you're watching bbc news. i'm jane hill at westminster, where pressure mounts on theresa may. the bbc understands some conservative mps are demanding mrs may sack her two chief advisers or face a leadership challenge. to shore up her government the prime minister is expected to finalise her team of ministers and is preparing to hold talks with the democratic unionist party next week. the scottish conservatives leader is one of several to express reservations about mrs may doing a deal with the dup. labour took the conservative seat of kensington in west london — the final constituency declaration, after a third recount. we'll bring you the latest reaction from westminster, belfast and glasgow as questions

remain about how long mrs may can remain as prime minister. i'm shaun ley with today's other headlines: police reveal the london bridge terror attackers tried to hire a 7.5 tonne lorry, but their credit cards were declined. petrol bombs and blow torches were found in the van they did use. police also discovered the safe house where they prepared for the attack. detectives want help in tracing three knives used by the attackers and pay tribute to members of the public who put up a fight. people who came out armed with chairs, other items, were throwing bottles and anything they could get their hands on. and harry kane will be the new england captain as they take on scotland in the world cup qualifier at hampden park. good morning from westminster.

the bbc understands conservative mps are demanding mrs may sack her two chief advisers orface a leadership challenge. senior tories have demanded mrs may's joint chiefs of staff fiona hill and nick timothy are removed this weekend. otherwise they say they will seek to instigate a leadership contest. our assistant political editor, norman smith joins me. to people who are very well—known in westminster but members of the public might not know who they are. explain their role. they matter because they are viewed

fight -- they matter because they are viewed fight —— by many conservatives that they have a baleful influence on theresa may and notjust because they are blamed for the manifesto which one conservative has described as the worst manifesto in history, not just because as the worst manifesto in history, notjust because they are particularly blamed for the social ca re particularly blamed for the social care to buckle and notjust because of the campaign and the way it was fought, well of which is laid at their door, but because they are seen as their door, but because they are seen as a their door, but because they are seen as a litmus test of how far mrs may is willing to change, is willing to a cce pt may is willing to change, is willing to accept that she has suffered a significant reverse. she has two rethink how she approaches her attitude to colleagues, to the party, to the electorate and her style. so tory mps, i understand, are in effect issuing her with an ultimatum, which is sack nick timothy and fiona hill this weekend. if you do not learn there will be a

leadership challenge launched on monday at the meeting of conservative backbenchers. to do that you would need the signatures or support of 48 mps. i understand they are confident they can get that suchis they are confident they can get that such is the disquiet and unhappiness in the party and the determination that there has to be change. they are willing to take the huge step of, not just are willing to take the huge step of, notjust beginning a leadership contest, but beginning one before the brexit talks. in other words, to fast track mrs may's potential demise. this is a hugely, massive ramping up of the stakes and the pressure now on and mrs may to get rid of these two individuals for them to walk would seem to me to be colossal. what is your sense of the divide in the party? i mean there is clearly a reasonably sized cohort of

these people. by the same token, other conservatives who say they are not too happy with the way the election turned out either the two advisers and the personalities around the prime minister, but this isn't the right time for a leadership challenge precisely because of the brexit talks? there many tory mps who, while mrs may will have to go in time, they are adamant that now is not the moment to start a leadership contest because of brexit. against that, there are clearly many tory mps who we re there are clearly many tory mps who were appalled at her initial response to the election when she emerged from downing street and, frankly, did not acknowledge the reverse. certainly did not acknowledge her responsibility in any way for it and did not seem to reach out to the electorate or take on board the obvious concern of focus never mind those conservative mps who lost their seats. in their

view, it cannot go on like this and as proof that mrs may understands that and she gets it, she has to get rid of these two individuals because nick timothy and fiona hill have stuck by theresa may through the home office years. they are incredibly tightly close. so much so that pretty much everyone else in downing street feels they have limited influence. there is deep resentment among some ministers over the way these two individuals seem to have licensed to fire off abusive tweets and adopt very aggressive, what ministers call, arrogant attitudes towards them said there is attitudes towards them said there is a personal factor. but attitudes towards them said there is a personalfactor. but it attitudes towards them said there is a personal factor. but it is attitudes towards them said there is a personalfactor. but it is bigger than that. i think there is a view that they encourage bunker and talented in downing street and if they stay it will be impossible for mrs made to change to adopt ——

bunker mentality. to them, the future prospects of the tory party hinge on mrs may getting the message and they take the view that she can't if those two individuals are still sitting by her. i am interesting in the soul—searching in the party and why they did so badly. they still won and labour did that —— did not, but it is by no means the outcome the conservatives would have wa nted the outcome the conservatives would have wanted and that's the point. but how much is it the manifesto? do they believe it is there and doing well hamlet was tone of underestimating labour, underestimating labour, underestimating jerry b corbyn? that language came from a lot of people and notjust... jeremy

language came from a lot of people and notjust. .. jeremy corbyn? language came from a lot of people and notjust... jeremy corbyn? it came from the cult of may and that she was the leader and she was the one who was going to get a mandate. everyone else didn't matter. it was in the dying days of the only in the dying days of the campaign when they realised things we re campaign when they realised things were going badly wrong that boris johnson and other figures were brought back in. prior to that, eve ryo ne brought back in. prior to that, everyone else was silenced and swept to the side of finger of blame for thatis to the side of finger of blame for that is pointed at fiona hill and tim -- that is pointed at fiona hill and tim —— nick timothy. in terms of the ma nifesto, tim —— nick timothy. in terms of the manifesto, there is a view that nick timothy, in particular, was to blame for the social care to buckle and there was no consultation or serious thinking about it. it blew up in a rome —— a morning when all the age charities and dementia charities got sight of it and it fell apart. they are seen as sight of it and it fell apart. they are seen as the problem, i think. mrs may's chance of sustaining her

leadership in a medium—term is impossible unless she is given a sort of clean start and that involves getting rid of these two individuals. norman, thank you very much. let us put some of those points to my next guest. i am joined by neil carmichael who lost his seat in the election. stroud in gloucestershire. good morning... good afternoon, i should say. i don't know how much of that you are able to hear. your thoughts, first of all, firstly on white you lost your seat and then more broadly about the performance of the conservative party as a whole. there are three reasons why we lost in stroud. one was we had a lack of

vision and a positive message for the campaign. we have do think about where we will take people and we didn't do that during the national campaign. then we had the policies, particularly social care, which were ill thought out and landed badly and undermined one of the key objectives which was to demonstrate strength and sustainability —— stable politics. the third problem is brexit business. going on about hard brexit business. going on about hard brexit and no deal is better than a bad deal and so one, that all served to suggest there was one segment being listened to and that was those hell—bent on taking britain out of the eu art any price. we need an x it that makes sense to our economy and our country's position in relationship to the european union. we still have to leave and cast the negotiations around the idea that we

should be trading with europe, have a relationship with europe and we should be thinking broadly about our place in the world. that's interesting. there are a lot of factors. you mentioned social ca re of factors. you mentioned social care andi of factors. you mentioned social care and i appreciate you listed several issues, but when you hear this afternoon that senior conservatives are saying to theresa may, you either sack fiona hill and nick timothy this weekend or there isa nick timothy this weekend or there is a leadership challenge on monday, is a leadership challenge on monday, is that helpful? they would have had a hand in the manifesto so what is your take on that threat? might take is you can't really run the government from an ivory tower situation. we saw the sudden arrival of grammar schools on the table and i know people like them in certain areas, but to have such an emphasis on that subject is illustrative of the problem we demonstrated during

the problem we demonstrated during the general election as a whole. so ido the general election as a whole. so i do think that theresa may requires a more broadly —based set of advisers and it's notjust the ideas and then translating that into some sort of announcement, but delivering as well. that latter segment was just not there in number ten. it created the idea for a general election and then orchestrated it. do you think she should go? is her position tenable? i think that the prime minister should stay for the time being because for us to have a leadership election ten days before we are supposed to be negotiating with the european union and, actually, after three big elections... rememberwe actually, after three big elections... remember we had a 2015 elections... remember we had a 2015 election then the referendum. now we've had another general election, so we've had another general election, so we've got to have a period when

we reflect on things. i want to make this clear. i don't see a minority government prospering terribly well for very long. 0k. government prospering terribly well for very long. ok. i understand your point there that we need a period of stability, to use that phrase we heard a lot of any election, because of the imminent brexit talks. that aside, though, should the two advisers go anyway in your opinion? ifi advisers go anyway in your opinion? if i were prime minister i would have a thorough shake—up of what's going on at number ten. i know nick timothy quite well, but, you know, anyone who has got a lot to do with the manifesto that we were fighting on and the messaging that came from that really does have to think about their responsibility because the problem is we have a conservative party which is not in a good place and the country is most important of

all, ina and the country is most important of all, in a very poor place as well. thanks very much for talking to us. good to talk to you from stroud and thanks forjoining us. a delay on the line but we got the essence of what he was saying. senior sinn fein leaders say they're concerned that a deal between the dup and the conservatives could put the northern ireland peace process at risk. power sharing in stormont broke down in january and nationalists say they expect the british government to remain neutral in efforts to revive it. and a lot of concern expressed about the dup, and their social policy. annita mcveigh is in belfast. thank you. as you mentioned, one area of concern. is

thank you. as you mentioned, one area of concern. is the dup's socially conservative policies. their opposition to gay marriage. it was an issue raised by the scottish conservative leader yesterday who urged theresa may not to allow that to bea urged theresa may not to allow that to be a factor in the discussions, to be a factor in the discussions, to encourage lgb t writes here in northern ireland. speaking a small right —— while ago, dead lazy was askedif right —— while ago, dead lazy was asked if he had any concerns about any potential concessions —— one conservative mp was asked. luckily, we have a parliament now that will count in terms of any legislation passed and i will not support any legislation regarded as socially liberal all regarded as taking this

country backwards. the dup doesn't support same—sex marriage and david cameron said it was one of the proudest achievements of his time in office. you concerned about bloodying up with like that? there are plenty of people in my party who voted against it and they still remain colleagues of mine. working together we can achieve good things for the country so i'm sure the dup supported conservative legislation in the past. we didn'tjump up and down saying, we don't want your vote. we won't go backwards in terms of social legislation as it is part of social legislation as it is part of our dna now and it's what makes us of our dna now and it's what makes usa of our dna now and it's what makes us a great carty —— country. i'm sure the dup understand. talking to people today, although concerns are being expressed about the dup's opinion on certain social issues including gay marriage, i am not getting any sense the dup will

bring those sorts of issues to the table or that they will use those in a nyway table or that they will use those in anyway as a bargaining chip. it is something that theresa may will be bearing in mind during the discussions with the dup. she will also hear and bear in mind concerns expressed by republicans, nationalists here in northern ireland, about the potential neutrality of the conservative party in any discussions that will be going on to try and restore the power—sharing assembly at stormont which collapsed earlier this year. senior sinn fein figures have been saying to the conservative party that the government has to be a neutral broker in any of these discussions. this arrangement may prove to be reckless but we will have to wait and see. we have argued for some time and the british government have been working in cahoots with the dup to the disadvantage of the political process here. in fact they called off talks here

isa in fact they called off talks here is a need to re—establish our institutions, and we should add that the british public should have close scrutiny of the dup and what that party represents. needless to say, the papers here are full of political coverage. this is one front page. a photograph of arlene foster and had ten dup ‘s, describing them as king makers. unparalleled influence after shock election results, says the headline. with -- election results, says the headline. with —— with me is the political editor. good of you tojoin me. just give us the inside track first of all on what the dup will want from any deal or arrangement with theresa may. it is not surprising people in london have focused on social

policies. but that is a red herring. if you look at the dup's ten years in government they have been pragmatic and malibu when they had to be. they have governed with sinn fein —— malleable. this is a party which has set out its clear priorities. in 2015 they would —— they thought they would be in this situation and now they find themselves there so they are going back to their —— that template and at that point they key priorities we re at that point they key priorities were financial. woman-macro would be wise to remember they are canny negotiators. they are and they find themselves in a curious position because two years ago they were putting themselves between labour and the conservatives saying they would strike the bad —— best deal from northern ireland. from this occasion they have decided to go with theresa may and there is no chance they would ever do anything

to putjeremy corbyn into downing street as they loathe him for myriad reasons. now they are negotiating the price. it would put them in a slightly less advantageous position in terms of getting the price but the conservatives know they need them to sustain their position so they will have to give them something. we had from sinn fein today warning the government it had today warning the government it had to stay neutral in any discussions about the future of the power—sharing arrangement at stormont and the return of the assembly. concern that these discussions between the government and dup might have a negative impact on that. is any arrangement, in your opinion, between the dup and the conservatives going to be able to survive the political forces that are present now? politics within the conservative, here and the eu? are present now? politics within the conservative, here and the 5mm are present now? politics within the conservative, here and the eu? it is difficult to see how she survives very long on the national stage after such an appalling election

result and campaign where she was front and centre. for northern ireland, the conservatives have long had a position that they are openly pro—union and they don't have the neutral position of labour. that has not been an impediment in the past to get a deal. the deal in belfast is between the dup and sinn fein are not the referee in the middle. if they can agree a deal that will ultimately be what gets power—sharing back. every single one of the dup's 28 mlas are out of a job so they have a vested interest in getting that show back on the road. very good to have your thoughts. political editor of the newsletter, and sam mcbride. it is a hugely complicated issue for theresa may and politicians here in northern ireland. it seems at the moment that she needs the dup more than the dup

need her. we expect the discussions to start soon in a serious sense. we know that theresa may and arlene foster shared a phone call yesterday but i understand nothing substantive was talked about. obviously a lot of time pressure with brexit negotiations due to start in a little over a week and theresa may will want to see some sort of deal or arrangement well before then. yes, time pressure, as you say. more from anita later. let us take stock to think of the events of the last 48 hours and assess how we ended up where we are with the fallout we now know about. joining me now isjoe twyman from the polling company, yougov. we should reflect first of all on the final poll before the election because your organisation thought we would be looking at a hung

parliament. that's right, over a week ago we published our new testa m e nt week ago we published our new testament using new data to crunch the numbers and it showed a hung parliament was the most likely option. it wasn't met with universal acclaim but in the light of that the data really didn't change. as we know, during the campaign between then and the election date good and bad and tragic things happened and yet the overall finding remains the same so yet the overall finding remains the same so it looked like it would be a possible option on election night. your point being that the poll was produced before the london bridge attacks. but it was updated daily and yet it didn't move so the indications were that it was going to be an accurate prediction come polling day. so much what we have talked about over the 36 hours is turnout, 69% or 70% across the country, very high. and, of course,

so country, very high. and, of course, so much talk about the youth vote. how much... all of us said that the youth don't turn out to vote. and thatis youth don't turn out to vote. and that is how it has been in previous elections. what a change. we think so. elections. what a change. we think so. it looks like the degree to which young people turned out was crucial in determining, notjust the size of the majority, but the fact that theresa may didn't get one at all. that was a key issue and that was one of the reasons why there we re was one of the reasons why there were such wide—ranging estimates of results. some said a majority of 100 and others like as saying it would bea and others like as saying it would be a hung parliament. that was the way we anticipated and modelled for a youth turnout. historically, 18 — 24—year—olds are far less likely to vote. this time they were far more likely to vote labour. sometimes in the past the lib dems have got in on

the past the lib dems have got in on the game but it wasn't became is as overwhelmingly they were going for labour. turnout was increased. they are still not the highest group. that is still the over 65s, but the significant increase has helped to get us to this situation we are in now. very interesting and much more polling to be done on all of that, and analysis. thank you very much indeed. we will have plenty more from here at westminster throughout the day. back to you, sean. two more people have been arrested in connection with the london bridge terror attacks. in total, eight people are now in custody. police investigating the killings have revealed that the three men who carried it out had wanted to hire a lorry but their payment was declined. detectives say the attackers tied ceramic knives to their wrists and had petrol bombs in the van. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, reports. this was the weapon found still strapped last saturday night to the body of khuram butt.

he and his fellow attackers used three identical ceramic knives to murderfive people. counter—terrorism detectives want help, to find out where these knives were bought. the men had already killed three other people on london bridge with a van hired from b&q. throughout the carnage, heroic members of the public tried to stop them. we have stories of people who came out armed with chairs, other items, throwing bottles, anything they could get their hands on, with a view to trying to prevent the attackers coming into pubs and bars, but more importantly to scare them off, to try and stop other people being attacked. afterwards in the van, police found 13 petrol bombs, made with lighter fluid and cloth from tracksuit bottoms, as well as two blowtorches. trying as they prepared for their attack. the day had started with the ringleader, khuram butt, who was on police bail, trying to hire a seven—and—a—half—tonne truck.

he did not have enough money, so instead, he hired the white van from b80 in romford, which they picked up sometime after 6.30pm. then, leaving barking soon after 7.30, they set off to central london. at nine o'clock they arrived in london bridge, driving across it and back again, before ploughing into pedestrians on their third pass. by the time they crashed the van at 10.07, they had fatally wounded three people. they then used the knives to kill five more. at 10.16, they were killed by police. there was a safe house, a flat in this street in london, above a row of shops, and it is here police believe they prepared for their attack. now look at the weather prospects. mixed prospects today. this

atlantique front mixed prospects today. this atla ntique front streams mixed prospects today. this atlantique front streams into bring quite a bit of rain over north england and wales. this front pushes through the greater part of scotland and northern ireland. brightening sky is here. maybe one or two showers in the mix. the world and the sunshine and high uv levels and high pollen counts found across east anglia. the weather front pushes down towards the eastern quarter across the night. plenty of showers in northern ireland and scotland. not a cold night at all. into sunday, the odd drip or drab of rain. plenty of blustery shire was across scotland and northern ireland and western parts of england, showers. the headlines: the bbc understands

conservative mps are demanding theresa may sack two chief advisers face a leadership challenge. it comes as she prepares to hold talks with the dup next week. the leader of the scottish conservative party has demanded assurances from the prime minister that the dup's opposition to gay marriage won't be allowed to shape government policy. the london bid attackers tried to hirea 7.5 the london bid attackers tried to hire a 7.5 tonne lorry to carry out the attack last saturday but payment was declined. the three left eight people dead when they drove a van into pedestrians and started stabbing people in borough market. those are the headlines. i will be back with a summery at one p.m.. now for the sport. it was their toughest

test today, but the british and irish lions have beaten the crusaders 12—3 this morning. after a shaky crusaders 12—3 this morning. after a s ha ky start crusaders 12—3 this morning. after a shaky start marked by an embarrassing defeat in auckland on wednesday. this was a huge improvement for the side. this was the time for them to call on the ca lva ry the time for them to call on the calvary at canterbury. against the tea m calvary at canterbury. against the team regarded at the best in the world, he would play like they were on home turf. setting the tone with the always influential when farrell. he put the lions 6—0 up and despite the odd bump in the road, together with a solitary penalty for the home side, they would return to six. while it was not free—flowing,