this is bbc news. the headlines at 3pm. councils rush to check their high—rise buildings as combustible cladding is found on at least three tower blocks across the uk. i was informed that a number of these tests have come back as combustible. the relevant local authorities and fire services have been informed and are taking all possible steps to ensure buildings are safe and to inform all affected residents. the bbc identifies one new tower block in north london where residents have been told the building has the same type of cladding used on grenfell tower. i was anxious and worried in the first place, now with the confirmation, i feel i first place, now with the confirmation, ifeel i don't first place, now with the confirmation, i feel i don't want to live here any more. and in the next hour

more revelations about abuse within the church of england. senior figures "colluded" with a disgraced former bishop, who abused young men — according to an independent review. theresa mayjoins eu leaders in brussels to discuss brexit — but angela merkel says her focus but angela merkel says herfocus is on the future of the remaining countries. a post—mortem examination finds that 51—year—old makram ali, who died at the scene of the terror attack outside finsbury park mosque, died as a result of multiple injuries. prince harry tells a us magazine that no—one in the royal family really wants to be king or queen. and no skirting around this issue — 50 boys at a school in devon wear

skirts to school in protest at not being able to wear shorts during the heatwave. welcome to bbc news. at least three tower blocks have been found to have cladding that couch catch fire. in tests ordered in the wake of the g re nfell tower tests ordered in the wake of the grenfell tower disaster, in which at least 79 people died. cladding has begun to be removed from one london tower block after tests showed it did contain material, the council responsible said was not up to standard. and in another development, the government denied it was responsible for the kensington and chelsea council chief executive, nicholas holgate, who quit after claiming that sajid javid

had asked him to resign. the news that three tower blocks have combustible clads was explained to us by the government. it is estimated that up to 600 tower blocks have covered in similar material. the tests are continuing a with samples from tower blocks all the over england being sent in for testing. 100 samples condition processed in a day. the prime minister says steps are being taken to make the buildings affected safe and to inform residents. 0ur political correspondent iain watson reports. an unimaginable tragedy, that's how the prime minister described the fire at grenfell tower. but was it an avoidable tragedy? and are tenants in the tower blocks at risk? local councils estimate 600 buildings may have similar cladding. there will be a public enquiry. politicians have been drawing their own conclusions. tests are taking place to find out

how much are covered in material that could go up in flames. mr speaker, shortly before i came to the chamber i was informed that a number of these tests have come back as combustible. the relevant local authorities and local fire services have been informed and as i speak they are taking all possible steps to ensure buildings are safe, and to inform affected residents. the bbc has seen e—mails sent to residents in this north london block, telling them the cladding here is similar to grenfell tower. but the flats do have the safety systems in place, including sprinklers. although the reason for the grenfell fire hasn't been firmly established, the labour leader wants councils to be given enough cash to replace cladding. there is obviously a huge cost involved in removing and re—cladding blocks that are found to have flammable materials included in them. that resources, that money that must be made available immediately that resources, that money, that must be made available immediately because it's a huge job of work.

but while precautions are being taken now, some opposition politicians accused the government of being too slow to act and recommendations from four years ago following this fire years ago following this fatal fire at lakanal house in south london. the coroner in 2013 in lakanal house said those deaths were avoidable, that there should have been sprinklers, that there should have been change in the fire instructions, that there should be greater supervision of contracts and fire inspection. the coroner did not, as i understand it, say there should be sprinklers in every one of these types of properties. but what is important is that because of what underpins what she was saying, was a necessity of making sure that people living in similar blocks are able to feel reassured about their safety. here in kensington the most senior official in the local authority has resigned. this was welcomed at westminster but the council was criticised for a slow response to the crisis. the prime minister wants to see swift recommendations

from the forthcoming public enquiry, but grenfell tower appears to be becoming something of a political symbol of inequality and a new consensus seems to be emerging here in the house of commons that more priority should be given to people who live in rented housing. we have to learn those lessons, to make sure this tragedy is a turning point in our whole attitude and never again do people dying needlessly in a towering inferno, living in poverty, surrounded by a sea of prosperity. long after the tv cameras have gone and the world has moved on, let the legacy of this awful tragedy be that we resolve never to forget these people and instead to gear our policies and our thinking towards making their lives better and bringing them into the political process. but more immediately the government needs to reassure tenants across the country that their safety is paramount. iain watson, bbc news, westminster. 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young, is in the

houses of parliament. this will be a huge exercise for the authorities? it is clear that the local communities department is trying to get information out there as quickly as it can. of course the problem with that is that you are left with lots of residents feeling pretty scared about what's going on. so we do know that the estimate, thatis so we do know that the estimate, that is just an estimate, from the local councils in england alone is that 600 high rise buildings have originally, downing street says similar cladding to that on grenfell tower but the communities department says it is cladding of a similar kind, three of those have come back with similar. so it is not necessarily that they will have a problem but they are trying to get a grip on this and find out how widespread a problem is it. once

assessed, they will look at rehousing and of course the element that lots of residents will feel u nsafe. that lots of residents will feel unsafe. eve no—one the fair safety officers say it is ok, that they may not feel so. that will be the problem that the officials have to deal with. i spoke to david lammy, he represents a constituency of totte n ha m he represents a constituency of tottenham in north london. he has said that they have found out that there are problems with one of the tower blocks. yesterday i found out we have a tower with a same cladding as that on the grenfell tower. i have contacted the residents. they wa nt have contacted the residents. they want rapidly to be assured. to know that they are safe. i am speaking with the chief executive of the housing association soon. i have spoke tonne the chair. how will they be made safe? it may be over the next 24 to 48 hours, that if we can't make those buildings safe the

people will be rehoused. the tests come back quickly, with the results in a day. the government is urging the councils to get the samples in as quickly as possible to reassure residents or in some way rehouse them. but it is interesting, that the emergency response to what is going on. but there is a wider debate that we heard in the house of commons today about social housing but attitudes to it, about potential austerity, is how jeremy but attitudes to it, about potential austerity, is howjeremy corbyn put it, that cuts to local government have maybe brought about this. that was very much refuted by the conservatives but certainly a wider discussion going on about social housing and whether there needs to bea housing and whether there needs to be a different attitude to it. and theresa may criticised heavily for her initial response to grenfell tower, and this today a detailed statement, was that an attempt by downing street to get back on the front foot, do you think?|j downing street to get back on the front foot, do you think? i think so. front foot, do you think? i think

so. they have had a lot going on in the last week. that is not to excuse what happened, and theresa may apologised for the reaction but there are many fronts that they are dealing with, the brexit talks, the dealing with, the brexit talks, the dealing with, the brexit talks, the dealing with keeping the government going and then they terrible tragedy. they were not on top of the detail. theresa may likes to be across the detail to get on with the job. she is showing that she is trying to do that. she is chairing the emergency meetings, today was a much more assured performance in the house of commons, taking questions from very many mps. but there was angerfrom the from very many mps. but there was anger from the opposition mps about what's been going on. they were repeatedly asking for assurances that work that needs to be done will be funded by central government. the claim is that the cuts that have gone on for years have had an effect on the quality of the housing. theresa may would not say specifically yes, it will be funded but she did say that they would be

working with local councils and all working with local councils and all work that needs to be done, will be done. thank you very much. let's get the latest reaction from the community in north kensington. i've been speaking to a man who lost five members of his immediate family, his parents and two brothers and his sister were killed in the tragedy in the tower behind me. his message is one that we have heard many times from the residents in previous days, that the response has been too little too late. we may have had the chief executive of the council going, we may have had theresa may this morning in the commons saying that the effort had been stepped up to provide security and information for people on the ground and we've also heard that now increased checks on other tower blocks but that message, simply, it has not again good enough. and theresa may admitted herself in the commons that the response has not

been adequate and what happened here should not have happened. but what it plays into is the feeling that the voices have not been heard in the voices have not been heard in the past, when people have raised concerns about the fire safety or things in the community generally. people feel they have not been taken seriously enough. there is a welcoming that the tests are taking place on other tower blocks to see if they have a similar sort of cladding to the one on the tower behind me there. is a welcoming of that. but people feel it has taken so that. but people feel it has taken so many deaths for this to happen. they need reassurance and convincing that things change in the future. there have been fires in the area in the past and recommendations were not listened to, things did not change. so for a community they really need confidence once again in the authorities and it is going to be hard to earn that back. the prime minister has arrived in brussels to meet eu

leaders for the first time since she lost her parliamentary majority in the general election. brexit will be discussed and theresa may is expected to offer certainty to eu nationals living in the uk. 0ur correspondent damian grammaticas is in brussels. theresa may has had meetings with eu leaders, donald tusk, and jean—claude juncker, face to leaders, donald tusk, and jean—claudejuncker, face to face meetings, that could have been awkward given her comments during the election campaign when she said some in the eu were trying to undermine her position but everyone is waiting to see what she says about citizens' rights, the offer she is to outline during dinner. the concern is that it will be lower than what the eu wants, which is all rights guaranteed. that theresa may will put an offer on the table that withdraws some of the rights. but asked in the light of the election

result, could she be pushing for the brexit deal as she wanted before. today i'm setting out the uk's plans on how to propose to protect the rights of eu citizens and uk citizens as we leave the european union. but other issues on the agenda, such as counter—terrorism. 0ne agenda, such as counter—terrorism. one of the things i will be calling on with other yearn leaders is to do more working together to ensure we stop the spread of extremism online, to prevent terrorists from having a safe face online and keep our systems safe. are you ready to compromise? what i will be setting out today is clearly how the united kingdom proposes to protect the rights of eu citizens living in the uk and see the rights of uk citizens living in europe protected. that is important. we wa nted protected. that is important. we wanted it to be an early issue considered in the negotiations. that is now the case. that work is

starting. we will be setting out how we propose to ensure that eu citizens living in the uk have their rights protected in the united kingdom. damian, brexit, of course, is the priority for theresa may but the other 27 leaders will be discussing eu matters without theresa may being present, what will they be focussing on? the only matters that ethey discuss without theresa may being present are brexit matters. that is for the other 27. she is there for all of the discussions as a current eu member on security, counter—terrorism, things like the support, reiterating support for the paris climate change deal, all of that will be discussed today. but interestingly, that little bit on brexit, she will be ushered from the room. they will not negotiate with her but listen to what she has to

say and then ask her to step outside as the negotiations go through separately with david davis. we have had a little face—off ofjohn lennon quotes, we have had donald tusk from the european council asked could brexit be stopped, he said, you can quote me "you may say i'm a dreamer but i'm not the only one?" to which there was the response "i'm not a dreamer, i want to get on with it anyway." damian, that then thanks. an independent review has found that senior figures in the church of england ‘colluded' with a former bishop who was convicted for abusing young men. peter ball, who's now 85, was jailed in 2015 for historical sex offences against eighteen teenagers and young men. 0ur religious affairs correspondent martin bashir reports. a bishop for 15 years who claimed to be a close friend

of the prince of wales, he admitted to 18 sexual wales, of the prince of wales, peter ball's fall from grace was sealed tee years ago. offences against young men and served 16 months in prison. but today's review, led by the former head of camden council, focuses on the church's management of peter ball when the allegations first surfaced in 1992, and he stood down as bishop of gloucester. entitled: an abuse of faith, she says that the church colluded with ball rather than seeking to help those he harmed. the church's response over many years is lamentable by any standards. in reality, colluding with ball's ambition to protect and promote himself, rather than seeking to help those he harmed or assuring

the safety of others. the report is particularly critical of lord carey, who was archbishop of canterbury at the time. it says he received seven letters following ball's initial arrest and failed to pass them to the police. he also chose not to put ball's name on the lambeth list, a catalogue of clergy about whom there were serious questions about their suitability for ongoing ministry. i am truly sorry that, as a church, we failed the survivors of abuse carried out by bishop peter ball. having read the report, i am appalled and deeply disturbed by its contents. as said in her report, peter ball abused boys and men over a 20 year period and, as a church, we colluded and failed to act and protect those

who came forward for help. there are no excuses. we understand the current archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, has written to lord carey asking him to consider his position as honorary assistant bishop in the diocese of oxford. it is lord carey's only remaining position in the church of england. our correspondent, helena lee, is at church house in westminster. this is a very difficult report for the church of england. it's a difficult dare for the church of england but not to forget the victims in are case, the survivors of it who found it incredibly distressing. we know that the victims were asked to give their thoughts for this review, to tell the review what happened to them but many of them found itjust too distressing to talk to the people here about it all. we know one of

peter's victims, he took his own life in 2012, so he never got justice himself. but the church of england, once again here, apologised for what had happened, we heard in martin's report there, that lord cary, who was the then archbishop has been highly criticised in this report as he has been accused of not passing on some of the accusations to the police at the time. we have had a statement from lord cary himself. he says: the report makes for deeply uncomfortable reading and he accepts the criticisms made of him and he goes on to say that he believes that the church is willing to think the unthinkable. so the church of england, very sorry about what happened and apologised again to the victims but also, they say,

that the 11 recommendations that have come out of the review, they will take them incredibly seriously in terms of trying to move forward from this. helena, thank you very much. combustible cladding is found on at least three tower blocks in england. samples to be checked for many more. seniorfigures in the samples to be checked for many more. senior figures in the church of england colluded with a disgraced bishop, according to an independent review. theresa may hasjoined eu leaders to discuss brexit, as the president of the european council says he hopes that the uk can still change its mind. and in sport. it's ladies day at ascot with high fashion in plentiful supply. the big race is the gold cup at 4.20 but the racing is already underway with the winning of the 2.30 norfolk stakes team sky's geraint thomas has recovered from the injuries that forced him out of the giro d'italia to support chris froome in this year's tour de france.

froome is looking for a third straight victory. and ireland are expected to be handed test playing status by the international cricket council, who are meeting to decide whether to approve their inclusion amongst other test nations. i'll be back with more on those stories. the man who died at the scene of the terrorist attack in finsbury park in north london on monday has been named as 51—year—old makram ali from haringey. his family have been paying tribute. we wish everyone to know what a lovely man he was. he spent his whole life without any enemies, choosing a quiet life instead. he spent time with his wife,

children and grandchildren and a lwa ys children and grandchildren and always ready to make a funnyjoke when you least expected it. he suffered from a weak leg. before recovery, sitting up and expressing a wish to return home, only then to become a victim of this horrific incident. an incident made tragic as he only just incident. an incident made tragic as he onlyjust completed his evening prayers, something he did regularly. he took great comfort in the feelings of peace his prayers provided. we wish everyone to know what a lovely man he was. he spent his whole life without any enemies, choosing a quiet life instead. we asa choosing a quiet life instead. we as a family have always believed that the actions of one person cannot be a reflection of a whole people and have no doubt that our

father would not wish for there to be any retaliation or recriminations and would urge people to remain calm and would urge people to remain calm and to pray for peace in these difficult times. at present we are building a clearer picture of what exactly happened to our father and we are getting regular updates from the police who have been extremely helpful so far. we wish to thank them and the emergency services for their work and would especially like to thank those people who helped our father in his last moments and also thank all of the people who have left messages of condolence and flowers at the mosque. until we would know more we ask everyone to respect our privacy so that we may grieve in peace and come to terms with the immense loss in our lives. the population of the uk has seen its sharpest increase in nearly 70 years. official figures show a rise of more

than half a million people over the last year, bringing the total to an estimated 65.6 million. it's thought the change has been driven by immigration, but also by more births and fewer deaths. prince harry has suggested that none of his family wants to be a future king or queen. in an interview with the american magazine newsweek, he said the royals were acting for "the greater good of the people". the prince also criticised the decision to make him walk behind his mother's coffin at herfuneral when he was 12 — saying no child should be asked to do that. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. they were the images which came to symbolise a national and personal tragedy. the then 13—year—old prince harry, walking with his then 15—year—old brother, william, in the funeral cortege of their mother, diana. it was september 1997. now, nearly 20 years later, harry has spoken of the turmoil the event caused him.

in an interview with the american magazine newsweek, he said: but it's harry's comments on what he seems to feel is the burden of being royal which may cause some surprise, particularly among older generations. he told newsweek: the journalist who did the interview is sympathetic. prince harry is a huge admirer of the queen. he thinks she's absolutely wonderful. but he is now at an age where he can see the demands and the sacrifices that you have to make, and i think he and prince william want a more private, personal life. but a former member of the royal household is more critical. i don't think it's such a good idea

to be quite so open. he has done a lot for mental health in bringing out his own true feelings. i think we've got to a point now where enough is enough. in this day and age, harry is saying, and given a free will, few people, in his opinion, would choose to take on the role of monarch. but, of course, being royal means you don't have a choice, as he recognises. what we seem to have is harry off—loading his private thoughts, thoughts which, not for the first time, underline the downside, as he sees it, of being in such a privileged position. but, alongside his apparent doubts, there is also a strong sense of commitment. for the older members of the family — one of whom, the 96—year—old duke of edinburgh, left hospital this morning after the treatment of an infection — for them, the approach has always been, never complain, never explain. they may feel it's advice harry might now heed. nicholas witchell, bbc news, buckingham palace. now a look at the weather.

is the heatwave coming to an end? some places today, 10 celsius cooler if you have been struggling to sleep over the nights it will be cooler overnight. —— cooler overnight. here is the scene over the country. we have heavy showers and thunder storms lingering to the coasts of eastern england, they should clear ina eastern england, they should clear in a couple of hours. the temperature in the north and the west is up to 18 celsius. 208 to the london region and norwich. so warm for a time. but through the evening cooler to come.

elsewhere, dry and the temperatures are 14 to 15 celsius. through the day tomorrow, the weather front is sinking south to parts of england and wales. cloudy and drizzle in the central stretch of the country. in the south, warm at 24 solsus, fresh we are a return to sunshine and showers in the north. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines at 3.30pm. three tower blocks have been found to have combustible cladding, in tests carried out after the grenfell tower fire in which at least 79 people lost their lives. the government says there are about 600 high—rise buildings with cladding in england which need to be checked. a number of these tests have come back as combustible. the relevant local authorities and fire service

had been informed and they are taking all possible steps to inform local residents and make sure buildings are safe. meanwhile the bbc identifies one new tower block in north london where residents have been told the building has the same type of cladding used on grenfell tower. a sprinkler system is installed there. theresa may is meeting eu leaders in brussels to discuss brexit, for the first time since she lost her parliamentary majority. mrs may is expected to offer certainty to eu nationals living in the uk. an independent review has found that senior figures in the church of england colluded with a disgraced former bishop who abused young men. peter ball, who's 85, was jailed two years ago for historical sex offences. a preliminary postmortem examination has found that 51—year—old makram ali, who died at the scene of the terror attack outside finsbury park mosque, died as a result

of multiple injuries. now let's get the sports news. it's ladies day at ascot — expect high fashion and hats on day three of the royal festival. a strict dress code applies for those in the royal enclosure. for the first time trousers and jumpsuits are allowed for women. while top hats and morning dress is the attire for the men. the signature race of the day the gold cup is at 4.20pm this afternoon with last year's winner 0rder of st george starting as favourite. the racing is already well underway. after his success in the big race yesterday trainer aiden 0'brien started with another winner today. the 14—1 chance sioux nation ridden by rl moore won the firsat race of the day, the norfolk stakes. the 13—2 joint favourite santry was second. benbattle won the second race of the day, the hampton court stakes. the top seed left at the aegon championships marin cilic is safely through to the next

round after a straight sets win. he took the first set against stefan kozlov six—love, before taking the decisive second 6—4, to book his place in the quarterfinals. there's live coverage from queen's club in london on bbc two this afternoon and on the bbc sport website. andy murray's conqueror jordan thompson is in action this afternoon. the aussie is up against the american sam querrey. sam querrey knocked out novak djokovic at wimbledon. there's been a shock in the last 16 of the women's tournament in birmingham. second seed elina svitolina has been beaten in three sets by italy's camila giorgi. world number five svitolina has said that she may miss wimbledon because of a foot problem.

joanna konta is due on court in birmingham around four o'clock to play coco vanderweghe. team sky's geraint thomas has recovered from the injuries that forced him out of the giro d'italia to ride in support of chris froome in this year's tour de france. the welshman is fit to join the eight man team for the race which starts in dusseldorf on saturday 1st ofjuly, with froome seeking a fourth tour de france win and a third straight tour victory. juventus have confirmed they will release right—back dani alves from the final year of his contract, adding to rumours he could be set for a move to the premier league. manchester city boss pep guardiola is known to be interested in the 34—year—old brazilian, whom he knows from their time together at barcelona. juventus say alves has "expressed a desire to try a new experience". british and irish lions head coach warren gatland has made a bold selection ahead of the first test with new zealand, claiming his side must be courageous with the ball and score some tries if they're to beat the all blacks.

ireland's peter 0'mahony will captain the side, after a string of impressive displays, with tour captain sam warburton named on the bench. alun wynjones is preferred to maro itoje in the second row. but it's his selection in the backs which will leave nobody in any doubt as to how he gatland wants his side to play. with the attacking duo of eliot daly on the wing and liam williams at full back, selected instead of george north and leigh halfpenny. we said that we would focus on form and players that are probably, there will be a lot of differences from the start of the tour to now in terms of what people have speculated the side has been. the messages we have tried to deliver have been consistent from us, and the 23 have been selected, we're pretty excited about opening night. ireland have been handed test playing status.

the international cricket council voteed to admit ireland, along with afghanistan, into the elite member group that is permitted to play traditional five—day test matches. the funeral for an american student, 0tto warmbier, who was held for 15 months in a north korean prison, is being held in ohio. the 22—year—old died earlier this week after he was flown home in a coma. president trump has blamed the pyongyang regime for his death. 0ur correspondent aleem maqbool reports. fellow students pay their respects to 0tto warmbier, who travelled to north korea early last year, was arrested, jailed, and finally sent home to his parents in a coma to die just days later. you look at north korea, what's going on, look at 0tto, beautiful 0tto. went over there a healthy, wonderful boy. and you see how he came back.

0tto warmbier was last seen publicly in north korea pleading for his freedom in the court room in march last year. an innocent scapegoat... but instead he was sentenced to 15 years hard labour in a north korean prison. he'd been accused of crimes against the country, by taking a sign at a hotel he was staying at. another traveller in the same adventure tour group described the moment he was taken away. translation: 0tto was tapped on the solder and he was asked to step aside. when we were on the aeroplane, people started saying, someone's missing, where's 0tto? then the guide realises that someone is missing. she jumps out and tries to get off the plane, but she's stopped from doing that. he decided while travelling in china to take what was supposed to be a quick trip across the border with a tour group.

north korean officials now say that 0tto warmbier had been in a coma for more than a year, claiming it was because he contracted botulism. american doctors say there is no evidence of that. there are fears for three other american national is also being detained in north korea. the mystery of otto warmbier‘s death remains and now washington assesses its response to a regime that continues to provoke american anger. in the town in which he grew up, people are today saying their final goodbyes to 0tto warmbier. but right across this country, people are asking what his death means for already incredibly tense relations between america and north korea. let's cross to our washington correspondent barbara plett—usher. first of all, specific case of otto warmbier, it isn't clear how he died? no, it isn't. as you were

hearing, the north korean authorities say he contracted an illness, he died of botulism, they also said he taken sleeping pills and that killed him but doctors couldn't find evidence of that. they said there was evidence of a catastrophic rain injury, possibly because of a cardiac arrest at some point which stopped the flow of blood to his brain and put him in a coma. he was in the state of responsive wakefulness, so he opened his eyes but he was not aware of his surroundings, and he could not see 01’ surroundings, and he could not see or speak or respond. we don't know what it was that caused him to get into this condition and it's unlikely we'll find out from the north korean authorities. further information about what might have happened. his family stressed, and it was striking, or how happy they we re it was striking, or how happy they were to at least have him home. and even though he was in state where he

could not speak or respond to them, they felt he was clearly getting in some way, the expression on his face changed, he looked so anxious and uncomfortable and he had adopted an expression of peace, they were convinced that he knew on some of that you will time. friends have said that he believed that he knew he was home and he felt it was all right to finally let go. the other question raised was what this does to already very poor relations between the united states and north korea. yes, that is a good question because they were bad and they are worse because of this. it's interesting, there was a back channel set up, a diplomatic back channel set up, a diplomatic back channel which led to talks that led to to being released, and at that point, that could lead to a more permanent line of communication. but then when 0tto's condition became

clear, apparently the person who went to pick him up didn't even know what he was going to find when he got there, now he has died, there is anger across the spectrum from lawmakers, officials, people in the community and the president. so it's created a political difficulty for any sort of talks that could have been, if there would have been any. and tensions will probably increase because of a result of this. what that means in terms of policy towards north korea, there has been no indication that the policy will change and that is to try to get further pressure through sanctions with the help of china to give up its nuclear weapons programme. downing street says around 600 high—rise buildings in england have cladding similar to those on rental tower which called —— grenfell tower which caught fire resulting in the

deaths of at least 29 people. i have been asking an expert about the scale of these tests. we are looking at potentially 600, although i think it will be a small proportion of those which need substantial work. it's going to need scaffolding and removal of the panels and replacement, which is not such a major construction issue. however i feel that although the statement was made by the prime minister this morning, that the panels were combustible, i don't think the way that that fire spread right to the top of the building very quickly was a result of that directly. i think there are specific issues at g re nfell tower, there are specific issues at grenfell tower, and in particular, the fact that essentially there were 14 ribs from the bottom to the top of that holding comprising these panels which allowed the hot gases to get straight to the top. i think

there were specific issues that will not be the same and many of the other towers. so your view, to be clear, is it is not the material in the panels which is combustible, it's the gap between the main structure and the panels, the gap of air whether flames can travel up? yes, we're going to have to wait for the outcome of the enquiry. whilst certainly the polyethylene sandwich fill of deep panels is combustible, to some degree, these panels do have some fire certificate saying they're suitable for buildings in the eu, the uk and the united states. the panels themselves don't explain the rapid development of the fire right to the top of the building very quickly. i think the gaps behind them is at least as important as the panels themselves. and when people

talk about firebrea ks, panels themselves. and when people talk about firebreaks, when these panels are installed, what does that mean? in the same way that each of the flats has fire resistance to the flat above and below, so the vertical columns of this kind should have a similarfire vertical columns of this kind should have a similar fire resistance at each flat level. it's not clear at the moment whether that was specified in the design of those guiding systems, or if it was specified, whether it was built. so i think specified, whether it was built. so ithinka specified, whether it was built. so i think a lot of the investigation will be focused on the details that went into that building. and if there's any good news here, it's the fa ct there's any good news here, it's the fact that some part of that building are intact, and that's going to be a very important piece of evidence for those investigating how the fire propagated itself so rapidly right to the top of the building. you can understand why residents in other blocks are worried and councils are worried. if there is to be a

replacement of cladding, how difficult is that, how time—consuming and expensive is it to ta ke time—consuming and expensive is it to take off cladding and put on a new kind or no cladding at all? bearing in mind the prime minister's announcement that there will be enough money to throw in this, it should be pretty quick. it's not going to take years, this should be donein going to take years, this should be done ina going to take years, this should be done in a matter of weeks. i think i would reassure people that i think it would be very unlikely that another building with all of the features that grenfell tower had, andi features that grenfell tower had, and i would say right now, i don't think anyone living in any other towers should be fearful. the right things are being done and as as long as they get them in the right time frame, the great majority of the 4000 high—rise towers in britain are safe right now and a little bit of work is going to have to be carried out on maybe 20, 30 or 40.

john upton, an expert on structural engineering talking to me earlier on. the headlines on bbc news. combustible cladding has been found on at least three tower blocks across the uk with samples expected to be checked for many more. senior figures in the church of england colluded with the disgraced former bishop who abused young men, according to an independent review. theresa may hasjoined eu leaders in brussels to discuss brexit as the president of the european council says he hopes the uk could still change its mind. many of the uk's top universities have failed to achieve the highest award in the first major assessment of teaching standards. more than half of those that entered the teaching excellence framework did not score a gold rating. 0ur education correspondent gillian hargreaves reports. with me is chris havergal, news editor at times higher education. thank you for coming in. the

teaching excellence framework, it ra nks teaching excellence framework, it ranks universities gold, silver and bronze, how influential is this and how important is it? it's the first attempt to rank universities according to their teaching standards. there is a very established hierarchy of universities which is largely based on their research prowess. this looks at a different set of measures and it's created a very different looking hierarchy. while you have got institutions like the london school of economics, in the bronze bottom category, you've got institutions like coventry and the montford university in the gold category so it's going to change people's perceptions of what a good university in the uk looks like. people's perceptions of what a good university in the uk looks likem it really going to change perceptions? if you have got a prospective student thinking lse versus coventry, one would imagine they would rather go to lse. it's certainly the case that pelissie remains a very good university and would be a passport to a good career

but there are a couple of things. this has got a government stamp of approval, it's a government led exercise and i think that's going to be influential, particularly for international students who cannot access the same interesting information that the uk people can. teaching standards are important, a lot of people complain they do not have enough contact hours in university and staff are too focused on research. this is a message that gives you a different take on the uk's higher education. how much was each university actually investigated in terms of its teaching? this is the problem, it's based on three core areas. graduate employment, student satisfaction and student retention. those are all things which are important to stu d e nts things which are important to students but there's a question on whether they actually reflect teaching excellence. no lessons or lectures have been observed, they haven't looked at the quality of

students' work. that's why universities who haven't perhaps done as well as they hoped will have been pointing out that it remains an exercise which has its flaws. and it's a fairly broadbrush measure, because universities are measured overall, rather than per subject. that is one of the key problems, most students choose their education according to subject. this is based purely on university and we know there is very widespread variation between different departments in universities. however later down the line ina universities. however later down the line in a few years, there is expected to be a subject level assessment said i'm sure people will pay attention then. later it will be linked to tuition fees that universities can charge and i'm sure thatis universities can charge and i'm sure that is when people will really pay attention. around 30 boys at a devon school have worn skirts to lessons in protest at not being allowed to put on shorts in the recent heatwave. students at isca academy in exeter complained of "sweltering"

temperatures earlier in the week. they say they were jokingly told to wear regulation skirts instead, which sparked the idea for the protest. here's simon hall. the uniform policy is strict at isca college and this protest took full advantage. when the boys complained about not being allowed to wear shorts in the recent heatwave, they were told, perhaps humorously, wear regulation skirts instead so today, around 30 did. because five people did it yesterday, so then everyone was like, if everyone else does it, then they can't stop anyone else doing it so then they might bring shorts back for the summer. it's embarrassing the school us wearing shorts, so... girls are allowed to wear skirts all year round, they get cold legs and we have to sit there sweating. do you think you are embarrassing yourselves and the school? no. i think it's great, i think it's brilliant to protest to say, if we're not allowed to wear that, we'll wear the skirts, good on them. the skirts were borrowed from girls at isca and they support the protest.

i think it's good, if they can't wear shorts, then they have to wear skirts. i don't think it's right them being told off for having hairy legs though. they got told off yesterday for having hairy legs. no one from isca academy was available for interview. a statement said, "shorts were not currently part of our uniform policy for boys, and we would not wish to make any changes without consulting both students and their families. however with hotter weather becoming more common, we would be happy to consider changes in future." the irony to the wearing skirts protest, of course, the weather today has turned much cooler. protest is real! some news coming into us from the liberal democrats, that the former health minister norman lamb has said health minister norman lamb has said he will not enter the race to

replace lib dem leader tim farron. he lost out to mr tim farron in 2015, he told the guardian newspaper, his decision that he will not enter the race followed what he called a gruelling election period. he also said the party's anti—brexit sta nce he also said the party's anti—brexit stance was toxic to many of the voters in his own constituency in norfolk and he abstained on the article 50 vote which angered many in his party. british summer fruit and salad producers are struggling to recruit enough migrant workers to harvest their crops, according to a bbc survey. more than half of the businesses that took part weren't sure whether they'd have enough staff with many blaming the weak pound and uncertainty over brexit. live now to susannah streeter who is in the market town of godalming in surrey. hello, iam

hello, i am in one of the poly tunnels that grows raspberries. today alone, the company which runs this farm and a few others around the uk ends to pick 25 tonnes of raspberries and to do so, they rely ona raspberries and to do so, they rely on a huge migrant labourforce, particularly from romania, bulgaria and poland. there are growers up and down the country saying they are finding it much more difficult this year to recruit staff than they have in previous years, and they're blaming the boat for brexit and subsequently the falling pound for this. and also the feeling of uncertainty, many workers don't know how welcome they are in this country. let's have a chat with the managing partner here at the firm. how important our eu workers for you? without eu workers, we wouldn't have a business. we have developed a very strong ownership over the last 20 years, and we've been able to

build up ourlabour 20 years, and we've been able to build up our labour force 20 years, and we've been able to build up our labourforce to 20 years, and we've been able to build up our labour force to over 2500. there is a direct relationship between the number of pickers and workers we have and the tonnes of crop we are able to reduce. they are working very fast, they've scooted right up to the end of this poly tunnel. why can't you fill any gaps in labour with tunnel. why can't you fill any gaps in labourwith uk tunnel. why can't you fill any gaps in labour with uk workers?|j tunnel. why can't you fill any gaps in labour with uk workers? i think it's a rail challenge for uk workers to come and work on our farms, we have tried to do that, we've had a lot of initiatives but every time we've done it, we've failed to recruit. as to why they don't want to stay and work for, it's a struggle to understand because we think our wages are good, our offer is good, our work conditions are getting better and better. the quality of our crops are better. we have 500,000 million metres of table tops for our strawberries, it's not even backbreaking work any more so i welcome people to come along and give it another go. let me talk about the shortages. we have

somebody here who can explain it is a bit more, stephanie is the ceo of concordia, a charity which recruits migrant workers. you have had a lot more demand from farms, haven't you, asking you for help in agreement? definitely, we've seen an increase in 2096 definitely, we've seen an increase in 20% of farms that have come to us requesting that extra labour that they haven't been able to source and a lot of that has been short notice. we expect that is telling us that there could be up to 20% shortage in there could be up to 20% shortage in the uk this year. what should farms do to continue to attract skilled workers? it's tough, at the moment we have a mismatch between demand and supply. 0ne we have a mismatch between demand and supply. one thing is that farms like this have done is a real huge effort in in looking after the workers that come over to the uk. already we find that workers, when they are comparing other countries, they are comparing other countries, they find their rights are better protected in the uk, we audit more and we take more care and make sure

things are right in that direction. that's the great thing that we have that strong reputation so let's keep going that way. yankee. a little earlier i was speaking to the chairman of the industry association, he said what is really needed is the clarity from the government, and seasonal workers programme for agriculture laid out, what will happen after brexit, how these farms will recruit the workers they need to survive. retallick at the weather now. —— let's have a look at the weather now. after the last five days where we have had temperatures over 30 degrees, many of us 10 degrees lower today. more cloud around today, this is the scene in shropshire. a similar picture up and down the country, cloudy skies over the next few days, a fresh theme was quite a bit of cloud and some of us will see

outbreaks of rain, but not everywhere. this afternoon across scotland, drizzly rain for northern and western parts, a few showers for aberdeen, down towards dumfries and galloway it's looking bright. a dry afternoon in northern ireland, some sunny spells here, a few showers in lincolnshire and norfolk with the odd rumble of thunder. further south across infant across wales, odd rumble of thunder. further south across wales, —— england and wales, dry spells. most of us try tonight, low pressure will bring northern ireland rain, and scotland, pushing into the north west and north wales. the rest of england and wales is largely dry, and it will be much fresher tonight, easier largely dry, and it will be much freshertonight, easierfor sleeping. 13—15d. through the day tomorrow, a cold front will be heading south eastwards, opening the doors forfresh air to

heading south eastwards, opening the doors for fresh air to move into the west. eight different feel in scotla nd west. eight different feel in scotland and northern ireland, sunshine and scattered showers. some patchy rain heading south across parts of northern england and the midlands into wales, southern england stays dry and bright. 24 to 25 degrees down towards london. but elsewhere though temperatures not far off where they should be. typically 16 to 22 degrees. moving through saturday, the weather front is still lingering in the south east for a time. then we are into a mix of sunshine and scattered blustery showers heading in on a westerly breeze with temperatures between 15 and 23 degrees. a fresher feeling day on saturday. those showers with us, a few showers lingering into sunday but it looks like the drier day of the weekend. a bit more in the way sunshine and a breeze coming in from the west or north west. will not be as hot as it has been

recently with temperatures 15 to 17 across northern part of the uk. 23 degrees in london. so it's certainly looking cooler, the heatwave has come to an end for now. a ten date forecast is at the website. this is bbc news. the headlines at 4pm. councils rush to inspect the cladding on hundreds of tower blocks as the government says three high—rise buildings have already been found to have combustible materials. i was informed that a number of these tests have come back as combustible. the relative gilly releva nt local combustible. the relative gilly relevant local authorities and fire services have been informed and are taking all possible steps to ensure buildings are safe and inform affected residents. cladding is being stripped from five tower blocks in north london over fears about its safety. the bbc has spoken to worried residents who are afraid to return home.

i was anxious and worried and nervous in the first place and now, knowing it is the same cladding, i feel... i just feel knowing it is the same cladding, i feel... ijust feel i don't want knowing it is the same cladding, i feel... i just feel i don't want to live in it any more. the prime minister welcomes