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. 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. hello, i'm adam fleming, host of the bbc�*s daily news podcast newscast. you will shortly be able to see us recording today's episode, where we'll tell you everything you need to know from the campaign trail.

it is 7pm, good evening. i am nicky schiller. we are going to start of course with the general election campaign. the labour leader has pledged to "stop the chaos" and "rebuild the country" in his first major speech of the election campaign. sir keir starmer appealed to undecided voters and urged people to trust him to deliver economic stability and protect national security. rishi sunak, also out campaigning today, dismissed the speech as "waffle", saying it contained "not a single plan for the future". we'll have more about the prime minister shortly, but first here's our political editor chris mason on keir starmer�*s speech. a man waiting — waiting for his moment, waiting, he hopes, to be prime minister. if you've ever wondered what this man is all about, today was his attempt to give you an answer. the leader of the labour party, keir starmer.

applause this, the village hall in lancing in west sussex, as sir keir spoke of his own background. if you're working class, you're scared of debt. my mum and dad were scared of debt, so they would choose the bill that they wouldn't pay rather than go into debt, and they chose the phone bill. they would have the phone cut off rather than pay the bill because it was the easiest one to do without. the labour leader is also acknowledging he has plenty of persuading to do. whatever the polls say, i know there are countless people who haven't decided how they'll vote in this election. they still have questions about us. has labour changed 7 do i trust them with my money, our borders, our security?

my answer is, yes, you can. the challenge for him is, can he convert disillusionment from some with the conservatives into votes for him, even enthusiasm for him? do you accept that there is perhaps an enthusiasm deficit, a lack of enthusiasm for you? you have to ask why people are looking to labour, and i think they're looking to labour because they can see a changed 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 do think there's an underlying issue here, which is, over the last 14 years, i think the government has probably beaten the hope out of many people, and i want to restore the idea that politics can be a force for good. would you describe yourself as a socialist? look, yes, i would describe myself as a socialist. i describe myself as a progressive. 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. there are only two people who can be prime minister after this election. here is the verdict of his opponent. there's a clear contrast in choice at this election. it's another day, we've had another speech from keir starmer, who you've just asked me about. another half—hour speech, not a single new idea. he's taking the british public for granted. keir starmer talked today of this road in hurst green in surrey where he grew up. he claims it's about as english as it gets. those who seek to govern us seek, too, to attempt to personify — however imperfectly — the country they seek to lead. biography, background, beliefs — it's all under scrutiny. chris mason, bbc news.

as we saw in chris's report, the prime minister rishi sunak has also been out campaigning. he defended his plan for a modern national service, saying it would foster a culture of service and strengthened the country security. he has been in buckinghamshire. and he wanted to talk about security, both national and personal. in a speech this evening, made in front of supporters, the conservatives' leader criticised labour and outlined his plans on national service and migration. the world is sadly a more dangerous and uncertain place than it's been for decades. iran, russia, china, north korea, working together to threaten our values, our interests abroad and at home. and in these uncertain times, we need bold action, we need a clear plan to chart a course to a secure future, and that's what we conservatives offer. just take our borders. while others want to threaten the security, the integrity of our borders, we've got a bold plan with rwanda,

to make it crystal clear that if you come to our country illegally, you won't be able to stay, you'll be returned. that's how you create a deterrent. and you know what? i travel around now — the penny is dropping across europe, multiple other european countries realising that our approach is the right one. but who's the one person that doesn't? it's keir starmer. opposes our plan. he'll let everyone that we've detained out, scrap the flights, offer an amnesty to illegal migrants and turn the united kingdom into a magnet for migrants across europe. in every which way, the labour party will make our country less secure, and that's what we're going to stop. now, look, labourwant you to believe, want everyone to believe that this election is a foregone conclusion, that it's over before it's even started, but we know something, don't we? the british people don't like being taken for granted, do they? crowd: no! so we are going to fight very hard. and just look at the

last couple of days. contrast what we're doing — bold action, a new plan, a modern version of national service, to give our young people the skills and the opportunities they need to succeed in life, to foster a sense of service, to make society more cohesive and to strengthen our country's resilience and our security. and in contrast, keir starmer has made yet another half—hour speech today, but was there one single new idea in that speech? no! they've had 14 years to think about what they want to do and they've got nothing to say about the future of our country, and that's what we are going to show. we are going to show that we've got a plan for the future. the liberal democrats have launched their campaign in scotland. the party leader, sir ed davey, said they wouldn't form a coalition with the conservatives, but didn't rule out a deal with labour. sir ed also says his party can become the third biggest in the commons after the general election, overtaking the snp. here's a little of what he said on a campaign visit to fife. the snp are so out of touch and,

like the conservatives in england, people want to get rid of them. and in many parts of the country, it's the liberal democrats who can do that. in mid dunbartonshire, for example, you've got the amazing susan murray who, already, people think she's the mp, she is so active. if you go to the highlands and islands, if you go to inverness, skye and west rossshire, you will see angus macdonald knocking on doors in places like fort william. people are really turning to the liberal democrats and to candidates like angus macdonald. if you go to argyle and bute and see my former parliamentary colleague, who's now standing again, alan reid, you'll see liberal democrats really on the march. so i'm really confident that we're going to make gains across scotland in these elections. the leader of the scottish national party has been out campaigning in dumfries.

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. john swinney. with more on this, we can cross live to our political correspondent jack fenwick, who is in the newsroom for us. jack, i wondered jack, iwondered if jack, i wondered if i can start with this tory plan for national service that we heard over the weekend,

still making headlines, opposition partyjust still making headlines, opposition party just driving still making headlines, opposition partyjust driving it as a gimmick. rishi sunak coming out this afternoon to defend it. yeah, that's ri . ht. this afternoon to defend it. yeah, that's right- this is _ afternoon to defend it. yeah, that's right. this is the _ afternoon to defend it. yeah, that's right. this is the plan _ afternoon to defend it. yeah, that's right. this is the plan for— afternoon to defend it. yeah, that's right. this is the plan for the - right. this is the plan for the conservatives are calling a modern form of national service. they say that that in the most part, would be 18—year—olds being down active in one week of volunteering a month, but for a much smaller number of people around 30,000 perhaps, there will be this year—long military placement. i think what's going on here is rishi sunak has been campaigning today in the home counties, they are traditional tory seats, but perhaps labour in the lib dems think they might be able to take some of them and rishi sunak here is trying to come up with a policy things will be popular in that traditional conservative base in places like the home counties. what has happened today is there has been some controversy around what might happen if people don't take part in this supposedly mandatory schema. we had the foreign office minister anne—marie trevelyan on the

airwaves this morning who said that perhaps something similar to parents being fined for children not turning up being fined for children not turning up at schools could be implanted here, and then we had the conservative deputy chairman telling the bbc earlier that there will be sanctions involved if people don't comply with this mandatory schema. in his words, he said it had to be a mandatory scheme because i was the only way that you could really benefit the children who would benefit the children who would benefit most from this sort of thing, people who we said needed the state to step in and give them opportunities. this is probably something that's going to continue, but really this is rishi sunak saying, this is a bold idea, it is clearly one that has not headlines, and he is trying to contrast that with keir starmer, who he says no ideas, and without those things, and received sunak�*s words, you cannot limit change, which is interesting thing, given that keir starmer is pitching himself as the change candidate after 14 years of conservative rule. candidate after14 years of conservative rule.-

candidate after 14 years of conservative rule. �* ., ,., ., conservative rule. and we also had steve baker. _ conservative rule. and we also had steve baker, the _ conservative rule. and we also had steve baker, the northern - conservative rule. and we also had steve baker, the northern irelandl steve baker, the northern ireland minister, saying this policy had been a surprise to ministers, sprung on them. . v been a surprise to ministers, sprung on them. . �*, ,, a on them. that's right. steve baker has definitely _ on them. that's right. steve baker has definitely distanced _ on them. that's right. steve baker has definitely distanced himself. has definitely distanced himself from this policy today. there has been a bit of talk of the fact that just a few days ago, the government had addressed not an identical national service scheme but something not too dissimilar, and basically said it was not government policy. steve baker has come out today and said that it is the case that that was not government policy several days ago, he said that if it had been government policy going through the normal processes, where ministers are involved in civil servants and advisers are involved, he is the northern ireland minister would have been one of the people that was part of that consultation. he says that did not take place and instead now we're in election campaign territory, these policies are being created by the party leader and by the political advisers advising the party leader, he says that's resulted in this being sprung on conservative candidates. find that's resulted in this being sprung on conservative candidates. and also toniuht on conservative candidates. and also toni . ht the on conservative candidates. and also

tonight the conservative _ on conservative candidates. and also tonight the conservative party - on conservative candidates. and also tonight the conservative party say i tonight the conservative party say it suspended one of their mps, lucy allan, for backing reform uk's edited in her telford see that she is vacating. edited in her telford see that she is vacating-— is vacating. that's right. as you sa , is vacating. that's right. as you say. lucy _ is vacating. that's right. as you say. lucy allan _ is vacating. that's right. as you say, lucy allan is _ is vacating. that's right. as you say, lucy allan is a _ is vacating. that's right. as you i say, lucy allan is a long-standing say, lucy allan is a long—standing conservative mp and is somebody who has already announced quite a while ago that she was not going to stand again in this election. see allen is somebody who you would very much put as being on the right of the conservative party, she talks a lot about the need to lower taxes and the need to lower levels of immigration, so if she was 20 move party, it is not a great spreadsheet has got to reform, which talks a lot about immigration, lower taxes, and she now believes that the reform candidate in herformer constituency candidate in her former constituency of candidate in herformer constituency of telford is the person who will best represent the people of telford. the conservative party came out not long after she said this and said she had been suspended from the party as a whole. that's not surprising, because the rule book

says that if you endorse a candidate of a rival party, you are going to be suspended. they have said that people of telford i have the chance to vote for a dedicated and hard—working new candidate who will put telford first and devote for reform in their mind is a vote for keir starmer.— reform in their mind is a vote for keir starmer. jack fenwick, in the newsroom. _ keir starmer. jack fenwick, in the newsroom, thank _ keir starmer. jack fenwick, in the newsroom, thank you. _ keir starmer. jack fenwick, in the newsroom, thank you. there - keir starmer. jack fenwick, in the newsroom, thank you. there is. keir starmer. jack fenwick, in the newsroom, thank you. there is a | keir starmer. jack fenwick, in the i newsroom, thank you. there is a lot to get the newscast team into and they will be back later in the hour. you can watch nonstop coverage of the election campaign now — until the results are called and beyond — on bbc iplayer. just look for election 2024 live. now we are going to turn our attention to other news. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has described an air strike which killed dozens of people in gaza as a "tragic accident". the hamas—run health ministry said at least 45 people were killed after the strike hit a camp for displaced people in rafah. the israeli army said it had been

tragetting two senior hamas leaders. a warning — lucy williamson's report contains some distressing images. morning didn't end the nightmare, but it brought the children, picking through the debris of the dead. the burned remains of shelters mark the place where israel says a top hamas commander was hiding among thousands of displaced families fleeing the fighting in rafah to the south. translation: we were preparing our children's beds for the night _ and we heard a very loud noise and fire erupted all around us. all the children started screaming, the shelter was shaking and our room was full of shrapnel. the air strike hit an area seen as outside israel's current military assault. shouting israel says it used precise munitions, intelligence and aerial surveillance to reduce the risk

to civilians but that the strike ignited fires across the camp. local reports suggest there was a fuelling station nearby. gaza's hamas—run government says dozens were killed and injured, many of them children. hospitals starved of supplies now flooded with patients, the barely alive, the emotionally dead. shouting israel's army says it has launched an investigation. last night, the idf targeted two hamas commanders in rafah whose hands were drenched in israeli blood. civilian casualties are desperately sad, but this is the war hamas wanted and started. yesterday, hamas rockets were fired from rafah towards tel aviv and surrounding israeli towns.

all those heading for urban areas were intercepted. gaza's civilians can't rely on their government's defences. a family car, today a makeshift hearse for his only sister. where israel and hamas talk of victory, families count their losses until all that's left are the people, and then even they are gone. lucy williamson, bbc news, jerusalem. rescuers are still struggling to reach a remote village in papua new guinea hit by a landslide on friday. the authorities estimate as many as 2,000 people could be under the rubble. people have been using their hands and whatever they can find to try to dig people out. cases of melanoma skin cancer are at an all—time high in the uk, with more than 20,000 people expected to be diagnosed

with it this year. the charity cancer research uk is warning people to do more to protect themselves from the sun and say there's been a particularly big increase in cases among older people. chi chi izundu reports. going to take a locating photograph. these are just some of the examples of what melanoma skin cancer can look like and, according to cancer research uk, the number of cases of this serious and often most dangerous form of the disease is on the rise. rates of melanoma have increased by almost a third over a decade. it is more common in the elderly. among those aged over 80, there was a 57% rise, while amongst those aged 25 to 49, there was a 7% increase. 17,000 melanoma cases every year are preventable. and one source of the uv radiation comes from the sun, damaging skin cells and causing cancer.

we think that there are a few different reasons for this record high of melanoma skin cancer cases. the main one being too much exposure to ultraviolet or uv radiation from the sun and sunbeds. but there are other factors at play as well. here in the uk, we have an ageing population, and age is a big risk factor for cancer. we also have a growing population. so when we have more people, we're going to see more cases. another reason the figures are up is because people are getting better at spotting abnormalities and going to the gp. last month, experts revealed a game—changing jab is being trialled on british patients which has dramatically reduced the risk of melanoma returning. but prevention is key. in order to stay safe, apply generously high factor sunscreen often, cover up and avoid the sun between 11 and 3. chi—chi izundu, bbc news.

a woman who was stabbed to death on bournemouth beach on friday night has been named locally as amie gray. another woman, who's 38, remains in hospital with serious injuries. police are still at the scene of the stabbings and a section of the beachfront remains cordoned off. a i7—year—old boy arrested in connection with the incident has been released without charge. police have issued these cctv images of another man they now want to question. south west water have again apologised to people in parts of brixham for continuing to be unable to lift the boil water notice. an outbreak of sickness linked to cryptosporidium was first confirmed almost two weeks ago, on the 14th of may. tests showed it was linked to water supplies. according to the uk health security agency, as of three days ago, 77 people had suffered from vomiting and diaorrhea linked to the water—borne parasite. boil water notices were lifted for thousands of properties, but south west water said its teams had continued to clean, test and filter the affected water

network during bank holiday monday. a spokesman for south west water said... supplies of fresh water can also be collected by customers at bottled water stations. this latest statement by south west water has not given any date by which it hopes to resolve the problem. the raf has grounded the battle of britain memorial flights following the death of one of its pilots in a spitfire crash on saturday. squadron leader mark long was flying near raf coningsby in lincolnshire when the aircraft came down. a spokesman said a pause has been implemented while a formal investigation is carried out. last summer, the british

museum admitted it had been the victim of theft, saying that up to 2000 items from its collections were missing, stolen or damaged. many were ancient greek and roman objects removed from its storerooms, and some of them put up for sale on ebay. for a new bbc news investigation, our culture editor katie razzall has had special access to the museum. i can see a lot of white dots. what does that mean? exactly. the white dots are my way of marking out the ones that come from the british museum. if danish antiquities dealer dr ittai gradel is right, then you are looking at ancient gems that were stolen from the british museum, treasures he bought in good faith over years. how many gems here do you think belong to the british museum? i think it's about 150 here and roughly the same amount

in my drawer over there. more than two years before the global scandal about the thefts was revealed, ittai had warned the museum an insider was selling its artefacts online. back then, he was rebuffed. at first i was in shock, almost paralysed. ijust couldn't imagine it. ittai has since handed over the gems he believes belong to the museum. and we followed his mission to find other missing artefacts. to paris... ..and a meeting with a collector ittai sold gems to. hi, lovely to meet you. the collector has asked us not to show his face. he never imagined these items could've belonged to the british museum. very, very sad story. but i'm happy it's going back to the museum. in 2023, a curator at the british museum, dr peter higgs, was sacked in connection with the thefts. he denies any wrongdoing, and the police are still investigating. our investigation has discovered that some of the items the british museum says have disappeared have been on quite a journey.

two of the gems were unwittingly put on display at another museum, in germany, and 260 have ended up in washington, dc. the fbi is investigating. we've had exclusive access to the british museum's own recovery programme. it still hasn't been able to prove in most cases that the objects belong to the museum because so many were never catalogued. it's now begun to register all its collection. there were things that we could've done better as a museum, - and we've apologised. the museum today, a couple of years on as a result of this saga, _ i think, is much more open, much more transparent. - the british museum says it has recovered almost half of the 1500 items it believes were stolen or missing, but it's likely many others, particularly priceless ancient gold jewellery, will never be found. and hundreds of its artefacts have been damaged. katie razzall, bbc news.

to the us next. rescue crews in the us state of texas have told the bbc they've witnessed an unprecedented rate of drownings over the last year and a half, as rising numbers of people have tried to make a deadly river crossing over the borderfrom mexico. undocumented migration figures into the us hit record highs last year, with the issue a major one ahead of november's presidential election. 0ur correspondent tom bateman reports from the border town of eagle pass. his report contains distressing images. where the deadly waters of the rio grande meet the razor wire of america's southern frontier, a woman has waded her way from the mexican side, finally reaching the safety of us soil. she pleads to cross the fence. she has gone back into the water. oh, my goodness, oh, my goodness, oh, my goodness. an activist films the scene as the woman met by us guards returns to the river, which is notorious for the numbers

killed trying to cross. herfate is now unknown. directly on the other side, it goes slower, you can see through and you can see the river right there. we joined a volunteer who saw the scene unfold. here, at the ground zero of america's bitter feud over immigration. in texas, drownings have risen dramatically in the last 18 months, as the numbers of people trying to cross into the us hit record highs. i felt very helpless there, and i felt like there was nothing that i could do. and i remind myself that telling her story, telling what i witnessed, that words have power. this is one person, one story, but this is happening hundreds of times on our border. we are out with a rescue crew. geared up to fight fires, these days, they are the first responders to a global surge

of movement, as people fleeing conflict or seeking work in america encounter its hidden dangers. people don't understand when they cross, right now, it looks slow, but as soon as they get in, they are going to feel the power of the river, and it is always in the middle area, and they underestimate it. a border patrol brings its boat in, but the rescue team's hopes quickly fade. they pull the body of a man to the shore. no—one knows where hisjourney started, only how it ends, a fate these teams see here every day. this man's pockets have been checked. they found no documentation, no id, so at the moment nobody knows who he is, where he has come from, which country he has come from. we have heard so many of the political rows about this issue of immigration, but in the end, this is the human cost. there are no recent official figures on the numbers killed in the river.

hundreds drowned last year. the republican governor of texas says his troops and razor wire deter crossings, a claim activists reject, saying they have made it more dangerous. tragedy keeps flowing into this riverside town. immigration is now a decisive election issue at home, but one they know here along the border also needs global answers, in the town where they bury the dead with no names. tom bateman, bbc news, eagle pass in texas. the king has been given the first seedling grown from the sycamore gap tree which was illegally felled. the seedling was first seen by the public at the chelsea flower show last week. once it has matured into a sapling, it will be planted in windsor great park. the sycamore gap tree had stood next to hadrian's wall in northumberland

for 200 years before it was chopped down last year in an act of vandalism. 100 seedlings have been bred from the felled tree. just a taste for you now of gloucestershire's famous annual cheese—rolling competition that has taken place today. take a look at this. dozens of competitors ignored warnings about the potential dangers after the event was declared "unsafe". they willingly threw themselves down cooper's hill in a tradition that began two centuries ago. the prize for the winners — a large wheel of double gloucester. here's a taste of one of the races the lucky winner. he's down! and so's the gorilla straight away! who's going to take their lead in this one? it looks like there's a vest, a man in a vest, centre! he's not upright. he's going sideways. oh, why did you wear a white top, sir? and there's a winner in the middle. it was a very close one. very, very close one, with some certain big rugby tackles going in at the bottom to stop them.

i don't know who got that. here comes the gorilla. he's lost his head! the gorilla's head has fallen off! did he even start with gorilla's feet? if he did, they've gone, too. well, well, well... not even... the gorilla isjust lying prone at the bottom of the hill. he's 0k! the gorilla's hand is up. that was the closest finish we've had yet. i was trying to stay on my feet when i started rolling, so ijust had to go with it. every time i found my feet were on the ground, i took another couple of steps. tell us why you wanted to do this crazy thing. i heard of it. i was doing a games evening with my mates, and ijust said, "i'm going to win this thing." and i'm slightly surprised that i did, but also rather pleased. have you got next week's lottery numbers? you're obviously very good at this. maybe i'll have to. where are you from? perth, in australia. you haven'tjust come for this, though, surely? no, notjust for this. it was high up there on the priorities.