talks on releasing israeli hostages. the group is also said to have dropped its demand that israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire in gaza. calls for president biden to end his re— election bid are gathering momentum. the leader of the democrats in the us house of representatives, has scheduled a virtual meeting with party members to discuss mr biden�*s candidacy. and england fans are overjoyed after the team beat switzerland to make it to the semi—finals at euro 2024 — but only after penalties. england will now play the netherlands. let's go back to the general election — and that huge and historic win for sir keir starmer after years of labour losses. yesterday, he made his first

speech as prime minister, emphasising his expectations of high moral standards of his cabinet and promising to rebuild britain, �*brick by brick�* and that his government can get things done. let's speak tojosh glancy, news review editor at the sunday times. josh spent three months following keir starmer on the campaign trail, getting to know him and those around him. these experiences provide key insights, some might say, for predicting what kind of leader starmer might be and where he will stand on ideological and political issues. thank you forjoining us. some have said he already looks at ease, more comfortable now that he is actually in office. do you think he is going to, you know, disregard the ming vase and show the public who he really is? i vase and show the public who he reall is? ., ~' vase and show the public who he reall is? ., ~ ., , ., really is? i do think there was a lot of nervous _ really is? i do think there was a lot of nervous tension - really is? i do think there was a lot of nervous tension in - really is? i do think there was a lot of nervous tension in keir. lot of nervous tension in keir starmer and his team during this campaign, they were very tightly wound, i trailed them around the country from nuneaton to hard low to all sorts other places, portsmouth, they are cordial but they are tightly wound. they were very eyes

on the prize, if you like. they were very conscious that it had been 19 years since labour had lost one election, and winning elections for labour is not always an easy thing to do. they had a strategy, and it has now delivered for them. until the actually got over the line, until keir starmer actually walked into downing street, i generally don't think they wanted to count their chickens because they have so much heartbreak in the past, it's like being an england football fan. in terms of the person you observed, three months is quite a good span of time to watch somebody up close, i don't know how many days a week you are with him, but what are your observations about how he will now take to the job genmark i observations about how he will now take to the job genmari_ take to the 'ob genmark i think he will relax a — take to the job genmark i think he will relax a bit, _ take to the job genmark i think he will relax a bit, and _ take to the job genmark i think he will relax a bit, and start - take to the job genmark i think he will relax a bit, and start your- will relax a bit, and start your exercise is far more freely and tell us more about what you want to do with the country. we saw some of that in his press conference

yesterday. spoke a lot about prisons, told us things he hadn't told us before, how he feels about the amount of people who are convicted and sent to prison in this country, i do think it will relax, but keir starmer will never be entertaining, witty, funny, a public performer, he does not have that in him. he does not see that as the role of prime minister. in private, he's quite genial, his quite entertaining and relaxing company. he stiffened that when he's in public he always will. he knows is that potentially as a benefit. actually, people, he hopes, will view him as a statesman and not as a performing seal. the view him as a statesman and not as a performing seal-— performing seal. the 'ob itself of prime minister h performing seal. the 'ob itself of prime minister is _ performing seal. the job itself of prime minister is different, - performing seal. the job itself of prime minister is different, once | prime minister is different, once your own government, it is very different to being on the campaign trail, he has been a distinguished lawyer, he has got that barrister training, mastering the pea very quickly and getting to grips are complex arguments, people and government always talk about the sheer number of decisions that the prime minister has to take. did you

see evidence of that skill set in him? ., , see evidence of that skill set in him? . , ., u, see evidence of that skill set in him? . , . , . him? that is what we can expect him to be aood him? that is what we can expect him to be good at- _ him? that is what we can expect him to be good at. there _ him? that is what we can expect him to be good at. there is _ him? that is what we can expect him to be good at. there is a _ him? that is what we can expect him to be good at. there is a slight - to be good at. there is a slight danger with keir starmer that he might micromanage, i asked him about this, his instinct is always going to get hold of every brief and every detail. he is very detail oriented. they will be a slight danger, you know, a bit of the gordon brown, you have to know when to let go and the other people do things. but you saw him chairing cabinet, he looked natural, he was director of public prosecutions, he is accustomed to sitting at the head of a table and telling people what to do. you like running meetings. he is specific about wanting everyone to be prompt, well briefed. that side of the job will come quite naturally to him. he is less natural about the sort of personal aspect of politics. hagar personal aspect of politics. how im ortant personal aspect of politics. how important do — personal aspect of politics. how important do you _ personal aspect of politics. how important do you think that is? how much are the team concerned about that if at all? obviously, the job is about making decisions and guiding policy on coming up with ideas. but it's also about

persuading the public and take in the country with you. yes. persuading the public and take in the country with you.— persuading the public and take in the country with you. yes, i hope, --eole i the country with you. yes, i hope, people i have _ the country with you. yes, i hope, people i have spoken _ the country with you. yes, i hope, people i have spoken to, - the country with you. yes, i hope, | people i have spoken to, hopefully, we can relax a little bit given we have just won a big we can relax a little bit given we havejust won a big majority, and focus on the governing of the policy. but you're right, you have to persuade the country, and they are obsessed at the moment with his idea that they have to deliver but they also have to be seen to deliver. that is about messaging, charming the country, persuading them as well as just doing the nuts and bolts. that's always going to be and bolts. that's always going to be a weakness for keir starmer to some extent, he is never going to be a first—rate debater, if a ship performer, a first—rate, you know, charmer voters. you know, the strategy worked in the selection. hopefully, they are going to have some time to put that on the back bench for a bit and focus on governing-— bench for a bit and focus on auovernin. , w , , bench for a bit and focus on auovernin. , w' , , ., governing. very quickly, in terms of where ou governing. very quickly, in terms of where you think _ governing. very quickly, in terms of where you think is _ governing. very quickly, in terms of where you think is political - governing. very quickly, in terms of where you think is political centre i where you think is political centre of gravity is, where would you place them? �* .,

of gravity is, where would you place them? �* . , ., of gravity is, where would you place them? �* ,., , them? i've asked him this a couple of times, them? i've asked him this a couple of times. he _ them? i've asked him this a couple of times. he is _ them? i've asked him this a couple of times, he is very _ them? i've asked him this a couple of times, he is very insistent, - of times, he is very insistent, i'm a pragmatist, of course he is left of centre, he has been a labour activist in some form since he was a teenager. but he says he is a pragmatist, and that keir starmer is not player, it does not have its own clear ideology that he will take the problems when they come, with a left—leaning perspective. —— starmer is not starmer is not blair. i hope you will take a pragmatic approach. earlier, i spoke to sam white, he is the former chief of staff to sir keir starmer and caroline slocock who is former private secretary to conservative prime ministers margaret thatcher and john major and the director of the think

tank civil exchange. i started by asking sam white if he ever thought labour could win such a big majority. i went to work for keir maybe three or four days after getting elected for the labour party during covid—i9, and my motivation was i thought we'd had a long period of really poor government in the uk and a period where the labour party had largely exited the pitch of serious politics. arguably, labour can win any election it chooses to, it has to choose to do it. i wanted to help keir bring the party back from near extinction, as the tories have experienced this week, back to being a credible alternative government. and i did believe it was possible. and i went back to work for him in second time in 2021, 2022 as chief of staff, and i make donors who said to me, and i met donors who said to me, yes, it's all very well,

but he's not going to win, is he? you are losers, you're not going to come back from this, you can't believe it. and we said, no, we left our jobs, we have come to do this because there is a narrow route back. in the avengers, they are fighting thanos and doctor strange looks into all the different futures and there are i million futures, and they win in one of them, a narrow path of self—sacrifice and bravery, and that is the path we decided to take. we'll come back to that thought at the moment, let me bring you in. are you surprised by the distance travelled, first of all, there was a huge change, in the direction of government that will happen now both for ministers and for civil servants. yes, obviously, it's a historic moment. they are now setting out to try and deliver some of the things that they promised, and i think the most fundamental thing is trust. keir starmer made a big pitch in his speech on the steps of number ten to restore trust.

it's a wound that needs to be healed. we are now looking for the actions. not only the words. actually, on that day, civil society leaders, experts and others wrote to him to say, you know, these are the actions that you need to take to restore trust. and they include setting up the new ethics and integrity commission he has promised. and sticking to really high standards. committing to the rule of law and actually respecting key democratic institutions which have recently been really trashed, like the civil service, civil society itself, the bbc and others. really having a stronger parliamentary accountability, so important when you have such a big majority, including not sidestepping parliament through the abuse of secondary legislation to avoid proper scrutiny. bringing the country together in real partnership.

you can do these things without massive resources. they are easy to do in lots of ways. but if you do them well, and restore that trust, you will unlock a lot of resources in society. it is not only government, civil service, big resources though they are, and the money that they may pour into it, it is also the wider resources of society as a whole including voluntary organisations, for example, across the country, who, if we can create a shared purpose, will work with them and make some of these things real. lots of demands on the new government, sam, the question that many people want to know, who is keir starmer? tell me about the person you worked with and know. how would you describe him? i totally agreed on those points about rebuilding trust and how this is not something the government can do by itself to rebuild britain, it is going to be with the voluntary

sector and importantly bringing back private investment and confidence in this country as a place to invest and get growth going. in terms of what keir is like, there are elements to his personality. i remember one visit we did, i do not remember where, we were using a pub as a base of operations, on the way out, keir bumped into the local football team coming in the front door, and his whole demeanour changes, his body language relaxes, he animates, he is chatting in detail about football, he would have stayed there all day if he could. he's got this normal bloke football having a pint quality, but on the other side, absolutely driven by a sense of public service, it is in his bones. and that is coupled with another interesting duality, he is very driven by compassion and people but can be ruthless when it's required. that is a brilliant quality combination for a leader of any major country.

the question some people might ask, politically, where is he? he said in his press conference yesterday that he is not tribal, something he said before, he does not like the partisanship of westminster, he obviously had a big career as a lawyer before coming into politics. is he on the soft left? is he in the centre? where is he if you're going to place him on a blair brown miliband spectrum? they are political instincts which we will see play out in response to events. i'm going to answer your question in a way you might think unsatisfying. my experience is he is an evidence driven politician. i'm excited about that. when the civil service and government work well together, it is where politicians are able to respond to the evidence presented by the civil service

about what actually works, how do you actually solve this problem. he is so driven by, i don't want to talk about it, i want the thing which is going to unlock it, and he gets criticise along this route of saying, keir, he's changed his views on this or that, my experience was he sat in a room and you to come through the evidence base and you said, right, that's not going to work and let's do this instead. the politicians that terrify me are the ones who can't change their mind on the face of evidence. within that, when you're presented with evidence, three potential policy solutions to cutting nhs waiting times, there are still different choices, aren't there? to solve that one enormous problem. i'm asking, instinctively, where is he politically on that? what instincts will govern which policy choices he goes down the route when provided with different solutions?

his values, it's evident and strong, public service, integrity in public life, making society more fair. i don't know if you saw gb news who had an interview with him, sky news, sorry to mention competitors, keir talked about his father being a toolmaker, it's true, you didn't hear it from me, but it's true. they laughed at him when he said my dad worked in a factory. he was genuinely angry in this gb news clip and he said my father would say this to people at social events and they would would pause afterwards. they didn't know what to say to him and he felt disrespected because of the place he sat in society. the reason i bring that up is because with keir, there was genuine anger, it hit a nerve, there is a sense that society is snobby, there is less chance for social mobility, people arejudged on where they come from, people are disrespected for doing

manual work, factory work, all sorts of what makes our country a success. these are the values that you will see instinctively come out in his approach to politics. but they will be tempered by what actually works. we are not here to be the party of protest, it's not performative politics, we are here to try and change the country from one of its worst inheritances in my lifetime, to something where we restore trust back in the public. caroline, in terms of the public demand now from this government, obviously, there are a lot of huge problems. in your experience, how long does it actually take to deliver the kind of change that people might expect to see? i know that's a tough question. do you think, are we looking at the end of the whole parliament, four or five years? is it likely governments can bring change on public services within a couple of years? i think it's a long—term project

to do some of these things, for example, the nhs, you can put in extra resources which they are planning to do in terms of appointments, and you can make some reforms, but the deeper reform is to invest in prevention which would take a lot of the strain off the nhs and put in place a much better system of social care. these things do take time. we are probably looking at two terms for fundamental change. what you can do is you can change the style of government very quickly. back to my point earlier, you can start to unlock resources in society. change will happen. but to get the big deep changes that we need to see, we're looking at least to the end of five years and possibly two terms, which is of course the idea behind mission driven government. the decade of renewal. what you really need when you are achieving change from my experience of working for margaret thatcher who had three terms, is you really do need

to keep your eye on the ball. there are massive distractions out there. she did not read the newspapers, she just got a brief summary every morning. she focused on driving through the things that she really wanted to achieve. and that's what keir starmer needs to do, and just not be distracted by a pretty hostile media. and many things which are thrown at you as you go along as a prime minister. and really try to get the fundamentals right. a lot of that is happening, not at the top of government, but actually at the front line services _ he needs to really unlock that potential there i think. and, sam white, do you think the labour team were cut short by the early announcements of being ready on policies, some of the people who had previous government experience are more prepared, have done a bit more in terms of trying to work up policy detail. but not necessarily everybody. they need to get going on that immediately, don't they?

yes, i don't think the party was caught unexpectedly, i happened by pure coincidence to be in party hq the night before the election was called, and i spent close to three hours talking strategy with the campaign director. i think if he had thought there was going to be an election the next day he might have spent his time slightly differently than him and i shooting the breeze and how to manage the summer, but what i experienced that was someone who was so ready, so desperate to get started on the campaign, they almost had nothing left to do, calling the election at that point was brilliant. in terms of policy development, with opposition, you have to set out your direction of policy, you have to set out some of the missions, that was the keir word, not a word foisted upon him, set out what you are trying to achieve, but you do not have to do

all the detailed policy work of the sort that you have to do with the benefit of the civil service, the giant machine, and secondly consultation of businesses, consultation of civil society and affected parts of the public realm, because that is a really important part of taking a policy from the grand idea that is often shaped as a manifesto to the specific implementation, i'm thinking, i was a special adviser on trade and industry after the 2005 election, shortly after that, where we translate a set of changes we wanted to make to employment law from the way you talk about it in a campaign and a manifesto to how you actually execute it through legislation and specific policy that can be implemented by businesses. i have seen how it happened, campaigning, poetry, prose, maybe we didn't campaign so much in poetry even then, but we are into the prose phase of getting the detail right. that was sam white, former chief of staff to keir starmer.

spain will clash with france in the first semi final of the men's european football championship, on tuesday and england will meet the netherlands in the second one the following day. yesterday, england defeated switzerland five—three on penalties to proceed to the semi—finals. millions of england's supporters watched the nailbiting action — joe inwood joined some of them at a fan park in london. england may not have been the most exciting team to watch so far, but that didn't stop the rush for the best seats in south london. amongst the crowds were friends kenny and gracie. the last few games have been a bit dull, like side to side passing, we need some pace, we need some attack so let's go for it. brilliant day, on the cocktails, bit of sunshine, can't go wrong. as the national anthem rang out, the game got underway.

ten minutes in, what was their assessment? yeah, not too bad so far. like, steadily getting into the game. like, see how things go. i'm happy so far. but the weather soon started to match the football of the first half — not great. surely things must improve. so the sun is out, the england fans are in good voice and the second half is under way. unfortunately, the good mood didn't last long, and the swiss went one up. it was decidedly flat. best check in with our fans again. how are you feeling? not good at the minute. new changes though, hopefully we can do something. cheering. get in there! it is amazing how quickly the mood can change. it was funereal in here. we were midway through that

interview and then that happens. but that was it for goals for now. so extra time. it was always going to be extra time. france, portugal, extra time. spain, germany, extra time. why was this going to be any different? no penalties. we don't need penalties. and so obviously it did go to penalties. come on, you can do this! come on, trent! you can do this, trent! here we go. trent alexander—arnold with a final penalty to take england through to the semis. probably time to put the raincoat back on, in preparation for the now traditional beer shower. come on, come on, come on! cheering.

and so, with typical understatement, england fans celebrated another victory. just imagine the scenes in two games' time. joe inwood, bbc news, brixton. the moulin rouge is an iconic paris landmark. but two months ago the cabaret club's famous logo — the windmill — was left without its huge sails when they suddenly fell off. now they've been restored — just in time for the paris olympics. stephanie zakrisson has the details. in 82 show in front of the club, one of the most visited attractions in the french capital, they dazzled spectators gathered in the streets outside. the red and gold sales of the windmilljust behind them lighting up the parisian nightjust as they have been doing for more

than 100 years. the blades inexplicably fell off in april but have been restored. labour we were all very sad, it was something we couldn't believe happened. we are so thankful that no one was hurt. it was also so lovely to receive so many messages from the public and everyone around the world sent us messages to say we are feeling so sorry for you guys, we hope your wings will be back up soon. that was really touching. tonight, i'm so happy to see it lit up again. to be dancing in front of it, like, we don't get to do this every night. tonight is definitely one for the history books. find tonight is definitely one for the history booke— tonight is definitely one for the history books-— tonight is definitely one for the history books. and the venue is trul a history books. and the venue is truly a part _ history books. and the venue is truly a part of— history books. and the venue is truly a part of the _ history books. and the venue is truly a part of the capital's - truly a part of the capital's history. when the doors opened in 1889, it was the first building in paris to use the marvellous new technology of electricity to light up technology of electricity to light up and spin the wings of the windmill. the original complex was ravaged by a fire in 1915, but rebuilt a couple of years later. so when the wings broke earlier this

year, the venue made sure to pull out all the stops to get them back into place just in time for when the olympic torch is due to pass the landmark. translation: is a special evening. there is a lot of excitement, a lot of emotion, obviously, we remember what happened two months ago, we have received so much support from everyone, and it's quite enough emotional to know see this fiver again on the square. the sales have been recreated exactly as the previous ones. they are not rotating yet. a little more time is needed to install the motorisation system but the show is back on like the wings of the moulin rouge. now it's time for a look at the weather with simon king. hello again. we've had some pretty heavy showers this morning — they are going to continue through the afternoon as well. some of those could be thundery in places, but really quite dramatic clouds in staffordshire this morning, some very dark and menacing clouds bringing those showers. and you can see the showers are quite speckled and scattered

across the uk this afternoon. look at some of the green blobs, indicative of the heaviest downpours, with the risk of some lightning and thunder. but there will be sunny spells in between the showers as they rattle through. maximum temperatures 15—17, maybe 18, so feeling quite cool for the time of year. at silverstone it could be interesting for some tyre choices, with showers moving through, some sunny spells in between. temperatures around 17 through the afternoon. tonight, the showers will gradually ease away and then we are looking at clear skies overnight. so with lighter winds and clear skies it could turn chilly — temperatures in the countryside down to around 5—8, in towns and cities 6—9. it means monday morning starts off chilly but plenty of sunshine to start off the week. we will see heavy thundery showers for scotland, northern ireland, northern england, and with lighter winds these

will be slow—moving. further south, cloud increasing from the south—west, with outbreaks of rain in southern england and south wales as the day goes on. maximum temperatures about 18—20, a degree or so higher than today, and it might feel more humid through into the early part of next week. low pressure moves north, the rain spreads into parts of central and southern scotland on tuesday and into northern ireland, being replaced by sunny spells and showers. but low pressure in charge means unsettled. keep the umbrella handy through tuesday. perhaps the north and west of scotland faring best, with the greatest amount of sunshine through the day. those showers could be heavy and thundery further south. maximum temperatures about 16—20, again below the average for the time of year. that continues through the week. but as we go through friday into next weekend, it looks a little more settled, with drier and brighter

weather, so perhaps feeling a bit more like summer.

live from paris — i'm mark lowen. this is bbc news. voters in france, head to the polls, casting their ballots in the second round of a snap election. president emmanuel macron is among those voting, polls predict a shift from his party towards the far—right

national rally. we'll bring you live analysis from across the country on one of the most significant french elections in years. i'm geeta guru—murthy, the other main stories this hour. new prime minister keir starmer tours the uk's nations. his first stop — edinburgh. demonstrations across israel, urging the government to reach a deal with hamas — the group is reported to have accepted a us proposal to begin talks of a hostage release. and four volunteers emerge from a small compound in texas, having spent more than a year living in conditions simulating those on mars.