labour and the liberal democrats unveiled plans to improve cancer care. israel says it begin daily pulses emitted military activity to improve humanitarian deliveries. 100 world leaders meet in switzerland to rally around ukraine and agree on terms for a proposed into the war. there has been a focus on territory, securing nuclear power sites and releasing prisoners. russian ceasefire plans were dismissed by looters. england prepare to kick off their euro campaign when they take on serbia later today. we'll bring you the picture from the build build—up in germany.

first, let's return to our coverage of the general election. voters head to the polls on the 11th ofjuly. the liberal democrats are gaining some ground, hoping to grab tourist seats as they promise free personal care for the elderly, more gps and joining the eu single market. it is ed davey�*s photo opportunities that i've been grabbing attention. he has been speaking to laura kuenssberg. in terms of the stunts, the real issueis in terms of the stunts, the real issue is engaging people and they have done. one of the reasons i am so pleased to be on your programme is to talk about what the liberal democrats are standing for. we are standing for health and social care board. we talk about cost of living. and we are talking about the environment. the sewage scandal, for example. i am determined that all the seats that we can win against a

blue ball, people hear about what the liberal democrats stand for from a local champions because we could make real gains at this election. we will talk about those politics. west street and has said that your policies and social care are good ones. we have heard the people what should you are doing and it looks like you're not taking this seriously and perhaps not taking them seriously. we seriously and perhaps not taking them seriously.— seriously and perhaps not taking them seriously. we are taking the voter because _ them seriously. we are taking the voter because my _ them seriously. we are taking the voter because my concerns - them seriously. we are taking the voter because my concerns really | voter because my concerns really seriously. that is why we have been putting forward these policy proposals. whenever we do one of those stunts to engage people, so i sure am not taking myself too seriously, we have had lots of policy ideas. when i was coming down that's like we were talking about mental health. the bbc were covering our policy as i came down. i was pleased that they did because it is important, we have a crisis in mental health for our young people.

we have hundreds of thousands of young people working for therapy, counselling, support and what we have set is let's make sure there is a qualified mental health professional in every primary school, secondary school and lets us dump social media chance to pay more so we have come forward with a very significant policy. when i had the baker because my cats on, baking biscuits, we were talking about free school meals. fine biscuits, we were talking about free school mew-— school meals. one of your policies is to have an _ school meals. one of your policies is to have an office _ school meals. one of your policies is to have an office for _ is to have an office for whistle—blowers. you say it is very important, but lee castleton, one of those top postmasters and g were post office minister when some of this was important, how can we we

trust you around whistle—blowers. whistle—blowers were fatal to the horizon scandal. in 2019 in the high court case. that whistle—blower from inside fidgets is that the post office have been telling lies to set postmasters, ministers and judges, that whistle—blower was crucial as the itv drama showed. his that whistle-blower was crucial as the itv drama showed. his question is how could — the itv drama showed. his question is how could people _ the itv drama showed. his question is how could people trust _ the itv drama showed. his question is how could people trust you - the itv drama showed. his question is how could people trust you to - is how could people trust you to protect whistle—blowers when you were post office minister, one of the people in charge of the system when concerns were already being raised. i know you say you were not told you you would have done something about it, but some campaigners feel you didn't do enough, you weren't listening. i was listeninu. i enough, you weren't listening. i was listening. i was _ enough, you weren't listening. i was listening. i was the _ enough, you weren't listening. i was listening. i was the first _ enough, you weren't listening. i —" listening. i was the first minister to meet alan bates and i took his issue seriously. if put his concern to the post office and i was the only ministry did it on that level of detail. i was lied to, just like

the supposed matters relate to, like the supposed matters relate to, like the judges and courts would like to. we have to change the system. we have seen it in the contaminated blood scandal, and the hillsborough scandal, you can't run the system if people lie to you. you need to find a way through that. we have the whistle—blower protection issue. the duty of candour to make sure the public servants have to tell the truth. there's a whole range of things that i would like to see changed. when i give evidence to the inquiry, and i have campaigned for these people to held to account, where we have that inquiry i am looking forward to giving evidence to it. looking forward to giving evidence to it, ., looking forward to giving evidence to it. ., i. looking forward to giving evidence to it. ., ., looking forward to giving evidence toit. ., ., , to it. some of your other policies, then. to it. some of your other policies, then- you — to it. some of your other policies, then. you have _ to it. some of your other policies, then. you have needs _ to it. some of your other policies, then. you have needs the - to it. some of your other policies, then. you have needs the moving| then. you have needs the moving experience of caring for your son john to give more help to carers. he

served as a minister during the coalition government. it made significant cuts to the support for people in those kinds of situations. do you regret that?— people in those kinds of situations. do you regret that? actually, if you look back at — do you regret that? actually, if you look back at the _ do you regret that? actually, if you look back at the liberal _ do you regret that? actually, if you look back at the liberal democrats| look back at the liberal democrats record, we produced the of 2014 that came from the deal not commission and it would have meant we would have had proper care from 2015—16. what then? the conservatives reneges on their promises. even though there was legislation in parliament that everyone had voted for. that is ed davey talking earlier to laura kuenssberg. the televised leaders debates have given us a chance to see some of the leaders from the smaller parties and they can flash their wares, so to speak, including the leader of clyde camry.

its manifesto wants more public spending and bigger windfall taxes on energy companies. he has also been speaking to laura. in on energy companies. he has also been speaking to laura.— on energy companies. he has also been speaking to laura. in 2021 and used it for a — been speaking to laura. in 2021 and used it for a referendum _ been speaking to laura. in 2021 and used it for a referendum on - been speaking to laura. in 2021 and used it for a referendum on welsh l used it for a referendum on welsh independence but know you only offering our referendum. um? independence but know you only offering our referendum.- offering our referendum. why is that? it has _ offering our referendum. why is that? it has been _ offering our referendum. why is that? it has been my _ offering our referendum. why is that? it has been my firm - offering our referendum. why is that? it has been my firm beliefj offering our referendum. why is - that? it has been my firm belief my entire life that exists... listening to brian cox will obviously see the world in the same way. i am not an isolationist in any way. i see welsh independence as part of the redesigning of the uk, where as independent nations that would work closely together. but this isn't about independence, this is getting fair play for wales now. who

about independence, this is getting fair play for wales now.— fair play for wales now. why not have in your _ fair play for wales now. why not have in your manifesto - fair play for wales now. why not have in your manifesto at - fair play for wales now. why not have in your manifesto at a - fair play for wales now. why not have in your manifesto at a man| fair play for wales now. why not. have in your manifesto at a man for a consultation, we hear it often from politicians, promising more chat, then a commission. why back off from your clear request, demand perhaps, for a referendum? there off from your clear request, demand perhaps, for a referendum?- perhaps, for a referendum? there is clearl a perhaps, for a referendum? there is clearly a demand _ perhaps, for a referendum? there is clearly a demand implicit _ perhaps, for a referendum? there is clearly a demand implicit for - perhaps, for a referendum? there is clearly a demand implicit for a - clearly a demand implicit for a referendum because we want to get to the point where we asked the people of wales if they are ready to embrace this. the fascinating thing for me as somebody who has believed because of their life, regularly at 30 people, 50% of the younger age group say yes to independence, but it is about getting more people curious on what it might mean an answering those questions. there was answering those questions. there was an independent commission recently on the constitutional future of will it said there are three viable options. more devolution, perhaps federalism, and the third viable one is independence. so it is viable, we

can it, it is about getting people excited about what it is. do can it, it is about getting people excited about what it is.- excited about what it is. do you think ou excited about what it is. do you think you will _ excited about what it is. do you think you will see _ excited about what it is. do you think you will see it _ excited about what it is. do you think you will see it in - excited about what it is. do you think you will see it in your - think you will see it in your lifetime? there is no reason why not. but do you think it will happen? it not. but do you think it will ha en? .., �* not. but do you think it will ha . en? . ., �* , not. but do you think it will happen?— not. but do you think it will hauen? �* , , ., happen? it can't. it is up to the --eole happen? it can't. it is up to the people of— happen? it can't. it is up to the people of wales. _ happen? it can't. it is up to the people of wales. i _ happen? it can't. it is up to the people of wales. i don't - happen? it can't. it is up to the| people of wales. i don't believe that wills situation is the best it could be. i don't think the uk's situation is the best it could be. many people watching this morning in wales or elsewhere will see that there is something that needs to happen in politics that leads to islands into a different direction. i think it would be valuable to have that redesign. this election is about having this fairness we deserve in this uk context. john carter's motel tells us in 60 seconds of the overall picture is looking for the main parties in the polls.

one poll this week stole the headlines. a yougov poll put reform one point ahead of the conservatives. but no other poll reported the same finding, though every poll has reported a fall in the conservative support and nearly all, a narrowing of the conservative lead over reform. so what last week was an average eight point conservative lead over reform has now halved to just four points. and standing atjust 20%, conservative support is now at its lowest ever in british polling history. mr sunak, whose own personal ratings have clearly fallen, must be beginning to doubt his decision to call the election early. not that labour have had it their own way. like the conservatives, their support is also down by two points. labour are being challenged by the greens, still on 6%, and the liberal democrats, whose vote, up in every poll this week, now stands at i2%.

joining me now is lara spirit, red box editor at the times, thank you forjoining us. we are halfway through the campaign. do you think the dial has changed much since rishi sunak announced the election? i since rishi sunak announced the election? ~ .,, since rishi sunak announced the election? ~ , ., , election? i think most conservatives would admit — election? i think most conservatives would admit that _ election? i think most conservatives would admit that the _ election? i think most conservatives would admit that the moment - election? i think most conservatives would admit that the moment the l would admit that the moment the election was announced in the river is not the strongest start the party could have add to that election announcement and since then there have been some big moments. we saw the first tv debate which buoyed some conservatives that felt rishi sunak had made a good attack line, particularly on tax. that was made more difficult by his decision to leave those d—day commemorations

early which scuppered that sense of hope that some tories out. and we have also had the return of nigel farage back to front line politics and back to leading the reformed uk party. we haven't seen massive changes in the polls since the beginning of the election. we are certainly talking more now about the potential for reform to do well and to challenge conservatives in key seats. i think that has been one of the abiding developments in the so forth. d0 the abiding developments in the so forth. , ., the abiding developments in the so forth. i. ~' the abiding developments in the so forth. i. ~ ., ., forth. do you think that reformed uk are likely to — forth. do you think that reformed uk are likely to win _ forth. do you think that reformed uk are likely to win any _ forth. do you think that reformed uk are likely to win any seats _ forth. do you think that reformed uk are likely to win any seats or - forth. do you think that reformed uk are likely to win any seats or is - forth. do you think that reformed uk are likely to win any seats or is it - are likely to win any seats or is it more likely that they will just take votes away from the conservatives? it is likely that they will take votes away from the conservatives and if the bulls are to believed, they will take many foods away from they will take many foods away from the conservatives, but it is

remaining to be seen if they will win any seats in the election and it is something that nigel farage has been candid about, saying he doesn't know how many seats they will win. there is an mega poll out this morning that suggest they could well win a handful of seats. to think that rishi sunak will be worried about is the difficulty he will be facing in states where reformed uk become, a competitive second. reformed uk is taking votes from that conservative 2019 vote share. they are a problem more for the conservative party than the labour party. ii conservative party than the labour pa . ., ., , party. if we look at labour, they are still ahead _ party. if we look at labour, they are still ahead in _ party. if we look at labour, they are still ahead in the _ party. if we look at labour, they are still ahead in the polls, - are still ahead in the polls, looking over the next couple of weeks before the actual approach, what concerns will labour have? this auestion of what concerns will labour have? this question of tax _ what concerns will labour have? t�*i 3 question of tax remains a difficult

one for labour. so far they have been on the back foot in terms of trying to answer multiple questions from leading conservatives when they are interviewed. they are constantly facing questions about the fact that even though in their manifesto they have ruled out raising those three taxes, national insurance, vat and income tax, conservatives are still alleging that they would need to raise other taxes in office. they have a formula that they stick to when they are asked about this, they say there are plans to raise particular taxes under a labour government and in some circumstances, such as on capital gains tax on your first property, they have specifically ruled out that were coming, but they are not being explicit on others. that is where they can see conservative attack then you will see over the next few weeks is challenging labour to rule out specific tax rises. thank you very much forjoining us.

we will have a fascinating campaign over the next few weeks. you can follow it all on the bbc news website and we have a live page up and running every day with all of the campaigning and analysis from our political correspondence and the bbc verify team will be looking at the claims that politicians make. you can find that on the bbc news website and app. england's footballers are making final preparations for their first match at the euro 24 finals in germany tonight where they face serbia. the manager, gareth southgate, has said his players will need to be exceptional to progress beyond the group stages. john watson has been talking to former england goal keeper joe hart and asked him about the mood in the england camp. the mood will be ready, they'll be excited, it's what they do and what they do best. the boys play at a really high level, they've been working hard as a group and i'm sure they'll have

all the instructions they need and will be ready to execute when it comes to game time. what is it like? you've been there, you been part of squads at major tournaments. you know the players really well, having onlyjust retired from professional football. is it a wonderful atmosphere in there among the players when you are playing for a major trophy? you flip between the two, there is no getting away from it, these boys have probably grown up supporting england and watching these tournaments but at the same time, they're very hard, high—level professional footballers, so you flip between the two. you understand what's going on around you, the family, friends, the buzz, but they have a job to do and as the game comes closer, that'll be the focus. the fans expectant, they always are, but the players genuinely believe they can do it, and rightly so after making a final of the last euros, do you think that england finally will do it at a major tournaments? they're going to put themselves

in the best position, that one of the best squads in the tournament and have experience together with a manager they've worked well for a good number of years now. everything is in play but tournament football is crazy. we need everything to go our way, there will be hard times we need to stick together and dig deep and if that all comes together, they've got a great chance. talk to us aboutjude bellingham, the golden boy now of english football. how special a talent is he and how special are a lot of the players in that squad? there is superb talent, there always is in the england team. jude bellingham stepped onto the scene, there's been a lot of noise about him from a very young age and he keeps ticking every box. he looks like an incredible footballer. i don't know him personally but i know a lot of people who don't need to say very positive things about people as a personality and i love how

everyone wants to jump and talk about his personality because his football's doing the talking for itself but from the inside, he looks like a real leader, someone who wants to take football by the scruff of the neck and lead this team. but we have phil, harry, john and kyle, some real winners in the team and i'm looking forward to see how they make it happen. and how important are the fans? quiet here at the moment, but 40,000 will be here at kick—off and many, many more watching at home. how crucial is their support as a player? you felt it yourself, how crucial is that in helping a team get over the line? this is a national game, you want to feel the whole country behind you, and you do. i can only talk from my own experience but when we go to a tournament, i felt the support and the love and people want the team to do well. it makes people happy, it makes our country tick even better, but it will not be from lack of trying from everyone. if we're all together, we've got a great chance.

we are going to be pitchside tonight with the game live on bbc one. would you rather be playing, joe? are you happy to be here starting on the touchline and talking about the show instead of putting the gloves on? i had my time, i had my chance and i loved every moment of it. it is for other people now to enjoy and i want to support them and give good feedback. it's important with me coming fresh to the game, i want to let people know how people are feeling. the effort and preparation and are determined from going into this tournament by all the team but particular from the england boys, i know they want to win this tournament and i want to be there to support them even if i can't physically do it. at the age of 94, barbara buttrick could be forgiven for enjoying her retirement — but the boxing legend is still inspiring women into the sport —

from her home in east yorkshire. barbara was the first ever women's world champion, and 70 years later she's still sharing her advice with teenagers. amanda white has been to meet them. she was known as the mighty atom. at 4�* 11", she lost only one fight in 32 professional bouts and barbara butterick is sharing her battling attitude with the next generation. you're in a position to defend yourself properly and then jab at her, you know? two east yorkshire boxers with big dreams have been enjoying hearing stories of the cottingham girl that had to spar with men on herjourney to the 1956 world women's boxing title. hi. i'm sue and i'm an english national champion. i've been boxing for around four, five years now. hi, i'm lehanna smith. l i'm 17 years old and i'm a youth. amateur boxer for england boxing. give me a name and i'll tell you who i've sparred with. muhammad ali, maybe? he's a bit too big! you've met him, though, haven't you? oh, yeah. at the fifth street gym in miami beach. can you really believe that you've done it? i are you proud?

are you happy with it? well, i'm glad the females now have got into boxing and got their own sport. i think all this talk about girls not boxing is old fashioned. girls aren't the delicate flowers they used to be. it's more open to them now. they've accepted the fact that they're there and they're going to box, right? whereas, back in my day, they weren't accepted that much. honestly, it's an honour to meet her, seing how far she's come with boxing, what she's done for women's boxing when she was younger. obviously, there were so many barriers. it's impressive to say how she's worked around that. still to this day it's . not completely equal, but i definitely think with barbara, she mentioned to us that - for her there was not really such a thing as amateur boxing. - it was all pretty much been thrown into the deep end, i so i think what she's done has really helped to give us - opportunities on the amateur side of boxing, as well. - a great lesson for two young women dreaming of being the next world champion.

doesn't barbara look amazing for 94? when you think of blackpool, you probably see roller—coasters, fish and chips, sticks of rock and, of course, blackpool tower — but it's also been a spiritual home for generations of dance lovers. over the next month, the seaside town is becoming a self—proclaimed capital of dance, with pop—up performances, classes, workshops and shows. phil cunliffe went to find out more. welcome to showtown for the launch of the uk's capital of dance! maybe it's the lancashire sea air or the rhythm of the tide — blackpool and dancing go hand in hand. the title uk's capital of dance is one that organisers of the new festival have bestowed on themselves, but perhaps with good reason. blackpool�*s got an unrivalled heritage in dance, from the days of the victorian dance trains used that to bring hundreds of people to dance on central pier,

through to the big band era, emperor's ballroom, the tower ballroom, then we had the heyday of variety. disco, northern soul, superclubs and now we have strictly. where else could you possibly launch a festival like this? the idea of the festival is to create a dance and movement version of the edinburgh fringe, across multiple locations, inside and outdoors. there'll be dozens of live shows, community events and street dancing, like this. we're going to be doing some performances, workshops, djing. an opportunity for people to get involved and learn a bit about breakdance, because that's in the olympics now, so people are really interested in seeing what all the culture's all about. so we're going to bring that element to it and a really good vibe. music: swan lake. or, if you prefer a more chilled—out vibe, there are taster classes for those who want to give ballet a go.

the festival aims to cater for people of all ages. archive: up north, they make - for blackpool, and blackpool's made for a champion time, whatever the weather. blackpool attracts more than 20 million visitors a year. there are already dozens of free events, so is there room in the calendar for something else? the thing that a month—long festival brings is a reason stay over, so it's notjust arriving in, engaging and then coming back home again — come over, come and stay with us, come and experience everything else that we've got to offer in blackpool, but come because of dance. we are the uk's most popular seaside resort but we need to keep giving people reasons to come. of course, the resort has never taken itself too seriously. this cabaret bar, featuring burlesque drag shows, is running a drag queen workshop. people come and theyjust can't believe it when they see how professional the dance is. and blackpool�*s so associated with it. i always say it's like the las vegas of dance. it's like las vegas on heat, really, it's brilliant. i've never had reason to worry about dancing in high heels but i know someone who has —

cece d'vyne, from funny girls. hello. hello, phil. you're going to be giving tips on how to dance in these as part of the festival, aren't you? i am, yes. i'm going to be doing a class on the 29th ofjune, which will be a full class for a range of abilities and ages, with our dancing in heels class. i'm just waiting for you to pop on a leotard, phil, and we'll be cracking on for our first lesson today. you might have to wait a long time for that, i'm afraid! ready? five, six, seven, eight — walk, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. how was that? you're a natural! marks out of ten? three. three! i'll take that, to be honest. so, the invitation is there to pull on your dancing shoes. even if, like me, you've got two left feet. phil cunliffe, bbc news. you're a natural, you're a natural!

0f of course, it is far thursday. you might be heading out for the afternoon. let's get the weather forecast. hello. sunday brings an improved day weather—wise for some of us, particularly across parts of england and wales where we had heavy showers around yesterday. there will be some sunshine, still a few showers on the cards. it will be cloudier with a bit of rain across parts of scotland and northern ireland at times, as well, because we're closer to the center of low pressure here. we've got a couple of fronts just pushing their way south, so that is pushing that cloud and patchy rain across central and southern scotland into northern ireland through the latter part of the morning. elsewhere across england and wales, we're looking at some sunshine and a few showers. they will be most frequent for north—east england, the east midlands down towards the south—east. i think mostly dry out towards the west. lighter winds here than yesterday. still quite breezy for the western isles. that northerly breeze pushing down

towards northern ireland, as well. we're looking at the mid—teens in the north, 13 to 16 degrees. 17 to 20 further south. we've got high levels of uv for some of us in between those showers, particularly for southern parts of england and wales. for some of us, some very high levels of pollen today. the pollen count is on the rise, in fact, over the next couple of days. now into this evening and tonight, we've still got quite a lot of cloud in the north. it pushes a little bit further south. this weak front overnight brings a little bit of patchy rain to wales, central parts of england. some clear skies to the south of that, so temperatures six or seven degrees here, but i think most of us about nine to 12 to start monday morning. still quite a cloudy, reasonably mild start to the day. there will be some showers once again on monday bubbling up through the day across eastern scotland, parts of northern england, perhaps the midlands, as well. one or two for wales. southern england will be mostly dry with some sunshine, so an improved picture here. temperatures, in fact, up to about 22 towards the london region. a slightly less chilly day, so we're looking at temperatures back up to the seasonal norm, really, on monday. into tuesday, again, quite a bit of dry weather

for central parts of the uk. some rain possible in the south—east. some showers building during the afternoon for northern england and eastern scotland. in between any of the showers, not a bad sort of day. lighter winds. temperatures about 21 in the warmest spots, but again, a bit cooler across the northern half of scotland. high pressure tries to ridge in through the middle part of the week, but sandwiching that high pressure there is low pressure both to the north and to the south as well. so, yes, some drier weather on the cards. a lot of dry weather for cardiff, for instance, but still a chance of a few showers, but it's a touch warmer than it was last week. bye— bye.

live from london, this is bbc news.

israel announces an hour's pause in military activity in southern gaza. 100 world leaders meet at a peace conference in switzerland to rally around ukraine and agree on terms for a proposed end to russia's invasion. in the general election, a warning over nhs funding promises. and as spain and italy kick off the euros with wins, england prepares for their first match of the tournament later today. when you know, you know.