hello, i'm geeta guru—murthy. thanks forjoining us. joe biden has delivered a faltering performance in the first us presidential debate. mr biden appeared to struggle with his words and on occasion, lose his train of thought. democrats had hoped the debate would allow mr biden to reassure voters concerned about his age. but the president's performance is said to have caused panic among senior members of the democratic party. —— some senior members. for his part, donald trump made a series of unverified claims about his record in office. our north america correspondent, gary o'donoghue, was watching. trump, trump, trump... for the first time in debate history, a former president arriving to debate a current president. cheering. that current president aiming to be the oldest incumbent of the white house in us history. joe biden. four years ago, when these two men met, it ended up in a slanging match. donald trump.

but even new rules didn't stop the insults from flying. the only reason i'm here is he's so bad as a president that i'm going to make america great again. my son was not a loser. he was not a sucker. you're the sucker. you're the loser. both men accused the other of trashing the economy, clashing over tax cuts and inflation. he's the only president other than herbert hoover who's lost morejobs than he had when he began. since herbert hoover. the onlyjobs he created are for illegal immigrants and bounce back jobs. the bounce back from the covid. at times, joe biden sounded hoarse and difficult to understand. his aides said he had a cold, but there have been persistent concerns about his concentration and stamina, and this did not dispel those worries. excuse me with, um, dealing with everything we have to do with, uh... look, if... we finally beat medicare. thank you, president biden. abortion and immigration were hotly contested, with donald trump

delivering perhaps his strongest line of the night. we are living right now in a rat's nest. they're killing our people in new york, in california, in every state in the union, because we don't have borders anymore. every state is now a border. when both men were asked about their age, joe biden is 81, donald trump 78, they ended up in a bizarre argument about golf. i told you before, i'm happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. think you can do it? that's the biggest lie that he's a six handicap of all. i was an eight handicap. yeah, eight. but you know how many i've... seen you swing. i know you swing. there was little in this debate to change the minds of the committed. both men made well—worn attacks on one another. both men hurled well—worn insults at one another. what will really count is how this lands, with the small number of undecided voters in those key swing states that will decide

november's election. gary o'donoghue. much more on that us presidential debate later. but first, with less than a week to go before polling today, let's check in on the main news from the election. campaigners from reform uk have been filmed making racist and homophobic comments. party leader nigel farage has called it appalling and says it doesn't reflect his own views. it's the turn of the labour leader sir keir starmer to be interviewed by nicky campbell this morning, with questions from the phone—in audience. we'll be joining nicky for that in just a few moments. the conservatives will be campaigning on education — they're pushing a raft of education pledges, including the expansion of free childcare and a school mobile phones ban. the liberal democrats will be talking about access to dentistry, and leader ed davey will be interviewed by the bbc�*s nick robinson — we'll bring you that this evening here on bbc news. let's cross to my colleague nicky

campbell on 5 live, speaking lies to the labour leader sir keir starmer, taking your calls. let's listen in. —— speaking live to the labour leader. jenny in loughborough, good morning. we welcome viewers from bbc news on bbc two, sir keir starmer taking your calls and answering your questions. fire taking your calls and answering your cuestions. ., ._ taking your calls and answering your cuestions. . , , , questions. fire away, jenny. hi, jenn . questions. fire away, jenny. hi, jenny- what— questions. fire away, jenny. hi, jenny. what will— questions. fire away, jenny. hi, jenny. what will labour- questions. fire away, jenny. hi, jenny. what will labour do - questions. fire away, jenny. hi, jenny. what will labour do to i questions. fire away, jenny. hi, i jenny. what will labour do to find school places _ jenny. what will labour do to find school places for _ jenny. what will labour do to find school places for those _ jenny. what will labour do to find school places for those priced - jenny. what will labour do to find school places for those priced outi school places for those priced out of public — school places for those priced out of public education with the proposed vat charges now, not in five to _ proposed vat charges now, not in five to ten — proposed vat charges now, not in five to ten years. the reason i ask is my— five to ten years. the reason i ask is my son — five to ten years. the reason i ask is my son did _ five to ten years. the reason i ask is my son did not get offered a secondary— is my son did not get offered a secondary school place when we needed — secondary school place when we needed one, not even from his catchment_ needed one, not even from his catchment school, and we had to remortgage our house to send him to the iocal— remortgage our house to send him to the local independent school. keep our the local independent school. keep yourthoughts— the local independent school. keep your thoughts as _

the local independent school. ices your thoughts as brief as you can and engage with the listeners, i will put in some thoughts along the way. i will put in some thoughts along the wa . ., will put in some thoughts along the wa . . , will put in some thoughts along the wa. . , ., will put in some thoughts along the wa. . ., , , way. i am sorry you have been put in that position- — way. i am sorry you have been put in that position. we _ way. i am sorry you have been put in that position. we have _ way. i am sorry you have been put in that position. we have a _ way. i am sorry you have been put in that position. we have a plan - way. i am sorry you have been put in that position. we have a plan in - that position. we have a plan in relation to vat and private schools. we have looked at the likely impact of that on parents in the same position as you who have worked hard, saved hard to make sure they have the money available to put their children to private school because they have aspiration for their children, but every parent has aspiration for their children, wherever they go to school, including every single parent in a state school. at the moment, jenny, we don't have the basic teachers in state secondaries for subject like maths and therefore many people listening to those with children in state schools will be familiar with maths being taught by pe teachers, supply teachers. that is not acceptable and therefore we have taken the decision, not an easy decision, to reduce the tax break for private schools and use that

money to recruit 6500 teachers we desperately need. we money to recruit 6500 teachers we desperately need.— desperately need. we understand that, i think _ desperately need. we understand that, i think we _ desperately need. we understand that, i think we will _ desperately need. we understand that, i think we will come - desperately need. we understand that, i think we will come to - desperately need. we understand that, i think we will come to that l that, i think we will come to that but, jenny, what sacrifices have you made? we but, jenny, what sacrifices have you made? ~ ., �* ., ., ., but, jenny, what sacrifices have you made? ~ .,�* ., ., ., but, jenny, what sacrifices have you made? ~ .,�* .,. ., , made? we don't go away, our son is an only child. _ made? we don't go away, our son is an only child, we _ made? we don't go away, our son is an only child, we made _ made? we don't go away, our son is an only child, we made a _ made? we don't go away, our son is an only child, we made a decision i an only child, we made a decision when _ an only child, we made a decision when we — an only child, we made a decision when we had him that he would be an only child _ when we had him that he would be an only child because we wanted to give him the _ only child because we wanted to give him the best we could. on the fact of it being — him the best we could. on the fact of it being a — him the best we could. on the fact of it being a choice to send him to independent school, it was not, he did not— independent school, it was not, he did not get— independent school, it was not, he did not get a state school place, we had no _ did not get a state school place, we had no choice. if he was going to be educated. _ had no choice. if he was going to be educated, he had to go to independent school. | educated, he had to go to independent school. educated, he had to go to inde endent school. , ., independent school. i determined you and others should _ independent school. i determined you and others should not _ independent school. i determined you and others should not be _ independent school. i determined you and others should not be put - independent school. i determined you and others should not be put in - independent school. i determined you and others should not be put in that l and others should not be put in that position, i want to make sure every parent has a state secondary school not only available to them but that is excellent in the schooling and education it provides. because i profoundly believe that every child, whatever their background, wherever they come from, should have the opportunity to go as far as the

talent to take them. this opportunity to go as far as the talent to take them.— opportunity to go as far as the talent to take them. this is her child, talent to take them. this is her child. now- _ talent to take them. this is her child. now- i— talent to take them. this is her child, now. i accept— talent to take them. this is her child, now. i accept that - talent to take them. this is her child, now. i accept that and i talent to take them. this is herl child, now. i accept that and the difficult position _ child, now. i accept that and the difficult position she _ child, now. i accept that and the difficult position she has - child, now. i accept that and the difficult position she has been i child, now. i accept that and the l difficult position she has been put in is one of great concern and i do not think anybody should be put in that position, but at the edge of the day we have to make a difficult decision, do we allow the situation to go on with state secondary schools where many of those who need to be taught core subjects like maths do not have a maths teacher? that will stay with a child for a very long time because it will impact their gcses, that will impact what a level they might be able to do, if they want to do apprenticeships that will impact what apprenticeships they can do. it is simply unacceptable for me to say it is too difficult. but is simply unacceptable for me to say it is too difficult.— it is too difficult. but you have every sympathy _ it is too difficult. but you have every sympathy with - it is too difficult. but you have every sympathy with people i it is too difficult. but you have i every sympathy with people like jenny? every sympathy with people like jenn ? , ., , jenny? yes, and i genuinely understand _ jenny? yes, and i genuinely understand that _ jenny? yes, and i genuinely understand that many i jenny? yes, and i genuinely l understand that many parents jenny? yes, and i genuinely - understand that many parents work hard and save how to send children to private school and it is really hard to do so, and i understand the

aspirations behind that. but every parent has such aspiration. we can't simply walk away from the fact that we don't have the teachers we needed state secondary schools.— state secondary schools. jenny, thank you _ state secondary schools. jenny, thank you so — state secondary schools. jenny, thank you so much. _ state secondary schools. jenny, thank you so much. your i state secondary schools. jenny, i thank you so much. your profession, the legal profession, your former profession, the higher echelons of journalists, absolutely disproportionately people he went to private school. let me ask you a philosophical question, i want to get you off school a little, i do not mean you are on script, but politicians in an election campaign, would britain be a better society without private schools? a more equal society with greater social fluidity. equal society with greater social fluidi . ., ., ., ., fluidity. no, and i have nothing in --rincile fluidity. no, and i have nothing in principle against _ fluidity. no, and i have nothing in principle against private - fluidity. no, and i have nothing in principle against private schools. | principle against private schools. we are in a philosophical place, so let's stay there. i want to take our

country forward to a point where it does not matter whether you want to state school or private school. as you rightly say, whether it is low, my old profession, journalism or other professions, by and large there was still a disproportionality and that will only change if this question of where you go to school is irrelevant. that will only happen if we have state schools that are able to provide the same opportunities as private schools. so to just give you... opportunities as private schools. so to just give you. . ._ to just give you... would you take another: schools? _ to just give you... would you take another: schools? yes, _ to just give you... would you take another: schools? yes, but i to just give you... would you take another: schools? yes, but this. to just give you... would you take another: schools? yes, but this isj another: schools? yes, but this is very important. — another: schools? yes, but this is very important, and _ another: schools? yes, but this is very important, and you - another: schools? yes, but this is very important, and you are i another: schools? yes, but this isj very important, and you are right. —— would you take another caller on schools. d0 -- would you take another caller on schools. ., ., ., ,., , schools. do we want to abolish rivate schools. do we want to abolish private schools? _ schools. do we want to abolish private schools? no. _ schools. do we want to abolish private schools? no. but i schools. do we want to abolish private schools? no. but in i schools. do we want to abolish i private schools? no. but in camden, my constituency, the primary schools are really good because a huge amount of work has been put into state primaries and now for example many parents will say even though i

might have sent my children to private school, i don't feel i need to because the state school is also good. i to because the state school is also aood. ., to because the state school is also aood. . ., to because the state school is also aood. ., ., ., ~ , to because the state school is also aood. ., ., . ~ , ., to because the state school is also nood. . ., . ~ , . , good. i want to make sure... that is where you — good. i want to make sure... that is where you want _ good. i want to make sure... that is where you want to _ good. i want to make sure... that is where you want to get _ good. i want to make sure... that is where you want to get to? _ good. i want to make sure... that is where you want to get to? yes, i good. i want to make sure... that is where you want to get to? yes, so l good. i want to make sure... that is| where you want to get to? yes, so it really does — where you want to get to? yes, so it really does rrot _ where you want to get to? yes, so it really does not matter. _ where you want to get to? yes, so it really does not matter. and - where you want to get to? yes, so it really does not matter. and we i where you want to get to? yes, so it really does not matter. and we will. really does not matter. and we will no with really does not matter. and we will go with jen — really does not matter. and we will go with jen in _ really does not matter. and we will go with jen in petersfield. - really does not matter. and we will go with jen in petersfield. we i really does not matter. and we will go with jen in petersfield. we are l go withjen in petersfield. we are getting jennys and we are getting jens. i am getting jennys and we are getting jens. iam properly getting jennys and we are getting jens. i am properly confused. jen in petersfield. jens. i am properly confused. jen in petersfield— jens. i am properly confused. jen in petersfield. good morning. sir keir, i'm a petersfield. good morning. sir keir, i'm a teacher. _ petersfield. good morning. sir keir, i'm a teacher, roughly _ petersfield. good morning. sir keir, i'm a teacher, roughly 15 _ petersfield. good morning. sir keir, i'm a teacher, roughly 15 years, i i i'm a teacher, roughly 15 years, i would _ i'm a teacher, roughly 15 years, i would like — i'm a teacher, roughly 15 years, i would like to know if you get into power. _ would like to know if you get into power, what will you do for teachers like me _ power, what will you do for teachers like me to _ power, what will you do for teachers like me to keep me in the profession, what incentives will you put in? _ profession, what incentives will you put in? my— profession, what incentives will you put in? my working day is a lot longer— put in? my working day is a lot longer than when i started and i feel like — longer than when i started and i feel like as a profession we are not as respected perhaps as we used to

be. , ., as respected perhaps as we used to be. , . , ., as respected perhaps as we used to be. ., , be. jen, are you primary or secondary? _ be. jen, are you primary or secondary? primary. i be. jen, are you primary or secondary? primary. 0n- be. jen, are you primary or| secondary? primary. on the be. jen, are you primary or- secondary? primary. on the points ou ended secondary? primary. on the points you ended with. — secondary? primary. on the points you ended with, respect. - secondary? primary. on the points you ended with, respect. we i secondary? primary. on the points| you ended with, respect. we would respect those who are teaching and respect those who are teaching and respect more generally, because one of the depressing things in my view about politics in recent years as there has been a tendency for politicians to point the finger at others all of the type wherever there was a problem, that becomes and has become disrespectful of teachers. there will be respect, i expect you would say to me that respect is a bare minimum and we need more than that. that is why they want to put in place a retention scheme for teachers such as yourself which is to do with progression and recognition of the skills that you have. i will not pretend there is a lot of money, i don't have a magic wand. we want to bring in the extra teachers we need so the strain and the purging goes

down but overall, jen, my intention is that public services, schools, have the money they need and are properly able to deliver the service that parents and the public not only expect but that they deserve. that leads us to grow the economy because we have been flatlining... taste leads us to grow the economy because we have been flatlining...— we have been flatlining. .. we will come to that. _ we have been flatlining. .. we will come to that, i'm _ we have been flatlining. .. we will come to that, i'm sure, _ we have been flatlining. .. we will come to that, i'm sure, but i we have been flatlining. .. we will come to that, i'm sure, but let's. come to that, i'm sure, but let's talk about education. jen, the recruitment of 6500 teachers is easier said than done?- recruitment of 6500 teachers is easier said than done? yes, in a cost of living _ easier said than done? yes, in a cost of living crisis _ easier said than done? yes, in a cost of living crisis where - easier said than done? yes, in a cost of living crisis where i i easier said than done? yes, in a cost of living crisis where i thinkj cost of living crisis where i think the general public perception of a teacher— the general public perception of a teacher is— the general public perception of a teacher is that it is an incredibly demanding and training job. it is a wonderful— demanding and training job. it is a wonderfuljob, i have a fantastic life and — wonderfuljob, i have a fantastic life and i— wonderfuljob, i have a fantastic life and i work in a brilliant primary— life and i work in a brilliant primary school, but it does not stop me from _ primary school, but it does not stop me from going home each day with a very long _ me from going home each day with a very long to— me from going home each day with a very long to do next, it does not stop— very long to do next, it does not stop me — very long to do next, it does not stop me waking up each day to multiple — stop me waking up each day to multiple safeguarding e—mails, there is always— multiple safeguarding e—mails, there is always something for me to be thinking — is always something for me to be thinking about, it is a 24—hourjob. where _ thinking about, it is a 24—hourjob. where do — thinking about, it is a 24—hourjob.

where do you think these maths teachers will come from? the profile ofthe teachers will come from? the profile of the profession _ teachers will come from? the profile of the profession needs _ teachers will come from? the profile of the profession needs to _ teachers will come from? the profile of the profession needs to be - teachers will come from? the profile of the profession needs to be driven | of the profession needs to be driven up of the profession needs to be driven up before _ of the profession needs to be driven up before people are going to say, do you _ up before people are going to say, do you know what, i will step foot in that _ do you know what, i will step foot in that profession because i will have _ in that profession because i will have it — in that profession because i will have it for— in that profession because i will have it for life and feel really good — have it for life and feel really good in — have it for life and feel really good in each and every day. until that happens, i can't see anything changing — that happens, i can't see anything changing in education. jen, that happens, i can't see anything changing in education.— changing in education. jen, but is back to one _ changing in education. jen, but is back to one of _ changing in education. jen, but is back to one of your. .. _ changing in education. jen, but is back to one of your. .. your i changing in education. jen, but is back to one of your. .. your first | back to one of your... your first point, to do with respect and support for teachers who do a huge amount, as you rightly say it is not just the technical school hours but everything on top of that. and understanding that can be respectful and supporting of it is important. as you know, many teachers about mid 30s also begin to question whether they want to continue as teachers or whether they want to do something else, putting in place more support and structure their is part of our

plan to retain and make sure people can progress and be properly respected. if and when we grow the economy, that will mean more money available too and the new teachers coming in will take the stress off, this is more a secondary school issue on maths than primary but at the moment we do not have the maths teachers we need in secondary schools, meaning huge pressure on other teachers in relation to the teaching of the subjects, so i think we can reduce the pressure. i will not sit here and say the day after the election i have a magic wand... the country is too broken for that, but we can make a start and that will be a change worth having. the second mention of the magic wand, the ideal thing is politicians with magic wand. the ideal thing is politicians with magic wand-— the ideal thing is politicians with manic wand. , ., �* , . magic wand. they don't exist, that is the problem. _ magic wand. they don't exist, that is the problem. magic _ magic wand. they don't exist, that is the problem. magic money i magic wand. they don't exist, that is the problem. magic money tree | magic wand. they don't exist, that i is the problem. magic money tree is due. jen, is the problem. magic money tree is due. jen. one _ is the problem. magic money tree is due. jen, one word, _ is the problem. magic money tree is due. jen, one word, will— is the problem. magic money tree is due. jen, one word, will you - is the problem. magic money tree is due. jen, one word, will you leave i due. jen, one word, will you leave the profession? i due. jen, one word, will you leave

the profession?— the profession? i don't know, something — the profession? i don't know, something dramatic - the profession? i don't know, something dramatic would i the profession? i don't know, l something dramatic would have the profession? i don't know, i something dramatic would have to change _ something dramatic would have to change for me not to consider much, and anecdotally i hear it from any every— and anecdotally i hear it from any every day — and anecdotally i hear it from any every day. there was a tsunami coming — every day. there was a tsunami coming in — every day. there was a tsunami coming in education and somebody needs— coming in education and somebody needs to _ coming in education and somebody needs to do something.— coming in education and somebody needs to do something. thank you for a very valuable _ needs to do something. thank you for a very valuable call. _ needs to do something. thank you for a very valuable call. good _ needs to do something. thank you for a very valuable call. good morning, i a very valuable call. good morning, rob? , ., a very valuable call. good morning, rob? ., . rob? good morning, nicky, good mornin: , rob? good morning, nicky, good morning. sir— rob? good morning, nicky, good morning, sir keir. _ rob? good morning, nicky, good morning, sir keir. fellow- rob? good morning, nicky, good| morning, sir keir. fellow cheering lockdown— morning, sir keir. fellow cheering lockdown saved my family, it saved my house _ lockdown saved my family, it saved my house and it save jobs —— furlough _ my house and it save jobs —— furlough during lockdown. we all knew _ furlough during lockdown. we all knew and — furlough during lockdown. we all knew and expected that taxes would io knew and expected that taxes would go up. _ knew and expected that taxes would go up. so _ knew and expected that taxes would go up, so my question is, can you guarantee — go up, so my question is, can you guarantee income tax will not go up into a _ guarantee income tax will not go up into a labour government, for the sake _ into a labour government, for the sake of— into a labour government, for the sake of my— into a labour government, for the sake of my children's feature over the next _ sake of my children's feature over the next five years?— the next five years? income tax won't no the next five years? income tax won't go op. — the next five years? income tax won't go up, national— the next five years? income tax won't go up, national insurance won't go up, national insurance won't go up and vat won't go up. i'm glad furlough helped you through, i think it was very important we had furlough and that enabled lots of people who would otherwise have gone

under covid. but underlying all of this is the fact that for 11; years orso this is the fact that for 11; years or so we have not had the economic growth we need and we have to turn that around, which is why our manifesto is all about wealth creation, is about the jobs of the future, skilled jobs... fin creation, is about the “obs of the future, skilled jobs. . .i creation, is about the “obs of the future, skilled jobs... future, skilled “obs. .. on the telly ou said future, skilled “obs. .. on the telly you said it — future, skilled “obs. .. on the telly you said it is— future, skilled jobs. .. on the telly you said it is unusual _ future, skilled jobs. .. on the telly you said it is unusual for - future, skilled jobs. .. on the telly you said it is unusual for a - future, skilled jobs. .. on the telly you said it is unusual for a labour| you said it is unusualfor a labour perspective prime minister to talk about wealth creation, i heard you say that. tony blair did, gordon brown did, what is unusual? labour often emphasises _ brown did, what is unusual? labour often emphasises wealth _ often emphasises wealth redistribution etc, but the central focus on growth... we have lost four elections in a row... focus on growth... we have lost four elections in a row. . ._ elections in a row... tony blair emphasised — elections in a row... tony blair emphasised growth. _ elections in a row... tony blair emphasised growth. yes, i elections in a row... tony blair emphasised growth. yes, andl elections in a row... tony blair l emphasised growth. yes, and he elections in a row... tony blair i emphasised growth. yes, and he won three times over and i was 27 years ago. three times over and i was 27 years aro. ~ ., three times over and i was 27 years alo, . ., ., , three times over and i was 27 years ago. we have lost, profoundly imprinted _ ago. we have lost, profoundly imprinted on _ ago. we have lost, profoundly imprinted on my _ ago. we have lost, profoundly imprinted on my mind, - ago. we have lost, profoundly imprinted on my mind, four.

ago. we have lost, profoundly - imprinted on my mind, four elections in a row. we have not won an election for 19 years. i am absolutely determined we will go into the selection being a party thatis into the selection being a party that is laser focused on economic growth, wealth creation, notjust any old wealth creation but wealth creation and growth in every part of the uk. we have not had grown significantly in the last 11; years, thatis significantly in the last 11; years, that is a massive problem. we do not want growth in some parts of the country, say london and the south—east, and not across all of the country. i don't want redistribution be a one—word answer so this is growth, it will require difficult decisions on planning, infrastructure and skilled... do you believe him. _ infrastructure and skilled... do you believe him, rob? _ infrastructure and skilled... do you believe him, rob? honestly, i'mi infrastructure and skilled... do you i believe him, rob? honestly, i'm not convinced- — believe him, rob? honestly, i'm not convinced- l — believe him, rob? honestly, i'm not convinced. i am _ believe him, rob? honestly, i'm not convinced. i am undecided _ believe him, rob? honestly, i'm not convinced. i am undecided in - believe him, rob? honestly, i'm not convinced. i am undecided in the i convinced. i am undecided in the next _ convinced. i am undecided in the next election.— convinced. i am undecided in the next election. how did you vote in the last one? _ next election. how did you vote in the last one? i've _ next election. how did you vote in the last one? i've voted _ the last one? i've voted conservative _ the last one? i've voted conservative in -

the last one? i've voted conservative in the i the last one? i've voted conservative in the last| the last one? i've voted - conservative in the last election, prior— conservative in the last election, prior to _ conservative in the last election, prior to that i voted for labour. my elder— prior to that i voted for labour. my elder son _ prior to that i voted for labour. my elder son is — prior to that i voted for labour. my elder son is 28, he is about to make me a _ elder son is 28, he is about to make me a grandad. elder son is 28, he is about to make me a grandad-— me a grandad. exciting, congratulations. - me a grandad. exciting, congratulations. then i | me a grandad. exciting, i congratulations. then i have a 17-year-old — congratulations. then i have a 17-year-old and _ congratulations. then i have a 17-year-old and a _ congratulations. then i have a| 17-year-old and a 15-year-old, congratulations. then i have a - 17-year-old and a 15-year-old, hence 17—year—old and a 15—year—old, hence the i7—year—old and a 15—year—old, hence the question— 17—year—old and a 15—year—old, hence the question regarding income tax for their_ the question regarding income tax for their future in the next five years — for their future in the next five years i — for their future in the next five ears. ~' for their future in the next five ears. ~ , ., ~ , years. i think you will like this question. _ years. i think you will like this question. it — years. i think you will like this question, it comes _ years. i think you will like this question, it comes from - years. i think you will like this question, it comes from a - years. i think you will like this - question, it comes from a different angle from yourself, we had adrian ramsay from the green party in and i looked at the manifesto and one of the big component is a tax on the wealthy which would raise £15 billion. it got rubber—stamped by quite a few top economists saying it would, if you did this. it would be levelled at 1% a year on the assets of people with more than 10 million, and 2% on those with assets of more than 1 and 2% on those with assets of more than1 billion. what is wrong and 2% on those with assets of more than 1 billion. what is wrong with

that? ~ ., than 1 billion. what is wrong with that? _ than 1 billion. what is wrong with that? .,, _ i, a, than 1 billion. what is wrong with that2 .,, _ i, a, that? we cannot simply tax our way out of our problems. _ that? we cannot simply tax our way out of our problems. these - that? we cannot simply tax our way out of our problems. these people | out of our problems. these people have loads — out of our problems. these people have loads of _ out of our problems. these people have loads of money. _ out of our problems. these people have loads of money. hear - out of our problems. these people have loads of money. hear me - out of our problems. these people l have loads of money. hear me out. out of our problems. these people - have loads of money. hear me out. we have loads of money. hear me out. we have had a flatlining _ have loads of money. hear me out. we have had a flatlining economy - have loads of money. hear me out. we have had a flatlining economy for - have loads of money. hear me out. we have had a flatlining economy for 14 - have had a flatlining economy for 1h years. it all we do is... we now have the highest tax rates for 70 years, the reason being low growth. that is the elephant in the room, the challenge. we could ignore it and simply say that tax and ever reducing cake... and simply say that tax and ever reducing cake. . ._ and simply say that tax and ever reducing cake... those with more than 1 reducing cake... those with more than1 billion? _ reducing cake... those with more than 1 billion? but _ reducing cake... those with more than 1 billion? but the _ reducing cake... those with more than 1 billion? but the economy l reducing cake... those with more| than 1 billion? but the economy is not growing _ than 1 billion? but the economy is not growing and _ than 1 billion? but the economy is not growing and unless _ than 1 billion? but the economy is not growing and unless and - than 1 billion? but the economy is not growing and unless and until. than 1 billion? but the economy is l not growing and unless and until we get the economy growing... we already have the higher tax rates for 70 years. already have the higher tax rates for 70 yew-— for 70 years. you could end the child benefit _ for 70 years. you could end the child benefit cap _ for 70 years. you could end the child benefit cap if _ for 70 years. you could end the child benefit cap if you - for 70 years. you could end the child benefit cap if you tax - for 70 years. you could end the | child benefit cap if you tax those people. we child benefit cap if you tax those eo - le. ~ child benefit cap if you tax those --eole. ~ ., child benefit cap if you tax those neale, . ., ., , people. we need to get the economy curowin. if people. we need to get the economy growing- if the _ people. we need to get the economy growing. if the economy _ people. we need to get the economy growing. if the economy under- people. we need to get the economy growing. if the economy under the i growing. if the economy under the last 1a years under this government had grown at the same rate as under the last labour government, we would have tens of billions of pounds to spend on public services, on

investing in you and your children and their children, rob, without raising tax. we have got to grasp the essential problem which is the economy is not functioning properly. that requires difficult decisions, it requires investor confidence which we have been working on now for years to create the conditions of stability under a labour government that will allow that investment, it means changing planning and infrastructure rules, getting skills in place are making sure we devolve growth plan is to every place across the country. this is a habit through, thought through plan for growth, we have worked with the private sector on how to deliver it and if we are able to be elected in to serve the country, we can start straightaway on the change that we need, meaning you and your children and their children will feel better off, that we are heading

in the right direction and just as i did with the labour party, pick it back up, put it on its feet and make it fit for the future, we must do the same for our country.- it fit for the future, we must do the same for our country. rob, it has been great — the same for our country. rob, it has been great hearing _ the same for our country. rob, it has been great hearing from - the same for our country. rob, it| has been great hearing from you. congratulations on the happy impending event. i will buy you a drink when i see you! take care. a couple of tax questions, i want to make it quick because we had so many important questions —— a couple of text questions. i am sure you can distill your answer. when you say no tax rises for working people, does that mean you are going for the pensioners, from sue on facebook? i am close to retirement age after working hard for over a0 years, i built up a modest pension fund, i want to take a 25% lump sum tax free, will you remove that option? it runs out in a number of years and

we will not renew it. agatha; it runs out in a number of years and we will not renew it.— it runs out in a number of years and we will not renew it._ we i we will not renew it. why not? we have not we will not renew it. why not? we have got to _ we will not renew it. why not? we have got to ensure _ we will not renew it. why not? we have got to ensure that _ we will not renew it. why not? we have got to ensure that every - we will not renew it. why not? we i have got to ensure that every single thing that we put in our manifesto, everything we commit to its fully costed and fully funded.- everything we commit to its fully costed and fully funded. where did ou write costed and fully funded. where did you write that? _ costed and fully funded. where did you write that? let _ costed and fully funded. where did you write that? let me _ costed and fully funded. where did you write that? let me deal - costed and fully funded. where did you write that? let me deal with l costed and fully funded. where did i you write that? let me deal with the ension you write that? let me deal with the pension question. _ you write that? let me deal with the pension question. it _ you write that? let me deal with the pension question. it is _ you write that? let me deal with the pension question. it is quite - pension question. it is quite significant- _ pension question. it is quite significant. the _ pension question. it is quite significant. the prime - pension question. it is quite i significant. the prime minister seems to claim _ significant. the prime minister seems to claim no _ significant. the prime minister seems to claim no pensioners| significant. the prime minister. seems to claim no pensioners are paying tax, he knows that it's not true, millions are, they are paying tax on to his government. at the last budget they set out the arrangements for tax for pensioners and in our manifesto we carry on with the government's budgeted plans costed by the government. what rishi sunak is now doing is saying he will make further cuts, have throwaway commitments. he has not funded those hunted chancellor has said the money is not there. this is what liz truss did, iwill is not there. this is what liz truss did, i will not make unfunded, unsustainable tax cuts because that

will not help pensioners, many of whom will have been hit by the impact of what liz truss did to the economy. impact of what liz truss did to the econom . ~ , ., , ., economy. when will you be removing or not renewing _ economy. when will you be removing or not renewing this _ economy. when will you be removing or not renewing this option, - economy. when will you be removing or not renewing this option, for - economy. when will you be removing or not renewing this option, for the l or not renewing this option, for the sake of paul intel be, when should you take a 25% tax—free lump sum before he —— you get your hands on it? it before he -- you get your hands on it? ., ., before he -- you get your hands on in c, i, , i, , it? it went out and few years, we will review _ it? it went out and few years, we will review the _ it? it went out and few years, we will review the situation - it? it went out and few years, we will review the situation band - it? it went out and few years, we | will review the situation band that i will not do what others might do which it sits in your studio and make promises unless they are fully funded and sustainable. that is a mistake, in my view, that liz truss made and that is why pensioners and others are paying so much more under a cost of living crisis that is worse in this country than many others, i will never inflict that kind of harm on pensioners or others in this country ever again unto a labour government. it in this country ever again unto a labour government.— in this country ever again unto a labour government. it does not sound sustainable- — labour government. it does not sound sustainable. top _ labour government. it does not sound sustainable. top of _ labour government. it does not sound sustainable. top of the _ labour government. it does not sound sustainable. top of the morning, - sustainable. top of the morning, sarah? you sound bright and breezy,

i can't wait for the question. hagar i can't wait for the question. how will ou i can't wait for the question. how will you fix _ i can't wait for the question. how will you fix the _ i can't wait for the question. how will you fix the nhs _ i can't wait for the question. how will you fix the nhs without throwing endless money at it? we start throwing endless money at it? start with throwing endless money at it? , start with the waiting lists, one of our first steps, this start with the waiting lists, one of ourfirst steps, this is start with the waiting lists, one of our first steps, this is what we will start on day one of a labour government if we are elected to serve, is have a0,000 extra appointment each and every week to get the waiting lists down, 2 million a year, at the moment the waiting list is the best part of 8 million, it has never been that high. million, it has never been that hirh. ., . million, it has never been that hirh. . . it million, it has never been that high-_ it is - million, it has never been that high._ it is not - million, it has never been that high._ it is not the l high. pandemic. it is not the pandemic. — high. pandemic. it is not the pandemic. it _ high. pandemic. it is not the pandemic, it is _ high. pandemic. it is not the pandemic, it is a _ high. pandemic. it is not the pandemic, it is a factor - high. pandemic. it is not the pandemic, it is a factor but i high. pandemic. it is not the| pandemic, it is a factor but it high. pandemic. it is not the i pandemic, it is a factor but it is not the excuse. if you look at the numbers going into the pandemic, they were going up at much higher than they should have been. the last labour government cut waiting lists right down, we have done it before and will do it again. that is the first step. it is a necessary first

step because people need operations, need to get back to work. can! step because people need operations, need to get back to work.— need to get back to work. can i 'ust ask ou a need to get back to work. can i 'ust ask you a question, i need to get back to work. can i 'ust ask you a question, with i need to get back to work. can ijust ask you a question, with regards i need to get back to work. can ijust ask you a question, with regards to| ask you a question, with regards to what _ ask you a question, with regards to what i _ ask you a question, with regards to what i was — ask you a question, with regards to what i was trying to get out, i'm not talking — what i was trying to get out, i'm not talking about the general questions with regards waiting times, — questions with regards waiting times, i'm actually talking about the inner— times, i'm actually talking about the inner workings of the nhs, because — the inner workings of the nhs, because that is why... we are currently— because that is why... we are currently throwing money at the nhs and we _ currently throwing money at the nhs and we will not fixate until you sort _ and we will not fixate until you sort out — and we will not fixate until you sort out inner workings. by that i mean _ sort out inner workings. by that i mean reducing overpaid middle management, procurement, having that done centrally so every trust pays the same — done centrally so every trust pays the same amount of money for rubber gloves, _ the same amount of money for rubber gloves, syringes etc. and with regards — gloves, syringes etc. and with regards prescriptions, there are itents— regards prescriptions, there are items ho— regards prescriptions, there are items no longer required by a person they are _ items no longer required by a person they are being prescribed for, still being _ they are being prescribed for, still being sent — they are being prescribed for, still being sent out. i can give you an example— being sent out. i can give you an example of— being sent out. i can give you an example of that. my mother—in—law,

before _ example of that. my mother—in—law, before she _ example of that. my mother—in—law, before she died, had 27 full boxes of laxatives in her cupboard, something she could not take, we told them — something she could not take, we told them endlessly we can't use it, think— told them endlessly we can't use it, think about — told them endlessly we can't use it, think about that. that is a key problem _ think about that. that is a key problem. i'm not talking about waiting — problem. i'm not talking about waiting lists, i'm talking about the inside _ waiting lists, i'm talking about the inside out — waiting lists, i'm talking about the inside out. your party created the nhs and — inside out. your party created the nhs and that is where you need to start, _ nhs and that is where you need to start, on— nhs and that is where you need to start, on the innerworkings. | start, on the innerworkings. don't start, on the innerworkings. i don't disagree with you. in addition to the a0,000 extra appointments we have a programme of change and reform, because we are very proud that we set up the nhs 76 also years ago we cannot look back at work past labour government stage, we have to look forward. the challenge for an incoming labour government is to get the nhs back on its feet but make sure it is fit for the next 75 years. so the inner workings are an area where we are already looking

but we want to go beyond that because we also need to reform the 8am scramble for gps which everybody will be familiar with, at one minute to eight you can't get through, one minute after eight you cannot get an appointment. minute after eight you cannot get an appointment-— minute after eight you cannot get an appointment. when will that be done b and appointment. when will that be done by and when — appointment. when will that be done by and when will _ appointment. when will that be done by and when will it _ appointment. when will that be done by and when will it have _ appointment. when will that be done by and when will it have achieved - by and when will it have achieved results? we by and when will it have achieved results? ~ , ., ., ._ by and when will it have achieved results? ~ , ., ., ., results? we will start on day one. that particular — results? we will start on day one. that particular issue, _ results? we will start on day one. that particular issue, for- results? we will start on day one. | that particular issue, for example, when can you come on here or programmes like this, not that there are quite any others like this, when will you be able to come and say, we have done it?— have done it? with an eye few months, some _ have done it? with an eye few months, some of— have done it? with an eye few months, some of the - have done it? with an eye few months, some of the changes| have done it? with an eye few - months, some of the changes will come about quickly. i will not pretend we can change everything the day after the election but we can make a start. at syrah has touched on something really important, we have to change the model of the nhs to a preventative model. i went to alder hey hospital, aprilia children's hospital in liverpool the other month, i went to the wards where they do heart surgery on

022—year—olds. it was humbling to be there but i was angry when i worked out when i learned that the single most common cause of children aged between six and ten going to alder hey, this is the same for all children's hospitals, is to have their teeth out because they are decaying because we have not done the preventative work. it is shocking. you are absolutely right, notjust shocking. you are absolutely right, not just the shocking. you are absolutely right, notjust the inner shocking. you are absolutely right, not just the inner workings shocking. you are absolutely right, notjust the inner workings but i think we need to go even further to make the nhs fits for the future. i asked sir keir when the atm scramble for the gps would be fixed, what do you think? —— the 8am scramble. hagar you think? -- the 8am scramble. how lona will it you think? -- the 8am scramble. how long will it be — you think? —— the 8am scramble. how long will it be fixed? realistically, well, i can't see anything _ realistically, well, i can't see anything being done for a good six months _ anything being done for a good six months to— anything being done for a good six months to 12 months. it is the inner workings _ months to 12 months. it is the inner workings that have to be sorted out.

i hear _ workings that have to be sorted out. i hear what — workings that have to be sorted out. i hear what she was saying about appointments, i get it, but as far as i appointments, ! get it, but as far as i am— appointments, i get it, but as far as i am concerned, before you look at the _ as i am concerned, before you look at the insight and work from the inside _ at the insight and work from the inside out, — at the insight and work from the inside out, it will not work. that is why you have _ inside out, it will not work. that is why you have to _ inside out, it will not work. that is why you have to start. - inside out, it will not work. “inst is why you have to start. it is great to hear from is why you have to start. it is great to hearfrom health is why you have to start. it is great to hear from health care professionals, it really is. we are going to go to a text question, jennifer, we have had a surfeit of jens, jennys and jennifers. people campaigning for nigel farage and reform uk making racist comments. let me ask you a straight question about him, such a divisive character, his nigel farage racist? i wouldn't call him names, i don't think he has the answers to the challenges we face. he think he has the answers to the challenges we face.— think he has the answers to the challenges we face. he wants to send mi . rants challenges we face. he wants to send migrants back — challenges we face. he wants to send migrants back to _ challenges we face. he wants to send

migrants back to france. _ challenges we face. he wants to send migrants back to france. i _ challenges we face. he wants to send migrants back to france. i had - challenges we face. he wants to send migrants back to france. i had seen l migrants back to france. i had seen some of the — migrants back to france. i had seen some of the comments _ migrants back to france. i had seen some of the comments overnight i migrants back to france. i had seen i some of the comments overnight from his supporters and those campaigning on his behalf, they are clearly racist. i5 on his behalf, they are clearly racist. , i on his behalf, they are clearly racist.- i don't - on his behalf, they are clearly racist.- i don't tend - on his behalf, they are clearly racist.- i don't tend to i racist. is he? i don't tend to campaign — racist. is he? i don't tend to campaign by _ racist. is he? i don't tend to campaign by going - racist. is he? i don't tend to campaign by going around i racist. is he? i don't tend to - campaign by going around calling people names, i don't think he has the answers to the challenges the country faces. the answers to the challenges the country faces-— the answers to the challenges the country faces. you said rishi sunak was out of touch, _ country faces. you said rishi sunak was out of touch, you _ country faces. you said rishi sunak was out of touch, you call - country faces. you said rishi sunak was out of touch, you call people i was out of touch, you call people names. you all throwing things at each other. in names. you all throwing things at each other-— names. you all throwing things at each other. ., ., ., ., each other. in the heat of a general election campaign _ each other. in the heat of a general election campaign that _ each other. in the heat of a general election campaign that happens - each other. in the heat of a general. election campaign that happens more, but that is not in my nature, i'm not in the nature of someone that think politics is about name—calling. think politics is about name-calling.- think politics is about name-calling. think politics is about name-callinr. �* ., , , name-calling. but what is people said... name-calling. but what is people said- -- they _ name-calling. but what is people said... they were _ name-calling. but what is people said... they were racist, - name-calling. but what is people said... they were racist, and - name-calling. but what is people said... they were racist, and in i name-calling. but what is people i said... they were racist, and in the end, if said... they were racist, and in the end. if you — said... they were racist, and in the end. if you lead — said... they were racist, and in the end, if you lead a _ said... they were racist, and in the end, if you lead a party _ said... they were racist, and in the end, if you lead a party you - said... they were racist, and in the end, if you lead a party you have i said... they were racist, and in the j end, if you lead a party you have to set the culture and the standards, thatis set the culture and the standards, that is what i have done in my party, we have worked so hard to change the labour party so we have changed labour party to put towards the electorate, if we are elected to serve we will serve as a change

labour party. nigel farage needs to lead his party and when those supporting him, campaigning for him in this particular case, come out with comments which are obviously racist, but raises a question of his leadership. racist, but raises a question of his leadership-— leadership. your candidate in clacton said _ leadership. your candidate in clacton said effectively - leadership. your candidate in clacton said effectively his i clacton said effectively his favourite drink is white men's tears. yes. i haven't seen those comments, i don't know the context of them. he liked a treat when somebody treated my favourite drink is white men's tears. and he said, mind, too. along those lines. i tears. and he said, mind, too. along those lines-— those lines. i haven't seen those, i didn't delete _ those lines. i haven't seen those, i didn't delete mac _ those lines. i haven't seen those, i didn't delete mac only _ those lines. i haven't seen those, i didn't delete mac only to _ those lines. i haven't seen those, i didn't delete mac only to see - those lines. i haven't seen those, i didn't delete mac only to see the i didn't delete mac only to see the context and see what he says about it. ,., ., ., ., context and see what he says about it. ,., ., ., it. good morning to jennifer in ureat it. good morning to jennifer in great barr- — it. good morning to jennifer in great barr. good _ it. good morning to jennifer in great barr. good morning. - it. good morning to jennifer in i great barr. good morning. hello, nic , great barr. good morning. hello, nicky. hello _ great barr. good morning. hello, nicky. hello sir —

great barr. good morning. hello, nicky, hello sir kier. _ great barr. good morning. hello, nicky, hello sir kier. can - great barr. good morning. hello, nicky, hello sir kier. can you - great barr. good morning. hello, | nicky, hello sir kier. can you hear me? _ nicky, hello sir kier. can you hear me? my— nicky, hello sir kier. can you hear me? my question is, i have lived in a housing _ me? my question is, i have lived in a housing association property for 17 years. — a housing association property for 17 years. i— a housing association property for 17 years, i have worked hard to progress — 17 years, i have worked hard to progress in _ 17 years, i have worked hard to progress in employment and i am a single _ progress in employment and i am a single parent with one child. i wanted — single parent with one child. i wanted to acquire my housing association property because i get a really— association property because i get a really good discount, which means i can afford _ really good discount, which means i can afford the mortgage repayments and own _ can afford the mortgage repayments and own the home i live in. i was told _ and own the home i live in. i was told i_ and own the home i live in. i was told i cannot— and own the home i live in. i was told i cannot buy this property because — told i cannot buy this property because it was built before 1997 and it doesn't— because it was built before 1997 and it doesn't fit the criteria. i understand rishi sunak talked about bringing _ understand rishi sunak talked about bringing in a new help to buy loan and all— bringing in a new help to buy loan and all those things, which will help— and all those things, which will help me — and all those things, which will help me end up in more debt, how will you _ help me end up in more debt, how will you help me get on the housing ladder? _ will you help me get on the housing ladder? ., , ladder? jennifer, we need to build more houses- _ ladder? jennifer, we need to build more houses. we _ ladder? jennifer, we need to build more houses. we need _ ladder? jennifer, we need to build more houses. we need to - ladder? jennifer, we need to build more houses. we need to build i ladder? jennifer, we need to build| more houses. we need to build 1.5 million houses, which is our plan over five years and that will require tough decisions on planning.

we do need to ensure there are lower mortgage premiums, because many people who are renting are paying more in rent than they would pay in a mortgage. so we know they are capable of paying the money in a mortgage, but for many they cannot afford to save to get the mortgage in the first place. for first—time buyers, we would put that in place. jennifer, we need to tackle the rented sector, not so applicable in a housing association case, but private landlords are getting would—be tenants to bid against each other in an upward spiral which means the rent goes up and up. you said the other _ means the rent goes up and up. you said the other day bingo for landlords, they are making a fortune? it landlords, they are making a fortune? , , ., , landlords, they are making a fortune? , ., , fortune? it is usually estate agents or lettin: fortune? it is usually estate agents or letting agents — fortune? it is usually estate agents or letting agents that _ fortune? it is usually estate agents or letting agents that do _ fortune? it is usually estate agents or letting agents that do it - fortune? it is usually estate agents or letting agents that do it and - or letting agents that do it and they say, this is the rent, but if you really want it, bid above it. then they go to the next person

wanting the property, why don't you bid higher than that? driving up rents for people who want to buy their own home, they are paying a massive proportion of their income in rent. we have to stop that. there is huge deposits as well that are being taken. is huge deposits as well that are being taken-— is huge deposits as well that are bein: taken. ., ., ., ., being taken. you are not saying all landlords are _ being taken. you are not saying all landlords are evil? _ being taken. you are not saying all landlords are evil? these - being taken. you are not saying all landlords are evil? these are - landlords are evil? these are working people?— landlords are evil? these are working people? there is nothing wron: with working people? there is nothing wrong with being _ working people? there is nothing wrong with being a _ working people? there is nothing wrong with being a landlord - working people? there is nothing wrong with being a landlord and i wrong with being a landlord and setting a rent that gives you a good income. some do it on a big scale, sometimes it is a pension safeguard, i understand that. we can't simply leave out of account what is happening nowadays are many people who are renting will be familiar with it, the rents are going up because there are more people needing to rent than there are places to rent. that is because we are not building the houses we need and we have got to get to grips with that. at the moment first—time

buyers are an average mid 30s before they get on the housing ladder and thatis they get on the housing ladder and that isjust going they get on the housing ladder and that is just going to get worse. we have a plan for those houses but i do, in the meantime, jennifer, want to ensure we keep rents down. for housing association, we do need to make sure your self and others can actually make that first step, because i get the impression from you, i don't want to put words in your mouth, having your own home seems from what you are saying, it really matters. i5 seems from what you are saying, it really matters-— really matters. is that right, jennifer? — really matters. is that right, jennifer? the _ really matters. is that right, jennifer? the thing - really matters. is that right, jennifer? the thing is, - really matters. is that right, - jennifer? the thing is, essentially i have worked _ jennifer? the thing is, essentially i have worked so _ jennifer? the thing is, essentially i have worked so hard _ jennifer? the thing is, essentially i have worked so hard to - jennifer? the thing is, essentially i have worked so hard to build - jennifer? the thing is, essentially i have worked so hard to build a l i have worked so hard to build a good _ i have worked so hard to build a good life — i have worked so hard to build a good life for myself, i have this property, — good life for myself, i have this property, a good job and a good income — property, a good job and a good income and i have my own business and the _ income and i have my own business and the thing is, i want to buy this house _ and the thing is, i want to buy this house so— and the thing is, i want to buy this house so that we can essentially not repeat _ house so that we can essentially not repeat the _ house so that we can essentially not repeat the pattern that happened to me when _ repeat the pattern that happened to me when i_ repeat the pattern that happened to me when i first went into social housing — me when i first went into social housing. he is 18, his first time voting — housing. he is 18, his first time voting and _ housing. he is 18, his first time voting and i wrote a letter to you, i got _

voting and i wrote a letter to you, i got a _ voting and i wrote a letter to you, i got a response yesterday, very kind of— i got a response yesterday, very kind of you, thank you. i want my son to _ kind of you, thank you. i want my son to have — kind of you, thank you. i want my son to have an upward trajectory for the rest _ son to have an upward trajectory for the rest of— son to have an upward trajectory for the rest of his life. the whole point — the rest of his life. the whole point of — the rest of his life. the whole point of the labour party is to support— point of the labour party is to support working people to have an upward _ support working people to have an upward trajectory for the future. we are on— upward trajectory for the future. we are on that — upward trajectory for the future. we are on that upward trajectory, but i have _ are on that upward trajectory, but i have to _ are on that upward trajectory, but i have to bankrupt myself, if you like. _ have to bankrupt myself, if you like. i— have to bankrupt myself, if you like, i know it is extreme, but to buy another— like, i know it is extreme, but to buy another property, that will put us all— buy another property, that will put us all the — buy another property, that will put us all the way back to 17 years ago. actually. _ us all the way back to 17 years ago. actually. it — us all the way back to 17 years ago. actually, it is so arbitrary at the moment— actually, it is so arbitrary at the moment with the housing association, because _ moment with the housing association, because of— moment with the housing association, because of two months, i cannot buy this has— because of two months, i cannot buy this has because it falls out of the two—month period in 1997. we don't want to— two—month period in 1997. we don't want to move to another area, it is our community, we have local councillors _ our community, we have local councillors and a good neighbourhood watch _ councillors and a good neighbourhood watch i— councillors and a good neighbourhood watch. i want the labour party to do what tony— watch. i want the labour party to do what tony blair did for me back then, _ what tony blair did for me back then, he — what tony blair did for me back then, he set me up for life. you touch on — then, he set me up for life. you touch on something _ then, he set me up for life. gm. touch on something which is very important to me, the sense of

aspiration. i call it working class aspiration, the basic stability, the base camp, if you like, for people to build their lives on. getting a secure house of your own... working class aspiration? _ secure house of your own... working class aspiration? it _ secure house of your own... working class aspiration? it isn't _ secure house of your own... working class aspiration? it isn'tjust - class aspiration? it isn't 'ust workinu class aspiration? it isn't 'ust working class i class aspiration? it isn'tjust working class aspiration, i class aspiration? it isn'tjust working class aspiration, it| class aspiration? it isn'tjust| working class aspiration, it is class aspiration? it isn'tjust - working class aspiration, it is the definition of britain... the definition _ definition of britain... the definition of _ definition of britain... the definition of britain? - definition of britain... the definition of britain? we l definition of britain... the i definition of britain? we are definition of britain... the - definition of britain? we are an aspiration _ definition of britain? we are an aspiration society, _ definition of britain? we are an aspiration society, we - definition of britain? we are an aspiration society, we are - aspiration society, we are reasonable and tolerant and the vast majority of people want to get on for themselves, they want to get on for themselves, they want to get on for theirfamily, their community for their family, their community and their country. for theirfamily, their community and their country. that is why i have deliberately framed their manifesto for labour is something thatis manifesto for labour is something that is invitational, which age to people that even if you haven't necessarily voted labour in the past or describe yourself as tribally labour, if you have this national project about moving forward for

yourself, yourfamily, your yourself, your family, your community yourself, yourfamily, your community and your country, this is for you. jennifer, community and your country, this is foryou. jennifer, i do community and your country, this is for you. jennifer, i do think... community and your country, this is foryou. jennifer, i do think... i came from a working—class family and my dad worked in a factory, my mum was a nurse. we didn't have a lot of money but i had the chance to be the first in my family ever to go to university, to go on and train as a lawyer to run a public service and i'd be heading the labour party. and for my mum and dad, that meant the world. because what drove them was this sense that things might be tough for us, and this sense that things might be toughfor us, and it this sense that things might be tough for us, and it was tough for them, but they had the sense for the next generation, a labour dream, british dream, that for their children it would be better. that was mrs thatcher's _ children it would be better. that was mrs thatcher's philosophy. people often say to me, why is there no enthusiasm for politics and politicians and why is there no hope? it is the sense that it will be better for the next

hope? it is the sense that it will be betterfor the next generation, jennifer, i think has gone. we need to rekindle it by taking the country forward. for my mum and dad, as they got older, it comforted them to know they were part of a society that things are getting better for the next generation. taste things are getting better for the next generation.— things are getting better for the next generation. we have lost that. i think so, too. _ next generation. we have lost that. i think so, too. it _ next generation. we have lost that. i think so, too. it seems _ next generation. we have lost that. i think so, too. it seems like - next generation. we have lost that. i think so, too. it seems like it - next generation. we have lost that. i think so, too. it seems like it is i i think so, too. it seems like it is something _ i think so, too. it seems like it is something that _ i think so, too. it seems like it is something that means _ i think so, too. it seems like it is something that means so - i think so, too. it seems like it is something that means so much i i think so, too. it seems like it is. something that means so much to i think so, too. it seems like it is - something that means so much to you. ijust want to something that means so much to you. i just want to add, i something that means so much to you. ijust want to add, i want my son to see how— ijust want to add, i want my son to see how the — ijust want to add, i want my son to see how the labour party can support people _ see how the labour party can support people i_ see how the labour party can support people. i always talk to him about how they— people. i always talk to him about how they help me get my first property, _ how they help me get my first property, i got a grant so i could -et property, i got a grant so i could get things— property, i got a grant so i could get things for my house. we do have a very— get things for my house. we do have a very good — get things for my house. we do have a very good life now, we don't struggle _ a very good life now, we don't struggle. but i don't want for him, 'ust struggle. but i don't want for him, just turning — struggle. but i don't want for him, just turning 18, got his firstjob and for— just turning 18, got his firstjob and for the struggle to come back. at the _ and for the struggle to come back. at the heart of the labour party is social— at the heart of the labour party is social mobility. | at the heart of the labour party is social mobility.— at the heart of the labour party is social mobility. i completely agree. it is social mobility. i completely agree. it is access. — social mobility. i completely agree. it is access, participation, - social mobility. i completely agree. it is access, participation, let's - it is access, participation, let's keep— it is access, participation, let's keep that _ it is access, participation, let's keep that going. these arbitrary

rules— keep that going. these arbitrary ruies not— keep that going. these arbitrary rules not letting me buy my house because _ rules not letting me buy my house because of— rules not letting me buy my house because of the small criteria you know — because of the small criteria you know... ., ., ., ,, know... let me move it on, i thank ou so know... let me move it on, i thank you so much- _ know... let me move it on, i thank you so much. thank _ know... let me move it on, i thank you so much. thank you, _ know... let me move it on, i thank you so much. thank you, jennifer. | you so much. thank you, jennifer. that was an _ you so much. thank you, jennifer. that was an impassioned - you so much. thank you, jennifer. that was an impassioned speech i you so much. thank you, jennifer. i that was an impassioned speech and surprise, surprise, the leader of the labour party agreed with you. one housing, building on overturning planning regulations, tough choices and tough decisions, how precious to you our habitats, delicate habitats, woodlands, habitats the species and wildlife that also deprecated and threatened in our country, very important to you?— threatened in our country, very important to you? yes, very and we don't -a important to you? yes, very and we don't pay enough — important to you? yes, very and we don't pay enough attention - important to you? yes, very and we don't pay enough attention to - don't pay enough attention to nature. it is important to the habitat and very important to people, they care about nature and our countryside and we need to get this right as we build houses. at the moment, it...— the moment, it... planning regulations. _ the moment, it... planning

regulations, if— the moment, it... planning regulations, if it _ the moment, it... planning regulations, if it is - the moment, it... planning regulations, if it is an - the moment, it... planning - regulations, if it is an important habitat for birds, hedgehogs, those aren't the planning regulations you will fight? that aren't the planning regulations you will fiht? �* ., ., will fight? at the moment we have the brown field _ will fight? at the moment we have the brown field sites _ will fight? at the moment we have the brown field sites we _ will fight? at the moment we have the brown field sites we can - will fight? at the moment we have the brown field sites we can use i will fight? at the moment we have | the brown field sites we can use for housing that are not being used. so brownfield will be first. we want to protect nature and labour is the party that puts a lot of protections in place for the countryside, and that won't change. we have to accept the fact that we are building on the green belt but it is a wild west. developers are deciding where the building is going. i think it should be in an integrated plan with local people as to where we are going to build and, you know, there are some, in my view, pretty absurd examples. in the south—east, buildings were put up on a playing field because it was just outside the green not on a disused car park which was just inside the green belt. you disused car park which was 'ust inside the green belt. you have got to no at inside the green belt. you have got to go at 9-50. _ inside the green belt. you have got to go at 9-50. so — inside the green belt. you have got to go at 9.50, so let's _ inside the green belt. you have got to go at 9.50, so let's go _ inside the green belt. you have got to go at 9.50, so let's go with - inside the green belt. you have got to go at 9.50, so let's go with if. inside the green belt. you have got to go at 9.50, so let's go with if a i to go at 9.50, so let's go with if a

car in east london.— to go at 9.50, so let's go with if a car in east london. good morning, on ou to. car in east london. good morning, on you go- good — car in east london. good morning, on you go. good morning. _ car in east london. good morning, on you go. good morning. this— car in east london. good morning, on you go. good morning. this is- car in east london. good morning, on you go. good morning. this is the - you go. good morning. this is the first time — you go. good morning. this is the first time ever i am calling for any such— first time ever i am calling for any such programmes. it is a question for sir— such programmes. it is a question for sir kier~ — such programmes. it is a question for sir kier. given your recent racist — for sir kier. given your recent racist comments made against migrants, _ racist comments made against migrants, how can we differentiate you with _ migrants, how can we differentiate you with nigel farage and vote for labour— you with nigel farage and vote for labour under your leadership. what did he say? — labour under your leadership. what did he say? he _ labour under your leadership. what did he say? he said _ labour under your leadership. what did he say? he said bangladeshi i did he say? he said bangladeshi mirrants did he say? he said bangladeshi migrants are _ did he say? he said bangladeshi migrants are not _ did he say? he said bangladeshi migrants are not being - did he say? he said bangladeshi| migrants are not being removed. did he say? he said bangladeshi - migrants are not being removed. why would _ migrants are not being removed. why would they— migrants are not being removed. why would they be removed? let migrants are not being removed. why would they be removed?— would they be removed? let me address that. _ would they be removed? let me address that. have _ would they be removed? let me address that. have you - would they be removed? let me i address that. have you apologise? would they be removed? let me - address that. have you apologise? i sent address that. have you apologise? i spent yesterday _ address that. have you apologise? i spent yesterday making _ address that. have you apologise? i spent yesterday making it _ address that. have you apologise? i spent yesterday making it clear - address that. have you apologise? i spent yesterday making it clear i i spent yesterday making it clear i didn't intend to cause some upset over a fence and i am genuinely concerned if that is the case. —— offence. the bangladeshi community in this country has made a huge contribution to our economy, to our culture and to our country. there

are very strong bonds between the labour party and the bangladeshi community, including between me and the bangladeshi community in my constituency. so much so, the first country i visited as a labour mp was bangladesh, so i could see for myself the homes in bangladesh, and i was taken to the homes... you myself the homes in bangladesh, and i was taken to the homes. . ._ i was taken to the homes... you were clums ? i was taken to the homes... you were clumsy? clumsy _ i was taken to the homes... you were clumsy? clumsy would _ i was taken to the homes... you were clumsy? clumsy would be _ i was taken to the homes... you were clumsy? clumsy would be a _ i was taken to the homes... you were clumsy? clumsy would be a good - i was taken to the homes... you were i clumsy? clumsy would be a good word, i didn't clumsy? clumsy would be a good word, i didn't mean — clumsy? clumsy would be a good word, i didn't mean to — clumsy? clumsy would be a good word, i didn't mean to offend _ clumsy? clumsy would be a good word, i didn't mean to offend anyone. - clumsy? clumsy would be a good word, i didn't mean to offend anyone. i - i didn't mean to offend anyone. i was answering the question... it is a sensitive — was answering the question... it is a sensitive issue. _ was answering the question... it is a sensitive issue. there _ was answering the question... it is a sensitive issue. there is - was answering the question... it is a sensitive issue. there is a - was answering the question... it is a sensitive issue. there is a huge i a sensitive issue. there is a huge sco -e for a sensitive issue. there is a huge scope for us _ a sensitive issue. there is a huge scope for us to — a sensitive issue. there is a huge scope for us to work— a sensitive issue. there is a huge scope for us to work together - a sensitive issue. there is a huge| scope for us to work together with the bangladeshi community. i took the bangladeshi community. i look forward to speaking _ the bangladeshi community. i look forward to speaking to _ the bangladeshi community. i look forward to speaking to you - the bangladeshi community. i look forward to speaking to you a - the bangladeshi community. i look forward to speaking to you a further land. jane in london, what would you like to know? i land. jane in london, what would you like to know?— like to know? i would like to ask keir starmer _ like to know? i would like to ask keir starmer why _ like to know? i would like to ask keir starmer why he _ like to know? i would like to ask keir starmer why he is _ like to know? i would like to ask keir starmer why he is not - like to know? i would like to ask i keir starmer why he is not listening to biological women when we say we

don't want _ to biological women when we say we don't want to share our space with biological— don't want to share our space with biological men? | don't want to share our space with biological men?— biological men? i am listening. i have lona biological men? i am listening. i have long championed _ biological men? i am listening. i have long championed women's| biological men? i am listening. i - have long championed women's spaces, biological women's spaces and it goes back many years before i was a politician. i was the director of public prosecutions... i politician. i was the director of public prosecutions. . .- politician. i was the director of public prosecutions... i don't care about all of _ public prosecutions... i don't care about all of that, _ public prosecutions... i don't care about all of that, what _ public prosecutions... i don't care about all of that, what i _ public prosecutions... i don't care about all of that, what i care - public prosecutions... i don't care | about all of that, what i care about is you _ about all of that, what i care about is you saying you are going to allow men to— is you saying you are going to allow men to identify as women and making it easier— men to identify as women and making it easier for— men to identify as women and making it easier for them to come in women's _ it easier for them to come in women's spaces. we it easier for them to come in women's spaces.— it easier for them to come in women's spaces. it easier for them to come in women's saces. ~ ., ., ., ., ,, women's spaces. we do want to make the process — women's spaces. we do want to make the process more _ women's spaces. we do want to make the process more dignified. _ women's spaces. we do want to make the process more dignified. but - women's spaces. we do want to make the process more dignified. but that l the process more dignified. but that does not mean... it is the process more dignified. but that does not mean. . ._ does not mean... it is not about bein: does not mean... it is not about being dignified, _ does not mean. .. it is not about being dignified, or— does not mean... it is not about being dignified, or being - does not mean... it is not about being dignified, or being kinda l being dignified, or being kinda dignified, it is about protecting women — dignified, it is about protecting women |— dignified, it is about protecting women. , . dignified, it is about protecting women-_ why - dignified, it is about protecting women._ why are j dignified, it is about protecting - women._ why are you women. i understand. why are you -auttin women. i understand. why are you putting our— women. i understand. why are you putting our dignity _ women. i understand. why are you putting our dignity on _ women. i understand. why are you putting our dignity on the - women. i understand. why are you putting our dignity on the line - women. i understand. why are you putting our dignity on the line for l putting our dignity on the line for few people. we need to treat them differently and say no, you have to

have _ differently and say no, you have to have a _ differently and say no, you have to have a third — differently and say no, you have to have a third space, you cannot take anything _ have a third space, you cannot take anything from women._ have a third space, you cannot take anything from women. when it comes to shared spaces, _ anything from women. when it comes to shared spaces, the _ anything from women. when it comes to shared spaces, the example - anything from women. when it comes to shared spaces, the example i - anything from women. when it comes to shared spaces, the example i was. to shared spaces, the example i was going to point you too, when i was doing work trying to drive up the protection for women who had been subjected to violence, domestic violence and sexual violence... she violence and sexual violence. .. she is not violence and sexual violence... she is not interested in that. violence and sexual violence. .. she is not interested in that. this - violence and sexual violence. .. she is not interested in that. this is - is not interested in that. this is toilets, changing _ is not interested in that. this is toilets, changing rooms, - is not interested in that. this is toilets, changing rooms, it - is not interested in that. this is toilets, changing rooms, it is i is not interested in that. this is i toilets, changing rooms, it is not about— toilets, changing rooms, it is not about what— toilets, changing rooms, it is not about what you have done, it is about _ about what you have done, it is about what _ about what you have done, it is about what we want to be done. just hear me out- — about what we want to be done. inst hear me out. two we don't care about what you did in the past, we want you to say, sex cannot be changed and you will protect us from men coming into our space. we will protect, i have protected in the past and we will do that in the future. they will be protected. i am concerned about violence against women and girls and the need for biological, spaces for biological women to be safe. the same in sport and hospitals. but women to be safe. the same in sport and hospitals-— and hospitals. but can you say now that ou and hospitals. but can you say now that you will _

and hospitals. but can you say now that you will not _ and hospitals. but can you say now that you will not allow _ and hospitals. but can you say now that you will not allow men, - that you will not allow men, biological men under any guise to come _ biological men under any guise to come in _ biological men under any guise to come in to— biological men under any guise to come in to women's safe spaces? can you say— come in to women's safe spaces? can you say that _ come in to women's safe spaces? can you say that because we shouldn't have to _ you say that because we shouldn't have to be — you say that because we shouldn't have to be kind to these very few men: _ have to be kind to these very few men. you — have to be kind to these very few men, you need to think about 51% of the population who are sick of the absolute — the population who are sick of the absolute twaddle that comes out of your mouth when we ask these questions _ your mouth when we ask these questions-— questions. first of all we will rotect questions. first of all we will protect women's _ questions. first of all we will protect women's spaces, - questions. first of all we will| protect women's spaces, that questions. first of all we will. protect women's spaces, that is questions. first of all we will- protect women's spaces, that is my commitment. but hear me out, there are some people who do not identify with the gender they are born into. they are often traumatised by that. there has been a process... 51% of the population don't care. with resect, the population don't care. with respect. you — the population don't care. with respect, you have _ the population don't care. with respect, you have had - the population don't care. t'n respect, you have had your say, you said it strongly and a lot of people will applaud you, it is a divisive issue and others will not so much, but you have said it exceptionally well and you articulated yourself well, this is the answer. innate

well and you articulated yourself well, this is the answer.- well, this is the answer. we will rotect well, this is the answer. we will protect women's _ well, this is the answer. we will protect women's spaces, - well, this is the answer. we will protect women's spaces, i - well, this is the answer. we will protect women's spaces, i have | well, this is the answer. we will - protect women's spaces, i have been clear about that for a long time. i know you don't want to hear what i have done, but we will do it in the future as well. there are a small number, granted, born into a sex they do not identify with who are often very traumatised. for 20 years now we have had a law which allows that to be recognised through a certificate. i will treat them as i will treat every single person in this country, with dignity and respect and not allow this to become a toxic discussion. because when that happens... tao a toxic discussion. because when that happens- - -— a toxic discussion. because when that happens. . .- this i a toxic discussion. because when that happens. . .- this is| that happens... too late. this is where we _ that happens... too late. this is where we end _ that happens... too late. this is where we end up, _ that happens... too late. this is where we end up, the _ that happens... too late. this is where we end up, the prime - that happens... too late. this is - where we end up, the prime minister of the uk making an anti—trans choke in front of the mother of a trans—... sorry, that is a line we cannot cross. trans-. .. sorry, that is a line we cannot cross-— trans-. .. sorry, that is a line we cannot cross. that is a non-answer. you are giving _ cannot cross. that is a non-answer. you are giving a _ cannot cross. that is a non-answer. you are giving a basic _ cannot cross. that is a non-answer. you are giving a basic level- cannot cross. that is a non-answer. you are giving a basic level of- you are giving a basic level of respect — you are giving a basic level of respect to— you are giving a basic level of respect to a few people who will affect _ respect to a few people who will affect women's rights... you made

that point- — affect women's rights... you made that point- you _ affect women's rights... you made that point. you made _ affect women's rights... you made that point. you made it _ affect women's rights... you made that point. you made it well, - affect women's rights. .. you made that point. you made it well, i - affect women's rights... you made | that point. you made it well, i want a quick one, you have got to leave at 9.50. david, quick point, quick answer. david in liverpool. good mornin: , answer. david in liverpool. good morning. sir— answer. david in liverpool. good morning, sir kier. _ answer. david in liverpool. good morning, sir kier. good - answer. david in liverpool. good| morning, sir kier. good morning. answer. david in liverpool. good i morning, sir kier. good morning. i saw ou morning, sir kier. good morning. i saw you on — morning, sir kier. good morning. i saw you on breakfast _ morning, sir kier. good morning. i saw you on breakfast tv. - morning, sir kier. good morning. i saw you on breakfast tv. get - morning, sir kier. good morning. i saw you on breakfast tv. get to i morning, sir kier. good morning. i| saw you on breakfast tv. get to the ruestion, saw you on breakfast tv. get to the question, david, _ saw you on breakfast tv. get to the question, david, the _ saw you on breakfast tv. get to the question, david, the clock - saw you on breakfast tv. get to the question, david, the clock is - question, david, the clock is ticking. question, david, the clock is tickinr . question, david, the clock is tickin: . , ., question, david, the clock is tickina. , ., ., question, david, the clock is tickina. ., ., ., ticking. ok, you are going to rocess ticking. ok, you are going to process all— ticking. ok, you are going to process all immigrants, - ticking. ok, you are going to - process all immigrants, including illegal~ _ process all immigrants, including illegal. how will you process illegals. _ illegal. how will you process illegals, they won't have a passport, they probably will not tell you — passport, they probably will not tell you where they are from or if they dom — tell you where they are from or if they do- - -— they do... how are you going to rocess they do... how are you going to process what — they do... how are you going to process what david _ they do... how are you going to process what david refers - they do... how are you going to process what david refers to - they do... how are you going to process what david refers to as| process what david refers to as illegals, give us a0 seconds and then i have a final question. difficult though it may be, we will have to do it. this isn't a new problem, the alternative to not processing them is leaving them unprocessed, which means they live in this country at yours and others'

expenses in hotels because if they are not process they cannot be returned if they shouldn't be here. that is an absurd situation, we have 50,000 or so that is an absurd situation, we have 50,000 orso in that is an absurd situation, we have 50,000 or so in this position at the moment. it is absurd, unworkable and it costs £8 million a day at the moment on the hotels. that is not a sustainable answer to the problem that the government has created by breaking the asylum system. thank ou ve breaking the asylum system. thank you very much- _ breaking the asylum system. thank you very much. favourite _ breaking the asylum system. thank you very much. favourite film? - breaking the asylum system. thank you very much. favourite film? not so much, you very much. favourite film? not so much. friday _ you very much. favourite film? not so much, friday night _ you very much. favourite film? not so much, friday night dinner - you very much. favourite film? not so much, friday night dinner with i so much, friday night dinner with the kids, i know it is a bit old but they love it. for the first time we have our teenage kids on the sofa with those on a friday watching the same thing as us. thea;t with those on a friday watching the same thing as us.— same thing as us. they will be 23 and 25 if you _ same thing as us. they will be 23 and 25 if you get _ same thing as us. they will be 23 and 25 if you get your _ same thing as us. they will be 23 and 25 if you get your ambitions. | and 25 if you get your ambitions. last question, if you lose this election, particularly if you lose badly, will he resign as the leader of the labour party?—

badly, will he resign as the leader of the labour party? yes. thank you, that is a newsline _ of the labour party? nae: thank you, that is a newsline for us, thank you for coming in, sir keir starmer. if you do win, you are welcome anytime to come and take questions. thank ou for to come and take questions. thank you for having _ to come and take questions. thank you for having me _ to come and take questions. thank you for having me back. _ to come and take questions. thank you for having me back. they - to come and take questions. thank you for having me back. they are i you for having me back. they are brilliant listeners? _ you for having me back. they are brilliant listeners? they - you for having me back. they are brilliant listeners? they are - brilliant listeners? they are brilliant. — brilliant listeners? they are brilliant. i— brilliant listeners? they are brilliant, i enjoy _ brilliant listeners? they are brilliant, i enjoy this - brilliant listeners? they are brilliant, i enjoy this one. i brilliant listeners? they are i brilliant, i enjoy this one. you brilliant, i en'oy this one. you don't brilliant, i en'oy this one. you dont mind — brilliant, i enjoy this one. you don't mind the _ brilliant, i enjoy this one. you don't mind the feisty - brilliant, i enjoy this one. you don't mind the feisty ones? itj brilliant, i enjoy this one. you i don't mind the feisty ones? it is art and don't mind the feisty ones? it is part and parcel— don't mind the feisty ones? it is part and parcel of— don't mind the feisty ones? it 5 part and parcel of being leader of the opposition. part and parcel of being leader of the opposition-— part and parcel of being leader of the 0- osition. . ,. ,, , . the opposition. thank you very much to sir keir starmer, _ the opposition. thank you very much to sir keir starmer, the _ the opposition. thank you very much to sir keir starmer, the leader- the opposition. thank you very much to sir keir starmer, the leader of - to sir keir starmer, the leader of the opposition. and you can react to that on... i think what would be good in the next hour would be to just get your reactions to it and tell me what you think. there was a lot in there. as ever, we wanted to go a lot further, do a lot more and get a lot more voices on but at the same time we also want to have decent conversations. thank you very much to our viewers for watching this as

well on bbc two and on bbc news. have a good day. meanwhile, we are back on the radio. nobody is watching me so i can undo my button. nicky campbell with the labour leader. we are taking his programme live with the key leaders. a couple of stories here. it's one of the uk's most famous cathedrals — but this summer marks a0 years since york minster was engulfed by fire, devastating a part of the building which dated back to the 13th century. now, a new exhibition will trace the memories of those who fought the blaze — and restored the minster to its former glory.

our reporter, alison freeman, has spoken to some of them. it was one of the worst cathedral fires of modern times. in the early hours ofjuly the 9th, 198a, a lightning strike on york minster started a fire which tore through the south transept. among those fighting the fire that night wasjohn mckenzie. we got to the minster about 2:37 in the morning, and the turntable ladder was getting up to the rose window from the outside, but it couldn't get really high enough to apply water from the top. sojohn and his colleagues used a series of ladders to gain access to the inner vault of the roof of the burning building to tackle the blaze from the inside. you must have been acutely aware, when you were up there, of the significance of this fire. yes. at one point we thought we might actually lose this fire, and we had a really petrifying sense

of almost personal loss. we felt we can't let it go. and that's one of the reasons why we stayed there and continued to do what we were doing. when it fell away... yes. ..that must have made a hell of a noise. it did, yes. you could more hear it than see it. you could hear big sections of the vault falling to the south transept floor here. but we're not daft. we wouldn't have put ourselves in danger, and we knew we were having some good effect. and so we wanted to stay there, to keep having an effect. as the building burned, those who lived and worked at york minster salvaged as much as they could. stonemasonjohn david was there. we were taking anything out of the minster which we could carry. small bits of furniture, altar furniture. you'd see a sort of canon struggling with a carpet, which came from the front of an altar or something like that, and you'd just give a hand. sometimes you'd say, "shall we take this? shall we take that? " we were just all helping each other. i think the chief fire officer— turned up, and he wasn't comfortable with the fact that we were still -

in the roof, you know, from a health and safety point of view. anyway, we probably feigned indignation at being withdrawn from the roof in the way that we was, but actually it's probablyjust as well that we were. eventually, i went round to the west front and just stood outside and saw the roof collapse, which was shocking but appalling, but it evidently saved the rest of the building. both men have now told theirfascinating memories of that night to the team, who've created an exhibition about the fire that starts in the minster this weekend. there's shock, there's horror, there's huge emotion. - there's people that came to see it the next day and just sobbed - because it... it's, you know, it's- such a symbol of york. and there's just a great little note about how the dean's cat, - amidst all the chaos, curled up and had a little sleep on one i of the altar cloths. but there's also this overriding sense of, j we know we can put it back together again, i and a great practicalityl and an immediate, um,

response in that way ofjust getting on with the job that is at hand, - which is really impressive to look back on. - that's a very yorkshire response as well, isn't it? i think that's fair to say. yeah, absolutely. the subsequent renovation took four years and £2.25 million, but it also had a bit of help along the way. we've been asked if blue peter will design six of the new oak bosses that will decorate the vaulting of the south transept roof. more than 30,000 children and young people entered the blue peter competition, and the six lucky winners got to see them being made and installed. i don't like to look. one of those designs is being brought to life yet again, as a badge to commemorate the a0th anniversary of the fire. those that were there on the night, and then carried out the restoration, know they played a key part in the minster�*s history. it's always a privilege because only a few generations

of people are able to get up there. and, until someone decides some of the bosses need regilding or painting or something, nobody will ever go up there. so... and that could be, you know, 150, 200 years time. so it's unusual and you never get used to it. you must be proud to have been involved in how much was saved. oh, yeah. i don't suppose the right word. i'm relieved that a lot was saved. there was 137 of us on thatjob. of course it was all 137 of us who put the fire out. alison freeman, bbc news, york. let's catch up with the weather with darren. hello there. we are into this cooler and fresher air now but it should be an improving story really threw the rest of the day. as these brisk westerly winds do tend to ease down and the number of showers reduces as well. we've actually had some longer

spells of rain across northern parts of scotland close to the area of low pressure and the strongest westerly winds have been in scotland as well. but even here it does become less windy through the afternoon, the more persistent rain heading up to the northern isles. still some showers in scotland, a few continuing in northern ireland for a while and the far north of england, but the showers further south will die away and it should still be dry through the midlands, towards the south—east where we'll see the highest temperatures of up to 22 degrees. but if you are in scotland it will feel quite chilly out there, temperatures in many places are 1a or 15 degrees. heading into the evening and those remaining showers do fade away. overnight we see some cloud coming in from the atlantic particularly pushing towards wales and northern england, bringing a few spots of rain towards the north—west of wales as well. with the clearer skies further north, mind you, temperatures could be as low as three or a degrees in some rural areas. this weekend should see quite a bit of cloud around, some sunshine from time to time and for the most part i think it will be dry.

the fly in the ointment is this weak whether system here, that's been bringing the cloud in overnight and continues to bring some cloud into wales, parts of northern england, may be the midlands and the far south—west of england. just a few spots of rain here and there. but to the north, we've got some sunshine away from those showers in the far north of scotland and towards the south—east, this is where it will see some sunshine. it could be a little bit hazy at times, mind you. temperatures could reach a healthy 25 degrees. elsewhere, those temperatures not changing a great deal from friday. that weak weather system then just fades away, slips south—eastward south of the way and then we get a north—westerly breeze coming in for the second half of the weekend. that clears the south—east, that north—westerly breeze brings down a lot of cloud. should be generally dry, mind you, and the best of the sunshine is probably the south coast of england and south wales. but if anything those temperatures are going to be a little bit lower on sunday. and really after sunday we are looking rather unsettled, rather changeable. weather fronts coming in from the atlantic, bit of rain from time to time and some sunshine now and again as well.

goodbye. live from london, this is bbc news. joe biden struggles in the first us election tv debate with his rival donald trump. the covid... dealing with everything we have to do with... look... .if... ..we finally beat medicare... with less than a week to go before the election, labour leader sir keir starmer faces questions from the bbc�*s nicky campbell. he says the uk has its highest tax rate in 70 years if the economy in the last 1a years under this government had grown at the same rate as under the last labour government, we would have

tens of billions of pounds to spend on public services. nigel farage condemns reform party campaigners after they were recorded making racist and homophobic comments. drum and bass music plays. be here how one bbc news presenter had remixed our theme tune i of a glastonbury gem and be set —— we will hear how. hello i'm geeta guru—murthy. joe biden has delivered a faltering performance in the first us presidential debate. performance in the first us at times, he appeared to struggle with his words and on at least one occasion, he seemed to lose his train of thought. democrats had hoped the debate would allow mr biden to reassure voters concerned about his age. but the president's performance is said to have caused panic among senior members of the democratic party. for his part, donald trump made a series of unverified claims about his record in office.

our north america correspondent gary o'donoghue was watching. trump, trump, trump... for the first time in debate history, a former president arriving to debate a current president. cheering. that current president aiming to be the oldest incumbent of the white house in us history. joe biden. four years ago, when these two men met, it ended up in a slanging match. donald trump. but even new rules didn't stop the insults from flying. the only reason i'm here is he's so bad as a president that i'm going to make america great again. my son was not a loser. he was not a sucker. you're the sucker. you're the loser. both men accused the other of trashing the economy, clashing over tax cuts and inflation. he's the only president other than herbert hoover who's lost morejobs than he had when he began. since herbert hoover. the onlyjobs he created are for illegal immigrants and bounce back jobs. the bounce back from the covid. at times, joe biden sounded hoarse and difficult to understand. his aides said he had a cold, but there have been persistent concerns about his concentration

and stamina, and this did not dispel those worries. excuse me with, um, dealing with everything we have to do with, uh... look, if... we finally beat medicare. thank you, president biden. abortion and immigration were hotly contested, with donald trump delivering perhaps his strongest line of the night. we are living right now in a rat's nest. they're killing our people in new york, in california, in every state in the union, because we don't have borders anymore. every state is now a border. when both men were asked about their age — joe biden is 81, donald trump 78 — they ended up in a bizarre argument about golf. i told you before, i'm happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. think you can do it? that's the biggest lie, that he's a six handicap of all. i was an eight handicap. yeah, eight. but you know how many i've...

seen your swing. i know your swing. there was little in this debate to change the minds of the committed. both men made well—worn attacks on one another. both men hurled well—worn insults at one another. what will really count is how this lands, with the small number of undecided voters in those key swing states that will decide november's election. our chief washington presenter catriona perry was at the cnn spinroom in atlanta and told us more about debate. well, this was pegged as being potentially a pivotal moment in this year's campaign, and it may have been just that. it was the first time, of course, thatjoe biden and donald trump met each other on a debate stage since they last met in 2020. also the first time in the history of television debates in this country that you had a current president debating a past president. and that played out in a lot of how the debate went for that 90 minutes or so. a lot of discussion and poking

at each other�*s records and back catalogue of what they had achieved or not achieved during their time in office, and very little actually forward focusing into what they might do should either of them be re—elected again. got through a lot of topics in the hour and a half, possibly due to the fact that they were timed to give relatively short answers, two minutes per answer and one minute for rebuttal before their microphones were muted, again, a new development in this debate. joe biden was always going to come under the microscope for the question of age, which the trump campaign has been raising for months now, and he did stumble on a number of occasions during this debate, appearing to lose his way and lose his train of thought, at one point when answering a question about medicare, something that donald trump was quick to jump on later in the debate and saying that he couldn't understand whatjoe biden had said and he doubted joe biden could either. for his part, donald trump was pressed repeatedly on whether he would accept the election results

if he was to lose in november. he was pushed repeatedly before he gave an answer to that, and he somewhat reluctantly said if the elections were free and legal then he would. he also was pushed on whether he would denounce the january six individuals who have been convicted of crimes in relation to the storming of the capitol, and he refused to answer that question. the debate focused on a lot of topics. economy, obviously, a big one. immigration and foreign policy as well. but it also was quite sparky and spiky with both men exchanging insults with each other a lot of the time. joe biden accusing donald trump of having the morals of an alley cat, donald trump saying at one point that living in america was like living in a rat's nest. and at one point the conversation descended into the two men bickering over who had the better golf handicap. from here, the campaign, of course, continues. donald trump is in virginia. he will hold a rally there tomorrow. joe biden in north carolina,

where he will hold a rally as well. of course, it's a long way to november and we'll wait to see what happens next. let's speak to thomas gift, director of the centre on us politics at ucl. thank you forjoining us. there was a lot of talk when you look at the us commentary and reaction overnight about president biden's fitness to continue with the campaign. what is your assessment of why the democratic party is on this? i think ou are democratic party is on this? i think you are absolutely _ democratic party is on this? i think you are absolutely right, _ democratic party is on this? i think you are absolutely right, typically i you are absolutely right, typically criticism like this would come from the other side, republicans in this case, but what you are hearing as democrats giving an assessment of joe biden's performance that at best it's disappointing, at worst claiming it was totally cataclysmic. i think probably the reality is somewhere in between. ifeel like there is a tendency in the moment to

be too pessimistic about what this means. one thing to keep in mind as both donald trump and to an extent joe biden are such polarising figures that i am not sure whether a debate can really change the dynamics of the race completely, but at the same time the evaluations have just been so negative and the calls forjoe biden to be replaced have grown so loud that it will be difficult for the democratic party to ignore. it difficult for the democratic party to ianore. . . . difficult for the democratic party toianore. , , ., ., , to ignore. it is 'ust a few months until the us _ to ignore. it isjust a few months untilthe us votes, _ to ignore. it isjust a few months until the us votes, it _ to ignore. it isjust a few months until the us votes, it is - to ignore. it isjust a few months until the us votes, it is ahead i to ignore. it isjust a few months until the us votes, it is ahead of| until the us votes, it is ahead of the conventions because there debate was held unusually early. what process would that be and how many potential candidates could that be? if there is an all—out company to run for a fresh candidate, that would be very difficult and divisive, presumably? it is would be very difficult and divisive, presumably? it is too late for any candidate _ divisive, presumably? it is too late for any candidate to _ divisive, presumably? it is too late for any candidate to get _ divisive, presumably? it is too late for any candidate to get their- divisive, presumably? it is too late. for any candidate to get their names on the ballot, as you suggested it would have to come down to the

convention. unless the democratic party change the rules, delegates pledged to bite and were to enter the convention uncommitted and they would lobby and ultimately vote on a replacement. the real challenges there is no obvious heir apparent. you might think vice president kamala harris would at the top of the list but her polling numbers are even lower than joe the list but her polling numbers are even lower thanjoe biden. there are other names like california governor gavin newsom and the michigan governor, who we have heard a lot about, but they have not been vetted on a national stage. it might be the democrats are better with the devil but they know rather than the devil but they know rather than the devil but they know rather than the devil but they don't, simply because it could create a lot of chaos and disorder and the last thing the democratic party needs going into such a high—stakes election is to seem disunited.

such a high-stakes election is to seem disunited.— such a high-stakes election is to seem disunited. ., , ,., seem disunited. there was polling in recent months _ seem disunited. there was polling in recent months about _ seem disunited. there was polling in recent months about the _ seem disunited. there was polling in recent months about the names - seem disunited. there was polling in recent months about the names at i seem disunited. there was polling in i recent months about the names at the democratic party and how strong they would be against donald trump. i don't know whether there has been any recent polling on that? i don't know whether there has been any recent polling on that?- any recent polling on that? i have not seen too _ any recent polling on that? i have not seen too much _ any recent polling on that? i have not seen too much recent - any recent polling on that? i have not seen too much recent polling | any recent polling on that? i have i not seen too much recent polling but one thing joe biden can say that nobody else can is that he has beaten donald trump before. if you look at the polls right now it is about 50—50. in swing states donald trump seems to have a little bit of an edge. if a new candidate parachuted in it is still very difficult to know how voters would respond to that, because once they get to know someone, perhaps they like him or her even more, perhaps they like them even less. in the republican primaries that were so much hoopla around florida governor ron desantis, with many republicans thinking he was the saviour who would cut in and beat donald trump, but the reality kind of fell flat in the national polling and donald

trump add more or less sort of flattened him. it is very difficult to know, and i think all that uncertainty is why democrats might ultimately say thatjoe biden is still the best candidate they can go with. ~ ., , ., still the best candidate they can go with. ~ ., i. ., ,, ., still the best candidate they can go with. ~ ., .«i ., ., with. what did you make of donald trum - 's with. what did you make of donald trump's performance? _ with. what did you make of donald trump's performance? obviously i with. what did you make of donald i trump's performance? obviously the veracity of some of what he is saying has been challenged and i don't know whether again we will get a early polling and reaction to the latest debate pretty soon? everyone is talkin: latest debate pretty soon? everyone is talking about _ latest debate pretty soon? everyone is talking about biden's _ is talking about biden's shortcomings last night, which made sense, but trump also performed relatively well, which was not too surprising to me. trump is an entertainer, he has won debates in the past and there is a reason why he became the republican nominee, because he blew through his competition on the debate stage.

sometimes trump is his own worst enemy by going overboard with the attacks but i think the mute button saved him from himself by not allowing himself to be his typical bombastic self and not allowing his personality to dominate. trump came off as restrained by his standards, more disciplined by his standards, that we are used to seeing, he absolutely told plenty of lies and half—truths but biden was not able to fact check on the fly and in places where trump was most vulnerable, like on abortion, biden was not able to land any clearjabs. if things move in terms ofjoe biden puts my position, how quickly would you expect to see that and how important will be president's life in making any decision as to whether he was to step aside? obviously very strong allies like president obama,

huge names in the white house too, they will presumably all come into play now? i they will presumably all come into -la now? ., �* ~' they will presumably all come into -la now? a, , they will presumably all come into -la now? .,�* ~u_ . play now? i don't think any decision will be made _ play now? i don't think any decision will be made immediately. - play now? i don't think any decision will be made immediately. my- will be made immediately. my expectation is the biden campaign will try to blitz the airwaves with anti—trump adverts and see where everything is when the dust settles. there is a tendency with situations like this for people to rush to judgment and i think any decision that biden makes will probably require a lot of input from his wife, advisers, those close to him and his family, but as to nowjoe biden has shown more cell no interest or willingness in bowing out. the time to do that really was several months ago, several voices at that time said to bow out gracefully, he said no, so i expect he will remain the candidate. thank ou ve

he will remain the candidate. thank you very much _ he will remain the candidate. thank you very much for _ he will remain the candidate. thank you very much forjoining _ he will remain the candidate. thank you very much forjoining us - he will remain the candidate. thank you very much forjoining us today, thomas gift. our colleagues at americast have recorded a special episode about the first presidential debate. you can download americast, and get reaction and analysis from sarah smith, antony zurcher, justin webb and others — available now on bbc sounds. much more on that us presidential debate later. but first, with less than a week to go before polling today, let's check in on the main news from the election. campaigners from reform uk have been filmed making racist and homophobic comments. party leader nigel farage has called it appalling and says it doesn't reflect his own views. it's the been the labour leader sir keir starmer�*s turn to be interviewed by nicky campbell this morning. he's been taking questions from the phone—in audience. the conservatives will be campaigning on education — they're pushing a raft of education pledges, including the expansion of free childcare and a school mobile phones ban. the liberal democrats will be talking about access to dentistry, and leader ed davey will be interviewed by the bbc�*s nick robinson — we'll bring you that this evening here on bbc news. first, those racist and homophobic remarks made by campaigners for reform uk.

one of them — andrew parker — suggests that migrants crossing the channel should be used as target practice. party leader nigel farage has distanced himself from the comments. the footage was recorded by channel a news in clacton, where he is standing. let's speak to our political correspondent, susan hulme. tell us a bit more about this report and the reaction. in tell us a bit more about this report and the reaction.— and the reaction. in this channel a re ort, and the reaction. in this channel a report. as — and the reaction. in this channel a report. as you _ and the reaction. in this channel a report, as you heard, _ and the reaction. in this channel a report, as you heard, there - and the reaction. in this channel a report, as you heard, there is - and the reaction. in this channel ai report, as you heard, there is some quite extreme racist and homophobic language. of course, this is a situation that nigel farage does not want to find himself in. he is a politician who likes to be on the attack, likes to be attacking other parties, not defending his own records, his own party, anything

like that. it is not a place he wants to be, not a place any politician wants to be but particularly not one like nigel farage. reform uk has said because the election was called very quickly it took everyone by surprise, that they did not really have the time needed to do proper vetting of candidates too, presumably of local workers too. many are volunteers, quite hard to check all of those people. it was an issue, this kind of problem was something that came up of problem was something that came up with reform uk's predecessor ukip backin up with reform uk's predecessor ukip back in the day. even then it did not really seem to give a big knock to ukip in the polls when this sort of thing happens, and i dare say they will hope it will not have too much of an effect, however it does come on the back of nigel farage's own comments about ukraine, about the fact that the eu and nato may have provoked president putin. that

may also have given some photos perhaps because to think twice. polls, we always have to say opinion polls, had to be very careful about giving them too much credence, but it seems perhaps reform uk has stalled a little bit in that sort of rights we have seen over the last few weeks. rights we have seen over the last few weeks-— few weeks. savour with us for a moment- _ few weeks. savour with us for a moment- we — few weeks. savour with us for a moment. we just _ few weeks. savour with us for a moment. we just want - few weeks. savour with us for a moment. we just want to - few weeks. savour with us for a moment. we just want to show| few weeks. savour with us for a i moment. we just want to show a few weeks. savour with us for a - moment. we just want to show a full list of candidates standing in the clacton constituency —— stay with us for a moment. labour's sir keir starmer has been facing questions from my colleague nicky campbell here on bbc news. he was keen to talk about what he says is the highest and promised, if elected, to "put the country back on its feet." here's a little of what he said. we've had a flatlining economy for 1a years. if all we do is... we've now got the highest tax rates for 70 years and there's a reason for that, that slow growth. so that's the elephant

in the room, that is the challenge. we could ignore it and simply say, let's tax an ever reducing cake... 2% on those with more than1 billion? the point is the economy is not growing. unless and until we get economy growing... would that stop the economy growing, taxing those people? we've already got the highest tax rates for 70 yea rs. you could lift the two child benefit cap if he tax those people? if the economy in the last 1a years under this government had grown at the same rate as it did under the last labour government, we'd have tens of billions of pounds to spend on our public services, we would be able to be elected into serve the country, we can start straightaway on the change that we need. which means that you and your children and your children's children will feel better off, that we are heading in the right direction. just as i did with the labour party,

sort of pick it back up, put it on its feet and make it fit for the future. we need to do the same our country. sir keir starmer speaking in the last hour here on the bbc. let's speak again to our political correspondent susan hulme. the conservatives have made tax one of the main attack lines against labour. labour historically have been vulnerable on their economic efficiency, i suppose, been vulnerable on their economic efficiency, isuppose, their records, but there are big questions for labour on tax and spending, as there are on all the parties? this is something _ there are on all the parties? this is something the _ there are on all the parties? t'n : is something the conservatives have seized on. remember, prime minister rishi sunak burke first head—to—head debate came out with this £2000 figure that has been roundly criticised, but he has hammered away on that with labour, that labour would raise your taxes. conservative central office are coming out with

something online called a tax checker. it looks like a financial helper but it is to check the taxi would be playing under labour, it is their ideas of what labour might raise taxes too, something labour said they would not do. it is something they feel they can really get traction on, and they need to get traction on, and they need to get traction on in this campaign against labour. that is why you are seeing kirsty —— sir keir starmer pointing out that they do not have plans to raise those taxes like vat or income tax, and that emphasis on growing the economy, frankly, they all say they would like to grow the economy, that has proved harder to do than to say in recent times, that is what is emphasis has been. let's take a rain check on that, economists at places like the iff had said none of the parties are really coming clean about the taxes

they would need to raise all the spending they would need to code to make the figures add up. the parties all say they can't do it, but independent economists are more sceptical. independent economists are more sce tical. . independent economists are more scetical. . ., ~ , ., sceptical. susan hume, thank you very much — sceptical. susan hume, thank you very much indeed, _ sceptical. susan hume, thank you very much indeed, in _ sceptical. susan hume, thank you i very much indeed, in westminster. let's turn to the conservatives now. their campaign is focusing on education, with a claim that a labour government would mean fewer nursery places and bigger class sizes in many schools. let's speak to helen catt, who is travelling with the conservative party. we canjust we can just about make you out on the bus, tell us the plan for today? the focus for today for the conservatives is education, we are off to teesside to visit a school and a college and rishi sunak will be addressing some of the conservatives' education plans, the policies we know they have outlined in their manifesto include banning mobile phones during the school day,

rolling out 30 hours of free childcare a week to everyone with children over nine months old and other things like working with schools and local authorities to improve school attendance. they will push those policies. at the same time they are continuing on the tax theme you heard from susan, one of theme you heard from susan, one of the messages they are very keen to keep on pushing home until polling day, focusing on attacking labour's plans to put vat on independent school fees, again suggesting that will increase class sizes. labour says it will not, the shadow education secretary bridget phillipson has called but nonsense but the institute for fiscal studies did a study on how many children might leave the private sector as a result i move on to state sector, that figure was priced at between 17000 and a0,000 which the conservatives argue would push up class sizes in the state sector.

labour point to the same analysis and say the iff do not think that will be the case because the number of children on school rolls is falling over time. the other thing the conservatives are keen to pick up the conservatives are keen to pick up on today is an interview with bridget phillipson with the sunmy never mind the ballots programme when she was pushed on whether the vat would be put on nursery themes where private schools run nurseries, she said that was not labour's plan but she did not rule that out, the conservatives had seized on her to say labour could do that down the line and in terms of pushing back tax messaging they had decided to name that the toddler tax, which is what we will get a bit more of today. in what we will get a bit more of toda . . what we will get a bit more of toda . , ., .., ., today. in terms of the education auestion today. in terms of the education question that — today. in terms of the education question that has _ today. in terms of the education question that has been - today. in terms of the education question that has been a - today. in terms of the education question that has been a lot - today. in terms of the education question that has been a lot of. question that has been a lot of comment publicly on the state of higher education at universities, are the conservatives saying anything on that today? i completely lost ou, anything on that today? i completely lost you. could _ anything on that today? i completely lost you, could you _ anything on that today? i completely

lost you, could you repeat _ anything on that today? i completely lost you, could you repeat the - lost you, could you repeat the question?— lost you, could you repeat the ruestion? , ., ., , , question? the question of university fundin: question? the question of university funding obviously _ question? the question of university funding obviously has _ question? the question of university funding obviously has come - question? the question of university funding obviously has come up - question? the question of university| funding obviously has come up under this government, have they said anything about that today or are we likely to hear anything on that? i think the focus we had seen in terms of universities from the conservatives has been the quality of degrees, as we dart the ich, the quality of degrees. there is a pledge for them to call what they call rip of university courses are mickey mouse degrees and use that money to create 100,000 new apprenticeships every year by the end of the parliament. that is what they have been talking about largely in relation to university policy. i should just say i have just got a message from labour who have messaged me to say we will not be applying vat on nurseries, back line might die quite quickly today. essen might die quite quickly today. even as ou might die quite quickly today. even as you travel. _ might die quite quickly today. even as you travel, helen. _ might die quite quickly today. even as you travel, helen. maybe they can get a better signal that we can,

let's hope so. we will be back with you in the coming hours, thank you very much for sticking with us. the snp campaign bus has taken to the road. party leader, and scottish first minister, john swinney, stepped off the vehicle for a campaign event in edinburgh. he says it will carry the snp's message to all parts of the country — and that his key message is that only the snp can be trusted to stand up for scotland in westminster. what i'm seeing is there's big issues at stake in this election campaign where we've suffered because of having 1a years of austerity from the conservative government in the united kingdom and we are suffering because of the economic damage of brexit. and my point is that all of these issues are a product of decision—making in westminster. scotland would be in a stronger position if decisions were to be made in scotland for scotland and we could tackle the issues of austerity and brexit by becoming an independent country. john swinney. tata, the owner of the uk's biggest steelworks, says it may shut

the site in port talbot in south wales next month — earlier than planned — because of a strike by workers. up to 1,500 members of the unite union are expected to walk out next month over the firm's plan to cutjobs. our wales correspondent, hywel griffith, reports. the blast furnaces at port talbot dominate the skyline, but their days are numbered. both are due to shut down over the summer, the second in september, bringing an end to steel—making from scratch. a new electric furnace will be built here eventually, but 2,800 jobs will go. # the workers united will never be defeated.# the unite union's been pushing for the company to hold off. its workers are planning to strike in protest from july the 8th. now, tata has said it will bring forward the change, citing safety concerns unless the union calls it off. but unite won't back down. we're absolutely appalled

by tata's announcement. um, to threaten to close down the blast furnace, uh, early is not the way the company should be behaving. they should be negotiating, uh, seriously, with us. there is investment to be put into the plant, so it is completely and utterly unacceptable. the welsh government says the news is extraordinary and will cause huge anxiety for the workforce. tata says it's not a decision it would take lightly, but the stand—off has only increased pressure and anger in port talbot. hywel griffith, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. we are into this cooler and fresher air now but it should be an improving story really threw the rest of the day. as these brisk westerly winds do tend to ease down and the number of showers reduces as well. we've actually had some longer

spells of rain across northern parts of scotland close to the area of low pressure, and the strongest westerly winds have been in scotland as well. but even here it does become less windy through the afternoon, the more persistent rain heading up to the northern isles. still some showers in scotland, a few continuing in northern ireland for a while and the far north of england, but the showers further south will die away and it should still be dry through the midlands, towards the south—east, where we'll see the highest temperatures of up to 22 degrees. but if you are in scotland it will feel quite chilly out there, temperatures in many places are 1a or 15 degrees. heading into the evening and those remaining showers do fade away. overnight we see some cloud coming in from the atlantic particularly pushing towards wales and northern england, bringing a few spots of rain towards the north—west of wales as well. with the clearer skies further north, mind you, temperatures could be as low as three or a degrees in some rural areas. this weekend should see quite a bit of cloud around, some sunshine from time to time and for the most part i think it will be dry. the fly in the ointment is this weak whether system here, that's been bringing the cloud

in overnight and continues to bring some cloud into wales, parts of northern england, maybe the midlands and the far south—west of england. just a few spots of rain here and there. but to the north, we've got some sunshine away from those showers in the far north of scotland and towards the south—east, this is where it will see some sunshine. it could be a little bit hazy at times, mind you. temperatures could reach a healthy 25 degrees. elsewhere, those temperatures not changing a great deal from friday. that weak weather system then just fades away, slips south—eastward south of the way and then we get a north—westerly breeze coming in for the second half of the weekend. that cloud clears the south—east, that north—westerly breeze brings down a lot of cloud. should be generally dry, mind you, and the best of the sunshine is probably the south coast of england and south wales. but if anything those temperatures are going to be a little bit lower on sunday. and really after sunday we are looking rather unsettled, rather changeable. weather fronts coming in from the atlantic, bit of rain from time to time and some sunshine now

and again as well. goodbye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: labour's keir starmer faces questions on nicky campbell's bbc phone in — promising to help put the uk 'back on its feet�*. if the economy in the last 1a years under this government had grown at the same rate under the same as the last labour government we would have tens of millions of pounds to spend on a public services. he snp launches its campaign bus — john swinney says it will carry the message that only his party can stand up for scotland at westminster. and our very own news theme gets a remix at glastonbury from a well—known bbc presenter! we'll reveal who's got the drum and bass touch — a few minutes from now. ican i can tell you, it is not me. by this time next week, we are likely to know who's won the general election. but until every vote is cast, the politicians won't stop campaigning.

here on bbc news we've spent each day scrutinising the campaign promises — and how they could affect the whole country. but we're also taking time to report on the particular issues in different parts of the uk — and look at how they could affect the outcome. joining me now bob cooper, cumbria political reporter, in carlise. and paul moseley, norfolk political reporter, who is in cromer. thank you to you both. bob in cumbria, give us the political picture where you are? morning from wendy carlisle- _ picture where you are? morning from wendy carlisle. it _ picture where you are? morning from wendy carlisle. it is _ picture where you are? morning from wendy carlisle. it is an _ picture where you are? morning from wendy carlisle. it is an interesting i wendy carlisle. it is an interesting political battleground. because although there is not many seats, only five within the county's boundaries, they are all to play for in this election. if i can briefly tell you what has happened in recent years, up until 2010, tell you what has happened in recent years, up until2010, labour tell you what has happened in recent years, up until 2010, labour have four mps in the county. but over the

years they have been picked off by the conservatives. by 2019, at the last election, labour didn't have any. since then things have changed. we have had boundary changes coming in at this election, which have been quite significant here. what has happened is this big safe conservative seat of penrith and the border has been chopped up and bits of it has been stitched onto other constituencies. the situation that is left is in the current climate, there aren't any safe seats for the conservatives in this election. there are seats they could win, but if the pollsters are to be believed with the conservative trailing so far behind labour, they are vulnerable in all of them, either to labour or to the liberal democrats. it may be that on a good night, they could have thought this boundary situation would have worked out well for them. situation would have worked out well forthem. but situation would have worked out well for them. but on a bad night it could turn out they lose all of

those seats. labour, i know are confident they can win back some of those voters who have left them in recent years. the conservatives, for their part, are saying we know we face a challenge at this election, but they say the response on the doorstep here is not as bad as the polls would suggest. it could be really interesting to see how things play out when we actually know how people have cast their votes. bob. people have cast their votes. bob, rive as a people have cast their votes. bob, give as a sense — people have cast their votes. bob, give as a sense of _ people have cast their votes. bob, give as a sense of which _ people have cast their votes. bob, give as a sense of which issues do you think people are going to be voting on, what are people most concerned about at the moment? it depends where exactly you go in the county. if you go to the west coast or down into the south into barrow in furness, you might get people worried if they don't work for one of the big dominant employers that do offer well—paid jobs, they might be worried aboutjob opportunities, the cost of living and things like that. access to public services as

well. go into the lake district where many people watching will have visited many times before and the real problem is housing for so many people. because millions of people come there and that puts a lot of pressure on the housing situation. people find it hard to find affordable homes with so many second homes and holiday lets. wherever you go in cumbria there is a general sense that people feel very distant from westminster. people often say politicians think the north stops at manchester. we are a long way from london here, 15 miles down the road from scotland, which has a devolved government. cumbria doesn't have a devolution deal or a metro mare or anything like that, it will be up to politicians who are elected here to convince people they can make their voice heard in westminster. it is convince people they can make their voice heard in westminster.- voice heard in westminster. it is a dramatic and _ voice heard in westminster. it is a dramatic and stunning _ voice heard in westminster. it is a dramatic and stunning background where you are in carlao. let's move

to norfolk and paul mosley, tell us about the seats you are looking at? very similar to cumbria, norfolk is primarily— very similar to cumbria, norfolk is primarily a — very similar to cumbria, norfolk is primarily a conservative place. we have _ primarily a conservative place. we have had _ primarily a conservative place. we have had nine seats for quite some time, _ have had nine seats for quite some time. eight — have had nine seats for quite some time, eight of those held by the conservatives. we have an additional one, waverley valley which takes a part of _ one, waverley valley which takes a part of south norfolk and north suffolk — part of south norfolk and north suffolk. we are expecting things could _ suffolk. we are expecting things could change a bit here, certainly labour— could change a bit here, certainly labour looking to take norwich north and they— labour looking to take norwich north and they are focusing a lot on great yarmouth — and they are focusing a lot on great yarmouth. and the polls suggest they have a _ yarmouth. and the polls suggest they have a very— yarmouth. and the polls suggest they have a very good chance in areas that are — have a very good chance in areas that are traditionally very conservative as well. the particular part of— conservative as well. the particular part of norfolk i am in, north norfolk. _ part of norfolk i am in, north norfolk, it is a constituency where the fight _ norfolk, it is a constituency where the fight is — norfolk, it is a constituency where the fight is between the conservatives and the lib dems. the lib conservatives and the lib dems. the lib dems _ conservatives and the lib dems. the lib dems held the seat for 18 years from 2001— lib dems held the seat for 18 years from 2001 to 2019 and then in the last election the conservatives took it with _ last election the conservatives took it with a _ last election the conservatives took

it with a 14,000 majority. but they are facing — it with a 14,000 majority. but they are facing a — it with a 14,000 majority. but they are facing a huge challenge from the lib are facing a huge challenge from the lib dems. _ are facing a huge challenge from the lib dems, who have put a lot of resources — lib dems, who have put a lot of resources in here. not long ago we had ed _ resources in here. not long ago we had ed davey splashing around in the sea. had ed davey splashing around in the sea so— had ed davey splashing around in the sea so up— had ed davey splashing around in the sea. so up particular battle in this part of— sea. so up particular battle in this part of norfolk and we will find out what the _ part of norfolk and we will find out what the result is in a week's time. same _ what the result is in a week's time. same question as in cumbria, what are the key determining issues? the issues in terms of overall interest but also, paul mosley, the polls tell us that the key voters of the swing voters have not decided what they wanted to do. if swing voters have not decided what they wanted to do.— they wanted to do. if you look at this constituency _ they wanted to do. if you look at this constituency in _ they wanted to do. if you look at this constituency in particular, i this constituency in particular, north— this constituency in particular, north norfolk, rural issues and rurai— north norfolk, rural issues and rural transport issues here. it is a bil rural transport issues here. it is a big hit— rural transport issues here. it is a big hit of— rural transport issues here. it is a big bit of land it covers. if you go 20 miles— big bit of land it covers. if you go 20 miles that way, to the sea and then— 20 miles that way, to the sea and then it _ 20 miles that way, to the sea and then it is — 20 miles that way, to the sea and then it is inland, a few small market—

then it is inland, a few small market towns, lots of small villages _ market towns, lots of small villages. one thing in particular, it is the — villages. one thing in particular, it is the oldest constituency in the country _ it is the oldest constituency in the country. the average age of people here is— country. the average age of people here is 54 — country. the average age of people here is 54. that compares to the national— here is 54. that compares to the national average of 40, so health and social— national average of 40, so health and social care, local issues where candidates — and social care, local issues where candidates are fighting on those local issues. i talked about the older— local issues. i talked about the older people here, but at the younger— older people here, but at the younger end of the spectrum, housing is something that really matters to people _ is something that really matters to people. getting on the housing ladder— people. getting on the housing ladder is— people. getting on the housing ladder is not easy. for example, 50.000 — ladder is not easy. for example, 50,000 homes in north norfolk, 6000 of those _ 50,000 homes in north norfolk, 6000 of those are _ 50,000 homes in north norfolk, 6000 of those are second homes or long-term _ of those are second homes or long—term empty. it makes it incredibly— long—term empty. it makes it incredibly difficult to get onto the housing _ incredibly difficult to get onto the housing ladder. a couple of weeks a-o housing ladder. a couple of weeks ago i _ housing ladder. a couple of weeks ago i was — housing ladder. a couple of weeks ago i was talking to cromer's carnival— ago i was talking to cromer's carnival queen, charlotte spengler. despite _ carnival queen, charlotte spengler. despite being miss cromer, despite working _ despite being miss cromer, despite working in— despite being miss cromer, despite working in cromer, she cannot afford to live _ working in cromer, she cannot afford to live in _ working in cromer, she cannot afford to live in chroma and that is because _ to live in chroma and that is because she was telling me, even a

one—bedroom flat in this town, 700 to £800 _ one—bedroom flat in this town, 700 to £800 a _ one—bedroom flat in this town, 700 to £800 a month. this part of the world. _ to £800 a month. this part of the world, wages are not that high so that is— world, wages are not that high so that is expensive, so all the candidates here, they have talked about _ candidates here, they have talked about housing, what can be done to free up— about housing, what can be done to free up housing and what can be done to get— free up housing and what can be done to get more _ free up housing and what can be done to get more affordable and social housing — to get more affordable and social housing. it is those things that peopie — housing. it is those things that people are focused on. paul mosley in cromer in — people are focused on. paul mosley in cromer in norfolk _ people are focused on. paul mosley in cromer in norfolk and _ people are focused on. paul mosley in cromer in norfolk and bob - people are focused on. paul mosley| in cromer in norfolk and bob cooper in cromer in norfolk and bob cooper in cumbria, carlisle, thank you both very much. great to get a flavour of theissues very much. great to get a flavour of the issues that everyone is talking about where you both are. thank you. it was one of the worst cathedral

fires of all times. a lightning strike on york minster started a fire which started a fire among the south transept. we got to the minster about 2:37 in the morning, and the turntable ladder was getting up to the rose window from the outside, but it couldn't get really high enough to apply water from the top. sojohn and his colleagues used a series of ladders to gain access to the inner vault of the roof of the burning building to tackle the blaze from the inside. you must have been acutely aware, when you were up there, of the significance of this fire. yes. at one point we thought we might actually lose this fire, and we had a really petrifying sense of almost personal loss. we felt we can't let it go. and that's one of the reasons why we stayed there and continued to do what we were doing. when it fell away... yes. ..that must have made a hell of a noise.

it did, yes. you could more hear it than see it. you could hear big sections of the vault falling to the south transept floor here. but we're not daft. we wouldn't have put ourselves in danger, and we knew we were having some good effect. and so we wanted to stay there, to keep having an effect. as the building burned, those who lived and worked at york minster salvaged as much as they could. stonemasonjohn david was there. we were taking anything out of the minster which we could carry. small bits of furniture, altar furniture. you'd see a sort of canon struggling with a carpet, which came from the front of an altar or something like that, and you'd just give a hand. sometimes you'd say, "shall we take this? shall we take that? " we were just all helping each other. i think the chief fire officer turned up, and he wasn't comfortable with the fact that we were still in the roof, you know, from a health and safety point of view. anyway, we probably feigned indignation at being withdrawn from the roof in the way that we was, but actually it's probablyjust as well that we were. eventually, i went round to

the west front and just stood outside and saw the roof collapse, which was shocking but appalling, but it evidently saved the rest of the building. both men have now told theirfascinating memories of that night to the team, who've created an exhibition about the fire that starts in the minster this weekend. there's shock, there's horror, there's huge emotion. - there's people that came to see it the next day and just sobbed - because it... it's, you know, it's- such a symbol of york. and there's just a great little note about how the dean's cat, - amidst all the chaos, curled up and had a little sleep on one i of the altar cloths. but there's also this overriding sense of, j we know we can put it back together again, i and a great practicalityl and an immediate, um, response in that way ofjust getting on with the job that is at hand, - which is really impressive to look back on. - that's a very yorkshire

response as well, isn't it? i think that's fair to say. yeah, absolutely. the subsequent renovation took four years and £2.25 million, but it also had a bit of help along the way. we've been asked if blue peter will design six of the new oak bosses that will decorate the vaulting of the south transept roof. more than 30,000 children and young people entered the blue peter competition, and the six lucky winners got to see them being made and installed. i don't like to look. one of those designs is being brought to life yet again, as a badge to commemorate the a0th anniversary of the fire. those that were there on the night, and then carried out the restoration, know they played a key part in the minster�*s history. it's always a privilege because only a few generations of people are able to get up there. and, until someone decides some of the bosses need regilding or painting or something, nobody will ever go up there. so...

and that could be, you know, 150,200 years time. so it's unusual and you never get used to it. you must be proud to have been involved in how much was saved. oh, yeah. i don't suppose the right word. i'm relieved that a lot was saved. there was 137 of us on thatjob. of course it was all 137 of us who put the fire out. alison freeman, bbc news, york. in the run—up to the general election, the bbc is looking at the issues that matter most to you, as part of your voice, your vote. one major theme is the nhs — with many people experiencing long waiting times. east kent hospitals trust is among the lowest rated in the country for a&e waiting times. our presenter rajini vaidyanathan is at the william harvey hospital in ashford, kent now. as you are saying health care is one

of the most important issues for voters in any general election. that remains the case in this election. we have heard from politicians across all parties talking about how they say they will fix some of the challenges and issues in the nhs in england. it is important to note we are looking at nhs england today primarily, because in the other nations, scotland, wales and northern ireland health care is a devolved issue. but it is the westminster government that does fund health care in those nations. it is important to know that. as you said, we are at the william harvey hospital, it is part of the east kent hospital trust. we have picked this area because it reflects some of the challenges across england when it comes to some of the concerns that voters have over waiting times. throughout the course of the day we will look at a range of the day we will look at a range of issues, whether it is access to gps, access to hospital appointments

and that start out looking at accident and emergency admissions. we are at the a&e department, just outside it. i'm here with our health correspondentjim reed, who i'll speak to injust a moment, but first let's go to dr ian higginson, who's the vice president of the royal college of emergency medicine. if you look at the figures for the east kent trust, 23% of patients in may waited 12 hours to get an a&e admission, it is very staggering. it is often described as the canary in the coal mine. you see that every winter when we see the stories about pressures, people waiting in corridors. there is an interesting measure, how long it takes people and they go into a&e and they are sick, they need to be admitted into the main part of the hospital, how long it takes to be admitted. in may, about 5000 or so patients at this hospital, this hospital trust which includes five hospitals, 5000

patients need to be admitted that came through a&e. about a third had to wait more than four hours. a quarter, and that is crucial, had to wait more than 12 hours. so when you see those pictures on television of people having to wait on hospital trolleys and chairs, this is what emergency doctors are concerned about, very sick people have a long wait between a&e and needing extra treatment. jim wait between a&e and needing extra treatment. . . , ., wait between a&e and needing extra treatment. i . ,., ., treatment. jim reflected some of the challenaes treatment. jim reflected some of the challenges here _ treatment. jim reflected some of the challenges here in _ treatment. jim reflected some of the challenges here in the _ treatment. jim reflected some of the challenges here in the local - challenges here in the local newspapers in recent weeks and months. we have seen stories of people who have waited on the emergency room floor here at the william harvey. we have spoken to families who didn't want to come on camera who shared their stories of some of the challenges. on the other hand you have people saying this particular a&e have had a refresh and an upgrade and it is improving. to discuss the wider challenges in more detail i am joined by doctor ian higginson from the royal college

of emergency medicine. welcome to bbc news. how would you characterise the state of a&e across nhs england? we are in big trouble at the moment. we are in big trouble at the moment. we have _ we are in big trouble at the moment. we have been quite disappointed about— we have been quite disappointed about how much has been in the party manifestos— about how much has been in the party manifestos in the run—up to the election— manifestos in the run—up to the election about this. we estimate there _ election about this. we estimate there are — election about this. we estimate there are about 250 deaths associated with long waits in emergency departments every single week in— emergency departments every single week in the uk. that is about an aeroplane — week in the uk. that is about an aeroplane. if an aeroplane was crashing — aeroplane. if an aeroplane was crashing every week in the uk, we would _ crashing every week in the uk, we would be — crashing every week in the uk, we would be hearing about that from politicians. but we haven't been hearing — politicians. but we haven't been hearing enough about this particular problem _ hearing enough about this particular problem during the election and we would _ problem during the election and we would like — problem during the election and we would like to see it higher up on the agenda. would like to see it higher up on the agenda-— would like to see it higher up on the arenda. ., , , ., the agenda. that is staggering when ou the agenda. that is staggering when you characterise _ the agenda. that is staggering when you characterise it _ the agenda. that is staggering when you characterise it like _ the agenda. that is staggering when you characterise it like that. - you characterise it like that. before we come to possible solutions, why do you think it has got to this? it solutions, why do you think it has got to this?— got to this? it has got to this for a number _ got to this? it has got to this for a number of _ got to this? it has got to this for a number of complicated -

got to this? it has got to this for i a number of complicated reasons, got to this? it has got to this for - a number of complicated reasons, but at its foundation is health policy, which _ at its foundation is health policy, which is — at its foundation is health policy, which is made by politicians and those _ which is made by politicians and those who— which is made by politicians and those who support them within whitehall. the leadership of the health— whitehall. the leadership of the health services across the four nations — health services across the four nations of— health services across the four nations of the uk. it has been a failure — nations of the uk. it has been a failure in — nations of the uk. it has been a failure in health policy and a failure — failure in health policy and a failure in _ failure in health policy and a failure in leadership which has led to the _ failure in leadership which has led to the situation and that is what needs— to the situation and that is what needs to — to the situation and that is what needs to be turned around by the next government. find needs to be turned around by the next government.— needs to be turned around by the next government. and how is that auoin to next government. and how is that going to be _ next government. and how is that going to be turned _ next government. and how is that going to be turned around - next government. and how is that going to be turned around by - next government. and how is that - going to be turned around by whoever forms the next government?- going to be turned around by whoever forms the next government? again, it is com - lex forms the next government? again, it is complex but — forms the next government? again, it is complex but it _ forms the next government? again, it is complex but it is _ forms the next government? again, it is complex but it is not _ forms the next government? again, it is complex but it is not rocket - is complex but it is not rocket science — is complex but it is not rocket science it _ is complex but it is not rocket science. it requires a lot of investment and it requires investment and it requires investment in the right things. we think— investment in the right things. we think we _ investment in the right things. we think we need about extra 12,000 staff and — think we need about extra 12,000 staff and hospital beds, we need doctors — staff and hospital beds, we need doctors and nurses and other professionals to make those beds work— professionals to make those beds work efficiently. and then the social— work efficiently. and then the social care system, general practice and other— social care system, general practice and other community—based care it needs— and other community—based care it needs to _ and other community—based care it needs to be — and other community—based care it needs to be beefed up and rescued from the _ needs to be beefed up and rescued from the state it is in. with that combination of things we can get hospitals — combination of things we can get hospitals working again and treat

patients— hospitals working again and treat patients with dignity and high quality— patients with dignity and high quality in our emergency departments.— quality in our emergency deartments. �* . ., , departments. and the challenge is, that cost money. _ departments. and the challenge is, that cost money. might _ departments. and the challenge is, that cost money. might not - that cost money. might not necessarily be easy to find given the state of public finances? that is a false argument, _ the state of public finances? that is a false argument, we are spending probably— is a false argument, we are spending probably billions sorting out the mess— probably billions sorting out the mess we — probably billions sorting out the mess we are creating. it would be much _ mess we are creating. it would be much better spending those billions of pounds _ much better spending those billions of pounds delivering high quality health— of pounds delivering high quality health care. we are spending loads of money— health care. we are spending loads of money up the pieces from the horror— of money up the pieces from the horror stories we see from around the country — horror stories we see from around the country. we are spending loads of money— the country. we are spending loads of money trying to figure out where to send _ of money trying to figure out where to send patients because we cannot send them — to send patients because we cannot send them to the right place. we have _ send them to the right place. we have doctors and ambulance services trying _ have doctors and ambulance services trying to _ have doctors and ambulance services trying to avoid sending ambulances to patients and we have paramedics in hospital— to patients and we have paramedics in hospital car parks looking after patients — in hospital car parks looking after patients who should be in hospital being _ patients who should be in hospital being looked after by doctors and nurses _ being looked after by doctors and nurses. we have ambulances sitting at hospitals for hours and hours

when _ at hospitals for hours and hours when they— at hospitals for hours and hours when they should be on the road. we had patients languishing in very expensive hospital beds it could be treated _ expensive hospital beds it could be treated more efficiently and got appropriately in another environment. we are wasting so much money _ environment. we are wasting so much money it— environment. we are wasting so much money. it isn't about finding the money. — money. it isn't about finding the money. it— money. it isn't about finding the money, it is about how we choose to spend _ money, it is about how we choose to spend the _ money, it is about how we choose to spend the money. gk, money, it is about how we choose to spend the money-— money, it is about how we choose to spend the money. ok, thank you very much doctor— spend the money. ok, thank you very much doctor higginson _ spend the money. ok, thank you very much doctor higginson from - spend the money. ok, thank you very much doctor higginson from the - spend the money. ok, thank you very| much doctor higginson from the royal couege much doctor higginson from the royal college of emergency medicine for setting out how you see the current state of emergency medicine across england. jim reed, briefly bring us through some of the main points from the main parties about what they will do when it comes to the nhs. we have some graphics to illustrate that. ., , ., , ., , that. the main parties are promising to return these _ that. the main parties are promising to return these missed _ that. the main parties are promising to return these missed waiting - that. the main parties are promising to return these missed waiting list i to return these missed waiting list we were talking about, the missed targets in a&e back to the numbers they should be by the end of the parliament. in terms of the conservatives they have promised 92,000 new nurses, 28,000 new doctors by the end of the

parliament, 50 new diagnostic community centres and labour have said they will bring in 2 million next appointment a year, partly by increasing work at weekends and at weekends. they have talks about using spare capacity in the private sector. the liberal democrats, their pushis sector. the liberal democrats, their push is on social care, for social care paid for by taxation to alleviate some of the problems and pressures you have been talking about in a&e. find pressures you have been talking about in a&e._ pressures you have been talking about in a&e. �* ., ., , about in a&e. and reform as well? both are promising _ about in a&e. and reform as well? both are promising quite _ about in a&e. and reform as well? both are promising quite large - both are promising quite large increases in budget by the greens and reform. reform are talking about eliminating waiting lists in two years, and the greens are saying £28 billion spending extra per year on health care by the end of the parliament. health care by the end of the parliament-— health care by the end of the arliament. ., , , ., ., ., ., parliament. that gives you a flavour and it was a — parliament. that gives you a flavour and it was a pretty _ parliament. that gives you a flavour and it was a pretty stark _ parliament. that gives you a flavour| and it was a pretty stark assessment we heard from the doctor about how he sees the state of a&e across nhs england. a reminder that we are in ashford, the details of the

candidates standing in this constituency are available online. it is a seat held by the conservatives at the moment and labour is hoping they can take it this time. it is quite a big majority but we have been people campaigning. so far, the voters we have spoken to have said they are going to vote for all of the parties, so it doesn't seem conclusive in a very unorthodox straw poll of voters. we'll be looking at some of the other issues that impact the nhs and the selection. a key issue, polling tells us from the public. we will be seeing you throughout the day. let's look at some other parts of the country. we are getting out and about in the news channel. i am joined by two of our reporters in different parts of the country. sarah sanderson — who is east yorkshire & lincolnshire political reporter joins us from hull.

and from horsham, lucinda adam — sussex political reporter. sarah, what are the key issues in your patch?— sarah, what are the key issues in your patch? good morning, a very blustery humber _ your patch? good morning, a very blustery humber region. - your patch? good morning, a very blustery humber region. as - your patch? good morning, a very blustery humber region. as you i your patch? good morning, a very i blustery humber region. as you are talking about earlier, some of the national issues are very important to people here. there are ten constituency here in the humber region but we will focus on great grimsby and cleethorpes. that is just over the estuary. the reason is, some of the bigger issues like the nhs, the economy and immigration, people really care about those things over there and locally, things likejobs, coping with the cost of living. and also water pollution. the cleethorpes resort, it is a popular tourist resort, it is a popular tourist resort and it recently lost its blue flag status. but another thing people care about is levelling up. that area, north east lincolnshire recently received significant amounts of levelling up funding, but

people tell me they don't really see the benefits of it on their own doorstep. it is interesting, because the big jobs in the area, some of the big jobs in the area, some of the big jobs in the area, some of the big employers and the seafood sector, the renewables industry is also growing. but many young people tend to move away from that area to seek employment elsewhere. recently, the local council, north east lincolnshire council, launched a scheme called find your space. they are trying to highlight the benefits of living in north—east lincolnshire, such as cheaper housing and living in the lincolnshire world. they trying to encourage businesses and local entrepreneurs to relocate to the area so more people will have a chance of finding jobs. but it will be interesting to see where people choose to place their vote in the election and to see where the political tide will turn next week. 0k, political tide will turn next week. ok, sarah sanderson, thank you. let me bring in lucinda adam. you have had a lot of big political names in

your area canvassing? taste had a lot of big political names in your area canvassing? we certainly have. the your area canvassing? we certainly have- the story _ your area canvassing? we certainly have. the story of— your area canvassing? we certainly have. the story of the _ your area canvassing? we certainly have. the story of the election - your area canvassing? we certainly have. the story of the election in i have. the story of the election in sussex— have. the story of the election in sussex has— have. the story of the election in sussex has been the conservatives on the defensive. this is traditionally a very— the defensive. this is traditionally a very true — the defensive. this is traditionally a very true blue area but not at the selection — a very true blue area but not at the selection. the conservatives are defending — selection. the conservatives are defending 16 seats. as he went into the selection we were talking about the selection we were talking about the possibly losing eight, four of them _ the possibly losing eight, four of them to— the possibly losing eight, four of them to labourand the possibly losing eight, four of them to labour and another four to them to labour and another four to the lib— them to labour and another four to the lib dems. as the election has gone _ the lib dems. as the election has gone on. — the lib dems. as the election has gone on, majorities of 23, 20 6000 no longer— gone on, majorities of 23, 20 6000 no longer looking safe. this is a seat _ no longer looking safe. this is a seat held — no longer looking safe. this is a seat held by the conservatives for well over— seat held by the conservatives for well over 100 years and this seat in horsham _ well over 100 years and this seat in horsham has been held by the conservative since 1880 and we have had a _ conservative since 1880 and we have had a lot _ conservative since 1880 and we have had a lot of— conservative since 1880 and we have had a lot of conservative visits. we have _ had a lot of conservative visits. we have had _ had a lot of conservative visits. we have had the prime minister in horsham — have had the prime minister in horsham twice within ten weeks, looking _ horsham twice within ten weeks, looking around the town centre with the marketplace you can see behind me. the marketplace you can see behind me visits— the marketplace you can see behind me. visits to the local pub and he went— me. visits to the local pub and he went door— me. visits to the local pub and he went door knocking in crawley and

the garden — went door knocking in crawley and the garden centre. we have had the home _ the garden centre. we have had the home secretary knocking on doors as well and _ home secretary knocking on doors as well and the prime minister's wife visiting _ well and the prime minister's wife visiting a — well and the prime minister's wife visiting a local primary school. the conservatives are trying to show their— conservatives are trying to show their commitment to this area. we have _ their commitment to this area. we have seen— their commitment to this area. we have seen keir starmer coming to sussex— have seen keir starmer coming to sussex to — have seen keir starmer coming to sussex to launched his main manifesto speech and we have seen ed davey— manifesto speech and we have seen ed davey make _ manifesto speech and we have seen ed davey make numerous visits. this is a real— davey make numerous visits. this is a real key— davey make numerous visits. this is a real key battleground in the selection. some of the main issues coming _ selection. some of the main issues coming up — selection. some of the main issues coming up its housing. we are in the south-east— coming up its housing. we are in the south—east of england and housing is unaffordable to buy and to rent for many _ unaffordable to buy and to rent for many people but the key issue people are talking _ many people but the key issue people are talking about here. gk, many people but the key issue people are talking about here.— are talking about here. ok, lucinda adam in sussex _ are talking about here. ok, lucinda adam in sussex and _ are talking about here. ok, lucinda adam in sussex and sarah - are talking about here. ok, lucinda i adam in sussex and sarah sanderson in hull, thank you so much. you can watch nonstop coverage of the election campaign across the bbc. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. we are into this cooler and fresher

air now but it should be an improving story really through the rest of the day as these brisk westerly winds do tend to ease down and the number of showers reduces as well. we've actually had some longer spells of rain across northern parts of scotland close to the area of low pressure, and the strongest westerly winds have been in scotland as well. but even here it does become less windy through the afternoon, the more persistent rain heading up to the northern isles. still some showers in scotland, a few continuing in northern ireland for a while and the far north of england, but the showers further south will die away and it should still be dry through the midlands, towards the south—east, where we'll see the highest temperatures of up to 22 degrees. but if you are in scotland it will feel quite chilly out there, temperatures in many places are 1a or 15 degrees. heading into the evening and those remaining showers do fade away. overnight we see some cloud coming in from the atlantic particularly pushing towards wales and northern england, bringing a few spots of rain towards the north—west of wales as well. with the clearer skies further north, mind you, temperatures could be as low as three or a degrees in some rural areas. this weekend should see quite a bit of cloud around, some sunshine from time to time

and for the most part i think it will be dry. the fly in the ointment is this weak whether system here, that's been bringing the cloud in overnight and continues to bring some cloud into wales, parts of northern england, maybe the midlands and the far south—west of england. just a few spots of rain here and there. but to the north, we've got some sunshine away from those showers in the far north of scotland and towards the south—east, this is where we will see some sunshine. it could be a little bit hazy at times, mind you. temperatures could reach a healthy 25 degrees. elsewhere, those temperatures not changing a great deal from friday. that weak weather system then just fades away, slips south—eastward out of the way and then we get a north—westerly breeze coming in for the second half of the weekend. that cloud clears the south—east, that north—westerly breeze brings down a lot of cloud. should be generally dry, mind you, and the best of the sunshine is probably the south coast of england and south wales. but if anything those temperatures are going to be a little bit lower on sunday. and really after sunday

we are looking rather unsettled, rather changeable. weather fronts coming in from the atlantic, bit of rain from time to time and some sunshine now and again as well. goodbye. live from london. this is bbc news. joe biden struggles in the first us election tv debate with his rival donald trump. the covid... dealing with everything we have to do with... look... .if... ..we finally beat medicare... sir keir starmer faces questions on nicky campbell's bbc phone in — promising to help put the uk 'back on its feet�*. and start straightaway on the change that we need, which means that you and your children and you children's children will feel better off that we are heading in the right direction. nigel farage condemns reform party campaigners — after they were recorded making

racist and homophobic comments. the snp launches its campaign bus — john swinney says it will carry the message that only his party can stand up for scotland at westminster. hello, i'm geeta guru—murthy. joe biden has delivered a faltering performance in the first us presidential debate. at times, he appeared to struggle with his words and on at least one occasion, he seemed to lose his train of thought. democrats had hoped the debate would allow mr biden to reassure voters concerned about his age. but the president's performance is said to have caused panic among senior members of the democratic party. for his part, donald trump made a series of unverified claims about his record in office. our north america correspondent, gary o'donoghue, was watching. trump, trump, trump... for the first time in debate history, a former president arriving

to debate a current president. cheering. that current president aiming to be the oldest incumbent of the white house in us history. joe biden. four years ago, when these two men met, it ended up in a slanging match. donald trump. but even new rules didn't stop the insults from flying. the only reason i'm here is he's so bad as a president that i'm going to make america great again. my son was not a loser. he was not a sucker. you're the sucker. you're the loser. both men accused the other of trashing the economy, clashing over tax cuts and inflation. he's the only president other than herbert hoover who's lost morejobs than he had when he began. since herbert hoover. the onlyjobs he created are for illegal immigrants and bounce back jobs. the bounce back from the covid. at times, joe biden sounded hoarse and difficult to understand. his aides said he had a cold, but there have been persistent concerns about his concentration and stamina, and this did not dispel those worries.

excuse me with, um, dealing with everything we have to do with, uh... look, if... we finally beat medicare. thank you, president biden. abortion and immigration were hotly contested, with donald trump delivering perhaps his strongest line of the night. we are living right now in a rat's nest. they're killing our people in new york, in california, in every state in the union, because we don't have borders anymore. every state is now a border. when both men were asked about their age — joe biden is 81, donald trump 78 — they ended up in a bizarre argument about golf. i told you before, i'm happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. think you can do it? that's the biggest lie, that he's a six handicap of all. i was an eight handicap. yeah, eight. but you know how many i've... seen your swing. i know your swing. there was little in this debate to

change the minds of the committed. both men made well—worn attacks on one another. both men hurled well—worn insults at one another. what will really count is how this lands, with the small number of undecided voters in those key swing states that will decide november's election. let's get more reaction now... our chief presenter in washington, catriona perry watched the debate, in the spin room in atlanta — and shortly after it finished, she spoke to quentin fulks, the principal deputy manager for the biden—harris campaign... the talking point, we can't hide it, wasjoe biden's performance there, losing his train of thought at times, donald trump accusing him of not being able to understand what he was saying. what's your view of how he performed? look, i think that the president laid out his vision for america. i think that this was substance over style. i think that anybody at home seeing that saw that every time there was a talk of substance, donald trump shied away from it. he offered no substance on any of the issues. he refused to answer if he would

support a national abortion ban. he refused to answer several times if he supports insurrectionists who stormed the capitol. he refused to answer several times if he would support the results of the election regardless of how it turns out. that's who donald trump is and that's what we saw tonight on the debate stage. the president's voice was a little raspy. was there any particular reason for that? the president was fighting through a cold. i think it took a little while for his voice to warm up, but i think that the president got into it and i think that he fought through the cold and made sure that he was delivering on the substance of the issues to the american people. why was that not revealed before the debate? that news kind of only came out through the debate and now afterwards. look, i think, at the end of the day, the president... there's no excuses here. the president wanted to come on stage, wanted to debate donald trump. there will be a second debate where the two face off. there's no reason for us to acknowledge that up front. the president went on stage and did what he needed to do to draw the vision and again, this was substance for us and we see that donald trump has no substance for the american people. we're hearing tonight that there is some conversation within the democratic party about the concept of an open

convention of perhaps the need to replacejoe biden at the top of the ticket. what do you say to that? that we're not going to dignify with a response. president biden will be the democratic nominee as we head towards november, and president biden is going to win this election. our campaign is going to continue to draw the vision that you saw president biden present to the american people tonight and make sure that, as folks tune in to this election, as they were to this debate tonight, that they see the stark difference between president biden's vision for america and donald trump. he is obsessed with himself. we saw that again tonight. he cannot help except for talk about himself and what he wants out of this election and it's all for him. it's not about the american people, which is why he has no substance to offer. speaking about the american people, did joe biden do enough to help himself, help his campaign? we see, in so much as we can trust what we see in the polls, he's not doing so well. look, absolutely, ithink that the president, again, laid out his vision. i think the president talked to the american people, showing that he understands that there are people still struggling, that we have more work to do to continue to drive down costs and inflation, continue to create more jobs, but on the flip side, pointing out that donald trump

has absolutely no idea what he is talking about on a number of issues, both foreign and domestic. i think that the president made that case eloquently tonight. very briefly, was the president happy with his own performance? i have not spoken to the president yet, but i assume that the president is happy with his performance. i think that the president knew that he had to come out here and lay a vision and make sure that he was drawing the contrast with trump and that's what we saw him do tonight. well, here i spoke to the director of the centre on us politics at ucl, thomas gift. he told us about some of the criticism being levelled atjoe biden from the democratic party. typically, criticism like this would come from the other side, from the republicans. but what you are hearing here is democrats giving an assessment ofjoe biden's performance at best, disappointing, at worst totally cataclysmic. i think the reality is somewhere in between. i do feel like there is a

tendency to kind of, in the moment, be too pessimistic about what all of this means. the one thing to keep in mind is that both donald trump and, to an extent, joe biden, are such polarising figures that i am not sure if a debate can really change the dynamics of the race completely. but at the same time, the evaluations have just been so negative and the calls forjoe biden to be replaced have grown so loud that it to be replaced have grown so loud thatitis to be replaced have grown so loud that it is going to be difficult for the democratic party to ignore. it isjust a few the democratic party to ignore. it is just a few months before the the democratic party to ignore. it isjust a few months before the us is just a few months before the us votes, butjust ahead of the conventions because this debate was held unusually early. what process would there be and how many potential candidates could there be? because, if there is an all out complete run for a fresh candidate, that would be very difficult and divisive, presumably. absolutely. it is too late for— divisive, presumably. absolutely. it is too late for any _ divisive, presumably. absolutely. it is too late for any candidates - divisive, presumably. absolutely. it is too late for any candidates to - is too late for any candidates to actually get their name on the ballot, so as you suggested, it

would all have to come down to the convention. and unless the democratic party change the rules, delegates pledged to biden would enter that convention uncommitted and they would lobby and ultimately vote on a replacement. the real challenge is that there is no obvious heir apparent, you might think, harris, vice president, would be at the top of the list. at her approval numbers are even lower than joe biden's. there are some other names, like gavin newsom the california governor and michigan governor, who we have heard a lot about. but they really have not been vetted on a national stage. so it may be the case that the democrats are better off with the devil then they know rather than the devil that they know rather than the devil that they don't know, simply because it could create a lot of chaos, a lot of disorder. in the last thing the democratic party needs going into such a high—stakes election is to seem disunited.

such a high-stakes election is to seem disunited.— such a high-stakes election is to seem disunited. there was polling, wasn't there. _ seem disunited. there was polling, wasn't there, in _ seem disunited. there was polling, wasn't there, in recent _ seem disunited. there was polling, wasn't there, in recent months - seem disunited. there was polling, i wasn't there, in recent months about other names in a democratic party and how strong they would be against donald trump. i don't know whether there has been any recent polling on that. i there has been any recent polling on that. . �* . there has been any recent polling on that. ., �* , ., ., there has been any recent polling on that. ., �* , . . that. i haven't seen too much recent ollin: , that. i haven't seen too much recent polling. the — that. i haven't seen too much recent polling. the one _ that. i haven't seen too much recent polling, the one thing _ that. i haven't seen too much recent polling, the one thing that _ that. i haven't seen too much recent polling, the one thing that joe - polling, the one thing thatjoe biden can say that nobody else can say is that he has beaten donald trump before. if you look at the polls right now, it is about 50—50 in the swing states, donald trump seems to have a bit of an edge. if a new candidate did parachute in, it is still very difficult to know how voters would respond to that. because, once they get to know someone, maybe they like him or her even more, maybe they like him or her even less. we saw in the republican primaries there was so much hoopla around florida governor, ron desantis, with many republicans thinking he was that saviour that was going to come in and to be donald trump. what will was the

reality kind of fell flat, in the national polling. donald trump more or less sort of flattened him. and so, it is very difficult to know, i think that all of that uncertainty is why democrats might ultimately say that stilljoe biden is the best candidate that they can go with. our colleagues at americast have recorded a special episode about the first presidential debate. you can download americast, and get reaction and analysis from sarah smith, antony zurcher, justin webb and others — available now on bbc sounds. lam iamjust bringing i am just bringing you some breaking news that we have heard on the princess royal, contest and, she has a left south made hospital in bristol because she was being treated, of course, for a minor head injuries and concussion. we are told she is now at her home in gloucestershire. princess anne has left the hospital in bristol after

suffering some injuries on sunday evening, she was out walking on her estate, horses were nearby we were told. it was understood that she had been out and was taken to hospital in bristol. we have seen her husband visiting her this week and we are now told that she has left hospital in bristol and is back home. to continue her recovery. now, more on the uk political situation. we will be keeping you updated on that us presidential debate later. but first, with less than a week to go before polling today, let's check in on the main news from the election. campaigners from reform uk have been filmed making racist and homophobic comments. party leader nigel farage has called it appalling and says it doesn't reflect his own views. it's the been the labour leader sir keir starmer�*s turn to be interviewed by nicky campbell this morning. he took questions from

the phone—in audience — and promised to 'put the country back on its feet.�* the conservatives will be campaigning on education — they're pushing a raft of education pledges, including the expansion of free childcare and a school mobile phones ban. the liberal democrats will be talking about access to dentistry — and leader ed davey will be interviewed by the bbc�*s nick robinson — we'll bring you that this evening here on bbc news. first — those racist and homophobic remarks made by campaigners for reform uk. in one of them — a volunteer, andrew parker — suggests that migrants crossing the channel should be used as target practice. the footage was recorded by channel a news in clacton, where party leader nigel farage is standing. take a listen... mr parker has since issued a statement, saying the views are his own, and not representative of reform uk. party leader nigel farage has distanced himself from the comments.

our political correspondent told me more about this report and the reaction to it. in this channel four report, as you're hearing there, there is some quite extreme racist and homophobic language. now, of course, this is a situation that nigel farage does not want to find himself in. he's a politician who likes to be on the attack. he likes to be attacking other parties, not defending his own record, his own party, anything like that. so it's not a place he wants to be, not a place any politician wants to be, but particularly not one like nigel farage. now, reform uk have said that, because the election was called very quickly, it took everyone by surprise, that they didn't really have the time that they needed to do proper vetting of candidates as well, presumably of local workers, as well. many of them are volunteers. quite hard to check all of those people. it was an issue, this kind of problem was something that came

up with reform uk's predecessor, ukip, back in the day. even then, it didn't really seem to give a big knock to ukip in the polls when this sort of thing happened and i dare say that they will hope that it won't have too much of an effect. however, it does come on the back of nigel farage's own comments about ukraine, about the fact that the eu and nato may have provoked president putin and that may also have given some voters perhaps cause to think twice. polls, we always have to say opinion polls, you have got to be very careful about giving them too much credence, but it does seem that perhaps reform uk has stalled a little bit in that sort of rise that we've seen over the last few weeks. and this is a full list of candidates standing in the clacton constituency. labour's leader sir keir starmer has

been facing questions from my colleague nicky campbell here on bbc news. he was keen to talk about what he says is the highest tax rate in the uk for seven decades — and promised, if elected, to 'put the country back on its feet�*. here�*s a little of what he said... we�*ve had a flatlining economy for 1a years. if all we do is... we�*ve now got the highest tax rates for 70 years and there�*s a reason for that, that slow growth. so that�*s the elephant in the room, that is the challenge. we could ignore it and simply say, let�*s tax an ever reducing cake... 2% on those with more than1 billion? the point is the economy is not growing. unless and until we get economy growing... would that stop the economy growing, taxing those people? we�*ve already got the highest tax rates for 70 years. you could lift the two child benefit cap if you tax those people? we need to get the economy growing. if the economy in the last 1a years under this government had grown at the same rate as it did under the last labour government,

we�*d have tens of billions of pounds to spend on our public services, we would be able to be elected into serve the country, we can start straightaway on the change that we need. which means that you and your children and your children�*s children will feel better off, that we are heading in the right direction. just as i did with the labour party, sort of pick it back up, put it on its feet and make it fit for the future. we need to do the same our country. sir keir starmer taking questions earlier this morning. let�*s go to the labour campaign bus and our correspondent damien grammaticas. ijust i just wanted to ijust wanted to pick up something that keir starmer was asked about on pensions and tax, could you clarify what was said and what has been said since? . ,., ., what was said and what has been said since? , ,., ., ., . ., ., since? yes. good morning. we are on the campaign — since? yes. good morning. we are on the campaign trail— since? yes. good morning. we are on the campaign trail with _ since? yes. good morning. we are on the campaign trail with labour - since? yes. good morning. we are on the campaign trail with labour in - the campaign trail with labour in south london today, got a bit of a

nondescript bridge, they are waiting for itjonathan ashworth who is on his way here. he is one of the labour team, his way here. he is one of the labourteam, he his way here. he is one of the labour team, he is going to be having an event. we cannot quite show you what is going to happen until he gets here. in that phone in session that he was doing today, keir starmer was asked by one colour about pensioners, and at the minute you are able to withdraw up to it is just over a quarter of £1 million, £268,000, tax free from your pension. the question put to him was was that going to continue. sir keir starmer said that is going to expire, in a few years, we are not going to continue it. with labourer have come back to do is qualify that, to say, he was not talking about exactly that issue. that withdrawal that you could do tax free, that is going to continue, there are no plans to change that. that has been in place for quite some time and will not change. he was talking about other tax

exemptions that do exist that will expire, and as he has always said, labour say he will not commit to anything that cannot be funded in the future. so, i guess, a clarification from labourjust the future. so, i guess, a clarification from labour just to sort of, anyone who might have heard that and had any concerns. ok. that and had any concerns. ok, obviously _ that and had any concerns. ok, obviously all — that and had any concerns. ok, obviously all of _ that and had any concerns. ok, obviously all of the _ that and had any concerns. 0k, obviously all of the leaders are taking multiple questions out on the campaign trail every day week in week out at the moment. there answering some policy questions. that is an interesting clarification from the labour party. i want to ask you on another question, that had proved somewhat awkward for the labour leader. he had made reference to bangladesh in an earlier debate when he was asked about the question of deporting illegal migrants. and what did keir starmer have to say on that today? what did keir starmer have to say on that toda ? . what did keir starmer have to say on that toda ? , ,., , .,, what did keir starmer have to say on thattoda ? , , , ,, that today? yes, so this has bubbled alont for a that today? yes, so this has bubbled along for a couple _ that today? yes, so this has bubbled along for a couple of— that today? yes, so this has bubbled along for a couple of days _ that today? yes, so this has bubbled along for a couple of days now, - that today? yes, so this has bubbled along for a couple of days now, it i along for a couple of days now, it was earlier in the week on the sun tv interview that he did. he was

asked there about illegal immigrants and irregular immigrants and deportations. he particularly referenced one country, bangladesh, and in it he said at the moment people coming from countries like bangladesh are not being removed. now, that has caused quite a bit of a stir. labour has quite a lot of voters who come from bangladesh origin communities in the uk. and even some of its elected representatives. and they have been concerned, and hearing from their community who are concerned. keir starmer was with him yesterday when he was questioned about this on the campaign trail, and he has been questioned again today on air. and what he has been saying is that he did not mean to cause any upset or any offence there, what he was referring to, he said, was that bangladesh is one country that the uk has an agreement with, i returned to the agreement it is called, where people who come here who do not have the right to remain in the uk

legally, can be returned, deported back to bangladesh. it is considered a safe country. and his point, he says he was making, is that under current conservative policy where claims of quite a lot of people are not being processed, people are not being returned to bangladesh if it is the case that they could be. and thatis is the case that they could be. and that is something that he thinks could and should change. he said he wanted to point out that he values the contributions of the bangladeshi community to the uk, he has visited bangladesh and his first visit as an mp when he was elected and he did not want to cause any sort of trouble or any offence there. but he thinks that is a sign of a strong relationship between the uk and bangladesh that that agreement exists. �* . bangladesh that that agreement exists. �* , ., , ~ ., bangladesh that that agreement exists. . . , ~' ., exists. and 'ust finally, i know you will tell us — exists. and just finally, i know you will tell us more _ exists. and just finally, i know you will tell us more today _ exists. and just finally, i know you will tell us more today about - exists. and just finally, i know you will tell us more today about what| will tell us more today about what the labour team are doing, but we are moving obviously into the final week before people actually vote,

and all the parties will start to fix on getting people out to vote, one thing? fix on getting people out to vote, one thin ? . , fix on getting people out to vote, one thin ? . i fix on getting people out to vote, one thing?— one thing? yes, they will. i can tive ou one thing? yes, they will. i can give you a _ one thing? yes, they will. i can give you a bit — one thing? yes, they will. i can give you a bit of— one thing? yes, they will. i can give you a bit of a preview. - one thing? yes, they will. i can - give you a bit of a preview. labour, today, we know, it is already out there, it�*s talking about rises in your mortgage payments. this is something they have mentioned before, they are pointing to bank of england, data and, i mean, there is nothing sort of particularly new in this. but the data shows that there are several million people who are still to update their mortgages, remortgage, get onto a new day and their old one will be expiring. the problem for these people is that they have been on an old since before mortgages, before mortgage rates and interest rates have shot up. so those people will be facing an increase. labour want to talk about that. but yes, you are right, one big thing labour do want to focus on now is this question of

complacency. they do not want either labour mps, activists or boaters to be complacent. with the big pole lead, that there is a labour victory in the bag. keir starmer was saying yesterday, people have to keep campaigning right until the end of polling on thursday next week. for now, thank you very much. let�*s turn to the conservatives now. their campaign is focusing on education — with a claim that a labour government would mean fewer nursery places, and bigger class sizes in many schools. our correspondent helen catt is travelling with the conservative campaign. the message today from the conservatives is on education, so we are off to teesside to visit a school and a college. rishi sunak will be stressing some of the conservatives�* education plans, so the policies that we know they�*ve outlined in their manifesto include banning mobile phones during the school day, rolling out 30 hours of free childcare a week to everyone with children over nine—months—old, and other things like working with schools and local authorities

to improve school attendance. so they will be pushing those policies. they are also, at the same time, continuing on that tax theme that you heard from susan there, which is one of the messages that they are very keen to keep on pushing home right up until polling day, will be focusing on attacking labour�*s plans to put vat on independent school fees. again, suggesting that that is going to increase class sizes. labour says it will not. bridget phillipson, the shadow education secretary, has called that desperate nonsense. but both parties are pointing to analysis that was done by the institute for fiscal studies about how many children might leave the private sector as a result and move into the state sector. the ifs put that figure at between 17,000 and a0,000. the conservatives are arguing that will push up class sizes in the state sector. labour are pointing to the same ifs analysis and saying, well, actually, the ifs don�*t think that will be the case because they say that the number of children on school

rolls is falling over time. the other thing about this that the conservatives are keen to pick up on today is an interview with bridget phillipson that she did with the sun�*s never mind the ballots programme, where she was pushed on whether vat would be put on nursery fees where private schools run nurseries. she said that was not labour�*s plan, but she didn�*t quite rule it out. the conservatives have sort of seized on that to say, well, look, that could be something that labour does down the line. again, in terms of pushing that tax messaging, they�*ve decided to name that the �*toddler tax�*. so that�*s what we�*ll get i think a bit more of today. helen, in terms of the whole education question, there�*s also been a lot of comment publicly on the state of higher education and universities. are the conservatives saying anything on that today? completely lost you there. can you repeat the question? sorry, helen, i wasjust saying that the question of university funding obviously has has come up under this government.

have they said anything on that today or are we likely to hearfrom them on that? well, i think the focus that we�*ve seen in terms of universities from the conservatives has been about the quality of degrees, or as they see it the quality of degrees, so we know we�*ve got a pledge from them to close what they call "rip off university courses", "mickey mouse degrees". they would use that money to create 100,000 new apprenticeships every year by the end of the parliament instead. that is what they�*ve been talking about largely in relation to university policy. oh, i should just say i�*ve just got a message from labour, who�*ve messaged me to say we will not be applying vat on nurseries, ao i think that that line might die quite quickly today. just let me bring you the latest news from the snp campaign bus. they

have taken to road for the first time. party leader, and scottish first minister, john swinney, stepped off the vehicle for a campaign event in edinburgh. he says it will carry the snp�*s message to all parts of the country — and that his key message is that only the snp can be trusted to stand up for scotland in westminster. our correspondent catriona renton gave us this update from outside the bus. you join us on the very wilton hill here in central edinburgh, where the snp havejust launched here in central edinburgh, where the snp have just launched their brand—new campaign bus which they are going to crisscross the country in over the last six days of the campaign, taking their message out to voters. we spoke to the first minister a few minutes ago. the voters in minister a few minutes ago. tue: voters in scotland are concerned about austerity, brexit, and the cost of living and all the damage thatis cost of living and all the damage that is doing to their lives in scotland. our answer to that is to make sure decisions are made in scotland for scotland. we know that

the labour party are winning this election in england, and scotland, however, there is a real contest. people in scotland, if you want to make sure that there are strong voices to protect us against austerity and to ensure that we can make progress on scotland�*s constitution, people have to vote for the snp. tats constitution, people have to vote for the snp-— constitution, people have to vote for the snp. ~ , ., i ., for the snp. as you heard they are, his message _ for the snp. as you heard they are, his message to _ for the snp. as you heard they are, his message to voters _ for the snp. as you heard they are, his message to voters is _ for the snp. as you heard they are, his message to voters is that - for the snp. as you heard they are, his message to voters is that they i his message to voters is that they want people to vote for the snp. they believe the labour party will win the general election so they believe that the snp is the party to make a difference in scotland. independence, of course, it�*s front and centre of the snp�*s campaign. they state that an independent scotland would have the powers to tackle austerity, the cost—of—living and the effects of brexit, which they say have been damaging. there is another issue come to light here in scotland, about postal votes. our schools have just broken up for the schools have just broken up for the school holidays and many people try to get away before the english

schools break up, so that they can get cheaper deals. the consequence of that is that many people will be away on holiday on the ath ofjuly, and if they have not received their post about before they go, they are going to not have the opportunity to vote and there are calls for a reform of that system in light of what has happened here in future elections. and the buzz is going to make its way down towards the borders. —— the bus is going to make its way. ijust borders. —— the bus is going to make its way. i just want to bring borders. —— the bus is going to make its way. ijust want to bring you some news now that we have had on hsbc and nationwide banking, they have both been hit by banking glitches. customers have had their banking services affected, if you have an account with hsbc or at nationwide, that is what has happened. hsbc says it is aware that customers were having issues. nationwide have said on x, formerly twitter, that some customers had not received salary payments and burgeon

money has reported to similar problems earlier today but said that they have since been resolved. we are waiting for further comment from hsbc and nationwide, butjust to update you, if you have got an account with hsbc, nationwide or possibly virgin money it is worth of checking your details and your salary payments. we will bring you more on that as we continue. government figures suggest that nearly one in four people in the uk is living with a disability. that�*s put the policies being offered by the different parties on issues such as benefits and mental health under close scrutiny as the election campaign nears its end. to put it all into context, the team at access all, the bbc�*s disability and mental health podcast, has spoken to all seven of the main political parties to find out exactly what they�*re offering. here to tell us about it is presenter emma tracey.

emma, what have i told you? nearly a quarter of the population identify as disabled. when we asked our audience they said they didn�*t feel seen or heard by politicians, but also that they didn�*t feel represented in politics, so it was really good to get sex out of the seven parties represented on the podcast and asked them all how many disabled candidates that they have standing for election. i put the question to the conservative party, the minister for disabled people, health and work. you know, i genuinely don't know and it's because some people declared their disability at the start and some people prefer not to share it, so i know it is being monitored, but it's not something that i am party to. i also put the question to deputy

leader of the labour party, angela rayner. well, we know 14% of our candidates have self—identified as disabled, but we don't make people out themselves in terms of that, so we may have more, but at the moment we know from our tracking that we have at least 14% of our candidates have identified as disabled. so, quitea so, quite a contrast there in the answers to that question. we did ask all of the parties that question and what was also really interesting to me as the person speaking to them was how keen each party representative was to talk about their connection with disability. mames davies talked about her father was an accident at work that meant he was disabled. angela davis talked a lot about her mum, who has bipolar, and are physically disabled son. ed davey, you talked a lot about his disabled son, john. he also talked about caring for his mum

throughout his life. max lewis from the green party is disabled due to ms. lives —— lists savo roberts from will stuart as hearing aids and marion fellows from the snp is a very passionate ally, and i came across. we do know about reform uk because they were unable to field anybody for interview, but very interesting that they were connecting their answers to my questions to their own situations. out of the many issues that came up, is it possible to identify the key ones that might affect how people will decide to vote?— ones that might affect how people will decide to vote? yes, very high in people's — will decide to vote? yes, very high in people's mines, _ will decide to vote? yes, very high in people's mines, disabled - will decide to vote? yes, very high i in people's mines, disabled people's in people�*s mines, disabled people�*s mines, priorto in people�*s mines, disabled people�*s mines, prior to the election being called was benefits because there was a lot of news about personal

independence payments, also the work capability assessment and out of work benefits and carers alliance were in the news. as you can imagine, with all the different parties, there was a massive range of responses to my questions and to the question from our listeners. we included our listeners a lot in the conversations. a big range of answers and you will have to listen to the access all podcast to get the full details on that. you also talked about education, mental health, housing. every issue is a disability issue. we got a lot of messages, a lot of questions when we put a call out to find out what people wanted me to ask the party representatives about.— people wanted me to ask the party representatives about. emma tracy, many thanks. _ representatives about. emma tracy, many thanks. good _ representatives about. emma tracy, many thanks, good to _ representatives about. emma tracy, many thanks, good to speak- representatives about. emma tracy, many thanks, good to speak to - representatives about. emma tracy,

many thanks, good to speak to you. | and to hear more about what each of the political parties are offering disabled voters you can go to bbc sounds and search for access all. by this time next week, we are likely to know who�*s won the general election, but until every vote is cast the politicians won�*t stop campaigning. here on bbc news we�*ve spent each day scrutinising the campaign promises and how they could affect the whole country. but we�*re also taking time to report on the particular issues in different parts of the uk and look at how they could affect the outcome. reporter in morecambe, and bethan nimmo, oxfordshire political rteporter in didcot. lam in i am in morecambe, always sunny in walkman, the naples of the north.

famous for this man, eric morecambe. because of the recent boundary changes here this constituency stretches into parts of cumbria, so you can behind me the lakeland files. this constituency now takes on smaller, rural towns like kirby lonsdale, villages like kent, a big private school in celebre which is because labour some problems are not part of the constituency. in north lancashire, south cumbria, places that bordered the lake district and the dales, the green party and the lib dems have traditionally done quite well in local elections, so it has turned it into a real campaign here. reform uk have also been targeting the state. it is a standard bellwether seat for the past a0 or 50 years, following the national picture. morecambe is a traditional seaside town, fantastic tourist destination. what a lot of people are talking about is the

proposed eden project. behind me there you can see the iconic midland hotel. just where the ferris wheel is, that is the old super swimming stadium. foryears it is, that is the old super swimming stadium. for years it hosted the miss great britain. it is not the site of the proposed eden project, which is due to be half funded, £50 million out of the 100 million point total cost, by levelling up money. there are some questions here in morecambe as to what would happen if there was a change of government. levelling up is usually associated with the conservative party, rishi sunak came here to make that big announcement that the government was going to support to the tune of £50 million. at the moment we are surrounded by all the history here in morecambe, but ahead of the election, people�*s 90 tiara in the future.

election, people's 90 tiara in the future. �* ., ., ., , ., , future. bethan, what are the seats that ou future. bethan, what are the seats that you are _ future. bethan, what are the seats that you are looking _ future. bethan, what are the seats that you are looking at _ future. bethan, what are the seats that you are looking at and - future. bethan, what are the seats that you are looking at and the - future. bethan, what are the seatsi that you are looking at and the key issues there? i that you are looking at and the key issues there?— that you are looking at and the key issues there? i am standing here in didcot. didcot— issues there? i am standing here in didcot. didcot is _ issues there? i am standing here in didcot. didcot is a _ issues there? i am standing here in didcot. didcot is a rapidly _ issues there? i am standing here in didcot. didcot is a rapidly growing i didcot. didcot is a rapidly growing town— didcot. didcot is a rapidly growing town with — didcot. didcot is a rapidly growing town with thousands of new homes here _ town with thousands of new homes here one — town with thousands of new homes here. one of the things that people feel let _ here. one of the things that people feel let down on is that they were promised — feel let down on is that they were promised a gp surgery when these plants— promised a gp surgery when these plants were passed back in 2008 and that still— plants were passed back in 2008 and that still hasn't materialised. peopie — that still hasn't materialised. people have moved in here, they have been living _ people have moved in here, they have been living for more than a decade and don't — been living for more than a decade and don't have a gp surgery. it is affecting — and don't have a gp surgery. it is affecting the whole area. people can .et affecting the whole area. people can get appointments. they are ringing up get appointments. they are ringing up first— get appointments. they are ringing up first thing in the morning and finding _ up first thing in the morning and finding they are in a queue of 20 peopie _ finding they are in a queue of 20 people to — finding they are in a queue of 20 people to speak to a receptionist to try to _ people to speak to a receptionist to try to get _ people to speak to a receptionist to try to get an appointment. people are very— try to get an appointment. people are very frustrated, worried about that _ are very frustrated, worried about that in— are very frustrated, worried about that. in terms of the politics here we have — that. in terms of the politics here we have also had boundary changes. this is— we have also had boundary changes. this is not— we have also had boundary changes. this is not the constituency of didcot — this is not the constituency of didcot and wantage. people in didcot

will be _ didcot and wantage. people in didcot will be hoping that means they get a little bit _ will be hoping that means they get a little bit less forgotten in westminster. it was a comfortable majority _ westminster. it was a comfortable majority for the tories last time round. — majority for the tories last time round. but _ majority for the tories last time round, but there was a lib dem swing and the _ round, but there was a lib dem swing and the lib— round, but there was a lib dem swing and the lib dems are targeting at this time — and the lib dems are targeting at this time around.— and the lib dems are targeting at this time around. going back up to lancashire. _ this time around. going back up to lancashire. in _ this time around. going back up to lancashire, in terms _ this time around. going back up to lancashire, in terms of _ this time around. going back up to lancashire, in terms of changes i this time around. going back up to lancashire, in terms of changes ofj lancashire, in terms of changes of seats, how many potentially are in play in lancashire? in seats, how many potentially are in play in lancashire?— seats, how many potentially are in play in lancashire? in lancashire in 2019 we saw— play in lancashire? in lancashire in 2019 we saw a _ play in lancashire? in lancashire in 2019 we saw a large _ play in lancashire? in lancashire in 2019 we saw a large number- play in lancashire? in lancashire in 2019 we saw a large number of- 2019 we saw a large number of traditional redwall states turned blue for the first time, places like burnley where for the first time in over 100 years there was a conservative mp. you look around the county now and labour are targeting notjust county now and labour are targeting not just the ones county now and labour are targeting notjust the ones that county now and labour are targeting not just the ones that they lost county now and labour are targeting notjust the ones that they lost in 2019, but seats they never could have dreamt of winning. even back in 1997 when we had acute labour

landslide. the ribble valley, labour are looking at potentially trying to take that or massively reduced the majority. right across lancashire almost every seat is at play. we see some of the smaller parties is well taking this campaign seriously. the greens think they can win in parts of lancashire, the lib dems the same. reform uk has sent senior figures to constituencies. it is the first time when the campaign has been so countywide and so much has been so countywide and so much has been at play. it is been so countywide and so much has been at play-— been at play. it is a fascinating art of been at play. it is a fascinating part of the _ been at play. it is a fascinating part of the world _ been at play. it is a fascinating part of the world and - been at play. it is a fascinating part of the world and one - been at play. it is a fascinating part of the world and one that l been at play. it is a fascinating | part of the world and one that i grew up in, so i feel like i know a lot of those seats. bethan, oxfordshire, is it seen as part of the blue wool politically? it�*ll be interesting to watch for the conservatives.— interesting to watch for the conservatives. , i . ,., conservatives. yes, very much part ofthe conservatives. yes, very much part of the blue — conservatives. yes, very much part of the blue wall. _ conservatives. yes, very much part of the blue wall. when _ conservatives. yes, very much part of the blue wall. when i _ conservatives. yes, very much part of the blue wall. when i started - of the blue wall. when i started thisiob —

of the blue wall. when i started thisiob it— of the blue wall. when i started thisjob it was of the blue wall. when i started this job it was all blew apart from one red _ this job it was all blew apart from one red seat in oxfordshire. we do have _ one red seat in oxfordshire. we do have the _ one red seat in oxfordshire. we do have the lib — one red seat in oxfordshire. we do have the lib dems in abington, currently — have the lib dems in abington, currently. the bulls could be a big difference — currently. the bulls could be a big difference afterjuly currently. the bulls could be a big difference after july the currently. the bulls could be a big difference afterjuly the 4th. the lib difference afterjuly the 4th. the lib dems — difference afterjuly the 4th. the lib dems targeting a lot of these seats~ _ lib dems targeting a lot of these seats. people are talking about even whitney _ seats. people are talking about even whitney changing hands. a true blue area _ whitney changing hands. a true blue area it _ whitney changing hands. a true blue area. it would be a big turnaround indeed _ area. it would be a big turnaround indeed if— area. it would be a big turnaround indeed if some of these seats fold to other— indeed if some of these seats fold to other parties.— indeed if some of these seats fold to other parties. bethan and mike, really interesting _ to other parties. bethan and mike, really interesting parts _ to other parties. bethan and mike, really interesting parts of - to other parties. bethan and mike, really interesting parts of the - really interesting parts of the country and we will be watching what happens in a week�*s time. in the run—up to the general election, the bbc is looking at the issues that matter most to you, as part of your voice, your vote. one major theme is the nhs, with many people experiencing long waiting times. east kent hospitals trust is among

the lowest rated in the country for a&e waiting times. our presenter rajini vaidyanathan is at the william harvey hospital in ashford, kent, now. we have come here because the challenges facing the east camp hospital trust are reflected in the challenges facing hospitals across nhs england. the reason we are focusing on the health care system in england is because in wales, northern ireland and scotland health care is devolved, although it is important to stress that the westminster government does fund health care in those nations, so there is a connection on that front. let�*s get back to some of the challenges. when it comes to any general election, the issue of health care ranks up there as one of the most important issues for boaters when they are making their decisions. what we have seen in

recent years, and i spoke to a doctor in the last hour, as many people saying that the nhs is not performing at the level that it should be. we know that waiting lists have gone up and we have heard from the government saying that they have improved slightly in recent months and that they are going to do more in terms of trying to turn things around. we will come to what all the parties are promising in a moment, but i will bring injim reed, my colleague. one of the main challenges here is when it comes to accident and emergency waiting times. the figures are pretty stark, something like 23% of people who come to the a&e at east kent hospital trusts are waiting more than 12 hours to be seen.- than 12 hours to be seen. that's ritht. than 12 hours to be seen. that's right- there _ than 12 hours to be seen. that's right. there are _ than 12 hours to be seen. that's right. there are two _ than 12 hours to be seen. that's right. there are two issues - than 12 hours to be seen. that's right. there are two issues in i than 12 hours to be seen. that's i right. there are two issues in a&e. when _ right. there are two issues in a&e. when you — right. there are two issues in a&e. when you arrive you should be dealt with within _ when you arrive you should be dealt with within four hours. the nhs across— with within four hours. the nhs across england has not met that

target _ across england has not met that target since 2015, so this is a long-term _ target since 2015, so this is a long—term thing, it goes back well before _ long—term thing, it goes back well before covid. about 75% of people are seen _ before covid. about 75% of people are seen within those four micro hours _ are seen within those four micro hours. there is a second problem, and this— hours. there is a second problem, and this is— hours. there is a second problem, and this is for people who are most frail. _ and this is for people who are most frail. most — and this is for people who are most frail, most set. they go through a&e into hospital, they need to be admitted onto the wards and it is there _ admitted onto the wards and it is there that — admitted onto the wards and it is there that the problem really is. in this hospital in may around a third of those _ this hospital in may around a third of those patients that they did that further— of those patients that they did that further treatment had to wait more than four— further treatment had to wait more than four hours, but a quarter had to wait— than four hours, but a quarter had to wait more — than four hours, but a quarter had to wait more than 12 hours. it is does _ to wait more than 12 hours. it is does really— to wait more than 12 hours. it is does really long waits in a&e, often on chairs. _ does really long waits in a&e, often on chairs, on trolleys, that emergency doctors are really worried about _ emergency doctors are really worried about |_ emergency doctors are really worried about. . . emergency doctors are really worried about. ., , , , ., ~ emergency doctors are really worried about. ., , , , ., ,, ., about. i have been speaking to the father of one _ about. i have been speaking to the father of one student _ about. i have been speaking to the father of one student who - about. i have been speaking to the father of one student who was - father of one student who was waiting on the floor for hours in a&e. we didn't waiting on the floor for hours in a&e. we didn�*t want to speak on

camera, but he was sharing his frustrations. there have been other stories in the local press here about people having very uncomfortable and lengthy wait times. something else came up in the first head—to—head debate between rishi sunak and sir keir starmer, and that is generally the subject of nhs waiting lists. you hear all the parties trying to say what they will do. here, east kent trust, only half of patients are treated within the 18 weeks, which is the target. the government�*s target is 92%. this 18 weeks, which is the target. the government's target is 92%. this is a roblem government's target is 92%. this is a problem going — government's target is 92%. this is a problem going back _ government's target is 92%. this is a problem going back to _ government's target is 92%. this is a problem going back to before - government's target is 92%. this is a problem going back to before the i a problem going back to before the pandemic — a problem going back to before the pandemic. so this is people who need pre-booked _ pandemic. so this is people who need pre—booked treatment, could be some in its cataract removal, a hip replacement. those waiting lists have _ replacement. those waiting lists have been going up and up and up. just over— have been going up and up and up. just overti— have been going up and up and up. just over 6 million people on the

waiting _ just over 6 million people on the waiting list in england at the moment. the numbers have been going down slightly since last september, the government says it has had some success— the government says it has had some success in— the government says it has had some success in reducing this very long waits. _ success in reducing this very long waits. but— success in reducing this very long waits, but in the most recent month does _ waits, but in the most recent month does not _ waits, but in the most recent month does not protect up again. the challenges for whichever party wins the next _ challenges for whichever party wins the next election is attempting to drive _ the next election is attempting to drive those down. both major parties have said _ drive those down. both major parties have said they will reduce those 18 week— have said they will reduce those 18 week waits by the end of the next parliament. any independent observer says that _ parliament. any independent observer says that will be very difficult given — says that will be very difficult given what is going on with the ageing — given what is going on with the ageing population and the growing population across the whole of the uk. population across the whole of the uk at_ population across the whole of the uk. �* ., , , ., ~ uk. at the moment i will speak -- in a moment — uk. at the moment i will speak -- in a moment i — uk. at the moment i will speak -- in a moment i will— uk. at the moment i will speak -- in a moment i will speak _ uk. at the moment i will speak -- in a moment i will speak to _ uk. at the moment i will speak -- in a moment i will speak to an - uk. at the moment i will speak -- in a moment i will speak to an expert i a moment i will speak to an expert and put that to them. what�*s go through what the main parties are promising when it comes to the nhs. i know there is a programme it is a nhs. we will look at some of the

issues when it comes to gps. take us through what all the parties are promising. we have some of those policies we can put on the screen. it is a really broad remit. nhs and health— it is a really broad remit. nhs and health can — it is a really broad remit. nhs and health can involve anything from mental— health can involve anything from mental health problems to increasing the number of doctors. to run you through— the number of doctors. to run you through it — the number of doctors. to run you through it basically, the conservative say they will hit all those _ conservative say they will hit all those nhs targets by the end of the next parliament. they are saying they will— next parliament. they are saying they will employ 92,000 new nurses, 28.000 _ they will employ 92,000 new nurses, 28,000 new doctors. they will modernise 250 gp surgeries across england _ modernise 250 gp surgeries across england. help is a devolved issue. labour. _ england. help is a devolved issue. labour, their flagship policy in this election is 2 million extra appointments at hospitals like this one each— appointments at hospitals like this one each year to try to get that waiting — one each year to try to get that waiting lists down. they said they will do _ waiting lists down. they said they will do that by incentivising doctors _ will do that by incentivising doctors and nurses to work weekends

and evenings. they said they will employ— and evenings. they said they will employ thousands more gps. the lib dems. _ employ thousands more gps. the lib dems. their— employ thousands more gps. the lib dems, their flagship policy is free social— dems, their flagship policy is free social care — dems, their flagship policy is free social care treatment, a bit like we have _ social care treatment, a bit like we have currently in scotland. you wouldn't — have currently in scotland. you wouldn't have to pay for your own social— wouldn't have to pay for your own social care. — wouldn't have to pay for your own social care, you will still have to pay for — social care, you will still have to pay for accommodation for example, but not _ pay for accommodation for example, but not the _ pay for accommodation for example, but not the social care. the greens and reformed uk are promising large increases _ and reformed uk are promising large increases in — and reformed uk are promising large increases in nhs budget going into the next _ increases in nhs budget going into the next election in five years. thank— the next election in five years. thank you _ the next election in five years. thank you. asjim was the next election in five years. thank you. as jim was talking about thank you. asjim was talking about there, we set out the challenges, but the solutions are what are the real issues now. we have heard from the parties, but i will speak to a health expert, mark diane from the nuffield trust. welcome to bbc news, mark. what do you think needs to be done? let�*s start with a&e. we spoke to someone from the royal college of

emergency doctors in the last hour talking about real challenges, it was a pretty stark assessment of what he felt the states of a&e waiting rooms were in terms of the times and here in east kent, something like 23% of patients here waiting more than 12 hours. the roblem waiting more than 12 hours. the problem in _ waiting more than 12 hours. the problem in a&e _ waiting more than 12 hours. the problem in a&e departments like this are not— problem in a&e departments like this are not really closed then the a&e department itself. they tend to happen— department itself. they tend to happen because the patients who need to be admitted from the emergency department into awards, into a dead can't be _ department into awards, into a dead can't be because the hospital or the water— can't be because the hospital or the water is _ can't be because the hospital or the water is full. to deal with this problem. _ water is full. to deal with this problem, which has been emerging for more than _ problem, which has been emerging for more than a _ problem, which has been emerging for more than a decade, you need a series— more than a decade, you need a series of— more than a decade, you need a series of long action is to enable more _ series of long action is to enable more people to be admitted. that starts _ more people to be admitted. that starts with— more people to be admitted. that starts with getting back to investing more in improvement in the nhs and _ investing more in improvement in the nhsand in— investing more in improvement in the nhs and in buildings and equipment. we have _ nhs and in buildings and equipment. we have had many years of shovelling

all the _ we have had many years of shovelling all the money into making annual financial— all the money into making annual financial balance in the nhs tends to overspend. that is meant a real cut back— to overspend. that is meant a real cut back on — to overspend. that is meant a real cut back on money for buildings, many— cut back on money for buildings, many of— cut back on money for buildings, many of which were the bad state, and money— many of which were the bad state, and money for equipment. the second thin- and money for equipment. the second thing that— and money for equipment. the second thing that is— and money for equipment. the second thing that is important is to create more _ thing that is important is to create more space — thing that is important is to create more space to move people into the hospital— more space to move people into the hospital is— more space to move people into the hospital is dealing with the workforce situation we have enormous complexity _ workforce situation we have enormous complexity. we have made a lot of progress _ complexity. we have made a lot of progress recruiting new people, we have had _ progress recruiting new people, we have had the health care visa and that has— have had the health care visa and that has been an absolute godsend in terms _ that has been an absolute godsend in terms of— that has been an absolute godsend in terms of being able to add the staff to the _ terms of being able to add the staff to the nhs. the problem is rates of peopie _ to the nhs. the problem is rates of people leaving are still fairly high — people leaving are still fairly high a _ people leaving are still fairly high. a lot of people we are training _ high. a lot of people we are training are leaving the at the start— training are leaving the at the start of— training are leaving the at the start of their career. that needs to be addressed, as well. the last thing _ be addressed, as well. the last thing is — be addressed, as well. the last thing is you need to look beyond the hospital— thing is you need to look beyond the hospital itself because a big driver of how— hospital itself because a big driver of how full the hospital it is our peopie — of how full the hospital it is our people able to leave it and being well looked after before and after

they have been in hospital to stop them _ they have been in hospital to stop them needing to come into a&e. for years— them needing to come into a&e. for years we _ them needing to come into a&e. for years we have had spending on nonhospital nhs services have fallen in relation _ nonhospital nhs services have fallen in relation to the population. the social— in relation to the population. the social care — in relation to the population. the social care system, looking after people. — social care system, looking after people, helping them stay independent is in a bad state and all of— independent is in a bad state and all of that— independent is in a bad state and all of that is making it harder for peopie _ all of that is making it harder for people to — all of that is making it harder for people to leave hospital, meaning more _ people to leave hospital, meaning more people need to be there. that makes _ more people need to be there. that makes it— more people need to be there. that makes it more difficult to find that space _ makes it more difficult to find that space when someone is admitted through— space when someone is admitted through an a&e department. let�*s through an a&e department. let's start with one _ through an a&e department. let's start with one of _ through an a&e department. let's start with one of the _ through an a&e department. let�*s start with one of the points that you made, which is about staffing. we are on the second day of a doctor�*s strike. staying away from the specifics of that is, we know that doctors who have taken to the picket line say they are not being paid enough and i have heard several of them say that they are considering moving overseas because they get —— they get better pay and

conditions there. the government has said that they have offered them what they believe is a fair deal, but that is a challenge in terms of staffing, isn�*t it? but that is a challenge in terms of staffing, isn't it?— staffing, isn't it? yes, ithink these issues _ staffing, isn't it? yes, ithink these issues are _ staffing, isn't it? yes, i think. these issues are interconnected. staffing, isn't it? yes, i think- these issues are interconnected. if you speak— these issues are interconnected. if you speak tojunior these issues are interconnected. if you speak to junior doctors and others — you speak to junior doctors and others there is a lot of unhappiness about— others there is a lot of unhappiness about pay. — others there is a lot of unhappiness about pay, but also by some of the realities_ about pay, but also by some of the realities of— about pay, but also by some of the realities of working in the nhs, the pressure _ realities of working in the nhs, the pressure there can be, it is not often _ pressure there can be, it is not often an— pressure there can be, it is not often an easy environments. there often _ often an easy environments. there often aren't — often an easy environments. there often aren't mess rooms to stay in, it is difficult — often aren't mess rooms to stay in, it is difficult to get your routers set in _ it is difficult to get your routers set in advance so you can do even go on holiday. _ set in advance so you can do even go on holiday, have time with your family — on holiday, have time with your family. one issue that is clearly working — family. one issue that is clearly working really badly is the current system _ working really badly is the current system of — working really badly is the current system of setting pay. we are heading — system of setting pay. we are heading towards three months into this year— heading towards three months into this year and haven't had a pay proposal— this year and haven't had a pay proposal for it and we are getting strikes _ proposal for it and we are getting strikes before there has even been

an temp— strikes before there has even been an temp two reach settlement and it is very— an temp two reach settlement and it is very dysfunctional. we have argued — is very dysfunctional. we have argued that the substantial reform. there _ argued that the substantial reform. there needs to be some research and monitoring _ there needs to be some research and monitoring done to find out what is the right— monitoring done to find out what is the right amount to pay people to encourage them to stay in the hs and contribute _ encourage them to stay in the hs and contribute throughout their career. at the _ contribute throughout their career. at the moment there isn't an organised process to get there. another— organised process to get there. another particular concern we have, as i mentioned earlier, is the number— as i mentioned earlier, is the number of— as i mentioned earlier, is the number of people who drop out of the nhs near— number of people who drop out of the nhs near the start of their career, whether— nhs near the start of their career, whether to — nhs near the start of their career, whether to work abroad, work in the private _ whether to work abroad, work in the private sector. the number of people who graduate from nursing school but then to _ who graduate from nursing school but then toj'oin _ who graduate from nursing school but then tojoin it, we think that forgiving _ then tojoin it, we think that forgiving student loans could be a good _ forgiving student loans could be a good incentive. something that is targeted — good incentive. something that is targeted at those people near the end of— targeted at those people near the end of their careers making that long-term — end of their careers making that long—term choice where they will be working _ long—term choice where they will be working throughout their career, that needs to be a priority. | working throughout their career, that needs to be a priority. i do want to ask _

that needs to be a priority. i do want to ask you _ that needs to be a priority. i u want to ask you another question, which as you talk there about the need for more investments, notjust when it comes to staffing but also when it comes to staffing but also when it comes to staffing but also when it comes to hospital and medical infrastructure, but the challenge remains that there is a fiscal restraint on all of this and what is the solution? i fiscal restraint on all of this and what is the solution?— what is the solution? i think we need to talk — what is the solution? i think we need to talk separately - what is the solution? i think we need to talk separately about i what is the solution? i think we i need to talk separately about the total amount of money going into the nhs, total amount of money going into the nhs. which _ total amount of money going into the nhs, which we have not heard a lot about _ nhs, which we have not heard a lot about this _ nhs, which we have not heard a lot about this general election, we are flying _ about this general election, we are flying blind as far as this is concerned, but also how the nhs spends _ concerned, but also how the nhs spends its — concerned, but also how the nhs spends its money. it has a tendency to spend _ spends its money. it has a tendency to spend it— spends its money. it has a tendency to spend it on short things, paying staff and _ to spend it on short things, paying staff and paying the bills for things— staff and paying the bills for things like medications, ratherthan investing _ things like medications, ratherthan investing for things that last for years— investing for things that last for years like — investing for things that last for years like buildings, equipment, staff training. what we really need is priorities that make sure whatever— is priorities that make sure whatever is happening we are always

putting _ whatever is happening we are always putting enough for the next generation into the buildings, the equipment, the it that let people do theiriobs. _ equipment, the it that let people do theirjobs, because that has been theirjobs, because that has been the reat— theirjobs, because that has been the real failing. theirjobs, because that has been the realfailing._ theirjobs, because that has been the realfailing. thank you so much for takint the realfailing. thank you so much fortaking us— the realfailing. thank you so much for taking us through _ the realfailing. thank you so much for taking us through some - the realfailing. thank you so much for taking us through some of- the realfailing. thank you so much for taking us through some of the i for taking us through some of the possible solutions and reminding us of the challenges. that is mark diane from the nuffield trust. we are in ashford, a seat being hotly false. it was —— it is a conservative seats but labour is hoping it can take them from them. some of the campaigners from different parties have been out and about hitting the streets because this is the last weekend before the general election. in a week because . s general election. in a week because �*s time we will know who the next government will be. thank you very much. to government will be. thank you very much. ., ., ., “ government will be. thank you very much. ., ., , .,

much. to look at here standing there, much. to look at here standing there. to _ much. to look at here standing there. to go — much. to look at here standing there, to go on _ much. to look at here standing there, to go on to _ much. to look at here standing there, to go on to the - much. to look at here standing there, to go on to the bbc- much. to look at here standing i there, to go on to the bbc news page. you can watch nonstop coverage until the results are called. now it�*s time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. we are into this cooler and fresher air now but it should be an improving story really through the rest of the day as these brisk westerly winds do tend to ease down and the number of showers reduces as well. we�*ve actually had some longer spells of rain across northern parts of scotland close to the area of low pressure, and the strongest westerly winds have been in scotland as well. but even here it does become less windy through the afternoon, the more persistent rain heading up to the northern isles. still some showers in scotland, a few continuing in northern ireland for a while and the far north of england, but the showers further south will die away and it should still be dry through the midlands, towards the south—east, where we�*ll see the highest temperatures of up to 22 degrees. but if you are in scotland it will feel quite chilly out there, temperatures in many places are 1a

or 15 degrees. heading into the evening and those remaining showers do fade away. overnight we see some cloud coming in from the atlantic particularly pushing towards wales and northern england, bringing a few spots of rain towards the north—west of wales as well. with the clearer skies further north, mind you, temperatures could be as low as three or a degrees in some rural areas. this weekend should see quite a bit of cloud around, some sunshine from time to time and for the most part i think it will be dry. the fly in the ointment is this weak weather system here, that�*s been bringing the cloud in overnight and continues to bring some cloud into wales, parts of northern england, maybe the midlands and the far south—west of england. just a few spots of rain here and there. but to the north, we�*ve got some sunshine away from those showers in the far north of scotland and towards the south—east, this is where we will see some sunshine. it could be a little bit hazy at times, mind you. temperatures could reach a healthy 25 degrees. elsewhere, those temperatures not changing a great deal from friday. that weak weather system then just fades away,

slips south—eastward out of the way and then we get a north—westerly breeze coming in for the second half of the weekend. that cloud clears the south—east, that north—westerly breeze brings down a lot of cloud. should be generally dry, mind you, and the best of the sunshine is probably the south coast of england and south wales. but if anything those temperatures are going to be a little bit lower on sunday. and really after sunday we are looking rather unsettled, rather changeable. weather fronts coming in from the atlantic, a bit of rain from time to time and some sunshine now and again, as well. goodbye.

live from london. this is bbc news. joe biden struggles in the first us election tv debate with his rival donald trump. the covid... dealing with everything we have to do with... look... .if... ..we finally beat medicare... princess anne is now back at home from hospital where she was treated for concussion after she was struck by a horse. sir keir starmer faces questions on nicky campbell�*s bbc phone in — promising to help put the uk �*back on its feet�*. we have worked so hard to change the labour party so that we now have a

change to labour party to put before the electorate. if we are elected into the serve we will be serving as a changed labour party. nigel farage condemns reform party campaigners — after they were recorded making racist and homophobic comments. and glastonbury gets into full swing — with the first of its two female headlines, dua lipa, set for the pyramid stage this evening. hello. joe biden has delivered a faltering performance in the first us presidential debate. at times, he appeared to struggle with his words and on at least one occasion, he seemed to lose his train of thought. democrats had hoped the debate would allow mr biden to reassure voters concerned about his age. but the president�*s performance is said to have caused panic among senior members of the democratic party. for his part, donald trump made a series of unverified claims about his record in office. our north america correspondent,

gary o�*donoghue, was watching. trump, trump, trump... for the first time in debate history, a former president arriving to debate a current president. cheering. that current president aiming to be the oldest incumbent of the white house in us history. joe biden. four years ago, when these two men met, it ended up in a slanging match. donald trump. but even new rules didn�*t stop the insults from flying. the only reason i�*m here is he�*s so bad as a president that i�*m going to make america great again. my son was not a loser. he was not a sucker. you're the sucker. you're the loser. both men accused the other of trashing the economy, clashing over tax cuts and inflation. he�*s the only president other than herbert hoover who�*s lost morejobs than he had when he began. since herbert hoover. the onlyjobs he created are for illegal immigrants and bounce back jobs. the bounce back from the covid. at times, joe biden sounded hoarse and difficult to understand. his aides said he had a cold, but there have been persistent

concerns about his concentration and stamina, and this did not dispel those worries. excuse me with, um, dealing with everything we have to do with, uh... look, if... we finally beat medicare. thank you, president biden. abortion and immigration were hotly contested, with donald trump delivering perhaps his strongest line of the night. we are living right now in a rat's nest. they're killing our people in new york, in california, in every state in the union, because we don't have borders anymore. every state is now a border. when both men were asked about their age — joe biden is 81, donald trump 78 — they ended up in a bizarre argument about golf. i told you before, i�*m happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. think you can do it? that's the biggest lie, that he's a six handicap of all. i was an eight handicap. yeah, eight. but you know how many i�*ve...

seen your swing. i know your swing. there was little in this debate to change the minds of the committed. both men made well—worn attacks on one another. both men hurled well—worn insults at one another. what will really count is how this lands, with the small number of undecided voters in those key swing states that will decide november�*s election. let�*s take a quick look at what the two presidential hopefuls did after the debate... donald trump headed off in his motorcade — with no further campaign appearances hitting the media. as a former president, he has secret service protection — as, of course, doesjoe biden. as for mr biden — the night was still apparently young... he flew to north carolina for a campaign stop. cheered on by his wife. joe, you did such a greatjob, you answered every question, you knew all the facts. and let me ask the crowd,

what did donald trump do? lie! jill biden there. let�*s get more reaction now... our chief presenter in washington, catriona perry watched the debate, in the spin room in atlanta — and shortly after it finished, she spoke to quentin fulks, the principal deputy manager for the biden—harris campaign... the talking point, we can�*t hide it, wasjoe biden�*s performance there, losing his train of thought at times, donald trump accusing him of not being able to understand what he was saying. what�*s your view of how he performed? look, i think that the president laid out his vision for america. i think that this was substance over style. i think that anybody at home seeing that saw that every time there was a talk of substance, donald trump shied away from it. he offered no substance on any of the issues. he refused to answer if he would support a national abortion ban. he refused to answer several times if he supports insurrectionists who stormed the capitol. he refused to answer several times if he would support the results of the election regardless of how it turns out. that�*s who donald trump

is and that�*s what we saw tonight on the debate stage. the president�*s voice was a little raspy. was there any particular reason for that? the president was fighting through a cold. i think it took a little while for his voice to warm up, but i think that the president got into it and i think that he fought through the cold and made sure that he was delivering on the substance of the issues to the american people. why was that not revealed before the debate? that news kind of only came out through the debate and now afterwards. look, i think, at the end of the day, the president... there�*s no excuses here. the president wanted to come on stage, wanted to debate donald trump. there will be a second debate where the two face off. there�*s no reason for us to acknowledge that up front. the president went on stage and did what he needed to do to draw the vision and again, this was substance for us and we see that donald trump has no substance for the american people. we�*re hearing tonight that there is some conversation within the democratic party about the concept of an open convention of perhaps the need to replacejoe biden at the top of the ticket. what do you say to that? that we�*re not going to dignify with a response. president biden will be the democratic nominee as we head towards november, and president biden is going

to win this election. our campaign is going to continue to draw the vision that you saw president biden present to the american people tonight and make sure that, as folks tune in to this election, as they were to this debate tonight, that they see the stark difference between president biden�*s vision for america and donald trump. he is obsessed with himself. we saw that again tonight. he cannot help except for talk about himself and what he wants out of this election and it�*s all for him. it�*s not about the american people, which is why he has no substance to offer. speaking about the american people, did joe biden do enough to help himself, help his campaign? we see, in so much as we can trust what we see in the polls, he�*s not doing so well. look, absolutely, ithink that the president, again, laid out his vision. i think the president talked to the american people, showing that he understands that there are people still struggling, that we have more work to do to continue to drive down costs and inflation, continue to create more jobs, but on the flip side, pointing out that donald trump has absolutely no idea what he is talking about on a number of issues, both foreign and domestic. i think that the president made that case eloquently tonight. very briefly, was the president happy with his own performance? i have not spoken to the president

yet, but i assume that the president is happy with his performance. i think that the president knew that he had to come out here and lay a vision and make sure that he was drawing the contrast with trump and that�*s what we saw him do tonight. our colleagues at americast have recorded a special episode about the first presidential debate. you can download americast, and get reaction and analysis from sarah smith, antony zurcher, justin webb and others — available now on bbc sounds. buckingham palace says that princess anne has returned home, after spending five nights in hospital. she had been admitted to southmead hospital in bristol, after suffering a minor head injury and concussion, which are thought to have been caused by contact with a horse. with more on this — here�*s our news correspondentjoe inwood. joe, just to remind us what happened to princess and just a few days ago. the exact details are still unclear, but it seems that she was walking in

her estate in the west of england when she came into contact with the horse in some way. we do not think she was writing. it is not clear what happened and we do not think she has a clear memory. clearly, it was a serious impact and she suffered a head injury, they say it is a minor head injury but she did have a concussion. she was staying in south meet hospital in bristol for a few days, her husband was by her side and now she has been sent home. we have a brief statement from the palace, from sir tim lorenz who says i would like to extend my warmest thanks to all the staff at southmead hospital during my wife�*s short stay. we understand she is back at home now receiving continued care, she will be staying there for a short while until the doctor say it is safe for her to return and retake her busy schedule again. this has come as — retake her busy schedule again. this has come as both the king and the princess of wales have had their own very serious health concerns, a lot of focus on the royal family and how

they are coping with all the engagements they are expected to be at. {lit engagements they are expected to be at. . ., , ., engagements they are expected to be at. .., , ., , , , engagements they are expected to be at. , ., ,, at. of course, the health issues of the kina at. of course, the health issues of the king and _ at. of course, the health issues of the king and the _ at. of course, the health issues of the king and the princess - at. of course, the health issues of the king and the princess of - at. of course, the health issues ofi the king and the princess of wales are far more serious, they are both dealing with cancer diagnosis. that is one of the reasons that princess hand, the princess royal, the king�*s younger sister, why she has been a much more important figure recently. she is a really key member of the sort of senior royal team, she is a key councillor to the king. but also, so many of the engagements that maybe we do not hear about, that maybe we do not hear about, that the media do not cover, the smaller things, she does hundreds of them every year. the sort of engagements which are really important for maintaining that link between the monarchy and the public, she does a lot of those. having her out of action is going to be a blow to royalfamily. out of action is going to be a blow to royal family-— to the general election now — and with less than a week to go before polling today,

let�*s check in on the main news from the election. campaigners from reform uk have been filmed making racist and homophobic comments. party leader nigel farage has called it appalling and says it doesn�*t reflect his own views. it�*s the been the labour leader sir keir starmer�*s turn to be interviewed by nicky campbell this morning. he took questions from the phone—in audience — and promised to �*put the country back on its feet.�* the conservatives will be campaigning on education — they�*re pushing a raft of education pledges, including the expansion of free childcare and a school mobile phones ban. the liberal democrats will be talking about access to dentistry and leader ed davey will be interviewed by the bbc�*s nick robinson — we�*ll bring you that this evening here on bbc news. first — those racist and homophobic remarks made by campaigners for reform uk. in one of them a volunteer, andrew parker suggests that migrants crossing the channel should be used as target practice. the footage was recorded by channel a news in clacton, where party leader nigel farage is standing. take a listen...

mr parker has since issued a statement, saying the views are his own, and not representative of reform uk. party leader nigel farage has distanced himself from the comments. our political correspondent, susan hulme, told me more about this report and the reaction to it. in this channel four report, as you�*re hearing there, there is some quite extreme racist and homophobic language. now, of course, this is a situation that nigel farage does not want to find himself in. he�*s a politician who likes to be on the attack. he likes to be attacking other parties, not defending his own record, his own party, anything like that. so it�*s not a place he wants to be, not a place any politician wants to be, but particularly not one like nigel farage. now, reform uk have said that, because the election was called very quickly, it took everyone by surprise,

that they didn�*t really have the time that they needed to do proper vetting of candidates as well, presumably of local workers, as well. many of them are volunteers. quite hard to check all of those people. it was an issue, this kind of problem was something that came up with reform uk�*s predecessor, ukip, back in the day. even then, it didn�*t really seem to give a big knock to ukip in the polls when this sort of thing happened and i dare say that they will hope that it won�*t have too much of an effect. however, it does come on the back of nigel farage�*s own comments about ukraine, about the fact that the eu and nato may have provoked president putin and that may also have given some voters perhaps cause to think twice. polls, we always have to say opinion polls, you have got to be very careful about giving them too much credence,

but it does seem that perhaps reform uk has stalled a little bit in that sort of rise that we�*ve seen over the last few weeks. and this is a full list of candidates standing in the clacton constituency. labour�*s leader sir keir starmer has been facing questions from my colleague nicky campbell here on bbc news. he was keen to talk about what he says is the highest tax rate in the uk for seven decades and promised, if elected, to �*put the country back on its feet�*. here�*s a little of what he said... we�*ve had a flatlining economy for 1a years. if all we do is... we�*ve now got the highest tax rates for 70 years and there�*s a reason for that, that slow growth. so that�*s the elephant in the room, that is the challenge. we could ignore it and simply say, let�*s tax an ever reducing cake... 2% on those with more than1 billion? the point is the economy

is not growing. unless and until we get economy growing... would that stop the economy growing, taxing those people? we�*ve already got the highest tax rates for 70 years. you could lift the two child benefit cap if you tax those people? we need to get the economy growing. if the economy in the last 1a years under this government had grown at the same rate as it did under the last labour government, we�*d have tens of billions of pounds to spend on our public services, we would be able to be elected into serve the country, we can start straightaway on the change that we need. which means that you and your children and your children�*s children will feel better off, that we are heading in the right direction. just as i did with the labour party, sort of pick it back up, put it on its feet and make it fit for the future. we need to do the same our country. our politicial correspondent damian grammaticas gave us this update from the labour campaign trail. i�*m on the campaign trail with labour in south london today. we�*ve got a bit of a nondescript

bridge because they�*re waiting forjonathan ashworth, who�*s on his way here, who is one of the labour team who�*s going to be having an event. we can�*t quite show you what�*s going to happen until he gets here. in that phone—in session that he was doing today, keir starmer was asked by one caller about pensioners. at the minute you are able to withdrawjust over £268,000, i think, tax free from your pension. the question put to him is was that going to continue. sir keir starmer said that�*s going to expire in two or three years, no we�*re not going to continue it. what labour have come back to do is just to qualify that and say, actually, he wasn�*t talking about exactly that issue. that withdrawal that you could do tax free, that is going to continue. there�*s no plans to change that. that�*s been in place for quite some time and will not change. he was talking about other tax exemptions that do exist that will expire.

as he�*s always said, labour say he won�*t commit