this is bbc news. the headlines at apm: 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‘s leader paul nuttall says carswell‘s resignation isn't a surprise. his deputy says the mp's departure isn't a great loss to the party. i mean he's been a very semidetached person for a very long time with this party and frankly this is rather a nice breath of fresh air — 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 reporters looks at syria's world cup dreams and whether football can unite a country at war. that's at liz30pm. 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. in a statement ukip‘s leader paul nuttall said that the party has not benefited financially or organisationally from having douglas carswell as an mp while former leader nigel farage tweeted that mr carswell had jumped before he was pushed. in mr carswell‘s first television interview, my colleague reeta chakrabarti 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 fantasticjob the past eight 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 aaron 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. well a little earlier i spoke to peter whittle, deputy leader of the uk independence party who gave me his thoughts on why mr carswell had decided to leave the party. look, 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 douglas carswell was there, he's 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 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. with me for more on this is our political correspondent matt cole. various ukip figures putting on a

pretty good front about all of this, are they genuinely glad to be rid of douglas carswell even though it means losing their only mp?|j douglas carswell even though it means losing their only mp? i think we should separate those issues, there are plenty of people who think he has been a divisive figure who never really mentally left the conservative party. he fell out spectacularly with nigel farage pretty quickly afterjoining. in recent times people have accused douglas carswell of using his parliamentary position to block nigel from being elevated to a peer. there are those who will be delighted but they will not be pleased that after 4 million votes the only seat in the commons at the general election was the clacton seat of douglas carswell and now they want even have that. he is making it clear he does not intend to have a by—election like he did the last time. which is a bone of

contention for ukip who would love to have a go at winning that seat for ukip. interesting what douglas ca rswell was for ukip. interesting what douglas carswell was saying in the interview, he said brexit is in good hands, theresa may has got her trajectory spot on. he is leaving ukip basically saying it's ok, another party has it covered. he was full of praise for the prime minister i think it's safe to sum up what he said in those terms. leading some to wonder where his future lies. he was very careful in his a nswe i’s lies. he was very careful in his a nswers to lies. he was very careful in his answers to say he does not intend to join, rejoin the conservative party as the clacton mp. but if you pick through that it does not seem to rule out the possibility of calling a by—election after a future agreement with the conservatives. he is indicating he does not intend to join them at the moment but does not seem join them at the moment but does not seem to be rolling it out long—term

either. briefly, what then of the future for ukip? that is the big question we have had sincejune 23 last year, the boat for brexit, in the words of douglas carswell it is job done. again he was deflecting questions if he thinks ukip has a future, he seems to bluntly be saying theirjob is done. i think paul nuttall is very clear that he sees their mission going after working—class votes in the north of england, former labour voters, that perhaps coming from douglas ca rswell‘s conservative perhaps coming from douglas carswell‘s conservative tradition, perhaps he did not see himself as pa rt perhaps he did not see himself as part of that project. thank you. a former head of the metropolitan police has called for changes to security at westminster, following wednesday's terror attack. former commissioner 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 bea ke 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 am absolutely 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 knowjust 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. its not clear if someone radicalised him here in the uk, while he was in saudi arabia or maybe during his three spells in prison. but senior scotland yard officers tell me they are more concerned about the risk of people being brain washed behind bars here than from jihadis trying to return from abroad. 15 people from the attack are still in hospital. two of them are critical. a website set up in memory of pc keith palmer has now raised almost £750,000. earlier i spoke to nick and asked him about the latest on 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 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 manfrom 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 that. there may be some suggestion that he sent a message three minutes 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 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 2,500 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. the headlines on bbc news: ukip‘s only mp douglas carswell is standing down from the party — but will stay on as an independent mp. ukip says his resignation isn't a surprise and will not affect the future of his party. 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. 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. the scottish challenge cup final has

been won by dundee united to beat st mirren 2—i been won by dundee united to beat st mirren 2—1 at fir park. lewis hamilton will be on pole position for the austrian grand prix, the first fi race of the season, he beat sebastian vettel to first place on the grid. five—time major winner phil mickleson is through the last eight of the matchplay tournament in california, he beat marc leishman of australia whilst ross fisher is in the lead against bubba watson. details and more on the day ‘s sport at around details and more on the day ‘s sport ataround 5:30pm. thousands of people are in london for another protest against the uk leaving the european union. 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. we can speak to labour mp

david lammy, who is at the march. thank you forjoining us, of course, the 27 leaders of the other eu countries are in rome to mark 60 yea rs of countries are in rome to mark 60 years of the eu while theresa may anticipates triggering article 50 next wednesday, here you are today along with many other people protest thing about that, what change do you think you can affect at this point in the process? this is a fantastic democratic moment, i have been speaking to people from wales, scotland, i young speaking to people from wales, scotland, iyoung man speaking to people from wales, scotland, i young man who came with his mum from devon, they are coming from all over, they are cross—party, conservatives concerned about their party, labour, lib dems, snp, and they are coming to protest, to make

their voice heard because they are deeply concerned about a hard brexit, the course the country is on and they are fighting for the european cause. going back to the initial question, deeply held feelings by the people on this march, but do they think they can fundamentally change the course? march, but do they think they can fundamentally change the course ?m course they can change the course, there is a long, a lot to play out now between now and the next two yea rs. we now between now and the next two years. we are putting ourfuture into the hands of 27 countries. we are saying we into the hands of 27 countries. we are saying we are into the hands of 27 countries. we are saying we are going to exit the single market, we are saying we are going to be back to tariffs. i think people don't have the confidence in people don't have the confidence in people like david davis. a lot can change, a week is a long time in politics. look what has happened this week here in parliament square and look at the democracy

thatis square and look at the democracy that is here today. of course you have to protest and white and pressure and stand up for what you believe in. we have done that before in this country and we will do it again. what is the key message from today for the changes you want to see, if you cannot stop brexit, what would you like to see happening during the course of the negotiations? i think a lot of people here are very concerned about the position of eu nationals across the position of eu nationals across the country. they are hugely concerned about leaving the single market, a lot of small business owners here are very worried about the future prospects of this country. many expect the economy to downturn significantly over the coming months and years. and of course they are here because we live ina course they are here because we live in a democracy and they want to scrutinise those in government who will now be behind closed doors making a decision which ultimately parliament will not get a say in. for all those reasons democracy returns to the streets and that is

why people are making their voices heard and i stand with them. they also want to say something about a tolera nt also want to say something about a tolerant and inclusive britain, concerned about the rise in hate crime and hate rhetoric in the country. ukip one of the key movers in brexit, the party has now lost its only mp douglas carswell who has quit, saying of theresa may that brexit is in good hands. what do you think his departure means for the future of ukip and what does it mean for labour's efforts to capture voters that perhaps on some issues at least ukip may have made inroads? the first thing i think is this is about a lot of the major actors behind the mess we are now in leaving the stage. nigel farage left the stage, michael gove left the stage, and now we see douglas ca rswell stage, and now we see douglas carswell leaving the stage. but the truth is what i am concerned about

is the ukip tendency which has got wea ker is the ukip tendency which has got weaker as a political party now exists almost within mainstream parties. i am concerned that some of their values are now in the cabinet and concerned some of that is infecting my own party the labour party. douglas carswell is but one actor and it's clear he does not quite know where he stands in the ground. but the tradition that he believes in i think is infecting mainstream politics. it's something i think is important we resist very hard. thank you for your time. president trump has come out fighting after the build to overturn the health reforms of barack 0bama was withdrawn because of a lack of support within his own party. he has said on twitter: lets talk to laura becker in

washington for us. 0bamacare will explode and we will get together and piece together a great health care plan for the people, do not worry. it seems to me president trump is putting quite a gloss on this given he had pledged to repeal 0bamacare and both houses of congress are controlled by the republicans. yet the plan still did not work. that's correct, if you look at where republicans are, they control all the major leaders in washington and still could not get it done. this tweet is to reassure his supporters and one of the things which was key about yesterday's drama is both the republicans and president trump's spokesman were keen to push forward the message that president trump had done all he could, he had been up the hell and tried not to just twist arms but break them when it came to try to persuade republicans. the problem is when it comes to

politicians who represent different districts across the united states you have very different views within the one party. 0n the left of the party they thought the reforms went too far and would leave too many people without medical insurance and on the right of the party they felt they did not go far. the two could not come to any kind of consensus. so when he says we will come together, we will piece together a new health care plan right now that is not looking likely. thank you laura. the us military says it carried out an air strike at an iraqi request at a site where hundreds of civilians are reported dead. the united nations has raised grave concerns about the casualties in the iraqi city of mosul. iraqi forces, backed by a us led coalition, are fighting to retake 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. two teenage boys have been found dead at cliffs at saltburn

in north east england. cleveland police were called to huntcliff last night and found the bodies of two 17—year—old boys at the bottom of the cliffs. enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances of exactly what happened. the families of the boys are being supported by specialist officers. ai7—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. he later died in hospital. 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. damian grammaticas reports from rome. signing their new declaration of unity, each in turn, the leaders from 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, facing terrorism and refugees flows and brexit. so 27 leaders struggled to fit into the same room. the union now 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 who 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 merger treaty. the road 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 here today 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? this year's comic relief has 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. more than 2 but to mark british summer time — more than 2,000 ticking clocks have gone on display in an art installation. set up at nostell priory, near wakefield, it has been created to celebrate the life of clockmaker john harrison. it runs until the 17th ofjuly. some of us losing an hour ‘s sleep tonight ‘s probably not happy with that. if you missed out on the sunshine

day don't worry, more tomorrow, stunning weekend. this evening temperatures will tumble under clear skies, it will turn into quite a chilly night. clocks forward by an hour, one hour less sleep. it will be called by about dawn, temperatures well down into single figures and across northern areas a touch of frost, particularly across glens of northern ireland and scotland. the board patch of missed. sunshine coming, from dawn to dusk for most of us. still the breeze for most of us, if you are out of the breeze and sunshine it will feel distinctly fresh on exposed coasts temperatures will be held back but for many of us are pinned the low mid—teens and high teens possibly across western parts of scotland. very warm indeed the time of year.