missing after going to a music festival with friends on the spanish island ten days ago. his family are also helping to look for him. nick garnett updated on the latest from tenerife. the search on the ground is now focused on these dogs, large area search dogs flown in from madrid. yesterday, they started work yesterday afternoon, they are carrying on their work in this area today as well and these are the mountain ranges that they are searching in, huge areas of land, but because of their special skills, they are the best thing they can do to get low down on the ground and search. this is the town of santiago which is the biggest town in the area and j's father was here yesterday putting up posters, this one says missing, jay slater, last seen at last monday, seen a grey t—shirt and trousers and grey trainers, carrying a black bag. he put these messages up all over the town in the hope that someone may have seen him or know where he is. a snake which was originally thought to be male has given birth to iii babies — or snakelets as they're called — despite never having a mate. it's an exceptionally rare phenomena, or virgin birth, and came as something of a surprise to its keepers. lauren moss has more. the arrival of these little snakelets, or baby snakes, caused a surprise that was off the scales when they suddenly appeared at the city of portsmouth college. nine years after rescuing a boa constrictor named ronaldo, owner pete quinlan was shocked to discover that not only was ronaldo not the male he'd always believed, but had also reproduced alone without a mate, and had iii babies. our students came in as usual and approached the vivarium as they normally would do. they tend to the animals. one of the students alerted our fellow members of staff to the fact that there was baby snakes moving around inside. ronaldo's achievement is so rare it's only been previously recorded three times in a female boa constrictor. she's given birth without seeing a male. certainly not in the time that i've had her. after doing a little bit of research, we found that on a very rare occasion, snakes can do this. reproducing like this is very unusual among animals. it's called parthenogenesis from the greek word meaning virgin birth or creation, where an egg becomes an embryo without being fertilised by sperm. it is quite common among plants and insects like mayflies. mammals can't do this naturally. and why asexual reproduction happens is still a bit of a mystery among reptiles. in most cases when animals reproduce the cells of an egg divide when it meets the sperm. but in parthenogenesis, the female snake has been able to fertilise her own eggs and form an embryo mimicking sexual reproduction. one of the theories is that it allows them to quickly colonise new habitats. snakes and some other animals have different sex chromosomes to ourselves, which means that the females have the ability to produce young without having contact with males. they still have those urges and those drivers to reproduce. and so, yeah, they canjust fertilise their own eggs. ronaldo's snakelets will now grow up without much involvement from their mother. herjob is done, but together they've all made history in portsmouth. incredible story. the gates of worthy farm have opened to more than 200,000 festivalgoers as this year's glastonbury gets under way. headliners include dua lipa, coldplay and country music legend shania twain, who's been speaking to our entertainment correspondent colin patterson. # let's go, girls #. long before taylor swift, there was another female country singer who went pop and became a phenomenon. # i'm going out tonight # i'm feeling all right # gonna let it all hang out...# shania twain's late '90s album come on over is one of the top—ten global best sellers of all time. this weekend, she follows the likes of lionel richie, dolly parton and kylie minogue by playing glastonbury�*s sunday teatime legends slot. i'm a little overwhelmed. so many stories, so many exciting, um, so much anticipation. bring my wellies. and now i'm thinking about which wellies should i bring? i've got several pairs at home. should i buy new ones? have you got rhinestone on your wellies? i don't, i don't. should i get some rhinestones? yes. # ok, so you're brad pitt # that don't impress me much...# people who come to watch the legends, a lot of them will wear fancy dress of the act. ok, yeah. so let's go through some of the iconic shania looks. that don't impress me much? anything in leopard print and any colour of leopard print. pink, blue, green, black and white or a classic, you know. it can be a scarf, a hat, sunglasses, leopard—print socks. although i wouldn't see your socks. that's probably not a good idea. gloves. that one's easy. # oh, oh, oh, totally crazy #. man! i feel like a woman. veil and top hat and the sun — is that going to work? a top hat would work. yeah. why not? right? you should bring a hat anyway. why not a top hat? and why not a top hat that, like, pops up so that it doesn't take up any space when you're not wearing it? i mean, they've got those. orjust a black tie over any white t—shirt works. pick one more shania outfit you'd like to see there in the crowd. denim on denim. any denim on denim. that works. that's the any man of mine video. denim on denim. # any man of mine better walk the line...# when were you last in a tent? did you camp? are you a camper? i'm a big camper. right. i've done a lot of camping. i've done a lot of spending time out in the bush. what's your best putting—up—a—tent tip? sss... best putting—up. .. you know what? i believe in pop—up tents. all right — ease. honestly, out of all the camping i've done... don't be a hero. just... just get a pop—up! just something big enough to sleep in. that's my... that's my thing, you know? bring a plastic sheet so you can put it over the tent in case it rains. and bring lots of extra socks. # cos i wanna hear you # wanna be near you...# and glastonbury is on a farm. i believe you can talk to animals. explain about this. i love horses. mm—hm. i love all animals. but i'm going to go, obviously, see if there's a horse around i can borrow. maybe i can go riding. that would be awesome. would you bring a horse onto the stage? i could bring a horse to the stage! i don't know if i'm even allowed to do that. i'd have to find out... if it's allowed, i'll do it. i'd love to ride a horse to the stage. that might determine what i wear on the stage! # you're still the one i run to # the one i belong to # you're still the one i want for life...# and finally, what kind of show are you going to deliver in the legends slot? i'd love to be able to...sing with everyone... ..sing along and be a part of the journey of the crowd. so i'm going to do everything familiar. i want to do the hits. i want to do what they know. shania twain, thank you very much for giving us your glastonbury preview to bbc breakfast. thank you so much. great stuff. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. it's another hot and humid one out there today, particularly across england and wales. but there are big changes ahead during the next 2a hours. and for the rest of the week, we're going to see much fresher conditions set in across the country and also windier conditions, too, especially to the north—west. driving things is this big swiss roll of a cloud wrapped in around an area of low pressure, which is to the south of iceland at the moment. but that, as it works its way in, will bring the windier conditions but drive this weaker cold front across the country, marching off the hot and humid air that's with some of us still and introducing those cooler and fresher conditions. out there at the moment, though, it's heat and humidity still for england and wales into the evening. temperatures still in the upper 20s, looking at the teens into the evening, low 20s across scotland and northern ireland. little bit of sunshine in places, a few showers to the north and west and just one or two elsewhere. but through tonight, this is our low pressure, gradually working its way towards us. the cold front by the end of the night will be somewhere from northern scotland down through north—west england, wales towards the south—west. temperatures still holding up for most into the morning, but humid air to the east of that. so a bright, humid start across many eastern areas. there's our cold front, nothing more than just the odd isolated showers. it spreads its way towards east anglia and the south—east for the early afternoon. sunshine comes out, but showers will be driven in on strengthening wind through scotland, northern ireland and north—west england. now whilst it gets fresher for most through the day, we'll still actually see temperatures higher than today in the north—east of scotland and down through some eastern coast. but in the west, the temperatures will be really tempered somewhat by strong to gale—force winds driving in frequent showers, even some longer spells of rain to western scotland, northern ireland, the odd shower, too, in northern england as we go into the evening. and through the night, that air of low pressure just pulls away slightly, so it remains windy. another system approaching, but we're almost in a little window between. still some showers across scotland, certainly on friday. winds easing down relative to what we've seen to start with. elsewhere, sunny spells. and even though it does feel fresher, the sun is strong, it will still feel warm out there in the sunshine, and out of the breeze temperatures closer to where we should be this stage in june. quick look at the start of the weekend — we'll have a weather frontjust sitting across some parts of northern england, wales and ireland, bringing some outbreaks of rain. a bit of sunshine either side of it. temperatures up a little bit towards the south—east corner — that works through into sunday and for most, a dry sunday in store. live from london, this is bbc news. the wikileaks founder julian assange arrives back in australia a free man, reuniting with his family after pleading guilty to espionage in a us court. julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. he wanted to be here, but you have to understand what he has been through. news the euros, the england midfielder phil foden temporarily leads the camp because of a pressing family matter. we will bring you the very latest. a final head to head debate for rishi sunak and keir starmer, the last one before polling day next week. i am live here at nottingham trent university where the debate will take place in the building behind me at 8:15pm live on the bbc. it is the last big set piece event for the party leaders ahead of the general election. it's revealed constance marten and mark gordon were convicted in may of concealing the birth of a child, and perverting the course of justice. and this year's glastonbury music festival opens its gates. copley and shania twain are set to headline. brute shania twain are set to headline. we live shania twain are set to headline. , live locally down the road and we love the festival. this live locally down the road and we love the festival.— love the festival. this is my favourite — love the festival. this is my favourite place _ love the festival. this is my favourite place on - love the festival. this is my favourite place on the - love the festival. this is my l favourite place on the planet, honestly~ _ the wikileaks founder, julian assange, has landed in australia as a free man. iii years of legal battles, including five years in a british prison ended in a deal with the us government, and a guilty plea to espionage. he leaked vast amounts of secret military information, leaving him facing a potentially lengthy sentence in a high—securityjail. our correspondent, katy watson's report contains some flashing images. a political win for australia. a personal victory for julian assange and his family. this is a homecoming they had long been waiting for. julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. he wanted to be here. but you have to understand what he has been through. he needs time. he needs to recuperate. and this is a process. the prime minister welcomed him home. i was pleased to speak with him immediately upon the wheels touching the ground. i was quite pleased to be the first person here who he spoke with, which was mutually worked out. freedom for assange only came after an appearance in a us court on the island of saipan, where he pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching the espionage act. the us sentenced him to time already served in belmarsh before allowing him to go. his lawyers maintain the charges should never have been brought in the first place. we are absolutely delighted after a very long and complex negotiation with the us government that we have reached this plea deal that enabled him to come home to australia as a free man. how does it feel to be a free man, mrassange? in 2010 wikileaks published classified information like this video showing us military gunning down twojournalists in iraq. the us accused him of endangering lives. shortly after he was arrested over rape and sexual assault charges, charges that were later dropped, but not before taking refuge in the ecuadorian embassy to avoid being sent to sweden for a trial. seven years he spent there before the relationship soured. by then though, he was wanted by the us. for the past five years he has been in belmarsh fighting extradition. supporters have come to the hotel wherejulian assange is staying in the hope of catching a glimpse of him. this is a moment that many thought would never happen after years of campaigning, but with diplomatic efforts and politicians here in australia talking to the us, that made all the difference in bringing him home. this marks the end of an epic journey forjulian assange. a final race across the world, back home via a small pacific island. back on australian soil and with that an end to iii years of legal battles and diplomatic headaches. katy watson, bbc news, canberra. let's hear more reaction. the former us director of national intelligence — james clapper spoke to nick robinson — on the bbc�*s today programme — saying assange was no hero. first, what he did was wrong and illegal. and one of our federal grand juries saw fit to indict him on 18 charges of espionage—related charges. and of course a concern we have, and i was on the government at the time, the potential identity and compromised assets of iraqis and afghans who were helping us. i imagine there are some people, because they were identified as having helped us, and they were doing that on a clandestine basis when they were outed, i imagine some of them lost their lives. i don't know that, given the situation in afghanistan. what do you say to people who think he is a hero? i don't agree with that at all, i think he did serious damage. but i also have to acknowledge he spent five years in a hard time ukjail in london. and before that, seven years confined in the ecuadorian embassy. i have also been speaking to the former british army officer and nato commander, his reaction to what we have seen. i think, as james clapper has said, a lot of very important information was put out onto the internet for our enemies, the taliban in afghanistan, al-qaeda and isis in iraq, no doubt the russians, it wasn't just security assets that were compromised, but also the tactics and procedures of the americans and the british and the australian troops operating in those countries as well, and as a soldier, when you are fighting an enemy, and the enemy knows more about you than you do them, it makes life incredibly difficult. as a journalist, he has a responsibility to report wrongdoing, but also a responsibility not to give the enemy information that is beneficial to them, so his motivation to do that, i just don't understand at all. you talk about assets being compromised. we were listening earlier to the press conference, his team, they have been saying there is no evidence of anyone being harmed as a result of what was exposed. i would be very interested to know where they get that evidence from. i was in afghanistan and iraq. post those revelations, and there was a lot of really serious fighting going on. a lot of casualties for us brits in afghanistan, and with the enemy knowing how you operate, that makes things incredibly difficult, and some of these people who were working undercover for the americans and ourselves in afghanistan would probably disappear without trace, so i suspect his team had no backing to do that, and he has admitted guilt to putting us military secrets on the internet, and i heard your conference there suggesting he has done nothing wrong, but i agree with james clapper. if the americans think he served his time, fine. but i hope journalists moving forward will understand they have a responsibility to report, but also to make sure they do not give information that is of use to our enemies. the prime minister, rishi sunak — and the labour leader, sir keir starmer — are preparing to go head to head on the bbc, in the final leaders debate of the election campaign. there is just over a week to go, until polling day. it comes as members of both parties, continue to face difficult questions, about betting on the date and outcome of the election. our political correspondent sean curran reports. the stage is set for the final head—to—head debate of this campaign. tonight rishi sunak and keir starmer will face each other and questions from the audience. it's a sure thing the prime minister will be asked about the gambling row. he has been criticised for taking too long to drop two candidates who are being looked into by the gambling commission. the prime minister is very angry about what has happened here, although we don't know the conclusion of the gambling commission's investigation, but very angry about anybody who has broken the rules in these circumstances. he has taken very decisive action in withdrawing support for two candidates who will not be supported by the conservative party in those seats. the labour leader will also face questions. last night he suspended one of his candidates who had bet against himself. i don't think this is about changing the rules on betting. i think the rules are clear enough. it's about the behaviour of politicians, and it's about the behaviour of leaders when things come to light. i said if any of my candidates were being investigated by the gambling commission they would be out of the door and their feet wouldn't touch the ground and that is what you saw yesterday. but others think politics needs a health check when it comes to gambling. the lib dem leader wants a review of the rules, but admits he has had a flutter in the past. in 2010, i thought we might do quite well, and i was wrong, i'm afraid. so i lost that bet. so you placed a bet on the outcome of the 2010 election? i said that i thought that we would do better as a party, i thought that we were going to gain more seats, i was quite excited, i don't usually bet but i bet on that occasion and i lost. out on the campaign trail, the snp's westminster leader also backed a rethink of the rules. ijust assumed that we were all seeking to do the jobs that we are doing in the best interest of the public to improve their lives, not to get any sort of personal gain out of it. so i'm pretty disappointed by what i've seen and if that needs to be a tightening of rules, because obviously for sports people it's clear what they can and can not do, i would support that. going into tonight's bbc debate, the stakes are high for the prime minister and the labour leader. they have only got a few more days to convince the voters. sean curran, bbc news. our correspondentjessica parker is travelling with the conservative party campaign. she explained how allegations of election betting has impacted campaigning. this whole thing just a week out from polling day, i doubt anybody, any politicians who are fighting this general election race, expected this to be the dominant topic in the headlines at the moment, so that in itself is unexpected. and then as well, this whole thing has expanded in terms of how we have learned more people are being looked at by the gambling commission, and now as well, ministers or politicians from any party, as they do interviews, come on the airwaves, they are asked, have you ever placed any bets in terms of politics? what kind of bets have you placed? it is becoming that kind of conversation, plus, as well, there is now this kind of wider debate about notjust the rules, but the ethics of the whole thing, and it is interesting looking at the different party lines coming out, keir starmerfrom labour has been saying he thinks the culture needs to change, but he doesn't necessarily think the rules need to change. he said he is resistant to that. ed davey from the lib dems thinks there needs to be a review of gambling rules, and mel stride from the conservatives, who we just heard from on the airwaves, saying he doesn't think there should be a kneejerk reaction, but adding later potentially there should be some kind of ban on politicians betting on these kinds of things. it is an ever—growing conversation and i think what is really interesting as well, because we don't know exactly, but could there be more to come? it is not one of those things you see in the campaign, like for example when rishi sunak left the d—day commemorations early, there was fallout from that, but it lasted over a few days in terms of being a dominant story, but this keeps developing and coming every day with new lines. it is the longevity of it as we head full steam ahead towards polling day next week. damian grammaticas, our political correspondent who has been on the labour campaign bus today. i know you have been talking to keir starmer exactly on that issue of betting and this whole debate of whether actually the rules and the laws need to change.— whether actually the rules and the laws need to change. yes, exactly. we are now — laws need to change. yes, exactly. we are now in _ laws need to change. yes, exactly. we are now in nottingham - laws need to change. yes, exactly. we are now in nottingham and - laws need to change. yes, exactly. i we are now in nottingham and leave it with keir starmer a little earlier in leicestershire not very far away when he made a campaign stop this morning. that was at a gp surgery, highlighting changes that labour wants to bring if it were to win the election about making access to gps easier, but it is the news cycle that is focusing on the gambling question, and that is the one that we were putting to the labour leader, myself and other journalists. and in the light of those calls for tighter rules, particularly for politicians, that they shouldn't be able to gamble on anything related to politics, i asked him if he thought there should be in outright ban. this is what he said. n be in outright ban. this is what he said. ., �* ~' , be in outright ban. this is what he said. ., �* ,, , , ., said. i don't think this is about chanauin said. i don't think this is about changing the _ said. i don't think this is about changing the rules _ said. i don't think this is about changing the rules on - said. i don't think this is about changing the rules on betting, j said. i don't think this is about| changing the rules on betting, i think— changing the rules on betting, i think the — changing the rules on betting, i think the rules are clear enough, it is about— think the rules are clear enough, it is about behaviour of politicians. it is about — is about behaviour of politicians. it is about behaviour of readers when _ it is about behaviour of readers when things come to light. i said if any of— when things come to light. i said if any of nry— when things come to light. i said if any of my candidates were being investigated by the gambling commission they would be out the door and _ commission they would be out the door and your feet wouldn't touch the ground, and that is what you saw yesterday _ the ground, and that is what you saw yesterday. contrast that with the prime _ yesterday. contrast that with the prime minister who took days and days to _ prime minister who took days and days to make a decision. why don't ou 'ust days to make a decision. why don't you just ban _ days to make a decision. why don't youiust ban it? _ days to make a decision. why don't youjust ban it? i— days to make a decision. why don't youjust ban it? i think— days to make a decision. why don't youjust ban it? i think in _ days to make a decision. why don't youjust ban it? i think in a - days to make a decision. why don't youjust ban it? i think in a case - you 'ust ban it? i think in a case like youjust ban it? i think in a case like this you _ youjust ban it? i think in a case like this you can _ youjust ban it? i think in a case like this you can see _ youjust ban it? i think in a case like this you can see why - youjust ban it? i think in a case like this you can see why the . youjust ban it? i think in a case . like this you can see why the tories want _ like this you can see why the tories want to— like this you can see why the tories want to take this debate to should the rules— want to take this debate to should the rules change? because that takes the rules change? because that takes the focus _ the rules change? because that takes the focus away from the real issue which _ the focus away from the real issue which is _ the focus away from the real issue which is the — the focus away from the real issue which is the behaviour of politicians. the reaction of the public — politicians. the reaction of the public tells you everything you need to know _ public tells you everything you need to know. they know instinctively that there — to know. they know instinctively that there is wrong, and those politicians on the tory side should have _ politicians on the tory side should have known it, the prime minister should _ have known it, the prime minister should have done decisive action straightaway, he failed to do so, and that— straightaway, he failed to do so, and that is— straightaway, he failed to do so, and that is evidence of the changing of the _ and that is evidence of the changing of the next — and that is evidence of the changing of the next week in the general election — of the next week in the general election. we have had 14 years of the tories — election. we have had 14 years of the tories behaving like this, this is not _ the tories behaving like this, this is not going to change, that is obvious— is not going to change, that is obvious from the last two weeks or 20 page. _ obvious from the last two weeks or 20 page, different leadership, rebuild — 20 page, different leadership, rebuild the country and move forward _ rebuild the country and move forward. �* rebuild the country and move forward. . , ., rebuild the country and move forward. . i. ., rebuild the country and move forward. . ., ., forward. and you can hear how keir starmer did — forward. and you can hear how keir starmer did what _ forward. and you can hear how keir starmer did what politicians - forward. and you can hear how keir starmer did what politicians do - starmer did what politicians do which is take my question and turn it into something he wanted to talk about, which is that point about leadership and what the election office, and what you can do differently, and the idea he has acted differently from rishi sunak in the way he has handled the one case, he has faced from one labour candidate to the weight ratio two —— to the way rishi sunak has focused on things. i asked him to the way rishi sunak has focused on things. iasked him briefly to the way rishi sunak has focused on things. i asked him briefly about the debate he will be attending here in a little while, he said he was looking forward to it, looking forward he claims to the question of the audience, other sometimes those are the toughest ones. he says he prefers those to the questions you get from the moderator because you get from the moderator because you get more of a personal experience. we will see what questions he is as today, whether he still thinks that after. ., �* ., , , , after. you're absolutely right, very much. after. you're absolutely right, very much- more _ after. you're absolutely right, very much. more on _ after. you're absolutely right, very much. more on that _ after. you're absolutely right, very much. more on that debate - after. you're absolutely right, very much. more on that debate here i after. you're absolutely right, very| much. more on that debate here on the programme in a couple of moments time. now let's take a look at what the latest polls tells us. with just over a week to go, the parties�* polls have stabilised over the past week. both the conservatives and labour saw their average poll scores drop but labour continues to maintain a lead of about 20 points over the conservatives. a number of the polls this week suggest that the conservatives are now in a close battle with reform uk for second place. joining me now is kieran pedley, who is director of politics at the polling organisation ipsos. welcome to the programme. you had a poll out today and all the usual caveats about solitary polls, but it suggests conservatives down, reform up suggests conservatives down, reform up six. does that suggest the message rishi sunak has been pushing, a vote for reform is a vote for starmer isn't landing? it pushing, a vote for reform is a vote for starmer isn't landing?— for starmer isn't landing? it would a- ear for starmer isn't landing? it would appear that _ for starmer isn't landing? it would appear that way. _ for starmer isn't landing? it would appear that way, the _ for starmer isn't landing? it would appear that way, the context - for starmer isn't landing? it would appear that way, the context of i for starmer isn't landing? it would l appear that way, the context of this poll is important. the conservatives are on a vote share of 90%, which is thejoint are on a vote share of 90%, which is the joint lowest are on a vote share of 90%, which is thejoint lowest we are on a vote share of 90%, which is the joint lowest we have ever had in the joint lowest we have ever had in the history of ipsos, so it gives you a little bit about the scale of the troubled the conservatives are in. reform are up six points and thatis in. reform are up six points and that is from the start of the month, so our last poll was a little bit behind other people's, but you can see the right of british politics, that split. we know those defecting to reform from the conservatives are motivated by the issue of immigration and tend to be very supportive of nigel farage. you can see that split in that type of voting demographic, labour steady around 40%, haven't been below 40% very often with the pollsters, they look on course at the moment. but we have a week to go, so let's see what happens. t have a week to go, so let's see what ha ens. . , have a week to go, so let's see what ha ens, .,, have a week to go, so let's see what ha ens. .,, ., ., happens. i was looking at social media in terms _ happens. i was looking at social media in terms of— happens. i was looking at social media in terms of how - happens. i was looking at social media in terms of how people l happens. i was looking at social. media in terms of how people work looking at what you found, and a couple of people latching on not attached to those numbers, but to a section of your polling on tactical voting and thinking that is quite evident. tell me what you found about that? we evident. tell me what you found about that?— evident. tell me what you found about that? ~ ., , ., , about that? we asked people how they vote, the about that? we asked people how they vote. the next — about that? we asked people how they vote, the next question _ about that? we asked people how they vote, the next question is _ about that? we asked people how they vote, the next question is why - about that? we asked people how they vote, the next question is why are i vote, the next question is why are you voting that way? what we find is 64% of the public, the overwhelming majority, say they are voting for the part of the best represents their views. the part of the best represents theirviews. but the part of the best represents their views. but one in five say they are voting stop party getting in, you this is significant this time because the last couple of elections, that number has been much smaller. it was 40% in 2019 orjust before, 11% in 2017, at the start of the decade it was around one in ten. because of that going around time. why does it matter? it matter? it matters because who these people are tending to vote for. we find one in three liberal democrat voters say there voting for the lib dems tactically, but one in four it labour voters say the same thing. what you are seeing in country is people are voting for whichever party can best get rid of the conservatives. it is important to put that in context, whilst it is a significant number of people, based on the last election it could be 6 million people voting that way, the overwhelming majority vote for the party that best represents their abuse. in terms of why labour might win the next general election, it isn't because of tactical voting but this game a victory could be. we have seen _ this game a victory could be. we have seen weeks of effectively the same messaging from the major parties, and yet there is a significant number of people undecided, so what are the numbers of undecided still out there? by, of undecided still out there? relatively small number out there now who say they generally do not know, usually in the single digits. but around one in three are saying they might change the mind between now and polling day. the problem for conservatives is there is not a senseit conservatives is there is not a sense it might benefit them, it could still hurt them. they point that this election as refined 75% of the public are dissatisfied with the job rishi sunak is doing as prime minister, 82% are dissatisfied with the job the government adding one in the job the government adding one in the country. these are the worst figures we have seen going into an election, and that is what is going to tell us what is going to happen next week. to tell us what is going to happen next week-— very much indeed. this evening the bbc is hosting the final head—to—head election debate between rishi sunak and sir keir starmer in nottingham. perhaps the prime minister will latch onto that final figure that perhaps one in three are still to be persuaded. let's cross live to nicky schiller in nottingham. set the scene, you are at the venue, the leader presumably prepping as we are talking. the leader presumably prepping as we are talkina. , ,., ., , the leader presumably prepping as we are talkin.. , ,., ., , .., are talking. yes, both leaders came and had a look _ are talking. yes, both leaders came and had a look at _ are talking. yes, both leaders came and had a look at the _ are talking. yes, both leaders came and had a look at the set _ are talking. yes, both leaders came and had a look at the set a - are talking. yes, both leaders came and had a look at the set a little i and had a look at the set a little earlier on and then have gone away. in four hours' time the debate will be under way so they will be getting that last—minute cramming and trying to work out what points they really do want to get across in this, as you said, the last real set piece debate of the general election campaign. we haven't had many head to heads with them, in fact only one other one which was at the beginning of the month with the itv debate, which was hosted byjulie etchingham. you will remember at times that got a little tetchy, suddenly during the discussion on immigration, they were told to keep their voices down, so it will be interesting to see what happens tonight. in terms of the way it will work, it is from 8:15pm until 9:30pm so we have an hour and a quarter, all of the questions will come from embers of the public in the audience. the audience has been chosen by the following companies and it will be made up of equal numbers of people who say they will vote conservatives and equal numbers of people who say they will vote labour, as well as some undecided voters, and they will put the question is that they too will answer. of course they do not know what the questions will be. the whole event will be hosted by mishal husain, and you may have noticed she has written a lovely article on the bbc news website today about how she is going to try and keep control. she also said at times wasn't at the helm and can watch on the sofa at home, but that passes. she says it is a privilege for her to hopefully get them to answer the questions that are asked, because that is often the problem. they have a point they want to make and are they actually listening to the question the member of public is asking and answering that. also, in terms of the logistics, there are two podiums. i have been inside and it is quite an intimate venue in there. the two podiums, they have chosen his stance on which side by the toss of a coin, and the toss of a coin is being used who will give this closing 32nd argument about why you should vote for them first. and it all starts at 8/15 nights on bbc one, 8:50pm tonight. you can watch it on the news channel with signing. we will be in the spin room afterwards to analyse what the leaders have said. england midfielder phil foden has "temporarily" left the three lions�* euro 2024 camp in germany. an fa spokesperson said the 24—year—old has returned to the uk for a pressing family matter — after the team's nil—all draw with slovenia last night. he started all three of the group games for england. i'm joined now by george simms, sports news reporter at the i. welcome to the programme, i suppose the crucial question is what more do we know about phil foden's return, and is the thought that he will get back to germany before england's next game on sunday? 50 back to germany before england's next game on sunday?— back to germany before england's next game on sunday? so as it stands we believe foden _ next game on sunday? so as it stands we believe foden has _ next game on sunday? so as it stands we believe foden has left _ next game on sunday? so as it stands we believe foden has left england's i we believe foden has left england's camp to deal with the birth of his third child. it was because prepared and he should be back ahead of sunday's last 16 match, that is currently supposed to be against the netherlands but we do not have confirmation if he will be back in time to train or a start, as far as i time to train or a start, as far as lam aware. time to train or a start, as far as i am aware. i time to train or a start, as far as i am aware-— time to train or a start, as far as i am aware. ., �* ., , .,, i am aware. i hadn't realised it was the birth of— i am aware. i hadn't realised it was the birth of his — i am aware. i hadn't realised it was the birth of his child, _ i am aware. i hadn't realised it was the birth of his child, but _ i am aware. i hadn't realised it was the birth of his child, but i - the birth of his child, but i anticipate they must have been contingencies in plans in place for this eventuality?— this eventuality? yes, we believe so. this eventuality? yes, we believe so- gareth _ this eventuality? yes, we believe so. gareth southgate _ this eventuality? yes, we believe so. gareth southgate has - this eventuality? yes, we believe so. gareth southgate has done i this eventuality? yes, we believe i so. gareth southgate has done this enough times to know how meticulously you have to plan these events, and the convenience of the timing suggests that this has been perfectly planned, so foden doesn't have to miss any games, because he is so important to the squad. let’s is so important to the squad. let's aet back is so important to the squad. let's get back to — is so important to the squad. let's get back to what _ is so important to the squad. let's get back to what we _ is so important to the squad. let's get back to what we saw _ is so important to the squad. let's get back to what we saw last night, but offering, aside from topping the group, it was disappointing, it was frustrating, it was angering for many england fans, wasn't it? absolutely, it is the sort of game to turn people off football, as miserable as that boat gets. but i still think that the reaction to that has been overblown, particularly because of how miserable it was to watch. ultimately there are still positives to take away from it, england's defence has been strong throughout this tournament, we only saw one goal in three games and it was a 30 yard screamer. yes we only scored two goals but that was also the case in europe 2020 when we then reach the final. if you compare with euro 23-24, in the final. if you compare with euro 23—24, in the group stage three years ago we only had six shots on target, and we have 11 this time around. these are not great numbers but it shows there is a path we have trodden before in trying to get to the latter stage of a major tournament with gareth southgate. i think it probably has a plan. in tournament with gareth southgate. i think it probably has a plan.- think it probably has a plan. in one sense, think it probably has a plan. in one sense. that — think it probably has a plan. in one sense. that is _ think it probably has a plan. in one sense, that is what _ think it probably has a plan. in one sense, that is what makes - think it probably has a plan. in one sense, that is what makes it i sense, that is what makes it possibly more depressing. he talked about a difficult act to have been created. i suppose the problem with thatis created. i suppose the problem with that is there was a lot of criticism after the second game, a lot of pushback from the cultures, the players themselves, and yet, they produced a performance like that last night. produced a performance like that last niuht. ~ , produced a performance like that lastniaht. , , last night. absolutely, the players and southgate _ last night. absolutely, the players and southgate talked _ last night. absolutely, the players and southgate talked a _ last night. absolutely, the players and southgate talked a lot - last night. absolutely, the players and southgate talked a lot about i and southgate talked a lot about trying to shut off the noise, turn off the phone and social media, and focus on doing what they want to do, and i think that is how you end up with performances like last night against denmark because they believe they have a plan and they are going to stick to it and they know best, and while i would question that any side that knows best can turn out an attack in like last night, especially with realistically five of the ten best players in the in that attack, they have still topped their group. i know it probably sounds like parroting what they want me to say, but i do believe there is still hope here that we can work with, especially when we look at how other teams have won major tournaments, like portugal. you are sa inc tournaments, like portugal. you are saying things. _ tournaments, like portugal. you are saying things. i _ tournaments, like portugal. you are saying things. i am _ tournaments, like portugal. you are saying things, i am looking - tournaments, like portugal. you are saying things, i am looking at i tournaments, like portugal. you are saying things, i am looking at your i saying things, i am looking at your eyes and i don't know if you quite believe them. let's leave it for now until we get to the next game come sunday. thank you for speaking to us. let's pause and catch up with the weather with matt. hello. it's another hot and humid one out there today, particularly across england and wales. but there are big changes ahead during the next 24 hours. and for the rest of the week, we're going to see much fresher conditions set in across the country and also windier conditions, too, especially to the north—west. driving things is this big swiss roll of a cloud wrapped in around an area of low pressure, which is to the south of iceland at the moment. as it works its way in, it will bring the windier conditions but drive this weaker cold front across the country, marching off the hot and humid air that's with some of us still and introducing those cooler and fresher conditions. out there at the moment, though, it's heat and humidity still for england and wales into the evening. temperatures still in the upper 20s, looking at the teens into the evening, low 20s across scotland and northern ireland. little bit of sunshine in places, a few showers to the north and west and just one or two elsewhere. but through tonight, this is our low pressure, gradually working its way towards us. the cold front by the end of the night will be somewhere from northern scotland down through north—west england, wales towards the south—west. temperatures still holding up for most into the morning, but humid air to the east of that. so a bright, humid start across many eastern areas. there's our cold front, nothing more than just the odd isolated showers. it spreads its way towards east anglia and the south—east for the early afternoon. sunshine comes out, but showers will be driven in on strengthening wind through scotland, northern ireland and north—west england. now whilst it gets fresher for most through the day, we'll still actually see temperatures higher than today in the north—east of scotland and down through some eastern coast. but in the west, the temperatures will be really tempered somewhat by strong to gale—force winds driving in frequent showers, even some longer spells of rain to western scotland, northern ireland, the odd shower, too, in northern england as we go into the evening. and through the night, that area of low pressure just pulls away slightly, so it remains windy. another system approaching, but we're almost in a little window between. still some showers across scotland, certainly on friday. winds easing down relative to what we've seen to start with. elsewhere, sunny spells. and even though it does feel fresher, the sun is strong, it will still feel warm out there in the sunshine, and out of the breeze temperatures closer to where we should be this stage in june. quick look at the start of the weekend — we'll have a weather frontjust sitting across some parts of northern england, wales and ireland, bringing some outbreaks of rain. a bit of sunshine either side of it. temperatures up a little bit towards the south—east corner — that works through into sunday and for most, a dry sunday in store. this is bbc news. the headlines: the wikileaks founder julian assange arrives back in australia a free man, reuniting with his family after pleading guilty to espionage in a us court. a final head—to—head debate for rishi sunak and keir starmer — the last one before polling day next week. it's revealed constance marten and mark gordon were convicted in may of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice. and coming up — how this snake has given birth to 14 baby snakelets, in an extremely rare phenomena known as virgin birth. at 8:15pm, rishi sunak and so keir starmer will face one another for their final tv starmer will face one another for theirfinal tv debate in starmer will face one another for their final tv debate in this election campaign. as we begin at the build—up to that bbc event, i have been speaking to tim montgomerie who advised boris johnson and lord george foulkes and i asked tim montgomerie if he thought this marks the dial further shifting tory voters. probably, yes. i don't think i would be sharing a great secret to say this has not been the most successful of conservative campaigns since rishi sunak stood in the rain in downing street. there have been times during this campaign where the leader of my party has almost looks like the wind has gone out of his sails, almost defeated. i think there was a debate earlier in the week for the sun newspaper where he looked like he had a bit more life in him, a bit more fight, but tonight is the big occasion and a big bbc audience, the last chance really we will be able to see the two people — it will be keir starmer or rishi sunak as prime minister after this election, no one else — and this is the opportunity for rishi sunak really to put the labour leader under the spotlight and score some runs because otherwise, if he doesn't tonight, we really will be seeing the biggest defeat for the conservative party in our post—war history and rishi sunak will not want to go down as the prime minister who delivered that. i will come back to some of that detail in a moment. george foulkes, to you, in terms of tonight's debate, what would you say are the dangers for keir starmer? i am in strasbourg and along with my british colleagues here, voted the first three judges for the court of human rights. the prime minister foolishly called it a foreign court. i think keir starmer is in danger only if he makes a big mistake and i haven't seen him make any mistakes of any size during the whole of the campaign. i must say, i think tim and all his colleagues who come on these programmes really are very brave because the campaign has been a disaster. to start it off on the 4th july when we have the euros, wimbledon, all sorts of other distractions, it was a crazy thing to do in the start and there is no way he can pull up 20 points by a debate. he has looked dejected and understandably so. quite a bit of fight in the last head—to—head, tim, let me ask you a question of how rishi sunak pictures this, because we have seen the basic messaging that a vote for reform is a vote for keir starmer, that does not seem to have landed, in the various other strategies he hasn't narrowed the polls with labour, so what should his targets be tonight? i have to agree with george, he won't turn round a 20—point lead tonight, labour are going to form the next government, but he needs to look down the barrel of the camera and say to the british people the next few days are the last few days you can possibly change the next five years. polling stations close at 10pm next thursday and then you won't be able to do anything. the prospect that faces the british people is keir starmer could have the largest majority in british post—war history, he will be able to do anything he wants on tax, crime, immigration. christmases will roll by, summers will roll by and the people will not be able to stop a labourjuggernaut. i understand what george is saying. keir starmer hasn't made a mistake in terms of campaigning, but he has made one fundamental mistake, he hasn't got a mandate for real change. this country does need a shake—up and keir starmer has really made very little promises, nothing of consequence, and i think that is the danger. i will come back to george with that point in a moment, butjust respond directly to that point i was making about reform, because at different stages in this campaign, there has almost been a reluctance to go after reform and we can all see in terms of numbers from polling about where tory voters in large parts are ending up. i think that has begun to change. if you look at the last few opinion polls, reform were going up in the polls and they are now beginning to soften their support. not dramatically, but there is a sign that their vote is going down and that is because i have seen it a bit on the doorstep, they are beginning to wrestle with that question, do you want to give keir starmer more power than any prime minister has ever had? and reform voters may not like the conservative party or the record of rishi sunak, but they are beginning to ask themselves that question. and as well as nigel farage's remarks on ukraine and russia, we are beginning to see a little bit of a sign that reform are fading. george, does sir keir starmer need to be a bit more nimble than last time? we saw him on the back foot around that tax issue and that did seem to land for rishi sunak. he was also, in the sky debate, really awkward when there was that direct question from a member of the audience who said perhaps they might have voted for him before but he was a bit robotic and seemed really thrown by that. but the tories and sunak say labour are going to put the taxes up, spend — up in scotland the snp say we will continue tory austerity, you can't have it both ways. what we are actually doing is being cautious, because the economy is in a mess because the tories have trashed the economy, starting with liz truss. it has been a total disaster and we have to sort things out. the nightmare scenario for the tories, however, is it is not farage and reform that could be the official opposition, i think the liberals could win enough, the liberal democrats could win enough seats to be more than the tories and form the official opposition and that would really be the end of the tory party. let me ask you, george, about one of the things you said there because you talked about caution, but there is clearly within this campaign an effort not to scare voters, but surely labour needs to enthuse voters and when you hear polling groups, again and again people not totally convinced about the labour leader. but it is better to underpromise and overdeliver and that is what the last labour government did. gordon brown and tony blair brought in some really dramatic changes, some of which they had not promised, but because they were able to do it, so it is better not to overpromise and underdeliver. but people want to know about the cost of living, how their lives might improve, let alone the nhs and all those other things. does there need to be more directness about the sort of change that labour plans to do? the only thing i would say is that i think he ought to say a bit more about the multimillionaires, the people who have made more and more money in the last few months on pfi, that vip lane, michelle mone, that appalling thing she did with her husband, and other things like that, and the prime minister himself has made a huge amount of money and the rich are getting richer and the poor are suffering and there will be a big change in that. the cost of living has gone up dramatically, dramatically for poor people but not of course for the people at the very top. tim montgomerie, a final question to you and i will come back to george in a moment, how important is likeability in a debate like this? is that important? and a fundamental question about the tory campaign, do you think people are still listening to rishi sunak? that really is an incredibly important question. on the likeability thing, i think the us presidential elections usually do a test, who would you most likely to have a beer with? and it is that person they generally vote for. and partly the problem with rishi sunak and keir starmer, neither of them quite have the common touch of someone like nigel farage. i don't think people are listening to the tories about believing they should be the government, i think our time is over now after 14 busy years. i think though if rishi sunak asks the fundamental questions of keir starmer which he hasn't really answered of what he wants to do, i think people will listen to that. i think people are cautious of labour, they haven't levelled, they haven't told the truth. people know that every labour government in history has raised taxes and so will this one, so focus on labour would be my advice to rishi sunak. keir starmer has been around, the man in the street has been seeing him everywhere, allaround the uk, he has spoken at meetings. his ratings are low before he has even become prime minister, he has not captured the imagination of people at all. the one piece of advice i would give to him is use the sense of humour a bit more that i know he has and that gordon brown used to use and that is one thing he could improve on, but otherwise he is honest, straightforward, cautious, because we are in a terrible economic situation given to us by the tories and we have to sort that out first and then we can give people hope. month by month, year by year. the leader of the ulster unionist party, doug beattie, has launched the party's manifesto ahead of next week's general election, promising to defend northern ireland's place in the union. the uup was the biggest party in northern ireland for almost a century, but hasn't had any mps since 2017. we have been failed in westminster through representation with invisible mps, ineffective mps and of course absent mps. and we've all seen the pictures of debates about northern ireland where nobody�*s there apart from a few bench centuries from the other parties and our mps talking to themselves, that's not good enough. it's because we haven't enthused people, the mps and gb, to listen to the issues that affect northern ireland, that affect this part of the united kingdom. so we have been failed. and we will set about changing that to make people interested in what's happening in this part of our united kingdom, that cohesion that has been destroyed since brexit, to bring it back again, the four nations of our kingdom. look at what we can do to defend this part of the united kingdom, our united kingdom and the whole of the west and approaches to europe. we will vote to increase defence spending to 2.5% of gdp. we will promote northern ireland's strategic position with the uk national defense command structures. what does that mean? well, that means that if you look at the united kingdom, the whole western approaches to the united kingdom have been left open. the uk has degraded our strategic position within the united kingdom and we need to change that. we will look after defence because we've got the experience to look after defence. and when people bat it away and say, i don't want to talk about it, it's not popular. we say to them, it is because it's a matter of life and death. the second point i want to talk about is integrity. and let's be absolutely direct here. honesty has not been the strongest point of the largest three parties in our executive. they said they wanted to protect health, but they voted for a budget which undermined health, which brought forward catastrophic cuts. catastrophic cuts. that wasn't a phrase we used. that was a phrase that the health professionals use, the trust use. and it wasn't a phrase they used after the budget was agreed. it was a phrase they used before the budget was agreed. it was a phrase that was put to the political parties that said, if you vote for this budget, you are voting for catastrophic cuts to our health service. and they voted for it. well, we didn't, and we won't, and we'll stand up against it. and if we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. and if they try and force us out of the executive, then they best get on with it because we're not moving. the launch of the uup manifesto. john swinney has been campaigning to date with a message to young voters that future would be bleak with the labour party in power in westminster. we can speak to our scotland correspondent who is following that campaign. bring us up to date in terms of the message and the threat i suppose the snp view the threat i suppose the snp view the labour party that in scotland. matthew, this has been in glasgow, a stronghold of the snp at the moment, and this is wherejohn swinney has been campaigning this afternoon. he has been with a youth project and was interviewed byjohn chapple tv, two young journalists who asked him searching and difficult questions and many issues that affect them about knife crime, friendships, school playground, voluntary sector, a wide—ranging interview whichjohn swinney took on there. —— drumchapel tv. we asked him about the youth project himself and he talked about the importance of young people having their voice heard and the importance of projects like this one in drumchapel for young people and their futures and giving them the confidence to do things like interview the first minister which is no mean feat. we also spoke to him about the gambling issue and he told us if politicians, politicians should not be allowed to bet on elections if footballers can't bet on football matches and he was talking about independence as well, saying in seven days' time when we go to the polls he hopes people will vote for the snp to put in dependence at the centre so various levers can be used to address things like the cost of living, the nhs, all of those issues that would be able to be addressed in scotland, he says, it was independent. we have been on the campaign trail withjohn swinney and we expect to hear more on the campaign tomorrow.- on the campaign tomorrow. thanks ve much on the campaign tomorrow. thanks very much for— on the campaign tomorrow. thanks very much for the _ on the campaign tomorrow. thanks very much for the latest _ on the campaign tomorrow. thanks very much for the latest there. i on the campaign tomorrow. thanks very much for the latest there. justj very much for the latest there. just a pointer because there is more on all the campaigning from the main parties, head to the bbc live page and our teams there for the head—to—head debate between keir starmer and rishi sunak in nottingham, but going through all the policy launches and parties so keep up to date on the website and the bbc at. —— app. it can be reported today that constance marten and mark gordon were convicted in may of perverting the course ofjustice, and of concealing the birth of their child. the couple will now face a retrial, accused of the manslaughter by gross negligence of their newborn daughter, whose body was discovered in a brighton allotment. the originaljury failed to reach a verdict on that charge. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford gave us this update from outside the old bailey. yeah, because reporting restrictions that were imposed in the end of may have now been lifted, we can now tell the public for the first time that a jury here at the old bailey at the end of may found constance marten and mark gordon guilty of concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course ofjustice. thejudge had imposed reporting restrictions on those verdicts because the jury were still considering other charges. well, the jury was discharged last wednesday having failed to reach a verdict on other charges. and as a result of that, there was a kind of pause while the prosecution considered what they were going to do. and they have decided, it was announced today, to go ahead with the retrial. the judge said he would schedule that retrial for march next year. they'll look at possible other dates, but it'll most likely be in march next year. and he lifted the restrictions that prevented us reporting those guilty verdicts on concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice. viewers may remember that constance marten and mark gordon first came to public attention in january last year when there was a national manhunt for them after a baby's placenta was found in the back of a burnt—out car on the m62 near bolton in manchester. there was a very, very public manhunt with the police making public appeals. and eventually constance marten and mark gordon were found in brighton on the 27th of february last year. but there was no sign of the newborn baby, and that baby, who had been called victoria, was unfortunately found dead in a shed on an allotment in the hollingbury area of brighton on march 1st last year. so constance marten and mark gordon went on trial injanuary this year, charged with gross negligence manslaughter, with causing or allowing the death of a child, child cruelty, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course ofjustice. that trial then got very, very badly delayed because of things like a fire here at the old bailey, and that's how we've reached where we are today with a retrial next march and us being able to report those two verdicts — concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course ofjustice. both of those guilty verdicts. let's turn to breaking news just coming into us because an inquest has concluded that a law graduate sexually assaulted and murdered on her way home was unlawfully killed. that has just come from that inquest, the attack was carried out nine days after being released from prison. our correspondence covering this case for us, just tell us more about what this inquest jury has concluded. it about what this inquest 'ury has concluded. , about what this inquest 'ury has concluded.* about what this inquest 'ury has concluded. , , concluded. it is exactly two years since zara _ concluded. it is exactly two years since zara aleena _ concluded. it is exactly two years since zara aleena was _ concluded. it is exactly two years since zara aleena was murdered | concluded. it is exactly two years i since zara aleena was murdered and in the last few minutes, a jury has now concluded that the 35—year—old graduate was unlawfully killed. the jury graduate was unlawfully killed. the jury has spent the last two days delivering their conclusion, this inquest has been going on for the last four weeks and they have been assessing the action taken by the police, prison and probation service in the lead up to her murder. as you say, the man responsible for her, jordan mcsweeney, he is currently serving a life sentence in prison for sexual assault and murder, but he was released just nine days before he carried out that attack. in their conclusion, the jury here at east coroner's court in london, they said there were serious failings across multiple agencies, including failure to assessjordan mcsweeney�*s risk, attempts to arrest him when he was recalled to prison, and failure to share information and inadequate information sharing. it is exactly two years since the law graduate was murdered. the last four weeks we have been looking at the procedures, the processes in place in the lead up tojordan mcsweeney being released from prison. we had information from a significant number of witnesses, a probation officer saying he believed his assessment, his risk assessment before he was released, that should have been deemed high risk as opposed to medium risk. we also heard about his behaviour in the lead up to him murdering zara aleena in the year before. he had attacked other people in prison with improvised weapons and was also known to have used drugs. zara aleena's family, heraunt known to have used drugs. zara aleena's family, her aunt has been at the inquest every day for the last four weeks and was clearly relieved to hear that this conclusion of unlawful killing. she told the jury at the very beginning of this inquest that she and her family continued to be tortured by thoughts that zara aleena's death was avoidable. here is what happened two years ago to zara aleena. brute two years ago to zara aleena. we have not two years ago to zara aleena. we have got a — two years ago to zara aleena. we have got a problem there with a piece we were going to run, so let me ask you another question, because the general secretary of the probation union has been talking and reacting and saying that staff shortages and high workloads continue to put a strain on the system. the climate in the probation service is almost as bad as it was at the time of zara aleena's tragic death. that is worrying in terms of their assessment, death. that is worrying in terms of theirassessment, isn't death. that is worrying in terms of their assessment, isn't it? death. that is worrying in terms of theirassessment, isn't it? it death. that is worrying in terms of their assessment, isn't it?- their assessment, isn't it? it is, and we have _ their assessment, isn't it? it is, and we have approached - their assessment, isn't it? it is, and we have approached the i theirassessment, isn't it? ft 3 and we have approached the ministry ofjustice for a response to that. ian lawrence, the general secretary of the probation union, he told us that since her murder, the probation service has been under significant strain and things haven't really changed that much. there is increasing pressure, high workload for staff working in the probation service, high stress and there is also an issue with pay and he said thatis also an issue with pay and he said that is something that is very well known within the probation service, but just known within the probation service, butjust going back to what has happened here today at this inquest, the jury has been assessing the procedures, the processes in place, the way thatjordan mcsweeney wasn't managed and dealt with by the police and the probation service in the run—up to his release. ——jordan mcsweeney was managed. he murdered zara aleena nine days after he was released on licence, a prolific offender with 28 previous convictions and on the night of zara aleena's murder there was cctv showing him staggering out of shops on a residential road following two other women before targeting zara aleena in an unprovoked attack. the coroner, nadia persaud, is expected to put forward a report with recommendations and that is expected in the coming days.— in the coming days. thanks very much. in the coming days. thanks very much- that _ in the coming days. thanks very much. that background - in the coming days. thanks very much. that background piece i in the coming days. thanks very i much. that background piece you put together that you tried to get to we have that ready so let's see some of the background to this case. independent, incredibly giving and fearless. memories of zara aleena, who herfamily fearless. memories of zara aleena, who her family say was loved by everyone. but two years ago, the 35—year—olds was murdered while walking home in ilford, east london, by this sexual predator, captured here on cctv shortly before the attack. jordan mcsweeney, a prolific offender with 28 previous convictions, had only been out of prison for nine days and had breached his licence conditions, but the inquest heard there were a number of missed opportunities to arrest him when he was recalled to prison. jordan mcsweeney was released from prison onjune17, 2022 and after missing a number of probation appointments, his recall was initiated onjune 22 but the paperwork was signed off onjune 24 with police given powers to arrest him just after 4pm on the same day. he murdered zara aleena on the early hours of the morning onjune 26. jordan mcsweeney, you are under arrest for rape and murder. mcsweeney was arrested the next day onjune mcsweeney was arrested the next day on june 27 and mcsweeney was arrested the next day onjune 27 and is currently serving a life sentence for sexual assault and murder. the biggest probation union in england, wales and northern ireland says staff shortages and high workloads continue to put a strain on the system. the high workloads continue to put a strain on the system. the climate in the probation _ strain on the system. the climate in the probation service _ strain on the system. the climate in the probation service now _ strain on the system. the climate in the probation service now is - strain on the system. the climate in the probation service now is almost| the probation service now is almost as bad as it was at the time of zara aleena's tragic death. there are not enough skilled staff in post in just about every probation region, including london, and therefore the overwork issue is huge. i have members almost carrying twice their workload, twice in the space of their working week. and the pressure is intolerable. igrate their working week. and the pressure is intolerable.— is intolerable. we contacted the ministry of _ is intolerable. we contacted the ministry ofjustice _ is intolerable. we contacted the ministry ofjustice and - is intolerable. we contacted the ministry ofjustice and are i is intolerable. we contacted the i ministry ofjustice and are waiting for a response. zara aleena's family said that she lost the right to simply walk home the night she was killed but incest as part of her legacy they will continue to campaign for her the safety of women and girls. —— but insist is part of her legacy there were continue to campaign. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. hello. it's another hot and humid one out there today, particularly across england and wales. but there are big changes ahead during the next 24 hours. and for the rest of the week, we're going to see much fresher conditions set in across the country and also windier conditions, too, especially to the north—west. driving things is this big swiss roll of a cloud wrapped in around an area of low pressure, which is to the south of iceland at the moment. but that, as it works its way in, will bring the windier conditions but drive this weaker cold front across the country, marching off the hot and humid air that's with some of us still and introducing those cooler and fresher conditions. out there at the moment, though, it's heat and humidity still for england and wales into the evening. temperatures still in the upper 20s, looking at the teens into the evening, low 20s across scotland and northern ireland. little bit of sunshine in places, a few showers to the north and west and just one or two elsewhere. but through tonight, this is our low pressure, gradually working its way towards us. the cold front by the end of the night will be somewhere from northern scotland down through north—west england, wales towards the south—west. temperatures still holding up for most into the morning, but humid air to the east of that. so a bright, humid start across many eastern areas. there's our cold front, nothing more than just the odd isolated showers. it spreads its way towards east anglia and the south—east for the early afternoon. sunshine comes out, but showers will be driven in on strengthening wind through scotland, northern ireland and north—west england. now whilst it gets fresher for most through the day, we'll still actually see temperatures higher than today in the north—east of scotland and down through some eastern coast. but in the west, the temperatures will be really tempered somewhat by strong to gale—force winds driving in frequent showers, even some longer spells of rain to western scotland, northern ireland, the odd shower, too, in northern england as we go into the evening. and through the night, that area of low pressure just pulls away slightly, so it remains windy. another system approaching, but we're almost in a little window between. still some showers across scotland, certainly on friday. winds easing down relative to what we've seen to start with. elsewhere, sunny spells. and even though it does feel fresher, the sun is strong, it will still feel warm out there in the sunshine, and out of the breeze temperatures closer to where we should be this stage in june. quick look at the start of the weekend — we'll have a weather frontjust sitting across some parts of northern england, wales and ireland, bringing some outbreaks of rain. a bit of sunshine either side of it. temperatures up a little bit towards the south—east corner — that works through into sunday and for most, a dry sunday in store. let's turn to our main headlines... an inquest has concluded that a law graduate sexually assaulted and murdered on her way home after a night out in east london was unlawfully killed. the night out in east london was unlawfully killed.— night out in east london was unlawfully killed. night out in east london was unlawfull killed. , ., , , unlawfully killed. the 'ury has been deliberatin: unlawfully killed. the 'ury has been deliberating for i unlawfully killed. the 'ury has been deliberating for two i unlawfully killed. the jury has been deliberating for two days _ unlawfully killed. the jury has been deliberating for two days and i unlawfully killed. the jury has been deliberating for two days and they i deliberating for two days and they have come back and said they were a number of serious failings by the prison, probation and police service in the lead up to zara aleena's murder. countdown to the final head—to—head debate for rishi sunak and keir starmer. the last one before polling day next week. i starmer. the last one before polling day next week-— day next week. i am live with you from the spin _ day next week. i am live with you from the spin room _ day next week. i am live with you from the spin room at _ day next week. i am live with you from the spin room at the - day next week. i am live with you from the spin room at the prime| from the spin room at the prime ministerial debate. that begins in a few hours. we will be speaking to bbc analysts and politicians about what they are looking for when sir keir starmer and rishi sunak answer questions. keir starmer and rishi sunak answer cuestions. , . keir starmer and rishi sunak answer auestions., ., ., , , , keir starmer and rishi sunak answer cuestions. ., ., , , , ., , questions. julian assigns arrives back in australia _ questions. julian assigns arrives back in australia a _ questions. julian assigns arrives back in australia a free - questions. julian assigns arrives back in australia a free man, i back in australia a free man, reunited with his family after pleading guilty to espionage and a us court. and this year's glastonbury music festival opens its gates. welcome to bbc news. let's start with the breaking news. an inquest into the death of law graduate zara aleena has found that there was serious failures across a multiple of agencies that allowed jordan mcsweeney to kill her while she walked home after a night out in east london. thejury walked home after a night out in east london. the jury returned a verdict in the last few minutes. let's go straight to our correspondence who was listening. take us through the key conclusions we have just heard about. it is exactly two years since zara aleena was murdered. it was on the 26th ofjune 2022 when she was murdered byjordan mcsweeney in an unprovoked attack and a short time ago a jury at east london coroner's court returned a conclusion of unlawful killing. in the last four weeks, they have been looking at the action taken by the police, the probation and the prison service in the lead up to the man who murdered her, his release from prison. jordan mcsweeney, who is currently serving a life sentence for sexual assault and murder was released from prison just nine days before attacking zara aleena in ilford and east london backin aleena in ilford and east london back in 2022. over the last four weeks, thejury back in 2022. over the last four weeks, the jury has back in 2022. over the last four weeks, thejury has been back in 2022. over the last four weeks, the jury has been looking at the wayjordan mcsweeney was assessed and managed by those services and the jury has come back with its findings this afternoon saying that they concluded a number of serious failures across multiple agencies including failure to assess jordan mcsweeney�*s risk, attempts to arrest him during recall and failure to share information. we have been hearing over the last four weeks from a significant number of witnesses about the management of jordan mcsweeney on the way they assessed him. one patient officer said he failed to share information about his behaviour in prison a year before he murdered zara aleena. jordan mcsweeney attacked other people in prison with improvised weapons, he was known to have used drugs. we also heard information about the sharing of information between these different agencies. e—mails were missed on the weekend of the recall, back to prison, when jordan mcsweeney had breached his licence conditions, the probation service was not start and there was a number of other bits of information throughout this inquest that look at the way he had been categorised on his risk assessment before he left prison. he was deemed to be medium risk when actually the probation officer looking after him at the time had said that he should have been categorised as high risk. zara aleena's family, her aunt has been here everyday since the beginning of this inquest, she told thejury at the beginning of this inquest, she told the jury at the beginning that she and herfamily continue the jury at the beginning that she and her family continue to be tortured by thoughts that zara aleena's death was in fact unavoidable. the coroner overseeing the inquest will put together a report looking at the conclusion today by the inquest and is expected today by the inquest and is expected to make a number of key recommendations. .. , ., ., recommendations. exactly on that oint, the recommendations. exactly on that point, the family _ recommendations. exactly on that point, the family will _ recommendations. exactly on that point, the family will be _ recommendations. exactly on that| point, the family will be desperate to actually see those floors translated into recommendations. have you been able to speak to them since we have had this verdict? igrate since we have had this verdict? we have since we have had this verdict? - have been here over the last four weeks and we have had multiple conversations with her aunt. we are expecting to speak to her within the next few minutes and get her response to the findings today and this conclusion but there was an audible sigh of relief from her. it was difficult for her over the last four weeks to hear the extent of these details in court, watching the cctv, the final moments of zara aleena on camera. jordan mcsweeney actually tracking her on cctv before brutally attacking her. it has been a difficult four weeks for the family. but today, thejury a difficult four weeks for the family. but today, the jury has returned a conclusion of unlawful killing, multiple serious failures by all agencies involved, from the police, the probation, the prison service, and also the local authority, redbridge council, they will now be listening to a report put together by the coroner with a list of recommendations about how to prevent this kind of behaviour and these tragic deaths happening in the future. . ~ these tragic deaths happening in the future. ., ~' , ., these tragic deaths happening in the future. ., ,, , ., ., these tragic deaths happening in the future. ., ~' , ., ., ., these tragic deaths happening in the future. ., ,, , ., ., ., ., future. thank you for that life from east london- _ east london. let's turn to the general election campaign. we are in the countdown to the final head—to—head clash between the final head—to—head clash between the two men who could become prime minister next week. they will be in nottingham to face questions and the audience, just over a week before the polls open. just set the scene because hugely important for both leaders but i suppose especially for rishi sunak to try to move the dial here. yes. to try to move the dial here. yes, ou can to try to move the dial here. yes, you can feel— to try to move the dial here. yes, you can feel the _ to try to move the dial here. yes, you can feel the sense _ to try to move the dial here. yes, you can feel the sense of - to try to move the dial here. ya: you can feel the sense of occasion when you arrive in nottingham trent university. i got here a few hours ago and you could tell something really important is going on, from the security, the amount of journalists, bbc colleagues involved in producing and putting on this bbc prime ministerial debate and we are going to talk in a minute about the practicalities of hosting an event of this nature. a head—to—head between the leader of the labour party keir starmer and the prime minister, rishi sunak. at first of all, let's get into the politics. nice to see you. i guess these tv debates, it is the room where the debates, it is the room where the debate is happening on the spin room, where the journalists are. yes, they will be several representatives from both sides in here going over what is said and telling us that is was their guy that won. what is interesting as you can tell immediately where the parties think that maybe there has been a problem because the spinners come out and they start rebutting some of those arguments. you can tell quite quickly where they think their man may have done better or may have done worse. this one unlikely first and at the beginning of the campaign, we are well into this now, not long to go and both men will be trying to score points, they will both know the best and worst lines from now —— by now. but it is a chance to speak to the audience and people watching. as much as we try and interview politicians, it is easier to fob us off and it is with members of the public. t off and it is with members of the ublic. . , off and it is with members of the ublic. ., , ., ,, ., , ~ public. i was in new york last week for the question _ public. i was in new york last week for the question time _ public. i was in new york last week for the question time special. i public. i was in new york last week for the question time special. we l for the question time special. we interviewed an academic and they had measured it and they said the politicians are more likely to answer questions from members of the public. that is a little disappointing for us but we do try. we are a long way into the campaign. both men have done a huge amount of interviews and public events. are either of them likely to step aside what we have already heard? you have not to what we have already heard? you have got to wonder — what we have already heard? you have got to wonder whether _ what we have already heard? you have got to wonder whether rishi _ what we have already heard? you have got to wonder whether rishi sunak i got to wonder whether rishi sunak the prime minister with only a week to go and the polls suggesting that he still has all this room to make up, what it is tactic going to be? at the beginning, it was about attacking labour on tax and there seemed to be a pivot really where they started talking about labour may be getting a supermajority. it is a really strange thing for a party to be doing, almost admitting that they are going to lose the election and try to put a bit of doubt in people's mines, especially those thinking of voting for reform. many in the holy party sadie is about saving as many seats as they can now, a damage limitation exercise. and for keir starmer, the flip side is he and his team feel they are close to power, the postal votes have been cast, but no votes in the ballot box posted yet and they don't want to make a mistake. they know they are ahead and that brings with it its own issues and problems and the nerves will be setting in as they get so close to polling day. setting in as they get so close to polling day-— setting in as they get so close to ollin: da . �* ., ., , polling day. and to what degree is oli to polling day. and to what degree is policy to centre — polling day. and to what degree is policy to centre stage _ polling day. and to what degree is policy to centre stage -- - polling day. and to what degree is policy to centre stage -- at i policy to centre stage —— at centrestage and what about the twist and turns becoming key? m centrestage and what about the twist and turns becoming key?— and turns becoming key? i think this will be more — and turns becoming key? i think this will be more policy. _ and turns becoming key? i think this will be more policy. i— and turns becoming key? i think this will be more policy. i am _ and turns becoming key? i think this will be more policy. i am sure i and turns becoming key? i think this will be more policy. i am sure there| will be more policy. i am sure there will be more policy. i am sure there will be more policy. i am sure there will be a question about the betting from somebody. but it will be more policy based and we have seen. again it has been quite a strange election and there has been other stories bubbling away. they have dominated quite a lot of the time. i think plenty of people out there want to know what the party plans are for educational different issues but it is about leadership as well. they want to know about the person in front of them. they want to know a little bit about them as well. and about their personality and one drives them. they might be looking for a bit of that as well. it might be a chance for them to do it. i for a bit of that as well. it might be a chance for them to do it. i was on the set — be a chance for them to do it. i was on the set earlier— be a chance for them to do it. i was on the set earlier and _ be a chance for them to do it. i was on the set earlier and you - be a chance for them to do it. i was on the set earlier and you can i be a chance for them to do it. thar—5 on the set earlier and you can feel the sense of occasion when you go to these tv sets. it is a moment where these tv sets. it is a moment where these politicians, nothing between them and the voters. yes. these politicians, nothing between them and the voters.— them and the voters. yes, we are used to seeing — them and the voters. yes, we are used to seeing them _ them and the voters. yes, we are used to seeing them in _ them and the voters. yes, we are used to seeing them in the i them and the voters. yes, we are used to seeing them in the house them and the voters. yes, we are i used to seeing them in the house of commons at prime minister is questions but the point of that is the questions are directed at the prime minister. butjust seeing them together going head—to—head, they have to make decisions on how aggressively they attack each other, or is that a big turn—off for the people watching? how do they talk over and interrupt each other. all that kind of thing as well, they have to calibrate and think about. we are complete —— going to be talked through the next few hours. any moment, we will speak to a senior bbc news executives about the practicalities of putting on a prime ministerial debate of this nature but i will quickly mention that it begins at 8:15pm. you can watch it on bbc news, bbc one, through bbc iplayer, oryou on bbc news, bbc one, through bbc iplayer, or you can listen to it on radio four as well. and bear in mind that if you wanted an insight into the experience of hosting one of these occasions, the host this evening for the debate has written an excellent article on the front page of the bbc news website about how she has been preparing. i cannot speak tojonathan munro, the director of journalism speak tojonathan munro, the director ofjournalism at the bbc. they have been lots of these tv events of one form and genre. how far out would you start dotting the nature of them? igrate far out would you start dotting the nature of them?— far out would you start dotting the nature of them? ~ ~' ., nature of them? we knew there would be an election — nature of them? we knew there would be an election this _ nature of them? we knew there would be an election this year— nature of them? we knew there would be an election this year so _ nature of them? we knew there would be an election this year so we - nature of them? we knew there would be an election this year so we had i be an election this year so we had conversations with the main parties earlier this year before we knew the campaign was going to be over the summer. looking ahead to what looked like an autumn election. by the time of the declaration by the prime minister, we were relatively well advanced and we knew what we were trying to achieve and they knew what they were trying to achieve as well. that was helpful. flan they were trying to achieve as well. that was helpful.— that was helpful. can they veto the format? the _ that was helpful. can they veto the format? the ultimate _ that was helpful. can they veto the format? the ultimate power- that was helpful. can they veto the format? the ultimate power as i that was helpful. can they veto the | format? the ultimate power as they cannot take — format? the ultimate power as they cannot take part. _ format? the ultimate power as they cannot take part. they _ format? the ultimate power as they cannot take part. they are - format? the ultimate power as they cannot take part. they are not i cannot take part. they are not obliged to. it is not like there is a commission for these things. we had our colleagues talk to the parties and their press representatives and the leaders themselves over time. if they choose not to take part, that means there would not be a head—to—head debate of this sort. with the seven hand—out earlier in the campaign, some of the leaders do choose to put up some of the leaders do choose to put up a deputy or a party spokesman and thatis up a deputy or a party spokesman and that is fine. but for this programme, it has to be the two people who could be prime minister. they cannot send a stand—in. igrate they cannot send a stand-in. we often aet they cannot send a stand—in. - often get lots of questions about how these events are plotted out. just run through some of the details, who is in the audience and who chooses?— details, who is in the audience and who chooses? , ., ., . ., who chooses? there is an audience of 150 --eole who chooses? there is an audience of 150 people in — who chooses? there is an audience of 150 people in nottingham. _ who chooses? there is an audience of 150 people in nottingham. we - who chooses? there is an audience of 150 people in nottingham. we use i who chooses? there is an audience of 150 people in nottingham. we use a i 150 people in nottingham. we use a public research company called cervantes and we say to them this is the profile we need, only to handle like this, there will be an equal amount leaning towards voting labour and conservative. both leaders know there is some support in the room. but the majority of the audience is unconvinced.— unconvinced. who decides the questions? — unconvinced. who decides the questions? the _ unconvinced. who decides the questions? the people - unconvinced. who decides the questions? the people will. unconvinced. who decides the l questions? the people will have unconvinced. who decides the i questions? the people will have a lot of questions and you will not get through them. igrate lot of questions and you will not get through them.— lot of questions and you will not get through them. we think we will aet throuuh get through them. we think we will get through ten. — get through them. we think we will get through ten, may _ get through them. we think we will get through ten, may be _ get through them. we think we will get through ten, may be 11 - get through them. we think we will get through ten, may be 11 tonight. members of the audience submit questions and we are looking for questions and we are looking for questions where both leaders have got policy proposals to debate. we don't allow questions which are about one policy or gaffes. this is about one policy or gaffes. this is a debate between the two of them and we are looking for areas where there are some differences they can debate. ~ ., ., , , debate. what if one gives very direct short — debate. what if one gives very direct short answers _ debate. what if one gives very direct short answers and i debate. what if one gives very direct short answers and one i debate. what if one gives very i direct short answers and one takes a more long and winding road to make their point? how do you make sure they get equal time? igrate their point? how do you make sure they get equal time?— their point? how do you make sure they get equal time? we monitor each time each leader _ they get equal time? we monitor each time each leader is _ they get equal time? we monitor each time each leader is getting _ they get equal time? we monitor each time each leader is getting and - time each leader is getting and buying large that tends to even out. some people do very short answers in response to some questions and the moderator can go back and ask them to expand or clarify or issue a correction if they got something wrong. in correction if they got something wronu. , ., , wrong. in terms of the big television _ wrong. in terms of the big television set _ wrong. in terms of the big television set pieces, i wrong. in terms of the big television set pieces, this| wrong. in terms of the big i television set pieces, this is wrong. in terms of the big - television set pieces, this is one, but there are a number of question times, we had one last week, are there more to come?— times, we had one last week, are there more to come? there is one more to come- — there more to come? there is one more to come. there _ there more to come? there is one more to come. there is _ there more to come? there is one more to come. there is one i there more to come? there is one - more to come. there is one tomorrow night, the normal question time. that will have representatives from before biggest parties in great britain. on friday, we have a leaders special. they will have half an hour on their own, that is nigel farage and adrian ramsay. keir starmer and _ farage and adrian ramsay. keir starmer and rishi _ farage and adrian ramsay. lie " starmer and rishi sunak will be going through their final preparations and so will the bbc team. , ., ., , preparations and so will the bbc team. , ., ,, ., team. yes, about two floors below me, we team. yes, about two floors below me. we are _ team. yes, about two floors below me. we are going _ team. yes, about two floors below me, we are going through - team. yes, about two floors below me, we are going through the - me, we are going through the questions, we are thinking about the supplementary is, what we think the leaders will say in response to question four, five, six? we cannot know, we will have to be feet for. but we have heard a lot of the messaging by this stage in the campaign but it is unlikely someone will say something that is completely at odds with what they have seen —— been saying for the last five weeks. have seen -- been saying for the last five weeks.— have seen -- been saying for the last five weeks. thank you very much indeed. it last five weeks. thank you very much indeed- it is — last five weeks. thank you very much indeed. it is always _ last five weeks. thank you very much indeed. it is always interesting - indeed. it is always interesting ahead of the set pieces how the politicians are gaming out what kind of issues will come up and what they want to say but the hosts and the production team behind these big tv set pieces are also trying to imagine what will come back —— come after. also here in nottingham trent university is my bbc news colleague, let me bring you in at this point, tell us where you are. yes, i am outside at nottingham trent university. waiting for the leaders to arrive. they will come the gates and goal at this set of steps and then it is just a short walk across the courtyard where the studio debate is and as you have seen, you have been inside, you were talking about it, it is an intimate affair in there and the audience, about 150, will be there. and also, it is interesting, a couple of little snippets that i have got, the podium, who stands at which podium? that has been chosen by the toss of a kind. and also, right at the end, the two party leaders will be given 30 seconds to make their final pitch to the voters about why they should vote for them on july the lith to the voters about why they should vote for them onjuly the lith and that again has also been chosen by the toss of a coin. you will see which one comes down as to where they stand and who gives the final arguments today, and you mentioned that mishal husain will be moderating the debate. she has said and sometimes she wishes she could watch it sitting on the sofa with someone else at the helm but she says that then goes away and it is a privilege to be hosting the debate tonight. he also says she is going tonight. he also says she is going to try and keep the politicians answering the questions that the public ask because this is part of the problem sometimes with these debates. the two leaders will have a message that they want to get out to the viewers at home and sometimes they divert away from the question that the member of the audience has asked and you will remember the first head—to—head tv debate because of course we have seen a lot of both rishi sunak and sir keir starmer talking to renee's general election campaign but the only other head—to—head was at the beginning this month with the itv debate. all the other tv programmes they have taken part where they have been interviewed alone and are answering questions from members of the public before they move onto other politicians. today is similar to that itv debate. they are head—to—head. during that, they were a number of questions that they answered, but they got tetchy on the one non—immigration where they had to be asked to keep their voices down a little bit. we will see how the tensions go during tonight's debate. we are waiting outside for them to arrive in the next couple of hours, so i will keep you updated. i will keep an eye on the gate. the security is very tight, as you will imagine. that is one of the reasons we are not inside the debate area. there will be a security suite. both leaders were here earlier when they were taking a look at the sack. they will be back here waiting for the debate at 8:15pm on bbc one and of course on the news channel. thank you very much indeed. yes, that article from the house this evening, mishal husain, is on the bbc website. julie etchingham, just an hour ago, i was talking on radio four and we were hearing from her about the experience of hosting that itv debate. if you would like to hear that interview, you can hear that via bbc sounds. at age 15 pm, this debate gets under way but both rishi sunak and keir starmer will be arriving before that. we will be watching out for that. we will be speaking to the politicians and journalists gathering in the spin room at nottingham trent university, looking ahead to this really important said the beast —— set piece tv debate. thank you very much for that. we will be back for more build—up in ten minutes. let's turn now to some more important stories of the day. the wikileaks founder, julian assange, has landed in australia as a free man. 14 years of legal battles — including five years in a british prison, ended in a deal with the us goverment, and a guilty plea to espionage. he leaked vast amounts of secret military information, leaving him facing a potentially lengthy sentence in a high—securityjail. our correspondent, katy watson's report contains some flashing images. a political win for australia. a personal victory for julian assange and his family. this is a homecoming they had long been waiting for. julian wanted me to sincerely thank everyone. he wanted to be here. but you have to understand what he has been through. he needs time. he needs to recuperate. and this is a process. the prime minister welcomed him home. i was pleased to speak with him immediately upon the wheels touching the ground. i was quite pleased to be the first person here he spoke with, which was mutually worked out. freedom for assange only came after an appearance in a us court on the island of saipan, where he pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching the espionage act. the us sentenced him to time already served in belmarsh before allowing him to go, as lawyers claimed the charges should never have been brought in the first place. we are absolutely delighted after a very long and complex negotiation with the us government that we have reached this plea deal that enabled him to come home to australia as a free man. how does it feel to be a free man, mrassange? in 2010 wikileaks published information like this video showing us military gunning down twojournalists in iraq. the us accused him of endangering lives. two years later he was arrested over rape and sexual assault charges, charges that were later dropped, but not before taking refuge in the ecuadorian embassy to avoid being sent to sweden for a trial. seven years he spent there before the relationship soured. by then though, he was wanted by the us. for the past five years he has been in belmarsh fighting extradition. supporters have come to the hotel wherejulian assange is staying in the hope of catching a glimpse of him. this is the moment that many thought would never happen after years of campaigning, but with diplomatic efforts and politicians here in australia talking to the us, that made all the difference in bringing him home. this marks the end of an epic journey forjulian assange. a final race across the world, back home via a small pacific island. back on australian soil and with what amounts to ill yea rs of legal battles. katy watson, bbc news, canberra. the former us director of national intelligence, james clapper spoke to nick robinson on the bbc�*s, today programme, saying assange was no hero. first, what he did was wrong and illegal. and one of our federal grand juries sought to indict him on 18 charges of espionage—related charges. and of course the concern we had, and i was in the government at the time, was the potential identity and compromise of assets, iraqis and afghans who were helping us. i imagine there are some people, because they were identified as having helped us, and they were doing it on a clandestine basis, when they were a sort of outed, i imagine some of them lost their lives. now i don't know that given the situation, particularly in afghanistan. what do you say to people who think he is a hero? i don't agree with that at all. i think he did serious damage. but i also have to acknowledge that he spent five years, hard time, in a ukjail here in london. and before that, seven years of confinement in the ecuadorian embassy. we will have more from nottingham in a moment but first the weather. hello. it's another hot and humid one out there today, particularly across england and wales. but there are big changes ahead during the next 2a hours. and for the rest of the week, we're going to see much fresher conditions set in across the country and also windier conditions, too, especially to the north—west. driving things is this big swiss roll of a cloud wrapped in around an area of low pressure, which is to the south of iceland at the moment. as it works its way in, it will bring the windier conditions but drive this weaker cold front across the country, marching off the hot and humid air that's with some of us still and introducing those cooler and fresher conditions. out there at the moment, though, it's heat and humidity still for england and wales into the evening. temperatures still in the upper 20s, looking at the teens into the evening, low 20s across scotland and northern ireland. little bit of sunshine in places, a few showers to the north and west and just one or two elsewhere. but through tonight, this is our low pressure, gradually working its way towards us. the cold front by the end of the night will be somewhere from northern scotland down through north—west england, wales towards the south—west. temperatures still holding up for most into the morning, but humid air to the east of that. so a bright, humid start across many eastern areas. there's our cold front, nothing more than just the odd isolated showers. it spreads its way towards east anglia and the south—east for the early afternoon. sunshine comes out, but showers will be driven in on strengthening wind through scotland, northern ireland and north—west england. now whilst it gets fresher for most through the day, we'll still actually see temperatures higher than today in the north—east of scotland and down through some eastern coast. but in the west, the temperatures will be really tempered somewhat by strong to gale—force winds driving in frequent showers, even some longer spells of rain to western scotland, northern ireland, the odd shower, too, in northern england as we go into the evening. and through the night, that area of low pressure just pulls away slightly, so it remains windy. another system approaching, but we're almost in a little window between. still some showers across scotland, certainly on friday. winds easing down relative to what we've seen to start with. elsewhere, sunny spells. and even though it does feel fresher, the sun is strong, it will still feel warm out there in the sunshine, and out of the breeze temperatures closer to where we should be this stage in june. quick look at the start of the weekend — we'll have a weather frontjust sitting across some parts of northern england, wales and ireland, bringing some outbreaks of rain. a bit of sunshine either side of it. temperatures up a little bit towards the south—east corner — that works through into sunday and for most, a dry sunday in store. welcome to bbc news. let's turn to our main headlines here. countdown to the final head—to—head debate — for rishi sunak and keir starmer, the last one before polling day next week. the wikileaks founder, julian assange, arrives back in australia a free man, reuniting with his family after pleading guilty to espionage in a us court. it's revealed constance marten and mark gordon were convicted in may of concealing the birth of a child, and perverting the course ofjustice. and this year's customary music festival opens its gates. coldplay, dua lipa and shania twain are set to headline. —— glastonbury festival. we'll be back to ros at in the next few minutes but first let's turn back to this news about the horizon post office scandal. the public inquiry into the post office scandal has heard today that an expert witness used to defend the horizon it system in court has admitted that his evidence was altered to make it less emotive. min his first draft, gareth said the system failure could be blamed for its failure. d0 system failure could be blamed for its failure. , ., ., ., ~ its failure. do you agree that mr ward was seeking _ its failure. do you agree that mr ward was seeking to _ its failure. do you agree that mr ward was seeking to directly - ward was seeking to directly influence the content of your witness statement in criminal proceedings before the crown court? i think that could be interpreted in that way, — i think that could be interpreted in that way, yes. do i think that could be interpreted in that way. yes-_ i think that could be interpreted in that way. yea-— that way, yes. do you interpret it in that way? _ that way, yes. do you interpret it in that way? i _ that way, yes. do you interpret it in that way? i think _ that way, yes. do you interpret it in that way? i think he _ that way, yes. do you interpret it in that way? i think he was - that way, yes. do you interpret it in that way? i think he wasjust i in that way? i think he was 'ust lookin: in that way? i think he was 'ust looking at �* in that way? i think he was 'ust looking at getting i in that way? i think he was 'ust looking at getting my i in that way? i think he wasjust looking at getting my meaning | in that way? i think he wasjust - looking at getting my meaning made cleareh _ looking at getting my meaning made cleareh i_ looking at getting my meaning made clearer. i can understand why he felt that — clearer. i can understand why he felt that the term system failure was going to be potentially causing embarrassment, and i can understand that the _ embarrassment, and i can understand that the way— embarrassment, and i can understand that the way i was using it was not in the _ that the way i was using it was not in the way— that the way i was using it was not in the way he was interpreting it, so i felt — in the way he was interpreting it, so i felt that there was scope for improving — so i felt that there was scope for improving the wording. he so i felt that there was scope for improving the wording.— improving the wording. he was seekina improving the wording. he was seeking to _ improving the wording. he was seeking to influence, - improving the wording. he was seeking to influence, do - improving the wording. he was seeking to influence, do you i improving the wording. he was - seeking to influence, do you agree, the contents of your witness statement as it was presently drafted, because it may be damaging to the prospect of a prosecution? yes, i think i have to say that, yes _ yes, i think i have to say that, es. �* .,, yes, i think i have to say that, es. �* , . yes. and the post office could therefore _ yes. and the post office could therefore be _ yes. and the post office could therefore be embarrassed - yes. and the post office could therefore be embarrassed in l yes. and the post office could - therefore be embarrassed in court? yes. ., . yes. some important evidence there at the post office _ yes. some important evidence there at the post office inquiry _ yes. some important evidence there at the post office inquiry and - yes. some important evidence there at the post office inquiry and we - at the post office inquiry and we will have more on that a little later in the programme. but as promised, we will now return to that debate and the final few hours of build because in less than three hours' time, rishi sunak and soak your stomach will go head to head in that final selection debate before polling day —— rishi sunak and sir keir starmer. this debate takes place in nottingham so let's had there. over to you, place in nottingham so let's had there. overto you, ros, place in nottingham so let's had there. over to you, ros, just set there. over to you, ros, just set the scene for us. there. over to you, ros, 'ust set the scene for usfi the scene for us. thank you and welcome to _ the scene for us. thank you and welcome to what _ the scene for us. thank you and welcome to what we _ the scene for us. thank you and welcome to what we call- the scene for us. thank you and welcome to what we call the - the scene for us. thank you and l welcome to what we call the spin room here at nottingham trent university and really when these tv debates happen, there are two key locations, the spin room wet lots of journalists who will be covering the event together and some politicians come in here to their side of things to journalists come in here to their side of things tojournalists who they come in here to their side of things to journalists who they want to speak to and then, of course, the second venue is where the debate itself happens and it is a couple of hundred metres away from where i am speaking to you from and i was there earlier at a small stage in the bbc has put in this beautiful atrium in nottingham trent university and there are three macular tones on that stage, one for rishi sunak, one foot sir keir starmer and one for our bbc news colleague, michelle hussain, who will be hosting, and there are seats for over 100 of the people who will be asking the questions of the two men who will be, while a is prime minister now and would like to carry on and one would like to become prime minister and we will speak to a couple of guests now on bbc news. joining me now are director of the onward think tank — sebastian payne — and political reporter at the i — eleanor langford. i wonder how you feed these kind of head—to—head debates as you consider the campaign. —— view these kind of. i think they can be super interesting because they are a bit like prime minister's questions, about a matter of the campaign and how the tenders are doing and how they are under pressure and in the first head—to—head debate it was widely seen that rishi sunak got his message across well and keir starmer was a bit leaden but then i think sir keir starmer did a bit better in the grimsby one hosted by sky news but this one is the last electoral big events and people are going to the polls injust big events and people are going to the polls in just over big events and people are going to the polls injust over a big events and people are going to the polls in just over a week now and i think this is a moment for rishi sunak to get his message across and warning of tax and the dangers of a labour government and for sir keir starmer, bringing that a ming vase across the slippery dance floor and he has that big lead and would be heading to westminster so at this stage she wants to make sure he doesn't trip up and drop that ming vase so the stakes are different for both candidates and it is interesting, that point that not long ago we didn't have any tv debates and in this campaign, we have had seven or eight debates and head—to—head debates and a cornucopia of politicians and i think that is a good thing for our political process.— political process. thank you, sebastian. _ political process. thank you, sebastian. what _ political process. thank you, sebastian. what about - political process. thank you, sebastian. what about you l political process. thank you, i sebastian. what about you and political process. thank you, - sebastian. what about you and are no? i sebastian. what about you and are no? ., ,, ., sebastian. what about you and are no? ., ,, , ., ., no? i agree with sebastian and i think these _ no? i agree with sebastian and i think these debates _ no? i agree with sebastian and i think these debates have - no? i agree with sebastian and i think these debates have been l no? i agree with sebastian and i j think these debates have been a really— think these debates have been a really good chance for the public to .et really good chance for the public to get an— really good chance for the public to get an insight notjust into the policies — get an insight notjust into the policies but the character of the person — policies but the character of the person who might be our next prime minister— person who might be our next prime minister or— person who might be our next prime minister or the one who currently is and is _ minister or the one who currently is and is continuing thatjob. —— eteahon _ and is continuing thatjob. —— eteahon i_ and is continuing thatjob. —— eleanor. i think we have seen an improvement from keir starmer who struggled _ improvement from keir starmer who struggled in those early debates but we have _ struggled in those early debates but we have seen a slightly better tone from him _ we have seen a slightly better tone from him and a bit more confidence and the _ from him and a bit more confidence and the fact— from him and a bit more confidence and the fact is it is difficult to move — and the fact is it is difficult to move the _ and the fact is it is difficult to move the dial significantly at this stage. _ move the dial significantly at this stage. as — move the dial significantly at this stage, as sebastian said, this is the last— stage, as sebastian said, this is the last chance for them to put their— the last chance for them to put their message across to the public but ultimately, the polls are where they are _ but ultimately, the polls are where they are and it is all about shifting _ they are and it is all about shifting slightly within that range but i can't see tonight's to usually turning _ but i can't see tonight's to usually turning it — but i can't see tonight's to usually turning it around for either party unless— turning it around for either party unless something absolutely atomic happens _ unless something absolutely atomic happens which i don't think it will. you talk— happens which i don't think it will. you talk about key messages and sebastien, it feels like in the last couple of weeks, both sir keir starmer and rishi sunak have become very grooved in terms of the messages they are seeking to put out in a range of different situations. do you think that is the right strategy for rishi sunak gibbon, for example, what the bbc�*s poll tracker is saying which is giving labour a significant lead? i is saying which is giving labour a significant lead?— is saying which is giving labour a significant lead? i think groove is a olite significant lead? i think groove is a polite way _ significant lead? i think groove is a polite way of — significant lead? i think groove is a polite way of putting _ significant lead? i think groove is a polite way of putting it - significant lead? i think groove is a polite way of putting it and - a polite way of putting it and others may sate relentless in terms of the messaging and you have to remember it is only in the last two weeks of the campaign that big parts of the country were really engaged with politics and lots of people have been thinking about the euro is for one thing and many will be thinking about glastonbury at the moment so this might not be quite top of the news agenda for a lot of the country and it is for both contenders to be prime minister, they have to keep putting that message across endlessly in every forum to try to make it connect there and for keir starmer, he has been saying the same thing which is a changed labour party is going to change britain and trying to avoid those difficult questions particularly on tax and a brexit and those other areas and i can imagine he will want to very much key to that line tonight. and i think for rishi sunak, where he has done best in this campaign is to raise the probing questions about labour and you have heard from many of the ministers over the past couple of weeks the idea that it would be a bad thing to have a so—called supermajority and you have heard grant shapps, the defence secretary, talking about that and sing the polls may say that labour are on course to win but you really want them to have that massive majority? i think ought to be interesting to see whether rishi sunak leans into that narrative tonight or does he stick from the lines from before because as an know said, this is the last big moment where they can capture the attendance of a big bbc audience whatever message they want to put in boaters�* mind, this is their opportunity, so we will know how the campaign is going to go on after tonight. bind how the campaign is going to go on after tonight-— after tonight. and they don't 'ust have to put fl after tonight. and they don't 'ust have to put those i after tonight. and they don't 'ust have to put those messages h after tonight. and they don'tjust have to put those messages to i after tonight. and they don't just i have to put those messages to each other and to the host, they will be in front of an audience, so how do you assess both men�*s ability to engage directly with an audience and answer questions from those who are directly in front of them? i answer questions from those who are directly in front of them?— directly in front of them? i think if we compare — directly in front of them? i think if we compare the _ directly in front of them? i think if we compare the two _ directly in front of them? i think if we compare the two of- directly in front of them? i think if we compare the two of them, | directly in front of them? i think - if we compare the two of them, keir starmer— if we compare the two of them, keir starmer often comes across a bit more _ starmer often comes across a bit more genuine and i think he has a slightly— more genuine and i think he has a slightly better ability to connect with the — slightly better ability to connect with the audience when answering those _ with the audience when answering those questions but when we have had some of— those questions but when we have had some of these debates were poor and he has _ some of these debates were poor and he has been _ some of these debates were poor and he has been answering questions, it has been _ he has been answering questions, it has been brought up by members of the audience, the fact he doesn't really— the audience, the fact he doesn't really answer the question as directly— really answer the question as directly so i think that is a big downfalt— directly so i think that is a big downfall for keir starmer. as for rishi _ downfall for keir starmer. as for rishi sunak, again, sometimes with these _ rishi sunak, again, sometimes with these questions he is very sharp and he does _ these questions he is very sharp and he does get — these questions he is very sharp and he does get to the point very well but he _ he does get to the point very well but he sometimes can seem a little flustered _ but he sometimes can seem a little flustered and some people say he can be a bit _ flustered and some people say he can be a bit touchy, and he has done back— be a bit touchy, and he has done back act — be a bit touchy, and he has done back act it— be a bit touchy, and he has done back act it has been a rough ride for him _ back act it has been a rough ride for him and _ back act it has been a rough ride for him and he has had some tough questions _ for him and he has had some tough questions and has been booed and heckled _ questions and has been booed and heckled -- — questions and has been booed and heckled. —— it has been a rough ride for hint _ heckled. —— it has been a rough ride for hint as— heckled. —— it has been a rough ride for hint as is— heckled. —— it has been a rough ride for him. as is the difficult position— for him. as is the difficult position of being incumbent prime minister— position of being incumbent prime minister for 14 years and as the campaign — minister for 14 years and as the campaign has gone on we have seen those _ campaign has gone on we have seen those levels shift from either side and kia _ those levels shift from either side and kia has got a bit better and rishi _ and kia has got a bit better and rishi sunak as may be struggled at times— rishi sunak as may be struggled at times but— rishi sunak as may be struggled at times but this is their last chance and keir— times but this is their last chance and keir starmer's last chance to prove _ and keir starmer's last chance to prove you — and keir starmer's last chance to prove you can connect with people and rishi — prove you can connect with people and rishi sunak's last chance to show— and rishi sunak's last chance to show he — and rishi sunak's last chance to show he has a strong message, he has the answers— show he has a strong message, he has the answers and he can't lead the country— the answers and he can't lead the country again. the answers and he can't lead the country again-— country again. thank you, and innore, country again. thank you, and ignore. and — country again. thank you, and ignore, and just _ country again. thank you, and ignore, and just before - country again. thank you, and ignore, and just before i - country again. thank you, and ignore, and just before i let i country again. thank you, and i ignore, and just before i let you 90, ignore, and just before i let you go, sebastien, i must ask you about the tory party more broadly and you sought to become a tory candidate in this election and you want successful and you lead a think tank called onwards and you want successful in that but you are invested in the future of the tory party. invested in the future of the tory -a . y ., invested in the future of the tory party. everyone can see the polls and how things _ party. everyone can see the polls and how things are _ party. everyone can see the polls and how things are heading - party. everyone can see the polls and how things are heading but i party. everyone can see the polls i and how things are heading but the polls are still volatile in terms of the mrp and some say bigger and some say smaller discounts and if it ends up say smaller discounts and if it ends up that they don�*t win, as the polls say at the moment, next birthday, the question will actually be what is the centre right about? and it is a job of think tanks like us to answer those questions and the tories have been in powerfor 14 years and if they are going to leave office they will be questions about what happened, what went well, what didn�*t want while? and the uk is in a quite strange moment in the way that a lot of other countries are going quite strongly rightwards, for example, in the case of germany and france but the uk is going more left words and potentially electing keir starmer and something on the right will have to think about that and diagnose particularly what has happened there and adjust to the knew wars that might exist on the 5th ofjuly where the 5th ofjuly 20 the conservatives would be in power, potentially not empower under question is then what happens next and what are the ideas on how do you start the process of building —— adjust to the new world. it will be adjust to the new world. it will be a big challenge but lots of things to think about and potential long—term opportunities for the centre—right and how you start to win those arguments. indie centre-right and how you start to win those arguments.— centre-right and how you start to win those arguments. we will see where we on _ win those arguments. we will see where we on the _ win those arguments. we will see where we on the 5th _ win those arguments. we will see where we on the 5th of _ win those arguments. we will see where we on the 5th ofjuly. - win those arguments. we will see | where we on the 5th ofjuly. thank you very much indeed. that is sebastien payne, director of the centre—right think tank onwards and ellie know from the i. —— and ignored richardson. if you havejust joined us, i am at nottingham trent university and head of the head—to—head debate that will start here at age 15 and after that we will have clive my re and laura kuenssberg analysing what we have heard. i that will start at 815. we are here with the shadow education secretary and would you like education to come up this evening? it has been a big issue for us this campaign and we have been talking about our plans to deliver 6500 more teachers and deliver more childcare places fruit nursery classes within primary schools because we know that the early years are important to children�*s life chances and from conversations i had but across the country, this is a big issue concerning many voters at the moment but that does require people to vote for that change if they want that to happen. for that change if they want that to ha - en. ., for that change if they want that to ha en. ., , ., for that change if they want that to ha--en. ., ~ :: :: happen. how will you find the 6500 more teachers? _ happen. how will you find the 6500 more teachers? is _ happen. how will you find the 6500 more teachers? is it _ happen. how will you find the 6500 more teachers? is it about - happen. how will you find the 6500 more teachers? is it aboutjust - more teachers? is it aboutjust offering higher salaries are making teaching more attractive profession? it is about making it a more attractive profession and many teachers feel undervalued and my commitment is that under a labour government, we would reset and rebuild that relationship between government and the profession taking action on things like workload but responding to some of the wider challenges that schools are facing that are unconnected to things that go on outside of schools, for example, insecure housing that puts families and eight opposition and the breakfast commitment we have a right universal free practice clubs would really help children at the beginning of the day in a cost of living crisis but also has been shown to have an impact on academic outcomes and allows children to have that good start to the day and we also face challenges around attendance of that is part of that plan. attendance of that is part of that lan. ., attendance of that is part of that ian. ., ., attendance of that is part of that plan. you mention workload and reducin: plan. you mention workload and reducing a _ plan. you mention workload and reducing a teacher's _ plan. you mention workload and reducing a teacher's workload i plan. you mention workload and - reducing a teacher's workload means reducing a teacher�*s workload means normally that somebody else will have to do the work so does that mean more administrative staff or changing the nature of theirjobs? i can�*t see how you would do that without a bill coming into action. b, without a bill coming into action. lot of the work they do is not necessarily directly connected to what they do as teachers, so listen planning or being in front of the classroom, it is those wide approaches that are forcing people out of the profession or taking up their time, so watching children�*s clothes or supporting families with insecure housing and the cost of living crisis and i think it is about schools having get responsibilities, particularly around delivering better standards in teaching but the government has a role to do with shaping society in a way that breaks down those barriers and supports families. lets way that breaks down those barriers and supports families.— and supports families. lets imagine ou form and supports families. lets imagine you form the _ and supports families. lets imagine you form the next _ and supports families. lets imagine you form the next government - and supports families. lets imagine you form the next government and | and supports families. lets imagine i you form the next government and all these broader ambitions you have happen, even in those scenarios, this is years and years and years of work will stop that will not alleviate the experience of a secondary school or primary school teacher next year, is it? i secondary school or primary school teacher next year, is it?— teacher next year, is it? i believe that it is a _ teacher next year, is it? i believe that it is a big _ teacher next year, is it? i believe that it is a big challenge - teacher next year, is it? i believe that it is a big challenge but - teacher next year, is it? i believe that it is a big challenge but we i that it is a big challenge but we will get you work from day one it people to their trust in us to start the process of running out free breakfast clubs universally to make teaching a more attractive profession and some of the other changes we have set out alongside that, curriculum assessment review, making sure all our children are well prepared for the future and we get to work on that. but we don�*t take that for granted and there are still many people we know through habits made up their minds how they are going to vote and that his wife tonight�*s debate is so important in the way that keir starmer can speak to those who are undecided and our message is one of change, if they want change and our country set in a different direction, they have to out and vote for it and they should pay attention to the polls. iwhile pay attention to the polls. white not, pay attention to the polls. white not. don't _ pay attention to the polls. white not. don't you — pay attention to the polls. white not, don't you believe _ pay attention to the polls. white not, don't you believe them? i pay attention to the polls. white i not, don't you believe them? there are big variations _ not, don't you believe them? there are big variations in _ not, don't you believe them? there are big variations in those - not, don't you believe them? there are big variations in those polls - are big variations in those polls and a recent one as many seas that are still too close to call and when i have been out campaigning across the country, many have yet to make up the country, many have yet to make up their mind so people want change and they can�*tjust hope it happens, they have to go out and vote for it. have you seen keir starmer in the last few hours as he gets ready for the debate?— last few hours as he gets ready for the debate? ., ., .., , ., the debate? no, i have come straight to ou in the debate? no, i have come straight to you in this — the debate? no, i have come straight to you in this very _ the debate? no, i have come straight to you in this very hot _ the debate? no, i have come straight to you in this very hot room. - the debate? no, i have come straight to you in this very hot room. can - the debate? no, i have come straight to you in this very hot room. can i - to you in this very hot room. can i ask ou to you in this very hot room. can i ask you about _ to you in this very hot room. can i ask you about one _ to you in this very hot room. can i ask you about one of _ to you in this very hot room. can i ask you about one of the - to you in this very hot room. can i ask you about one of the stories i ask you about one of the stories from today, comments from the actor david tennant receiving an award at the british lgbt award and said he wanted a world where the equalities minister, kemi badenoch, it doesn�*t exist any more and should shut up and she has responded by saying if you are calling for women to shut up and wishing they don�*t exist, you are part of the problem, and your colleague, dawn butler, says not all black women think the same and as she agrees with david tennant is but i wondered whether you agreed with her? to i wondered whether you agreed with her? ., ., , ., ., ., her? to the initial question of what ou have her? to the initial question of what you have said. _ her? to the initial question of what you have said. i— her? to the initial question of what you have said, i have _ her? to the initial question of what you have said, i have profound - you have said, i have profound disagreements with can badenoch in many areas but i think it is important that politicians regardless of stripe can express their views and differ in a respectful manner and female politicians do get an awful lot of nonsense and i do think we need a more tolerant and respectful debate where differences of opinion can be aired and we can do so in a way that fosters a more civil and open discussion and when it comes to this area, i don�*t think we are getting that balance right. —— kemi badenoch. that balance right. -- kemi ltadenoch-_ that balance right. -- kemi badenoch. , ., ., badenoch. put your colleague, dawn butler, a labour— badenoch. put your colleague, dawn butler, a labour mp _ badenoch. put your colleague, dawn butler, a labour mp saying - badenoch. put your colleague, dawn butler, a labour mp saying she - butler, a labour mp saying she agrees and sounds like she is endorsing what david tennant has said. ~ , , ., said. while, my view is that we need to tread with — said. while, my view is that we need to tread with a _ said. while, my view is that we need to tread with a lot _ said. while, my view is that we need to tread with a lot of _ said. while, my view is that we need to tread with a lot of care _ said. while, my view is that we need to tread with a lot of care because i to tread with a lot of care because female politicians, and dawn butler knows this herself because she has been on the receiving end of a lot of unacceptable abuse, and i think we need to tread with a lot of care and conduct ourselves any more respectful manner over all and let�*s discuss policy and disagree her mentally but let�*s do so in a way that protects the best history of discussion and doesn�*t drift into language that i don�*t think fosters a more open and tolerant culture. coming back to education and how you pundits, many analysts have pointed out with reference to labour and the conservatives that all of your plans are hoping with for growth in the economy and if you don�*t get that then you won�*t be able to go ahead with those policies. this then you won't be able to go ahead with those policies.— with those policies. this depends u on with those policies. this depends upon ending _ with those policies. this depends upon ending the _ with those policies. this depends upon ending the tax _ with those policies. this depends upon ending the tax breaks - with those policies. this depends upon ending the tax breaks for. upon ending the tax breaks for private schools enjoy and reinvesting into state education but we do need to grow our economy and thatis we do need to grow our economy and that is the long—term answer to the challenges we face as a country and we will do that by building more housing and kick—starting a skills revolution and making sure people are able to get on but viewers can be sure that everything in our manifesto has a plan behind it in terms of how we will pay for it and it is all written there if you want to go and have a look.— it is all written there if you want to go and have a look. thank you very much. _ to go and have a look. thank you very much, bridget _ to go and have a look. thank you very much, bridget phillipson, i very much, bridget phillipson, joining as live at the spin room here at nottingham trent university and matthew, you can probably hear the hubbub going through the gears because as we approach this debate, more and more journalists and politicians are arriving here and they are talking to each other and discussing the state of the campaign and at 815, they are, i and all of us will be watching the debate and it is an hour and 15 minutes long and my experience of spin rooms is the hubbub dies down a little bit when everyone is watching and as soon as the debate is finished, everyone gets into dissecting what is heard so that is all coming up and you can follow it on bbc news, bbc one, bbc iplayer, bbc four, all through a live bait on the bbc website, so if you do want coverage of this you won�*t be short of options. —— a live page. thank you very much for that, ros watkins. the gates of worthy farm have opened today for this year�*s glastonbury first of all, with dua lipa, coldplay and the country legend shania twain headlining who has been speaking to colin patterson. glastonbury is go! welcome to glastonbury! at eight o�*clock the gates were opened by festival boss emily eavis. this is the moment we�*ve all been waiting for, colin. this is it. we work on it all year to open the gates, to see everyone here, it�*s amazing. # don't show up... #. for the first time since the festival began in 1970, two of the three headliners are female. on friday, seven time brit winner dua lipa. and on sunday, us r&b superstar sza. it means a lot to me personally. i�*ve been working on this for a long, long time. why has it taken so long? well, there are fewer female headliners at the moment, but we�*re working on that. keep going, guys. keep going. and as the festival—goers flooded in, it was clear there were even more cowboy hats than usual, due to country star shania twain... this is the full outfit. ..playing this year�*s legends slot. i am buzzingi # man, i feel like a woman. # wah, wah, wah, wah, wahi amongst the early arrivals were the usual trolley malfunctions. i've made my bed, i've got to sleep in it. you haven�*t made your bed. i haven't made my bed. that's the whole point, actually! there were veterans of 20 glastonburys. this is my favourite place on the planet, honestly. you get away from everything else. you spend time with lovely people! and pioneering new attempts on how to be found in a crowd. they�*re already kind of wearing out, so hopefully they don�*t fly away. i�*m a little worried about spider—man�*s health. do you think? yeah. he�*s not looking great. i trust baby shark to pull through, though. there's no bands on, guys. everyone's been cancelled. and you know, you�*re at glastonbury when a live tv interview... good morning. yes, indeed. i have just met the napier�*s from halifax. ..takes a very strange turn. i�*ve got something crazy to tell you. i have a boyfriend. you�*ve got something crazy to tell me, you�*ve got a boyfriend? that�*s quite a declaration to make on national tv. my daddy said he will lock him in a tower. he will lock him in a tower?! glastonbury, 2024. the mayhem has onlyjust begun. colin patterson and i said one more story but we have some more time so let�*s squeeze it in another fascinating tale because a snake which was originally thought to be male has given birth to 14 babies or syndicates, as they are called, despite never having a mate —— snakelets, as they are called. the arrival of these little snakelets, or baby snakes, caused a surprise that was of the scales when they suddenly appeared at the city of portsmouth college and nine years after rescuing a boa constrictor called rinaldo, his owner was shocked to discover that not only was rinaldo not the mail he believed, they had reproduced alone without a mate and had 14 babies. mr; without a mate and had 14 babies. m students without a mate and had 14 babies. ii students entered without a mate and had 14 babies. m1 students entered as without a mate and had 14 babies. ii1 students entered as normal without a mate and had 14 babies. m1 students entered as normal to without a mate and had 14 babies. ii1 students entered as normal to attend to the animals and then one of them alerted my fellow members of staff to tell them their work snakelets moving around inside. this to tell them their work snakelets moving around inside.— to tell them their work snakelets moving around inside. this has only been recorded _ moving around inside. this has only been recorded three _ moving around inside. this has only been recorded three mac _ moving around inside. this has only been recorded three mac times - moving around inside. this has only been recorded three mac times any| been recorded three mac times any female boa constrictor. she been recorded three mac times any female boa constrictor.— been recorded three mac times any female boa constrictor. she is given birth without _ female boa constrictor. she is given birth without seeing _ female boa constrictor. she is given birth without seeing a _ female boa constrictor. she is given birth without seeing a male, - birth without seeing a male, certainly not in the time i have had her and after doing some research, we found that on a very rare occasion, snakes can do this. reproducing like this is very unusual among animals. it is called parthenogenosis, where an animal reproduces without using spurn and it is quite common among animals such as mayflies and why asexual reproduction happens is still unknown amongst reptiles. normally the cells of an egg divide when the 999 the cells of an egg divide when the egg meets the spurn, but in parthenogenosis, they have been able to make their own eggs and form an embryo, mimicking sexual reproduction.— embryo, mimicking sexual reproduction. embryo, mimicking sexual reroduction. ., ., reproduction. some animals have different sects _ reproduction. some animals have different sects chromosomes - reproduction. some animals have different sects chromosomes to l different sects chromosomes to ourselves, meaning females have the ability to produce young without having the contacts with males and they still have those urges and drivers to reproduce they can fertilise their own eggs. rinaldo's snake e: as fertilise their own eggs. rinaldo's snake eggs will— fertilise their own eggs. rinaldo's snake eggs will now _ fertilise their own eggs. rinaldo's snake eggs will now grow - fertilise their own eggs. rinaldo's snake eggs will now grow up - fertilise their own eggs. rinaldo's i snake eggs will now grow up without much involvement from their mother. herjob is done but together, they have all made history in portsmouth. laurent morse, bbc news. had a look at this because a wax effigy of president abraham lincoln has melted as temperatures soared over the weekend in washington and apparently they head was the first to drop and then his legs began to melt, followed by the torso and finally a foot. the chair sank into the ground and the memorial, first installed in september of last year, rests on the site of a civil war refugee camp in washington which hosted formerly enslaved african americans and was home to a school and the monument is expected to be reattached next week. let�*s check on the weather details here with matt taylor. hello. it�*s another hot and humid one out there today, particularly across england and wales. but there are big changes ahead during the next 24 hours. and for the rest of the week, we�*re going to see much fresher conditions set in across the country and also windier conditions, too, especially to the north—west. driving things is this big swiss roll of a cloud wrapped in around an area of low pressure, which is to the south of iceland at the moment. as it works its way in, it will bring the windier conditions but drive this weaker cold front across the country, marching off the hot and humid air that�*s with some of us still and introducing those cooler and fresher conditions. out there at the moment, though, it�*s heat and humidity still for england and wales into the evening. temperatures still in the upper 20s, looking at the teens into the evening, low 20s across scotland and northern ireland. little bit of sunshine in places, a few showers to the north and west and just one or two elsewhere. but through tonight, this is our low pressure, gradually working its way towards us. the cold front by the end of the night will be somewhere from northern scotland down through north—west england, wales towards the south—west. temperatures still holding up for most into the morning, but humid air to the east of that. so a bright, humid start across many eastern areas. there�*s our cold front, nothing more than just the odd isolated showers. it spreads its way towards east anglia and the south—east for the early afternoon. sunshine comes out, but showers will be driven in on strengthening wind through scotland, northern ireland and north—west england. now whilst it gets fresher for most through the day, we�*ll still actually see temperatures higher than today in the north—east of scotland and down through some eastern coast. but in the west, the temperatures will be really tempered somewhat by strong to gale—force winds driving in frequent showers, even some longer spells of rain to western scotland, northern ireland, the odd shower, too, in northern england as we go into the evening. and through the night, that area of low pressure just pulls away slightly, so it remains windy. another system approaching, but we�*re almost in a little window between. still some showers across scotland, certainly on friday. winds easing down relative to what we�*ve seen to start with. elsewhere, sunny spells. and even though it does feel fresher, the sun is strong, it will still feel warm out there in the sunshine, and out of the breeze temperatures closer to where we should be this stage in june. quick look at the start of the weekend — we�*ll have a weather frontjust sitting across some parts of northern england, wales and ireland, bringing some outbreaks of rain. a bit of sunshine either side of it. temperatures up a little bit towards the south—east corner — that works through into sunday and for most, a dry sunday in store. i�*m ros atkins and this is bbc news. we are live from nottingham. it is the countdown to the final head—to—head debate for rishi sunak and sir keir starmer. the last one before polling day next week. the conservative and labour leaders will take audience questions from 8:15pm on bbc news. we will have build—up to the debate, speaking to people involved in the production, the journalists gathering here people involved in the production, thejournalists gathering here in thejournalists gathering here in the spin room. we are here at nottingham trent university waiting for the leaders to arrive ready for that debate starting at 8:15pm. we are into the countdown to the final head—to—head clash between the two men who would be, could be, the prime minister at the end of next week. it is the election next thursday and in just over two hours, rishi sunak and sir keir starmer will be here at nottingham trent university to face questions from mishal husain, our colleague, and audience members. the general election is of course onjuly the 4th. you can hear a big hubbub in the background, this is the spin room where journalists gathered to watch the debate and report on what they have seen. some politicians