this is bbc news. the headlines at 7pm. donald trump has told the leaders of more than a0 muslim nations that the middle east cannot wait for american power to crush the enemy. drive them out of your communities, drive them out of your holy land, and drive them out of this earth. and we're live in edinburgh, where the scottish party leaders are preparing for their big campaign debate. we'll be asking voters in the scottish borders, for their views, on the calls for a second referendum on independence. and we'll have the latest reaction to conservative plans for reforming social care and winter fuel benefit for pensioners. six scottish political party leaders are preparing for the televised election debate here in edinburgh, with the issue of independence expected to dominate. we'll bring you a special programme on that live at 7:30pm. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. president trump has told the leaders of more than a0 muslim nations, they must join forces to defeat religious extremism. speaking in saudi arabia, on the second day of his tour of the middle east and europe, he said terrorists must find no sanctuary, and he singled out iran for criticism, saying it represented "the tip of the spear of terrorism". our north america editor, jon sopel, is travelling with the president. the president has been on a deep immersion into middle east politics today, and a charm offensive, meeting a host of arab and gulf leaders from across the region. and one central geopolitical subject, the fight against islamist extremism, and how to make good on his pledge to destroy so—called islamic state.

but after the trenchant, and some would say islamophobic, language of the trump election campaign, the president chose a much more moderate tone today. this is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilisations. this is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people, all in the name of religion. this is a battle between good and evil. and he said that if terrorism was to be defeated, it was up to the people in that room to do more. a better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists, and drive out the extremists. drive them out. drive them out of your places of worship. drive them out of your communities. drive them out of your holy land,

and drive them out of this earth. this speech was a far cry from the language that donald trump and his allies used during the campaign. no more talk that islam "hates us", no more mention of this being a clash of civilisations, and the one phrase that he chided hillary clinton and barack obama for not using, "radical islamic terrorism", was not even mentioned. that was then. donald] trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. radical islam is coming to our shores. we have a radical islamic terrorism problem, folks. and this is now. donald trump has made a lot of friends with this visit and this speech. a more inclusive tone, a pledge of american help, combined with a strong attack on iran, exactly what his saudi hosts were hoping for. one muslim nation was notably absent

and that was iran. president trump accused iran of fuelling sectarian conflict and terror across the region and supported what he termed as unspeakable crimes by the assad government in syria. no discussion of stamping out this threat would be complete without mentioning the government that gives terrorists all three: safe harbour, financial backing and the social standing needed for recruitment. it is a regime that is responsible for so much instability in the region. i am speaking, of course, of iran. from lebanon, to iraq, to yemen, iran funds arms and trains terrorists, militias and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos across the region.

for decades, iran has fuelled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror. it's a government that speaks openly of mass murder, vowing the destruction of israel, death to america and ruin for many leaders and nations in this very room. the un security council will hold an emergency meeting on tuesday in response to north korea's latest ballistic missile test. it comes after south korea's new government says the latest missile test by north korea has dashed its hopes of forging peace with its neighbour. earlier north korea launched what appeared to be a ballistic missile, the tenth this year. our

correspondent in seoul is following the story. there's a game of bluff going on now where you remember a month ago, president trump used the word armada about the warships coming to this region, to deal with the provocation from zhong yang. we are now seeing to missile launchers ina week are now seeing to missile launchers in a week and by all accounts both of them have been successful and have demonstrated substantial improvements in their technology. both these missiles on account of the military in japan both these missiles on account of the military injapan and south korea have travelled hundreds of kilometres. the one a week ago outside experts reckon that it could, if it was reliable, hit us basesin could, if it was reliable, hit us bases in the western pacific. nobody thinks, apart from kimjong—un, that

north korea has the ability to hit the continental united states at the moment, certainly not with a missile with a nuclear warhead. but pretty well all the outside experts think that advances are being made pretty quickly and that he does have the ability to hit everything within this region. in the timing, there was a bit of a gap in testing by the elections were going on. and a sceptic or a cynic would say, that's because the leading contender who actually won was somebody who wanted much more dialogue with the north. but president now has a task, because he says let's talk, but there's no sign of a favourable response from the north. social care funding has been high on the agenda for the main parties campaigning in england and wales today. and tonight other issues will come to the fore when the leaders of six

parties in scotland appear together in edinburgh for the bbc scottish leaders' debate. over now to huw edwards who tonight is in the scottish capital for us. huw. good evening from edinburgh, where the scottish party leaders are getting ready for their big campaign debate, it starts in 30 minutes' time. it's expected to include exchanges, on the snp's demand, for a second independence referendum. more on that in a moment. but today's campaigning in england and wales has been dominated by reaction to the conservative plans for reforming social care and the winter fuel benefit for pensioners. the party says it will not re—think the plans, despite claims that they're unjust. our political correspondent alex forsyth has the latest. manifestos are key in election campaigns, packed with policy, a pitch to voters. one of her promises last week, a fairer system for young and old. record funding for schools,

real technical education for young people, and the first ever proper plan to pay for and provide social care. but there's some disquiet in her party about what social care changes will mean for traditional tory voters, pensioners and homeowners. on the doorstep, theresa may was asked to explain yesterday. what do you have to say about old people? their changes. i haven't looked into it in detail. so what do the changes mean? currently you pay for care if you have assets worth more than £23,250. under the new plan that will go up, to £100,000. so nobody with assets worth less than that will have to pay. but that new calculation will include the value of your house, even for those cared for at home. the work and pensions secretary today defended the plan, saying nobody would have

to sell their house in their lifetime, but ultimately, care costs would come from people's estates. £100,000... among five children. ...is a reasonable inheritance to have, and people who are lucky enough to have had great rises in property value will still, i think, decide that £100,000 is a better way of doing it. but this has to be put in the context of funding the social care system. what we're seeing this weekend with the conservatives under increasing pressure, because they've chosen a dementia tax. if you or your loved one has or will get dementia, they are coming for you. labour is also on the attack. they'd fund more public spending with some tax rises and cap individual care costs, claiming the tory plan is unfair. the reason some people are calling this, unfortunately, the dementia tax, is because you don't know what condition you will suffer from, and if you suffer dementia in yourfamily, and i know what it's like, what happens is

the burden falls upon you. but to sustain a system that's stretched, the tories say there must be difficult decisions. however, labour is pitching hard for older voters, confident they can gain some ground. alex forsyth, bbc news, westminster. we have 19 minutes to go until the start of the televised debate of the campaign in scotland. it is in mansfield traquair, here in edinburgh, where the debate is about to get under way. first of all, take us through what's at stake in this debate this evening for leaders. i think that when you think about parliamentary elections, you often think about manifestos and

policies, and exchanges of ideas. but the big issue which has dominated politics in scotland for some years now is dominated politics in scotland for some years now is independence. on one side of the debate you have nicola sturgeon‘s snp views taking pa rt nicola sturgeon‘s snp views taking part in the debate tonight, they are trying to build support to win a second independence referendum, which possibly might come towards the end of next year. on the other side you've got ruth davidson for the conservatives whose party has become the main voice of the union in scotland, because they've had some degree of success and are now the official opposition. in many ways those two issues have polarised politics in scotland. then in the middle you've got labour, which used to dominate politics in scotland for many years but have had a pretty torrid time recently. their success has come at the expense, the rise of

the snp, still the most popular party in scotland. the liberal democrats have also struggled to regain a major foothold democrats have also struggled to regain a majorfoothold in democrats have also struggled to regain a major foothold in scottish politics in recent years. it's also worth pointing out that no politician taking part in tonight's debate is going to be a candidate to become the next uk prime minister. regardless of that fact, everything they do and say could have a massive influence on the outcome of this election and what happens after. lots of talk today that the snp may be looking to refocus some of their campaign, to look more on the issues around brexit, issues to do with austerity. we've had the controversy in england at wells to do with social care and the conservative ma nifesto. social care and the conservative manifesto. how do you see that going tonight —— in england and wales.

that's the other big issue at play. so many major areas like health, education and justice are already devolved to scotland, so these issues tend to have sometimes significance when it comes to a westminster election in scotland. welfare change is something that has affected the whole of the uk and has had been a big issue. specifically changes in pensions, we've heard about conservative plans to downgrade the triple lock to a double lock. they say the system needs to be modernised and the policies need to be paid for. at the same time you've got there political opponents ganging up trying to portray the conservatives have a nasty party, and that their opponents have been taking an anti—austerities approach to their policies. you mentioned brexit as well, that has been a massive issue in scotland may be because most

voters wanted to stay in the eu, while the uk came out as a whole. that takes us back to the independence issue, to a remark that nicola sturgeon made before the last election where she said that a big material change in the constitution of the country could lead to another independence referendum. she said at the time that change would be scotla nd the time that change would be scotland voting to stay in the eu while the rest of the uk came out. i'm hoping to come back to you with professorjohn curtis just before the debate starts in 15 minutes time. tonight's leaders' debate here in edinburgh, is also likely to tackle the question of a second referendum on independence. the snp say they already have a strong mandate, but the conservatives claim they're picking up support in scotland, because of their unionist credentials. our scotland editor sarah smith has been to kelso, a few miles from the border with england, to see how voters view the constitutional question there.

in the 3:20 at kelso, you can get good odds on a horse called maggie blue. the scottish tories are also feeling confident here. they don't pretend they can overtake the snp. but they do believe they could come from behind to take second place. i think the conservatives will be quite strong in this area. why is that? well, i think a lot of people are getting sick of the snp, to be quite honest. going for independence is going to be a disaster. even snp supporters worry there's too much focus on independence, ever since nicola sturgeon demanded another referendum. she keeps banging on about independence, it's putting a lot of folk off. but you'll vote for her nevertheless? i'll still vote for her, oh, aye. i wouldn't vote for the tories. back at the track the jockey wearing the saltire shirt was first past the post.

poor old maggie blue came in last. this constituency in the scottish borders is where the tories have the best chance of taking a seat from the snp. they're hoping to elect up to a dozen conservative mps. they gotjust one the last time. right across scotland the political argument has been completely redrawn, so that the main divide is no longer left versus right. it's now nationalist versus unionist. and the scottish tories have very successfully cast themselves as the only party who can defend the united kingdom. that's selkirk. this is pretty much where you grew up. yeah. the constitution is the biggest and most important and defining dividing line in scottish politics. for a large number of voters they are prepared to support a party that they might disagree with on a number of issues, provided that party is sound on the constitutional question. that applies to snp supporters and it increasingly applies to conservative supporters.

politics is all about momentum. that's why the players at the kelso cricket club believe voting tory could slow the snp's demands for an independence referendum. but this election will not settle the constitutional question. if people are voting now thinking about the independence referendum, they're being silly because it's a general election, not an independence referendum. people have got to realise. it's not a referendum, but you can be sure the election result in scotland will be used by all parties to try and justify their arguments for and against another vote on independence. sarah smith, bbc news, kelso. some of the views in the scottish borders. with me now is mark diffley, from the polling company ipsos mori. keeping a very close eye on the trends in this election. let's talk

about the debate that's coming up because really there are several things at stake for each of these leaders. take me through the political landscape as you see it 110w. political landscape as you see it now. the political landscape in scotla nd now. the political landscape in scotland really changed at the 18th of september 2014, the first independence referendum. since then we've seen huge amounts of change. broadly, although the snp lost that debate, so that we voted to stay, they have actually, ironically, been they have actually, ironically, been the political winners of that debate. through the 2015 general election, last year's holyrood election, last year's holyrood election, they have been the absolutely dominant force in scotland. mainly at the expense of the labour party who are now pretty much a runt party in comparison to where they were five, six years ago. what we've been seeing more recently to bring it right up to now is a resurgence of the tories in

scotland. no longer the toxic party of the thatcher era, now much more seen as of the thatcher era, now much more seen as the absolute defenders of the union and are making a lot of political gain as a result, broadly, of that position. what we think we will see at the general election is that the snp will still almost undoubtedly be the largest party and win the vast majority of seats in scotland. but comparing it to 2015, the tories may chip away and cut away and win, i don't know, 8—10 of those seats. what happens after that, the snp will claim they are still, quite rightly, the majority party in scotland but the tories will argue, if that happens, that the momentum will be with them. that will be an important argument going forward after the election. let's stay with the thought about the conservative performance. sarah smith looking at the views in the borders, is the conservative

increase in support focused on an area like that or is it wider? they did pretty well in the local elections a few weeks ago, but the supporters broadly in two main areas. there's the borders area where there are a lot of marginal seats that the snp won in 2015 that the tories have their eyes on, the other area is up the north—east coast, murray, aberdeenshire and so on. it's not just coast, murray, aberdeenshire and so on. it's notjust independence but brexit on the common fisheries policy, which is a key issue to vote is up there. the murray constituency voted 50—50 four brexit whereas the rest of scotland voted usually to remain in the uk. a lot of local issues going on there but for the tories they are the two areas they are focused on. interestingly, there are focused on. interestingly, there are some big hitters for the snp with constituencies in the north—east. that kind of ed balls, michael portillo moment, that's what

the tories will be looking for on june the 8th. angus robertson for example, his seat. they will be looking for symbolic hits but more broadly at least picking up a handful of seats. they only have one at the moment so in a sense the only way is up but if they get anything approaching double figures, they will feel that they will have shifted their momentum in scottish politics and we will be at a new era. it's good to talk to you. polling day is onjune 8th, but the deadline to register to vote is tomorrow. the latest figures from the electoral commission show there could be up to seven million people eligible to vote, who haven't yet registered. sophie long has been speaking to people in west yorkshire, where both conservatives and labour chose to launch their manifestos. her report contains some flash photography. in this barber shop in leeds, where every vote could count,

most people haven't yet registered. have you registered to vote? no. will you register to vote? no. why not? because basically i don't understand it. i never have voted, never voted. bev is assessing the trainee barbers here. i have no real interest in stuff like that. do you think you will bother voting? probably not. why would you not bother voting? i don't really get all the politics and stuff like that. have you registered to vote? i haven't yet, actually. do you know when the deadline is? the 22nd. yes, that's monday. yeah, yeah. young people — that's under 34s — are the least likely to be registered. according to the electoral commission, just under a third aren't. i haven't yet, no, i don't think i'm going to, either. as with so many things,

lessons can be learned from those with a little more life experience. are you registered to vote? i am, i always vote, yeah. definitely vote, yes. yes. this is old pool bank village hall. each and every member of the sequence dancing group that meets here is not only registered to vote, but really can't understand why anyone wouldn't be. i fought for this country in the second world war so i think you should do, to get everything sorted out. i wouldn't like to miss it really, because especially this year, it's very important, what's going on. for the young people, they should vote as well, because it's their future, isn't it? it's not really difficult. in fact, it's very easy. it only takes two minutes online. if you haven't got the internet, just go to your local council office and they'll help you. either way you'll need your

national insurance number. and you find that on your payslip, and if you're not working, it's on any correspondence from the department for work and pensions. at the last general election nearly half a million people left it until the last minute to register. the clock is ticking. tomorrow is deadline day. sophie long, bbc news, leeds. five minutes until the party leaders debate in edinburgh. let's go back to our scotland reporter andrew black who's in the spin room in mansfield traquair, here in edinburgh, where the debate is about to get under way. just a few minutes until the debate starts. we a re just a few minutes until the debate starts. we are expecting a lot of issues tonight, brexit and

independents to name a few. i'm joined exactly by the person you would want to be joined joined exactly by the person you would want to bejoined by, professorjohn curtis of strathclyde university. we've talked a lot about brexit and independents, is that what it will come down to in this campaign? ever since the independence referendum of 2014, the question of how scotland should be governed has been the central issue of scottish politics, and it's been theissue of scottish politics, and it's been the issue above all that has divided voters. if we look at what happened two years ago when the snp got 50% the vote north of the border, 90% of people who voted yes in 2014 reaffirmed their vote on that occasion by voting for the snp. bus that remarkable tsunami where virtually every labour constituency fell to the snp. that is the backdrop. in the wake of the brexit vote on june the backdrop. in the wake of the brexit vote onjune the 23rd last year, the

question of how scotland should be governed has resurfaced because, essentially, scotland voted to remain and nicola sturgeon the first minister has said, well, that represents a change in material circumstances and therefore the question of independence is back on the table. since then, having failed to get out of the uk government anything like the kind of brexit negotiating stance she wanted to have, such as staying in the single market, such as staying inside the customs union, maintaining freedom of movement, she announced not long before theresa may told us we would have a general election that she wa nted have a general election that she wanted to hold a referendum. essentially that is the issue that hangs over this election, as to whether or not scotland should have a second independence referendum sometime soon. the conservative party has used the issue and come up with a robust defence of the union. opposition to a second independence referendum. that is a key reason as

to why the conservatives are now finally enjoying a revival north of the border. some arejust finally enjoying a revival north of the border. some are just short of 30% in the opinion polls and meanwhile the snp are being asked to defend why there should be a second referendum, given that actually among those in favour of independence is not entirely clear that all of them fancy the idea of having a referendum as quickly as nicola sturgeon suggested by march 2019. what about non-independence issues. there has been a lot of talk about welfare, some arguing that the tactics of the snp, to deflect from the fact they don't have enough backing for independence. the argument about social care is at the moment very much an english issue. so far at least as those who need ca re so far at least as those who need care in the home, in scotland it is free. although there will be knock—on consequences to the debate south of the border because at the moment in scotland, if you need to

have residential care, then the cost of your home and the value of your home can be used in order to help deflect those costs. there is going to bea deflect those costs. there is going to be a knock—on from that english debate north of the border. thank you. it looks like we are in for a pretty good debate ahead. we are just about to start. thanks as always to professorjohn curtis with his expert guidance giving us the crucial context ahead of this debate in edinburgh, the first televised debate of this campaign in scotland. the leaders of six parties in scotland are gathering now for the bbc scottish leaders' debate, which is about to get under way. my my colleague sarah smith is chairing the debate. nicola sturgeon, ruth davidson, kezia dugdale, willie rennie, patrick harvie and david coburn will take part in the 90 minute debate ahead of the upcoming general election on june 8th. stand—by, curtains up. three weeks

to go until the general election the leaders of scotland's parties face the electorate. welcome to the scottish debate. good evening. welcome to mansfield in edinburgh, where over the next 90 minutes we will explore some of the major issues in this election, with the help of our invited audience, and our panel.