this is bbc news. i'm ben brown, live at westminster after results from the local elections came in from all over the uk today. big wins for the conservatives — they've taken control of 11 councils and gained more than 500 seats. i will not take anything for granted and neither will the team i lead, because there is too much at stake. this is not about who wins and who loses a local elections, it is about continuing to fight for the best brexit deal. labour has a tough time after it loses more than 380 seats and seven authorities, including glasgow city council, which they've held since 1980. we have had very disappointing results in parts of the country. yes, we have to go out there in the next four weeks and get the message out of the kind of country we could be. mixed fortunes for the liberal democrats — the party is down by 42 council seats, but party leader tim farron

said the results were good news. increasing our vote share by 7%, our best vote share in any election nationally for seven years. double the increase in the tories have experienced in terms of vote share the country. —— around the country. the results have been disappointing for ukip, with the party only managing to win one of the seats it has contested — losing 145 previously held council seats. and the snp has finished as the biggest party in the scottish council elections, with the tories replacing labour as the second biggest. there is no way that this result can be spinned as anything other than a clear and very emphatic win for the snp. i'm martine croxall, in other news this evening... diesel scrappage schemes and clean air zones. the government publishes its draft plan to tackle dirty air but critics say it's toothless. two men are charged with the murder of businessman guy hedger, who was shot at his home in dorset last weekend. and marine le pen is heckled

at a campaign event, while emmanuel macron poses with supporters as the french presidential candidates embark on a last push for votes ahead of sunday's election. good evening to you from westminster. the conservatives have made big gains in the local elections, winning seats all across the country from every other party. it's their best result since 2008. as well as taking control of five councils in england and wales, they've made significant gains in scotland. labour has suffered significant losses, including in its former stronghold of glasgow. ukip‘s vote has collapsed, and the liberal democrats had varied fortunes.

let's see how that breaks down into figures. the conservatives have gained more than 560 councillors — taking seats from labour and ukip. labour are down by more than 380 seats while ukip have been virtually wiped out, losing every seat it was defending bar one. the liberal democrats have lost over a0 seats while plaid cymru are up by 33. the snp are down by seven seats but remain the biggest party in scotland. let's see how this translates in terms of councils across the uk. the conservatives have gained overall control of ii councils, taking derbyshire from labour and gaining others including in warwickshire, lincolnshire and norfolk. labour have lost control of seven councils, including glasgow, which it has previously held for over three decades. the snp has cemented its position as the biggest party in scotland but failed to gain control of any council. it's been more of a mixed picture

for labour in wales — it was hit with major blows after losing control of blaenau gwent and bridgend but held seven councils including cardiff, swansea and newport. with all the latest, here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. duly elected as councillor for the said division. blue was the colour. in essex, teesside, derbyshire, lancashire — south, east, west and north. even in glasgow where, in some parts, the tories went out with the ark. the conservative party candidate is elected as mayor. and in the marginal midlands, a big win. birmingham's first ever metro mayor wearing a tory rosette. this is may's day. this is not about who wins and who loses in the local elections. it is about continuing to fight

for the best brexit deal for families and businesses across the uk. are you still seriously maintaining today that you are not looking at a victory and sweeping back into number ten, potentially with a very large majority? i'm not taking anything for granted. i will be going out for the remaining weeks of this general election campaign to earn the support of the british people. and it's labour that's suffering. red spilt in west dunbartonshire, northumberland, nottinghamshire — seats disappearing in almost every corner. a bad night for labour? thank you for coming. mr corbyn needs a lot more than a brave face. andy burnham is duly elected... 0ld faces, but new labour mayors in manchester and liverpool give them something to cheer. but one senior party figure told me the results were catastrophic. the leader will hardly admit that.

we had very disappointing results in other parts of the country. yes, we have to go out there in the next four weeks and get a message out. but with only weeks until the general election, candidates who want to stay on as labour mps are already pointing the finger. it's a pretty disastrous picture. it's simply not good enough for a party that has been in opposition for seven years, that is heading towards a general election in five weeks, to not be picking up seats and not be making forward progress. a symbol of the party's decline, a totem, labour lost control of glasgow's city chambers to the snp. they failed to win there outright, but they are the biggest party by far. yet, the emerging pattern in scotland 7 a tory comeback. this is a clear and emphatic victory for the snp. it means we have councillors and council groups across the country able to protect local services. but it's also a great launch pad for the general election.

in wales, labour lost over 100 seats, but held cardiff and held back some of the worst, but the tories and plaid nibbling away some of their support. defending wales is what plaid cymru are about. labourare in no position to do that. they have had a majority of mps in wales for decades and they failed to put wales on the map. but it was ukip that had the worst crash from their heights, their scorecard nearly zero. brexit seeming to challenge their very reason for being. we have won the war, but we have not yet won the peace. i would say this, we need ukip to be there, we need ukip to be strong. ukip is the insurance policy in case brexit doesn't get delivered. and, yes, this is sometimes how seats are decided. a vote so close that candidates draw straws. here, a lib dem had the lucky choice in what, overall, that party described as a patchy

performance — political speak for not that much to be proud of, nor disaster instead. the liberal democrats are now your best route to prevent our country and our communities being taken for granted by a conservative landslide. not much sign of the greens becoming a significant force, gaining some small new footholds, but losing others along the way. yet, in a patchwork of results, there was one big winner, on her party's first big day out with her in charge. of course, this is not the general election. today's results may not translate directly into what happens next month, but after today, theresa may has plenty to be confident about. yet there will be no let—up. she and the rest will be straight back out on the trail. lots of results to digestible. why try and do that now.

joining me now is tony travers — he's a professor at the department of government at the london school of economics and an expert in local government. an expert on all things political. what is going on politically and why have the tories done so well? they have the tories done so well? they have done well because theresa may has been able, it appears, to ca ptu re has been able, it appears, to capture almost the whole of the uk bought in many parts of the country. and also appeal to some labour voters as well. of course, it is very unusual for the party leader to reach out in both directions at once. that is clearly what she has done. the indication is that something likely will happen five weeks out in the general election. we cannot always extrapolates from local government elections to a general election, partly because the time—out is lower in local government elections. but how do you project these figures on to what could happen on june project these figures on to what could happen onjune the 8th?. project these figures on to what could happen on june the 8th? at its simplest, what these results do is confirm with real photos in real polling stations what the opinion

polls have been saying. although the margin between the conservatives and labour in the national vote made an equivalent, if there were a general election, the gaps are narrower than the polls been showing, which i'm sure the conservatives will say, by the way. the truth is, these results are in the same direction as peoples and suggests the conservatives are well positioned. —— as the polls. normally, party leaders try to clear up normally, party leaders try to clear up the results and exaggerate significance but theresa may is playing it all down today and saying, don't take anything for granted, two voted —— to her voters. the last thing the conservatives wa nt the last thing the conservatives want as supporters and activists going home this evening and this weekend and thinking, that is it, we cannot lose this. and the voters would think it is a done deal and turnout is low. so they want to keep

them into going all the way through to polling day. is a landslide inevitable in the general election? nothing is inevitable in elections any more. i would not say that. at the moment, it looks quite good for the moment, it looks quite good for the conservatives. a quick word about the metro mayors. manchester, liverpool and so on. how significant is that as a political development? it is important. in some ways, this is the legacy of george osborne and even is the legacy of george osborne and eve n to ny is the legacy of george osborne and even tony blair's legacy. we have a labour mayor in liverpool and greater manchester and i am sure they will be seen as powerful opposition at some level. by the conservatives were victorious in the west midlands, birmingham and tees valley. that is a remarkable result, particularly in birmingham, which was on a knife edge. the conservatives will think that is a really good result outside. the mayor ‘s will be a new force in

politics in the city regions. a bit like the mayor of london but tailored for their cities. great to talk to you. as we had, labour suffered really poor results in these elections. they have lost a number of key strong holds including lancashire, derbyshire and bridgend. but they have taken two of the metro mayoral contests in manchester and liverpool, from where our deputy political editorjohn pienaar reports. are you fit to lead the labour party? he does not look very happy, even a bit tense, defeats and setbacks in the north and the midlands hard to take. and then, you would almost believe that labour was having a good day. almost. we have had some difficult results overnight. some have been very good. labour liverpool picked a labour mayor, a moment of comfort for steve rotherham, former mp, and just now, jeremy corbyn could use a little comfort.

in light of the results we are seeing, do you accept you need to raise your game before the general election, or is your campaign now as good as it gets? obviously, we need to gain support. compared to two—years ago, we are doing our best, doing well. we have further to go, everybody understands that, but there are a large number of people who did not vote in local elections and a very large number who have still yet to register to vote, and i hope they will register by may the 22nd. labour loyalty runs deep on merseyside, reliable as the mersey ferry, the city goes with labour each time. but now some of that support is going adrift. in the city, doubts are creeping in. in some places across the rive, labour is in danger, for all the faith of those who want jeremy corbyn to steer the party and their country. liverpool is labour. you are labour. isjeremy corbyn good for labour? yes, definitely. it is the change the country needs. we have put up with too many people without integrity who only care about themselves.

he does cares about people. he is dead, he has no personality, no presence. he doesn't look strong. he looks weak. even though you agree with what he is saying? i love the guy, i do. but we are never going to win, never in a million years. britain is choosing its course yield the eu, and its captain, and who leads britain after brexit is a big issue, for some, the decider. you are a labour man? i was, but i don't trust them to get us out of europe. i think corbyn would get ripped to bits in the negotiations so i will switch to the tories. jeremy corbyn came here after a bad night and a worse day to show and tell reasons to be cheerful. liverpool is a labour fortress but if you talk to people,

it is clear as day that that support is crumbling. labour mps who won with voting majorities of up to 5,000 or more are telling me privately they have abandoned hope of holding their seats in parliament. that is another vote lost, and not the only one, but no—one told jeremy corbyn that leading would be easy. he has learned just how hard it can be. we can now speak to labour's justice spokesman, richard burgon, who is in our leeds studio. what has gone wrong for labour in these it has been a day of mixed results as andy burnham said in his speech when he was victorious in manchester today. the places where we would have liked to have done better... but one week is a long time in politics, four orfive weeks is even longer. we now than we need to put out the labour vision and policies for a fairer britain, whether it is the 10p per hour minimum wage, free primary school

meals, 10,000 extra police, boosting their carers allowance, all of these things we need to put out and make clear that this is not a general election that theresa may is pretending is about brexit. this is about the government's record of the last seven years, on nhs, education and a host of things. an election to choose a prime minister. we are just seeing pictures ofjeremy corbyn. stephen kinnock was saying earlier today that it is a problem for labour. when he is on the doorstep, jeremy corbyn is raised as a problem for vote rs. jeremy corbyn is raised as a problem for voters. is that you see it? in my constituency and in others on the doorstep, jeremy corbyn features in the minority of the comments, small minority of comments people make when they answer the door. in a positive way? when people talk to you about him, i've positive? mostly, they are. but most people do not want to talk about individual

mps leaders but they want to talk about what he's changed in society. i was doorknocking in my constituency today. i went to a house, one—bedroom flat where there was the mother, her child and baby granddaughter. all three of them we re granddaughter. all three of them were ina granddaughter. all three of them were in a one—bedroom flat with a baby ina were in a one—bedroom flat with a baby in a cot because they were not enough council houses and they have been told to wait at least another 18 months. a labour government will build a massive programme of council house building. people are talking about living standards and things that have gone wrong. lots of people feel the system is rigged against them and their families. lots of people feel that they are not benefiting from wealth in our society. in the next four weeks, we will be putting out the policies which will help to turn that around and make people have the chance of life that they deserve. but you're 20 percentage points behind in the opinion polls. i mean, it is into decline, isn't it? well, if you look at results today, as your previous guests said, it said 11 points

behind according to today's... guests said, it said 11 points behind according to today's. .. even thatis behind according to today's. .. even that is a mountain to climb. of course. do we need to do a lot of work in the next four weeks? of course. the number of people voting in this general election, judging by previous elections, would be about twice as much as the people who voted in local elections. we do have a lot of work to do but we need to talk to people about how labour policies will lift living standards. of course we will do that. thank you for your time. let's speak to the liberal democrat peer, baroness grender. not great results of the lib dems. mixed results. some would say bad. some bad, some good. i am heartened by the fact we have an 18% overall share of the vote. that is a very good springboard for us to start this general election campaign on.

if we drill down and take a look at the seats we are particularly interested in, we have won the pole and most of those seats. if you're looking at cheltenham, eastleigh, particular favourite of mine, just off 50% vote for the liberal democrats, that is good. edinburgh west, north east fife, north cornwall, north norfolk, cardiff central... all—round, we have topped the ball in the vote there. —— topped the poll. but you have lost 40 topped the poll. but you have lost a0 odd seats. topped the poll. but you have lost 40 odd seats. we would have preferred to gain... ukip's collapse has created a bit of difficulty for us has created a bit of difficulty for us because it means that there is 110w us because it means that there is now a home for the right—wing vote, which is the conservatives. the wider perspective is that your leader, tim farron, has painted the liberal democrats as the party, if you either remain —— supported remain in the brexit election, if

you want a soft brexit, you're the party for them. were you not getting those votes in huge numbers? we're getting 18%, a lot better than our poll rating. you're losing seats! we are 9% behind the labour party. it is game on. i knocked on doors for the local elections and there was a range of opinions. there was a common theme, which wasjeremy corbyn is no good. 0ther common theme, which wasjeremy corbyn is no good. other than that, people were voting on local issues. this is game on. it is the general election and this general election has been called by theresa may because she does not want opposition on brexit and have brexit. she is striving to was that at 100 mph into the brick wall that is brexit. she needs opposition to that. a lot of voters seem to like that. but what do not and that is why our membership has gone up by over 100,000 ended the largest we have ever had. i am not saying that we do

not have a lot of hard graft ahead of us. it is not rocket science in elections. you have to knock on doors and talk to lots of people. i have been at meetings with candidates and people are very angry about what is happening about brexit. they are fired up and they are coming over to us. in those seats where we are trying to win, we're getting some really good polling results, as i said. lots of motorbikes rushing past is heard outside the palace of westminster. but thank you very much being with us but thank you very much being with us anyway. thank you for your time. let's look at scotland. labour have suffered bruising losses — including in glasgow, where the party lost control of the council that they've held for decades. the snp finished as the largest party, but the conservatives have made big gains. from glasgow, here's our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon. this really is a bad result for labour. their vote across scotland

slumped. the leader in scotland said the result was disappointing but not particularly a surprise. but perhaps a sign of how far they have fallen as the fact that glasgow city chambers, a labour stronghold for almost a0 years, has gone to the snp. they are calling it a hugely symbolic win. they are now the largest party here in glasgow and across the country they have taken the most seats overall. but they have fallen short of gaining any majorities. another interesting facet of the story in scotland is that there does seem to be a resurgence in the conservative vote. they are now the second party of local government. winning seats in areas which many people would have thought where previously no—go areas for the tories, like ferguson park in paisley, and shettleston in the east end of causal. they campaigned with a message that they are the protectors of the union. —— east end of glasgow. for some voters, that has punched through. it shows people

alive than binary nature of politics in scotland. many voters opting to vote on either unionist or independence lines. that gives you a sense of the general election campaign ahead. lorna gordon reporting let's speak to iain mcwhirter, political commentator at the daily and sunday herald. hejoins us from our edinburgh studio. lester cava the conservatives in scotland. they have done pretty well? yes, it was a sensational result from ruth davidson, leader of the scottish conservatives. —— let's talk about. they have decontaminated their brand. they were wiped out here in 1995 and have been in skillet ever since. now they are back. they are the opposition party in hollywood and have consolidated that by establishing themselves as the second party in local government in scotland. at the same time, it should be remembered that this is

all relative and this is still a very significant victory for the snp. they had a31 seats overall against the tories' 276. some people are saying that the snp have done well but perhaps they have peaked and they are starting to lose a little momentum. is that you see it? well, we are past the peak for them. the days that they would sweep all before them, as they did in 2015 in the general election, as you probably remember, they wake labour out and had an average swing across constituencies of 30%, which is unheard of... they will not be able to repeat that kind of success. nevertheless, they managed to hold the line here. the way that they are spinning it is that, well, now it is a very clear choice for scotland. the issue on all levels is the

national question of, it is between is the tories. labour are irrelevant. speaking of labour, losing control of glasgow after decades, how significant is that? losing control of glasgow after decades, how significant is that7m is huge. we have heard about conservatives been returned and was like ferguson we park in paisley, the most deprived area in scotland, and in some of the wards in glasgow, where the tories have been com pletely where the tories have been completely obliterated for so many yea rs, completely obliterated for so many years, so it is an extraordinary sight to see that. it has drawn the sting a bit from labour's really very significant setback of the loss of 130 seats your overall. almost the same as the number the tories gained in scotland. it looks like a crossover between labour and the tories and they will be very disappointed an unhappy about that. and indeed people in the scottish national party as well. many former

labour supporters. they will not necessarily be celebrating that tonight because many did not want to see the tories getting back into scotland. you talk about the tories doing well in some deprived areas, where perhaps you would not expect them to do very well. what is the psychology of the voters who are voting for them there? you talked earlier about how they have detoxified and their brand has changed in scotland. is it down to that or visit that people in scotla nd that or visit that people in scotland like to be and her government? times change. margaret thatcher, the great evil goddess of scottish politics is now ancient history. ruth davidson is a very different kind of conservative, as i am sure you know. she is much more liberal minded in her personal and political life. she is a very shrewd tactician and saw the opportunity to capitalise on a widespread

resentment among unionists at the prospect of a new independence referendum, which the first minister, nicola sturgeon, has been trying to get off the ground. that, and remember also we have had this very strong pro—tory, pro—brexit move in politics. scotland is still pa rt move in politics. scotland is still part of the uk and a lot of voters in these areas are probably, like many working—class voters in the north of england, they are not happy about what they see in europe. there isa about what they see in europe. there is a significant brexit vote in scotland, more than 1 is a significant brexit vote in scotland, more than1 million is a significant brexit vote in scotland, more than 1 million voted to leave in june. scotland, more than 1 million voted to leave injune. these will be distributed across many of these constituencies. if you put these things together, the independence referendum, ruth davidson and brexit, it is not surprising that the tories are getting back. very interesting to get your analysis. thank you for your time. we stock a bit more about ukip.

they face questions about its future after winning just one of the seats it was contesting. ukip lost 13 seats in lincolnshire where its leader, paul nuttall, is running in the general election. he says the party is a victim of its ‘own success'. the former ukip mp, douglas carswell, says it's all over for ukip. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth reports from boston in lincolnshire. this lincolnshire market town has been ripe ukip turf. boston has seen a surge in migration from eastern europe. more people here backed brexit than anywhere in britain, but last night, voters abandoned ukip. they were there for a purpose, they got us a referendum. they were getting us out. so, i think they did what they set out to do. they are a spent force. i don't think they will do much now. most of ukip's support here and almost all of its county council seats went to the tories. it is not a local issue, but some say they are the party to deliver brexit. i don't think ukip had

any idea how to do it. who do you think can do it? we have to rely on the conservative party. at the moment, the conservatives are the only viable party. theresa may is the right person to lead the country. she is strong enough. in recent years, ukip were a force to be reckoned with, playing a key part in getting the eu referendum in which the country backed brexit. but in these elections, their support has collapsed in places like this where they were once so popular, prompting some to ask if this is the start of the end for ukip. despite the result here, this is where the party leader will stand in the general election. paul nuttall says that ukip has been a victim of its own success, and if the price of britain leaving the eu is a tory advance, it is a price that ukip is prepared to pay, insisting the party still has a bright future. sue ransom agrees. she lost her council seat last night. her husband failed to win, but they say that ukip will fight

on, despite theresa may encroaching on their territory. has she stolen ukip's policies? yes. does that mean she has stolen ukip's vote? possibly. she says what people want a year and she says what i want to hear. so ukip's role now is what, if theresa may is saying what you want to hear? we are the guardians of the brexit referendum. we are here to make sure that what17 million people wanted is going to happen and there will be no backsliding. but having suffered such losses, even in its heartlands, it is hard to see where ukip goes from here. let's talk about the metro mayors now and what the people elected to these new political positions will have the ability to do. they are in big cities like liverpool and manchester. we can talk now to drjo casebourne — she's the director of development at the institute for government.

thanks forjoining us. how did these metro mayors the come about? england is one of the most centralised countries of its type. if you look at other 0ecd countries. 0sborne recognised this and thought real power should reside in local areas. they deal with government to have got control of the spending and growth areas. what sort of powers will they have? are they old sort of victory are old—fashioned chamberlain sort of males? sort of. they have investment pots, which is 1.1 billion in the west midlands, other males have powers over housing and affordable housing, and males have control over bus franchising and smart ticketing like the oyster system in london. they have powers over things like the further

education system and the adult skills budget. but only manchester has power over health and social care. andy burnham ten decide about health and social care. they are powerful positions they? labour have done reasonably well in liverpool and manchester and not so well in the west midlands. but some people are saying if there is a landslide tory government, in the next general election, these will be powerful centres of opposition for labour? they are making political career trajectories in england much more interesting. we are seeing males move to and fro. sadiq khan and borisjohnson move to and fro. sadiq khan and boris johnson have gone move to and fro. sadiq khan and borisjohnson have gone from being ministered to mayors. people are recognising that there are power in these mail to use. andy street for example, you concede they are powerfulfigures. example, you concede they are powerful figures. how does that kind

of devolution of power that we are seeing with these metro mayors, how does it impact other european countries? are mayors have limited powers, they can't raise taxes or spend money in certain areas like us or european mayors. what we will see i think, is males getting more power. as people recognise what they can do. we will see more power going towards these ten to, grow towel. thanks —— we will see more power to our next guest has researched these positions closely. these are good development for british politics?” think it is. england has been centralised for far too long and these will be powerful positions.

however, i think it's worth qualifying that in the sense that although yes they will be powerful figures, but are actually in a double bind. many of the devolved powers are actually powers devolved to the combined authorities. the first thing the metro mayors will have to do is work in a good, constructive relationship with their combined authorities. the turnout in these elections wasn't huge, it often isn't in local elections, do you think the voters fully understand what these metro mayors all about? you're right. the turnout was disappointing. i suspect many candidates will be secretly pleased it wasn't quite as low as the police and crime commission turnout, at around 13%. no one got over 30%, so it's disappointing. what it shows us is voter fatigue and many voters are not interested or simply don't know what these positions are about. we are looking at pictures of andy burnham there, successful in greater

manchester. they are attracting some high profile political figures, thesejob. is high profile political figures, these job. is that significant?” think it is and it will change the nature of politics in england. we will see far more of a two wage relationship between westminster and the rest of the country. from your point of view, it's a healthy development? we were talking about it with joe case born. development? we were talking about it withjoe case born. places like liverpool and manchester, if there isa liverpool and manchester, if there is a election —— tory government of these could be centres of opposition? they could, but we should highlight the distinction between liverpool and greater manchester. greater manchester has had a history of collaboration with central government. of being proud of being out to work with whatever government that is in westminster. i think if they want to expand, could extend devolution and get more power, they will have to work in a

constructive and collaborative way. is it confusing that some of these mayors have different powers than other one? absolutely. greater manchester are the vanguard, they wa nt manchester are the vanguard, they want other areas to catch up with them. 0therwise want other areas to catch up with them. otherwise they risk being exposed in terms of the powers they have. what all candidates have campaigned on is going back to westminster and trying to get more powers. they are powerful but they are maybe not powerful in the way the mail of new york city is for example? absolutely. they are very different styles of mayors compared to london. they are cabinet style mayors. they have to work with the combined authorities, they can't do anything they want. good to talk to you. thank you for your time. let's hear from all of the leaders of the political parties. the prime minister spoke to journalists this afternoon during a visit to west london. it is encouraging we have won

support across the whole of the united kingdom. buti support across the whole of the united kingdom. but i will not take anything for granted and neither will the team i lead. because there is too much at stake. this is not about who wins and who loses in the local elections, it is about continuing to fight for the best brexit dealforfamilies continuing to fight for the best brexit deal for families and businesses across the united kingdom. the lock the economic progress we have made. and get on with the job of making a success of the gears ahead. it is —— the years ahead. the reality is today, despite the evidence will of the british people, we have bureaucrats in europe who are questioning our resolve to get the right deal. the reality is, only a general election vote for the conservatives in 3a days' time, will strengthen my hand to get the best deal for britain from brexit. jeremy corbyn travelled to manchester this evening to congratulate andy burnham who has been elected as the new mayor of the city region —

despite serious losses elsewhere in the uk. the result here in manchester electing andy burnham was stupendous. fantastic majority, fantastic campaign. that happens when our party comes together and gets the message out there together. thank you, each and every one of you. i've been in touch with andy, to congratulate him, and he's already hard at work looking after the people of the greatest manchester region. i've known him for many more years than the two at the table. he is the one that stood

up the table. he is the one that stood up on hillsborough and demanded justice. the results have been mixed for the liberal democrats. but the party leader tim farron insisted the results were good news. increasing our vote share by 7%, are best for seven years. there will be increased the tories have experience in terms of vote share around the country, with the labour party utterly imploding and devastated. devastated like no other opposition party in recent memory. as another lesson from that is apart from the liberal democrats' revival and success liberal democrats' revival and success around the country, we still see britain headed for a conservative landslide. the leader of the scottish national party, nicola sturgeon, said her party enjoyed an emphatic victory. the snp vote has held up our share of the seats have held up, and we will be the largest party in more

councils, perhaps a majority of that is not absolutely killer yet. there is not absolutely killer yet. there is not absolutely killer yet. there is no way that anyone can spin this as any thing other than a clear and emphatic win for the snp. in in pole position to protect local services the length and breadth of the country and gives as a springboard for the general election. earlier today we heard from caroline lucas — co—leader of the green party. she explained why parties from the left needed to continue working together to transform the democratic voting system. essentially it is our incredibly undemocratic electoral system which is forcing the parties to have to discuss ways in which they can manage this tactically to try and ensure that there is a fairer representation of who is elected. i hope that in a handful of seats in the general election, we can see similar agreements. we need to maximise the number of mps who will go back into the next parliament to

fight for change in what is such an undemocratic system that hands absolute power to a party at the moment, for example, on less than 2496 moment, for example, on less than 24% of the eligible vote. deputy chair of ukip, suzanne evans, said they would use their defeat to regroup and rebrand. it's not over until it's over. despite these pretty poor election results so far, it's not over. let's be honest, i won't lie to you, we've been a protest party. now we have the opportunity to regroup, rebrand and go beyond that. some serious professional political party. look at the other issues that are affecting people today. just because we've left the european union, we won't solve every problem in this country. there will still be the problems of high debt, unemployment, the way in which the conservatives are attacking middle—class earners, the self—employed, disabled and people are benefits. we want to stand up for those people too.

so what if anything can we learn about brexit and the uk‘s position during the negotiations from these results? lets talk a little more about this withjonathan isaby — he's the editor of brexit central — a pro—brexit online platform. alsojoining us is james mcgrory he's the executive director of open britain a group that emerged from the remain campaign and is campaigning against a so—called hard brexit. let's talk about ukip, first. jonathan, their voters collapse hasn't it was a good are they finished as a political force? one struggles to see what they will do now. their raison d'etre has been sorted. the british public voted for brexit and the current government are getting on with delivering that. what is the point of voting ukip? nigel farage says they are an insurance policy for hard brexit.“ the current government were down the line to not deliver brexit as we

expect them to come ukip could see a resurgence. what we have seen over the last ten or 15 years is increasing number of people voting ukip at elections who are dissatisfied with the status quo, wa nt to dissatisfied with the status quo, want to send a message to westminster or whoever, which ever election it is, that they weren't happy with our relationship with the eu, to the point that the last election ukip got nearly a million votes. all of a sudden, after the referendum, those votes are clearly up referendum, those votes are clearly upforgrabs again. referendum, those votes are clearly up for grabs again. there's only one of the three established parties which is effectively committed to delivering brexit. last night's results, the tories are sapping those votes up. james, where have the remains voters gone? labour have not done well and the lib dems have not done well and the lib dems have not done well and the lib dems have not done well. where i work remain as voting? if you look at the combined votes, it's as voting? if you look at the combined votes, its higher than the conservatives, but it's split

between labour, liberal democrat, scott snp, apply, the clatter . 7%— is the most significant thing is the total and utter of the and as faras and as far as i can c, its vote, and as far as i can c, its wholesale move to the tories. the most interesting thing is that those who are liberal leaders or soft levers, or don't want the hard brexit might be concerned when they see poor nuttall texaco paul nuttall saying the move to the tories is a price they can pay. it is a conservative government is set on a ha rd conservative government is set on a hard version of brexit which may not appeal to all those who voted lee. for example, tim farron said if you wa nt for example, tim farron said if you want a soft brexit, vote for us, why haven't they done better? they

shouldn't be too dismissive of how well the lib dems have done. they've lost a0 seats. take our polling a high percentage of the vote.|j remember reading the obituaries of the party two years ago and now they are polling 80% of the vote. ukip apologist 5%. leg 18% of the vote. it's a pretty solid performance and what they will be interested in is in those seats they are targeting in a few weeks' time, cheltenham, eastleigh, bath, they have done well indeed. they will look at that and saying we can build on it in five weeks' time. the lib dems start from a low base. even if they go up a few percentage points, it would win the more seats. but what james discount is that a lot of people who voted with his side during the referendum, the majority of them now accept the referendum result and want the government to get on with delivering

it. you think remain as voting tory? i think there are people who voted remain who will happy to parties delivering brexit. they don't want to see the referendum revisited. delivering brexit. they don't want to see the referendum revisitedm your view, will this be a brexit election? now. it's the issue that has caused the prime minister to call the election. she was right to do so. there are number of figures from the political establishment, particularly in the house of lords, who are threatening to derail and obstruct the government's attempts to get the legislation through the house of lords over the coming couple of days. if the current government gets re—elected with a ma nifesto government gets re—elected with a manifesto mandates to deliver on the brexit the people voted for at the election, the house of lords will be put in its place, and the government will have the mandate to get on with delivering. james, how do you see it? for the general election, delivering. james, how do you see it? forthe general election, i think this is a big wake—up call for

people opposed to hard brexit. the conservatives had a fantastic night, no point pretending otherwise. and the projections say there will do well at the general election. they look set for a landslide. up against an opposition that barely seems to be able to mount a serious challenge. i would say to people, look at this, if you are concerned about the direction the government is taking, about a potentially hard brexit that will cost jobs, increase prices in the shops, you need to go out and get stuck in at this election. what does that mean? you need to go out and campaign. i don't think it's healthy for democracy to live in a 1—party state, when you need to go out and campaign. i don't think it's healthy for democracy to live in a 1—party state, when udal, majorities of 150 or more, there have been landslide governments before. it doesn't mean a 1-party state. i don't think it's a particularly how the situation. when you have a government returned without any opposition. even the most ardent try ardent brexit supporter said it would think it would have a good healthy

opposition. the conservatives are able to get through this local election campaign are probably the general election campaign without answering any of the difficult questions about brexit or any of the challenges and trade—offs that will come during these. that is why she called the election? she didn't want to be packed palace f she a brexit voted for. deliver the brexit people voted for. the opposition has not been strong, it may be weaker after the election if labour don't do particularly well. if the conservative government is re—elected with a bigger majority, that is a mandate from the british people with people on the remain side have been paid telling people on the leave side that the current mac government doesn't doesn't have. if they got it dumber than they can deliver on it. thanks macro “— than they can deliver on it. thanks macro —— if they got it then they can deliver on it. thanks for

joining us. back to the studio. let's take a look at some of the other stories making making the news tonight. two men have been charged with the murder of dorset businessman guy hedger who was found shot in his home on sunday. dorset police said jason baccus and scott keeping have been charged with murder and aggravated burglary. detectives are continuing to question a man and a woman from the blanford area. the far—right candidate marine le pen was heckled during her visit to reims cathedral, in northern france. the centrist candidate emmanuel macron — who has a substantial lead in opinion polls — has visited the southern city of rodez. ten people have been sentenced for defrauding four pensioners from north wales out of hundreds of thousands of pounds for non existent, poor or unnecessary building work. the victims included the late grandmother of the actorjude law. sentences ranged from a few months to eight years. the government has finally

published its plan to reduce air pollution in the uk — having lost a legal battle to delay it until after the general election. but it's already been criticised by environmentalists and motoring groups for being too vague. among a range of possible measure are new council cleans air zones, and a possible diesel scrappage scheme. 0ur science editor david shukman reports from nottingham , one of a number of uk cities failing to meet pollution standards. the rattle of diesel in the morning rush—hour in nottingham. one of many cities where traffic generates unhealthy levels of nitrogen dioxide. so all eyes are on the government's new plan to clean up. the authorities in nottingham have been taking steps on their own. a tram system to get people out of cars. and a special lane for electric vehicles. but the council says the government still isn't doing enough. they are trying to make local authority responsible for it

and to duck their own responsibility as a central government. that is not going to work. local authorities have not got the resources to be able to respond, they have not got the means to solve the problem. the environment secretary andrea leadsom who unveiled the plan today declined our request for an interview. but she said air quality was a high priority. 0ne scheme is to install new filters on older vehicles, like the device being fitted to this pass. but this will not apply to cars. another scheme is to remove speed bumps because cars are more polluting when the slowdown and speed up. safety experts say lives would be at risk. and there is a possible scrappage scheme the most polluting vehicles but little detail on how it would work. we've always wanted a national network of clean air zones, along with help and support such as a scrappage scheme, for people to switch to cleaner forms of transport. now it appears the national network of clean air zones is not strong enough if we are going to protect

people's health and there is not much mention of a scrappage scheme year. it's diesel engines which are blamed for producing nitrogen dioxide. a gas that is invisible to the naked eye but went to a wide range of health impacts. so where does this leave drivers of diesel cars? gordon brown said go to a diesel car because it's cheaper, and now this government says diesel ‘s cars should get taken off the road, i don't know why. so where does that leave you? it's difficult now. maybe for the next car i probably would get a petrol but i do a lot of commuting, driving on the motorways, so when i bought this car diesel was the obvious choice. but you might change now? absolutely. one idea that's discussed in the report is charging diesel drivers for coming into cities like nottingham. the government makes clear it does not support that. it wants local authorities to try every other option first but if the air remains polluted maybe charging will have to be considered again. for the lib dems the plan is a copout. and the green party says

the government is standing idly whilst britain chokes. we can now speak to rod dennis from the rac. he's in our bristol studio. he's been waiting very patiently. thanks forjoining us. what are the positive aspects would you in these d raft positive aspects would you in these draft plans? there is a lot that is positive. we talk about, in the report, smoothing traffic flow. 0ne of the biggest problems with air quality in towns and cities is caused by congestion, vehicles moving slowly, people slowing down on speeding up. there are some positive aspects of the draft plans out today that help to encourage councils to really think about traffic flow, speed bumps, resequencing, traffic lights. all these can help get traffic moving in order to do that, there will be less

ofan air order to do that, there will be less of an air problem. but they clean up went the enough. some of the ideas are too vague for you? or don't really sit well with the rac? which they? you're right. the biggest proposal as clean as zones. this is something we are positive about, they the right thing, we think the days of driving any old diesel vehicle through the middle of towns and cities are probably numbered. the concerns we have are that the government has left wide open the doorfor council pops government has left wide open the door for council pops to charge for clear as zones. there is an urgency about this. it needs to be cleared up. as faras about this. it needs to be cleared up. as far as charging for clean air was zones are concerned, up. as far as charging for clean air was zones are concerned, that can affect drivers of recent vehicle. if you own one that was registered before september 201a, cupid face charges. most people —— due could

face charges. most people probably bought diesel is in good faith, with good reason for buying them. we are concerned that there was no protection for motorists who bought recent vehicles and are now perhaps faced with switching out of those. the baby inconvenient and costly, but if science has moved on and diesels are not what we should be driving, why not allow these clean as an? we have the congestion zone in london and it's been affected? they are the right thing but we need to phase it over and out of time. the rac is where the urgency of this problem. but at the same time, we have 12 million diesel motorists in the uk. while we pushed deep carbonised our transporter move people into hybrid and electric vehicles, the in the isn't there. so we need to do is more to get people out of the oldest, most polluting diesel vehicles, there's no question about that, but overnight we cannot switch 12 million motorists in the pleaser d —— cleaner diesel

vehicles, guinea to phase it in. we wa nt to vehicles, guinea to phase it in. we want to see the government in the final plans, a bit more guidance the authorities to phase it in. diesel drivers who spent money on these vehicles shouldn't lose out on these plans. they wouldn't lose out with a diesels rapid scheme? they would be —— diesel scrappage screen? they would be have money to buy something cleaner? we would cautiously welcome this. the issue with the scrappage scheme is twofold. you are got into brand—new vehicle. if you have an older vehicle, you might have had it on the road or a small business, are you ina on the road or a small business, are you in a position to trade those inside brand—new vehicle? a lot of people buy used cars, and generally scrappage schemes don't tend to apply to those. the other issue for

scrappage schemes is if we are serious about tackling the clean air, the air quality problem in this country, we need to tackle both vehicles doing the most miles, most of the time. the scrappage scheme will generally apply to all sorts of vehicles and we can't find out how often those vehicles will be dues, where they are being used and how many miles they run for. as part we are saying that the motorist plays a role but we need to look at which vehicles pollute the most. effo rts which vehicles pollute the most. efforts to improve buses, retrofitting technology on the buses, and other forms retrofitting technology on the buses, and otherforms of retrofitting technology on the buses, and other forms of transport are important. thanks forjoining us. the funeral has taken place of leslie rhodes, one of the victims of the westminster terror attacks. mr rhodes who was 75 and a retired window cleaner was on his way home after a hospital appointment when he was killed by khalid masood on westminster bridge.

his family say they have yet to come to terms with the unfairness of his death . let's ta ke let's take a look at the weather. it's been lovely in western and central scotland for several days. 20 celsius in the north—west highlands. further east, there is a breeze coming in from the cold north seas. temperatures were closer to 11 celsius. we will see similar contrasts in the next few days. a lot will cloud coming in and the brief for england and wales. midlands will have rain and parts of wales, and parts south west. it will hold up for most places but in the north of scotland will see a touch of frost. it will be a lovely day across of frost. it will be a lovely day a cross m ost of frost. it will be a lovely day across most of scotland, a bit of low cloud on the north coast. it isn't a in the northern ireland to, and ina isn't a in the northern ireland to, and in a bit of cloud in england and wales. a bit of rain in the south wales, the southeast should be brighter. 11 or 12 degrees on the north sea coast, and i'm upper teens

in the north—west. sunday is a quiet day, light winds on the north sea coast but grey and cool. in the west, it is a decent day. 18 celsius forecast in belfast. this is bbc world news. i'm kasia madera. our top story... dramatic gains for the conservative party in local elections here in the uk. with just five weeks to go until the snap general election, the party and the prime minister are trying to avoid looking complacent. iam not i am not taking anything for granted. i will be going out for the remaining weeks for the remainder of this general election campaign to earn the support of the british people. campaigning is drawing to close in the french presidential election, with opinion polls suggesting emmanuel macron is pulling further ahead of marine le pen. also in the programme... a challenge to boeing and airbus. china's first commercial passenger jet makes its maiden flight.