the half—brother of north korea's leader was killed by a substance classified as a weapon of mass destruction, according to malaysian authorities. leicester city say player revolt wasn't behind claudio ranieri's sacking. gary lineker calls the move gut wrenching. i shed a tear. i shed a tearfor claudio, i shed a tear for football and i shed a tearfor my club. and in the film review we'll get jason solomon's take on patriot's day, the hollywood blockbuster based on the boston marathon bombing. it was — by any standards — a great result for the conservatives, causing an electoral upset by winning the long—held labour seat of copeland in cumbria. their candidate beat labour by more than 2000 votes. it's the first time a governing party has gained a seat at a by—election since 1982. in the night's other by—election, labour held stoke—on—trent central — holding off the challenge of the ukip leader paul nuttall. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn says the party's win in stoke was a decisive rejection of ukip‘s politics of division. but he says their message was not enough to win through in copeland. let's go live now to our assistant political editor norman smith, who's in stoke. good evening, norman. thank you very much. well, by—elections rarely reshape british politics. but these two by—elections, i think, reshape british politics. but these two by—elections, ithink, have reshape british politics. but these two by—elections, i think, have sent a shudder through the political system. labour find themselves haemorrhaging votes in some of their safest seats. seats they have held since the year dot. ukip must question, where can they win after they failed to break through here in stoke, one of the most pro—brexit constituencies in the country? theresa may suddenly finds her position hugely strengthened and confronted now only by an enfeebled opposition. carol walker has the story of the by—elections. theresa may was all smiles, as she arrived in copeland to congratulate her party's newest mp on what she said was an astonishing result. what i think we've seen from this victory is that this truly is a government that is working for everyone and for every part of the country. and that's the message that we bring here to copeland, and that we will take across the country. the tories say winning here is a resounding endorsement of the prime minister's leadership and policies. it was a ground—breaking victory. harrison, trudy lynne. the conservative party candidate. 13,748. the conservatives are jubilant. their new mp increased the party's share of the vote by more than 8%. what has happened here tonight is a truly historic event. we have to go back more than a century to find an example of a governing party taking a seat from the opposition party in an election like this. the defeated labour candidate, gillian troughton, left without saying a word. the result has piled on the anguish for the labour mps, who fear they are heading for defeat at the general election. jeremy corbyn has rejected suggestions he should step down. there was some comfort for labour. in stoke central, where campaigners saw off the threat from ukip to hold onto the seat. people came out, worked, knocked on doors and delivered a message about the economy, a message aboutjobs, a message about this country. above all, it was a message that hope triumphs over fear. what about copeland? the result has not stopped the questions about his leadership. have you looked in the mirror this morning and asked, could the problem actually be me? no. why not? thank you for your question. the result in stoke was a setback for ukip and its leader. paul nuttall‘s bid for parliament floundered after a campaign dogged by controversy, despite overwhelming support for brexit. this was 72 on our hit list. we are not going anywhere. therefore, you know, we move on. disappointing was the verdict of the former leader. i feel sorry for paul nuttall, he fought a hard campaign. there was a lesson in terms of how we campaign on target and we will learn those lessons. by-elections don't necessarily reflect the national mood. the tories will hope to success in copeland points towards future opportunities in political territory once considered beyond their grasp. this afternoon, mr corbyn arrived in stoke to celebrate his victory here, which, let's be honest, is a qualified victory. even in stoke, labour's share of the vote slumped to 37%. he came, he saw, he spoke and he left very quickly. he sounded like a and he left very quickly. he sounded likea man and he left very quickly. he sounded like a man under pressure. what about copeland, mr corbyn, what is your verdict on copeland? i've learned about the media that you are incredibly rude to each other. just a simple question, mr corbyn, about copeland. clearly, he did not want to answer those questions about copeland and rushed back to his car to try to get away from reporters as quickly as possible. when you talk to those around mr corbyn, their defence for what happened in copeland is that they say people are still unhappy with labour because of the disunity, the divisive leadership contest. they also blame tony blair's recent intervention and so—called local factors. significantly, already, some senior union figures like dave prentice of unison, have said that mr corbyn has to take responsibility for these by—elections. and if you'd like more information on the by—election results, there's more reaction and analysis on the bbc news website — at bbc.co.cuk/news. the former leicester and england footballer gary lineker has described the club's sacking of claudio ranieri, nine months after he led them to the premier league title, as "inexplicable, unforgivable and gut—wrenchingly sad." the italian was dismissed last night after a string of poor results that has left the side just one point — one place — above the relegation zone. 0ur sports correspondent joe wilson reports. and your manager, claudio ranieri! he was the smile, the face and the manager of the most extraordinary sporting success anyone in leicester had ever seen. well, quite possibly anyone anywhere had ever seen. and leicester sacked him. the starkness of that reality has shocked even those who spent their life in football. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the leicester city squad, including their coach, claudio ranieri. flashback to sports personality of the year, gary lineker, former leicester player, lifelong leicester fan, and, to ranieri, eternally grateful. the way that everybody got behind leicester last season was just something that i'd never witnessed, really, in football before. i thinkjust to toss that all away over a premature decision, and a disloyal and, in many ways, a lack of gratitude, is quite gobsmacking. ijust think he deserved a little bit more loyalty, and certainly more time. personally, i think they should be building statues to him, not sacking him. do you think the players are culpable, gary? do you think there are some players who will be thinking, crikey, did i cause this today? if the players are involved, they should have a long, hard look at themselves as well. there is always going to be a kind of after the lord mayor's show season. it was never going to match anything like last season. this is the reality of where leicester normally are. you know, there's all sorts of different reasons why this has happened. but ijust think it's a really sad day for leicester, in many ways. that it's come to this. i think he deserved and bought himself a bit more time than this, really. i'm not ashamed to say that last night, when the news broke, i shed a tear. i shed a tearfor claudio, i shed a tear for football, and i shed a tearfor my club. leicester's thai owners stress that the club is in crisis, that they acted to help the club survive. they urge leicester fans to try to understand. i was very disappointed. i wasn't shocked, because obviously were not playing too well. but i was disappointed because i think after what happened last season, he definitely deserved to stay with us until the end of the season, even if we got relegated. i think he still deserved to be our manager. you can't run a business like this. one year he does the impossible, then you sack him the next year. they are not even down yet. disgusting. days when players could be filmed selling fruit and veg are gone. that was the lineker family business, before football. days when winter pitches were often mud, in the past. the game's changed, the game's wealthy. 0ur sports correspondentjoe wilson is here with me now. have we heard any more from claudio ranieri himself? we arejust beginning to. i think there will be a bigger statement released through the league managers association. that tends to be the way that they do it when they get sacked these days. claudio ranieri has said just a keywords. yesterday, my dream died, that is the way he it in a statement which has been released on agencies. we have seen pictures of him today. he has been in leicester, he went to the training ground. there we are, getting into his car. i suppose the point is that so many managers have come and gone at that training ground, any training ground in english football, in european football, what has made this so different? why have so many people reacted so profoundly? i think it is because, if ranieri can lose hisjob in these circumstances, who is safe? where is the integrity in the sport? managers will come and go, players will come and go. there is some sense of the soul of football, without overdoing it, and that is why gary lineker was so emotional and so many managers have been reacting. there is also the idea of player power and what role that has played. there are some suggestions that perhaps the players were fed up with the way he had been managing them this season, changing the line—up of the team quite a lot. the owners were reacting to what the players have complained about?|j think players have complained about?” think that is quite possible. craig shakespeare, who has been the assistant manager and still is, he was put forward to speak to the media, a rather thankless task. he was asked if he lost the dressing room, was asked if he lost the dressing room , was was asked if he lost the dressing room, was it a player revolt? he said no, i think he is likely to say no. there is a broader sense that players are now so important and so well paid. they have so much control over their own destiny and contracts that, if they do feel a little bit peeved, if they get an exaggerated sense of their own power, they know that the manager will get the sack and they won't. they will still collect their wages. interestingly, the thai owners released a statement and said there are i million things to do to make our club survive. an interesting perception of survival, when you bear in mind that leicester will play a match and if they win 1-0, will play a match and if they win i—0, they will be through to the last eight of the champions league. they could be relegated, but they could conceivably win the champions league. it is an interesting perception of survival. i think why this has such resonance is that it speaks about a sport that has maybe lost sight of its own context. that is certainly what gary lineker said. breaking news to bring you. this is about neil hay court, he was acquitted of the murder of the teenager stephen lawrence in 1993. neil acourt has been found guilty and sentenced that kingston crown court of drugs offences, conspiracy to supply class b drugs, sentenced to supply class b drugs, sentenced to six years and three months in prison. neil acourt, to six years and three months in prison. neilacourt, acquitted to six years and three months in prison. neil acourt, acquitted of the murder of stephen lawrence, but has now been found guilty of drugs offences and sentenced at kingston crown court to six years and three months in prison. this is bbc news at five — the headlines: a big victory for the conservatives at the copeland by—election — unseating labour after they held the seat for more than 80 years. but labour sees off a threat from ukip, and holds onto stoke. jeremy corbyn says the politics of hope overcame the politics of fear. kim jong—nam, the half—brother of north korea's leader, was killed by the highly toxic vx nerve agent, according to malaysian authorities. claudio ranieri had not lost the dressing room. that was the words of craig shakespeare, the assistant manager, who will take control of the team for the match against liverpool. manchester united have whatjose mourinho liverpool. manchester united have what jose mourinho have liverpool. manchester united have whatjose mourinho have —— called a bad draw. they will play the russian side ben te'o will make side rostov. and ben te'o will make a start against italy. president trump has promised to carry out what he called one of the greatest military build—up in american history. in a speech to conservative activists, he said nobody would dare to question american military might ever again. let's listen to what he had to say. we are also putting in a massive budget request for our beloved military. and we will be substantially upgrading all of our military, all of our military. offensive, defensive, everything. bigger and better and stronger than ever before. and, hopefully, we will never have to use it. but nobody is going to mess with us, folks. nobody. it will be one of the greatest military build—ups in american history. nobody will dare question, as they have been, because we are very depleted, very, very depleted, sequester, sequester. nobody will dare question our military might again. we believe in peace through strength. and that's what we will have. 0ur correspondent jane 0'brien is in washington for us. so, talking about a big military build—up. also talking about the wall with mexico, saying it will be built ahead of schedule? that the question is, where is the money coming from? what you heard donald trump talking about with the military build—up, he made reference to sequestration, these were mandatory budget cuts that came into effect when congress could not agree ona effect when congress could not agree on a budget. in order to cut the deficit, they decided across the board, various cuts would come from various departments, and the military was one of them. those budget hawks have not left congress. they are going to have to be won overfor any they are going to have to be won over for any increases in spending. that means the military, that means the billions of dollars that donald trump's wall is expected to cost. they are going to be very worried and they are going to be watching what he spends his money on very, very closely. it is all very well him talking about the wall, increased money on the military, but he still has two raise the cash. he spent a lot of time, once again, criticising, lambast in the media, the dishonest media, fake news etc? great warm up act, i think that is what comes down to. was getting the crowd riled up. it is one of his favourite pastimes, taking potshots at the american media. the message was, don't listen to stories about me, don't listen to stories about what i'm doing, don't listen to the noise about a dysfunctional white house, listen to what i am actually saying and actually doing. i think that was his real message. nigel farage has also been addressing republicans at that conference, the conservative political action group. the same place, the same meeting where donald trump was. let's listen to what he had to say. i had been fighting against britain's membership of the european union for 25 years. 25 yea rs! european union for 25 years. 25 years! and if you've endured abuse, if you have been called deplorable, you have only had a few months of being abused! i've had 20 years of it. nigel farage. police in malaysia say the half—brother of the north korean leader kim jong—un was murdered with a highly toxic nerve agent known as vx. kim jong—nam was attacked at kuala lumpur airport last week. 0ur correspondent stephen evans sent this report from seoul. only a drop of vx was needed. the assassin pulled the cloth over kim jong—nam's face and his fate was certain. he sought urgent medical help, but so deadly is a chemical agent that nothing would have saved him. the malaysian police chief was adamant it was vx. it is the vx nerve agent, which is a chemical weapon. you don't know how it was brought in? no, we are investigating that. the police have three people in custody. the two women alleged to have actually attacked, and a north korean man said to have helped. one of the attackers may have contaminated herself. police want to talk to at least seven others, including a north korean diplomat and an employee of north korea's state airline. in 2013, kim jong—un inspected chemical weapons masks. north korea's long been suspected of making chemical weapons. south korean experts think the attack confirms that. a tiny drop of the vx agent can kill anybody within a minute. so i think it is this, it can absorb the skin, eye, or whatever the body part. so it's more than 100 times more toxic than the nerve gas commonly used, the sarin gas. and the problem with this vx is it's toxic, tasteless and colourless. it's very hard to detect. the airport in kuala lumpur is to be swept for traces of any other deadly chemicals that the assassination team may have left. north korea is, in effect, a dynasty. the all—powerful leadership goes from father to son, brothers are rivals. 0ne threat to kim jong—un is now no more. joining me now from canterbury is professor ulf schmidt, from the university of kent and author of secret science — a book about the history of chemical and biological weapons research. the idea that north korean agents might be able to use vx, it is quite terrifying. what is vx, what is its history? before answering your question, i think it is important that we lower the temperature a little bit. as you heard from the previous items, we need to see all of this in a broader context. it has not yet been independently verified that the agent used was actually vx. i think that we should just park this for a moment until it has been proven to have been vx. so far, it is only something which the malaysian authorities have said. however, if it was vx, i think it is fairto however, if it was vx, i think it is fair to say that this would be quite unusual indeed. it is a nerve agent, it is part of the family of nerve agents developed by the german scientists in the 1930s. it is extremely toxic. i think the report previously highlighted that, quite rightly. it is 50 times more toxic than sarin gas, which was used by iraqi forces and, more recently, in syria. it was a weapon of mass destruction. a small dose can kill extremely fast. it is absorbed through the skin, which is why it has an advantage to some of the other nerve agents. it is also one of the reasons why it was produced during the cold war in large quantities, among others, by the united states. given those caveats that you put there, if it does turn out to be vx, what does that tell us but the north korean regime's capability, the fact that they have vx stocks? i think we need to be cautious. this case raises more questions than it answers. it will certainly be very, very closely monitored by a number of organisations, intelligence agencies, and organisations like the for the prohibition of chemical weapons. north korea is not a signatory to the chemical weapons agreement that was signed in 1993. if it turns out it was vx, and it came from north korea, and we don't know that at this stage, i think there are many questions one house to ask. who has an interest in kim jong—nam's death? north korea wants the body back so quickly, do they wa nt to the body back so quickly, do they want to hide the fact this agent was used? we want to hide the fact this agent was used ? we don't want to hide the fact this agent was used? we don't know where it was produced, how it arrived in malaysia. there are a number of points here that have to be addressed. more importantly, what your viewers might be more interested in is the propaganda dimension. we know, historically, that biological and chemical weapons have been of particular interest in concerted propaganda campaigns during the cold war. i think we need to bear in mind at least the possibility that we see something similar here. i wanted to call for a bit of caution, lower the temperature of the debate. let's wait until we have an independent verification, possibly or ideally by the united nations or the 0pcw. thank you for your time. a woman who died after being hit by debris in wolverhampton city centre during yesterday's storm has been named as tahnie martin. she was 29 and from stafford. ms martin worked at the university of wolverhampton. in a statement its vice—chancellor said, "we are all deeply saddened by this tragic loss." storm doris caused winds of up to 100 mph — causing power cuts, flights to be grounded and trains cancelled. royal bank of scotland has suffered a huge increase in its annual losses. the bank, 72% of which is owned by the government, reported a loss of £7 billion for 2015, more than treble the amount for the year before. it's the ninth consecutive year that the bank has made a loss — and is one of the worst annual results for rbs since the government bailed out the banking group in 2008. chief executive ross mcewan said the figures were disappointing, but should not come as a surprise given the problems that the bank's current management had inherited. reports from the iraqi city of mosul say government troops have entered a neighbourhood in the western half of the city. they captured the airport yesterday as part of their battle to expel islamic state forces from its final stronghold in iraq. 0ur correspondent wyre davies, who is with iraqi forces near mosul, sent us this update. it is a critical point now in the battle for mosul. we heard after taking the airport yesterday, as dawn this morning, iraqi forces have moved in with heavily armoured units to try and push so—called islamic state fighters back into the city itself. but it's a very built—up area. 750,000 civilians and a very difficult city to fight in. i'm at a base now with a joint american—iraqi military base to the south of the city. what is apparent is that international force is very much part of this. there are american artillery units here firing precision shells at isis positions in and outside mosul. of course, there are american advisers also on the ground, boots on the ground as they call them, trying to help the iraqi army to take the western part of the city. after all, this is now a very critical part of the fight to try to remove isis, or so—called isis, from its last big stronghold in iraq. time for a look at the weather, here's thomaz. it has calmed down after storm doris? yes, we have had some sunshine, but it is not going to last. we are not expecting stormy weather, but the clouds have been increasing through this morning and afternoon. we already have some rain. this weekend is looking pretty grey. that sums up what most of us will be having over the next few days. this is the rain over northern areas. some snow across the upland areas of scotland. i think all of us, by for a 5am, would have some dribs and drabs of rain. when we get the weather systems coming in, we get a push of a coming in from the south—west. south—westerly wind will be quite strong. we are talking about gales, but mostly around the coast and promenade is over hills as well. most of the rain will fall across these upland areas of western britain. maybe a bit of sunshine later in the day across scotland and northern ireland, just before sunset. comparing saturday and sunday, it is looking pretty mixed. at least it is not going to be that cold. that is one good thing about this weekend. this is bbc news. the headlines: the tories celebrate their by—election victory in copeland — an area labour represented for more than 80 years. theresa may said the result was an endorsement of the government's performance. what i think we've seen from this victory is that this truly is a government that is working for everyone and for every part of the country. but labour sees off a threat from ukip, and wins the stoke by—election. labour leaderjeremy corbyn said labour won because people came together with a message. people came out, worked, knocked on doors and delivered a message. it's a message about the economy, jobs, a message about this country. the malaysian authorities say the half—brother of north korea's leader was killed by vx nerve agent, which is classified as a weapon of mass destruction. mr kim died last week after two women accosted him at kuala lumpur airport. more on all the goings—on at leicester and the rest of the sport news. claudio ranieri hasjust given his reaction to being sacked last night. the now ex—leicester city manager said in a statement: leicester are one point above the relegation zone. leicester city's interim manager says claudio ranieri did not lose the support of the players in the run up to his sacking. i cannot tell the fans how to behave, but we will need their support in the coming matches, starting against liverpool on monday. can you say that you have not lost some parts of the dressing room with claudio ranieri? not lost some parts of the dressing room with claudio ranieri7m not lost some parts of the dressing room with claudio ranieri? it is speculation but there was a lot of frustration because of results. he had not lost the dressing room. lifelong leicester fan and former striker gary lineker has told the bbc of his shock at ranieri's sacking. he says he's saddened by the club's treatment of the man who led them to their first title in the club's history. last season was inexplicable, not the season. the fact they have managed to get in a reasonable position, with a 50—50 chance of going through to the quarterfinals, they are not in the bottom three. given the magic of last season, surely he deserved more time, surely we have some empathy for them? i speakfor we have some empathy for them? i speak for myself as a leicester fan, i cannot speak for all of them and some would disagree, but i think the way he handled everything last season, the fact he gave leicester so much, the fact he made the whole country get the hang leicester, a lot of that was down to him. —— the whole country get behind leicester. he was genuine and war. the whole country warmed to him and the club. that would have evaporated today. premier league managers have been reacting to the news of ranieri's departure in their weekly press conferences. jose mourinho wore the initials cr on his top instead of his own and liverpool manager jurgen klopp described the italian as a "special person", likening his departure to major political events. ami am i surprised? surprise that things like this can happen? no. it is football. there have been a few strange decisions in 2016—2017, brexit, donald trump and claudio ranieri. manchester united learnt their fate in the europa league earlier. they have been drawn against russian side rostov in the last 16 of the competition. although rostov were the lowest—ranked team in the draw. it's not ideal forjose mourinho's side as they face a 5,000 mile round trip for the first leg in russia, before their fa cup tie at chelsea just four days later. the 6—nation continues. —— the six nations. centre ben te'o will make his first start for england in sunday's te'o has won five caps — all as a replacement, including scoring the winning try in this year's championship match against france. danny care makes his first england start in a year at scrum—half. while elliot daly replaces anthony watson on the wing. that is all the sport for now. you can keep up—to—date on the bbc sport website. i will have more free you at 6:30pm, including inside the six nations. join as then. more now on the outcome of yesterday's twin by—elections in copeland and stoke—on—trent — the former, a safe labour seat seized by the conservatives, the latter a labour hold which saw off a challenge from the ukip leader paul nuttall. but both results have raised more questions about jeremy corbyn's leadership of labour, after copeland was lost for the first time in 80 years. earlier, a triumphant theresa may addressed supporters in the cumbria constituency. this is an astounding victory for the conservative party, but also for the conservative party, but also for the people of coal plant. labour have helped the seat since the 19305. a have helped the seat since the 1930s. a party in government has not won a by—election from the opposition for 35 years. you know what people were saying about this election? labour said they were going to win it. experts were saying that labour would increase their majority. all of you, the volunteers who went out there every day and campaigned, you had made sure that did not happen. despite losing copeland to the conservatives, labour also recorded a by—election win of their own — holding on to stoke—on—trent central, where the ukip leader paul nuttall had run a campaign mired in controversy. jeremy corbyn said his party's win sent a message that hope triumphs over fear. when many in the us off and said that ukip would win and take it, i tell you what happened yesterday, people came out, worked and knocked on doors and delivered a message. it isa on doors and delivered a message. it is a message about the economy, aboutjobs, is a message about the economy, about jobs, about this is a message about the economy, aboutjobs, about this country, but above all it was a message that hope triumphs over fear. it was the victory of the labour party and the labour candidate yesterday that deliver this marvellous result in stoke—on—trent. deliver this marvellous result in stoke-on-trent. jeremy corbyn there. we should discuss the implications of those by—election results. with me is anne mcelvoy, a senior editor at the economist, and i'm also joined from westminster byjack blanchard, the political editor of the daily mirror. thank you to both of us for being with us. we can talk about stoke—on—trent and jeremy corbyn making the best of that victory, but does this leave him weaker or stronger, these two results combined? the problem forjeremy corbyn is that he had to go and describe as a victory of what is a continuity. labour should not be in danger of losing if it like stoke—on—trent... danger of losing if it like stoke-on-trent. .. they were perceived to be under threat from ukip. ukip have imploded and upon that looks like another character who will sleep at all in front of him but in the rough edges of the campaign we could see the proposition was flawed. it is fair to say that ukip have been stopped in their tracks and i think that will have an impact within ukip, but u nfortu nately for will have an impact within ukip, but unfortunately for jeremy corbyn, will have an impact within ukip, but unfortunately forjeremy corbyn, if you look at what was happening in copeland, there is no sign that he is going forward. what he is having to sell as a victory is being overta ken to sell as a victory is being ove rta ke n by to sell as a victory is being overtaken by the tories are not going backwards. is that how you see it and words are special circumstances in copeland because there is the nuclear industry there whichjeremy corbyn is not in favour. every by-election has special circumstances and you could see there were special circumstances in copeland, where they are planning to download the hospital they are. labour campaigned hard on that issue. the nuclear issue is what lost then the by—election there, but thatis lost then the by—election there, but that is being created byjeremy corbyn and his past comments on nuclear power. i have spoken to many labour mps who have been to copeland to campaign and they have said the same thing, the issue of leadership keeps coming up on the doorsteps. anyone who pretends that is not the case is not being honest. do you think he is safe as leader for the time being? i do. it was only a few months ago he won a resounding victory. the last time labour mps tried to dispose, i don't think there is any appetites do that again. —— to dispose them. the scale of this victory is historic. governing parties do not take seats from the opposition in this way. the tories are claiming it is the best victory for governing party in 150 years. it is of that sort of magnitude. that victory by the tories and copeland, what dup that down to? isn't to reason me, is that her heart brexit policy that is popular? it is partly her consistency in that she is seen as a consistent leader. if you are comparing the leaders at the moment, at the moment to reason me is coming away a mile better off thanjeremy corbyn. it was risky and i know some people in her circle were nervous. she had a difficult time on the issue of the hospital and with what issue of the hospital and with what is happening in the nhs. had it not gone as well, there would have been blame attached to that issue. she showed an anti—metropolitan message, outside london. theresa may was inside a barber. we are seeing and new to reason a message which is less focused on metropolitan parts of britain and the recipe seems to be working. i was asking michael howard earlier, the think david cameron could have won a by—election for the government like that?” think she is enjoying a bit of a bind. she has not been prime minister for long. she is bind. she has not been prime ministerfor long. she is winning by default to some extent because the labour party had been in a mess for quite some time now. what she has done since brexit, she is implementing a hard brexit as she is scooping up ukip boaters who are against immigration. ukip voters. that is her looks and the data that we have. she is because of that. labour are facing we have. she is because of that. labourare facing an we have. she is because of that. labour are facing an implosion and people who voted for them a couple of years ago, when labour lost, many of years ago, when labour lost, many of those voters are saying they will not vote for the labour party and thatis not vote for the labour party and that is costing them dearly at the ballot box. thank you for your time. prince charles is reported to back new plans to sterilise grey squirrels in a bid to protect native reds. the proposals would see grey squirrels given an oral contraceptive — hidden in chocolate spread — which would last several years. the wildlife trusts are having their biggest—ever recruitment drive to help protect red squirrels. conservation charities say the population could disappear from england, wales and northern ireland within a0 years. aisling mcveigh reports. grey squirrels dominate our landscape more than a century on with more than two million around. there are 140,000 red squirrels in comparison. in recent years efforts to protect red squirrels have had some success and the wildlife trusts are combining to recruit 5000 volu nteers are combining to recruit 5000 volunteers to help with these efforts. people will be as to monitor and record data, and if they are willing they will be told how to cull grace carols humanely. —— grey squirrels. this may increase red squirrels. this may increase red squirrel numbers. we can train people with monitoring, we need people with monitoring, we need people to record their sightings, and to help with grey squirrel control. it is a great opportunity for people to get involved in a conservation project and really make a difference. this map shows how many red squirrels will around —— we re many red squirrels will around —— were around in the past compared with now. they are going to focus on the nine areas where there are red squirrels, including northern ireland ‘s, wales and merseyside. a volunteer project in scotland will also get underway. most of us will never get this close to a baby squirrel. this one is being nursed back to health. with this campaign there is a chance to make sure the natives pieces survives and flourishes once again in the uk. —— native species. this is bbc news. the headlines: a big victory for the conservatives at the copeland by—election — unseating labour after they held the seat for more than 80 years. but labour sees off a threat from ukip, and holds onto stoke.