from police understand from police that the individual was stopped and searched, not randomly but as a result of an ongoing investigation. they knew exactly who he was when they stopped him, they searched him, he was arrested and ta ken him, they searched him, he was arrested and taken away. all those events arrested and taken away. all those eve nts too k arrested and taken away. all those events took minutes as people watched, really quite staggered by what was unfolding in front of their eyes. there would have been memories also of what happened not so far away from parliament just around the corner in fact on the bridge next parliament, just over a month ago when khalid masood used mow down pedestrians, injuring 50, killing four people and a police officer in front of the houses houses of parliament. before he was shot. nothing so dramatic today but the sight of armed officers would certainly have given people pause as they visited westminster. the man is understood to be 27 years old, a british passport holder but we understand he was not born in this country and he was on the radar of

the police and intelligence services. let's get more on this with major general chip chapman, who is former head of counter terrorism at the ministry of defence. he is in our westminster studio. thank you forjoining us. what was your response to this incident, i don't know if you watched it unfolding, what were you thinking at the time? i was in whitehall at the time andi the time? i was in whitehall at the time and i think the first thing you can say in terms of the threat, it is three components, intent, capability and opportunity. whitehall is a credit place so he had the opportunity and the police officially separated the man with the intent from the capability which was the loaded weapons. in a very british fashion. they took the weapons away from him, he is no longer a threat, then they arrested him. lots of police forces in the world would have used excessive force so it was a very british police operation. also relevant to

the fact that the head of mi5 said last year that the threat is at a scale of the intent he hadn't seen in his 32 years service so they should be no complacency even though this was a success. the stop and search was due to suspicion and probably intelligence led. you describe the rucksack that was taken away with the knives. how has the style of terror threats changed over time because it seemed such a simple method but very efficient, as we saw on westminster bridge? it has changed in the sense that if you are going to cause large—scale casualties, you really need to use firearms or bombs so in a sense, using bladed weapons is a sign of weakness. you don't, although it is terrible, kill many people with bladed weapons. the security services and police are very good at interdicting those large—scale plots which may use things like firearms

oi’ which may use things like firearms or bombs. the current threat level in the uk is severe. how does that compare to say the management of terror related incidents, to europe? the threat level has been severe in the uk since 2014 which means an attack is highly likely. they don't use the same methodology in europe. of course in france, they are at a national emergency which would be the equivalent of critical in the uk. the use of large numbers of troops and police in that sense is not really sustainable for a long period of time. to be in critical, you must really have pretty hot intelligence that an attack is imminent. are the police and intelligence services happy with the resources they have at their disposal? is it enough? m15 are increasing by a thousand in the next three years and i think it is going

to bea three years and i think it is going to be a number of increases in armed firearms officers in the next two yea rs. firearms officers in the next two years. like anything in a democracy, you have to make conscious choices and we can outsiders the threat because you are still far more likely to be killed for example in a drowning incident in the uk and you are from a terror attack. but the point of terror is that dread and fear factor which puts people point of terror is that dread and fearfactor which puts people on guard. thank you very much. theresa may has attended a rally in leeds, as part of the general election campaign. shisei brexit negotiations would be tough and he urged voters to act in the national interest. she also dismissed concerns over comments made by the foreign secretary over the possibility the uk may support the possibility the uk may support the us in any military action in syria. danny savage has been monitoring those comments. theresa may was doing a speech here at about

6:40pm and she spoke for about 20 minutes to conservative party supporters in the buildings behind me. she is in lees drumming up support in the run—up to the general election. she is in leeds east constituency which has a majority of about 12,500 labour voters but she's right on the boundary of leeds north east which has a majority of 7500 labour voters. i imagine that would be one of the seats the tories would be one of the seats the tories would be targeting. about half the seats in this county are described as marginal. so there are plenty of seats for the tories to be aiming at. which is why she was here talking to the party faithful, hoping they would get out and deliver leaflets. 0n the one hand, this was very much a coming up to meet local activists to encourage them to do as much as they can in them to do as much as they can in the run—up to the general election

so the run—up to the general election so the pm was talking about that. there were also some questions asked about the national and international picture. 0ne about the national and international picture. one question she was asked more than once was whether she supported boris johnson's comments on the today matt prior programme where he said the prime minister agreed with him, if chemical weapons we re agreed with him, if chemical weapons were used in syria in the near future, britain would find it hard to get involved in military action. this is what she said. is boris johnson correct to say you agree with him that it would be hard not tojoin in with military with him that it would be hard not to join in with military action with him that it would be hard not tojoin in with military action in syria if there was another chemical attack? what i have just said is that this is a hypothetical question because there are no proposals on the table for a further strike against syria. i think what we need to do and what we will focus on and what boris has been focusing on in re ce nt what boris has been focusing on in recent weeks is working diplomatically to see if we can find a way to persuade the backers of

president assad that this is the time we need to work for a political transition away from president assad for the future stability of the country of syria. one of the things pointed out to the prime minister is that this is the first time she has beenin that this is the first time she has been in yorkshire. since she became prime minister. why is she coming up now? that was put there as well but i think we can expect is a more high—profile visits from high profile politicians in a county which has lots of marginal seats, expect many more weeks of this yet. thank you, danny savage. many same—sex couples in australia are choosing to get married using uk law — but without the need to travel halfway across the world. same—sex couples can't get married under australian legislation, but despite this, hundreds of weddings have taken place with the help of the british high commission. from canberra, hywel griffith reports. # i never thought i'd miss you...

walking down the aisle and into married life, ben and simon have come to exchange vows and rings all with the help of a diplomatic loophole. marrying at the british high commissioner's residence in canberra means they will be legally wed in britain, but not australia. as i'm sure you're all aware, this ceremony is taking place under uk law... it can only happen because ben has a british passport. and once they leave these stately grounds, their reunion won't be recognised on australian soil. this is honoured by the queen, god dammit, so who is more important, the queen or your bigotry, basically? usually the queen. there is nothing lesser about these relationships. they're just, they're as strong as anybody's. canberra is right at the centre of australia's struggle with same—sex marriage. polls suggest there is public

support but the politicians here in parliament simply can't agree the best way forward, a nationwide vote planned for earlier this year had to be scrapped because of fears it would stoke homophobic hatred. because the central purpose of marriage is to produce offspring... those campaigning against same—sex marriage claimed their views are being discriminated against, and they'd prefer countries like britain to keep out of the debate. just because britain has made a decision doesn't mean australia has to follow suit. we're seeing the negative consequences of the decision britain has made in terms of the impact on the rights and freedoms of other people in the uk, particularly people of faith. so i think it's up to australia to make its own decision and not to be swayed by what other nations might do. to mr simon tolhurst and mr benjamin waldorf, husband and husband. ben and simon's same—sex marriage means there have now been 380 under british law in australia. a few have taken place in other countries too, from azerbaijan to vietnam.

so is britain trying to exert some soft power? we wouldn't ever seek to enforce our values on other countries, particularly not a country like australia, with which we have such close and warm and respectful relations. this is much more, i think, about the service, as i said. but also a celebration of our own values, we have taken that step. for ben and simon, today is about their future together, but they hope the time will soon come when all of australia will embrace their marriage. a solid gold darth vader mask is going on sale injapan, with a price tag ofjust over £1 million. the mask is said to be a one—of—a—kind likeness of science fiction's most famous villain. the sculpture weighs 15 kilograms and has been commissioned to mark the 40th anniversary this year of the release of star wars. the mask will be available

for purchase on may 4th — a date known among fans as star wars day. time for a look at the weather now. good evening, mother nature has been keeping us on our toes so far this week across parts of the north—east, some wintry showers, but today in parts of northern and eastern scotland, it was a glorious day. not so scotland, it was a glorious day. not so the case in parts of leicestershi re so the case in parts of leicestershire and melton mowbray, some threatening cloud. plenty of showers through the day. you can see the showers, mostly through the eastern half of the uk but as we go through the overnight period, most of them will drift south and west. a blanket cloud across england and wales preventing those temperatures from falling too low for a frost, that will come as welcome news i am

sure. those temperatures will hold up sure. those temperatures will hold up nicely between three and 8 degrees. the cloud will be thick enough for the odd spot of rain first thing in the morning. from this week weather front, it will sink south and west. in sheltered eastern areas, some sunny sink south and west. in sheltered eastern areas, some sunny weather in the offing and it looks as though most showers should stay few and far between as we go through the day and most of them looked likely to be before the heat further north and west you are. top temperatures of eight to 13 degrees. things looked promising for the start of the bank holiday weekend as well. a good slice of dry weather in the story. breezy but milder will be the theme and theirs will be some rain in the offing. most likely to be on sunday. but on saturday, a good day, dry weather, a scattering of showers, breeze picking up in the west by the end of

the day. the first sign of the weather front pushing in. the day. the first sign of the weatherfront pushing in. highs could be up to 15 celsius and it will feel quite pleasant. still a level of uncertainty, just where that low pressure is likely to be sitting across the south west during sunday but at the moment, it looks as though the rain will be sitting across much of cornwall, devon, somerset and dorset. keep watching the forecast, the area of low pressure could change but it does look to go erratically north and east, taking the rain with it. clearing away on bank holiday monday but still a good deal of dry weather. this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: another terror alert in westminster — police arrest a man suspected of planning terrorist attacks. he was arrested by armed officers after an intelligence led operation. a rucksack and knives were taken from him. the prime minister is being kept informed of developments. i think it shows that our police

and our intelligence and security services are on the alert as they always are, looking to keep us safe and secure. the foreign secretary says britain could take military action against the syrian regime without a vote in parliament. the government loses a court bid to delay publication of its air pollution strategy until after the general election. also this hour — tackling online bullying.