happening for conservative backbenchers, who, by the way, are at risk of losing their seats if there is a general election, this is their livelihoods, circuits, and labour will have to plan for a general election, they don't know, nobody knows. but the absence of anything definitive from downing street is extremely conspicuous and a lot of people are drawing the conclusion from that that something is up and that the most likely something is a general election, there were should say other people wonder whether she should might be about to reshuffle his cabinet, for example, a few months before an election, but we just don't know and i think we will find out either way this afternoon.— i think we will find out either way this afternoon. . ~ , ., ., this afternoon. take us through what is happening — this afternoon. take us through what is happening this _ this afternoon. take us through what is happening this afternoon. - this afternoon. take us through what is happening this afternoon. i'm - this afternoon. take us through what is happening this afternoon. i'm notl is happening this afternoon. i'm not clear on every _ is happening this afternoon. i'm not clear on every detail, _ is happening this afternoon. i'm not clear on every detail, because - is happening this afternoon. i'm not| clear on every detail, because some of the people who would usually help are proving elusive, but there is going to be a cabinet meeting this afternoon at about four p. that ought to be innocuous. the cabinet

usually meets weekly on tuesday, but rishi sunak was in vienna meeting his austrian counterpart yesterday, so that's why cabinet didn't happen. that's perfectly reasonable. however, david cameron, the foreign secretary, who is in albania, appears to be coming back early to take part in that cabinet meeting to stop that's quite striking. all these little straws in the wind, these little straws in the wind, these things that make you think, something is up, those are all going in a big way. indie something is up, those are all going in a big way-— in a big way. we love speculation in olitics. in a big way. we love speculation in politics- we — in a big way. we love speculation in politics. we will _ in a big way. we love speculation in politics. we will find _ in a big way. we love speculation in politics. we will find out _ in a big way. we love speculation in politics. we will find out later. - politics. we will find out later. thank you. it's a key day for the post office inquiry into the horizon it scandal. the former chief executive, paula vennells, who was in the job from 2012 to 2019, has been giving evidence today. it's the first time she's spoken publicly about her role in the scandal for almost a decade.

do you know, by the time you were speaking _ do you know, by the time you were speaking here, the branch manager at fuiford _ speaking here, the branch manager at fulford post office in stroud, gloucestershire, having been accused of stealing _ gloucestershire, having been accused of stealing £24,000, had been acquitted by a jury in april 2012, having _ acquitted by a jury in april 2012, having blamed horizon for the alleged — having blamed horizon for the alleged shortfalls at her branch? | alleged shortfalls at her branch? i didn't alleged shortfalls at her branch? i didn't know that information. i know now, yes. didn't know that information. i know now, es. ., ~ ., ., now, yes. you know that maureen mckelvey. — now, yes. you know that maureen mckelvey. sub _ now, yes. you know that maureen mckelvey, sub postmistress - now, yes. you know that maureen mckelvey, sub postmistress in - now, yes. you know that maureen - mckelvey, sub postmistress in omagh, accused _ mckelvey, sub postmistress in omagh, accused of— mckelvey, sub postmistress in omagh, accused of stealing £30,000, had been _ accused of stealing £30,000, had been acquitted by a jury, having blamed — been acquitted by a jury, having blamed horizon for the course of losses— blamed horizon for the course of losses of— blamed horizon for the course of losses of money, which she was accused — losses of money, which she was accused of— losses of money, which she was accused of seeing? i losses of money, which she was accused of seeing?— losses of money, which she was accused of seeing? i know that now. universe know _ accused of seeing? i know that now. universe know that _ accused of seeing? i know that now. universe know that susan _ accused of seeing? i know that now. universe know that susan palmer, i accused of seeing? i know that now. l universe know that susan palmer, sub postmistress at grange post office in rayleigh had been acquitted by a 'ury in rayleigh had been acquitted by a jury in_ in rayleigh had been acquitted by a jury injanuary 2007, in rayleigh had been acquitted by a jury in january 2007, having in rayleigh had been acquitted by a jury injanuary 2007, having blamed horizon— jury injanuary 2007, having blamed horizon at— jury injanuary 2007, having blamed

horizon at trial for the loss that's said have — horizon at trial for the loss that's said have been attributable to her. why were — said have been attributable to her. why were you telling these parliamentarians that every prosecution involving the horizon system _ prosecution involving the horizon system had been successful and had found _ system had been successful and had found in_ system had been successful and had found in favour of the post office? i found in favour of the post office? i fully— found in favour of the post office? i fully accept now that the post office, excuse me... the post office new that, i completely accept it. personally, i didn't know that and i am credibly sorry it happened to those people and so many others. let's speak to our news correspondent, azadeh moshiri who is at the inquiry. what has the reaction been to pull a

merrills was not a response from some of the sub—postmaster and postmistress at the inquiry? it’s postmistress at the inquiry? it's been postmistress at the inquiry? it�*s been mixed reactions. inside the room, when paula vennells has said things like, i was accused of being too trusting, in fact, or to curious inside the post office, then later saying she was perhaps to trusting of her employees, there were laughs in the room. this often happens when these sub—postmaster, who have been going through this for decades, here the same responses repeatedly and then hear comments which they perhaps were not expecting, but this was a traumatic experience for many of them, so some of them who i have spoken to recently, they said that it's particularly painful because it's particularly painful because it's making them relive exactly everything that they've been

through. we are talking about bankruptcy, homelessness, mental health problems, and so for them they are saying that the apologies they are saying that the apologies they are saying that the apologies they are hearing, the moments where we saw paula vennells break down in tears, they don't wash with them. one sub—postmaster told me he found this apologies and these moments rang hollow for him. and so it's mixed emotions. overall, they were not expected to be satisfied by the end of today. many of them say this to me every time i come to these hearings. they are not really expecting to hear much more than, i don't remember, i don't recall, i did the best i could with the information i had at the time. but they still want to see these people held to account and they still want to see executives at the top, especially paula vennells, have to answer difficult questions. she apologised _ answer difficult questions. she apologised at _ answer difficult questions. she apologised at the start of her evidence and said that answers the questions would be difficult to

listen to, and we have a couple more days of her being quizzed, don't we? what else are you looking out for? welcome when we spoke earlier today i listed some of the big questions we were looking for. one question i didn't say was, were you the unluckiest ceo in the uk, but that's exactly what the inquiry council, jason beer, put to paula vennells? that's partly because many of the answers she has given so far have been that her employees didn't give her crucial information that pointed to miscarriages ofjustice, that fugitive employees didn't tell her about bugs and defects. she did answer one of those crucial questions, which is, did she lie to parliament in 2015? the answer was that she admitted the information now was not true. again, that's

because she says she didn't have the information she needed at the time. over the next few days, what she is going to be pressed upon is whether she could have done more during her tenure at the top between 2012 and 2019, because one issue the inquiry has consistently put to executives is, did they care about the post office's brand, its reputation more than the wellbeing of sub—postmasters? she will be pressed on that everyday, i believe, and there was a particularly moment earlier today, one that was difficult for the community now of victims who have attended today, and that's when the story of martin griffiths was brought up. he is a former sub—postmaster who attempted to take his own life in 2013 by stepping in front of the bus. he died in hospital later on. she was shown e—mails in response to that

incident and, in those e—mails, while she talked about supporting the family, she did also question whether there were records of previous mental health issues strip again, what the inquiry counsel is trying to ascertain and steer her towards his whether the post office was truly concerned first and foremost with the well bowing of these sub—postmasters as well as whether they were properly investigating whether these convictions, these prosecutions were appropriate. we now know these were wrongful convictions.— wrongful convictions. thank you for the moment- _ wrongful convictions. thank you for the moment. we _ wrongful convictions. thank you for the moment. we will _ wrongful convictions. thank you for the moment. we will be _ wrongful convictions. thank you for the moment. we will be bringing i wrongful convictions. thank you for i the moment. we will be bringing you live coverage of the inquiry when it resumes shortly. conservative mp craig mackinlay has returned to the house of commons for the first time after suffering a life—threatening episode of sepsis, which led to the amputation of his hands and feet. the south thanet mp woke up from an induced coma to find his limbs had

turned completely black. here he is at westminster. this is the an emotional day from a foot up if you would indulge me to say if you thanks, because if you are due. an apology, actually, that i've caused the breaking of so many rules today, clapping, i've got trainers on because my shoes wouldn't go over the plastic feet and myjacket wouldn't go over the bionic arm. apologies for that. but i want to give some thanks. first of all, thanks to you, mr speaker, for being there for me, for coming to visit, and i will tell everybody a story, the rest of the hospital thought i must have been dreadfully ill because they said, that guy has already got the funeral director n. laughter. ., .., ., laughter. you cared for me throughout — laughter. you cared for me throughout and _ laughter. you cared for me throughout and i _ laughter. you cared for me throughout and i thank- laughter. you cared for me throughout and i thank you i laughter. you cared for me | throughout and i thank you for laughter. you cared for me - throughout and i thank you for that. the other person i would like to thank is the prime minister, who has

been with me throughout. he hasn't advertised it. he has been to see me multiple times. to me that shows the true depth of the character of the prime minister, thank you for that. and to my wife, who is in the chamber, my daughter and father, father—in—law, i'd like to thank my wife for being there every single day of those months in hospital and she could only do that because of the support of the family. in the public gallery, and they can't see me, many of the staff from the nhs who took me from where i was, close to death... they took me from close to death to where i am today. i'm not entirely sure i'm that happy to the two surgeons who took this lot of but there you are. can i ask the prime

minister, can we please ensure that we embed recognition of early signs of sepsis? it wouldn't have worked for me, mine was too quick and sudden, but many people get a few days. if we can stop somebody ending up days. if we can stop somebody ending up like this, i would say that is a job well done, but also to impress upon your health ministers to allow the provision of appropriate prosthetics, particularly for multi—limb amputees, at the right time for the thank you. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav danaos. it's looking very wet the next couple of days, thanks to an area of low pressure parked across the uk the persistent rainfall, heavy at times, likely to lead to some transport issues and even localised flooding. the met office has issued an amber warning flooding. the met office has issued an amberwarning for flooding. the met office has issued an amber warning for the heavy rain, which will affect large parts of north—west england, north wales in particular, but it's thought to be widespread heavy rain across much of the country. this area of low

pressure is the culprit, moving off the continent, and parking itself across the uk for the next few days was the heaviest rain across scotland, northern england, the midlands, north wales. the south should see some brightness perhaps a few showers. the same for northern ireland, but most places then cloudy and a more breezy day for step it's not going to feel particularly warm. temperatures are low teens where we have the rainfall and mid—teens generally for most places. as we head through tonight, it stays wet. rain continued in scotland and northern england, pushing to northern ireland at north wales, and the rainfall totals really mounting up. elsewhere, more dry and variable cloud and if you play spells and temperatures seven to 12 step for thursday, low pressure on top of us but we came in. the rain will slowly put out. it could pep up again in parts of scotland but northern ireland, england and wales could see a few bright spells and perhaps

sunshine in southern and south—eastern areas to that should push temperatures up to seven or eight. rainfall totals will be accumulating in the next couple of days. could be in excess of 100 millimetres in the worst affected areas, so we will see some local strutting here and there. improvement for friday, the error of low pressure fizzling out, leaving a legacy of cloud across much of the country and still a few spots of rain and drizzle in northern england and scotland. still some brightness and scotland. still some brightness and there across southern areas, with the wind telling light. it shouldn't feel too bad with temperatures up to 18. some improvements as we head into the bank holiday. although we will have sunshine and showers, saturday and sunday, even into bank holiday, there will be some sunny spells around so it should feel a bit warmer, typically in southern areas.

live from london. this is bbc news. spain, ireland and norway say they will recognise an independent palestinian state, leading israel to recall its ambassadors from those countries. tens of thousands of iranians join the funeral procession for president ebrahim raisi who died in a helicopter crash on sunday. former post office chief executive, paula vennells, breaks down in tears and apologises to subpostmasters while giving evidence at the public inquiry. the head of singapore airlines offers condolences for the extreme turbulence' which killed one person

and injured dozens. hello, welcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. spain, ireland and norway have announced they will formally recognise an independent palestinian state. the irish prime minister, simon harris, said that palestinian and israeli children deserved peace and that it was "the right thing to do". spain's pedro sanchez said there was "an obligation to act" while norway's prime minister said a two—state solution was in israel's best interests. at least 140 members of the un already formally recognise palestinian statehood — others including the us and the uk, do not. translation: the progressive coalition government of spain | echoing the majority feeling of spaniards at large. next tuesday, on the 28th of may, we will at cabinet

meeting recognise the state of palestine.