the i revealed leaders debate. the i revealed russian hackers behind nhs attack are part of a cyber army for tempted by the kremlin. that is it from a jam—packed show tonight. i am back tomorrow. from all of us here, sleep well, good night. live from london, this is bbc news. sir keir starmer and rishi sunak clash over over borders, tax and the betting scandal in the final debate of the election campaign. like on every other issue, you say one thing, you do another. you just don't know which keir starmer you're going to get.

you can't trust him on this issue. like on every other issue, you say one thing, you do another. you just don't know which keir starmer you're going to get. you can't trust him on this issue. an inquest finds that failures by multiple agencies contributed to the death of a woman who was murdered as she walked home from a night out in east london two years ago. a military coup is under way in bolivia, where hundreds of soldiers and armoured vehicles have encircled government buildings in la paz. welcome to bbc news. i'm kasia madera. tonight, rishi sunak and sir keir starmer have clashed over tax, immigration and welfare in their final head—to—head debate before polling day next thursday. it was a heated confrontation, during which they faced questions from a live audience, who challenged them to explain

and justify their stance on integrity in politics, the cost of living and brexit. our political editor chris mason has more. when this campaign started, it felt like spring. summer has finally arrived — for now, at least — in nottingham. and so too the two men wanting to be prime minister the weekend after next. tonight, the beginning of the sprint finish to polling day. first up, sue, and you probably won't be surprised by her question. people are dismayed i by the lack of integrity and honesty in politics today. after the recent allegations about political betting, - how would you restore trust in politics? - this takes leadership. what i did when one of my team was alleged to have been involved and investigated by the gambling commission, they were suspended within minutes.

i was furious to hear about these things. that's why i've dealt with it. but the choice of this election is about... as sue said, it's about leadership, it's about integrity in politics, and it's a question of doing what you say. keir starmer's made this broader point, but the point is — he's changed his mind on every major position that he's taken. sir keir jabbed back. "what about wider questions of culture in government?," he asked. this isn'tjust what's happened this week, last week in the gambling commission. we saw partygate earlier in this parliament. the prime minister himself was convicted and fined for breaking the rules which he brought in and imposed on everybody else. next, onto a question about benefits, as the exchanges got more punchy, energised, personal. and i just want to address beverly's point... you opposed it when i announced it. you literally opposed it. if you listened to people in the audience and across the country more often, you might not be quite so out of touch.

beverly... applause you're going to have higher welfare under you, and that's why you can't deliver tax cuts the way that i can. and people should not surrender to this. if there's that much wrong with the system, who is the guy in charge of the system over the last iii years? why is it so bad? keir, you want to be in charge, but you have nothing to say to people about what you would do about it. we're an island. why can't we easily close our borders? | if keir starmer is your prime minister, all those illegal migrants will be out on our streets. and that is the choice for you. do not surrender our borders to the labour party. steve, this is complete and utter nonsense. sir keir said, "hang on." if it were working, why are record numbers still coming under your watch, prime minister? how on earth can you say it's working? labour want more return agreements, which rishi sunak took the mickey out of. iran, syria, afghanistan. so when keir starmer says he's going to return people, is he going to sit down, are you going to sit down with the iranian ayatollahs? are you going to try and do a deal with the taliban? it's completely nonsensical, what you are saying. next, the economy and rishi sunak

returning to a favourite theme. i say that the labour party's policies will mean all your taxes are going to go up by thousands of pounds. it is in their dna. mark my words. your pension, your council tax, your home, your car — you name it, they will tax it. well, pensioners are not going to be better off with a prime minister who's making promises that he can't keep because they're not funded. that's exactly what liz truss got wrong. there's one thing that we cannot repeat at this election — please do not go back to liz truss, mark ii, with this prime minister because the same damage will follow. the whole point of nights like this is the power lies with the audience in the room, and robert made the most of it. mr sunak, i think you made i a fairjob of being chancellor, but you're a pretty mediocre prime minister. _ sir keir, i think that your strings are being pulled by very senior. members of the labour party.

are you two really the best we've got to be the next prime minister of our great country? applause my primaryjob was to deliver that economic stability, so i can start cutting your taxes. that is the journey we're now on. so whatever your other frustrations, the choice for you at this election is about the future. it has to be rooted, if we're going to restore hope, in my view, in returning politics to service, the sense that you come into politics to serve. and then... ..vicky in oxfordshire, - who asks this — will you protect women's rights to single—sex spaces from any and all males regardless . of if they hold a grc, _ a gender recognition certificate? rishi sunak? yes, unequivocally. i get that not all of you will agree with my position, but i'm being clear with you — sex means biological sex. you have to change the equalities act to deliver the security of women's spaces and women's services. that's what i believe the right

thing for our country is. keir starmer said it was important to protect women's spaces and added... i will treat them as i treat all human beings — with dignity and respect. and i will tell you for why... applause the prime minister of the united kingdom standing in parliament, making an anti—trans joke in front of the mother of a murdered trans teenager — i will never allow myself to be put into that position. applause brexit was discussed too, as were prospects for young people, and then this flashpoint during their closing statements. and before you make that choice, think what a labour government would mean. can you afford to pay at least £2,000 more in tax? that is a lie, and he's been told not to repeat that lie and he'sjust done it. and this is your closing . statement, keir starmer. if you want to end iii years of chaos and rebuild our country, then that power is in your hands.

and that was it. five weeks after this campaign began, its final set piece moment had finished. that was our political editor chris mason. we can go over live to nottingham. our deputy political editor vicki young is in the spin room. how are both camps spinning this, it was at times quite a spiky conversation, spiky debate? . it conversation, spiky debate? , it was, conversation, spiky debate? , it was. and _ conversation, spiky debate? , it was. and i _ conversation, spiky debate? , t was, and i think talking to rishi sunak�*s camn, that was a deliberate move. they say he came out fighting. lots of people will be looking at opinion polls and saying, he has certain got a lot of ground to make up. i think they know that his aggression, is interrupting, talking over sir keir starmer that that would jive with some people, but they feel he had to get his message

out and get it out strongly. he wants to talk about the future of the sir keir starmer on stock about the sir keir starmer on stock about the past. he wants to talk about the conservative record —— wants to talk about the past. you can tell from his statement his appeal to voters is very much, if you want change, you've got to vote for it, and speaking to some the of members of the shadow cabinet who were here tonight, they are still a little bit concerned about complacency, they know that the opinion polls are showing them way out ahead. what they are worried about is less people going, i don't need to bother and go out and vote, for butch's life sir keir starmer was really trying to get that message out that if you don't want to carry on with what he calls the chaos of the last 14 what he calls the chaos of the last iii years, you have to get out there and look for changes. the 14 years, you have to get out there and look for changes.— and look for changes. the question for now is. — and look for changes. the question for now is, who _ and look for changes. the question for now is, who won _ and look for changes. the question for now is, who won that _ and look for changes. the question for now is, who won that particular| for now is, who won that particular debate? we have at one snapple so far, the yougov poll which suggests no outright winner? this far, the yougov poll which suggests no outright winner?— no outright winner? this is difficult. — no outright winner? this is difficult, isn't _ no outright winner? this is difficult, isn't it, _ no outright winner? this is difficult, isn't it, when - no outright winner? this is i difficult, isn't it, when people no outright winner? this is - difficult, isn't it, when people are watching these things. there has been some interesting analysis of people's, compared to what their

expectations were, how do they think that people performed? i think there's no doubt that rishi sunak had very much rehearsed those lines, at the end of almost every topic, using that phrase, don't surrender yourfamily finances to using that phrase, don't surrender your family finances to labour, don't surrender council tax, don't surrender the borders. who he was appealing to his preclear. he is appealing to his preclear. he is appealing mainly to those voters who are considering voting for reform, and what he is trying to do is put some doubt into what a labour government might do. for their part, the spinners on behalf of sir keir starmer said, the spinners on behalf of sir keir starmersaid, look, he isjust making things up about we would do and actually his case was pretty desperate, but you can see the prime minister was trying to push the leader of the opposition, to say, specifically public policies he would bring and if he was in power, you see you can see the dynamic going on there, and i think the

thing is about all these things, people watching leather preconceptions, but they might be able tojudge the preconceptions, but they might be able to judge the performance may be separately from what their vote is going to be. separately from what their vote is going to be-_ separately from what their vote is going to toe-— separately from what their vote is going to loo-— going to be. and 'ust in terms of the ve going to be. and just in terms of the very beginning, _ going to be. and just in terms of the very beginning, there - going to be. and just in terms of the very beginning, there was i going to be. and just in terms of the very beginning, there was a | the very beginning, there was a protest going on in the vicinity of where this televised debate was happening, which complicated matters somewhat? ., ., , ., ., , ., somewhat? yeah, a pro-palestinian rotest. somewhat? yeah, a pro-palestinian protest we — somewhat? yeah, a pro-palestinian protest. we could _ somewhat? yeah, a pro-palestinian protest. we could hear _ somewhat? yeah, a pro-palestinian protest. we could hear it _ somewhat? yeah, a pro-palestinian protest. we could hear it earlier - somewhat? yeah, a pro-palestinian protest. we could hear it earlier on | protest. we could hear it earlier on today and it was getting louder and louder, and it was quite hard, because in his bedroom here we were not sure if we were hearing it because it was outside or because that was coming through, but i think in the end it was obvious that was coming through, so i presume that was a bit of a distraction for those on the stage, but i think as they both said, that is part of the democratic process, and of course there's nothing they could have done about that. . ~ there's nothing they could have done about that. w' . ~ there's nothing they could have done about that. w' ., ~' , ., , about that. vicki, thank you very much, about that. vicki, thank you very much. our _ about that. vicki, thank you very much. our deputy _ about that. vicki, thank you very much, our deputy political- about that. vicki, thank you very much, our deputy political editor vicki young, in the spin room, which is quieting down now.

well, let's get a bit more detail on some of the claims made during the debate. with more on this, let's go to bbc verify�*s nick eardley — who's been looking at what the two main party leaders said about immigration. yeah, we have. we have gone through a lot of the claims that rishi sunak and keir starmer made tonight, but in particular towards the start of the debate, those really heated exchanges on small boats crossings. here's a reminder of what was said. the numbers have come down over the last 12 months compared to the 12 months before. but in order to fully solve this problem, you need a deterrent. there are tens of thousands, 50,000 i people have come since rishi sunakl has been prime minister — l 50,000 across the channel. so, different claims therefore slimani show you what's actually happened in the last few years. —— let me show you. there is no doubt the number of small boats crossing has gone up considerably overall,

and when you top it up, keir starmer is rec to say when you look at all of this 50,000 people have enter the country on some since rishi sunak became prime minister, but they were making contractor claims there, using different calculations about what is happening right now, because it is true to say the small boats crossings are down over the last 12 months, down about 30%. however, if you look at this redline here, so far this year, there have been a record number of people crossing the channel on small boats up to this point of the year, so that's a bit of context on why they could both make those claims. now, through the whole campaign and the debate tonight, both parties have been trading blows on tax and on spending, and you might�*ve noticed in his closing statement, the prime minister mentioned tax going up £2000 for each working family under labour. a reminder, we have checked

this one before, and it risks misleading people. it's based on questionable assumptions from political advisers. there is a lot more we have been through a lot more, we have looked a lot more claims than both from rishi sunak and keir starmer, they are all up just now on the abc news website. there's a life page there with all the bbc verify analysis and be a lot more from tomorrow morning across bbc one. thanks very much. nick erli from a bbc verify, and just to add, nick is right, lots going on the life page, bbc verify checking all of those claims made during that debate. if you recall... in the bbc�*s first election debate earlier in the month, we spoke to representatives from the seven biggest parties in great britain, which included the conservatives and labour. we asked the other five for their reaction to tonight's debate. here's those who replied. it was like a third—rate vaudeville act. the big things that should have been mentioned weren't mentioned.

scotland wasn't mentioned once, brexit wasn't mentioned once, even in the response to the question about the trading relationship with europe. and austerity wasn't mentioned once. and for that reason, this represents, this election — and i've been in elections for a0 years now — it represents the biggest fraud on the people of the uk and on scotland i've ever seen. if you listened to the debate tonight, i think the gentleman in the audience who really hit the nail on the head was the gentleman who said, "is this really the best that we've got?" and actually, what we've seen over the last few weeks is that many people have really made a human connection to ed davey because he's demonstrated that we can make people laugh, we can make them cry, and he has a real experience, a lifetime of experience. i think it was the narrowness of the debate that was most| shocking, and that's what happens when you leave out all _ of the other parties _ from the debates, quite frankly. we had a conspiracy of silence - from the two main parties on some of the key issues like the climate | crisis, like the situation in gaza, | like no—one standing up -

for issues like free movement. what we had were two men basically trying to outcompete each other - to be as cruel as possible to some of the most vulnerable people, i like asylum—seekers and refugees. i'm deeply disappointed that the only mention of wales was by rishi sunak, and he was referring to wales as a political football, which doesn't look to me like a plan, a real plan, there which he'd like to talk about. and of course, there was a gentleman in the audience who asked, "are these two the best on offer?" and i think there will be many people who agree with that. so, reaction to tonight's debate from some of the other parties that took part in the bbc�*s first debate. lots more of course on our website and bbc verify is continuing its work in verifying some of the claims made earlier on tonight and tonight's debate, but now let's move on and bring you some of today's other news. an attempted military coup is under way in bolivia, in south america, where hundreds of soldiers have encircled government buildings in the capital la paz.

heavily armed troops and armoured vehicles have taken over the city's plaza murillo, with one armoured car trying to ram the doors of the presidential palace. bolivia's president luis arce has denounced what he calls the "irregular mobilisation by some units of the bolivian army", saying "democracy must be respected". and he's addressed the nation, alongside his cabinet, calling on the bolivian people and social groups to mobilise against the coup. the former president evo morales, who leads the ruling socialist party, has accused a top general — juanjose zuniga — of plotting the coup. we will keep an eye on that. an inquest into the death of the law graduate zara aleena has found that there were serious failures across multiple agencies that allowed jordan mcsweeney to kill her while she walked home after a night out in east london. ajury in east london coroner's court has

returned the verdict. adina campbell reports. independent, and fearless, memories of zara aleena,... she was murdered by the sexual predator captured on cctv shortly before the attack. jordan mcsweeney had only been out of prison for nine days and had breached his licence conditions above the inquest heard there were a number of missed opportunities to arrest him when he was recalled to prison. mcsweeney was released from prison. mcsweeney was released from prison onjune the 17th 2022 and after missing a number of probation appointments, is recall was initiated onjune the 22nd, but the paperwork was kind of today's later.

on june the paperwork was kind of today's later. onjune the 24th. police being given the powers to arrest him just after 4pm on the same day. he murdered zara aleena in the early hours of the morning onjune 26. zara aleena in the early hours of the morning on june 26.- the morning on june 26. jordan mcsweeney? — the morning on june 26. jordan mcsweeney? you _ the morning on june 26. jordan mcsweeney? you are _ the morning on june 26. jordan mcsweeney? you are under- the morning on june 26. jordan i mcsweeney? you are under arrest the morning on june 26. jordan - mcsweeney? you are under arrest for rape and murder.— rape and murder. mcsweeney was arrested the _ rape and murder. mcsweeney was arrested the next _ rape and murder. mcsweeney was arrested the next day _ rape and murder. mcsweeney was arrested the next day on - rape and murder. mcsweeney was arrested the next day on june - rape and murder. mcsweeney was arrested the next day on june 27 l rape and murder. mcsweeney was i arrested the next day on june 27 and arrested the next day onjune 27 and is currently serving a life sentence in prison for sexual assault and murder. the biggest probation union in england, wales and northern ireland says staff shortages and high workloads continue to be putting a strain on the system. the climate is putting a strain on the system. the: climate is almost as putting a strain on the system. tt9 climate is almost as bad as zahra's tragic death, in that there are not enough stilled staff in post in just about every probation region, including london, and therefore the overwork issue is huge. i have members almost coming down that caring twice their workload, twice,

in the space of their working week. and the pressure is intolerable. louie and the pressure is intolerable. we contacted the ministry ofjustice and are waiting for a response. zara aleena's family say she lost the right to sibley walk home the night she was killed. but insist as part of her legacy, they will continue to campaign for the safety of other women and girls. adina campbell, bbc news. the wikileaks founder, julian assange, is home in australia with his wife and children after he was freed in a plea deal by an american court. he admitted to a single charge of conspiracy for leaking classified us military secrets, which officials said put lives in danger. the trial has finally begun of evan gershkovich, an american journalist for the wall streetjournal who the russian authorities have accused of spying. he's been imprisoned for nearly 15 months, but today he appeared in court, head shaven and standing in a glass cage. our russia editor

steve rosenberg was in court. this is evan gershkovich, after 15 months in a russian jail, awaiting trial. russian prosecutors call him a spy. america says he's being held hostage. as his trial opened, some smiles. but, if convicted, the usjournalist faces up to 20 years in a russian prison. so, we managed to see evan gershkovich briefly. but, from this moment on, this trial will be behind closed doors. so, no family members, no diplomats, no media allowed in. the next time we may be able to see the american journalist will be at the end of his trial. he was arrested on a reporting assignment here in yekaterinburg and accused of collecting information for the cia. evan gershkovich, his employer, the wall streetjournal, and the us government fiercely deny

it and call the trial a sham. this is a bogus process. this is outrageous and outlandish. he will not enjoy any of the due process that one would expect in the west, in any western court. it will be closed door, it will be secret. we don't expect any chance, really, of his being acquitted. but could there be a prisoner swap? it's happened before. in 2022, russia freed us basketball star brittney griner, injail on a drugs charge. in return, america released russian arms dealer viktor bout. there's no guarantee, though. former marine paul whelan was convicted of spying four years ago in russia. the us insists he is wrongfully detained but hasn't secured his release. and, despite us—russian contacts over evan gershkovich, there is no sign yet of a deal that would bring him home. steve rosenberg,

bbc news, yekaterinburg. let's return to the uk general election campaign. and hundreds of thousands of young people are eligible to vote for the first time this year — what do they, and other younger voters, make of the campaigns? as part of our election coverage, we have teamed up with radio 1's newsbeat who are doing a "race across the uk" — stopping along the way at locations, known as checkpoints, some of which have been picked by listeners. jordan kenny is their politics reporter — we spent the day with him in liverpool. radio 1, newsbeat. race across the uk — a microphone at one end of the uk and going all the way to the other. we are just pulling in to our next checkpoint after about eight hours on this boat, and it is liverpool. there's an election coming on the lith ofjuly. are you interested in it? everything just seems awful.

i think this year, it's probably just going to be a case of voting for the least awful. what issues do you think are important to young people here in liverpool ahead of the general election? when you go out, it's so scary, like, because you never know who could be round any corner and that needs to be addressed. because especially with knife crime and things like that, itjust has shot up in the last few years and it's terrifying. the cost of everything isjust a nightmare at the moment. you know, we've come out and i've had to borrow money because i'm not earning enough to be able to go out and do things that i want to do. you know, i'm19 and i want to be able to go out and enjoy time with my friends. so liverpool is a city with about seven universities and colleges, roughly 70,000 students living here. you guys are two of them. what are the top priorities for students here in liverpool? mental health, for sure. support for mental health, for children, young people. it's skyrocketed and there needs to be more put in, not more taken out. especially as a young person, this national service thing, it just feels ridiculous. it'sjust not giving me a reason to vote for the conservatives.

has that put you off voting for them entirely? i mean, maybe. i don't feel like i'm being given reasons to vote for anyone specifically, but that definitely doesn't help at all. they're all the same, aren't they? what do you mean by that? somebody else said that to me today. when you say they're all the same, what do you mean? they're all the same pack of liars. they're no help to any of us. like for my brothers, for instance, just out of school, nothing. no jobs available for them. and obviously they can't go on jobseekers', things like that. you don't want them on that. but, even if, there's no help for them, for young people get employed. what issues are most important to you guys as young people? the nhs is my biggest one. it needs a lot more funding. a lot more funding. i think the nurses especially deserve a fairer wage. can i ask who you voted for at the last election? i don't think i voted, actually, at the last one. what's changed this time around that now you do want to vote?

if you're not happy and you don't make changes or have your voice heard, it's never going to change, is it? so it may only be a little voice, but it's still a voice. that was jordan kenny from that wasjordan kenny from radio 1's newsbeat and that was jordan kenny from radio 1's newsbeat and they that wasjordan kenny from radio 1's newsbeat and they had some stunning weather there in the report. let's see what the rest of the country looks like weather wise. here's stav danaos. hello there. wednesday was the warmest day of the year so far, with 31 celsius reached in wisley in surrey. but that's the last of these sorts of temperatures for now. it does look like for the rest of the week, into the weekend, it's going to be turning fresher for all areas and the winds will be picking up as well. but we'll still have quite a bit of sunshine around. now, the change is all courtesy of this area of low pressure, pretty deep for the time of year, pushing to the north and the west of the country, where it'll bring significant winds and some rain. but the cold front associated with it will spread across the country, pushing the warm and humid air back out to the near continent. this is the cold front — barely anything on it as it reaches southern and eastern england.

but it will bring a change to the air temperature. plenty of sunshine here, but windy with showers or long spells of rain for north—west england, north wales, northern ireland and into scotland. so temperatures here much lower than of late. highs of 2a to 25 degrees across the south—east. but warmer along north sea coasts, as we've lost the onshore breeze. but it will be a very blustery end to the day for thursday. gales across the far west of scotland, far north of northern ireland, showers or longer spells of rain, whereas i think as we head through thursday nights across much of england and wales, it should be largely dry with some clear spells. lighter winds the further south that you are. but it will be a cooler night to come for all, with temperatures 10 to around 12 degrees. so as we head into friday, then, we see that area of low pressure pulling away from the north of the uk, but it will take its time. it stays quite windy, blustery, with outbreaks of rain across scotland, whereas for england and wales, closer to a ridge of high pressure. so the further north that you are, it will be windier with showers or longer spells of rain. the further south that you are, variable cloud, but some good spells of sunshine.

and i think for many, it will stay dry on friday. temperatures perhaps reaching around 23, maybe 2a degrees. otherwise, it's the mid to high teens further north, so you can see that cooler trend is continuing. into the start of the weekend, bit of a question mark on it, but it looks like this area of weather fronts will bring thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain to the central slice of the uk through the day. to the north of it, it stays quite blustery with sunshine and showers, feeling cool. but some good sunny spells across the south and south—east could put temperatures up to around 25 celsius, so feeling quite warm again, but cooler further north. but as we head into part two of the weekend, it does look like it'll be cloudy with some further spots of rain and feeling cooler for all.

this is bbc news, we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. it is hard to overstate the levels of turmoil and uncertainty in french politics right now. thanks to president macron's early dissolution of the national assembly, france faces two rounds of voting in the next two weeks, after which parliamentary power could be in the hands of marine le pen's far—right national rally party. what would that mean for france, for europe? well, my guest is national rally member

of the european parliament, fabrice leggeri.