this is bbc news. the headlines at two. the conservatives celebrate victory in the copeland by—election — an area labour represented for more than 80 years. theresa may says she is "delighted" with the result. this is an astounding victory for the conservative party but also, for the conservative party but also, for the people of copeland. but labour sees off a threat from ukip, and holds onto stoke. jeremy corbyn says the politics of hope overcame the politics of fear... it's a day full server breach in stoke and a day of disappointment in copeland. we defeated ukip in stoke despite all of the predictions they would prevail with the politics of hope up rebelled over the of hatred. gary lineker says he "shed a tear" for claudio ranieri, who has been sacked as leicester's manager nine months after winning the premier league. personally i think they should be building statues of him, not sacking him. the malaysian authorities say the half—brother of north korea's leader,

was killed by vx nerve agent, which is classified as a weapon of mass destruction. royal bank of scotland reports a loss of seven billion pounds for 2016 — far worse than the previous year's figure, and the ninth consecutive year of losses for the bank. wanted, a squirrel patrolled to save the native red squirrel from disappearing in the uk. —— patrol. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. it was — by any standards — a great result for the conservatives — causing a major electoral upset by winning the long—held labour seat of copeland in cumbria. their candidate beat labour by more than 2000 votes. it's the first time a governing party has gained a seat

at a by—election since 1982... in the night's other by—election labour held stoke—on—trent central — holding off the challenge of the ukip leader paul nuttall. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn says the party's win in stoke was "a decisive rejection of ukip's politics of division". but he says their "message was not enough to win through in copeland". 0ur political correspondent carole walker reports. harrison, trudy, the conservative party candidate, 13700 and 48. cheering this really was an astonishing result can victory for the tories in a seat that has been labour territory since it was created. what has happened here tonight is a truly historic event, you would have to go back more than a century to find an example of a governing party taking a seat from the opposition party in

an election like this. the conservatives are jubilant, venue mp increase the party share of the vote by more than 8%. the tories have seized on the result is a resounding endorsement on theresa may's leadership and policies and an outright rejection of labour under jeremy corbyn. for them to lose a seat to the governing party has never happened before. that is a show, of the way in which the labour party is just out of contact with what people are thinking. the defeated labour candidate julian trout and left without saying a word, the result, has piled on the anguish for labour mps who fear they are heading for defeat at the election. jeremy corbyn has rejected calls for him to step down. election. jeremy corbyn has rejected calls for him to step downlj election. jeremy corbyn has rejected calls for him to step down. i was elected leader of the party to oppose austerity and oppose the redistribution of wealth in the wrong direction which is what this

government is doing. we will continue our campaigning work, on the nhs, and social housing. and there was some consolation for labour in stoic central where they saw after ukip to hold the seat. they said it was a victory for the whole labour movement. for those of you who came to stoke—on—trent to sow you who came to stoke—on—trent to sow hatred and division and to turn us sow hatred and division and to turn us away from our friends and neighbours, i have one simple message, you have failed. ukip leader paul nuttal‘s before parliament failed to spite overwhelming support for brexit locally, after a campaign dogged by controversy had left him facing questions about the future of his party and his leadership. this seat was number 72 on a hit list, there isa was number 72 on a hit list, there is a lot more to come from us. we are not going anywhere, i'm not going anywhere, so therefore we move on and ourtime going anywhere, so therefore we move on and our time will come. the

result has also cast doubt on the ukip strategy of targeting traditional labour seats. this lunchtime, the prime minister arrived in copeland to congratulate her party's arrived in copeland to congratulate her pa rty‘s newest arrived in copeland to congratulate her party's newest mp on what she said was an astonishing victory. what we have seen from this victory is that this truly is a government thatis is that this truly is a government that is working for everyone and for every pa rt that is working for everyone and for every part of the country. cheering and that, that is the message, that we bring here to copeland and that we bring here to copeland and that we will take across the country. but theresa may knows that future success will depend notjust on her domestic policies but on her handling of britain's departure from the eu. and, our political correspondent ian watson is in copeland for us. you can probably see, the storm clouds coming back in, after quite a nice

day in whitehaven on the cumbrian coast. it reflects a grim mood, there are several problems which labour has locally and nationally. locally, the special circumstances, the nuclear industry was very important, they say their policy has been represented by the conservatives and that may well be true but the overarching problem that labour has is the matter of trust, because jeremy that labour has is the matter of trust, becausejeremy corbyn uk came here and said that he was in favour of new nuclear capacity. but they didn't believe him. the second problem they had to be blunt about it is withjeremy corbyn himself because even left—wing labour mps have been on the doorsteps in copeland saying that, the issue of his leadership came up and prompted with some of the voters. the third problem, less predictable than at the beginning of this by—election campaign, that is thatjeremy corbyn has fought the antiestablishment campaign, he has tried to catch the

anti—politics mood, and yet, some older voters i have spoken to, so labour as part of the establishment. a seat they have held in one form or another, for 80 years. they have not been doing enough for our towns, not been doing enough for our towns, not been doing enough to help people like us. people wanted change for the first time since the early 19805, the first time since the early 1980s, they change bizarrely enough, from the opposition to the government. if you take those issues of leadership and trust and incumbency, that makes it incredibly difficult for labour to try to recover from what was already a 100 seat deficit behind the conservatives at the time of the election. jeremy corbyn himself said, staying on as labour leader, he said this was a disappointing result, some of the labour mps, had been using different language, and one that i can repeat is "catastrophic", they are describing the loss of this deceit for the first time since the 1930s —— of

this seat. so it is the labour leader presents that they are finding a liability when they are out on the stump? what has been argued by the people around the labour leadership is that they are all sorts of unprecedented labour issues, the labour divisions were insured because there were issues and he was being challenged by many of these own mps, although he was backed by the membership. and i think, brexit was an issue although not a predominant issue, in an area wessex 2% of people voted to leave, labour were pro—remain. —— wessex 2% of people voted to leave, labourwere pro—remain. —— in an area where 60% of people voted to leave. and this is the stage before the formal negotiations begin, certainly for the time being the conservatives look far more united and labourfar conservatives look far more united and labour far more conservatives look far more united and labourfar more divided. i think what labour mps would say, jeremy corbyn‘s leadership is a problem but

the problems go beyond that. even though they won here. although, we are moving backwards, even with a share of the vote, in stoke, the difficulty is this, already they are beginning to lose touch with some of the traditional supporters, who actually, over and above that, they have got the problem of a leader in the opinion polls suggesting the rec unpopular. thank you. in stoke—on—trent central, labour were relieved to have seen off a challenge from ukip. well let's get the views now of the former leader of ukip and mep diane james who canjoin me now from our westminster studio. very good afternoon, is this the end for paul nuttal? not at all, going through a pretty bruising experience in terms of the onslaught from the labour party. he's also had to deal with the fact that the labour party was able to mobilise their resources very quickly, they had the people on the ground and the machinery. he

took a very high—risk strategy in terms of standing, that is one aspect, that he will rue going forward. i would not want to see him stand down, he is going to be a very good leader and ukip has got a future, and as he has said, and as the team has said, this was number 72 in terms of the seats in ukip target seat terms. and therefore, it has been a very good experience and a very good learning curve for him albeit a very bruising one. due to be on albeit a very bruising one. due to beona albeit a very bruising one. due to be on a learning curve, would another candidate may be have been stronger? i don't think the candidate was particularly strong, i think he was up against the whole labour machine that was mobilised to personally defeat him, and discredit him. that is my perception, as an independent, i am him. that is my perception, as an independent, iam no him. that is my perception, as an independent, i am no longer a him. that is my perception, as an independent, iam no longer a ukip member. to certainly see off the challenger from member. to certainly see off the challengerfrom ukip member. to certainly see off the challenger from ukip in member. to certainly see off the challengerfrom ukip in the member. to certainly see off the challenger from ukip in the west midlands and labour in effect sacrifice to copeland in the

process. so they have actually taken labour here a double whammy. yes they were able to play up that they have held up ukip, but they have sacrificed a very, very important seat to the tories, in doing so. i think in terms of the damage done to the parties, the damage to the labour party is actually far far greater than that too dumb to ukip on this occasion. why didn't ukip mobilises labour was mobilising? will ukip is a relatively small part in comparison and it is also a relatively young party. i think people forget that ukip has only been around for 20, just over 20 yea rs. been around for 20, just over 20 years. you have got in comparison a labour party that has been around for effect of this century or more and a conservative party that has been around for centuries. so you are looking at the new insurgent, the new party on the block, taking on the might of those establishment parties, with big money in terms of

donations. but look how effective an insurgent party can be here in the uk but also in other countries across europe. that is the interesting perspective that i am looking at in terms of a political commentary. do you regret leaving? not at all, my time was done, i campaign to be the ukip leader, i found frequently that the issues that i campaigned upon i could not deliver. they took an honest and brave approach i think to say that clearly i would not be able to deliver on what is necessary for the party and handed it over to somebody who would take it into a different direction, is still new in the job andi direction, is still new in the job and i believe and i'm sure we'll be confident going forward in delivering what ukip wants to achieve. it was a huge big public outing ready for paul nuttal, and a test in a way, how disappointed will ukip members become what sort of damage? i think the disappointment is the area to focus on, because the damage, i think there was a lot of

expectation management within the party. i'm assuming that point of course. there is the experience of previous by—elections that they know that if they put up a big figure, a big beast if you like, that they know that the retaliation that is going to come down the line from the other pitiful parties is going to be big, and of course paul saw that and experience that first hand. i think the disappointment will be merely that they were unable to manage the media narrative, which was, this is right for ukip to take, ignoring the fa ct right for ukip to take, ignoring the fact that it was number 72 on the target list. they ignored the fact that paul took a risk, putting his head above the line. he has taken a hit with that but look on the positive side. this is what i'm doing as an independent political commentator, he has now brought out into the open, all of the attack that the labour party can ever, ever throw at him. so he knows there is nothing more that they can dredge up. they may try

nothing more that they can dredge to nothing more that they can dredge up. they may try to manufacture issues, but he has learned what they are going to throw at him and he will be able to deal with that going forward. to be honest what you are saying is it is somebody else's full, labour is full, why couldn't paul nuttal have won this? why couldn't it be somebody else's fault? i'm not suggesting it is somebody else's fault, i'm suggesting that paul and ukip, the narrative that was developed around the party and that individual winning was that he was only ever going to be a backward step, a damaging position if you like if they didn't achieve that. the expectation management is what i go back to. it is very easy for the media to take on a story, to keep on pushing it, and we saw that for the first two weeks of that campaign. pushing ukip, as really the challenger. almost the seat was there for the taking, that it was going to be an easy ride. of course that was nothing in terms of reality. it's the reality that ukip

and other insurgent parties are going to have too managed going forward bearing in mind that a 2—party put a good system, namely labour and the conservatives in the united kingdom wants to keep that going on. they want to squash and damage and destroy any party coming through. like more information on the by—election result, plenty more reaction and analysis on the bbc news website. the headlines on bbc news: the tories celebrate a victory in the copeland by—election — an area labour represented for more than 80 years. but the labour party sees off the threat from ukip, and wins the stoke by—election. kim jong—nam, the half—brother of north korea's leader, was killed by the highly toxic vx nerve agent, according according to malaysian authorities . and in sport, the sacked manager

claudio ranieri, had not lost the dressing room. manchester united have been drawn against the russian side rostov, and the centre ben teal will make his first start, against italy, in the rugby union. danny ca re italy, in the rugby union. danny care also comes back in as scrum—half. danny care also comes back in as scrum—half. the former leicester and england footballer, gary lineker, has described the club's sacking of claudio ranieri — nine months after he led them to the premier league title — as "inexplicable, unforgivable and gut—wrenchingly sad." the italian was dismissed last night after a string of poor results, that has left the side just one point — one place — above the relegation zone. 0ur sports correspondent joe wilson reports. and your manager, claudio ranieri!

he was the smile, the face and the manager of the most extraordinary sporting success anyone in leicester had ever seen, well quite possibly anyone anywhere had ever seen. and leicester sacked in. the starkness of that reality has shocked even those who have spent their life in football. yellow ladies and gentlemen please welcome the leicester city squad including their coach claudio ranieri. flashback to sports personality of the year, gary lineker the former leicester player and lifelong leicester fan, lineker the former leicester player and lifelong leicesterfan, and to claudio ranieri, eternally great. yellow way that everybody got behind leicester last season was just something, that i had never witnessed before. and i thinkjust to toss that all away, over a premature decision, and a disloyal and in many ways, a lack of

gratitude is quite gobsmacking. but ijust think that gratitude is quite gobsmacking. but i just think that he deserved gratitude is quite gobsmacking. but ijust think that he deserved a little bit more loyalty and certainly more time. personally i think they should be building statues to him, not sacking him. due think the players are culpable, do you think the players will be thinking crikey, i caused this?m the players are involved they should have a long hard look at themselves as well. there is always going to be an kind of after the lord mayors show season. it was never going to match anything like last season, this is the reality of where leicester normally are. they're all sorts of different reasons why has happened, but i just sorts of different reasons why has happened, but ijust think, it is a really sad day, for leicester, in many ways that it has come to this, i think he deserved a importance of a bit more time than this ready. i'm not ashamed to say last night when the news broke my shed a tear, i shed a tearfor claudio ranieri, for football and for my club.

le i ceste r‘s football and for my club. leicester's tie owners stressed that they were in crisis and they acted to help the club survive and the leicester fa ns to help the club survive and the leicester fans to to help the club survive and the leicester fa ns to fa ns to help the club survive and the leicester fans to fans to try to understand. i was very disappointed, i was not shocked because we are not playing too well, but last season he definitely deserved to stay with us until the end of the season, even if we got relegated he still deserve to be our manager. currently, the way things are like this, one year, he does the impossible and the next year he is sacked, it is disgusting. fruit and veg, those days, that was the linacre business, they are gone. in the past, the pitches were marred, now, the game has moved on. if the sacking of claudio ranieri, is modern football, what does that say about modern football? let's speak to our sports correspondent david 0rnstein who's at leicester city's ground. the feeling here today in leicester

is one of high emotion ready, the combinational sympathy for claudio ranieri, anger at the fact he has been sacked but also some supporters understanding the decision, that the club's owners have made in the interest of the club itself as they battle to avoid relegation. in 2015 when ranieri was appointed, there was a mixture of cynicism, and widespread doubt ready, but he confounded the critics, you proved them wrong. he brought celebrations, them wrong. he brought celebrations, the likes of which they have never seen before and certainly not in the likes of the club's 133 seen before and certainly not in the likes of the club's133 year history, it was this stadium that's all that you belay should, where claudio ranieri came last night to learn of his fate. also the stadium work craig shakespeare, claudio ranieri's assistant has been speaking in the last hour and this is what he had to say. very sad, i think we all know that

in football these things can happen, we had to make sure that we remember him, he will get the utmost respect from everybody associated with the foot ball clu b from everybody associated with the football club in what he has achieved. we know that people lose their jobs achieved. we know that people lose theirjobs because of results and ultimately, the owners have made that decision, whether i think it is the right decision is irrelevant, i think the owners have made that decision and we have to respect that, we all know that results have not been good enough, this season. that in that press conference, he denied reports that claudio ranieri had lost the dressing room, and he said that he spoke to ranieri briefly last night. and that the italian was shocked. the problem for leicester city now is that they are ina leicester city now is that they are in a relegation dogfight and they need to get out of it quickly, there arejust need to get out of it quickly, there are just 13 need to get out of it quickly, there arejust 13 games need to get out of it quickly, there are just 13 games left to go need to get out of it quickly, there arejust 13 games left to go in need to get out of it quickly, there are just 13 games left to go in the season. they sit one point and one place above the bottom three, they would become the first team since manchester city in the 1930s to get

relegated this season after winning the top—flight title. liverpool are the top—flight title. liverpool are the visitors here on monday, by that point, leicester could be in the bottom three and it is shakespeare's job along with those players who won the title last season to turn it around. it has been such an unforgettable around. it has been such an u nforg etta ble story over around. it has been such an unforgettable story over the last couple of years. police in malaysia say the half brother of the north korean leader kim jong—un was murdered with a highly toxic nerve agent known as vx. kim jong—nam was attacked at kuala lumpur airport last week. 0ur correspondent stephen evans sent this report from seoul. 0nlya drop of vx was needed. the assassin pulled the cloth over kim jong—nam's face and his fate was certain. he sought urgent medical help, but so deadly is a chemical agent that nothing would have saved him.

the malaysian police chief was adamant it was vx. it is the vx nerve agent, which is a chemical weapon. you don't know how it was brought in? no, we are investigating that. the police have three people in custody. the two women alleged to have actually attacked, and a north korean man said to have helped. one of the attackers may have contaminated herself. police want to talk to at least seven others, including a north korean diplomat and an employee of north korea's state airline. in 2013, kim jong—un inspected chemical weapons masks. north korea's long been suspected of making chemical weapons. south korean experts think the malaysian attack confirms that. a tiny drop of the vx agent can kill

anybody within a minute. so i think it is this, it can absorb the skin, eye, or whatever the body part. so it's more than 100 times toxic than the nerve gas commonly used, the sarin gas. and the problem with this vx is its toxic, tasteless and colourless. it's very hard to detect. the airport in kuala lumpur is to be swept for traces of any other deadly chemicals that the assassination team may have left. north korea is, in effect, a dynasty. the all—powerful leadership goes from father to son, brothers are rivals. 0ne threat to kim jong—un is now no more. reports from the iraqi city of mosul say government troops have entered

a neighbourhood in the western half of the city. they captured the airport yesterday as part of their battle to expel islamic state forces from its final stronghold in iraq. 0ur correspondent wyre davies is with iraqi forces near mosul. a very critical point in the battle for mosul, we have that after taking the airport yesterday, as of dawn this morning, iraqi forces have headed to heavily armed units, pushing islamic state back into the city itself, it is a very built—up area, 750,000 civilians had a difficult town to fight in. i am at a joint american iraqi base, and what is apparent is that international force is very much pa rt international force is very much part of this. there are american artillery units firing precisions shells at isis in and outside of

mosul. american advisers on the ground. boots on the ground as they call them trying to help the iraqi army to take the western part of the city. this is now a very critical pa rt city. this is now a very critical part of the fight to try and remove isis also called isis from its last big stronghold in iraq. royal bank of scotland has suffered a huge increase in its annual losses. the bank — 72—percent of which is owned by the government — reported a loss of £7 billion pounds for 2015, more than treble the amount for the year before. it's the ninth consecutive year that the bank has made a loss — and is one of the worst annual results for rbs since the government bailed out the banking group in 2008. chief executive ross mcewan said the figures were "disappointing" but should not come as a surprise given the problems that the bank's current management had inherited. a woman who died after being hit by debris in wolverhampton city centre during yesterday's storm has been named as tahnie martin. she was 29 and from stafford.

ms martin worked at the university of wolverhampton. in a statement its vice—chancellor said ‘we are all deeply saddened by this tragic loss.‘ storm doris caused winds of up to 100 mph — causing power cuts, flights to be grounded and trains cancelled. prince charles is reported to be backing new plans to sterilise grey squirrels in a bid to protect red squirrels. it would happen through oral contraceptives is injock in chocolate spread, which would then last several years. there is the biggest ever boost to help protect reds rules, conservationists say that they could disappear from england, wales and northern ireland within 20 years. red squirrels were once a common sight throughout much of the uk. but the introduction of their grey cousins 1111 years ago spelled

disasterfor the red population. carrying a disease which kills reds, the bigger, greedier grey squirrel dominates our landscape more than a century on, with more than 2.5 million of them around. there arejust140,000 reds in comparison. but in recent years, efforts to protect reds have had but the introduction of their grey cousins 1111 years ago spelled disasterfor the red population. carrying a disease which kills reds, the bigger, greedier grey squirrel but the introduction of their grey cousins 1111 years ago spelled disasterfor the red population. carrying a disease which kills reds, the bigger, greedier grey squirrel they're hoping the red squirrels united project will not only maintain, but maybe even increase numbers. we can train people to help with monitoring, so using trail cameras and hair tubes, we also need people to record their sightings and report them to us and also help with grey squirrel control. it's a really great opportunity for people to get involved

in a large—scale conservation project but also at a local level and really make a difference. this map shows how many red squirrels were around in 1945, compared to 2010. the campaign hopes to focus the efforts of volunteers on the nine areas where there are already red squirrels, including the glens of antrim in northern ireland, anglesey in wales, and merseyside in england. the saving scotland's red squirrels volunteer project will also get underway. most of us will never get this close to a baby squirrel. rachel's nursing this one back to health. but with this campaign there's a chance to make sure this native species survives and maybe even flourishes once again in the uk. aisling mcveigh, bbc news. it isa it is a bit frosty in that picture with the squirrels. let us go to the weather. lots of lovely springlike sunshine

out there. what a transformation compare to yesterday. not so rosy for us now, the rain turning wet, pushing through the rest of scotland. it will brighten up across northern ireland and scotland. some sunshine and sharp showers in the far north—west. it stays wet in cumbria. iam north—west. it stays wet in cumbria. i am today, but on sunday there is

more rain in the north and west and drier in the south and east. this is bbc news, the headlines: the tories celebrate a victory in the copeland by—election, an area labour represented for more than 80 years. theresa may said the result was an endorsement of the government's performance. what i think we've seen from this victory is that this truly is a government that is working for everyone and for every part of the country. but labour sees off a threat from ukip, and wins the stoke by—election. labour leaderjeremy corbyn says the politics of hope overcame the politics of fear. gary lineker says he shed a tear for claudio ranieri, who has been sacked as leicester's manager nine months after winning the premier league. lineker says the decision was "inexplicable" to many fans. kim jong—nam, the half—brother of north korea's leader, was killed by the highly toxic vx nerve agent according

to malaysian authorities. mr kim died last week after two women accosted him at kuala lumpur airport. royal bank of scotland reports a loss of £7 billion for 2016, far worse than the previous year's figure. the results mark the ninth consecutive year of losses for the bank, with chief executive ross mcewan warning of potential job cuts. now the sports news. leicester city's interim manager says claudio ranieri did not lose the support of the players in the run up to his sacking. ranieri helped leicester win the premier league last season but was sacked last night. with the team just one point and one place above the relegation zone. craig shakespeare told bbc sport editor dan roan the players needed the fans to be on their side.

i cannot tell the fans how to behave, but we will need their support over the next couple of matches, starting with liverpool on monday. can you categorically say he had not lost some parts of the dressing room? again it is pure speculation, but what i would say is there was a lot of frustration because of results, but he had not lost the dressing room. and former foxes striker and now match of the day presenter gary lineker has today told the bbc of his shock and sadness at ranieri's treatment by the club and criticised the harshness of the decision. given what he achieved, the extraordinary success of last season, i suppose in many ways he's been a victim of that success because expectancy levels rise so much. but leicester are where leicester normally are, or should be, and last year was the inexplicable one, not this season. the fact that they managed to get in a recent opposition in the last 16 of the champions league

with a 50—50 chance of getting through to the quarterfinals, and they are not in the bottom three, and given the magic of last season, surely they could have had some sentiment and empathy for him. i think the way that he handled everything this season, the fact that he gave leicester so much, the fact that he made the whole country get behind leicester, a lot of that was down to no silly football so—called mind games etc. he wasjust genuine, he was just warm, and the whole country warmed to him and to the club. now that will have evaporated today. the way that everybody got behind leicester last season was just something that i never witnessed really in football before. and just to toss that all away over a premature decision and a disloyal, in many ways a lack of gratitude, is quite gobsmacking. they have probably panicked

in the circumstances. they get this kind of myth that the new manager comes in and everything is ok again. the facts and statistics tell us that it doesn't really make that much difference. i think he deserved a little bit more loyalty and a little bit more time. they should be building statues to him, not sacking him. there are all sorts of different reasons why this has happened. ijust think it is a really sad day for leicester, in many ways, that it's come to this. he deserved and bought himself a bit more time than this. i'm not ashamed to say that last night when the news broke, i shed a tear, for claudio, for football and for my club. manchester united have been drawn against russian side rostov in the last 16 of the europa league. although they are at the lowest

ranked team left in the competition. it's not the draw that jose mourinho wanted. they face a 5,000—mile round trip for the first leg in russia, before a scheduled fa cup tie at chelsea a few days later. to rugby now and centre ben te'o will make his first start for england in sunday's six nations match with italy. te'o has won five caps, all as a replacement, including scoring the winning try in this year's championship match against france. danny care makes his first england start in a year at scrum—half, while elliot daly replaces anthony watson on the wing. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. a bit of breaking news. we are hearing that police have tasered a 43—year—old man shortly after 6pm on thursday to reports of a man with a gun at albert road in levenshulme.

armed officers attended, a 43—year—old man was detained. they later discovered he was in possession of a folding cane and was subsequently released. police established there was no threat and enquiries are continuing to understand the circumstances, but it seems this was a blind man who was in possession of a folding cane. he was tasered. the police are continuing to look into what happened. let's get more now on the by—elections last night. the conservatives have described their win in copeland as a "truly historic event". they took the seat from labour by more than 2,000 votes, the first time a governing party has won a seat from another party in a by—election for 35 years. here's the result in full. labour leaderjeremy corbyn says

the result is "disappointing" but insists he won't step down. labour won the other by—election in stoke central. here are the results. the prime minister arrived in copeland earlier to congratulate her new mp. this is what she had to say. labour was saying, we are going to win it. experts were saying labour would increase their majority, but all of you, the volunteers, who went out their day in, day out and campaign, you made sure that did not happen, that this is truly a

wonderful victory for the conservative party, but also for the people of copeland. what we have seen from this victory is that this truly is a government that is working for everyone and for every pa rt working for everyone and for every part of the country. let's discuss these results with the chief political commentator of the independent newspaper and the political editor from the new statesman. john, theresa may was sounding very perky. it is an extraordinary achievement for the government. as well she might. it is very ha rd to government. as well she might. it is very hard to convey quite how unprecedented this result is. people do not vote for government parties in by—elections in british politics. as she says, the governing party has not won a by—election, has not gained a seat in a by—election for 35 years. that was when the sdp broke away from the labour party. you have to go back to the 1960s for

a comparator will example, 1960, a wafer thin, two—way marginal. the conservative chairman sent an e—mail to supporters today saying this is the most camp arable by—election to one in 1878. but the franchise was different then. in effect this has never happened before. george, was this local factors or what is a reflection on the conservative government? theresa may does have wide appeal than david cameron and it is still relatively early in her premiership. she has had an extended honeymoon and she has managed to attract some ukip voters backed by pursuing brexit. is that what you think she has more of an appeal than david cameron? she is being perceived by some voters to be hard on brexit? certainly she has been

able to unify the right in the conservative party, but it is also a reflection ofjeremy corbyn's weakness. he has the worst poll ratings of any opposition leader in re ce nt ratings of any opposition leader in recent history. labour has been polling lower than its 2015 general election performance which was pretty dire, at a time when you normally expect the opposition to be fighting. jeremy corbyn has just arrived live in stoke. there we go, there are the pictures. time for a general election? we have come here to thank the volunteers for the hard work they put in to deliver what is a

good result for the labour party. this was a seat which many of you in the media had written the labour party of in. it showed we are united and committed and determined and we will win elections. perhaps there should be a general election then? cani should be a general election then? can i be the first to come here today to congratulate you on being elected the new mp for stoke on central. well done, gareth. can i thank everyone who worked so hard in this campaign when many in the media wrote us off and said ukip will win that place, ukip will take it. yesterday people came out, worked, knocked on doors and delivered a message. it is a message about the economy, jobs, about this country, but above all it was a message that hope triumphs over fear. and

but above all it was a message that hope triumphs overfear. and it but above all it was a message that hope triumphs over fear. and it was the victory of the labour party and the victory of the labour party and the labour candidate yesterday that has delivered this marvellous result in stoke on trent. when i was here last week, gareth put forward his plan for the potteries and we will be working on that straightaway for an economy that is based on investment, good jobs and growth, based on opportunities for everybody in our society. ukip and the tories cannot offer that, we can, we will and we will win. thank you very much indeed. what happened in copeland? what about copeland, mr corbyn? there is the labour leaderjeremy corbyn saying hope triumphs over fear after that victory in stoke—on—trent. not quite as keen to a nswer stoke—on—trent. not quite as keen to answer questions about the conservative victory in copeland. let's go to stoke—on—trent now,

and our assistant political editor norman smith. i think that was you shouting at the question. we might be able to get a few words with him. he is talking to a local party member, talking about the victory in stoke, but he has not a nswered the victory in stoke, but he has not answered questions about copeland. we will get the question to him when he has finished talking to the local party member. mr corbyn, mr corbyn, what about copeland, mr corbyn? what is your verdict on that? what i learned about the media is you are incredibly rude to each other. just a simple question about copeland. let's see if you can followjeremy corbyn and make any progress. he does not want to answer any questions about copeland because

that was a shattering outcome for labour and that was a shattering outcome for labourandi that was a shattering outcome for labourand i think that was a shattering outcome for labour and i think he is going to get in his car and leave straightaway without answering any questions from reporters. it is a long way to come not to answer any questions, but i think that is what is going to happen. 0nly really speaking about stoke and really a very short visit indeed. i suppose it is about three or four minutes here. i presume he will be getting the train back to london. clearly no desire to talk to reporters. so, there goesjeremy corbyn. they are just manoeuvring his car out now. i tried to get a question to him. he talked a little bit to local activists, but you get a sense of the anger that they feel about the

mainstream media and the way they feel it has portrayed the labour party. in their view it gave an impression that the victory for ukip was inevitable. there he goes, short and sharp. the big question surrounds what he happened to think about copeland. there were tough questions for jammy corbyn about copeland. there were tough questions forjammy corbyn but he was in no mood to be taking those today and he did not take any of our questions at all. norman, you tried your best. norman is not rude. always polite. let's go back to our two guests, the chief political commentator at the independent newspaper and the political editor of the new statesman. it was notjeremy corbyn who was not very keen to ask answer

questions about copeland. most journalists thought that labour would hold stoke, certainly after paul nuttall‘s leadership of ukip self imploded. does that show that perhaps ukip is not such a threat to the labour party as pundits and commentators have been saying?” think ukip is not a threat to anything but itself at the moment. it is basically an ex—party now. its main purpose has been achieved. it is very hard to see it surviving as a protest party against labour in the north of england, which is what it is trying to run as in stoke. the important result was labour performed very badly in two by—elections and if jeremy performed very badly in two by—elections and ifjeremy corbyn had any honour he would resign as leader of the labour party, but he will not do so. does this put him in

morejeopardy or does it will not do so. does this put him in more jeopardy or does it make safer? he is hailing stoke is a great victory. that he is hailing stoke is a great victory is a mark of labour's weakness. it should never have been in doubt that labour held at sea, they have had it since the second world war. jeremy corbyn is the weakest post—war leader in the country, but he is stronger in the party. he had 7000 members leader after he backed the triggering of article 50. others are disillusioned with his leadership. but the reason there will not be another challenge to him at this moment is because labour mps believe if there was another contest, jeremy corbyn would win again by a sizeable margin. it is offered when he is campaigning for his own leadership that he is at his most energetic. we saw that last summer. 80% voted against him in a

vote of no—confidence, but they think he needs to be allowed to fail in his time. if they cannot say anything nice about him, and few can, they should not say anything at all. if they had lost both by—elections, he would have been under more significant pressure. but he said in that short address that hope triumphs over fear. he can portray it as a victory. although the labour share of the vote went down and it was a complete reputation of what he ran with the leadership on, a campaign to mobilise nonvoters. the turnout in stoke was poor and their turn of the vote went down. it was a poor performance in a seat that should have been comfortable and he is trying to distract from the utter disaster of losing copeland to the government. if he had lost both of them, would he have resigned? possibly not. his position is unsustainable anyway, the question

of when he stops being leader is only a question of when, not whether. do you think he will not be able to hold on until the next election? no prospect. he is in a hopeless position. if he survives by some miracle as leader until the next general election, he will lead labour to the most utter disaster. i think people will not tolerate that in the labour party. good to talk to both of you. thank you both very much for your abuse. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc news. the tories celebrate a victory in the copeland by—election, an area labour represented for more than 80 years. but the labour party sees off the threat from ukip, and wins the stoke by—election. kim jong—nam, the half—brother of north korea's leader, was killed by the highly toxic vx nerve agent according to malaysian authorities. in the business news:

royal bank of scotland has reported another massive loss for the ninth year in a row. the bank, which is 72% owned by taxpayers, lost £7 billion in 2016, three times more than they lost the year before. rbs says it has put aside more money to deal with legal action and published plans to cut costs by £2 billion over the next four years. it means branch closures and job losses. airline group iag, which owns british airways and iberia, has reported a rise in profits. pre—tax profits at the company rose by nearly a third last year to £2bn, but a weak pound cost them £338m. and heathrow airport — the biggest in europe in terms of passengers, 3rd biggest in the world — says it served a record number of passengers last year. 75.7 million people passed through its gates in 2016, a rise of 1% on the previous year. cargo volumes were also

up — so was revenue. more on that story on the royal bank of scotland. it's reported another loss. the bank is largely owned by taxpayers. now its planning cost savings at the moment which will mean job cuts and branch closures. the bank has lost £7 billion in 2016 — that's more than three times last year's loss. it hasn't made a profit for nine years, although it expects to next year. its also set aside more money to deal with legal action in the us and its now abandoned attempt to spin off its williams & glynn business. the bank plans to cut costs by £2 billion over the next four years. that will mean branch closures and substantial job losses. its not clear at the moment about how many will go. the government bailed out rbs at the height of the financial crisis, but the treasury is unlikely to be able to sell its majority stake any time soon. this the chief executive, ross mcewan talking about those job losses. burst of, ten years ago we were the

largest bank in the world. my aspiration is not to be a global bank, but to be a great bag in the uk and the republic of ireland. we have sold businesses and we are coming back to the uk. we are here to do coming back to the uk. we are here todoa coming back to the uk. we are here to do a good job. there will be job losses. but we are reshaping the business in the uk and serving customers here and we are doing a pretty good job. that is what they are telling us in the surveys. but there is a big change going on in banking itself and people are using digital channels much more than we anticipated three and a half years ago when i took over. the mobile phone, the laptop. 30% of banking is being done on the mobile phone on the laptop and that is a big change. let's hear now from michelle mcgrade, the chief investment officer at td direct investing. if you are listening to this and you

area bank if you are listening to this and you are a bank account holder at rbs should you be worried? no, not really because the losses that you are seeing the demons that the bank is trying to clear up after the globalfinancial is trying to clear up after the global financial crisis nine years ago. underlying all of that, if you look at the retail profits of their bank in the uk as ross was talking about, they made a profit there and they increased their profit from this time last year. though actually on the ground it is doing 0k. they we re on the ground it is doing 0k. they were quite optimistic about returning to profit. rbs a few years ago was seen as a big, global banking giant, but now it is taking a different direction and is a lot more domestic now. yes, definitely a lot more domestic, that is where it seesit

lot more domestic, that is where it sees it has its strengths, so it is focusing on the uk and on our land as ross said earlier. how does it compare to other banks? yesterday ba rclays reported compare to other banks? yesterday barclays reported its results and the shares were doing 0k at first, but then we saw shares dip. how does it compare to other banks and us banks? rbs is a retail and business banks? rbs is a retail and business bank and that is where they are really focused. if you compare it to ba rclays, ba rclays a re really focused. if you compare it to barclays, barclays are retail and they have a large investment bank and they focused not only on the uk, but on the us as well. their price came down a little bit is because investors are worried about whether they can compete in the euro investment banking market against the big giants over there. but rbs will compete on the ground with ba rclays, will compete on the ground with barclays, with lloyds and hsbc and the challenger banks, so there is a

lot for them to think about and they will have to invest more in technology. as you have heard, people are doing their banking differently nowadays. thank you very much. thank you very much. a quick look at the markets before we go. no, no markets, iwill a quick look at the markets before we go. no, no markets, i will be backin we go. no, no markets, i will be back in an hour. and they suddenly appeared subliminally! fabulous. we will get the weather now. john hammond is on the weather now. john hammond is on the balcony. no, he is not, he is on a lake. actually in cumbria it is already clouding over again as the next system arrives, but it is good by doris. it is moving out into eastern europe as i speak, taking those vicious winds as i speak. for many

of usa vicious winds as i speak. for many of us a window of sunshine to enjoy during the rest of the day, particularly across england and wales. the odd shower, but very isolated. some cloud in eastern counties, but that will break up through the rest of the afternoon. not through the rest of the afternoon. n ot exa ctly through the rest of the afternoon. not exactly warm, but in the sunshine it feels very pleasant indeed. turning down in the west and rain pushing through northern ireland. a bit of white stuff in the north of scotland towards the end of the day, but it will turn into rain as we head into the night. some of that rain pushes down into england and wales, but very little in southern counties. more heavy rain pushes back into northern ireland. temperatures on the rise, no problems with frost. we could seek an early dip in southern counties, but they picked up again in the morning. further wet weather in the

north and west, but it should brighten up. it stays wet in cumbria. this is the focus for the wet weather. miles, but the wind and the rain means it will not feel that clever. cumbria is seeing a lot of rain. you can see the extent of the rain. you can see the extent of the rain across cumbria. a small risk of flooding. a bit of a respite on sunday before more wet weather arrives again. another system comes in off the atlantic on sunday. this will be the focus of more wind and rain. further south and east it is looking more rosy. it should be quite pleasant, i'll double figures. the wind and the rain will not make it feel all that clever. it will be mild and it will be blustery at times and not as windy as it has

been and there will be some rain in the north—westerly parts of the uk. this is bbc news. the headlines at three. a big victory for the conservatives at the copeland by—election — unseating labour after they held the seat for more than 80 years. this is an astounding victory for the conservative party but also for the conservative party but also for the people of copeland. but labour sees off a threat from ukip, and holds onto stoke. jeremy corbyn says the politics of hope overcame the politics of fear... people came out, worked, knocked on doors and delivered a message — it's a message about the economy, it's a message about jobs, it's a message about this country. it was disappointing, the conservative vote held up well but we didn't get that conservative tactical vote. i feel sorry for paul nuttal, he fought a hard campaign.