live from london, this is bbc news. after his first major speech of the general election campaign, labour's leader says his party will deliver security, stability and, above all, change. well, i think if you look at this changed labour party, there's no doubt that the labour party now is fundamentally different to the labour party of 2019, when we lost so badly. meanwhile, the conservative leader, rishi sunak, defends his plan to bring back a form of compulsory national service. this modern form of national service will mean young people get the skills and opportunities they need, which will serve them very well in life. it's going to foster a culture of service. in other news, international condemnation of israel after palestinian officials say

at least 45 people have been killed at a refugee camp in rafah. the authorities in papua new guinea now say more than 2,000 people were buried by a devastating landslide in a remote village. the fbi says it is investigating the sale of hundreds of treasures that could have been stolen from the british museum. hello, i'm ben brown. welcome to verified live, three hours of breaking stories. the general election campaign is in full swing, and the labour leader sir keir starmer made his first big speech of the campaign. he's told undecided voters in the conservative—held seat of lancing that they could trust labour because he's changed the party permanently. he said it will deliver stability if it wins power. he added labour would carry out a 100—day review of the country's national security,

examining the threats it faces. throughout the programme, we'll be hearing from a series of political leaders, but we'll start with the labour leader, who's been speaking to our political editor chris mason. isn't it a bit late, four years into being leader of the opposition, to be setting out now who you are and what you stand for? what i've said today is stuff i've said many times over in terms of my background, the impact my family had on me, both my mum's illness on me and the family, but also the fact that we couldn't always make ends meet. but i do think when you get to an election, there is a really important question that voters are looking to, which is, what sort of person are you? what are your instincts? and who do you have in your mind's eye when you make decisions? and that's why it was important for me to be able to say, when people

are struggling with their bills, i know what that feels like, when people have to rely on the nhs, i know personally what that feels like and i have working people in my mind when i make key decisions. that's the really important part of an election cycle. there were some polling out this weekend that suggests plenty of people do think that it might be a time for change, but far fewer are necessarily sold with labour. do you accept that there is perhaps an enthusiasm deficit, a lack of enthusiasm for you? well, i think if you look at this changed labour party, there's no doubt that the labour party now is fundamentally different to the labour party of 2019, when we lost so badly. but in elections, i don't know how many times i've seen sort of failing tory governments that are not replaced by a labour government because the party hadn't changed. we weren't. .. or maybe a lack of enthusiasm. but we have changed the party and that's why people are looking to labour. you have to ask why people

are looking to labour and i think they're looking to labour because they could see a change labour party which is absolutely country first, party second. they might be looking, but are they enthusiastic? are you concerned about a lack of enthusiasm for labour? i think if you look at the results that we put in the local elections, the by election swings that we've had, it is quite obvious to me that people who have voted for other parties are now looking to the labour party. i do think there's an underlying issue here, which is over the last 14 years, i think the government's probably beaten the hope out of many people, and i want to restore the idea that politics can be a force for good, that we can turn the page and take our country forward. and that's what our campaign is all about. and directly addressing undecided voters today, telling them who i am and telling them, "i'll fight foryou, "i'll fight for you." you've talked today in quite some depth about your upbringing. one part of your upbringing is that you went to a selective grammar school. do you believe in selective education? no, i don't. and... so it was ok for you, but not for others? i was ten going on 11

when that choice was made for me by my parents. so i think that line of attack only goes so far, but our children are in state secondary schools and that's where my siblings went. so that's. .. i want every single child to have the best possible opportunity. i think children develop at different points during their teenage years. i've got two teenage children, so i see that first—hand. but i want every single child to have the best chance they can have, and i want them to have the best school and the best education that they can have. would you allow existing grammar schools to expand or indeed perhaps more grammar schools? i don't think we should have more grammar schools, but we're certainly not in the business of going closing down what is already there. but fundamentally, i want to make sure that every state school has the teachers that they need, which is why we're going to recruit 6,500 teachers, because the prime minister says he wants maths to 18, but we haven't even got enough maths teachers in our state secondaries to age 16. i want to fix that. would you describe yourself as a socialist? look...

yes, i would describe myself as a socialist. i'd describe myself as a progressive. as somebody who always puts the country first and party second. how would you describe your socialism? because that word to some people might be scary, off—putting, but you're happy to answer that question directly. let me just explain exactly what i mean by that, because for me, this is about — politics is about — putting the country in the service of working people. politics is about service for me. and that's why i changed the labour party, to put it back in the service of working people. and what i'm doing now is humbly asking voters to trust us, to change the country and put the country back in the service of working people. that's what it means to me. that's what politics means to me. that's what drives me. that's how i make my decisions. labour has said, you have said that in government, you wouldn't put up income tax or national insurance. what about the main rate of vat?

well, we have said that about income tax and national insurance, but we've also drawn up all of our plans for the manifesto and for the election. and none of those require us to increase taxes. and there's a reason for that. and that's because i think working people have been overburdened with increased taxes... so that main rate of vat won't change? well, i think working people have been overburdened with tax increases in recent years. we have gone through all of our plans and none of them require us to raise taxes. thank you. that was her keir starmer, the labour leader, speaking to our political editor. meanwhile, prime minister rishi sunak has been defending his plan for mandatory national service for 18—year—olds. the prime minister has been on the campaign

trail in buckinghamshire, defending the proposal as a "bold" move that'll foster a "culture of service." under the tory plan, all 18—year—olds will be legally required to take up either a 12—month placement in the armed forces or cyber defence or give up the equivalent of one weekend a month to volunteer in their communities. i believe this is the right thing to do because this is how we'll deliver a secure future for everyone and our country. we're not going to do that without taking bold action, and that's a type of leadership that i offer. and this modern form of national service will mean that young people get the skills and opportunities they need, which is going to serve them very well in life. it's going to foster a culture of service, which is going to be incredibly powerful for making our society more cohesive. and in a more uncertain and dangerous world, it's going to strengthen our country's security and resilience. so for all these reasons, i think this is absolutely the right thing to do. yes, it is bold, but that's a type of leadership that i offer. it's a clear plan, bold action. that's how we'll deliver a secure future for our country. with more on this, we can cross live to our political

correspondent jack fenwick, who is in the newsroom for us. jack, this idea of national service, certainly dominating the early stage of the campaign as far as the conservatives are concerned? that's riaht, this conservatives are concerned? that's right. this has _ conservatives are concerned? that's right, this has been _ conservatives are concerned? that's right, this has been the _ conservatives are concerned? that's right, this has been the big - conservatives are concerned? triat�*s right, this has been the big policy splash from the conservatives, we only learned about it this weekend and were hoping it would take headlines. you would rishi sunak their state was able idea, and trying to create some sort of difference between himself and sir keir starmer, the leader of the labour party, you want to say in that clip there that keir starmer has no plans and no policies, so that's clearly what he was trying to get out of this, but it has been some controversy surrounding this as well. anne—marie trevelyan, the foreign office minister, this morning was talking about the fact that perhaps parents could be fined if 18—year—old stones take part in this mandatory modern national service, as the conservative party is calling it. in is similar to if children don't turn up to school,

parents can be fined, perhaps something similar will happen there. later in the day the conservatives deputy chairmanjames daley said to the bbc that there will be sanctions if people don't take part in this mandatory service, so perhaps that's not the element of that particular policy the prime minister was hoping people and up talking about today, but nevertheless he is trying to use it as a point of difference proved himself as labour. —— between himself as labour. —— between himself and labour. this himself as labour. -- between himself and labour.— himself as labour. -- between himself and labour. this is coming the last coume _ himself and labour. this is coming the last couple of— himself and labour. this is coming the last couple of minutes. - himself and labour. this is coming the last couple of minutes. we - himself and labour. this is coming the last couple of minutes. we are hearing the tory mp lucy allen has been suspended by the conservative party for supporting reform uk's candidate in telford and that is the seat that she is vacating, that she has been, we are hearing, suspended by the tory party, that's just coming into us. by the tory party, that's 'ust coming into usfi by the tory party, that's 'ust coming into us. that's right, yes, so lucy allan _ coming into us. that's right, yes, so lucy allan is — coming into us. that's right, yes, so lucy allan is a _ coming into us. that's right, yes, so lucy allan is a long-standing l so lucy allan is a long—standing conservative mp in telford. she announced a little while ago she would not be standing in the selection and then we got the news in the last hour so she is actually

endorsing the reform candidate there. lucy allan is a muddy scene is on the right of the conservative party, so if she wants to go to another party, it is not a huge price it would be reform uk, she is somebody talks about lowering immigration, lowering taxes, so the message the reform pretty and richard tice are trying to put out there which i'm with those think she is interested in, and to be honest, not a huge price the consummate party has suspended her from the party. to endorse a rival candidate, thatis party. to endorse a rival candidate, that is essentially the rule book says. that is essentially the rule book sa s. , . ~ ~' that is essentially the rule book sa ., " that is essentially the rule book sa ., ~ ., ., says. jack, thank you for that u date, says. jack, thank you for that update. jack _ says. jack, thank you for that update, jack fenwick, - says. jack, thank you for that update, jack fenwick, our - says. jack, thank you for that - update, jack fenwick, our political update, jack fenwick, our political correspondent. the westminster leader of plaid cymru, liz saville—roberts, has given her reaction to the conservatives' plan to bring back national service. it's a completely bonkers policy that they have pulled out at the beginning of an election. if you think, this is the party that has ensured that there are hardly any youth clubs, youth facilities left, because of their

policy of austerity. they have prevented young people from freedom of movement into europe, where they can work and travel around europe. they have knocked their housing market opportunities, they have knocked their education opportunities, and what do they bring to us? they bring us national conscription, where you or your parents may be arrested if you don't confirm. we don't know whether you'll be paid or not, and if you go into the army, we don't actually know where they are going to be able to put 30,000 conscripts. meanwhile in scotland, the scottish national party leader has told voters that the quickest way to "rid scotland of the tories is to vote snp". speaking at a campaign event in dumfries, john swinney said the party would challenge every conservative seat north of the border. the snp are currently the third—largest party in westminster with 43 seats. i've got to make sure that i lift the poor fortunes of the snp. we've had a tough time as a party. i've been completely open and candid about it.

that's why i'm now the first minister and leader of the snp, because the snp�*s had a tough time. but i've got the party focused on what our core message is, and that message for this election is that we've had austerity, brexit and the cost of living crisis inflicted upon scotland. they're all the product of westminster and the tory government. we've got a chance in scotland to remove every tory mp who's inflicted such damage on scotland, by voting for the snp, because we are the principal challengers to every one of those tory mps and we've got a big chance to make sure that scotland's interests are protected at westminster by electing snp mps who, apart from anything else, are there for scotland. that's john swinney. the liberal democrat leader sir ed davey has told voters that it's time for change and urged voters in scotland to send a message that the snp government isn't doing a good enoughjob. at the party's scottish launch, sir ed davey said voters had been doubly let down by the tories at westminster and the snp at holyrood and said that the liberal democrats

would fight for a fair dealfor communities. liberal democrats can win a lot of seats in scotland. we've got some fantastic candidates. if you vote liberal democrat, you get a local champion who's going to campaign for your community, for your family, stand up for them on the nhs and on the local environment. and there's a chance that we can have more liberals than nationalists in the westminster parliament after this election and be the third party again and make sure that we all really stand up for scotland and strengthen our precious family of nations. and dave either of the liberal democrats. —— and and remember, you can follow the latest election coverage. just head to the bbc news website. we have a live page running with plenty of updates and analysis from the campaign. you can also find it on the bbc news app. around the world and across

the uk, this is bbc news.

now to papua new guinea, where the government estimates that a landslide that swept across a remote village on friday buried more than 2,000 people. the country's national disaster centre says the landslide destroyed buildings, farmland and completely blocked the main highway to porgera mine. it also says unstable terrain is making work dangerous for rescue teams. the landslide hit enga province, some 370 miles north—west of the capital port moresby. the country has appealed for international help to cope with the disaster. we've received this update from mate bagossy, a un humanitarian advisor in papua new guinea. he spent the day at the location of the landlide in enga province. we were just back today from the landslide location in papua new guinea. retrieval operations are ongoing. search and rescue for potential

survivors or bodies of people who are victims of this landslide. so it is difficult to estimate the total number of victims. right now, the priorities are, on the one hand, to continue the search and rescue, or rather retrieval operations of the bodies, and on the other to provide shelter, food, wash, assistance, so humanitarian assistance to the survivor populations. and also another priority is to ensure that a safe zone is created and other surrounding populations who might be at risk can be evacuated to safer zones, because the landslide is still progressing, and the entire zone is dangerous. in the middle east, there's growing international condemnation of an air strike near rafah in gaza, which palestinian officials say killed at least 45 people — including women and children — at a refugee camp. israel says it conducted a precise strike against two senior hamas leaders and says it's investigating how this happened. the prime minister,

benjamin netanyahu, has called it "a tragic incident." meanwhile, in the last few minutes, the white house has reiterated that israel must take every precaution to protect citizens. dan johnson reports. explosions this was israel's air strike late last night in southern gaza — it says, targeting senior hamas figures with precision weapons. but look what it did to the nearby camp where thousands of palestinians were sheltering. israel says it was striking legitimate targets in line with international law. but many of these people had already been uprooted many times through this conflict. "suddenly, we heard the sound of a missile," this man says. "we ran and found the street covered in smoke. "we couldn't see anything. "then we found a girl and a young

man who had been blown to pieces." women and children are among the casualties here in what they believed was a safe humanitarian zone. this morning, israeli drones surveyed the damage as people questioned how this could happen. translation: we heard a very loud sound and some fire. _ the kids were screaming and all the rooms surrounding us were made out of metal sheets. the sound was terrifying. translation: we set up our tents here and it has been targeted. - they killed our children and burned our women and elderly in the place they claimed was safe. this is our seventh time being displaced. earlier yesterday, hamas reminded israelis that it remains a threat. tel aviv came under rocket attack for the first time in months. there are questions over israel's military strategy and an international court

ruling against it. israel continues in military action that it has been asked to stop. also, hamas is launching rockets against israel, so both sides do not respect the rule of law. israel says a review will examine this loss of life. but it is palestinians who count their dead and wonder where in gaza they can find safety. dan johnson, bbc news. avi hyman is a spokesman for the israeli government. he explained the objective of the israeli strike on rafah. what happened last night, sadly... there is no moral equivalence between the two things. what happened last night is, we went after two high—value hamas targets, and it appears from initial reports that somehow a fire broke out and that was... that sadly took the lives of others. now, i say "it appears to"

because it is under investigation, and the idf investigates every accident of this nature to see what actually happened. that's the government spokesman. let's speak to our diplomatic correspondent paul adams, who's injerusalem. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says that unfortunately something went tragically wrong here? . something went tragically wrong here? , ., . . something went tragically wrong here? i. .. ., something went tragically wrong here? ., ~ , ., here? , you can tell from avi hyman there 'ust here? , you can tell from avi hyman there just how— here? , you can tell from avi hyman there just how discomforted - here? , you can tell from avi hyman there just how discomforted the - there just how discomforted the israelis are today by what happened last night. there is still no adequate explanation, benjamin netanyahu called it a tragedy, all day the israelis have been saying that they're looking into this, they are going to conduct a full and thorough investigation. they describe this as a precision strike using small, precise weapons against two hamas figures who had been involved in directing hamas's operations, not in gaza but in the west bank. what i don't know, what we don't know, is how this small

precision strike led to an inferno which raged for a good couple of hours and killed so many and entered so many more. it seems as though in that heavily populated area where people were living in tents and under plastic sheeting and in containers, there was a degree of a large quantity of flammable material, and that ignited this firestorm which killed so many people. that is what the israelis are trying to establish. did they know that that source of flammable material was there before they launched that stray? what exactly went wrong?— launched that stray? what exactly went wron: ? �* . , ., went wrong? and, paul, 'ust hearing from washington, h went wrong? and, paul, 'ust hearing from washington, the _ went wrong? and, paul, just hearing from washington, the national - from washington, the national security spokesman they're talking about the devastating images that we've been looking at as well, insane, israel has a right to go after hamas, but as we have been clear, quote, israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians, so another telling off, really, from the biden administration.-

really, from the biden administration. . . administration. yeah, and i can tell ou, b administration. yeah, and i can tell you. by the — administration. yeah, and i can tell you. by the way. — administration. yeah, and i can tell you, by the way, that _ administration. yeah, and i can tell you, by the way, that the _ administration. yeah, and i can tell you, by the way, that the images i administration. yeah, and i can tell. you, by the way, that the images we have seen here are absolutely unspeakable. i mean, this was an inferno, and you can imagine what that does to anyone who was caught up that does to anyone who was caught up in it. this comes literally days after the international court of justice ordered israel to avoid taking any further action that would cause serious harm to the civilian population of the rafah area. this is precisely the kind of operation or action or incident that the israelis need to be seem to be avoiding, in orderfor this international storm of criticism about its operation in rafah to go away. it cannot afford this kind of incident if it is to continue to operate in the rafah area, as it seems determined to do, so they are being asked a lot of questions from a lot of people about precisely how this went so terribly wrong. find a lot of people about precisely how this went so terribly wrong.- this went so terribly wrong. and in the meantime. — this went so terribly wrong. and in the meantime, what _ this went so terribly wrong. and in the meantime, what if _ this went so terribly wrong. and in the meantime, what if anything i this went so terribly wrong. and in

the meantime, what if anything is| the meantime, what if anything is happening with talks to try to create some sort of cease—fire in gaza? create some sort of cease-fire in gaza? ., , , , , , create some sort of cease-fire in gaza? ,, , gaza? not surprisingly, this appears to have dented _ gaza? not surprisingly, this appears to have dented perhaps, _ gaza? not surprisingly, this appears to have dented perhaps, destroyed. to have dented perhaps, destroyed any talks this week. hamas officials have been quoted as saying they will not precipitate in any talks. there was a comment from qatar, one of the chief mediators here, suggesting this latest incident was not going to help. it did seem as though everyone was poised to get back to some kind of negotiations, without any obvious sign of any change of position on either side, but whether that will happen this week in the wake of what had just happened, it's a little unclear. wake of what had 'ust happened, it's a little unclear.— a little unclear. paul, good to talk to ou, a little unclear. paul, good to talk to you. paul _ a little unclear. paul, good to talk to you, paul adams _ a little unclear. paul, good to talk to you, paul adams there, - a little unclear. paul, good to talk to you, paul adams there, our. to you, paul adams there, our diplomatic correspondent, in jerusalem, covering the latest developments for us. thank you, paul. a pocket watch that belongs to

winston churchill has gone under the hammer. the 18—carat gold watch, engraved with sir winston's coat of arms, exceeded initial estimates of £20,000—30,000. the watch went to a private collector in the uk after a "ferocious bidding war", particularly from the united states. the gift from herbert henry asquith was believed to acknowledge sir winston's "bold move" in 190a when he famously crossed the floor from the conservative party to the liberal party. finally this half hour, something not to try unless you know what you are doing. take a look at this. the season—opening event in the cliff diving world series has taken place in athens. each diverjumps from 27 metres into the water below. canada's molly carlson won the women's event, whilst in the men's category, last year's winner, constantin popovici from romania, continued where he left last season with a win. this year is the 15th anniversary of the men's series, with the tenth year the women have taken part.

rather them than me! you are watching bbc news. hello again. as we go through this week, temperatures will be roughly where we expect at this time of year. there will be heavy showers in the forecast, but it looks like it will turn drier later in the week as low pressure loses its grip and high pressure takes over. low pressure is firmly in charge today, with a weather front to the north—east, enhancing the showers, especially later in the day. for most, a mixture of bright spells, sunshine and showers, slow—moving showers across the north and north—east of scotland, they could be heavy and sundry with hail. they could be heavy and thundery with hail. later, the cloud thickens across the isles of scilly and cornwall, bringing in some rain. if you are in the sunshine and light breezes, temperatures up to 17 degrees will feel quite pleasant. this evening, the showers fade quickly. clear skies, a weather front towards the west,

continues to bring in rain, pushing northwards and eastwards. under the band of cloud and rain, relatively mild but cooler, chillier than last night in the east. this is the weather front coming our way. there is another one hot on its heels, all connected to low pressure, and although we start off dry and sunny in some eastern areas, you can see where we have our two weather fronts, they will be pushing northwards and eastwards. you may hear thunder as well. as they clear from the south—west, we see a return to sunshine and showers. these are our temperatures, 1a to 18 degrees. wednesday, we have low pressure with us, pulling steadily eastwards. on wednesday itself, showery outbreaks of rain, that moving southwards across england and wales, but through the afternoon, some of the showers turning quite heavy. push further west, drier, the driest conditions

in northern ireland, where we have highs of up to 17 degrees, but widely, 13 to about 19 degrees. towards the latter part of the working week, the low pressure pulls away, allowing high pressure to move in for a time, so that means the weather will start to settle down. on thursday, we have sunshine and showers, fewer showers on friday, and then looking drier into the weekend.

this is bbc news. the headlines — in his first major speech of the general election campaign, labour's leader says his party will deliver security, stability and — above all — change. well, i think if you look at this changed labour party, there's no doubt that the labour party now is fundamentally different to the labour party of 2019 where we lost so badly. meanwhile, the conservative leader, rishi sunak, defends his plan to bring back a form of compulsory national service. this modern form of national service will mean that young people get the skills and the opportunities they need, which is going to serve them very well in life. it's going to foster a culture of service. international condemnation of israel after palestinian officials say at least 45 people have been killed at a refugee camp in rafah.