the royal college of surgeons warns that the number of patients waiting more than six months for routine operations and treatment in england has nearly tripled in four years. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the crown prosecution service have announced that craig mackinlay, who is running for south thanet in the election for the conservatives, has been charged over his alleged overspending in the 2015 general election campaign. mr mackinlay defeated the then ukip leader, nigel farage, in the ballot. daniel sandford is with me now. first ball, talk us through what he has been charged with. it all goes back to the titanic battle in the 2015 general election between nigel farage and a conservative party. he was trying to get a seat in parliament for the first time. the conservative party were trying to keep them out. craig mackinlay was the candidate for the conservatives who managed to win that in south thanet. as all candidates have to do, he then filed his election expenses along with his agent. you have to say how much you have spent locally on the campaign. what is happening today is that the crown prosecution service have charged craig mackinlay and his agent, nathan grey, the man who signed off the expenses, and also a senior campaign specialist, marion little, all with taking part in filing false election expenses. marion little is charged with aiding and abetting. this all relates to whether some of the money that was bent on hotels and so one by the national campaign in south thanet should have been in the local election expenses, part of the local election expenses, part of the local election expenses, part of the local battle rather than the national battle. we have already had some reaction from the conservatives. a very robust response from —— from the conservative party spokesman. we believe this allegation is unfounded. a lot of other conservative mps were cleared of this. the go on to say there is a broad consensus that the election law is fragmented, confused and unclear. the truth is the conservative party are now gone into an election in six days with one of the candidates having been charged with filing false expenses in the last general election. but the moment, thank you. we hope to be live in the constituency in south thanet a little later. the head of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, has said china and the eu believe there can be "no backsliding" on the paris climate change agreement. he was speaking at a joint forum in brussels with the chinese premier, li keqiang, a day after president trump announced the us was withdrawing from the accord. 0urjoint leadership provides business, investors and researchers both in europe, china and the world with the certainty they need to build a low carbon economy. and it makes a statement to the world, there's no reverse gear to the energy transition. there's no backsliding on the paris agreement. let's cross live to westminster now and out assistant political editor, norman smith. theresa may is getting sucked into this decision by donald trump in the sense that the lib dems and labour are criticising her heavily for, in their view, not lobbying the united states ha rd their view, not lobbying the united states hard enough before this decision was made and perhaps not being vocal enough in her criticism. particular anger i think over failure to sign this letter from other eu leaders, in germany, france and italy, publicly criticising president trump for failing to ratify the paris accord. number ten say that theresa may wanted to have a chance to speak to the president before firming up her views and that when she did speak to the president on the phone she expressed her disappointment with his approach and reiterated her support for the paris deal. her opponents are saying that is not good enough and she has demonstrated a failure of leadership is not standing up for britain's long—held support for the paris deal. more than that, they suggest that once again she has shown a marked reluctance to, as it were, publicly crossed swords with donald trump. they pointed to previous insta nces such as in the aftermath of donald trump's ban on refugees from certain muslim majority countries, were again she was a bit slow to criticise the president. they say this is evidence of, if you like, i tilt away from europe and almost going along with america, come what may. jeremy corbyn was speaking at a news c0 nfe re nce may. jeremy corbyn was speaking at a news conference this morning. the other three european members of the g-7, the other three european members of the g—7, france, germany and italy, have written to donald trump this morning to make this very clear. so why does theresa may not have her name 011 why does theresa may not have her name on this joint why does theresa may not have her name on thisjoint statement why does theresa may not have her name on this joint statement the estimate given the chance to present a united front with our international partners, she has again opted to silence and she was subservient to again to donald trump. it is a dereliction of both oui’ trump. it is a dereliction of both our duty to this country and our duty to our planet. this is not the type of leadership britain needs to negotiate an exit or stand up to defend our planet in an era of climate change. a labour government would do it very differently. short time ago i spoke to one of the politicians here who was integral in the paris deal, ed davey, and they asked him for his reading of the prime minister's response. i'm afraid that voice would have been a lot stronger if it had been united with other countries. i think america and the white house is much more likely to take notice of britain if we are part of the wider international condemnation of this decision. i'm afraid it also suggests what i have suspected for a long time, that the conservatives under theresa may are not tackling climate change as a serious issue. theresa may's right— hand climate change as a serious issue. theresa may's right—hand person, i guy called nick timothy, a special adviser, wrote criticising the climate change act in britainjust a year ago, using the sort of president trump type economic set, which is so wrong and so bad, so people close to theresa may are not taking climate change action seriously and perhaps that is why she is not criticising mr trump in the way that he should be criticised. norman, we have been hearing lots of criticism levelled at donald trump, saying his decision makes america look isolated. to what extent is that sort of criticism being levelled at theresa may because she hasn't signed a joint declaration, that letter? well, it is. the number ten responses that theresa may was not the only person who didn't sign this letter, which was a g—7 letter. canada, japan they also didn't sign it. this significance is this, it plays to two things in this election campaign, one is the issue of leadership, which has become pivotal and theresa may has made the core of her campaign, and the opposition parties clearly seeking to use this as evidence to suggest that theresa may has failed to give a lead and to stand up for british interests. there is a second factor, and that does not reflect the environmental questions, but rather the big geopolitical argument about where we are post—brexit and how far this will fuel the view of many people that in perhaps in the aftermath of brexit in the search for new alliances there a determination to make sure that we are in lockstep with president trump in search for that crucial trade deal with america, therefore we are inhibited and reluctant to speak out against the present. downing street theresa may was pretty clear on the phone call, but that is different from publicly signing a letter criticising mr trump. we can talk to our correspondent stephen mcdonnell in beijing now. in geopolitical terms, how much capital can china make of this, saying, look, we are recommitting ourselves to the paris accord, the us isn't? it is interesting it is ha rd to us isn't? it is interesting it is hard to tell whether china really wa nted hard to tell whether china really wanted this role in one of the global leaders in fighting climate change, but this is where it has found itself, a short time ago a spokesperson for the foreign ministry said that nearly everybody in the world should have cherished this hard—won in the world should have cherished this ha rd—won outcome in the world should have cherished this hard—won outcome in paris, in terms of talking about the paris deal, and that this country's commitment will be shouldered because china is responsible major country. i guess the contrast it would be drawing is with the trump administration, the implication being that it has dropped out of the paris climate deal. in terms of what china has been doing, will be doing to try to reduce carbon emissions, ta ke to try to reduce carbon emissions, take us through that. china is the biggest contributor to the problem and the biggest contributor to the solution. it has no choice but to do something about air pollution, even if climate change didn't exist. the commitment to renewable energy here is enormous. some in the united states would be scratching their heads and saying to the trump administration you are giving up a massive economic advantage. china will be developing even more of these massive wind farms, solar farms like nowhere else on the planet, and it is exporting this technology around the world. those who are part of these new energy solutions will be at the forefront. i suppose the critics of the trump administration's decision will be saying that it will be left in the back—seat, harking back to the un cole was king. this country has a long way to go in terms of weaning itself of coal altogether, these are big social changes that need to be made. however, it is moving in that direction and standing side—by—side with britain, europe, australia, unlike the trump administration. thank you. we will be seeing china and europe signing publicly that joint declaration, renewing their commitment to the paris accord, in brussels. then we are expecting a news c0 nfe re nce brussels. then we are expecting a news conference within the next hour on that recommitment to the paris accord. we will bring that to you. the met police say they have, so far, found no records of any calls to the anti—terrorist hotline in relation to the manchester bomber, despite a number of people saying they had reported concerns over salman abedi's behaviour. it comes as greater manchester police have released new cctv footage, showing abedi in the city in the four days leading up to the attack. detectives say they're now concentrating their investigation on the rusholme area and are appealing for witnesses who may have seen him there. two cousins of the manchester bomber say they had no idea he was planning his attack, which killed 22 people. isaac and abz forjani were arrested by police after the suicide bombing — and were questioned for a week — but have since been released without charge. they've told the bbc they had no knowledge of his plans. i'm still shocked. i'm still letting it sinking slowly. and still, you know, getting around it somehow. it's not easy, you know. it's not easy being connected to 22 lost innocent lives, and the fact that the person that did this is related to us by blood. it's just something that's going to stay with me the rest of my life, and my thoughts are with the families of the victims. i really do feel for them. i mean, we came here and we can try and move on with our lives, but they have lost their loved ones. and just, i'm still in shock, to be honest, about what has happened. looking at the relationship i had with him, it was a pretty close relationship, but for him to betray the image of the family in that manner, in that way, which was out of order, to be honest, involving 22 people, innocent people, traumatised by it, to be honest. it's shocking. it's terrible, for people who see it as a big network we were involved in, but i believe it was all done by one man, which developed some sort of thoughts in the past few years, which he kept to himself, secretly, to himself and never shared it with any member of the family. if he would have, we could have done something to stop that happening. craig mackinlay, along with his agent and a senior tory party official, have been charged with breaking electoral law relating to spending in the 2015 campaign. theresa may is facing criticism for failing tojoin the theresa may is facing criticism for failing to join the leaders of france, germany and italy in criticising donald trump's baton from the paris climate deal. they can't —— manchester police said they can't find any calls to the anti—terror hotline over salman abedi. in sport, england's cricketers have been hit with some bad news this morning. all—rounder chris woakes has now been ruled out for the rest of the tournament after suffering a side strain. his replacement has not yet been named. in today's action, new zealand have been put into bat by australia and are moving along nicely. they're currently 66 for 1 after nine of their 50 overs at edgbaston. jared payne will miss out on his first british and irish lions appearance tomorrow. the ireland centre was on the bench for the first warm—up match in new zealand, but has been ruled out with a calf problem. elliot daly takes his place. i'll be back with more london stories just after half past. the crown prosecution service have announced that craig mackinlay, who is running for south thanet in the election for the conservatives, has been charged over his alleged overspending in the 2015 general election campaign. mr mackinlay defeated the then ukip leader, nigel farage, in the ballot. he has been giving his reaction. what does it mean? what it means in the constituency is whilst his name will stay on the ballot paper, i think a lot of people won't vote for him. it will be a straight fight between him and ukip. i will be giving a speech there tomorrow at five o'clock to support our candidate. amanda akass is in chatham in kent. if you could tell us more about the background to this. this all repairs background to this. this all repairs back to the highly charged 2015 election campaign in south thanet which really was a very dramatic campaign between craig mackinlay for the conservatives and nigel farage gunning for a seat as leader of ukip. in the end, mr mackinlay defeated nigel farage by more than 2,000 votes on the night. since then, investigations have begun into allegations of overspending. files we re allegations of overspending. files were passed the 14th different police forces to the crown prosecution service over allegations that conservative party agents had not filed under local spending the expenses from visits from the tory national battle bus. last month we heard that no charges would be brought in those cases, apart from this one file from kent police which we we re this one file from kent police which we were taught had been handed to the crown prosecution service rather related. today, the cps have, it sent that they do believe it is in the public interest and there is sufficient evidence to charge mr mackinlay unto the representation of the people act, in terms of the declaration he neared & for those expenses. his agent, nathan grey, has also been charged for failing to make a true return, along with marion little. we arejust make a true return, along with marion little. we are just down the road from the south thanet constituency. mr mackinlay was a counsellor here for many years and still has a registered address, but we haven't been able to get any response from him so far this morning. previously, the conservatives said that the national that'll bus is going around the whole country trying to make a case for a conservative government, which is why that was recorded as national rather than local. as far as you are aware, how does this leave things for the vote next week in this general election? that is the million—dollar question. we heard nigel farage making the point that he believes it is a fight between ukip labour. labour were a close third in that last election. mr mackinlay has been charged, he is not appearing in court untiljuly, so we still don't know what is going to happen. thank you very much amanda. ticketmaster say more than ten thousand people who were not at manchester arena during the suicide bomb attack last week, have tried to claim free tickets for sunday's one love concert. some tickets were put on ebay for up to £200 — within hours of the show selling out. the website says it will block any sale items trying to make profit from the event. so, what challenges does this present for the authorities? chris horrocks is a former greater manchester police officer who has worked on many big events in the city. hejoins us in our salford newsroom. thank you for your time. what will the challenges be in terms of sorting out the genuine applications from tickets from those that are clearly fraudulent or people trying to make a quick buck? it does create a major security issue for all those involved at old trafford on sunday. from a policing perspective, i have spoken to my colleagues and there will be pulsar officers operating, police search and rescue teams, that will be looking at tactical and strategic operations and how they cordoned off the area and filtered genuine people going there in remembrance of people who died and those who are still injured, they will be going there for a night out with friends and the police will work with the security on the gates to ensure that they have that enjoyable evening, but there will be such things as knife arches and stop and search done randomly, and i think there is justification for that. when you say knife arches? they are similar to an airport filter control for you walk through an arch and they will manage to locate any metal device within your person, so therefore a police officer can take you to one side and search you are eitherjust as a body pat, and if they find something legitimate, or there will be led to our search a more proper hands of search will be carried out. in terms of the scale of the security operation, it is massive, isn't it? it is. you are talking about the capacity of 26,000 people at old trafford. that will be reduced for a concert like this. there will be security parameters, given that there is a testimonial match at old trafford football ground for michael carrick. that means the area around there, there will be high—profile policing in those areas. the public should know that there is justification for that. it is damp public reassurance, for confidence. the ticket allocations are horrendous and shame on those people who got involved with that because they are stopping genuine people and survivors from going and celebrating the concert and remembering those who died and who are injured. thank you for that, chris horrocks. less than a week to go until the general election, with wales as one of the key battle grounds. labour won 25 of the a0 seats in 2015, with the conservatives in second on 11. let's get the latest on how voters are feeling and cross to newport and speak to our correspondent tomos morgan. it has been a closely fought battle here. last year at the people of wales had two elections, putting in the eu referendum, but also in the assembly elections. there are so many key policy areas devolved to the welsh assembly, so what will the people of wheel speed tilting on? what is important to them? i have been gauging the opinion of people in newport, in both the urban and thoreau. on a sunny day, newport in pembrokeshire could be described as one of the most picturesque places in the country. it's a rural county, where 23% of the population are over 65 years old. given that so many key issues, such as health and education, are devolved, which issues are most important to people in this seaside village in this general election? i think getting a good deal with brexit, definitely. in terms of local issues, i don't think they're really covered by the general election. again, that's down to the welsh assembly and local elections. the policies, at the end of the day i think the leader is important. i think you've got to think of somebody who would be strong enough to get us through different times, but the policies are what stand strongest for me, i think, yeah. pembrokeshire is an agricultural heartland in a sector, like several others in wales, that benefits from european funding. political parties have said they would replace the shortfall when we leave, but there are worries about what could happen if the money isn't replaced. it would be very damaging to the red meat sector, to the beef and sheep sector, because statistics show that without that support payment, they would be losing a lot of money, and you'd see them disappear. even though last year, both newports in wales voted to leave the eu, politically, in a general election, they've been voting very differently. in modern times, this seaside village has almost always voted conservative. but the city, with its two constituencies, bar one term, has been labour. so here in gwent‘s urban centre, what's most important? and what will win the votes come june eighth? it's the leaders that is going to change people's votes, i think, definitely. my biggest concern is that wales gets the money that we would been paying the eu, and to help people in britain. because i know that in newport, we did well from the eu. business rates are another devolved issue, however decisions on financing large—scale projects are not. so which infrastructure would benefit the economy in newport in south—east wales the most? certainly, the electrification, given it would run straight through newport, is a key enabler. that means newport is brought closer to london and markets in the south—east of england, which are crucially lucrative for welsh businesses. from the sunny beaches to the urban landscape, both newports have their own voting agenda come june 8th. so will the choice be based on brexit, the leadership battle or will something else sway the votes in newport on polling day? thomas morgan, bbc news, newport. so, wales won the largest share of seats, but early polls are suggesting that labour could be fighting for ten seats up for grabs. more recent polls have suggested that labour might hold onto a large portion of those seats. 0ne that labour might hold onto a large portion of those seats. one of the key election topics in the debate we have seen here has been brexit. what kind of deal of people from the parties offering? just tell us a little bit about what the major parties have been promising to the people of wales concerning brexit? there is a choice in this election and the parties have made their basic principle is clear. 0n the one hand you have ukip saying they want to conclude the negotiations by 2019 with britain totally out of the eu by then, no divorce bill and net emigration down to zero. conservatives saying that we will come out of the single market and the customs union, but they want deep and meaningful partnership with our european partners. labour saying they will prioritise jobs and living standards and they seem less concerned about rates of immigration, then the lib dems and the greens both offering a referendum on an eu deal and the ability to walk away from that deal if the referendum decided to do that. so many areas in wales have had so much eu funding. is there a danger that that money may not be coming from westminster when brexit does happen? i think there definitely is. there are no real promises about that in the ma nifestos. promises about that in the manifestos. the conservatives have spelt out a plan for what they are calling a shared prosperity fund, and they say they will set up this fund to ensure equality across the four nations of the uk and they are going to talk to the devolved administrations, to local government, the business and others, but how that would operate is up for grabs. fs steve martin, thank you. the key issue for the people of wales will be brexit home the 8th of june, it seems. thank you. labour leaderjeremy corbyn has been outlining his party's industrial and business strategy this morning — promising to create a million jobs. he has been criticising theresa may over his response to donald trump pulling out of the paris accord. really, a lot of attention focused towards later in the day and that question time discussion he will be taking part in. absolutely. jeremy corbyn when he got up on that podium was impassioned with this quite excoriating attack on theresa may and what he believed was her inadequate response to donald trump withdrawn from the climate agreement. this speech here today was about business and about how labour plans to borrow money to invest £250 billion over ten years on infrastructure, on new sources of renewable energy. this is something thatjeremy corbyn has been saying for a while. there is nothing particularly new in this speech. what was interesting is the way he was choosing to go to the heart of what theresa may has set out in being her selling point in this campaign, her leadership qualities. there was a very fierce attack on that. jeremy corbyn is due to leave this place is in the next few minutes. you should be walking out of that towards. then there will be a day of preparation ahead of that big question time special tonight where theresa may and jeremy corbyn for both face questions from the audience, and i think what we will see is which way is this to go in terms of the issues that they want to put front and centre of the campaign. we get the bit of a clue with both party leaders having written editorials in the yorkshire post today. theresa may has made this about except, why she wanted to call the election because she believes that she can provide an optimistic version of brexit, but also one that will secure the economic future of britain. jeremy corbyn's article has been much more about the issues of public services and what he sees as cuts by the conservatives. expect much more tonight. a reminder that that leaders special with david dimbleby is on tonight, featuring theresa may and jeremy corbyn. we have full coverage on bbc news from 8pm, the debate begins at 8:30pm. time fora news from 8pm, the debate begins at 8:30pm. time for a look at the weather forecast as we head into the weekend. simon king has all of that for us. i have to say that sunshine at the moment is in short supply across the uk. for most, it is cloudy but i found some sunshine in scotland and northern ireland at the moment. some clouds build up here in perth and kinross, showers moving to scotland and northern ireland for the rest of today. cloud around, sharry outbreaks of rain moved inwards, some shelters turn heavy and thundery later on. it is hot in the south—east, with temperatures of up to 27 degrees. pressure further north and west. 17 degrees, storms in the south—east move away overnight tonight. localised flooding through the evening, tricky driving conditions. 0n flooding through the evening, tricky driving conditions. on saturday, a fresh day for all of us. it begins cloudy in eastern areas. they soon clear way. a few showers in scotland and northern ireland and overall, over the weekend, a fresh field to the weather, showers and some sunshine. goodbye. this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines at 11:33am: the crown prosecution service have announced that craig mackinlay — who is running for south thanet in the election for the conservatives, has been charged over his alleged overspending in the 2015 general election campaign. jeremy corbyn has criticised theresa may for not signing a protest letter from european leaders over president trump's withdrawal from the paris climate deal. mr corbyn said it demonstrated mrs may's "silence and subservience" towards the us president. speaking in brussels, the head of the european commission and the chinese premier said they were sending a message to the world that there can be no backsliding on the paris climate change agreement despite president trump's withdrawal from the paris treaty. the met police say they can find no records, so far, of any calls to the anti—terrorist hotline about the manchester bomber, salman abedi. after the attack, people who knew him said they'd reported concerns about his behaviour. the number of patients waiting six months or more for surgery has tripled over the past four years in england. the royal college of surgeons says it is "unacceptable" for large numbers of patients to wait for long periods in pain and discomfort. just before we go to the sport news, a line coming into us from the investigation into the manchester bombing. police are saying they had located a car that may be significant to that investigation. all the information we have at the moment, i am seeing something come in from greater manchester police. yes, this has more information for us. greater manchester police are continuing, they say, to track the movements of salman abedi, the bomber, between the 18th and 22nd of may. they located a card not far from ba nff they located a card not far from banff road they located a card not far from ba nff road that they located a card not far from banff road that they have believed may be significant to the investigation. they say officers are currently at the location assessing the car, there is a chord and in place in the area and as a precaution, they are asking people to avoid the area. they say that homes, properties, around banff road are being evacuated, and that they wa nt to are being evacuated, and that they want to thank the local community for their cooperation and understanding. they say this is a precautionary measure to ensure everyone's safety. the manchester royal infirmary will be open as normal. this is close to the manchester royal infirmary where many of the victims of the bomb are being treated. potentially a significant development, they say. a white nissan micra is the car that they are looking at. now, it is time for the sport, let's go over to hugh for the sport, let's go over to hugh for the sport, let's go over to hugh for the latest. england all rounder chris woakes has been ruled out of the rest of the champions trophy, due to a side strain sustained in yesterday's win over bangladesh in the opening match of the tournament at the 0val. woakes could only manage two overs before the injury. his replacement has not yet been named, steven finn is among the possible candidates to come in. today's action in the group a, started with a bang. new zealand chose to bat against australia and it looked a good decision as they moved to 67 for one after nine overs. martin guptill is the only man out, gone for 28, caught off the bowling ofjosh hazlewood. rain though has interrupted play, the covers are on now at edgbaston. aleksander ceferin, the president of european football's governing body, uefa, says he is far more concerned over fans safety, given the recent terrorist attacks. however, he says the sport is adapting to the current climate to ensure tomorrow's champions league final in cardiff will be as safe as possible for fans. i don't know if football is a target, but all of the big events with big crowds, they are possibly targets. the problem is, the stadiums are secured and they are safe but there are many people in the streets. so, we have to be cautious about it. we have to be connected to the police, local police, intelligence agencies and we are doing that. centre jared payne is the british and irish lions first injury concern of their tour of new zealand — he will miss the first match tomorrow against the provincial barbarians with a calf strain. payne, a former member of the new zealand under—20s side, had been picked on the bench for the first match on his first lions tour but has now been replaced by england winger elliott daly. there's no indication as yet as to how serious payne's injury is. well that match will have a slightly different twist on it for the lions head coach warren gatland. his 22—year—old old son bryn will start at fly—half for the provincial barbarians. i spoke to him last night. he has been enjoying the week. we will catch up tomorrow, i think, he will have to make a few tackles at the weekend, but we haven't spoken to much about the game and obviously, he is pretty excited about the opportunity. if he does get the chance to play against us. so i am looking forward to see how he goes. belgium's tenth seed david goffin is out of the french open after retiring hurt in his third round match against argentina's horacio zeballos this morning — and as the pictures show, it looked a nasty injury. goffin was leading 5—4 in the first set when he slipped chasing a ball, and looked like he twisted his ankle. zeballos was concerned at the other end of the court as goffin received treatment but it became clear that he couldn't continue and he limped out of the championship. he could now be a doubt for wimbledon which starts later this month. sir ben ainslie's land rover bar team have secured a play—off place in the americas cup after winning a thrilling race with team france. the british team had earlier retired in their first race of the day but bounced back to edge out france in their second. their victory means they now have an unassailable lead over the sweden and france in the qualifying table. the winners of the series goes forward to challenge team 0racle usa for the trophy proper. we had an amazing race against team france, it felt like a really close match race came, we were struggling a little bit on the downward legs but we hung in there. the guys did a greatjob of sailing the boat. that last bit just greatjob of sailing the boat. that last bitjust got us out with a bit of pressure. we closed in and took a win by the narrowest of margins. it could be a big year for it could be a big yearfor sir ben ainslie. that's all of the sport for now, more in the next hour. studio: hugh, thank you. news from merseyside police, they charged a man from liverpool with the murders ofa man from liverpool with the murders of a woman and two children whose bodies were found in a flat on faulkner street near toxteth on tuesday. the 30—year—old has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at liverpool magistrates' court later today. the bodies of the women and two children were found, asi women and two children were found, as i say, in the flat on tuesday. that flat was incidentally where john lennon used to live. merseyside police say that they are not looking for anyone else in connection with those killings. more now on one of our top stories this morning, on the news that president trump has decided to withdraw the united states from the paris climate—change accord. one of the first to react, was the french president, emmanuel macron. i can assure you, france will not give up the fight. i reaffirm clearly, that the paris agreement remains irreversible and will be implemented. not just by france, but by all the other nations. because where ever we live, where ever we are, we all share the same responsibility. make our planet great again. the head of the european commission has been speaking at a joint forum with the chinese premier in brussels this morning. both men reaffirmed their commitment to tackling climate change and said there could be "no backsliding" on the paris accord. ourjoint leadership provides business, investors and researchers both in europe, china and the world with the certainty they need to build a low carbon economy. and it sends a message to the world, there's no reverse gear to the energy transition. there's no backsliding on the paris agreement. let's go live to brussels now. jean—claude juncker and donald tusk, and chinese premier li keqiang, and others, they are all signing a joint declaration to reaffirm their commitment to the paris accord. really, a display of unity on tackling global warming, that really signals a strong disappointment and disapproval of many other america's traditional allies, plus china to america's decision not to reaffirm its commitment to the accord. leading surgeon said the number of people waiting for treatment has tripled. royal college of surgeons looked back at results from march 2013, when targets were being met. hugh pym has more... the target for waiting times for routine surgery and treatment in england is 18 weeks. the head of nhs england, simon stephens recently said that performance would be allowed to slip because of other urgent health service priorities. the royal college of surgeons argue this will mean increasing numbers of patients enduring long delays. the college, using nhs england data, says around 126,000 people had waited more than 26 weeks for non—urgent treatment in march, up 180% on march 2013, a time when targets were being hit. the biggest increases were for dermatology, ear, nose and throat and urology patients. we know we need to have more facilities for planned surgery. we need to have better planning for planned surgery and we need to make sure that the pressures on the health service don't interfere with patients who could legitimately expect their surgery to be done within 18 weeks of presentation. labour said it would increase nhs funding and restore the 18 week treatment target, which it says has been abandoned, to bring people of the waiting list. to bring people off the waiting list. the conservatives said there had been a sharp drop in the number of patients waiting more than a year for treatment, and only their plans to grow the economy would support the nhs. scotland, wales and northern ireland have seen increases in totals waiting long periods for operations, though they have different target regimes. an attempt will be launched today to oust len mccluskey as leader of the unite union. gerard coyne, who tried and failed to beat len mccluskey in and failed to beat len mccluskey in an election earlier this year, will ask the trade union regulator to rule the contest invalid. he says he was the victim of harassment by union employees when he challenged the general secretary for the job. a spokeswoman said the union conformed with the law. police in the philippines say an attack on a casino in manila, in which 36 people died, was not terror—related. officials believe the deaths were the result of smoke inhalation, after a lone gunman set fire to casino tables. police believe he was attempting to rob the venue. sarah corker reports. as gunshots ring out, chaotic scenes of panic. hundreds of guests and employees run for safety from this popular hotel resort close to manila's international airport. security forces arrived at the scene quickly and heavily armed. a lone gunman had burst into the busy casino firing an assault rifle and setting fire to gaming tables. one person in a nearby building filmed the incident from her balcony early on friday morning. i can hear gunshots. you can see the smoke and there are gunshots and people are shooting at each other. swot teams searched the building for many hours. then just after dawn the manhunt ended. police confirmed the gunman had set himself on fire and died. the fire service said there were multiple casualties, many suffocating as they tried to flee the smoke. we are not yet sure if there are more bodies inside. they are still sweeping or clearing all those floors because the suspect actually lit the casino tables and some of the rooms. he set three floors on fire according to the police, so there is still really thick smoke there. others were injured in the stampede to escape. the police said the motive for this attack was robbery rather than terrorism. the gunman had filled a bag with casino gambling chips and shots were not aimed at people. we can say that this is not an act of terror. why isn't it an act of terror? because it did not have the element of violence, the threat and intimidation that lead to terrorism. if he was a terrorist or part of isis he would have fired up people inside. this incident comes as the philippines has been on heightened alert amid a crisis in the south of the country where troops have been battling islamist rebels. back in the capital, at least 5a people have been treated in hospital and outside the complex, relatives of those caught up in this attack face an anxious wait for news of their loved ones. ina in a moment, the summary of the business news with alice, first the headlines. the conservative candidate for thanet south craig mackinlay, along with his agent and a senior tory party official, have been charged with breaking electoral law related to spending in the 2015 campaign. theresa may is facing criticism for failing to join the leaders of france, germany and italy in condemning president trump's withdrawal from the paris climate deal. the met police say they can't find any records of calls to the anti—terrorist hotline about the manchester bomber, salman abedi. people who knew him have said they'd phoned the hotline to raise concerns. i'm alice baxter, an update of the business news for you this hour. construction here in the uk hits as 18—month high. latest figures credit the boost to a rise in house building but commercial construction, including shops and offices also increased at its fastest rate since march 2016. more on that in just a mo. members of the black, asian and ethnic minority communities are a third more likely to be in insecure work than white workers — that's according to the tuc. one in 20 white employees are on zero—hours or temporary work contracts, whilst the figure for ethnic minority workers is one in13. the report said the recent increase in temporary work was affecting the black community especially. insurers have clashed with british airways over covering passenger costs of those caught up in last weekend's travel chaos. the ba website suggests customers should initially make any expense claims on their travel insurance — but the association of british insurers say responsibility is with the airline. ba says it will update the language on its site. more on those construction figures for may now, which showed construction activity in the uk growing at its fastest rate since the end of 2015. it seems the healthy performance is largely due to a pick—up in house building. duncan brock is the director of the chartered institute of procurement and supply — they put out the figures. it's really good to talk to you this morning. construction here in the uk hitting an 18 month high. as i was saying, that is largely due to an increase in house building. commercial activity has also increased? it has. not as strongly as house—building but it is good to see a small pick—up in the area. we picked up on commercials but there is still uncertainty from companies about ongoing investment in things like shops and offices, whereas house—building, as you say, was very strong. the strongest level we have seen for 18 months. it was strong in april as well. that is very encouraging. we know the demand for houses really outstrips supply, and it is good to see the house—building organisation starting out, to increase the building in all areas of the country. this comes after recent positive news that we had about the uk manufacturing sector, what does all of this tell us about the state of the economy at the moment in the second quarter? both manufacturing and the construction sector are doing well. we had a lull, the post—eu referendum and the currency weakness has held back these sectors. inflation levels seem to have fed through, it is good to see both manufacturing and construction picking up more confidence. both of these sectors are into long—term investments and capacity building. they do not respond on a whim to short term changes. they invest for the long term based on their view of long—term demand. they see an increase in orders from the uk and from abroad. this recent sustained rebound in residential building, it is encouraging, given the slight soft patch that we may call it in recent property values? yes, the property value soft patch is caused bya number of property value soft patch is caused by a number of factors but underlying, they need to build more houses. the figures for last year said we build 190,000 houses and we should have built 300,000. every political party is making statements around wanting to increase house—building after the election. so, you would argue the house—building companies are responding to both the demand, and also the confidence that people will continue to want to buy and occupy new houses. all of this, as you mentioned earlier, in spite of the big fluctuations that we saw in the value of the pound, since the brexit vote ? value of the pound, since the brexit vote? yes, the inflationary pressures fed through. there was a lot of raw materials increasing in price due to the weakness of the sterling. it seems to have worked through the system. negotiations have been completed and suppliers are supplying, based on new pricing. maybe that is some confidence feeding through to these sectors, they can plan with more confidence as to their cost base and the costs that they will have when they build infrastructure projects. duncan, good to talk to you. thank you. in other business stories we've been following: snapchat spectacles — as modelled by our very own rory cellan—jones this morning — are sunglasses which also capture photographs and video, are going on sale in the uk. snap inc, the company behind both the product and the social network, are selling the devices online and in special mobile vending machines around the uk and europe. they'll cost £129.99. when spectacles launched in the us last year, some expressed concerns about being recorded and thought it could be an invasion of privacy. jay hunt is to step down as channel 4 chief creative officer. she'll do so at the end of september after almost seven years leading the broadcaster's creative strategy and programme commissioning. owners of facebook stock were rebuffed on thursday after they called on company leaders to share more information about what they are doing to address the circulation of fake news. they asked the firm to prepare a report, but facebook maintained that was unnecessary and wouldn't benefit the company. however, the move was widely expected, since chief executive mark zuckerberg controls a majority of the firm's voting power. market reaction to president trump's decision — and in short — there hasn't been much. overnight wall street stocks powered to fresh records on thursday — sending asia higher — and the upward trend continues here in europe. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter — i'm @bbcbaxter. that's all the business news. moore is available on the website. studio: that was clearly one of rory‘s better looks! a reminder that the headlines are coming up on the bbc news channel. in a moment we say goodbye to view was on bbc two but finally a look at the weather forecast as we head into the weekend and simon king has that for us —— viewers. sunglasses are not needed today. a lot of cloud in the uk. a bit of sunshine around, we have to go to northern ireland and scotland to find that. in perth and kinross, blue sky comes through. some showers developing, it is cloudy with sunshine in the south—east of england. we have this band of rain moving gradually eastwards across the uk at the moment. breaking up as it does so, on this radar chart. it introduces fresh conditions into northern and western areas. this cold front continues to move out towards the east. as you can see, across scotland and northern ireland, we have sunny spells. through the afternoon, there could be showers moving into scotland. in between sunny spells, it feels pleasa nt between sunny spells, it feels pleasant with temperatures 1a—17d. a mix of sunshine and the odd shower in northern ireland but for northern england, it remains cloudy during the afternoon. quite a bit of cloud in the midlands. for east anglia and the south—east, sunshine, feeling hot here. temperatures of 27 degrees. that could trigger some heavy showers. further south and west, sunshine comes through in the far west of cornwall and wales, also seeing some sunshine through the afternoon. storms in the south—east of england clear away, then we are all in fresh air behind the weather front moving into the netherlands. tomorrow morning, a fresh feel. temperatures of 10—12d. warm in the south—east with 15—16d. at the weekend, on saturday things start loudly in eastern areas. they tend to clear quickly. the focus of showers comes to the scotland and northern ireland where some could be on the happy side. hungry, and for most it should be dry. on saturday, sunny spells with temperatures 17-22d. the sunny spells with temperatures 17—22d. the reason for those showers is this area of low pressure sitting beneath iceland brings in a westerly wind. when it comes in off the atla ntic wind. when it comes in off the atlantic it is uncertain. some showers towards western areas on sunday but for most, the emphasis is ona dry sunday but for most, the emphasis is on a dry day with sunny spells. temperatures of about 15—20d. to summarise for the weekend, a fresh breeze, you noticed that particularly in the south—east tomorrow. sunny spells for most. it should be dry for many, but bearing in mind that there will be a few showers around. have a good weekend. this is bbc news and these are the top stories developing at midday: the conservative candidate for south thanet, craig mackinlay, has been charged for alleged breach of election spending limits at the last general election. donald trump faces condemnation at home and abroad after pulling out of the paris agreement on climate change. theresa may has been accused of "subservience" to the us byjeremy corbyn, after she refused tojoin italy, france and germany in condemning president trump's decision. police investigating the manchester suicide bombing have evacuated an area in the south of the city after finding a car which they say could be "significa nt to the investigation". on the election trail — jeremy corbyn sets out plans to create a million "high quality" jobs. also this hour: a warning from the royal college of surgeons. new figures show the number of nhs patients waiting six months or more for surgery has increased threefold since 2013. two astronauts are leaving the international space station and heading back to earth in the soyuz space capsule. good afternoon. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the crown prosecution service have announced that craig mackinlay, who is running for south thanet in the election for the conservatives, has been charged over his alleged overspending in the 2015 general election campaign. mr mackinlay defeated the then ukip leader, nigel farage, in the ballot. earlier, i spoke to our social affairs correspondent daniel sandford. in the general election of 2015, between nigel farage shanda conservative party, he was trying to get a seat for the first time in parliament, obviously the conservative party were trying to keep him out. temp one was the conservative candidate who ultimately won that battle inside gambit. then, as all candidates have to do, he filed his election expenses along with his agent. you have to say how much you spent locally on the campaign. today, the cps have charged craig mackinlay, his agent, nathan grey, the man who signed off the expenses, and also as senior campaign specialist at conservative party headquarters, marion little, all with taking part in filing false election expenses. this all relates to whether some of the money that was spent on hotels and so on by the national campaign in the south thanet should actually have been on the local election spending, part of the national battle rather than the local battle. we have had some reaction from the conservatives. a very robust response from the conservative party spokesman, saying that we continue to believe that this remaining allegation is unfounded. it is worth remembering that other conservative party candidates were cleared of this. they go on to say that there isa this. they go on to say that there is a broad consensus that the election law is fragmented, confused and unclear. the trick is that the conservative party are now going into an election in six days with one of their candidates having been charged with filing false expenses in the last general election. nigel farage, who craig mackinlay was standing against, has been giving his reaction. what does it mean? well, effectively, what it means an constituency is that whilst his name will stay on the ballot paper, i think the chances of people voting for him are now very slim. i think that constituency will be a straight fight night between ukip and the labour party. i will be there tomorrow afternoon at five o'clock giving a speech to support our candidate. the head of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, has said china and the eu believe there can be "no backsliding" on the paris climate change agreement. he was speaking at a joint forum in brussels with the chinese premier, li keqiang, a day after president trump announced the us was withdrawing from the accord. our joint leadership provides business, investors and researchers both in europe, china and the world with the certainty they need to build a low carbon economy. and it makes a statement to the world, there's no reverse gear to the energy transition. there's no backsliding on the paris agreement. let's cross live to westminster now and our assistant political editor, norman smith. they have been reacting to it, and reacting to hide theresa may, in their review, has been handling this. in many ways, this is not an argument about the environment, it has become an argument about theresa may's leadership, and also a bit about brexit. the opposition parties have seized on theresa may's failure to sign this letter from other eu leaders as evidence they say as to how she is prepared to put ties to america above links with other european countries. they say it is evidence not just of european countries. they say it is evidence notjust of a lack of leadership, standing to stand up to britain's interests and long—term support of the paris accord, but also her desire to put yourself in step with donald trump to ensure that we will be in a position to get the trade deal. if that means sidelining other eu leaders, so be it. number ten insists that theresa may was clear with the president when she spoke to him on the phone in stressing her support for the climate deal, and opposition and disappointment to his decision. as far as not signing the letter goes, they say that that letter was drawn up they say that that letter was drawn upfor they say that that letter was drawn up for theresa may before she had a chance to talk to the president and she wanted to hear his views before she wanted to hear his views before she formed the position. she also pointed out that other g—7 countries such as japan and canada, they also did not sign. there is no doubt that this has fed into the narrative of the opposition parties who sought to raise doubts about theresa may's leadership, her readiness to stand up leadership, her readiness to stand up to figures like donald trump. the other three european members of the g7 — france, germany and italy — have written to donald trump this morning to make this very clear. so why does theresa may not have her name on thisjoint statement? given the chance to present a united front with our international partners, she has again opted to silence and once again subservience to again to donald trump. it is a dereliction of both our duty to this country and our duty to our planet. this is not the type of leadership britain needs to negotiate brexit or stand up to defend our planet in an era of climate change. a labour government would do it very differently. there was a similar response from sir ed davey, the former liberal democrat climate change secretary. i'm afraid that price would been a lot stronger if it has been united with other countries. i think america and the white house is much more likely to take notice of britain if we are part of the wider international condemnation his decision. and i'm afraid it also suggests what i have suspected for a long time, that the conservatives under theresa may are not tackling climate change as a serious issue. theresa may's right—hand person, possibly the most powerful man in britain today, her special adviser, wrote criticising the climate change act in britainjust a year ago, using the sort of president trump type economicss which is so wrong on so bad. so people very close to theresa may are not taking climate change action seriously, and perhaps that's why she's not criticising mr trump in the way he should be criticised. what do the green party make of theresa may's decision? if theresa may expressed her opposition to the president's decision in private, and we are told she expressed it strongly, then what is the problem? theresa may needs to express her discomfort with this in the strongest possible terms and she needs to express publicly. we need to work together as a world community to tackle climate change. it is one of the biggest threats thatis it is one of the biggest threats that is threatening communities across the world. it is inspiring to see china, india, braziltaking their commitment seriously on this. donald trump needs to be condemned in the strongest possible terms for this reckless and frankly economic illiterate decision. let me suggest to you, publicly condemning donald trump is probably not likely to get into changes mind. privately arguing the case is more likely to succeed. i think we need to have clarity from theresa may about what she thinks about climate change. it is really extraordinary that the uk is so isolated that the only person that theresa may can get together with his donald trump. we should be standing together as a world community on this and not standing with a president who is making such extraordinary pronouncements that seemed to have no economic underpinning. let me suggest that maybe this is nothing to do with the environment or theresa may's attitude towards it and everything to do with our position post brexit. she simply does not want to compromise relations with america when we may need to get a trade deal with them post brexit. itjust seems utterly depressing that theresa may's lifeline is donald trump. surely we can be doing better than that and standing shoulder to shoulder with our european neighbours and our neighbours in the global community across the world. it just does not global community across the world. itjust does not make theresa may look at all strong. she should be absolutely clear on this and absolutely clear on this and absolutely public. we know that the rest of the world seemed determined to press ahead with the deal. does it have any value if the world's second biggest polluter says, sorry, we are not taking part? the little shred of hope in all of this is that the economic case for investing in renewa bles the economic case for investing in renewables is so strong that any companies working in america are going to be investing in renewables a nyway going to be investing in renewables anyway and anyone with any common senseis anyway and anyone with any common sense is getting out of fossil fuels, particularly as they are looking at long—term investments like pensions, if you want to have money coming in in the future, fossil investment are looking pretty shaky right now. interesting, the environment has not had much of a say in the selection so far. now it has come about in many ways this argument is more perhaps about theresa may's leadership and also about our future post brexit. the german chancellor, angela merkel, described america's decision as "regrettable". mrs merkel urged the rest of the international community to stick to the path of combating climate change. our correspondentjenny hill is in berlin. it is very clear from what angle merkel has said that she is having to restrain herself in terms of the language she is choosing in response to donald trump's decision. yes, i think you are right. angela merkel is clearly bitterly disappointed. she was one of the driving forces behind getting the paris treaty signed in the first instance. she made an impassioned speech this morning talking about the need for this treaty, talking about it as a cornerstone that was vital in order to protect what she described as the creation. she used the phrase mother earth later on. this is angola merkel in partially defiant mood. she can be reasonably... she helped to ensure the ongoing support of china. he visited a few days ago and he pledged his continuing commitment to the treaty. she also knows that by and large you stand shoulder to shoulder with other eu member states on the subject. we also saw this morning angola merkel trying to rally the troops, saying that if we continue down this path then we can protect the environment and the future of the world. it is probably worth pointing out that here in berlin this is simply not about climate change any more. there is a growing sense here that berlin and washington hold wildly divergent worldviews. other starting to be a real problem here. it is probably early to say that we are starting to see a new world order but in timely meetings this week, angela merkel met with the indian chinese prime minister. with both of those leaders she urged further political and economic cooperation. she made it clear that perhaps germany and europe can't with rely on former partners like the uk and the us. angola merkel has a collection of her own to fight so in a way she is playing to the crowd. on the other hand she is a realist and she sees that maybe the eu will have to look in other directions if it is to continue with a foreign policy that really works on other issues from climate change through to trade and security. jenny hill, thank you. the crown prosecution service have announced that craig mackinlay, who is running for south thanet in the election for the conservatives, has been charged over his alleged overspending in the 2015 general election campaign. mr mackinlay defeated the then ukip leader, nigel farage, in the ballot. let's hear more from that interview with nigel farage. once again, it is bad judgment from theresa may. whether to allow someone to go ahead asa whether to allow someone to go ahead as a general election candidate in this cloud was clearly hanging over him. ithink this cloud was clearly hanging over him. i think there will be questions. our correspondent charlie rose is in ramsgate. what does all of this mean for the general election, with a vote next week? i have spent the morning getting reaction here in south thanet. i started by going to the conservative party flat a few hundred yards away from me here in ramsgate. i pressed the buzzer, there was no answer and shortly after a neighbour told me that temp one wasn't there, he left in a car of the previous day. after that i went to the conservative party office, i knocked on the door and eventually a woman got on the intercom and told me quite simply that craig maclean lee was not there either. we have contacted the district council this morning. they told me that postal voting has already started. the electoral commission has said that being charged is not a ban on being a candidate. the 2015 general election campaign here was bitterly fought with their huge amount of media interest. the conservative party has told us in the statement that the allegations put before craig mckinley, his agent, nathan grey and party activist marian little are unfounded. thank you. the headlines on bbc newsroom live. the conservative candidate for south thanet craig mackinlay, along with his agent and a senior tory party official, have been charged with breaking electoral law, related to spending in the 2015 campaign. theresa may is facing criticism for failing to join the leaders of france, germany and italy in condemning president trump's withdrawal from the paris climate deal. police investigating the manchester suicide bombing have evacuated an area in the south of the city after finding a car which they say could be "significa nt to the investigation". let's go back to the bbc sports centre for the latest. all rounder chris woakes has been ruled out of the rest of the champions trophy, due to a side strain sustained in yesterday's win over bangladesh in the opening match of the tournament at the oval. woakes could only manage two overs before the injury. his replacement has not yet been named, with steven finn amongst the possible candidates. in today's action in the group a, new zealand chose to bat against australia and it looked a good decision as they moved to 67 for! after 9 overs. martin guptill is the only man out, gone for 28, caught off the bowling ofjosh hazlewood. however rain has interrupted play, the covers have been on for around an hour now at edgbaston. aleksander ceferin, the president of european football's governing body, uefa, says he is far more concerned over fans safety, given the recent terrorist attacks. however, he says the sport is adapting to the current climate to ensure tomorrow's champions league final, at the principality stadium in cardiff, will be as safe as possible for fans. i don't know the football is a target but all the big events with big crowds are possibly targets. the problem is that the stadiums are secured, they are safe, but there are many people on the streets, so we have to be cautious about it. we have to be connected to the police, the local police, intelligence agencies and we are doing that. centre jared payne is the british and irish lions' first injury concern of their tour of new zealand. he will miss the opening match tomorrow against the provincial barbarians with a calf strain. payne, who is a former member of the new zealand under—20s side, had been picked on the bench for the first match on his first elliott daly. there's no indication as yet as to how serious payne's injury is. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. leading surgeons say the number of patients waiting more than six months for treatment in england has nearly tripled over the last four years. the royal college of surgeons has analysed data since march 2013, when targets were being met. our health editor, hugh pym, has more. the target for waiting times for routine surgery and treatment in england is 18 weeks. the head of nhs england, simon stephens recently said that performance would be allowed to slip because of other urgent health service priorities. the royal college of surgeons argue this will mean increasing numbers of patients enduring long delays. the college, using nhs england data, says around 126,000 people had waited more than 26 weeks for non—urgent treatment in march, up 180% on march 2013, a time when targets were being hit. the biggest increases were for dermatology, ear, nose and throat and urology patients. we know we need to have more facilities for planned surgery. we need to have better planning for planned surgery and we need to make sure that the pressures on the health service don't labour said it would increase nhs funding and restore the 18 week treatment target, which it says has been abandoned, to bring people off the waiting list. the conservatives said there had been a sharp drop in the number of patients waiting more than a year for treatment, and only their plans to grow the economy would support the nhs. scotland, wales and northern ireland have seen increases in totals waiting long periods for operations, though they have different target regimes. an attempt will be launched today to oust len mccluskey as the leader of the unite union. gerard coyne, who tried and failed to defeat mr mccluskey in an election earlier this year, will ask the trade union regulator to rule the contest was invalid. he says he was the victim of harassment by union employees when he challenged unite's general secretary for hisjob. a unite spokeswoman said the union had conformed with the law. less than a week to go until the general election, with wales as one of the key battle grounds. labour won 25 of the a0 seats in 2015, with the conservatives in second on 11. let's get the latest on how voters are feeling and cross to newport. tomos morgan reports. on a sunny day, newport in pembrokeshire could be described as one of the most picturesque places in the country. it's a rural county, where 23% of the population are over 65 years old. given that so many key issues, such as health and education, are devolved, which issues are most important to people in this seaside village in this general election? i think getting a good deal with brexit, definitely. in terms of local issues, i don't think they're really covered by the general election. again, that's down to the welsh assembly and local elections. the policies, at the end of the day i think the leader is important. i think you've got to think of somebody who would be strong enough to get us through different times, but the policies are what stand strongest for me, i think, yeah. pembrokeshire is an agricultural heartland in a sector, like several others in wales, that benefits from european funding. political parties have said they would replace the shortfall when we leave, but there are worries about what could happen if the money isn't replaced. it would be very damaging to the red meat sector, to the beef and sheep sector, because statistics show that without that support payment, they would be losing a lot of money, and you'd see them disappear. even though last year, both newports in wales voted to leave the eu, politically, in a general election, they've been voting very differently. in modern times, this seaside village has almost always voted conservative. but the city, with its two constituencies, bar one term, has been labour. so here in gwent‘s urban centre, what's most important? and what will win the votes come june eighth? it's the leaders that is going to change people's votes, i think, definitely. my biggest concern is that wales gets the money that we would been paying the eu, and to help people in britain. because i know that in newport, we did well from the eu. business rates are another devolved issue, however decisions on financing large—scale projects are not. so which infrastructure would benefit the economy in newport in south—east wales the most? certainly, the electrification, given it would run straight through newport, is a key enabler. that means newport is brought closer to london and markets in the south—east of england, which are crucially lucrative for welsh businesses. from the sunny beaches to the urban landscape, both newports have their own voting agenda come june 8th. so will the choice be based on brexit, the leadership battle or will something else sway the votes in newport on polling day? thomas morgan, bbc news, newport. labour leaderjeremy corbyn has been outlining his party's industrial and business strategy this morning, promising to create a million jobs. our political correspondent tom bateman, who is in york, gave us this update a short time ago. jeremy corbyn when he got up on that podium, was pretty impassioned with this excoriating attack on theresa may and what he believed was her inadequate response to donald trump withdrawn from the time of agreement. this speech today was about business and about how labour plans to borrow money to invest 250 ball —— plans to borrow money to invest 250 ball -- 250 plans to borrow money to invest 250 ball —— 250 william finds on infrastructure and new sources of renewable energy. there was nothing particularly new in this speech. what was interesting was the way he was choosing to go to the heart of what theresa may has set out as being her selling point in this campaign, her leadership qualities. there was a fierce attack on that. jeremy corbyn is due to leave this place in the next few minutes. he has a couple of local events then he will be having a day of preparation ahead of the big question time special tonight when theresa may and jeremy corbyn will both face questions from the audience. what people see is which way this debate will go in terms of the issues that they want to put front and centre. we get a bit of a clue with both party leaders having written editorials in the yorkshire post today. theresa may has made it very much about brexit, that key theme of her campaign, where she wanted to call the election because she believes she can provide an optimistic version of brexit, but also one that will secure the economic future of britain. jeremy corbyn's article this morning was about issues of public services and what he sees as cuts by the conservatives. tonight, there is a question time leaders special with david dimbleby, featuring theresa may and jeremy corbyn. there will be full coverage here on bbc news from 8.00pm and the debate starts at 8.30pm. it is time for the weather. the weekend is looking pretty good for most of us, certainly a lot of sunshine on the way. not completely dry. we have to watch out for a few showers, some of them could be heavy. on balance, i think it will be fine. this is what the satellite picture looks like right now. at their bit applied in the central portion of the uk. scotland and northern ireland, bright day here with a few showers. born in east anglia and the south—east, and the chance of some storms building pretty much anywhere in the south—east. tonight, fresher weather in western and northern parts of the uk, but probably some light rain on and off in the south—east, into yorkshire, perhaps into eastern parts of scotland, as well. tomorrow, the fresh atlantic air arrives across those parts of the uk, hints of the warmth left over from today in east anglia and the south—east. for most of us, we are talking about a day of sunny spells, showers and temperatures in the upper teens. sunday is looking pretty similar, as well. this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines at 12:30pm: the conservative candidate for south thanet, craig mackinlay, his agent and a senior tory party official have been charged with breaching electoral law. the allegations relate to spending at the last general election. opposition parties have criticised theresa may for refusing to sign a protest letter from european leaders over president trump's withdrawal from the paris climate deal. mr corbyn said it demonstrated mrs may's "silence and subservience" towards the us president. european leaders and china say there can be no backsliding on the paris climate change agreement despite president trump's withdrawal from the paris treaty. police investigating the manchester suicide bombing have evacuated an area in the south of the city after finding a car which they say could be "significa nt to the investigation". the royal college of surgeons says its members are struggling to meet the "standards and timeliness of care" the public expects. back to manchester, police investigating the suicide bombing had evacuated an area of the city after finding had evacuated an area of the city afterfinding a car. detectives had evacuated an area of the city after finding a car. detectives say that the vehicle may be significant to the investigation. it was discovered near ba nff to the investigation. it was discovered near banff road in the south of the city. that is a rusholme. it comes as metropolitan police say that they have found no records of calls to the anti——— anti—terrorist hotline in relation to the bomber. a short time ago i spoke to security adviser chris horrocks — who is a former greater manchester police officer — about the security measures that have been put in place ahead of sunday. from a policing perspective, i have liaised with some of my colleagues there. there will be pulsar officers operating in that area, police search and rescue teams, looking at strategic and tactical operations in how they cordoned off the area. they filter genuine people going to an entertaining evening in remembrance of the people who died, and the victims still injured from the events. they will be going there as a night out with friends and police will work with security on the gates to ensure that they have but enjoyable evening. there will be such things as knife arches, and stop searches, that will be done randomly. i think there is justification for that. when you say knife arches, you mean...? they are similarto an airport knife arches, you mean...? they are similar to an airport filter control, where you walk through an arch, and they will manage to locate any metal device within your person. therefore, a police officer can take you to one side and search you either as a body part and if they find something legitimate, that will be fine —— pat. if not, they can do a search on a search tent with a female officer on a female or male officer on a male. in terms of the scale of the security operation, it is massive? yes, you are talking about capacity at old trafford of 26,000 people. with a concert like this, that will be reduced. there will be security parameters with the fa ct will be security parameters with the fact that there is a testimonial football match for michael carrick just down the road at the —— from the cricket ground. there will be police around the cricket ground, football ground and metrolink areas. the public should know that there is justification and it is done for public reassurance and confidence. the ticket allegations are horrendous. shame on those people who got involved with that, because they are stopping genuine people and survivors of the ariana grande concert from going and celebrating on the evening, and remembering the dead and injured. police in the philippines say an attack on a casino in manila, in which 36 people died, was not terror—related. officials believe the deaths were the result of smoke inhalation, after a lone gunman set fire to casino tables. police believe he was attempting to rob the venue. sarah corker reports. as gunshots ring out, chaotic scenes of panic. hundreds of guests and employees run for safety from this popular hotel resort close to manila's international airport. security forces arrived at the scene quickly and heavily armed. a lone gunman had burst into the busy casino firing an assault rifle and setting fire to gaming tables. one person in a nearby building filmed the incident from her balcony early on friday morning. i can hear gunshots. you can see the smoke and there are gunshots and people are shooting at each other. swot teams searched the building for many hours. then just after dawn the manhunt ended. police confirmed the gunman had set himself on fire and died. the fire service said there were multiple casualties, many suffocating as they tried to flee the smoke. we are not yet sure if there are more bodies inside. they are still sweeping or clearing all those floors because the suspect actually lit the casino tables and some of the rooms. he set three floors on fire according to the police, so there is still really thick smoke there. others were injured in the stampede to escape. the police said the motive for this attack was robbery rather than terrorism. the gunman had filled a bag with casino gambling chips and shots were not aimed at people. we can say that this is not an act of terror. why isn't it an act of terror? because it did not have the element of violence, the threat and intimidation that lead to terrorism. if he was a terrorist or part of isis he would have fired up people inside. this incident comes as the philippines has been on heightened alert amid a crisis in the south of the country where troops have been battling islamist rebels. back in the capital, at least 5a people have been treated in hospital and outside the complex, relatives of those caught up in this attack face an anxious wait for news of their loved ones. the biggest party in ireland's ruling coalition will announce its new leader today. the winner is expected to take over as prime minister in the next few weeks. the strong favourite is leo varadkar — the son of an indian immigrant who is ireland's first openly gay senior politician. our ireland correspondent chris page reports. ireland is a much changed country. until the 1990s, homosexuality was illegal, and there were few immigrants. but the new prime minister is likely to be this man, leo varadkar, a doctor who is openly gay and half indian. he is 38 but has already been the state's health minister, and more recently has run the welfare system. mr varadkar is one of two candidates for the leadership of ireland's biggest political party, fine gael, currently in a coalition government with independent members of parliament. the other contender is simon coveney, the irish housing minister. he is 44, meaning that whoever winds will be ireland's youngest ever leader. but a huge majority of the party's parliamentarians have publicly endorsed mr varadkar, meaning he is almost certain to be elected. the outgoing prime minister enda kenny is standing down after six yea rs. he came under pressure after his party lost seats in the general election last year. the biggest issue for his successor is the departure of ireland's nearest neighbour, the uk, from the eu. enda kenny has described it as the biggest challenge the irish republic has faced in its history. chris page, bbc news, dublin. migration brought 85,000 people to scotland last year — taking the total population to just over five—million. the scottish government has said it's a "key priority" in tackling the ageing population and attracting new working—age people to the nation. but how do voters feel about the issue it ahead of the election. graham satchell has been to glasgow to investigate. the people who make glasgow today come from all over the world. can i ask you where you come from? poland. what do you think of glasgow? i like glasgow, i've been living here for overfour years. glasgow styles itself as a friendly, welcoming city, but like the rest of the uk, it's seen record levels of immigration in the last decade and for some, it's too much. there's an awful lot of asylum seekers coming in. i have to admit. i think every country has to curtail the amount of people that are coming in. the standard of this area has gone rapidly downhill, as immigration goes. economically, i don't know but for living here, you know, the standards have gone right downhill. 0k. that kind of concern about immigration is probably, in the end, the main reason that england and wales voted for brexit. but scotland voted to remain. immigration here is a much more subtle, complicated nuanced issue than it is in the rest of the uk. after world war ii, up until around 2000, scotland was a mass exporter of people. we have more deaths than births in scotland, the only way the labour force is growing and has been growing over the last 15, 20 years is through the cause of net migration. this is the maryhill integration network and a help session for newly—arrived refugees in glasgow. the scottish government has actively encouraged immigration to support population growth. so, 40% of the syrians who come to the uk, for example, have been settled in scotland. scotland needs more people here and syrian people, as you know, they are very active and they can do something here in this country. this man has been here forfour years. the syrians can help the scottish people? we can work together. we can. many of them have skills and they can do something here. the food that we cook here is punjabi food, totally authentic. this man runs one of the biggest curry houses in scotland and wants to expand. but he says, brexit and new, tighter immigration rules from westminster are already threatening his business. it's now nearly impossible to recruit indian chefs from abroad. basically, what we are seeing is, to the rest of the world, we're closed for business. you're not welcome here. and i think that is commercial suicide. can migration be managed to suit the needs of business on one side and the worries many have about social cohesion? getting the balance right will be a challenge, whoever wins the election next week. graham satchell, bbc news, glasgow. what other issues affect scottish voters ? what other issues affect scottish voters? lorna gordon has spoken to locals in sterling... sterling is a place at the heart of the story of scotland. and a constituency which reflects the history of scottish elections as well. over the last three decades, people here went from sending a conservative mp to westminster, to favouring labour. then, at the last election, there was a big swing to the snp... so, what issues do the hairdressing students here think that for them, in this election, are cutting through? education. i have a son. the working class, i feel that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. education and the national health. it needs to be stepped up. next week's election will be the seventh time scots have gone to the polls in five years. this man owns a bike shop and believes the question of what you vote for and when, and whether issues are devolved or reserved, can sometimes prove confusing. it is more confusing than in england. in england you have one centre and here we have two. a lot of people are unsure as to where the power lies, whether it is holyrood or westminster. you need to know exactly where things are before you make a decision. have you made up your mind as to which way you will vote in the election? i have come i will vote for the conservatives. i think it is the party for small businesses, or business generally. i fill more comfortable with their policies. others here are not convinced. i have never voted for the conservatives. i would find that really ha rd. the conservatives. i would find that really hard. my heart has been more towards the labour side of things, anyway. for many in scotland, the choice of independence or the union is the dividing line. it is not a a lwa ys is the dividing line. it is not a always as clear—cut as you would think. i am a mass of contradictions. i am a member of the snp but i am not pro independence. i instinctively want to belong to the uk, europe and the world. i'm slightly different, i am pro—europe andl slightly different, i am pro—europe and i would rather leave the uk to remain in europe. that is more important. stirling is not a marginal. the snp has a big majority here. but this is a constituency where the electorate has shown they are open to changing their minds. and if, and it is a big if, at the seats changed hands again, it might indicate another shift in scotland's political allegiances is underway. lorna gordon, bbc news, stirling. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: the conservative candidate for south thanet, craig mackinlay, and a senior tory party official and his agent have been charged with breaching a electoral law relating to spending in the last general election campaign. theresa may is facing criticism for failing to join the leaders of france, germany and italy in condemning president trump's withdrawal from the paris climate deal. police investigating the manchester suicide bombing have evacuated an area in the south of the city after finding a car which they say could be "significa nt to the investigation". an update on the market numbers now. . . here's how london's ftse 100 is trading — and germany's dax. trade now under way in the united states — with the dow and the nasdaq numbers on the board. two cousins of the manchester bomber say they had no idea he was planning his attack, which killed 22 people. isaac and abz forjani were arrested by police after the suicide bombing — and were questioned for a week — but have since been released without charge. they've told the bbc they had no knowledge of his plans iam i am still shocked. i am still letting it sinking slowly. —— sink in slowly. getting around it somehow. it is not easy. it is not easy being connected to 22 lost innocent lives. and the fact that the person that did this is related to us by blood. it is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life really. my thoughts are with the families of the victims. i really do feel for them. we can come out and try and move on with our lives, but they have lost loved ones. i am still in shock, to be honest, about what happened. looking at the relationship i had with him, it was a pretty close relationship. for him to betray the image of the family, in that manner, and in that way, which was out of order, to be honest, involving 22 people, innocent people. i'm traumatised by it, to be honest. it is shocking. it is hysterical. for people who see it asa is hysterical. for people who see it as a big network that we were involved in, it is nothing like that. i believe that it was all done by one man, which developed some sort of thoughts in the past few years which he kept to himself, secret. secretly to himself. he never shared it with any members of the family. if you would have we could have done something to stop that happening, in a way. cousins of salman abedi speaking to the bbc. with the general election under a week away, my colleague victoria derbyshire has been organising a series of election blind dates — a lunch between two people with very different political views. today it's the turn of labour'sjess phillips and the conservative's john whittingdale. this is how they got on. i amjess phillips and i was labour member of parliament, now i'm the candidate in that election. i was raised to hate the tories. there are still some who i think are three—headed monsters. i feel slightly anxious about going out with somebody, i don't know who it is. i wouldn't want it to be anyone boring. i'm john whittingdale, the parliamentary candidate for maldon, in essex. my confession to you is that i'm taking a night off in the election campaign to go and see iron maiden at the 02. hello! how are you? we have put more money into education. when people say that, i look around and wonder where it has gone. it is not my children's school. it is notjust university education. all of the college funding has gone. there have been cuts. these are things that really matter. again, we get back to every problem. you could be spending more money on it but the problem is, in every area , money on it but the problem is, in every area, you want to spend more money. i want to spend more money on the kids in my constituency, danny! but i want to get the economy working properly. it tells you about the ridiculous life i live. i went to ibiza and tweeted, and it got picked up, "sacked culture secretary spends weekend in ib for!" people have the idea that we don't do normal things, we do the same things other people enjoy doing. people say to me, you like rock music? and i say, yes i do, actually! iwas in wilkinson is buying some bin bags in my constituency and somebody said, i cannot believe that you are in wilkinsons! i don't have people to put things in my bin! we agreed on quite a lot of things. we did not agree on how the nation should spend its finances... no! there was a line in the sand but i think that we are all the same. just phillips and john whittingdale on their election blind date. aside from pulling the us out of the paris climate agreement — the president also sparked controversy was his tweeting of the word covfefe. it was of course a word that's never existed, but one quickly to became a favourite on social media. it turns out ‘covfefe' is rather timely in terms of our next story — they are just some of the words grappled with at america's annual spelling bee as david eades explains. can you repeat the word? from 1100 entra nts can you repeat the word? from 1100 entrants and a final, it all came down to this word... that is correct! and with victory, how do you spell "dumb struck". he would be forgiven for thinking that it mattered less to ana nya forgiven for thinking that it mattered less to ananya vinay, but more to dad... spelling bee is an institution in the usa, and a monopoly for indian americans. this was the 30th time in a raid at an indian took the trophy. so how hard can it be? —— 13th. if you have not seen this word, how would you ever guess it? tchefuncte. .. yes, she seen this word, how would you ever guess it? tchefuncte... yes, she got that right as well... he was the show man this year, but cocky does not always mean correct... s, t, letterare, o... and when rohan rajeev stumbled over this... the game was up. so, the trophy and the kudos and the $40,000 first applies goes to ananya vinay. leaving the rest of us trailing in the wake of genius. so, how do you speu the wake of genius. so, how do you spell "inadequate". a very busy day politically with less than a week to go until the election. a number of issues for theresa may to deal with. we have just received this clip from an interview with her. let's listen to it... uk's position on the paris agreement is clear. we remain committed to it, it's an important international agreement on climate change. i made the uk's position clear to president trump at the g—7 meeting, as did the other g—7 leaders and i made the uk's position clear to president trump last night. canada and japan have not signed the letter, neither has the uk, but we all have the same view that we are committed to the paris agreement. what did you say to president trump last night? doesn't it show your subservience to president trump, as jeremy corbyn said? no, the uk's position on the paris agreement remains as it has always been. it is an important agreement on climate change and the uk is one of the leading nations across the world in dealing with climate change. i made a deal, as did other g—7 leaders, last week that we believed the importance of the paris agreement and want the usa to remain in it. i spoke to president trump last night and made it clear that the uk would have wa nted and made it clear that the uk would have wanted the usa to stay within the paris agreement and that we continue to support the paris agreement. like canada and japan, we made a very clear view known to president trump and others. and a letter like this, a public declaration by people who lead countries, doesn't it strongly show how you really feel about president trump? doesn't it feel we can not to join big countries like germany and france in standing up to him? they make a public lecture relation to the bbc now about the uk's position and that we wanted the usa to stay within the paris agreement. they have taken a different decision and we continue to commit to the paris agreement, we think it is important in dealing with climate change. the uk is one of the countries at the forefront of dealing with climate change and we remain committed to the paris agreement. craig mackinlay has been charged by the cps over his election expenses from 2015, what is your response? the conservative party continues to believe these allegations are unfounded, he is innocent until proven guilty and remains our candidate. and finally, confusion as to whether or not the plan to put erring immigration down to the tens of thousands is a target that you will meet by 2022, is that your target and how will you do it? you have not told voters how you plan to bring immigration down to that kind of level? there are two parties that this election, he will potentially be in government. the conservative party are committed to bringing net migration down because we know the impact immigration, when uncontrolled, what it can have on people. especially at the low end of the income scale. the labour party does not believe in controlling immigration. we are committed to bringing net migration down to the tens of thousands, sustainable levels. it will take time, we haven't got a timetable but we want to keep working at this. thank you. studio: theresa may speaking to our political correspondent then right. time for the weather forecast with tomasz schafernaker. the weather is looking fairly promising for most of us looking fairly promising for most of us this weekend. not absolutely perfect. there may be a little rain around, some of us may have to run for cover to dodge some of those showers, but it will be fresh with plenty of sunshine around. this low—pressure, swirling around the cloud, responsible for sending atla ntic cloud, responsible for sending atlantic air in our direction. now, there is a fair bit of cloud across there is a fair bit of cloud across the uk as this weather front crosses the uk as this weather front crosses the country. fresh air comes off the atla ntic the country. fresh air comes off the atlantic er, in the south—east and east anglia there's warmth and humidity. temperatures could get to 25 or 26 degrees. flashes of lightning, potentialfor a 25 or 26 degrees. flashes of lightning, potential for a couple 25 or 26 degrees. flashes of lightning, potentialfor a couple of thunderstorms rumbling across the south—east and east anglia. in the north and west, a different story. sunny spells, scattered clouds, the occasional shower and temperatures of about 15—18d. really pleasant for most of us. little changes as we head into the evening. a couple of thunderstorms lingering in the south—east and east anglia. it is noticeable tonight that it will be much pressure. in some areas, temperatures of single figures. in east anglia, clinging onto some continental warmth and humidity here. that may lingerfor continental warmth and humidity here. that may linger for some time tomorrow but for most of us, it is a bright day, if not sunny and occasionally interrupted by showers which most likely to fall across the western and north—western areas. temperatures of 17—20d, warmer in london. for most of us, a fine evening on the way tomorrow if you are prepared to catch one or two showers... on sunday, a similar picture with scattered showers, a lot of dry weather. the best of the weather will be in the east and the south. on monday, we change gear. a change on the way. this picture looks dramatic, quite unsettled. we are watching this low—pressure, potentially it will form and cross the country on monday, bringing spells of wet and windy weather. a little unusual for this time of year, too early to say how wet and windy it is going to get but suffice to say, the weekend does not look too bad but watch out for that rain and wind on monday. for south thanet is charged with overspending in the 2015 general election campaign. craig mackinlay is standing again for the seat onjune 8th — political opponents are questioning why: once again, it is bad judgment from theresa may. why on earth would you allow someone to go ahead as a general election candidate when this cloud was clearly hanging over him? the conservative party says the allegations against mr mackinlay and two other party workers are unfounded. and craig mackinlay is innocent until proven guilty and he remains our candidate. we will bring you the latest on this developing story. also this lunchtime... international condemnation of president trump's decision to withdraw the us from the paris climate agreement.