hello. it's thursday, it's nine o'clock. i'm victoria derbyshire. welcome to the programme. this morning: britain has the gayest parliament in the world — but what's it like for a poltitician when they come out? this morning, kezia dugdale, the former leader of scottish labour, tells us she was outed by a magazine against her will. i didn't have complete control over coming out. i came out in the middle of an incredibly intense election campaign. it was the 2016 scottish parliament elections. it wasn't under my control, and i do regret that, i think that was unfair. and one conservative mp tells us he thinks he was turned down for a governmentjob because of he's gay. that full exclusive report in 15 minutes‘ time. also on the programme, tributes are being paid to diana exactly 20 years after she was killed in that car crash in paris. to have something so traumatic as the death of your mother when you're 15, as very sadly, many people have experienced, and no one wants to experience, it leaves you... it will either make or break you, and i wouldn't let it break me.

we will talk about her legacy with herformer we will talk about her legacy with her former bodyguard who worked with her former bodyguard who worked with herfor six years. plus — theresa may says she's not quitting and plans to carry on as prime minister to fight the next general election. we'll get reaction from conservative mps — let me know what you think of that statement, whoever you vote for hello. welcome to the programme, we're live until 11. throughout the morning, we'll bring you the latest news and developing stories and as always, really keen to hear from you on all the stories we're talking about. after ten, we will be talking to a young woman who has been on 77 first dates in two years in the hope of finding the right bloke. so far, none of them have been good enough,

apparently. tell us about your first dates, the triumphs and disasters. the details on your screen. our top story today. the prime minister, theresa may says she wants to lead the conservatives into the next general election — saying she's in it "for the long term". the foreign secretary borisjohnson has given his support but backbench conservative mps have told the bbc they're sceptical she'll be able to stay in the job until the next general election. theresa may is currently on a three—day trip to japan. our political correspondent ben wright is with her. there has been an awful lot of speculation about my future that has no basis in it whatsoever. i am in this for the long term. there is a realjob to be done in the united kingdom. it's about getting the brexit deal right, it's about building that deep and special partnership with the european union for the future, but it is also about building global britain, trading around the world, yes, dealing with injustices that remain inside the united kingdom, but also going out around the world

ensuring that we can do those trade deals which bring prosperity to our economy and bring jobs to the united kingdom. chris rogers is in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the rest of the day's news. good morning, victoria. the former scottish labour leader kezia dugdale has exclusively told this programme she had to come out as gay after being outed by a magazine. the member of the scottish parliament — who recently quit as leader — says when she asked for her quotes on her sexuality not to be included, her request was ignored. dugdale is one of a number of politicians asked by this programme about what it was like opening up about their sexuality. i would always answer honestly, but then i would say "i would prefer you don't use that. i don't talk about it. i don't think it matters". and up until that day, everybody had respected that. and then that one journalist decided it was a story, so ijust had to suck it up. i had to make some phone calls, speak to a few people, tidy it up, make the best of it that i could, but it wasn't under my control,

and i do regret that. i think it was unfair. we will bring you more on that story in the next few minutes. a law banning so—called legal highs in the uk is to be reviewed by the crown prosecution service, after the collapse of the first ever contested cases under the new legislation. two separate trials of people accused of intending to supply nitrous oxide — more commonly known as laughing gas — at music festivals were stopped after the courts heard the drug is exempt because it is used as a medicinal product. the drug charity, release, claims the new law is "fundamentally flawed". the brother of the manchester arena bomber will go on trial in libya in the next two months in connection with the attack that left 22 people dead. hashim amla a deep was arrested shortly after the bombing in may, by his brother, salman. his

father has been released. rescuers are searching for up to a0 people thought to be trapped in a collapsed building in india's financial capital, mumbai. the four—storey building gave way after two days of heavy monsoon rains, which have already resulted in at least ten deaths. the governor of texas has warned the amount of federal government aid it will need in the aftermath of hurricane harvey, is likely to be far in excess of the ioo—billion dollars made available — the storm that devastated new orleans twelve years ago. at least 33 people are now known to have died since the storm made landfall in texas. pipelines and fuel production have been shut down and overnight, the owners of a flooded chemical plant warned that it would explode in the coming days. the nhs in england has issued new guidance for the victims of acid attacks. the advice is to report the attack, remove contaminated clothing and rinse the skin immediately. surgeons say quick treatment is vital in minimising the extent of

injuries. providing appropriate first aid injuries. providing appropriate firstaid in injuries. providing appropriate first aid in a timely fashion can have a dramatic effect. not only because it will reduce the immediate effect of the trauma of the acid on the skin, but also the possibility of u nwa nted the skin, but also the possibility of unwanted life changing injuries. 20 years ago today diana, princess of wales died in a car crash in paris after being pursued by photographers. a range of public events have been organised to remember her death and flowers, cards and other tributes are again being laid outside kensington palace. her sons, princes william and harry, will mark the anniversary privately. the home office has apologised after telling a 21—year—old who has lived in the uk his entire life that he must leave or face the prospect of being jailed. shane ridge, of colne, in lancashire, was told he had "no lawful basis to be in the uk", according to the government department's records. the blunder occurred when it failed to establish that his mother, who was born in australia while herfamily lived there for a short time, had dual australian—british citizenship.

that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 9.30. thank you very much. we are going to talk to various gay politicians in an exclusive report made by snp mp hannah by dell and a few minutes time. i wonder if you are a gay man oi’ time. i wonder if you are a gay man or woman, when somebody in the public eye comes out, does that help you? s public eye comes out, does that help you 7 s know public eye comes out, does that help you? s know your experiences. to the sport, and it is the final day of the transfer window. we a lwa ys day of the transfer window. we always say it is going to be manic, it isn't always manic, but are we expecting it to be hectic today? i'm expecting it to be hectic today? i'm expecting pure lunacy today, it will be like the wild west. i don't know what it is like working on the money side of sport, but a few players and agents will feel like it is christmas come early today. it will

be pretty tense. fans waited to see who their clubs are going to bring m, who their clubs are going to bring in, and one who will be the winners, will be the losers? we can barely predict what is going to happen next. there will be a lot of stressed faces on mobile phones and we will try to keep you up—to—date across the day, but it won't be easy. 0ver £1.16 billion have already been spent, that is a new record, and the spending will continue, so it is difficult to say where people are going to be going at this stage, but one thing we can bring you is an agreed fee of £40 million as alex 0xlade—chamberlain is now on the verge ofjoining liverpool from arsenal. you won't get much of this today, but it is worth pointing out he has taken a £60,000 a week smaller offer than he was given by other clubs to join liverpool. they usually get a lot of bad press, but 15 million overfive yea rs, bad press, but 15 million overfive years, he will be taking less to go to liverpool, it is the club he supported as a boy, so maybe money

isn't everything today. what other things we expecting over the course of the day? just about every club in the premier league b link with players at the moment. in the age of social media, we hear lots of rumours, all, to catered at the moment by the international window, the players are dotted all over the world. alexis sanchez is in chile country at the moment, and he has been part of a rejected bid for manchester city, but that could be as much as £70 million and could be repeated today. riyad mahrez is set to leave leicester city. algeria say he has left the international come to formalise a transfer, to wear, we don't know. this is supposedly him ata don't know. this is supposedly him at a paris airport with a fan earlier today, apparently going to barcelona. but we do know he won't be going to arsenal. another saga that can come to an end today,

philippe coutinho currently away with brazil, you can see him training here. he could be going to barcelona for a huge fee. liverpool have already turned down £114 million for him. so much going on. chelsea have had bids rejected for ross barkley and danny drinkwater. i could go on and on, and to be honest, i will probably have to today. you keep your ion the app. it will be a very busy day indeed. and breathe! thank you, see later. next: what happens when politicians come out? former scottish labour leader kezia dugdale has exclusively told this programme she had to come out as gay after being outed by a magazine. the member of scottish parliament — who quit as leader this week — says when she asked for her quotes on her sexuality not to be included in an interview with the fabian review, her request was ignored. the fabian society says it's "very sorry" she was upset by the interview. the first ever conservative

mp to come out — sir alan duncan — has told us his sexuality prevented him from getting a role in former prime minister sirjohn major's government. they've been speaking to snp mp hannah bardell as part of a report for this programme about gay politicians. we now have a record number of 45 lgbt mp's — that's! in every 14 mps — making wesminster the gayest parliament in the world. this is hannah bardell‘s report: i am hannah bardell, the snp mp for livingston. i came out to myself during the 2015 general election, to family and friends just after, and publicly last year after taking part in this historic photo of lg bt parliamentarians. and since the 2017 general election, there are now a record 45 of us in westminster.

i am on a mission to meet colleagues who have paved the way for people like me, to look at other politicians' experiences of coming out, the criticism levied against them, and how things have changed for lgbt politicians since the first mp came out over 30 years ago. over the last 30 years we have seen huge steps forward in gay rights. the age of consent was lowered to 16. we have rights to adopt and to marry, but many politicians who have come out in that time have faced hostility. sir alan duncan is a foreign office minister and was the first conservative mp to publicly come out in 2002. when he came out he was greeted with a mixed reaction, including one article which headlined, "i'm sorry, mr duncan, if you're gay, you are not a tory." he also said he was turned down

for a job in government because of his sexuality. sir alan, you were the first conservative mp in 2002 to come out. what was that experience like and what was the reaction that you got? i had reached the point having been in parliament for ten years by then that i thought i was senior enough not to be dismissed as irrelevant. but i really had to be honest, i thought, and the time had come where why the hell should it matter? when i was first an mp, a senior officer in the party took me out to lunch and was sort of probing, but did not dare ask directly. it was like saying have you got a secret criminal record? and i just thought this was absurd. and someone on the conventional right of politics just needed to bust this. and so i thought, right, i'm just going to say it.

whatever happens happens. so you said that you didn't hide your sexuality from your colleagues, but you felt it was weaponised against you. can you talk us through what happened ? well, it's sort of, "don't make him a whip or a minister because it will all be over the mail one day, you know." the daily mail would be the permanently bouffa nted alan duncan, or the over—neat alan duncan, all these little insinuations. what is the point of all that? i actually think... in fact i know i was blackballed from the whips' office in thejohn major parliament, not by him, but by a couple of fellow whips who just thought it would be too high risk. you said afterwards when you came out you had some really interesting, positive reactions, particularly one lady who came to you about her grandchild. someone i met actually at a conservative party function came up to me, she was perhaps about 75, and said i just want to say thank you.

i said, "what have i done?" she said my granddaughter is gay and thank you because i now feel comfortable with it and you have made me feel respectable. lord chris smith made history when he became the first mp of any party to come out publicly in 1984. there are now 45 lgbt mps. we brought him together with nia griffith, the labour mp for llanelli, who also came out when i did last year, and labour's chris bryant who came out in 2000 and organised this photo. so, chris smith, you came outjust a year after i was born, not to make you feel old in any way! it makes me feel ancient. i'm so sorry. but you were really a pioneer for the lgbt community and obviously you made that very public declaration about your hiv status in 2005.

how difficult was that both personally and professionally for you? for nine years, i was the only openly gay member of parliament. since then, i haven't regretted making that decision for a single moment. in terms of on the doorsteps in your constituency, what was the kind of response? were you concerned about that? was there any anxiety, were there any comments? i was terrified and no one had ever done this before, so i had no idea what the reaction was going to be. there was no social media in those days, thank goodness. but i did get letters from people all around the country and a lot of them were saying, "well done, congratulations". but the ones that really meant the most to me were the ones that said, "thank you, it has made it easierfor me". 0bviously, your friends, family, colleagues, had known

for all the time that you were a parliamentarian up until the point that you and i were both in that famous photograph that chris organised. yes, it's a rather strange situation, really. bizarrely for me, after a long—term relationship came to an end, that is when i came out. it was because i couldn't cope with the grief, not being able to tell somebody. and so bizarrely, that was the moment i came out and that was to my local party and they were then campaigning with me. so you are actually asking other people to defend you as well. you are standing on a list of x amount of councillors standing in one ward or whatever and you are obviously seeking their support. i have got to say, they were fantastic. and, chris, your experience, you have been such a vocal proponent of lgbt rights, but you were in the clergy before. it's difficult to believe now! no. that i was a priest in the church of england. did you feel you had to choose between religion and sexuality?

no, well, sort of. it took me quite a long time to work out that i was gay. it was my girlfriend who told me. i probably wasn't meant to have a girlfriend as i was training to be a priest in the church of england and i thought to myself... in the past, the church of england has always been kind of don't ask, don't tell. then it became "we want to know everything about eve rybody". but that was their sort of strange world. this is why i think there will always still be a moment of coming out because you sit down at a dinner and someone says, "so how is your wife?" and in your head you are going, now do i say, "fine, thank you very much"? or do you go, "she's a man"? which is what i did say once to the papal nuncio and he said, "is she very butch?"

isaid, "no, no, lam married to a man." he then said to me here in parliament, "you are more danger to civilisation than climate change. " at the time of recording, kezia dugdale was leader of the scottish labour party. she has since resigned, saying it is time to pass on the baton. this is the first time she has spoken publicly about her experience of coming out. you were put in the position where you had to say something before maybe you would have chosen to. yeah, it was really difficult. i didn't have complete control over coming out. i came out in the middle of an incredibly intense election campaign, it was the 2016 scottish parliament elections. i'd done an interview with a publication. i've done hundreds of interviews with journalists, i do them every week, and it wasn't the first time i had been asked about my sexuality or about my relationships. i would always answer honestly and then i would say, "but i would prefer you didn't use that, i don't talk about it, i don't think it matters."

and up until that day, everybody had respected that. and then that one journalist decided no, it was a story, so ijust had to suck it up. i had to make some phone calls, speak to a few people, tidy it up, make the best of it that i could, but it wasn't in my control. i do regret that, i think that was unfair. the journalist involved denies being asked to take it out. kezia, you are one of four out of six scottish party leaders that are openly gay. i mean, that's quite an incredible statistic for a start. does it make you proud to be part of that group? i am immensely proud, but i think it is worth just contemplating for a second that nicola sturgeon, by the very nature of being straight, is in a minority group in scotland. and one of three women. one of three women, but what immense progress we have made in that time. obviously, there has been quite a bit of press recently

about your relationship with my colleague, snp jenny gilruth, but what was interesting about that was when there was commentary and coverage of two female parliamentarians being in a relationship, it was about two female parliamentarians who were from different parties. that seemed to be the thing people were upset or intrigued about. does that in a strange way represent progress to you? definitely. i mean, i think it is fascinating when you stop and think about it. people were not in any way bothered that we were together, that the idea that two women were together, they were more intrigued that it was two people from two different political parties and that divide was a much bigger deal than their different sexuality or outlook. scotland is one of the most progressive countries in the world in terms of lgbt rights, but that was not always the case. many lgbt people were put off politics because they thought their sexuality was incompatible with a political career. that was the case for my friend and colleaguejoanna cherry qc.

so, joanna, tell us a bit about your coming out. in many ways, i had quite a positive coming out experience, but in relation to my career choices, it definitely affected them because in my teens and early 20s i was a member of the labour party and when i was growing up it was really my passionate desire to be a labour mp. but when i realised i was gay and i saw what happened to peter tatchell in the bermondsey by—election, the really terrible homophobia that he faced from his main opponents, the liberal democrats, but also i think, to be fair, from people inside his own party, i thought to myself as a gay person, a career in politics is not going to be open to me, it is going to be really difficult. so i chose instead to concentrate on my legal career. when you got elected in 2015, how did you find the environment towards lg bt people? i have experienced, like most gay politicians, quite a lot of homophobic abuse on twitter. but generally in the media, i have not experienced any homophobia. you come to parliament, you become a politician

and your personal life becomes public property. i didn't come into politics to be a professional lesbian, i came into politics to achieve social justice and independence for scotland. but on the other hand, i am very proud to be out as a lesbian in politics and i hope that i can be a role model to younger women who can see that you can be an out lesbian in public life. politicians come out at different stages in their careers. some feel that in order to fit in, they have to hide their sexuality. that was something i grappled with, so much so that i nearly did not run until my friend and former snp leader alex salmond talked me back into running. a number of politicians come out later in life. that was the case for david mundell. he was married with children before coming out at the age of 54. he is a conservative mp and the secretary of state for scotland.

0bviously because you had been married and had children, that must have been very difficult for you, for them. how did they react to that and how difficult was that? firstly, my children were very positive that i didn't have some health issue. because at my age, people think this might be one of those sort of conversations. but they were very positive and i think that is because young people have such a completely different outlook. do you think your life would have been different, your career would have been different, if you had come out, say, 20 years ago? if i was at this point in my life 20, 30 years ago, it would have been a much more difficult situation. maybe 20 years ago, i might have had to resign from the cabinet. i have not really so far encountered any prejudice or difficulty in the party. i have not found any in my constituency either. i met one person on the doorstep, actually in my son's election campaign to the scottish parliament, who said that they could not vote for him because of what i had done. really?

but that is one person. yes, i know, but that is still somewhat surprising. i think obviously, we were not very positive to him and he fundamentally disagreed with that and we left it at that. following the 2017 general election, the conservatives chose to form an informal coalition with northern ireland's democratic unionist party, the dup. they hold controversial views on gay marriage. i think one of the concerns i know that people in your own party have expressed are the concerns around dealing with the dup and what that means, because some of their views have been really abhorrent to people in the lgbt community. i don't think you bring about change by demanding that people do things. you have got to campaign,

you have got to seek to influence the argument and the debate. you have got to encourage voices to be heard and show your solidarity. my final stop is the magical highlands. it's where my family have come since i was a wee girl on holiday and it is where i had the first conversation with my mum face—to—face about my sexuality. she brought my brother and i up on her own and being politically active herself, has been absolutely instrumental in my election campaigns. one of the things i wanted to talk about was, i suppose, what it was like for you when i came out. it really wasn't a big deal. other than i didn't want you to be hurt in any additional way because of that

and because you are in the public eye. and in terms of being from a single—parent family and those challenges. i mean, the world hasjust moved on hugely about all sorts of things in the last 30—odd years. and that was a revelation, how long you had been thinking about it and trying to figure it out and the things that inhibited you from moving on with it. i waited until after the election to tell you, although i pretty well by then had it worked out. i guess that was because i knew how much you were so involved in my campaign, you were giving me so much support, you were worried about my stress levels, i did not want to add any more worry to that and make you worry. that seems silly now.

i thought it was quite sensible in some ways, but i thought it was basically kind. and you are kind. i have talked to colleagues across the political spectrum whose experiences have in many ways mirrored society's changing attitudes to lgbt rights. but we must be mindful of the work that still needs to be done across our communities, in our country and around the world. and you can read more about that story on the bbc news website. it is the most read story and has been since 6am. regarding the allegation kezia dugdale makes that she felt she was "forced" to come out by a magazine, the fabian society told us in a statement that they were "very sorry that kezia dugdale was upset by the interview".

the article's author, mary riddell, said "at no point during the interview or afterwards did ms dugdale ask me not to publish her comments, which were recorded with her agreement. nor has she ever complained to me that her on—the—record comments relating to her relationship had been published." lee says, when i came out, i was bullied school. and this from kit, seeing an influential person, it helps normalise it. allen says: graham says he thinks people like

gareth thomas help, because they are just regular blokes, deems to be least stereotypical. and luke says, interesting report on gay politicians and the difficulties of being, and even being forced out. your own inexperience is really welcome. after ten, we will hear more. still to come: 0n the 20th anniversary of diana's death, we'll talk to herformer personal protection officer ken wharfe about his memories of her and his view on her legacy. and the woman who's been on 77 first dates in two years, but is still yet to find mr right. your stories of first dates are welcome this morning. here's chris in the bbc newsroom with a summary of today's news.

good morning, victoria. theresa may says she wants to lead the conservatives into the next general election. the conservatives including borisjohnson general election. the conservatives including boris johnson have general election. the conservatives including borisjohnson have rallied behind her. labour has accused mrs may of deluding herself. the former scottish labour leader kezia dugdale has exclusively told this programme she had to come out as gay after being outed by a magazine. the msp says when she asked for her quotes on her sexuality not to be included, her request was ignored. dugdale is one of a number of politicians asked by this programme about what it was like opening up about their sexuality. a law banning so—called legal highs in the uk is to be reviewed by the crown prosecution service, after the collapse of the first ever contested cases under the new legislation. two separate trials of people

accused of intending to supply nitrous oxide — more commonly known as laughing gas — at music festivals were stopped after the courts heard the drug is exempt because it is used as a medicinal product. the drug charity, release, claims the new law is "fundamentally flawed". rescuers are searching for up to 40 people thought to be trapped in a collapsed building in india's financial capital, mumbai. the four—storey building gave way after two days of heavy monsoon rains, which have already resulted in at least ten deaths. the governor of texas has warned the amount of federal government aid it will need in the aftermath of hurricane harvey, is likely to be far in excess of the $100 billion made available for the storm that devastated new orleans 12 years ago. at least 33 people are now known to have died since the storm made landfall in texas. pipelines and fuel production have been shut down and overnight, the owners of a flooded chemical plant warned that it would explode in the coming days. that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at ten.

thank you very much. here's some sport now. it's the dreaded final day of the football transfer window but there are plenty of deals that could still be concluded. leicester city's riyad mahrez has been given permission by algeria to leave the international camp and formalise a transfer. arsenal won't be the destination though, its expected he'lljoin barcelona. manchester city are reportedly chasing a deal for alexis sanchez. they've had a bid of £50 million rejected but could go back in for him, with his contract at the emirates finishing at the end of the season. alex 0xlade—chamberlian will definitely be leaving arsenal. he's heading to merseyside to join liverpool after the two clubs agreed a 40 million pounds transfer. the england midfielder expected to sign a 5 year deal. maria sharapova made it through to round 3 at the us open. she came from a set down to beat hungray‘s timea babosh in what's her frist major tournament

since returning from a 15—month doping suspension. when diana died: "all of us lost somebody", "still the people's princess", "her legacy lives on in her sons", "the popularity of the monarchy is down to her" — just some of the tributes to princess diana on the 20th anniversary of her death. this next film has some flashing images. good evening. the body of diana, princess of wales is lying tonight in a chapel of rest in london. her close friend dodi fayed is being buried in a muslim cemetery on the outskirts of the capital. and all less than 24 hours after, by all accounts, one of the happiest evenings they'd spent together. around the wreckage of their lives is already running a bitter debate about what part in her death was really played by the squad of determined photographers who dogged her every step until it all unravelled in the horror

of a high—speed crash in a paris underpass. at seven o'clock this evening, an raf plane brought her home for the last time. overtime, people seem to forget, or have forgotten, what an amazing thing she did and what an amazing presence she was. she was wonderful in their honour was harry and i can tell you that would portray that. you would have to meet her to understand it. if you ask people who met her, they will tell you how amazing she was. we were lucky to have her as a mother. there's not a day that goes past that we don't think about her and miss her influence. because she was a massive example to both of us. and it's one of those things that's very sad, but you learn to deal with it and there are plenty of other people out there who have the same or worse problems than we have had. the nicest thing is the fact

that she was our mother. she had a public site and a private side, and the private side was very small in comparison to the public side, but the memories we have got of her, we are lucky to have those memories because they are private between us. that's the nicest thing about it. you see her get slated for such and such, but the personal memories we have of her are very much private and that's hopefully the way it will always be. today, st david's day, we are celebrating a great occasion which promises to become a milestone for the city of cardiff, for the county of which it forms a part and for the principality. she put everybody first

and herself very much last. she was the most caring person. she was our mother, so we would say that. she did everything because she felt it was right and it was what she wanted to do. she didn't go by what she thought was the best thing to do or be told to do something, she would do it from the heart and fully immerse herself into it. and she cared massively. we were left in no doubt at all that we were the most important thing in her life. after that, it was everyone else, all her charities and everything like that. to me, that's a good philosophy.

she loved caring for people and she loved helping. both of us are really glad we were able to feel that. really caring, so sweet and very much missed not only by us, by a lot of people. and that's all that needs to be said, really. i think one of the hardest things to come to terms with is the fact that the people that chased her into the tunnel were the same people that were taking photographs of her while she was still dying on the back seat of a car. and william and i know that. we've been told that numerous times by people that know that that was the case. she'd had quite a severe head injury, but she was very much still alive on the back seat. and those people that caused the accident, instead of helping, were taking photographs of her dying on the back seat. and then those photographs made their way back to news desks in this country. when you have something so traumatic as the death of your mother when you're 15,

as, very sadly, many people have experienced and no one wants to experience, it leaves you... it'll either make or break you, and i wouldn't let it break me. i wanted it to make me. i wanted her to be proud of the person i would become. i didn't want her worried, or the legacy to be that william and/or harry were completely devastated by it and that all the hard work and all the love and all the energy she put into us when we were younger would go to waste. paparazzi: diana!

diana! a beautiful film. diana's sons, princes william and harry, will be marking the anniversary of her death privately. yesterday they laid flowers outside herformer home — kensington palace — and took time to look at some of the many flowers members of the public had left, just as they had done 20 years ago. let's speak now to ken wharfe. he was a bodyguard to princes william and harry from 1986 and became princess diana's personal protection officer in 1988, and worked with her for six years. in 1997 he oversaw security at diana's funeral. he hasjust he has just written a new book about her called guarding diana. what is her called guarding diana. what is

her legacy? i don't think i could put it any better than what we have just seen from her sons. they succinctly tell us all what her legacy is. and it is exactly that. i remember diana, working with her, as somebody that was fun and caring, and william was right, she put everything away, behind that, her children always came first, and seeing william on his first day at school, it was important for diana to be there taking him to school and to be there taking him to school and to be there when he came home, which was a real break from the tradition of royal education. and that was her priority. if she could do that, everything else was possible, and her work did come second. her work certainly was, and it broke new mould in terms of royal duty, but behind all of that, it was always, wherever we were in the country, even abroad, it was, i must get back and see boys, because they were

crucial in her life. it is very moving to see those pieces, because no one can argue or disagree with what her sons say, because they were central to her life. she was an incredibly funny woman. the book that i have just written is all about the places we visited, and with new anecdotes all about the fun she had, and i've one particular story that my office, and the room was very near to the nursery, and harry kane might one afternoon, looking for something to do or play, andi looking for something to do or play, and i said, i can't play, i've got a guide with your mother, and then harry disappeared to the kitchen and asked the chef for something to putting ken's bath, and the chef sent up this red car cochineal. so

she generated the fun as well as recognising... she generated the fun with her kids, but also with us on tour. these were massive events in this country and abroad, but she was a lwa ys this country and abroad, but she was always the entertainment manager in it, and was always find something to make people laugh. and it was a big family, from the chef to the housekeeper, the dresser, the chauffeur. everyone was an integral pa rt chauffeur. everyone was an integral part in making this work. and william and harry were not kept locked up in the nursery away from all of this. they were encouraged to go to the chef, go to see the housekeeper or the bottle, the cleaner, however. and this is what we see, and this is the legacy. she was a very caring person, we see, and this is the legacy. she was a very caring person, probably very much at home with the man and woman on the street. she could talk to anyone. she could, and so often, the queen's representative, the lord

lieutenant, would say, you must come back and we will have lunch, and she would say thank you, but i would much rather have lunch with people i have come to see. and that is what she was like. and i think what we now see, and particularly with the queen and the duke of edinburgh winding down, william and harry now see their role as an important one, and they are using their mother's template, because they know it is one that works, and it does. her work ethos that endeared her to the public, not in this country but internationally, it was strawberry to watch it. angela says diana obviously loved her kids. it is so sad. ian says, as a royal photographer, i remember her laughter, her sense of fun and how she turned from a person being very awkward to a photograph to one who

could show great feeling through her imagery. i took william's first official christmas baby shots. i took some of her last photos at an event before she died and many in between. i remember watching her compete with charles in photography sessions. her legacy lives on. how did she change the monarchy, in your view? you had a eye view. —— a bird's eye view. well, initially, in 1981, no one handed her a manual on how to become a royal princess. she was just a natural at it and did the opening of shopping malls so forth and obviously a signed herself to a number of charities quickly. and she did that with relative ease. i remember that trip to australia a bit before my time and the crowds that were there to stop there was that were there to stop there was that famous speech with the prince of wales, who quipped about it and

makes a lot of laughter when he said, the next time i come, i will bring two wives. i think that was a sign, because in my view, the royal family were pleased that diana was on board, as it were, but they have a problem dealing with her popularity. they didn't know how to harness this new arrival. how do we channel this? and what diana was really after was someone to say, well done, we appreciate what you are doing. had that been said a bit more, who knows, it may have changed the course of events. but four years after she was there as a princess, she changed and became involved in what she considered to be more important aspects of royal duty by getting involved in the mid—80s important aspects of royal duty by getting involv a in the mid—80s important aspects of royal duty by getting involv a princess lid—80s important aspects of royal duty by getting involv a princess to -80s important aspects of royal duty by getting involv a princess to get; time. and for a princess to get involved, even the queen said, why?

why don't you do something nice? it wasn't a criticism, but that was the feeling at the time. but if you get the changes diana made in that field and her relationship with elton john, and now harry himself publicly continuing that legacy by himself getting involved with it, send out a clear message that the legacy is obvious. thank you very much. we can now speak to our correspondent sophie long who is at kensington palace where flowers are still being laid... yes, we are outside kensington palace by the golden gate. if i move out of the way, you can see that quite a few people have come to lay floral tributes and look at the pictures and read some of the m essa g es pictures and read some of the messages that people have been leaving on the 20th anniversary of diana's death. i was speaking to one couple, a mother and daughter who

have come from bulgaria. they came to london specifically for this occasion, to look back at the 20 yea rs occasion, to look back at the 20 years that have passed. john, you have been here since 3am. you are wearing a diana t—shirt. tell us why this day is so important to you? because we are remembering the 20th anniversary, and it's important for us to be here. her most important legacy was her two sons. we saw them yesterday, talking about them other‘s work. yesterday, talking about them other's work. it is special for us all, because we are here to see it. i was moved by how much william and harry have them other's ways. she always embraced you. no other royals had done that. she was the first.

she was born with two hearts, want to give to people and one for herself. diana was our special princess, and she is one of the lord's angels. what does it mean to you to see people from coming from all around the world, two decades after her death? i know you helped design the banner there and you have been here since three in the morning. how important is it that her legacy does end your? two days ago, i was here and an indian man and an african man came up to me was that they knew i was here to put flowers down. he said, diana was a special person. and the indian person said the same thing. i said, you summed it up. you could put diana ina you summed it up. you could put diana in a room. you could be in a bad mood and she would turn the light switch on and bring happiness. throughout her life, she brought happiness to everybody. john, thank you very much. people will be coming

here throughout the day to pay tribute to princess diana. people are pausing and remembering. at ten o'clock, we will bring you all the news and sport. coming up: and the lady's not for quitting. theresa may has announced she has no intention of giving up the job of prime minister. we'll get reaction from members of her party. a chemical plant near the flooded city of houston is expected to explode or catch fire in the coming days. during heavy rainfall from hurricane harvey, the arkema plant at crosby lost refrigeration of chemical compounds which need to be kept cool, and there is no way to prevent a possible fire, the company has said. at least 33 people have been killed in the aftermath of the storm, large parts of houston are under water and 32,000 people are living in shelters.

and yet more rain is expected to fall. we can speak now to amanda trost, who has been delivering food to those in need. you have been fortunate, but not eve ryo ne you have been fortunate, but not everyone was? yes. it is about 82 or three mile radius around my house, but there are a lot of people still under water. and how have you been helping? the first couple of days, eve ryo ne helping? the first couple of days, everyone was stuck in their house. as soon as we could get out on saturday, we checked on neighbours. the school that i work for sent out an sos to go employees and students to make sure they were 0k and to see if they could volunteer. we provide hot meals for anyone who could get there, and then we took a bunch of

meals and drove around as far as we could go in each direction without running into water, to see where food was needed. thankfully on tuesday, when we did the same thing, all of the shelters in the area had been filled with supplies and volunteers. so it was neat to see people come out and surpass the need we have had. you are a teacher. in terms of the school where you work, how have the pupils been affected? we started school two days before the storm came and some of the stu d e nts the storm came and some of the students were already reaching out and making sure people were 0k and how they could help each other. we spent quite a bit of time as a

community, making sure students were 0k and try to confirm that they were safe. the stories we heard are heartbreaking, but it was good to get in contact with people and sleep easier knowing that they are alive and have somewhere to stay. what sort of stories have you heard from your peoples? the thing that sticks out to me most is that, i have never been a facebook person before, but facebook became our lifeline in houston to check on each other. cou ntless houston to check on each other. countless stories from friends and acquaintances and family members that would post" i think we are ok, the water is coming up the driveway" . the next hour" the water is at the front door". and then expose would be "i am stuck and i am scared". it was a helpless feeling to know you can't do anything about it.|j

was a helpless feeling to know you can't do anything about it. i think your school is trying to distribute about 250 meals a day, is that right? correct. that is an amazing effort. there are three campuses, actually. so we are able to reach different parts of the city. well, thank you for talking to us. right, some messages from you about the film that snp mp hannah bardell made for us, talking to politicians who have come out. sarah says, powerful feature on how far parliament and the uk have progressed when it comes to lgbt rights. annie says this piece was well executed and sensitively handled. boris says years ago, i asked my maternal uncle, why have i not been asked by anyone if i was 93v? not been asked by anyone if i was

gay? he replied, does anyone ask whether the pope is a catholic! news and sport on the way. let's get the latest weather update with carol. todayis today is a day of sunshine and showers. it has been a chilly start to the day, but temperatures are rising nicely in the sunshine. the showers could be heavy and thundery. we have had a lot of showers in the west and the south, you can see a cluster of them in north—west england, particularly the blackpool area, where they have been happy and thundery. but liverpool is dry as a bone. showers will become more widespread, some of them again the heavy and thundery, some of them with some hail. in the sunshine in between a feeling quite pleasant, especially across parts of northern ireland. for scotland, prolific

showers, but in between we will also see some sunshine. the showers are fairly hit and miss. in northern england, we carry on with the showers. you might be lucky, your friend may not. in the midlands, east anglia and the south—east, temperature—wise we are in better shape than yesterday, back to where we should be at around 20 or 21. in the south—west, we have a mixed rub right sunshine and showers, as we do across wales. 0vernight, we will slowly start to lose those showers. there will still be clusters of them near the coast and under clear skies, it will be a cool night. temperatures may be low enough for a

touch of grass frost. a loss of sunshine around, but we will see some showers. few are towards the west. for saturday, another chilly start to the day, with another touch of grass frost. a lot of dry weather. later, the cloud will thicken across northern ireland, heralding the arrival of a weather front bringing wet and windy weather. through the course of the day, it is going to slowly meander eastwards. the further east you are, the drier and brighter it is likely to be. hello. it's thursday, it's ten o'clock. i'm victoria derbyshire. britain has the gayest parliament in the world — but what's it like for a poltitician when they come out?

this morning, kezia dugdale, the former leader of scottish labour, tells us she was outed by a magazine against her will. i didn't have complete control over coming out. i came out in the middle of an incredibly intense election campaign. it was the 2016 scottish parliament elections. it wasn't under my control, and i do regret that, i think that was unfair. have high—profile gay politicians helped you, i'd ? have high—profile gay politicians helped you, i'd? —— helped you out? the government is being forced rethink its new law introduced last year to ban so—called legal highs after the first contested case collapsed. we will explain the background to the story. it's never easy meeting "the one" — we meet a woman who has been on 77 dates to try to find her mr right. do get in touch and let us know tales of your first dates. how many has it taken you to meet mr or mrs right? chris rogers is in the bbc

newsroom with a summary of the rest of the day's news. good morning, victoria. the prime minister, theresa may, says she wants to lead the conservatives into the next general election, saying she is in it for the long—term mrs may is on a three—day trip to japan where she spoke to our political correspondent ben wright. the second day of the trip is being dominated with discussions on trade, the security operation, uk troops will be training with japanese troops. but this trip will be remembered for theresa may's unplanned yet very blunt declaration on her own political future and her intention to lead the conservative party into the next general election in 2022, trying to scotch the rumours since

the botched general election injune that she is not long in thejob. she wa nts to that she is not long in thejob. she wants to make it clear now that not only does she want to see britain through brexit, but she wants to ta ke through brexit, but she wants to take it beyond that. people within her party in parliament will be perfectly comfortable with that. there is no clearly bishop rival waiting in the wings. but long—term, ultimately theresa may's fate is in the hands of her party, and if they decide that it is untenable for her to be continuing that long into the future, then frankly, she won't be. the former scottish labour leader kezia dugdale has exclusively told this programme she had to come out as gay after being outed by a magazine. the msp says when she asked for her quotes on her sexuality not to be included, her request was ignored. dugdale is one of a number of politicians asked by this programme about what it was like opening up about their sexuality. a law banning so—called legal highs in the uk is to be reviewed by the crown prosecution service, after the collapse of the first ever

contested cases under the new legislation. two separate trials of people accused of intending to supply nitrous oxide — more commonly known as laughing gas — at music festivals were stopped after the courts heard the drug is exempt because it is used as a medicinal product. rescuers are searching for up to 40 people thought to be trapped in a collapsed building in india's financial capital, mumbai. the four—storey building gave way after two days of heavy monsoon rains, which have already resulted in at least ten deaths. the governor of texas has warned the amount of federal government aid it will need in the aftermath of hurricane harvey, is likely to be far in excess of the $100 billion made available for the storm that devastated new orleans 12 years ago. at least 33 people are now known to have died since the storm made landfall in texas. pipelines and fuel production have been shut down and overnight, the owners of a flooded chemical plant warned that it would explode in the coming days. 20 years ago today, diana princess

of wales died in a car crash in paris after being pursued by photographers. a range of public events have been organised to remember her death and flowers, cards and other tributes are again being laid outside kensington palace. her sons, princes william and harry, will mark the anniversary privately. that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 10.30. thank you very much. do get in touch throughout the programme. we are going to talk to some gay politicians in the next few moments. i will read out some more of your experiences. does it help if you are gay man or woman? he was back with all the sport. it is the final day of football's transfer window. 0ver £1.2 billion has already spent by premier league clubs in this transfer window —

that's a new record — and the spending will continue... riyad mahrez won player of the year two seasons ago and he's set to leave leicester city. algeria say he's left the international camp to formalise a transfer. leicester say there haven't been any bids made. this is supposedly him in paris airport with a fan. he could be going to barcelona — we do know, though, he won't be going to arsenal. that's a move that had long been rumoured. talisman alexis sanchez could leave arsenal. their top scorer, with 24 league goals last term, has been the subject of a £50 million bid frm manchester city. it was rejected, but with sanchez into the final year of his contract, a deal could well happen. alex 0xlade—chamberlain will definitely be leaving arsenal. he's heading to merseyside to join liverpool after the two clubs agreed a £40 million transfer. the england midfielder is expected to sign a 5 year deal. tottenham are expected to complete the signing of paris st—germain defender serge aurier for £23 million. the deal had been held up due

to work permit complications. and you can follow all the deals on the bbc sport website, which will have a live page with updates until the window closes at 11 o'clock tonight in england. scotland get another hour till midnight. 5 live have a special programme from seven this evening and there's a special football focus at quarter to 11 on bbc one. kyle edmund is the last british hope at the us open. he beat american stevejohnson in straight sets to get into the third round. aljaz bedene and cameron norrie both went out. nick kyrios was also a casualty. he injured his shoulder losing to fellow australian john millman. it didn't seem to hamper him though when he smashed his racket beyond repair after losing the third set. kyrios is one of a number of players to have suffered injury trouble recently, with 5 top players having withdrawn from this year's us open. the last three months for me has

beena the last three months for me has been a nightmare. i said it before, i had such a good indian wells, miami, and then davis cup, we had a good win over america, and think things went down hill from there, really. caroline wozniacki is out but another former world number one — maria sharapova — is through to the third round. the russian, playing herfirst grand slam since a 15 month doping ban, came from a set down to beat timea babos. i know i can do this, i have done it before and i want to have that feeling again. there is also the realistic understanding of you have beenin realistic understanding of you have been in this situation for awhile, it is going to take a little time, so it is going to take a little time, so managing the expectations is part of it, and learning as you play the match is something that i haven't done. remember the bbc sport website an app has the latest on the transfers — we will have more here across the morning.

thank you very much. good morning. this country has the gayest parliament in the world — with one in 14 mps out as lgbt. but what's it like for politicians when they come out? kezie dugdale — the former leader of scottish labour — has told us she felt forced to come out by a national magazine, and alan duncan, the first tory mp to come out, tells us he feels he was turned down for a job in government because of his sexuality. they've been speaking to hannah bardell — a lesbian snp mp — for a report on gay politicians. we bought you herfull film earlier in the programme — here's a short extract. sir alan duncan is a foreign office minister and was the first conservative mp to publicly come out in 2002. when he came out, he was greeted with a mixed reaction, including one article which headlined, "i'm sorry mr duncan, if you are gay, you are not a tory." so, sir alan, you were the first conservative mp in 2002 to come out. what was that experience like and what was the reaction that you got?

the time had come where why the hell should it matter? when i was first an mp, a senior officer in the party took me out to lunch and was sort of probing, but did not dare ask directly. it was like saying, "have you got a secret criminal record?" and i just thought this was absurd. and someone on the conventional right of politics just needed to bust this. and so i thought right, i am just going to say it whatever happens happens. you said you did not hide your sexuality from your colleagues, but you felt it was weaponised against you. can you talk us through what happened ? well, it is sort of, "oh, don't make him a whip or a minister because it will all be over the mail one—day." and of course the daily mail was always "the permanently bouffa nted alan duncan,

or the over—neat alan duncan", all these little insinuations. what is the point of all that? i actually think, in fact i know, i was blackballed from the whips' office in thejohn major parliament, not by him, but by a couple of fellow whips who just thought it would be too high risk. at the time of recording, kezia dugdale was leader of the scottish labour party. she has since resigned, saying it is time to pass on the baton. this is the first time she has spoken publicly about her experience of coming out. you were put in the position where you had to say something before maybe you would have chosen to. yes, it was really difficult. i did not have complete control over coming out. i came out in the middle of an incredibly intense election campaign. it was the 2016 scottish parliament elections. i had done an interview with a publication. i have done hundreds of interviews with journalists, i do them every week. it was not the first time i had been

asked about my sexuality or about my relationships and i would always answer honestly and then i would say, "but i prefer you don't use that, i don't talk about it, i don't think it matters." and up until that day everybody respected that and then that one journalist decided no, it was a story. so ijust had to suck it up, i had to make some phone calls, speak to a few people, tidy it up, make the best of it that i could. but no, it was not in my control and i do regret that, i think that was unfair. the journalist involved denies being asked to take it out. and obviously there has been quite a bit of press recently about your relationship with my colleague and friend snp msp jenny gilruth, but what was interesting about that was when there was commentary and coverage, it wasn't about two female parliamentarians being in a relationship, it was about two female parliamentarians who were from different parties. that seemed to be the thing that people were upset or annoyed about. does that in a strange way represent progress to you? definitely.

i think it is fascinating when you stop and think about it. people were not in any way bothered that we were together, that the idea was of two women being together, they were more intrigued that it was two people from two different political parties and that divide was a much bigger deal than that sexuality or outlook. on that claim that kezia dugdale was forced out by a magazine — the magazine in question, the fabian review, told us they're "very sorry" she was upset by the interview. the journalist who wrote the article — mary riddell — told us "at no point during the interview or afterwards did kezia dugdale ask me not to publish her comments, which were recorded with her agreement. nor has she ever complained to me that her on—the—record comments relating to her relationship had been published." let's speak now to hannah bardell, the snp mp for livingston, stuart andrew, who has been the conservative mp for pudsey since 2010 — he came out in 1998, and lloyd russell—moyle is the labour mp for

brighton kemptown — he was elected for the first time injune. welcome all of you. good morning, hello. i am going to ask you all, andi hello. i am going to ask you all, and i will start with lloyd, has your experience of coming out been a positive one? i was out before i stood to be a member of parliament, andi stood to be a member of parliament, and i represent a relatively liberal 93v and i represent a relatively liberal gay area of the country in many respects, and so for me it was something i went through as a young man here in sussex, and something that i was quite resigned to. i know a number of my colleagues in local seats, some who are still mps, some who are no longer mps, struggle much more. particularly colleagues who we re more. particularly colleagues who were of an older generation. and i

suspect that is changing. but it is difficult still for some politicians i know to feel totally comfortable with coming out, and worried that that then dominates the headlines rather than the policy issues that we are standing on. stuart andrew, what about your own experience, positive? i grew up on the island of anglesey in north wales, so it was quite remote, and you might imagine backin quite remote, and you might imagine back in the 90s, things were very different then. it was quite hard, i have to say, quite fearful of what the repercussions might be. but i was incredibly fortunate to have the support of my family and all of the friends around me were a great support to me. but now i have lived in this constituency for 20 years, i have been a councillor here, prior to becoming a member of parliament, andl to becoming a member of parliament, and i have to say it has been a very positive experience. what i find is

that most people want to see how good you are at yourjob rather than your sexuality. absolutely. hannah bardell, in yourfilm, your sexuality. absolutely. hannah bardell, in your film, joanna your sexuality. absolutely. hannah bardell, in yourfilm, joanna cherry told us that every gay mp receives homophobic abuse still. yes, and thatis homophobic abuse still. yes, and that is surprising in some ways, but twitter seems to bring out sadly the worst in people at times. but i think it is a signal that, and this programme really shows that the experiences of the mps mirror society changes and attitudes towards lg bt rights, society changes and attitudes towards lgbt rights, but it shows there is still a lot of work to do, there is still a lot of work to do, the fact that people still receive abuse, and! the fact that people still receive abuse, and i knowjoanna has received a lot of it, and so have others. i haven't, my experience was very positive, it was a personal struggle more than a public one. for me it was tied up in being from a single parent family and as a child viewing society as heteronormative, getting sent home with a family tree to fill in your mum and dad, and i

thought, i am already strange and different, i don't want to be any more different, they think that has changed a lot as well, so we have moved on. do you know politicians who are in the closet? i can't think of the top of my head, but things have changed so much that there could be people who have not come to terms with it yet. lloyd, do you? iwouldn't be able to comment on current politicians. i know very recent former politicians who were still in the closet until only a few years ago. it's a personal issue, but it is harder if you enter politics and you we re harder if you enter politics and you were not out, to then suddenly have to make an announcement. that is something that will hopefully dissipate over time. i am very proud

that in worthing east, we ran a transgender candidate for the labour party and the campaign was not about the fact that sophie was trans—, it was about the issues. but that was not universally supported. there we re even not universally supported. there were even people in her own local party that raised eyebrows. so we have a way to go. stuart, do you think if you are an elected politician in the public eye and you are gay, that you have a responsibility to come out?|j are gay, that you have a responsibility to come out? i would agree with lloyd. it is a personal decision and you have to weigh up what you think is right for you. in my experience, i felt it was something i had to do. i was beaten up something i had to do. i was beaten up for being something i had to do. i was beaten rbeing gay something i had to do. i was beaten up for being gay in 1998, and i realised then, because the media

we re realised then, because the media were interested because i had stood for general election in 1997, i thought this was something that could be hanging over me if i want to continue working in politics. so that was what made me decide, and also because i want to look my electorate in the face and say, this is who i am, and be open about it. lloyd ma ke s is who i am, and be open about it. lloyd makes a valid point that it is difficult if you have been elected and you are then struggling with the decision over when or if to come out. do you use gay dating apps? hannah? i have been on one app which some people use for dating, others use for events. and i did think to myself, is this something i should be on asa myself, is this something i should be on as a politician? and i thought, why not? i am not on there today, i have a partner. iam thought, why not? i am not on there today, i have a partner. i am on there to engage with the community. lloyd, have you used gay dating

apps? yes, i do. i am a single gay man in brighton and i sometimes use 95v man in brighton and i sometimes use gay dating apps and go for nice coffee is with people. and sometimes i meet people in bars and sometimes i don't. that is a normal way of life and the point of politicians it is to try to live as your constituents do. many of my constituents do. many of my constituents use them and enjoy them. so we need to move away from it being an issue. stuart, do you object to me asking if you are on grindr? well, considering that i am considerably older than hannah and lloyd. . . considerably older than hannah and lloyd... hey, you are looking good! well, i have been with my partner for 17 years. well, i have been with my partner for17 years. fair well, i have been with my partner for 17 years. fair enough. well, i have been with my partner for17 years. fair enough. hannah bardell, do you think that one day,

we might have a gay prime minister in britain? i would like to think so. in britain? i would like to think so. there is no reason why lgbt people, women, people with disabilities, should not be in senior positions. we have to ask ourselves why they haven't been until now. in scotland, we are proportionally one of the guest column in the world and one of the most progressive countries in terms of lg bt most progressive countries in terms of lgbt rights. lgbt candidates have been better than their straight allies in the most recent general election am according to a study —— they did better in the most recent general election. it is a personal choice, but i certainly felt a personal responsibility. we are role models and we have a responsibility to the next generation to make it more equal. on that point, it is still not easy for young people to

come out in some parts of the country, and you met a teenager in your constituency. let's have a look. there's a reason why we're visible. hopefully, it makes it easier for young lgbt people to come out. and it's so apparent at the glitter cannons, a local group for young lgbt people held in my constituency. after catching up with the group, i spoke to kieran. tell us a bit about yourself, how old you are now and how old you were when you came out and what that experience was like. i'm 14, and i came out when i was 13. right. when i came out to my friends, it was all fine and dandy. everyone accepted me apart from a few boys in my year. but they don't really bother me any more. when i came out to my mum, because she was the first one i came out to, she got a bit angry and anxious, because she thought i was going to get bullied at school. how much of that have you experienced or are you still experiencing? well...

i'm still experiencing it. and sometimes it does get to me a bit. but as time passes, i just forget about it. it's been going on for years, because they always suspected i was gay because i've never had a girlfriend. and what have you done about the bullying? nothing, because it doesn't bother me. i feel like if i tell someone, it willjust cause more problems and it will give me more stress to worry about. talk to me about the glitter cannons and how that group is helping you. i've made a lot of friends. before this, i used to be very sad and depressed. i used to cut myself. yeah. but since i've been at glitter cannons, i've stopped and got a lot better. it makes me feel, like... loved.

i feel loved in that club. how important is it, do you think, to have role models, people, whether like myself, mps or other folk, do you think it's important to have people in public life? you need a role model for motivation for what you want to do in life. role models make you motivated to be yourself in life, because if they can be themselves in life, you can be yourself in life. really interesting. let me read these two e—mails to you all. the first is from nick. it contains some strong language. watching your programme this morning and the brilliant feature on gay mps coming out. when you come out, it never really becomes easy and the fear of homophobia is ever present. i should know. my partner and i were recently

the victims of homophobia. 0ur neighbours sang a song at us including the words fag, queer and fairy, which we recorded, took to the police and eventually, it went to court. however, even with all the evidence we have, and after the cps had downgraded the offence because they were afraid it was difficult to prove intent, the three magistrates found our neighbours not guilty, as they felt the words satirical, and there was no intent. peter says, watching your feature about coming out, i came out aged 41,11 watching your feature about coming out, i came out aged 41, 11 years ago. it took me a long time and a lot of courage to do it. thankfully, it went better than i had anticipated. i had built it up to be anticipated. i had built it up to be a nightmare scenario and i seriously considered taking my own life. i couldn't see a life ahead being in the closet, and i couldn't see a life ahead as being an out gay man, so taking my life seemed like the

best option. i had been married for 23 years to my childhood sweetheart from the age of ten, and we had three children. they were all brilliantly supportive, although it was an upsetting time for me and my then wife. it's a real challenge for many people, hannah. it is. what kieran's interview shows is that there are still challenges. we have come a long way, there wasn't anything like that group when i was growing up and i am sure colleagues across the political spectrum, it makes me proud that we have something like that in livingston, but it shows me how many young people there are out there and like those who have e—mailed in who are still struggling. so it is about visibility and role models, but it's also about having a more inclusive society in general and saying we need to be more accepting. we cannot lock people out of society because of their sexuality, their religion, the colour of their skin, their disability, and continuing to push

those boundaries. quick reaction from at least two out of three of you. i can't ask our conservative mp for his reaction to theresa may saying she will be leader of the conservative party into the next general election, because he is a government whip. he is part of the leadership office, so it might be unfairto leadership office, so it might be unfair to put leadership office, so it might be unfairto put him leadership office, so it might be unfair to put him on the spot. let me ask hannah and lloyd, as a labour mp, what do you think of theresa may's comments? i say bring it on. she's a dead woman walking, as osborne said, and if she wants to run the conservative party until the next election, i think people will make sure she is booted out. she has flip—flopped on so many things, it is no surprise that she has changed her mind on this. it seems she does not have the support of all of her party. grant shapps' comments this

morning were very party. grant shapps' comments this morning were very telling. time will tell. thank you all for coming on the programme. let's talk more now about theresa may's future. we can speak now to katie perrior, a former press secretary to theresa may at number ten. i think theresa may's position has not really changed. she's not going to quit. she is in the middle of brexit negotiations, so she needs to show a strong hand. but if the conservative party at any time in the future want to put forward other candidates, that is for them to do. and if she is ask the question, are you going to lead the party into the next general election, it is like asking the england manager if they are going to win the next game. there are not many answers you can

give. you can avoid the question or you can address it head—on. when she goes on a trip to japan or you can address it head—on. when she goes on a trip tojapan or any foreign trips, they are very well scripted answers. they will know the media would want a response to the daily mirror story last week, whereby they picked the date out of thin airand said whereby they picked the date out of thin air and said she would be leaving in august of when to 19. she responded strongly to that and said there is no date planned for her to leave. and there was no vacancy at the top of the conservative party. conservative mps love to plot. it is a bit like an addiction to crack cocaine, they can't get enough of it, but i don't think it will come to much. i don't sense that there is any appetite to replace theresa may. thank you very much. we will bring you the latest headlines in a moment. let me bring you this news from texas. two explosions have been reported at a chemical plant. afp

are reporting this, a french news agency. they say local emergency officials reported two explosions at a flood of chemical plant in the texas town of crosby. at two a:m., we we re texas town of crosby. at two a:m., we were notified of two explosions and black smoke coming from the plant. as a precautionary measure, officials had already ordered the evacuation of an area of three kilometres around organic peroxide plant, which operators said was at risk of exploding due to a critical issue triggered by hurricane ha rvey‘s issue triggered by hurricane harvey's torrential rains. the area had already been evacuated, thank goodness, and the operators new there was potentially the risk ofan

new there was potentially the risk of an explosion because of those torrential rains. good morning, victoria. theresa may says she wants to leave the conservatives into the next general election, saying she's in it for the long—term. prime minister is currently on a three—day visit to japan. senior conservatives including borisjohnson japan. senior conservatives including boris johnson have publicly rallied behind her. labour has accused her of deluding herself. the former scottish labour leader kezia dugdale has exclusively told this programme she had to come out as gay after being outed by a magazine. the msp says when she asked for her quotes on her sexuality not to be included, her request was ignored. a law banning so—called legal highs in the uk is to be reviewed by the crown prosecution service, after the collapse of the first ever contested cases under the new legislation. two separate trials of people accused of intending to supply nitrous oxide — more commonly known as laughing gas — at music festivals were stopped after the courts heard the drug is exempt because it is used as a medicinal product. a residential building has collapsed

ina a residential building has collapsed in a crowded part of mumbai, killing seven people. rescuers searching for many more people. the four—storey building gave way after two days of heavy monsoon rains, which have already resulted in at least ten deaths. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. thank you very much. here's some sport now. it's the dreaded final day of the football transfer window but there are plenty of deals that could still be concluded. leicester city's riyad mahrez has been given permission by algeria to leave the international camp and formalise a transfer. arsenal won't be the destination though, its expected he'lljoin barcelona. manchester city are reportedly chasing a deal for alexis sanchez. they've had a bid of £50 million rejected but could go back in for him, with his contract at the emirates finishing at the end of the season. totte n ha m

tottenham are expecting to complete the signing of serge aurier, that had been held up due to permit convocations. maria sharapova made it through to round 3 at the us open. she came from a set down to beat hungray‘s timea babos in what's her frist major tournament since returning from a 15—month doping suspension. i will be back with more after 11 o'clock. thank you very much. the number of serious incidents involving ambulance patients has risen 12% in the last five years. an investigation by the bbc found these incidents include an allegation of rape, a wheel falling off an ambulance and the death of a patient after paramedics lost the keys for the ambulance. let's talk to jonathan fox, a paramedic for more than 30 years, years, now semi—retired, and alan lofthouse, a former paramedic and the ambulance lead with the union unison.

why do you think these incidents are rising? we have seen a 3096 why do you think these incidents are rising? we have seen a 30% increase rising? we have seen a 3096 increase in demand an ambulance services, and that was, the same time as the government has only increased the funding by 15%. the main thing to think about is these incidents rf, and they need to be looked into. these are highly dedicated professional staff dealing with emergency care, and lessons need to be learned and shared among other staff. jonathan fox, how do you react to the nature of some of these incident, the allegation of a patient being raped, paramedics losing the keys to the vehicle? there is a human dynamic to this, but i agree with your unison colleague. the ambulance service is responding to nearly 7 million calls a year, and thankfully these serious incidents is a very small, but

nevertheless they need to be investigated. one thing you must remember is it is not on the individual that the onus of responsibility is, but also a corporate responsibility, and trusts end up being the recipients as well. in terms of potentially trying to moderate or reduce the workload of paramedics, is it simply down to money, recruiting more? the ambulance service has become the default service as people struggle to get appointments with gps. they look to the ambulance service much more, and mental health services are still being built. more ambulances are needed, more staff, and we have are needed, more staff, and we have a situation where it is pretty intolerable out their family lets workers, and many are taking the decision to leave and do other work. we need to do something to stem the levers that are leaving the service. thank you both very much. before the end of the programme we are going to talk about the final

day of the football transfer window and the massive amounts of money swirling around, and maybe acknowledging that that is a good thing for football and football supporters. your views are welcome. now let's speak to the woman who's been on 77 first dates in two years in the hope of finding mr right. i don't know what she has been looking for. she's 29—year—old anna heaton. tell us more. how are you. what are you looking for? i'm good, thank you. what am i looking for, good question. i would say someone looking for, good question. i would say someone with a good sense of humour isa say someone with a good sense of humour is a must, not someone that ta kes humour is a must, not someone that takes himself too seriously, because clearly i don't. i also find ambition really attractive in men, someone ambition really attractive in men, someone that in their work is ambitious but also in their personal life, wants to try new things, go to new places, i could be with someone

who just says, i new places, i could be with someone whojust says, i don't mind new places, i could be with someone who just says, i don't mind where we 90. who just says, i don't mind where we go, orjust who just says, i don't mind where we go, or just happy who just says, i don't mind where we go, orjust happy doing the same thing. i would also say dress sense, nice dresser, that is important, someone nice dresser, that is important, someone who takes pride in their appearance. and out of those 77 first dates, you haven't found somebody who is a little bit of all of those? not really. it is also a feeling that you get when you have a first date and you are excited to see them again. i have been on second and third dates, but it hasn't been passed that because i haven't felt buttocks item at where i think it could go somewhere. haven't felt buttocks item at where i think it could go somewherelj feel i think it could go somewhere.” feel for you, because you know we need go on a first date, you build yourself up, you do your heroine make up, you think about what you're going to wear. 77 times, you have done that! and you are still single. yes, when you put it like that! let's imagine there is a swathe of

single young blokes watching you right now and thinking, ok, i don't wear brown shoes, i might do for her. what are your top tips for those guys watching right now? just someone those guys watching right now? just someone that wants to get to know me, and... if someone wants to try something new, a new place, or maybe an activity date. where something nice, activity date. where something nice, a nice shirt, jeans, smart shoes, and just be yourself, really, i think. it is always weird when someone says think. it is always weird when someone says be yourself, because you try, but we have lost her anyway. be yourself. still to come: tonight, the most expensive football transfer window ever closes as premier league clubs splash the cash. we'll be looking at the most eye—watering deals. is it time to acknowledge that the

money in the game is now a good thing? next. the government is being forced to think again about a new law it brought in last year to ban so—called legal highs. the law bans the production or the sale of any substance that affects a person's mental state or behaviour but in the first case of its kind a judge has ruled that they can't do that. the case collapsed and now there's to be a review by crown prosecutors into the whole thing. i'm joined in the studio now by mike trace, a former deputy drugs tsar and chief executive of the forward trust and katie douse, the head of legal services at release, the national centre of expertise on drug law. welcome to the programme. how do you react first of all to this case collapsing? it is kirsty. i beg your

pardon, i'm so sorry. we warned the government when we were bringing in the draft legislation that the ability to bring in a ban on psychoactive su bsta nces ability to bring in a ban on psychoactive substances was unworkable, so it is unsurprising. and nic ede with the particular colla pse and nic ede with the particular collapse of this case is it was to do with nitrous oxide, which is laughing gas, which if you look at the legislation actually says there is an exemption for medical use. as ki rsty is an exemption for medical use. as kirsty says, this could have been predicted. the government were trying to do something reasonable la st trying to do something reasonable last year in trying to say we need to encompass all categories of drugs in one legislation, but you then have to write definitions of what you mean by psychoactive drugs, and those are broad categories that are going to be challenged, and this is the first challenge and succeeded in court. ok. so it makes you wonder why the cps brought the case, doesn't it? absolutely, and particularly in the most recent case

yesterday, it was the prosecution's own expert that agreed that nitrous oxide fell into medical exemption, so oxide fell into medical exemption, so it is surprising they didn't check that before going to court and wasting time and resources. does that mean there will have to be a rewrite of the legislation? it is going to be very challenging to try to ban so—called legal highs. certainly a rethink is necessary, but what that leads to, the government will have to take it forward. what they are trying to do with this act was get some control over a market that had lots of different substances in it, new substances being invented a weekly basis. what looks to have happened is that their attempt to do that by including all psychoactive substances under one single legislation is now called into question. what they do about it obviously depends on what we want the drug laws to achieve, and what we try to do is reduce the harm that comes from drug use, particularly in

terms of what we used to call legal highs. there are overdoses, psychosis, and we want to minimise the health harms that people have. whether this law has achieved that, we don't know, because there is no real clear evaluation, but certainly doesn't seem to have stopped the problem from the perspective of us treatment agencies, there rhys turner problem out there. so the legislation so far has made no difference? they have achieved their initial aim of closing down some of these retail outlets that were legal la st these retail outlets that were legal last year. but it looks like the trade has gone underground and there is still a trade, and my area of interest, which is people who were marginalised from society, prisoners, homeless people, the level of use seems to have gone up since last year. kirsty, as you are ahead of the national expertise on drug law, what is the impact from your own experience of this legislation? none that we can see.

but we know that as well, that if we are looking at wider drug policy, the government themselves know that, they had their own investigation. so it isn't just a they had their own investigation. so it isn'tjust a young piece of legislation? no, it is the government's whole attitude tojohn policy. they had their own report in 2014, and came to their conclusion that there was no significant correlation between the law enforcement approach that country ta kes enforcement approach that country takes and the levels of use in that country. so if law enforcement is causing harm by criminalising people and disproportionately affecting black and ethnic minority communities, then those are wider harms that are being caused without achieving the aimed that the government set out to do. so if you we re government set out to do. so if you were in charge of drugs policy in this country, what would your approach be? we need to have a com plete approach be? we need to have a complete rethink. meaning what? looking at different models. the

first step would be to decriminalise personal possession of all drugs to remove the harms of criminal records. and bring problematic drug use into the public health sphere and look at recreational drug use in terms of education and reducing the harms of that. when something is illegal, then people don't access accurate advice and they also don't go to treatment services because they are scared of being criminalised. i'm reading a home office statement. nitrous oxide is covered by the psychoactive su bsta nces covered by the psychoactive substances act and is illegal to supply for its psychoactive effect. however the act provides an exemption for medical products. whether a substance is covered by this is based on the circumstances of each individual case. and it goes on to talk about the legislation, since the psychoactive substances act came into force last you, over 300 retailers have either closed down or are now no longer selling the stuff. able have arrested the suppliers, and action by the agency

has based in the removal of uk—based websites. it goes on, these dangerous trucks have already cost far too many lives, and the act is sending out a clear message. this government will take whatever action is necessary to keep our families and communities safe. you said they close down various retailers, but the blaster using it. yes, that is the blaster using it. yes, that is the dilemma for governments around the dilemma for governments around the world, you can close down shops and websites, but the fundamental market still goes round. what we are trying to achieve his less harm from that market, less people dying, less people having health problems associated with their drug use. those indicators will tell us whether laws are helping or not. in the case of new psychoactive substances, we know from our experience at forward trust the people we deal with, prisoners, homeless, marginalised people, they are getting access to these drugs at are getting access to these drugs at a greater rate than they ever have. the other thing we worry about is

purity and potency. one of the indicators of harms is how pure or potent any drug use, whether it is mephedrone, cannabis, the more pure and potent, the more likely harms you will get. one of the real risks of taking a criminaljustice act approach is you are creating...” apologise for interrupting, because we are going tojapan apologise for interrupting, because we are going to japan where the prime minister theresa may is holding a news conference. translation: we are now living in an age of change and uncertainty. the international order founded on the rule of law is faced with serious challenges in a variety of ways. in this context, there is a growing importance of cooperation between japan and the uk, which are global strategic partners sharing basic values like democracy, rule of law, human rights and so forth. north

korea resorted to an outrageous act of launching a missile that flew over our nation. this is an unprecedented and serious threat. we do not tolerate the nuclear and missile development by north korea. today, to increase our pressure on north korea, we agreed with prime minister may to strengthen the pressure and to that end to seek china. today, we issued ourjoint statement demonstrating our resolute determination of our two nations, which is also an important outcome of our discussion. three today's talks, prime minister may and i

agreed to advance anglo japanese relations to a new stage, centred on the areas of security, economy and global prosperity and growth. we issued a joint vision statement on security cooperation and cooperation for prosperity. firstly on security, we as partners in maritime stability agreed on elevating our security cooperation to a new height including cooperation on ensuring a free and open in the pacific ocean. this is of great significance for the peace and stability of the world. i welcome prime minister may strengthening her engagement in the pacific region. great britain is an

important player in the asia pacific. henceforward, we will be promoting cooperation in areas such asjoint promoting cooperation in areas such as joint exercise, defence equipment technology cooperation and support for capacity building. in the area of counterterrorism and cyber attacks, i confirm to have closer collaboration with prime minister may. for the successful delivery of the 2019 rugby world cup and 2020 olympic and paralympic games in tokyo, we agreed to promote knowledge sharing in these fields with the uk, which has a wealth of experience in hosting the rugby world cup and the london olympic and paralympic games. we also discussed the situation in east and south china seas, and reaffirmed the close

collaboration between us to maintain the rules —based international order upon concurring on our opposition to the attempt to alter the status quo. second, on the economic partnership, the fact that after the decision on brexit, japanese companies are continuing to make new investment into the united kingdom shows the profound trust that japanese companies have towards the british economy. it is important for the world economy to realise brexit from the eu which is smooth and successful. with this in mind, i have asked prime minister may for her considered commitment to ensuring transparency and do ability

as to minimise its impact on business activities including japanese companies. we also agree to have further enhancement of the dialogue between the two nations for the strengthening of the bilateral economic relations after brexit. lastly, but not least, in the area of cooperation for prosperity and growth of the world, common challenges of our two nations such as ageing with low fertility and women's empowerment are issues which sooner or women's empowerment are issues which sooner or later, other countries will be facing. with respect to how we are going to counter these issues, i find it we are going to counter these issues, ifind it of we are going to counter these issues, i find it of great significance that i agreed with prime minister may to lead the international efforts for knowledge sharing through anglo japanese collaboration. today, we were able to embark upon a step towards the new stage of co—operatives

relationships on a global scale as we look towards the future founded ona we look towards the future founded on a historical connection between japan and the united kingdom. here in asia, we will be feeling the presence of the united kingdom even closer than ever as a presence which is to be trusted. the reverse is true as well. japan will proactively engage with the british issues that the uk is faced with in europe as well as global ones, and will contribute in their solution in partnership with the united kingdom. it isa partnership with the united kingdom. it is a great pleasure that i am here to witness together with prime minister may the dawning of a new era in our bilateral relationship. going forward, i wish to seek the advancement of the anglo—japanese relations hand—in—hand with prime

minister may. thank you. prime minister may. thank you. prime minister may, the floor is yours. thank you, prime minister abe call for welcoming me to kyoto and tokyo. the cooperation between our countries is particularly important at this criticaljuncture, with north korean provocation presenting an unprecedented threat to international security. i want to begin by expressing the uk's strong sense of solidarity with the japanese people at this time. the uk and japan are natural partners. we share common interests as outward looking, democratic, free trading island nations with global reach. we are committed to the rules —based international system, free and open international system, free and open international trade and the fundamental values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. today, we have committed to

elevating the uk — japan partnership ina numberof elevating the uk — japan partnership in a number of areas. as two outward facing companies with many —— countries with shared challenges, japan isa countries with shared challenges, japan is a natural partner for us on defence and security issues. we are each other's enhance age to our earm~ the l ' “fetw‘ié the e time i “fetw‘ié the 5 time a i injapan last year, the first time a country other than the us has done so. country other than the us has done so. we are now taking this further with the deployment of hms argyll to the region in december 2018 and uk

troops exercising dz' next year in nextyearinjapanfor . .. firsti;é we must also tackle the first time. we must also tackle new the first time. we must also tackle er ing the first time. we must also tackle new - emerging threats the first time. we must also tackle new. emerging threats together new and emerging threats together through counterterrorism and cyber security. today, we - agreed a a safe ensure a safe and secure rugby world cup and and ensure a safe and secure rugby world cup and - and paralympic cup and olympic and paralympic games here injapan. i have highlighted here injapan. we have highlighted our opposition to any actions on the south and east china seas h wig; lrl min “i 5 c55 ..-_..5 :-.....,.,...,;, {medici gage?!” u. elj... is and .and ”7777777" 7 a law”. ,. f a criticalww ,_ north korea's korea in