and we speak to one man with the bleeding disorder haemophilia who says gene therapy has made him feel cured. and coming up on bbc news... having beaten the rain in guyana, for now at least — can england keep their t20 world cup defence going by beating india in their semi final. good evening. the bbc has tracked down and confronted a people smuggler responsible for organising a small—boat crossing to the uk in april in which a seven—year—old girl died. our paris correspondent andrew harding was on the beach in france when that boat set off. now after a lengthy investigation,

he has managed to track down the smuggler across europe to luxembourg. here's his story. excuse me, sir. andrew harding from bbc news. we've come to luxembourg to confront a man we've been chasing across europe. we know who you are, you're a smuggler. no. he's responsible for putting hundreds of people in small boats heading from france to england. and responsible for one boat in particular. this one. we came across it back in april on a beach in northern france. police, battling with a group of smugglers. chaos as people clambered onto the boat. we saw a girl here in a pink coat. she was one of five to die at the scene. her name was sara, seven years old, born in belgium, raised in sweden. a few days later, we found her father, ahmed, an iraqi man consumed by grief — and also by guilt.

but what of the smugglers? multiple sources tell us the man paid to arrange sara's journey is still active and working from a distant city. so we've come now to antwerp, a city in northern belgium, to try and track down the smuggler, the man who organised the boat and who, to some extent, was responsible for sara's death. and so we set a trap. one of our team poses here as a migrant looking to cross the channel. wearing a hidden camera, he goes to meet a middleman in antwerp. someone who can put us in touch with the smuggler. and the plan works. we are now waiting for the smuggler to call us. he's just sent us a text message, so it could be any moment now. finally, he does call. believing he's talking

to a potential client, he offers us seats on his next boat. so, the smuggler is still in business. but he's not in belgium any more. we now hear he may be on the run, that he's heading to luxembourg — and we're in pursuit. we've received a photo and video suggesting he's hiding in some sort of camp. an online search directs us to this migrant reception centre in the city of luxembourg. our new plan is a stakeout. we've been watching for three whole days now. still no sign of him. but by now we have more evidence. this photo of the smuggler and his passport. he's called rebwar, from iraq. and then we catch this glimpse

of him inside the camp. and a few hours later, we're racing to catch him outside. that's my colleague ahead of me, in black. we know who you are, you're a smuggler. no. he insists we have the wrong man. "i swear it," he says. do you want to call him? just check that he's got the same number that we've been calling. but then we call him on his mobile. the same number he used when he offered to smuggle us to england. who are you? so he's answering the phone. we know that this is you, sir. we know 100% that you are a smuggler. that you are responsible for the death of this seven—year—old, that you put her on a boat, that you took money from her parents, that she and four other people died. that's you. we know this is our man. he's getting on a tram now. we're going to let him go. there's not much more we can do. so, he leaves. and while we don't follow him, we do inform the french authorities, who've declined to comment.

as for the family sara left behind, they're being housed temporarily in this tiny french village. ahmed has claimed that hiring a smuggler was his only option. true or not, he now says he's learned a hard lesson. the smugglers only care about money, he says. i hope they'll be arrested and my daughter's death will not be in vain. but his other children have no access to school here and no idea what comes next. what do you miss most? to have, like, a normal life, like everybody. that's what you miss? do you think you will have one soon? where do you think? in england. i'm sorry.

but there's little chance of that right now. her sister's body has been buried here in france. but this grieving family has no permission to settle anywhere in europe. instead, they wait in limbo while the smuggling industry thrives. andrew harding, bbc news. the metropolitan police says it's now identified seven officers in connection with alleged bets on the timing of the general election. the force says it's going to take a bigger role in investigating the alleged betting, raising the possibility of former mps being interviewed under caution by detectives. our uk correspondent daniel sandford is at scotland yard. tell us more about this. today's statement _ tell us more about this. today's statement for _ tell us more about this. today's statement for the _ tell us more about this. today's statement for the metropolitan | statement for the metropolitan police has potentially some quite serious implications. first of all, until now, the force was only

involved in investigating its own officers that had been caught up in the betting scandal. it was the gambling commission that was investigating everyone else suspected cheating of at betting by laying bets on the election date using confidential information, to gain an unfair advantage. but now it seems that the metropolitan police has asked to take the lead in any case where another offence beyond cheating at gambling is suspected, and the offence being mentioned is misconduct in public office. that's important, because misconduct in public office is a charge that can be laid against anyone who draws a salary from the public purse. not just police officers but also mps and civil servants. that would include ministerial special visors. that raises the prospect of former mps being interviewed under caution by scotland yard detectives. it also raises the stakes, because the potential punishment for misconduct in public office is much more serious than the punishment for cheating at gambling. all that said,

the only person we know that has been interviewed under caution by scotland yard detectives already is one of their own officers, a close protection officer who was involved in guarding the prime minister. scotland yard also said six other officers are thought to have laid bets on the election date, but it is not yet known how suspicious those bets are. an undercover police officer has told a court that he feared there was an imminent threat to the tv presenter holly willoughby after he saw pictures of her posted in an online group that discussed her abduction, rape and murder. the officer from the united states said he became concerned that the defendant, gavin plumb, was looking for hitmen to carry out the alleged plot. the 37—year—old denies all the charges. lizo mzimba is at chelmsford crown court. tell us more about what was said in court. ~ . ., court. well, the undercover officer's _ court. well, the undercover officer's evidence _ court. well, the undercover officer's evidence took - court. well, the undercover officer's evidence took up i court. well, the undercover- officer's evidence took up most of the day. he was questioned in a number of areas. yours asked why he focused on gavin plumb. he said that

comments that gavin plumb made on the online group were not typical of the online group were not typical of the comments usually made there. the officer said when he started message on gavin plumb privately, he was quite alarmed when at one point he sent him a video of a kidnap kit consisting of handcuffs and other items, as well as alleged indications that he had purchased chloroform. the officer was also pressed on whether he believed mr plum's messages represented fantasy or reality. the officer said he believed the plan would have been carried out with or without his services. gavin plumb's barrister also told the jury that the undercover officer had, the time, seen a photograph of gavin plumb and that he was significantly underweight. she questioned if it undermined the credibility of him making a plan to at one pointjump the outer wall of holly willoughby�*s house. the officer responded that it

didn't. gavin plumb is expected to give evidence in his defence tomorrow. he denies all the charges. could the election next week see a resurgent liberal democrat party? most opinion polls suggest that the lib dems could once again become the third largest party in the house of commons. they won just 11 seats in 2019, but their leader ed davey is hopeful that the party is finally turning a corner. our political editor chris mason went to meet him on the campaign trail. marple bridge in greater manchester. hanging around is all part of the thing covering a general election. that is, unless you've arrived in the nick of time. we are just catching up a bit. this bedraggled reporter in a creased suit finds himself on an impromptu hike, chasing the leader of the liberal democrats. ed davey has specialised in the wacky stunt on this campaign. he's brought us to the top of a hill for his next one. today, he's painting

porcelain on a picnic table. these capers command attention — that is their strategy, a small party fighting to be heard. they'd like to rejoin the eu single market, give 16 and i7—year—olds the vote, and deliverfree personal care and more gps in england. now reunited with his jacket and tie, i wanted on your behalf to ask sir ed what a party like his can actually achieve, given it won't win the election. what's the best you can hope for, for the content of this manifesto? is it that whoever is in government nicks the best bits? well, it's quite often that liberal democrat policies are stolen, but you'll get them stolen more often if you've got lots of liberal democrat mps in parliament arguing for them. i think in this election campaign, we're winning the argument about health and care, and i think a lot of liberal democrat mps in parliament after the next election will win for those idea in that manifesto.

opinion polls suggest the lib dems could leap forward from a dozen or so mps to two, three or even four times that. the liberal democrats, under your leadership, have been strongly anti—conservative. how much of an effective opposition could you be to a labour government? i've fought the conservatives all my life, i think they're a terrible government, they have to go, get them out of office. that is absolutely right... so can you be a strong opposition to a labour government, if that's what we end up with? well, we'll take those ideas to whoever�*s in power and campaign for them and push for them, and win for people. a bounce in the polls coming! if services to absurdity counted in this campaign, the lib dems would be heading for a landslide. whose idea was all the mucking about, various stunts? i don't take myself too seriously, and i think people like politicians having a little self—deprecation. but we've got some very, very serious messages. and the next stop for sir ed —

wem in shropshire, to meet pele the alpaca. chris mason, bbc news, on the campaign trail with the liberal democrats. as part of the bbc�*s your voice, your vote, we've been asking you to get in touch to let us know which issues you'd like us to cover. gerald hodgkiss did just that. he lives in a village a few miles outside of wigan in greater manchester. he contacted us about cuts to rural bus services. colletta smith went to meet him. in a quiet corner of lancashire, something's brewing. everyone's round gerald's house. and there's one thing on their minds. what's the point in having a bus pass if you can't use it? first of all, gerald, why did you get in touch? i got in touch because since 2020, january 2020, we've had no bus service. the majority in this area are pensioners.

me and my wife, we've spent - in excess of £2,000 in taxi fares. and that's going to wigan just once a week, there and back. _ my wife she's she's . trapped in the house. she's got a disability, walking. she can't walk so far. i mean, it's ok for me, - i can walk to the fingerpost. but it's hard work. he's walked down in the pouring rain. it'sjust sad. nobody�*s on about having a half hour service or something. just once every couple of hours or something. i feel like i'm on a desert island. i do, because everything's cut off. we've nothing. i'm going for a walk a mile up the road to the fingerpost to see see you. thank you. passenger numbers in rural areas have fallen across the uk, and private operators have been cutting services. with most government money going to urban bus routes and councils struggling to plug the gap, millions in smaller towns and villages are left... . . isolated. transport for greater manchester are now in charge of

the routes in this area. i'll see you later. i'll race you. they say they're committed to ensuring everyone has access to public transport, regardless of where they live. next stop for me is a catch—up with someone much younger, butjust as dependent on buses. thanks very much. see you. in my area, they eitherjust don't show up or they're just ridiculously late. what's that meant for your education? it's impacting my learning. i'm missing out on valuable time in my lessons. it means that i... my attendance is going down, which affects my personal record. it's just not good for students. so itjust feels like i'm being let down. this is gabrielle's first time voting in a general election. but, like everyone i've spoken to today, she doesn't feel like any of the parties are dealing with the biggest hurdle in her life. colletta smith, bbc news, in wigan. it's thursday, so it's question time tonight. here's fiona with more details. a week today, millions of people will be voting for the first time in a general election. on top of that, millions more

have yet to make their mind up. we'll have both groups represented in our audience here in birmingham, plus a panel of senior politicians. we're live on bbc one at eight o'clock. our top story this evening: the bbc tracks down the iraqi people smuggler who organised a small boat crossing that left a seven—year—old dead in the channel. and four years on from their last debate, joe biden and donald trump prepare to face each other once again. and on bbc london: famed for its football fever, we're live at the kirby estate talking politics as the election approaches. and it is cricket but played on a table, find out more about this growing accessible sport. throughout the election campaign, we've been finding out how it is shaping up across the uk. in a moment, we'll hearfrom bbc sussex's political reporter, lucinda adam, who's in brighton.

but first let's go to bbc three counties' political reporter, amy holmes, who's in hitchin in hertfordshire. amy. hello from hitchen, a constituency making headlines as two former mps fighting against each other, and that means only one can win next week. in the blue corner, there's conservative bim afolami, he's been mp for the now abolished seat of hitchin and harpenden since 2017 where he had a majority of almost 7,000. iamat i am at this historic market town which forms the majority of the seat. however, recent boundary changes mean that parts over the border in bedfordshire, including where mr strathern lives, are now in this seat instead, so he's chosen to run here. like most places, cost of living and a lack of gp and dentist services are an issue here,

but with parts of the seat on the flight path for nearby luton airport, its potential expansion is also a talking point. and now let's head to brighton and lucinda. hello from brighton pavillion, the landmark that gives its name to this constituency. brighton is proud of green political credentials. caroline lucas has been the green party's only mp here for the past ia years, but she has stood down at this election. that's a blow for the party. she's been a national trailblazer with a lot of personal reputation. the greens are fighting hard to retain this seat, but labour see an opportunity are trying to take their chance too. this isn'tjust a two—horse race. conservatives, lib dems, reform uk and the social democratic party are also standing here. plus the monster raving loony party. and in a nationalfirst, we have an artificial intelligence candidate on the ballot paper. he pledges to be a physical presence in parliament,

but everything he says and does would be governed by an ai platform communicating with constituents. lucinda adam, thank you. and you can find a full list of all candidates standing in the general election on the bbc news website. at the post office inquiry, a former fujitsu engineer who helped design the faulty horizon it system has been questioned about his evidence which led to a pregnant sub—postmistress being sent to jail. garethjenkins, who was a key expert in a number of post office prosecutions, had written in one email that seema misra was "jumping on the bandwagon" after reading an article in 2010 suggesting the computer system was unreliable. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. are you telling the truth, garethjenkins?! day three, and the questions are getting tougher. i wasn't exploring every word that i wrote in an internal document

expecting it to be picked apart in the way that it's being picked apart now. i'm going to continue the picking apart, if i may. and then he took him to this e—mail with garethjenkins responding to a report, saying, "this is another example of postmasters trying to get away with, �*horizon has taken my money.”' presumably, it does reflect your mind at the time, that postmasters were trying to get away with, quote, "horizon has taken my money." well, i didn't believe that there was any problems with horizon that was causing horizon to lose money. and then another e—mailfrom him, discussing the case of seema misra. he wrote, "she saw an article in computer weekly indicating that horizon was unreliable and decided tojump on the bandwagon." that's totally inappropriate wording on my part, for which i apologise. just a few months later, he was the post office's expert witness in seema's trial,

but he didn't give the whole picture about what he knew of bugs and problems with horizon — material that should have been disclosed. the inquiry heard he also didn't tell two of the senior post office team all that he knew either. you were asked twice, once byjon longman and once byjarnail singh, explicitly to mention any known problems with the horizon system. why, on both occasions, have you applied a restrictive approach, rather than simply mentioning all of the problems that you were aware of? that was not how i'd understood the question, but i accept now that i'd misunderstood the question. there in the second row, seema was watching. it was very important for me i to see this man after 13 years. how angry are you? very angry, very angry, because he could have i saved me imprisonment.

garethjenkins said he wasn't made aware of his duties as an expert witness and felt under pressure from the post office lawyers. emma simpson, bbc news, at the post office inquiry. the uk health security agency says one person in england has died in connection with a recent outbreak of e.coli. it's understood that the person who died in may had underlying health conditions. it's thought the bacteria spread via lettuce leaves, resulting in recalls of a number of products from supermarkets. junior doctors in england have begun a five—day strike, the 11th in their long—running pay dispute after their union said there had been no credible pay offer from the government. nhs bosses have criticised the timing of the action, with a week to go to the general election. with four months to go before the us presidential election in november, joe biden and dondald trump will go head—to—head tonight in a televised debate. it comes just two weeks before mr trump is due to be sentenced

for his conviction on 3a counts of falsifying business records. 0ur north america editor, sarah smith, is in atlanta, georgia, where the debate will happen. it will be quite a moment, sarah, won't it? , , , won't it? oh, yes, it will, sophie, the stakes— won't it? oh, yes, it will, sophie, the stakes are _ won't it? oh, yes, it will, sophie, the stakes are very _ won't it? oh, yes, it will, sophie, the stakes are very high, - won't it? oh, yes, it will, sophie, the stakes are very high, because the stakes are very high, because the polls are so tight, both campaigns are fighting for every vote. what is unusual is that the two candidates are already so very well—known to voters, they have both been president, and of course they have both been on stage debating each other before, there were two of these debates in 2020, and they were loud, bad—tempered, acrimonious affairs. so this time around, cnn, who are hosting the debate, have changed the rules to try and at least make sure that the men can be heard. their microphones will be muted whilst the other one is speaking, orwhen muted whilst the other one is speaking, or when they have run out of their allotted time to talk, to try to stop them over each other

throughout the whole 90 minutes. and they both need to try and use this debate two maybe clarify public perceptions about them. joe biden, four months, has been fighting against accusations that he is too old and infirm, he needs to appear vigorous, while donald trump needs to be a disciplined, despite the fact that he is now a convicted felon, and this could set the tone for the debate campaign to come. andy murray says he is hopeful that he will be able to play at wimbledon one more time next week but will make a decision as late as possible. the 37—year—old had a cyst removed from his spinal cord on saturday, after he was forced to withdraw from a match at queen's club last week. murray is due to play doubles at wimbledon with his brother, jamie. meanwhile, in football, england defender marc guehi has dismissed talk that england have a favourable draw in the euros as the side prepare for a last—16 game against slovakia.

england have won all three of their last—16 matches under gareth southgate and haven't exited at this stage of a major tournament since 2016. about the draw, i think everyone's seen in this competition that i don't think there is a favourable side of the draw. you know, every team, every opponent that you come up against is really tough to play against. but i think we just need to to remain calm, and i think that's the environment that we've set ourselves. we put pressure on ourselves, but it's a very calm and focused environment, i'd have to say, so we just need to continue focusing on one thing at a time, really. a transformational gene therapy for haemophilia b is being made available on the nhs. it can free people of the need for regular injections of the clotting agent their blood can't make naturally. but it's one of the most expensive treatments in the world, costing around two £2.5 million. 0ur health correspondent james gallagher reports. elliott collins was born with haemophilia b. the condition makes it harder for his blood to clot. when he bleeds, it's bigger, lasts

longer and can damage the body. i remember, i used to play football, i got studs right across the shin, and that come up like a cartoon, like tom and jerry, it come up like that. yeah, it was rough, really rough. for 29 years, elliot needed regular injections to control his bleeding. until he took part in a trial of a new gene therapy. so how does this therapy work? well, elliott was born with a genetic mutation. this left his body unable to make a protein called factor ix, and that's essential for clotting the blood. so the therapy uses an engineered virus that contains the correct genetic instructions for building factor ix. so, like a fleet of postmen, the viruses deliver those genetic instructions to the liver, and now the organ has been infected with the ability to make factor ix and to clot elliott's blood. all this should cost £2.6 million,

but the nhs has struck a unique deal, so the amount it pays depends on how well the therapy performs. it's a real milestone. to have gene therapy available on the nhs in england for people with severe haemophilia b is life—transforming. at its most effective, it can last for decades and put their bleeding disorder into complete remission. elliott hasn't needed haemophilia injections for five years now. i'm just wondering, because you've had haemophilia for so long and now you effectively don't, are you a different elliott? fundamentally, it has changed me, i don't think you can go through something like that for 29 years, having dealt with that and for it to then completely disappear, for it to not change someone. james gallagher, bbc news. time for a look at the weather, here's stav danaos. i

, good evening. temperatures reached high of 25 celsius, as opposed to 30, humidity was low, so more comfortable. tomorrow it is a pretty fine day for many, bright and breezy, showers courtesy of this low pressure, bringing a windy night across northern ireland, the far north of scotland and scotland, gales and pretty heavy rainfall, but quieter further south and east with clearer skies. a cooler, fresher night for many. low pressure pulling away from the north into tomorrow, it will be quite windy, particularly across the northern half of the country to begin with, then confined to scotland through the course of the day, so may be heavy, thundery showers, fewer further south, the day, so may be heavy, thundery showers, fewerfurther south, and showers, fewer further south, and much showers, fewerfurther south, and much of the south and east will stay dry with sunshine, wind is light too, temperatures lower, and humidity will be lower. there will be a lot of dry weather this weekend, a bit of rain in central

areas on saturday courtesy of these weather fronts, areas on saturday courtesy of these weatherfronts, low areas on saturday courtesy of these weather fronts, low pressure will take the high winds with it, so improving in the north through the day. plenty of sunshine in the north, an area of cloud and rain affecting northern england, the midlands, wales, but quite warm in the south and east, mid—teens in the north. high pressure building for part two of the weekend, so a lot of dry weather around, cloud and showers in northern scotland, but elsewhere a good deal of sunshine, wind is coming from the north—west, so a little bit fresher still on sunday, top temperature of 21 in the south. take care. thanks, stav. and that's bbc news at six. hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm hugh ferris. the headlines this evening.

they're trying to dodge the rain in guyana. but will the weather end england's reign as the t20 world champions? we have the latest from their semi final against india. back on the training pitch to start the build up to slovakia. england's players prepare to turn the page on an underwhelming euros group stage by backing their underfire manager. he's been fantastic, if you look at is record speaks for itself. everyone is we had to manage, that's for sure. everyone is we had to manage, that's forsure. —— behind the everyone is we had to manage, that's for sure. —— behind the manager. georgia are also through to the knockout stage. to the delight of fans back home. we speak to the team's english assistant coach. also coming up on sportsday... and add this name to the list of british players appearing at wimbledon next week — sonay kartal makes the main draw for a third time with another victory in qualifying.