this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at 8 pm. ukip's only mp douglas carswell quits the party to sit in parliament as an independent, saying he's achieved his main objective with the party. we can be absolutely certain " b rex it" we can be absolutely certain "brexit" is in good hands, we are going to leave, and all of the things they have campaigned for are going to come to pass. ukip leader paul nuttall says carswell‘s resignation isn't a surprise. his deputy says his departure won't affect the party's future. he has been a very semidetached person for a long time in this party. frankly this is rather a nice breath of fresh air, this is now behind us. tributes to the police officer killed in the westminster terror attack. the investigation into khalid massood continues. one man remains in custody. also in the next hour...

they have complained that thejihad —ists have used them as human shields, they have also spoken very bitterly about the effects of air strikes on civilians. the human cost of the battle for mosul after coalition air strikes kill dozens of civilians. harrison ford's mea culpa, after he nearly hit a passengerjet harrison ford's mea culpa, after he nearly hit a passenger jet after landing on the wrong runway. coming up at half eight, europe & scotland's dilemma, allan little explores what brexit would mean in moray,

the area of the country that came closest to voting leave. the uk independence party's only mp douglas carswell has announced he's leaving the party. he said he decided to leave because the party had achieved its goal of pulling britain out of the european union, adding that he was going on "amicable terms". he will now represent clacton as an independent mp, but there are calls for him to face a by—election. our political correspondent alex forsyth reports. shall we shake hands? i don't think we need to! voiceover: there's been no love lost between douglas carswell and some in ukip for some time. when he joined the party two years ago, it was a big deal. i am today leaving the conservative party and joining ukip. but the relationship with the then leader soon soured. differences in policies and personalities. and today he quit ukip, saying its job was done when the country backed brexit. we have achieved what ukip was for. if other people want to carry it on, i wish them all the best. but you were the party's only mp, by quitting have not put the final nail in the coughing? —— by quitting have not put

the final nail in the coffin? theresa may means brexit is in safe hands. no tears from nigel farage, the former party leader saying that douglas carswell had jumped before he was pushed and was never truly ukip. current leaders agree. it really won't make very much difference to us, other than drawing a line under something that has really caused nothing but heartache for about a year, more than a year. douglas was never that comfortable in the party, so i think really he will go on his merry way. douglas carswell is duly elected as a member of parliament for the said constituency. thank you. last time he changed allegiances, the clacton mp made a big play of asking voters for approval, but not this time. if i were switching parties, if i were going from ukip to the conservatives, then absolutely i would feel honour—bound to call a by—election. but the voters voted for a ukip mp and now they're

getting an independent. when i was a conservative and switched to ukip, i was the first member of parliament for 26 years to insist on a by—election. but i'm not changing parties, i'm not switching sides. so what do people think of his decision in his constituency? bit of a disgrace, he was doing well for ukip. it's down to him at the end of the day, if he wants to do that we can't do a lot about it, can we? he hasn't ruled out returning to the tories but for now he is an independent who has once again raised the question of ukip‘s relevance. studio: i'm joined via webcam byjeff bray, who is a ukip councillor in douglas carswell‘s clacton constituency. thank you forjoining us, douglas ca rswell says he thank you forjoining us, douglas carswell says he is leaving on amicable terms, are you feeling amicable terms, are you feeling amicable towards him tonight? yes, toa amicable towards him tonight? yes, to a degree, i certainly am, douglas ca rswell is

to a degree, i certainly am, douglas carswell is a good man, served as his own man, i have no particular ha rd his own man, i have no particular hard feelings. what do you make of his decision to go, effectively he seems to be saying that ukip has succeeded in its objective, we had the referendum, we are leaving the european union, implication is that there is nothing left for it to do. i understand the occasion, obviously i think he is completely wrong. if douglas feels the need to move on to something different, we should work with that. ukip have more to do. ukip will go on. such as? we need to keep the government honest, let's be honest, we have not triggered article 50 yet, and it is necessary for this country to get the best deal it can... sorry to interrupt, he says he thinks that you can trust theresa may to do that, you are not needed there to keep on the pressure, there is another eurosceptic conservatives. pressure, there is another

eurosceptic conservativeslj pressure, there is another eurosceptic conservatives. i do not think that everyone in the country trust theresa may as much as douglas ca rswell trust theresa may as much as douglas carswell does. remains to be seen. we certainly have a big role to play in "brexit" and in other things, there is many things that ukip does, not least renewing the way that we do politics, we tend to do it in a more honest, open, independent fashion than other parties do, i'm not sure other parties do that. honest, open, independent, do you think that is why douglas carswell did not belong? the struggle as a conservative, he understood the way, the whip, effectively being told what to do, and i think he struggled with the concept of not having that anymore, he had to think and do for his self, and perhaps he struggled with that. what you the prospects are, he has said he will stay, there will not be a by—election, a lot of your colleagues think he should resign, we should not have a

by—election, he says he will sit as an independent. notwithstanding that, what you think his prospects are of holding the seat at a general election, a lot of people were surprised that he held it when he switched parties, tory seat, staying tory, proved that wrong, i wonder whether it is more douglas ca rswell‘s whether it is more douglas carswell‘s seat, rather than tory or ukip. i'm not sure that is true, he will be knows himself that he will struggle to hold this seat in cla cton struggle to hold this seat in clacton now. he has probably lost a good deal of conservative support by moving to ukip and ukip support lost by moving to the conservatives, this is not a douglas carswell seat, it is not a douglas carswell seat, it is far more complex than that. it is not a conservative seat either, we will be doing our best to prove that. ultimately we will be challenging for that. as for whether he should hold a by—election, douglas has said, the standard himself, in such circumstances, a by—election should always called. i

think it is difficult for him not to call one this time, having made the play that he did previously, but i accept that having mood to independent, he can argue we still do the things he promised to. —— having moved to independent. the jury having moved to independent. the jury is out, we will see if he does. will you be having a farewell dinner for him? probably not. . .! will you be having a farewell dinner for him? probably not...! laughter thank you very much. ukip councillor, thank you forjoining us this evening. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages. our guests joining me tonight are ruth lea, arbuthnot banking group economic adviser and john rentoul, chief political columnist at the independent. i know that they will both have very trenchant views on the future of douglas carswell. a former head of the metropolitan police has called for changes

to security at westminster, following the attack on wednesday. former commissioner lord blair said there should be a review of the arming of officers. one man, arrested in birmingham, remains in custody. fourteen people remain in hospital. our home affairs correspondent june kelly reports. voiceover: minutes after the terrorist attack in the precincts of the palace of westminster. on the ground is constable keith palmer, who was stabbed to death. his killer, khaled massoud, has been shot to death by police. meanwhile, armed officers here have left the scene to investigate the gates, where masood's car has mounted the pavement and crashed. the gates, meanwhile, have been left unguarded and wide open. anyone could have got through. an understandable error according to a former head of scotland yard, who nevertheless leaves that in the future security will have to be more stringent. i'm absolutely certain

that they will have to be a review now of the outer soft ring. always behind it is the inner core of armed officers, but pc keith palmer has paid for his life for that soft outer ring and i think his family at least, and everyone else, need reassurance. the bbc has obtained new footage of the police response. a fleet of cars carrying teams of marksmen racing down the embankment. this was shortly after khalid masood's trail of carnage which began on westminster bridge. —— racing down the embankment. questions remain unanswered about his route to radicalisation. he was a violent criminal before converting to islam more than a decade ago. one of his victims who survived but with serious injuries, this romanian tourist, who was hurled into the thames. she was in london with her partner, who was also hurt. in romania, a friend paid tribute to the emergency services in london. translation: we would especially

like to thank the doctors and nurses, all the medical staff, for everything they are doing to help them. today at scotland yard, police officers who were part of the emergency response laid flowers in memory of their colleague, keith palmer, who they tried to help. june kelly, bbc news. studio: meanwhile, a man from eastbourne has claimed he was attacked by khalid masood 14 years ago. danny smith described how he met masood, known then as adrian elms, in 2003. i met imet him i met him in a pub in eastbourne, seemed like a pretty decent fellow, had a feud beers with him. they few days later, we fell out, he tried his best to kill me. he pulled a knife, held it in my face, and i thought, surely, he is not going to hit me, punch me, with the knife. he sought or flinch to do it, and i stood there thinking, he ain't going to do it. then all of a sudden, hit

me with a knife. straight through my face me with a knife. straight through my fa ce we nt me with a knife. straight through my face went through my nose. through my face went through my nose. through m | face went through my nose. through my tongue! into my mouth. the metropolitan police have clarified that pc keith palmer was wearing a protective vest at the time of the fatal attack, which did not appear to have been damaged. earlier i spoke to our reporter simonjones who was at new scotland yard for more details. we haven't had any on camera briefings from police today but they haveissued briefings from police today but they have issued two statements, one concerning pc keith palmer, at the time of the attack, that tells us that he was wearing a protective vest. that has been examined by a pathologist as part of the postmortem examination, the pathologist said they could see no signs that the vest had been penetrated or damage, other than the fa ct penetrated or damage, other than the fact it had been cut off by the first aiders, who tried in vain to keep him alive will stop we've also had another statement from scotland

yard, concerning the people who have been arrested, we are told that a man from been arrested, we are told that a manfrom birmingham has been arrested, we are told that a man from birmingham has been released with no further action going to be taken, and also, a woman who was released on bail has now been told that no further action is going to be taken against her. she was from east london. that means that currently there is just one person in custody, a 58—year—old man from birmingham, and he is still being questioned by police. as regards pc keith palmer and the protective vest. we are told the police will not reveal at the moment at the request of the coroner the cause of death but they are going to retain that protective vest for future examination. the us military has said that it has carried out an air strike at request of iraq at a place where hundreds of civilians are said to have died. 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. the bbc‘s middle east editorjeremy bowen has the latest from mosul. thousands of people have arrived, walked out of those parts of muscles still controlled by islamic state and it is a big area, in the last couple of days. —— mosul. they have arrived in just the clothes they standing up in and a few spare odds and ends. they need food and water and ends. they need food and water and shelter, it is a massive humanitarian challenge, not nearly as big as the one that may be literally coming down the road in the next weeks. where that black smoke is, that is where the islamic state positions are here in mosul, about 800 metres —— 800 kilometres down that way. —— 800 metres, a

kilometre down that way. this is very much a theatre of war, people who have been coming in have been talking about what they have been through. they have talked about air strikes that have come in the last few days, and killed, as well as killing people from islamic state, have killed hundreds of civilians. they have complained that the jihadists have used them as human shields. but in tears and anger, they have also spoken very bitterly about the effects of air on civilians. i spoke with multiple witnesses, who said that there are perhaps hundreds of bodies, still lying in the rubble, that people cannot get to. if you take it all together, the effects of the war, the wounded, the dead, military and civilians, and the massive humanitarian needs of the people who

have been displaced by the fighting, it comes together as a great big human terry and emergency, and it is worsened by the fact that it is happening in a country that was already broken into pieces by war. it isa already broken into pieces by war. it is a huge challenge, it is really ha rd to it is a huge challenge, it is really hard to think of a bigger one anywhere in the world at the moment. the headlines: ukip's only mp douglas carswell is standing down from the party but will stay on as an independent in the house of commons. ukip says his resignation is no surprise. more tributes to police officer keith palmer, killed in the westminster terror attack. the investigations into khalid masood in team news and one man is still in custody. the us says it's investigating coalition air strikes that were carried out in western mosul, killing dozens of civilians. for a full round—up of sport, here

isjessica, from for a full round—up of sport, here is jessica, from the for a full round—up of sport, here isjessica, from the bbc sports centre. lewis hamilton will begin the first race of the new formula i season at the front of the grid, the mercedes driver just season at the front of the grid, the mercedes driverjust edged sebastian vettel‘s ferrari to pole for tomorrow's australian grand prix by 0.2 ofa tomorrow's australian grand prix by 0.2 of a second, lewis hamilton is relishing the contest. this rule change has been huge. such a massive challenge for everyone. the guys have worked so hard to make this car what it is today, and to be out there, to be up here, representing them, they have done a fantastic job, first qualifying session with the team, greatjob. great for us, for mercedes. i'm looking forward to the race. obviously it is close. dundee united have won

the scottish challenge cup, with victory over st mirren at fir park. it's the first time they've won the competition, it finished 2—1. tony andreu scoring with this sensational volley to get things rolling. thomas mikkelsen then got the winner after st mirren equalised. in rugby's premiership, leicester tigers are up to fourth after beating northampton saints 36—31 in a thrilling derby at franklin's gardens. it was a fitting send off for leicester interim coach aaron major in his last game before matt o'connor takes charge. the tone was set for a breathless game, with northa nts taking the lead inside 90 seconds. and they had a six point lead at the break but ben youngs' try helped tigers edge ahead for the first time in a topsy—turvy game. leicester were behind with one minute to go but owen williams' massive penalty sealed the win.

the defeat for saints damages their chances of reaching the play offs. and in the other premiership matches exeter chiefs had a bonus point vicotry over sale. 30—25 which boosts exeter‘s chances of a home semi final. while harlequins, who are chasing a top four finish, have helped their cause with a 53—17 win over newcastle. leinster stay top of the pro12 after a 22 points to 21 victory over cardiff blues. they were missing several of their irish international players who were rested after the six nations campaign. it was ross moloney who got the winning try. cardiff remain in 8th, still chasing a top six finish for champions cup qualification. to the rest of the proi2, there was a dramatic finish to the dubai world cup, which is one of the richest horse races in the world. the world number one—rated racehorse arrogate came from last place to win the £8 million race.

the four—year—old colt, the 3—1 on favourite, is trained in america by bob baffert and ridden byjockey mike smith and he made it seven wins on the trot as he beat gun runner and neolithic at the meydan racecourse. sir bradley wiggins says he will "shock a few people" once the uk anti—doping investigation into alleged wrong—doing at team sky is over. they're looking into the delivery of a package to wiggins before the 2011 tour de france and speaking on sky television, wiggins said the claims were "the worst thing to be accused of for a man of my integrity" and promised he would have a lot to say. chris froome's hopes of victory at the volta a catalunya were destroyed this afternoon as the team sky rider lost 26 minutes(!) on his rivals in the penultimate stage. the briton, riding his first european race of 2017, had moved second yesterday, but alejandro valverde left him well beaten today and extended his overall lead. but the stage victory was snatched from him by daryl impey in a sprint to the line. britain's adam yates is in fourth, froome now 31st. that's all sport for now.

i'll have more in the next hour. tens thousands of people have taken part in a protest in london against the uk leaving the european union. the unite for europe march saw many people carrying bright blue eu flags. earlier the labour mp david lammy explained why people still wanted to protest ahead of theresa may triggering article 50 next week. i think ithinka i think a lot of people here are very concerned about the position for eu nationals across the country, usually concerned about leaving the single market. a lot of people here are small business owners, very worried about the future prospects of the country, many expect the economy to downturn significantly over the coming months and years.

well it comes as the european union has marked the 60th anniversary of the bloc‘s founding treaty. twe nty—seven the bloc‘s founding treaty. twenty—seven eu leaders signed a new declaration to honour the 1957 treaty, promising to deepen unity. theresa may was not at the ceremony in rome. only six states signed the treaty of rome back in 1957. 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. he later died in hospital. president trump has said he will focus on tax reform, after the bill to overturn barack obama's health reforms was withdrawn due to a lack of support within his own republican party. he tweeted that ‘obamaca re he tweeted that ‘obamacare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great health ca re and piece together a great health care plan for the people. do not worry.”

do not worry." if do not worry. " if you look at where the republicans are now, they control the major levers in washington and they still could not get this done, this tweet is to reassure his supporters. one of the things that was key about yesterday's drama was both the republicans and president trump's spokesman was keen to push forward the message that president trump had done all he could. that he had been up done all he could. that he had been up on the hill, had tried to not just twist arms but break them when it came to try to persuade republicans. -- he tweeted that "obamacare will republicans. -- he tweeted that "obamaca re will explode republicans. -- he tweeted that "obamacare will explode and we will all get together and piece together all get together and piece together a great health care plan for the people. do not worry." the problem is that when it comes to politicians who represent different districts, right across the us, you have very differing views across the party, on the left, they thought reforms went too far and would leave too many people without medical insurance. on the right, they felt free forms did not go far enough. the two could not reach consensus. when he says they will piece together a new health

ca re will piece together a new health care plan, right now, that is not looking likely. you may remember last month when the hollywood star harrison ford made an unusual landing at an airport in southern california. he came down on a taxi—way instead of a runway, flying directly over a waiting passengferjet. now, audio tape has emerged of him explaining what happened. tim allman reports.

i was distracted by the airline, moving when i turned the runway. this was not the first mishap he had had in recent years, in 2015, he suffered injuries after crashing a vintage plane on a golf course in sa nta vintage plane on a golf course in santa monica. that time it was down to engine problems. fortunately, there was no injuries in this latest incident, other than perhaps a little damage to harrison ford's pride. studio: history helps us to paint a picture of the past but the future

of the subject may well lie in virtual reality. a development team from liverpool has invented a new way to use a vr headset, to take students to the battlefields of the first world war. our correspondent robert hall has been to see the technology in action. this merseyside development team think they have the solution. a battery small cameras, history will be brought alive by inviting stu d e nts be brought alive by inviting students into the trenches. trench wa rfa re students into the trenches. trench warfare was more about maintenance than anything else. a solitary figure, this production crew monitor him, hidden from sight, as the cameras record his view of the landscape. back in liverpool, the individual images are stitched together, to make race 360 degrees virtual reality. —— to make a 360 degrees virtual reality. history can

be quite dull when told in a certain way, this allows all children to experience the battlefield what this technology enables students to do is travel miles from desks and onto the actual battlefield. what they are doing over there is defending themselves, their regiment,... at st mary ‘s college, the acid test, the system will enable a class of stu d e nts to system will enable a class of students to share the experience, but to react as individuals. everyone is into the technology of it, it is active in what you can see, what you can do. no distractions, better than you can listen to. an opportunity to take young people all over the world, to show them the sites where things have happened in the past and give them a genuine immersive experience. that they could not otherwise get. these are early days but the virtual

world is without limit, and they pay more and more of us to step back into history. studio: conservation charity wwf is urging people tojoin uk landmarks and famous sites around the world as they switch off their lights for an hour this evening to back action on climate change. this was sydney's harbour bridge turning off it's lights for earth hour at what was eight thirty australian time. —— its. —— 8.30 pm. it was joined by sites across asia. despite wednesday's terror attack in westminster the houses of parliament and big ben are joining more than 270 landmarks across the uk in switching off the lights. earth hour at eight thirty is the idea of conservation charity wwf. there goes both the eiffel tower and the arctic triomphe. —— arc de triomphe. after a temperature of 19 degrees in

aberdeenshire, temperatures falling away, brisk wind blowing, more cloud coming into the northern clouds of scotland. across the northern half of the uk, temperatures dropping rapidly. frost in the countryside, quite cold in particularfor northern ireland and the glens of scotland. on the whole, another blue sky day, except for shetland, perhaps orkney, and a little cloud wandering up the english channel. clea n wandering up the english channel. clean easterly wind blowing, taking the edge of the temperatures on southern parts of england, cooler on the north sea coast, 19 degrees possible in the highlands not far behind north and west wales. more cloud on monday, lower temperatures for scotland and north—east england, otherwise, it is dry, with some sunshine. hello.

this is bbc news. the headlines: ukip's leader paul nuttall has described the decision by the party's only mp, douglas carswell, to leave as no surprise. mr carswell says he'll remain in the house of commons as an independent mp, and is leaving ukip "amicably and cheerfully". lord blair, a former head of the met police, has called for changes to security at westminster following wednesday's terror attack. the investigation into the attack continues, and one man is still in custody. the us says it's investigating coalition air strikes that were carried out in western mosul, killing dozens of civilians. those are the headlines. i will have more at the top of the hour.