this is bbc news. the headlines. ukip's only mp, douglas carswell, is standing down from the party but will stay on as an independent mp. he tells us he's achieved his main objective with the party. we can be absolutely certain that brexit is in good hands. we are going to leave and all of the things that vote leave campaigned for are going to come to pass. it's wonderful. ukip says carswell‘s resignation isn't a surprise. the people who voted for ukip didn't really vote father ukip because douglas carswell was there, i mean, he is has been a semidetached person for a long time with this party. frankly, this is rather a nice breath of fresh air that this is now behind us. two men remain in custody as investigations continue into the westminster terror attack. it's emerged khalid masood sent

whatsapp messages moments before he carried out the attack. also in the next hour, celebrating 60 years since the beginning of the european union. leaders from 27 eu countries gather to mark the anniversary as theresa may prepares to formally declare the uk's intention to leave the club. and, find out how google is turning india's163—year—old railway into a fibre optic network. that's in click at 3.30pm. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the uk independence party's only mp, douglas carswell, has announced he's leaving the party. in a statement on his website,

mr carswell said that he was quitting ukip in the knowledge that his goal of leaving the european union had been achieved. he will now be sitting as an independent mp. ina in a statement ukip‘s leader said the party hasn't benefitted financially or organisationally from having douglas carswell as an mp while former leader nigel farage tweeted that douglas carswell had jumped before he was pushed. . in douglas carswell‘s first television interview after the announcement my colleague began by asking him why he made the decision to leave the party. on wednesday, theresa may announces that she's triggering article 50, ukip, my party, we were set up 23 years ago to get us out of the european union, job done, we have won. is that the only reason for ukip‘s existence, many would say ukip is a much bigger force than that? obviously, when you get into politics and people are elected to do things there are all sorts of things you can convince yourself you are there to do.

but, you know, ithink the fundamental reason for ukip, certainly the reason i made that switch and the reasons why i think millions of people around the country made the switch to ukip, was over the europe question. we can be sure now, we can be absolutely certain that brexit is in good hands. we are going to leave. all of the things that vote leave campaigned for are going to come to pass, it's wonderful. this is a moment for celebration. you are doing this a few days before the prime minister triggers article 50. starting that period of negotiation that will lead to the withdrawal, why have you done it now? i thought of maybe doing it a couple of days after, then i thought it's momentous, wonderful news, i thought actually saying it now might allow some context. i want people to go on to my blog and read what i have said. i avoided putting something in a newspaper or briefing a journalist, i thought write it on my blog, first of all see if anyone reads my blog, it took them a while. i think they're reading. let people see what i have said in my words, iwant

people to understand, for me getting out of the european union is so important, i care so passionately about it, i was prepared to change parties, trigger by—elections, it's happening in three days‘ time. it's wonderful. what is going to happen now, because you say that you are going to sit as an independent mp without triggering a by—election? you can do that, technically, but morally should you be doing that? if i was switching party i would without question call a by—election. i know that because i was the first mp in, i think, 26 years to do that. no one makes you, but i felt when i was a conservative and wanted tojoin ukip i felt a moral obligation. a democratic obligation to do that. but i am not switching parties now. i am not changing, i am not crossing the floor, i am going to still sit in opposition. i am going to be holding the government to account. if you entered a world in which you would automatically have a by—election if you left a party, farfrom empowering constituents that would strengthen party bosses so i think this is entirely right, entirely

consistent with the principles of direct democracy. i have stood for election four times and won four times and i am now without having the party hierarchy able to focus entirely on meeting my constituents‘ needs. yet there are people within ukip who say you really should stand for re—election, you were elected with ukip support, ukip leaflets and support behind you. surely you should? there are always going to be one or two people who don't reciprocate the goodwill and amicable feelings i have for the party, i wish them well and have respect for those people i met in ukip, they're the heros ofjune 23rd. there are always going to be one or two who perhaps won't take yes for an answer. look, we are in this business for one reason, getting out of the eu, that's happening on wednesday, let's not snipe at each other. if you want to be angry

with the modern world, find something else to be angry about. let's be clear, you will not stand down to trigger a by—election? i am not calling a by—election, i am not changing parties, so i have no need to. if i was to join the conservatives, not that i am a good conservative, but if i was to join the conservatives, then of course i would call a by—election but i am not. you have no intention of joining the conservatives? theresa may has done a fantastic job the past 8 months, her trajectory is spot on. 2020 is a long time away, let's wait and see but i am not going to join the conservatives as mp for clacton. you have said in your blog and said now that you are leaving ukip, it's amicable, friendly, but we all know that relations between you and the previous leadership of ukip, nigel farage, their backer arron banks, have been anything but amicable. how much has that

influenced your decision? i rarely made any big decisions in politics with reference to either of those two individuals and their priorities. my decision to trigger a by—election was in order to make sure we got a referendum. my decision to back vote leave was in order to make sure that the right people ran the right sort of campaign. when i called the by—election and celebrated the victory in the clacton by—election i talked about the need for a eurosceptism that appealed to all britain and all britons and i feel very much that you win in politics from parish councils to referendums by being positive and optimistic. i listened to all sorts of criticism and advice from some people who were perhaps, you know, take a different view. i wish them well. earlier i spoke to peter whittle, deputy leader of ukip who gave his thoughts on why douglas carswell had decided to leave the party. i mean, the fact is that the people who voted for ukip and voted

all the way along for ukip didn't really vote for ukip because carswell was there, he has been a semidetached person for a long time with the party. this is rather a nice breath of fresh air that... symbolically, though, very important to have a member of parliament in the house of commons behind you. well, it is if it's somebody who is utterly with you as a party. but i think that douglas was never really comfortable in ukip, that's now been made clear and of course we look forward very much to him obviously being a man of principle to have a by—election and we will look forward very much to fighting the seat. he says there is not going to be a by—election. 0h, he did. right, the fact is he made quite a big fuss when he came over to ukip of actually standing as a man of honour in his seat and trying and trying to get re—election, so i think the same should apply here. the point is that douglas can go

on his merry way but the fact is it makes almost no difference to us at all. i'm joined now by ukip mep bill etheridge who is in our studios in birmingham. thank you for taking the time to talk to us this afternoon. you have written today that douglas carswell has been a source of division and a malevolent in—— influence in ukip. douglas carswell says his departure was amicable. i am not sure what planet douglas ca rswell lives was amicable. i am not sure what planet douglas carswell lives on. quite frankly, he joined planet douglas carswell lives on. quite frankly, hejoined our party with one intention, that was to cause problems for us and to cause problems for the previous leadership. his whole demeanour talks about vote leave, and he was clearly a n talks about vote leave, and he was clearly an agent towards making vote leave more important during the referendum campaign than ukip. he says he leaves now with no ill—feeling. well, we will see about that if we can have the by—election that if we can have the by—election that we richly deserve in clacton. he can't have it all his own way. he

is leaving tojoin he can't have it all his own way. he is leaving to join whatever it is the douglas carswell party, i am sure they'll not even get on with him. let's see whether he is honourable and put this to the test. when he did join he was welcomed with great fanfare by nigel farage who talked of perhaps other mps crossing the floor to join ukip. who talked of perhaps other mps crossing the floor tojoin ukip. so, was that a misjudgment at the time to welcome him in the way he was? no, ithink to welcome him in the way he was? no, i think it's fair enough to give people a fair chance and to say if you want to join people a fair chance and to say if you want tojoin us, be part of things. but since that moment douglas has done nothing constructive for our party. he has labelled himself as vote leave rather than ukip and sniped and run down everything about our party. frankly, i am delighted he is gone. but i would love the chance to prosecute this further in the court of public opinion as a by—election where we can really take him to task on his behaviour. but he is not going to — he is not going to call a by—election, is he, as wejust heard, andi

by—election, is he, as wejust heard, and i put that to your party colleague. douglas carswell says he is standing as an independent or staying as an independent. weasel words. nonsense from someone who claimed to be a man of honour and is nothing of sort and has gone out of his way to try and cause problems for our party. he has been a member for our party. he has been a member for five minutes, for our party. he has been a member forfive minutes, during that time he has caused nothing but division and problems and now he is leaving trying to pretend it's mission pleasured for ukip. i wish that he actually understood more about ukip, maybe he might not have come to us in the first place or could have been more constructive when he was with us. paul nuttall, ukip leader, says we have an opportunity to put behind us the most damaging internal conflict which has dogged us over the past year. a lot has played out through the attempts to find a leaderfor the party through the attempts to find a leader for the party after the departure of nigel farage. you can't be saying that douglas carswell has been responsible for all of these internal problems, can you? no, there was a large amount of disruption and problems going on and we had a difficult time sorting out

the leadership. we have got one now that we are all united behind. this isa that we are all united behind. this is a great opportunity for paul to really sta m p is a great opportunity for paul to really stamp his authority on the party and take us forward without the problems that have been hampering us because now the main reason for division has gone and that boil is lanced i am sure we can go forward as a united party. so paul nuttall talks about redefining ukip's mission. what is that now, you have lost an mp, albeit an mp who you weren't happy with, theresa may is moving forward with brexit, the triggering of article 50 next week. the conservatives seem to be eating up ground that traditionally might have been ukip's. so how can you redefine your mission and remain a relevant party? we reemphasise our mission as a patriotic party, a party all about more rights and freedoms for the individual, about making the state deliver, rather than — making sure it's the servant of the people rather than the master

and a party that isn't part of the establishment, that questions everything, and that seeks to make things better from the everything, and that seeks to make things betterfrom the point everything, and that seeks to make things better from the point of view of the outsider and that's what we have done extremely successfully so far, without us there wouldn't have been a referendum, there wouldn't have been a win without our ground troops, so we go forward to change the face of british politics entirely. it might be a tough job, would you agree with that? everything in ukip is a toughjob. but we always get out there and do our best and our track record is pretty effective. we are going to go forward from strength to strength from here and the future is very, very exciting. thank you. a former head of the metropolitan police has called for changes to security at westminster following wednesday's terror attack. former chief constable lord blair said there should be a review of the arming of officers. two men from birmingham continue to be questioned by police in connection with the attack. our correspondent nick beake reports. the scramble of armed police in the aftermath of the westminster attack.

new video taken by a taxi driver shows how marksmen swooped on parliament from all directions. this footage shows medical equipment being thrown to those treating the unarmed pc keith palmer. but it was to no avail. now, one former police chief in charge during the london bombings 12 years ago, believes security at westminster needs to be tightened. i'm certain that there will be a review now of the kind of outer soft rim, always behind it is the inner core of armed officers, but pc keith palmer has paid for his life for that soft outer rim and i think his family at least and everybody else needs the reassurance that that will be reviewed. the picture emerging of the killer, khalid masood, is confused. a man described by some as charming, also had a long history of violence. we know three minutes before he launched his deadly attack, he checked messages on his phone.

counter—terror police will be desperate to know who he was last in contact with. the key question — why did khalid masood strike at westminster — has still not been answered. it is not clear if someone radicalised him here in the uk while he was in saudi arabia or maybe during his two spells in prison. but senior scotland yard officers tell me they are more concerned about the risk of people being brainwashed behind bars here than here than from jihadis returning from abroad. 15 people injured in the attack are still in hospital. two of them critical. a website set up in memory of pc keith palmer has raised almost £750,000. and nick is at new scotland yard for us now. what's the latest with the investigation? well, what happened on wednesday at westminster was clearly a tragedy for the

metropolitan police service and you can see today more people are leaving flowers, taking time to think quietly and remember pc keith palmer who was killed in the line of duty. but also from an investigative point of view, for the police, it was a nightmare scenario because they quickly realised the attacker was someone they quickly realised the attacker was someone who they quickly realised the attacker was someone who was not on they quickly realised the attacker was someone who was not on the intelligence radar, the prime minister later confirmed that he had been investigated by mi5 sometime ago but not certainly for a while. so, in the here and now we know that two people are still in police custody, a 58—year—old man from birmingham and a 27—year—old man from birmingham. both those men were arrested under terrorism legislation which means in theory they can be held for two weeks. the police acted relatively fast i would suggest after the attack, they arrested 11 people in all, seven have been told they'll face no further action and two women have been bailed to a later date, among them a 39—year—old woman from east london who we believe is the partner of the man

who carried out this attack. of course, the police will be trying to piece together the last moments, his last movements and central to this could be this activity on his mobile phone using the app whatsapp, you are able to see the last time that someone accessed messages on are able to see the last time that someone accessed messages on that. there may be some suggestion that he sent a message three minutes before he launched his deadly attack before he launched his deadly attack before he drove the car over westminster bridge. the police will be wanting to find out if he did indeed send a message and wasn'tjust checking his messages, was he saying goodbye to someone, was messages, was he saying goodbye to someone, was he waiting further instruction or was this some sort of interaction with people who may well have radicalised him? there is so much speculation at the moment and for the counterterrorism officers this is a huge operation. they've lots and lots of cctv to go through. they say the response from the public has been extremely strong, more than 100 videos have been sent to them, more than 2500 witnesses,

lots of material for them to plough through. we don't expect an update from scotland yard today but clearly an investigation which started on wednesday has bigger and bigger and at some point we expect the police to update us further. thank you very much. the headlines: ukip's only mp, douglas carswell, is standing down from the party but will stay on as an independent mp. two men remain in custody as investigations continue into the westminster terror attack. it's emerged khalid masood sent messages moments before he carried out the attack. leaders from 27 eu countries gather to mark the 60th anniversary of the treaty of rome as theresa may prepares to formally declare the uk's intention to leave the club. in sport, the scottish chalg cup final has been won by dundee united. they lifted the trophy for the first

time. lewis hamilton will be on pole position for the australian grand prix. and the world number 11, european union leaders have marked the 60th anniversary of the eu's founding treaty with a formal declaration promising to deepen unity. the meeting comes four days before theresa may, who is absent from the ceremony in rome, is due to formally declare the uk's intention to leave the eu. damien grammaticas reports from rome. signing their new declaration of unity, the leaders of every eu

country were in rome today except one, the uk on the point of triggering its exit. just as the union marks its 60th birthday. it was founded in this very same room. 1957, six nations created an economic partnership. today, it has vastly expanded, but emerging from an economic crisis and facing terrorism and refugees flows and brexit. so 27 leaders struggled to fit into the same room. the union has its own currency, a single market and even an anthem. the eu's leaders said it should not be forgotten that co—operation had brought peace and prosperity to a continent they remembered from their childhoods being destroyed by war. it is a union that rose from the ashes of two world wars, shaped by the hands and by the iron will of those that had returned from battlefields and concentration

camps only a few years earlier. i was eight years when the community established a single council and a single commission through the treaty. the roads i then took to school every day still through the ruins of the burned city. for me, the second world war is not an obstruction. 0utside supporters of the eu rallied on rome's streets. this was one of the several events in the city, butjust a few hundred turned out to it. the leaders' summit is in part about charting a new future for the eu, responding to the challenges they face. but the crowds who've turned out aren't that big so the question

they have to answer is how to rekindle enthusiasm for the project? thousands of people are in london for another protest against the uk leaving the eu. the prime minister, theresa may, is triggering article 50, which will start the process for leaving the eu, on wednesday. marchers held a minute's silence at the start of the demonstration in memory of the victims of the terror attack at westminster. president trump says he'll now switch his focus to tax reform after failing to scrap barack 0bama's health reforms, one of his key election promises. the bill to overturn 0bamacare was withdrawn on friday because of a lack of support within his own republican party. the bbc‘s laura bicker has been covering the story. but republicans control the house. they control the senate, they role the white house. the major levers of power here in washington.

and still they could not get the job done. what was the problem? well, those within the partyjust simply couldn't agree. those on the left of the party hated the idea. those on the right of the party hated the idea. for some it went too far. for others, they didn't go far enough. so bringing those two sides together required the ultimate diplomat, it required the ultimate deal—maker, you would think. donald trump has sold himself during the campaign as the man who would get things done in washington. but it seems he has oversold his ability as a salesman because when it comes to politics he couldn't persuade them to get the job done. do you think this is more about divisions over 0bamacare within republican members of congress, rather than any issues between them and donald trump? it is more about republicans being unable to come together. paul ryan said yesterday in trying to blame it on growing pains, for the last eight years republicans have had to oppose democratic policies, they've had

to say we don't like that, we are not going to vote for it. now they've to come together and find a way to agree with one another and there's so many factions within this one party and they all represent competing districts. when it comes to healthcare, as the president himself said, who knew it could be so complicated? they've now got to move on to something equally as complicated, and that is tax reform. again, many of them will represent their own districts. how they're going to come together and find a way on tax reform when they couldn't on the one pledge they've made for the last seven years will be very difficult. it's going to be a difficult deal for president trump to make but make no bones about it, if he fails a second time, it will be increasingly embarrassing. so the pressure on him certainly. as for healthcare, we stay with the status quo, is that right? that's right. 0bamaca re, healthca re remains the same. after the pledge that president trump made at every rally to repeal and replace 0bamacare

within the first 100 days of his office, it's a key pledge that he has failed on, his first major legislative hurdle and he has failed tojump it. when it comes to 0bamacare now, it will remain in place but that causes problems as they move on to tax reform. because they were relying on the tax breaks they would get from repealing 0bamacare to build on that bloc for their major reforms on tax. so, they're going to be going back to the drawing board on that, as well. two teenager boys have been found dead at cliffs in saltburch in north—east of england. —— saltburn. clevela nd north—east of england. —— saltburn. cleveland police found the two bodies of the 17—year—olds at the bottom of the cliff. police are trying to establish the circumstances of what happened. the

families of the boys are being supported by specialist officers. a 17—year—old has died after collapsing in the ring at an amateur boxing match. eddie bilbey, from derbyshire, was competing in south normanton on friday evening. the us military says it carried out an airstrike at the us military says it carried out an air strike at an iraqi request at an air strike at an iraqi request at a site where hundreds of civilians are reported dead. the united nations has raised certains about the casualties in the iraqi city of mosul. iraqi forces backed by a us—led coalition are fighting to retack the city from the terror group islamic state. at least 200 people are reported to have been killed with many buried under the rubble. the us has opened a formal investigation. more needs to be done to help tackle the vicious cycle of debt and overcharging according to a house of lords committee. it says banks are failing customers who need them most leaving the poorest to reply on expensive products. here's our business correspondentjonty bloom. banks and building societies are not only there for the rich but they are more difficult

for the poor to access. 1.7 million people in this country have no bank account, many can only borrow at high interest rates, even if they aren't forced to use payday lenders. the closure of thousands of high street banks also hits the poorest and especially the elderly, as they have less access to online services. 40% of the working age population have less than £100 in savings. if they have to use pre—paid metres they also pay more for basic services like gas and electricity. to end such financial exclusion the lords committee is calling for better financial education in schools, a dedicated government minister to tackle the problem and for the banks to have a duty of care to customers. too many people still don't have a bank account or access to basic and fairly priced financial services of the sort most of us take for granted. that means that the poverty premium, where the poor are paying more for a range of things from heating their house to being able to get a loan, is leading them into a vicious

circle of further debt and financial distress. the government says four million people are benefitting from basic bank accounts which charge no fees and that tough new rules mean that the number of payday loans has halved since 2014. this year's red nose day has so far raised more than £71 million. the fundraiser included james corden's carpool karaoke with take that and a special love actually sequel. comic relief has raised more than £1 billion since it launched in 1985. it's time for the weather forecast. hi there. if you missed out on the sunshine don't worry there will be plenty more tomorrow. a stunning weekend across many parts of the country. mind you, this evening temperatures will soon tumble away

under clear skies and the heat escaping, it will turn into a chilly night. don't forget you put your clocks forward by one hour through the early hours, you get one hour less. it will be cold, by around dawn temperatures into single figures. across some northern areas in rural spots a touch of frost, particularly across glens of northern ireland and scotland. the odd mist patch around but they won't last long. a lot of sunshine to come yet again. sunshine from dawn to dusk for most. still that breeze across southern dusk for most. still that breeze across southern areas. dusk for most. still that breeze across southern areas. if you are out in the breeze and out of the sunshine it will feel fresh. around exposed coasts temperatures will be held back. but for many of us low to mid—teens and the high teens possible across western parts of scotland. very warm indeed for the time of year. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines now at 3:30pm.

ukip‘s leader paul nuttall has described the decision by the party's only mp — douglas carswell — to leave the party as no surprise. mr carswell says he'll carry on sitting as an independent mp and is leaving ukip "amicably and cheerfully". 0n on wednesday theresa may announces that she's