this is bbc news. the headlines at three. i'm jane hill at westminster, where the prime minister's top advisers — nick timothy and fiona hill — have resigned. nick timothy sad he regretted not including a pledge to cap total social care costs — and that the party hadn't talked to the people who decided to vote labour. nick has been a very good servant of the conservative party and of course of theresa may, and he's worked very hard. but politics is a rough business, and these things happen. they went following what the bbc understands were demands from some conservative mps that mrs may would face a leadership challenge if they didn't go by this weekend. mrs may is preparing for talks with the democratic unionist party next week. i want to make this clear. i don't see a minority government

prospering very well for very long. labour urges the prime minister to "make way" for it to form a government. some mps who'd opposed jeremy corbyn‘s leadership have urged colleagues to get behind him. ruth davidson welcomes her new scottish mps. she has dismissed reports they might break away from the main uk party. i'm reeta chakrabati — the other headlines this lunchtime. police reveal the london bridge terror attackers tried to hire a seven and a half tonne lorry — but their credit cards were declined. petrol bombs and blow torches were found in the van they did use — police say they had pink ceramic knives tied to their wrists. a rescue operation is under way in the mid—atla ntic involving a rescue operation is under way in the mid—atlantic involving the creamery the mid—atlantic involving the creamery to ship, after a yacht got into trouble. and harry kane will be the new england captain as they take on scotland in the world cup

qualifier at hampden park. a rescue operation is under way in the mid—atlantic involving the queen mary 2 ship, after a yacht got into trouble. good afternoon from westminster. theresa may's top two downing street aides have resigned in the wake of the conservative election failure. their departure comes after the bbc understands that conservative mps delivered an ultimatum to sack them or face a leadership challenge. nick timothy issued a statement in which he described the result as result as hugely disappointing.

fiona hill also issued a statement. with our round—up of all today's developments, a report. one former colleague claimed they

created a toxic atmosphere in number ten. they are brilliant streetfighter is untenable political leaders, because what you need at the heart of government is a few grey—haired people who'd been round the block, to say don't do that, you'll make mistakes, we've been here before. it is tightly controlled. what we've seen with the in manifesto preparation, is it landed on the doorstep and the mps didn't even know what was going in it. mr timothy accepted responsibility for his role in the result, but with austerity and brexit, he said britain was a divided country. he said the prime minister is the one political leader who understands this division and has been working to address it. there have been plenty of calls to make sure that the circle around was wider and more inclusive, to prevent

anyone believing that the two principal advisers had undue influence. and some of the discussions today would suggest that perhaps that sense of inclusion wasn't as great as it should've been. today's resignations been breathing space, but beyond that, mrs may is not beyond danger. she might hold the keys to number ten, but she is deprived of a commons majority and is still fighting to save a job. this now former minister, despite losing his seat, remains loyal to the prime minister. should she stay on? yes. we are the only party capable of forming a government to take you through the brexit negotiations. as a party, we need to get behind theresa may and analyse the results. while questions about theresa may's time coming, she

needs to set out the agenda for brexit injust over a needs to set out the agenda for brexit in just over a week, and those crucial negotiations start in just nine days' time. many conservative mps are clear they want more than nick timothy and fiona hill gone. they want a new style of leadership, more open and inclusive. theresa may's election gamble might notch as a cost the mps there were jollity, but mike have cost her own career. joining me now is our political correspondent, ben wright. was it just inevitable was itjust inevitable that they we re was itjust inevitable that they were going to have to go?|j was itjust inevitable that they were going to have to go? i think it was. it shows theresa may's weakness this weekend, that she didn't have a choice but to accept their resignations. they are notjust to normal special advisers, they are known beyond whitehall for their

ferocious loyalty towards theresa may. the length of time it be with her, both nick timothy and fiona hill have been with her through her time at the home office, into number ten, incredibly powerfuljoint chiefs of staff. i've known fiona hill for herferocious chiefs of staff. i've known fiona hill for her ferocious temper when dealing with civil servants is not happy with. the manifesto was very much the work of nick timothy, reflecting his background, his aspirations for a more american autocratic country. hugely important to theresa may for many years. she will not want to have lose —— lost them, but it has been made clear by tory mps that as a minimal price was staying in office, these two had to go. i think even had the tories won with an increased majority, that would have been calls, because they epitomise a clause to, of governing

that theresa may has put emotions as she entered number ten, but i think they were going to be demands for that to be cracked open, for there to be more voices and collective cabinet responsibility. so there was a question about their continuing anyway. all of that said, how much time does it by theresa may? maybe that depends on who you talk to. first of all, all political prognosis should be treated with a big pinch of salt! there will be a meeting with the backbench tory mps next week when the come back to westminster and sift through this disaster and work out what to do next. it's clear that in the aftermath, there would be calls from some tory mps to go. but they wanted to stay in place for now. i asked one mp how long she had, and he said, we should do our best to make it work. not iranian dortmund.

there's a feeling she has to stay for now. brexit negotiations begin in ten days' time and it seems inevitable that theresa may will kick those off. the resignation of nick timothy and fiona hill and the fa ct nick timothy and fiona hill and the fact that she had to reappoint immediately the five members of her cabinet into the jobs are already doing, that demonstrates weakness. there was a suggestion during the election that she might get rid of philip hammond, but she can't, she had to appoint him to the position he already had at the treasury. she's a weakened prime minister. this is just holding she's a weakened prime minister. this isjust holding on, not wanting to do very much. this was the minimum they had to do today, to come criticism from within the tory party. thanks for now. the prime minister is preparing to hold discussions with the democratic unionist party in northern ireland, so she is able

to continue governing. downing street says the chief whip gavin williamson is in belfast for talks with the dup "on how best they can provide support" to theresa may's government. professorjon tonge from the university of liverpool gave me this insight. it's a case of needs must for theresa may. she's friendless otherwise in party terms, here at westminster. there are no other allies for the conservative party, so if she doesn't get the support of the ten mps from the dup here westminster, then frankly, she won't get the queen's speech through parliament and we'll be looking at the nightmare spectre of another election within a few months, so there has to be some sort of confidence and supply arrangement at least with the dup, but the fact that the dup is the monopoly supplier of support for the conservatives means the price tag is that much higher.

that's interesting. how much higher do you think that price tag is going to be? the first is it will be a huge financial price tag. what the dup will want is to reward their own community and northern ireland more generally with a lot of infrastructure projects. that's relatively easy to do, it's quite easy for government to give more money to northern ireland. beyond that that we get into the more controversial areas, because the dup will want their continuing beetle to carry on in terms of veto to carry on in terms of same—sex marriage, which the dup has blocked five times in northern ireland assembly debates. so whether you have direct rule from westminster, given that the assembly is currently semi—suspended, whether you have a return to devolution, the dup will want to continue their veto on that. the dup will want to

continue to block any liberalisation of abortion in northern ireland. beyond the social conservatism there's also the issue of continuing prosecution ‘s investigations of the actions of british soldiers in the troubles in northern ireland. the dup are very unhappy about those continuing investigations and would prefer, in effect, an amnesty for british soldiers. so those are very controversial areas the dup will want a say on. and even beyond that, we're running into the marching season in northern ireland. the dup don't like the parades commission which regulates protestant parades in northern ireland. if they really want to push it with the conservatives, they may have something to say on that, so there's a whole welter of controversies associated with the dup. that is a pretty substantial list. what about the idea that the government should remain neutral in matters around northern ireland ? because nothing has been happening at stormont for months? doesn't any government of the day, given that is the situation, aren't they meant to be an honest broker and step back and negotiate in an egalitarian fashion? if that's ever going to get back on its feet. i think the old days of the government being an honest broker, the good friday agreement days, have long since gone. it's worth remembering the dup opposed the good friday agreement and the majority of dup member still see today they would vote against

the good friday agreement if a referendum was held tomorrow. the government now has to decide with the dup honour because it has no choice. again, it's a question of needs must. the question is how far would howling foster, who is the leader of the dup, really push the government? i think arlene foster is sensible enough as dup leader not to offer a huge public shopping list which would alienate many on the conservative side. she's not interested in changing legislation for the rest of england, scotland and wales, only interested in protecting the interests of northern ireland, so the stuff that has appeared in social media about ruth davidson being worried about the infringement of gay rights in scotland, that's simply not happening. let's talk about that, but step back as well and reflect upon anything we've been talking about. i'm joined

by the conservative commentator tim montgomery. look at the resignations, let's start with that. i keep coming back to the point that a lot of people watching today might not have known who nick timothy and fiona hill wear. is it significant that they had to go? yes, hugely significant. i don't know outside the westminster village to explain how important they were. they were almost like alex ferguson to manchester united, they were that important to the success of the project. obviously, not quite as many victories as alex ferguson, but i don't really see how theresa may can function properly without them, they were all most are right and left arm, and has made a huge sacrifice to continue as prime minister by allowing or forcing them to resign. i'm not sure which. was it inevitable that she's going to stay in number ten and try to keep going? is it about timing, some of

this? she has to keep going because of the brexit talks? the speculation was key cabinet members insisted these advisers went. the allegation was the worst sources of anonymous and persistent and personal briefings against members of the cabinets, and the cabinet weren't willing to carry on with them at her right hand. i think they had to go, but ultimately, theresa may will have to go. you're right, that is continuity at the moment, leading to stay for the brexit negotiations that are only just stay for the brexit negotiations that are onlyjust beginning, but talking to sources in the last 2a hours, the mood has shifted. there was shock at thursday's results at first, but now it's hardening into anger and very deep anger. i don't see how the prime minister survives. she is held very personally responsible for a campaign that we shouldn't forget, she put her name

all over the election literature, the campaign was very much her campaign and ultimately, it feels. and ultimately, because they didn't need to be an election in the first place, or particularly the social ca re place, or particularly the social care issue in the manifesto, lots of mps and ministers didn't know was coming. they get asked about it on the doorstep and they know next to nothing about it. a combination of all those factors? all of them. it is easier to answer the question, what did theresa may do right in the election campaign than what she did wrong. almost everything went wrong. the manifesto was a case in point. the manifesto was a case in point. the ministers responsible for their own departments weren't being told about the policies that were in the ma nifesto for about the policies that were in the manifesto for their department until the night before. some of them are having to do their today programme without being part of the decision process. it's not the way any

business would be run in it's not the way any political party should be run. i don't think theresa may conflicts a re be run. i don't think theresa may conflicts are ways and that is increasingly review of the mps.l summer increasingly review of the mps.l summer leadership contest you think? it's a novel prospect, but yes. we've topped a lot about the difference made in this spot by the increased turnout of younger voters. technically, that means from 18 to 24, technically, that means from 18 to 2a, that's how it is defined in electoral terms. i'll be talking to their editor of nme in just electoral terms. i'll be talking to their editor of nme injust a moment. his magazine did weekly polls on younger voters to see how the revolting. they were voting. we

knew this would be a key issue and that's one of the reasons why the pollsters had such wide—ranging estimates of the results. some said they would be a majority of the hundreds and others, like us saying it will be a hung parliament. that was all to do with the way we anticipated and modelled for reduced turnout. it's true that historically speaking, young people, particularly 18 to 24—year—olds, are far less likely to vote. this time round, they were far more likely to vote labour, more so in previous elections, when sometimes the lib dems were able to get in the game. overwhelmingly, they were going from labour. and the turnout was increased. they're still not the highest group. that's still the over 65 ‘s. but still, that significant increase has helped to get as to the situation we are now. mike williams is nme's editor in chief — his magazine did weekly polls on the voting intentions of people aged between 18 and 34.

tell us more about what your magazine did over the course of the campaign, because you were talking to younger voters, a lot younger than me, but a little bit older than that demographic tool was talking about there. yes, we have a sample group we speak to all the time about anything going on in the world, things we've interested in or they are, but as soon as the snap election is called we decided we would focus on them and what they we re would focus on them and what they were thinking and feeling. that sample is 18 — 3a and then we also cut back into sections within that. overwhelmingly, what we saw was that they were very engaged in the election, which was something that, whether it was true or not, there was certainly an accusation within the media and an assumption within the media and an assumption within the general public, that young people weren't engaged. what we saw from the start was that wasn't true. we also saw that as they got more and more engaged, they focused on

the kind of things he believed in and we saw a huge shift, where people focused on support for labour. wakey able to gauge what sort of issues with engaging them and how much of it was about tuition fees, which is often cited as an example of why there has been this level of engagement? what sense did you have of the issues? issues, tuition fees was a big thing and it was a big story because it's been such a huge financial burden for young people. it's something that scares people going into university, it hangs heavy on them as they leave. but it was a bigger things, the nhs was a huge thing. something thatis the nhs was a huge thing. something that is not thought of as a young person's issues. but the nhs is huge. o—hours contracts, the inability to break into a closed housing market. real—life problems for everybody, they're the same problems for young people. there was

a real focus on the problems for young people. there was a realfocus on the nhs. problems for young people. there was a real focus on the nhs. that's interesting. the nme had jeremy corbyn on the cover at one point. that's right. a decision taken because? because he and his party and is manifesto actually put young people at the centre of what they we re people at the centre of what they were talking about. i think you can see from the way the other parties campaign that they didn't only not speak to young people, but the actively get them out of the campaign. both are you saying that this is who you thought people should vote for or was it because people contacted you about? that was a proactive decision on our part to put him on the cover. it wasn't us responding to a press pitch, it was as saying that this guy has captured the imaginations of young people in the imaginations of young people in the country. they trust what he has to say a lot more than what other readers have to say. he is, was and

will continue to make a difference to them in the fact that he is focusing on them and what they think. ultimately, if the conservatives think they have problems right now, they have much bigger ones on the horizon, given that 60% of that democratic voted for the labour party. if they don't begin to engage with young people going forwards and realise they are the voters of the future, then that problem is going to get bigger and not smaller. quickly about social media, that is the perception that tabloid newspapers can swing an election. they choose one side or the other very clearly. that's gone on for decades. now, i know it's a terrible generalisation, but young people are looking at social media, they are not reading tabloids. has this election been somewhere where there is a shift. they're getting their information from dear, from websites. newspapers in my industry,

websites. newspapers in my industry, we can forget it. i would say it's com pletely we can forget it. i would say it's completely shifted, but i would say that the relentless negative propaganda on the front pages of national newspapers wasn't as effective as the editors and owners of the paper is hoped it would be. people can share information really effectively online and most of them have shared stories around the election, which were approved labour, while most of the front pages of the papers liberal conservative. so there's a different conversation happening outside of what we see on the mainstream front pages. really interesting to get your perspective. more from here at westminster on a busy afternoon. back to the studio for now. there've been two further arrests in connection with the london bridge terror attacks. in total, eight people are now in custody. police investigating the murders say the three attackers had wanted to hire a lorry but their card payment was declined. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. this was the weapon found

still strapped to khuram butt‘s body last saturday night. he and his fellow attackers used three identical 12 inch pink knives made of ceramic to murderfive people. counter—terrorism detectives want help on where the ernesto 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 were thrown, bottles, anything they could get their hands on, with a view to trying to prevent the attackers either 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 cut from tracksuit bottoms, as well as two blowtorches. the day had started with the ring leader khuram butt who was on police bail, trying to hire a 7.5 tonne truck.

he didn't have enough money so instead he hired the white van from b80 in romford which the men picked up some time after 6:30pm. then, leaving barking soon after 7:30, they set off for central london. at 9:58, they arrived at 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'd fatally wounded three people. they then used the knives to kill five more. at 10:16, they were shot dead by police. detectives believe behind this green door in east ham was the men's safe house in a top floor bedsit rented by rachid redouane two months ago, detectives discovered items that had been used to make their petrol bombs and fake suicide bests and an english language copy and fake suicide vests and an english language copy of the koran, left open at a page referencing martyrdom. daniel sandford, bbc news, east ham.

a week on from the attack, people are being urged to visit london's bars and restaurants in a show of "unity and resilience". the british red cross has launched a campaign calling for people to go out in the capital tonight. theatres, bars, restaurants and taxi services will be donating some of this evening's proceeds to those caught up in the attack and their families. the cruise liner, the queen mary 2, is in the process of rescuing the crew of a yacht in the middle of the atlantic. a number of yachts put out mayday calls last night as storm force winds — and 15 metre waves — battered shipping in the area. the ships had been competing in a transatlantic race hosted by the royal western yacht club. 36 hours ago, the competitors were

encountered by a severe storm, with 60-70 encountered by a severe storm, with 60—70 knot winds and seas of 15 metres. this caused a certain amount of concern, and we had three emergency beacons, which went off on three boats, which meant they were in distress, and a further two boats thatis in distress, and a further two boats that is needed consideration from the coastguard. what happens when an emergency beacon goes off is that it goes to the nearest coastguard station, which is halifax, which reacted to the situations. conditions were really terrible, 15 metre seas, that must‘ve been terrifying. yes, been involved in these things were 25 years and this

is the most extreme low depression in the atlantic, but these are professional sailors, there used to arduous conditions, but not really a once—in—a—lifetime storm like this one. and help us got to them quite quickly? yes, the halifax coastguard immediately sent ships to the area in support and they also provide air cover, which goes from newfoundland and sometimes from the azores. that gives a proper position report for any rescue, so they reacted magnificently. and i'm pleased to say that those three boats which we re say that those three boats which were in severe distress, all those people on board have now been rescued, including the former royal marines major who hasjust gone on to the queen mary two. that's very good news, everybody is safe. john

lewis, race director of the royal western yacht club, thanks very much for your time. let's take a look at what the weather is doing. the rain becomes lighter and patchy before fizzling out. there will be scattered showers in scotland and northern ireland overnight, but temperatures should be no lower than 40 temperatures should be no lower than a0 degrees and warmer in the south—east. a little bit of light rain and drizzle coming and going in east anglia and the south—east. some scattered showers for the western side. fairly frequent showers first scotla nd side. fairly frequent showers first scotland and northern ireland. monday looks like a breezy day for all parts of the uk. there will be a

fair bit of cloud and sunshine, scattered showers to the north and west of the uk, but the further south you are, it should be mostly fine.