this is bbc news, i'm ben brown. the headlines at 2pm. police say the late former prime minister sir edward heath would have been questioned over seven allegations of indecent assault and rape if he were alive. if sir edward heath had been alive. if sir edward heath had been alive today it has been concluded he would have been interviewed under caution in order to obtain his account in relation to the allegations made against him. account in relation to the allegations made against himli account in relation to the allegations made against him. i and my siblings had every opportunity to observe him at close hand and children, being children, are not unaware of the sort of things that are being talked about. we would have noticed anything. and there was nothing. a downing street source insists resignation is not an issue for theresa may. as ministers rally round her following the for theresa may. as ministers rally round herfollowing the mishap for theresa may. as ministers rally round her following the mishap she experienced during her conference speech. las vegas killer stephen

paddock, police say he may have plans to escape from the scene of the shooting. also in this hour, registrations of new cars fall sharply. sales were down over 9% on a year ago, the first time in six yea rs a year ago, the first time in six years the september figures have dropped. the british author is awarded the nobel prize for literature. he told the bbc he was flabbergasting lee flattered to win. good afternoon. welcome to bbc news. wiltshire police say they have enough evidence to have questioned the former prime minister sir edward heath about allegations of historical child abuse made by seven

people. had he still been alive. the force says it would have interviewed sir edward under caution about a claim he raped an 11—year—old boy, and also claims including rape and indecent assault made by six others. but their investigation has been severely criticised. our correspondent helen elite is that wiltshire police headquarters in swindon. bring is up—to—date with the latest. this has been a major investigation for wiltshire police costing £i.5 investigation for wiltshire police costing £1.5 million. it's been carried out over the past couple of yea rs, carried out over the past couple of years, looking into, as you say, allegations of sexual abuse concerning the former prime minister sir edward heath. in a news conference earlier today here at wiltshire police station, we heard from the chief constable mike peel, who repeatedly said he was confident and satisfied they had compelling reasons to look into these allegations. —— michael veale. which

he says are serious ones. it has attracted a lot of criticism, as richard galpin reports. sir edward heath, conservative prime minister in the early 1970s, is remembered for much, including taking the country into what would become the european union. also whilst prime minister, he famously skippered one of the yachts which won the admiral‘s cup. but since his death 12 years ago, allegations of child sex abuse have come to the fore. today, wiltshire police announced that allegations made by seven people would have led to the former prime minister being questioned if he was still alive. the offences where he would have been interviewed under caution are one allegation of rape of a male under 16. three allegations of indecent assault on a male under 16. four allegations of indecent assault on a male under “i. and two allegations of indecent

assault on a male over 16. it is clearly inappropriate to speculate what his response would have been to the allegations put to him, and no inference of guilt should be drawn by the decision to interview him. but the police investigation, launched two years ago outside mr heath's house, has been bitterly criticised by those who knew him. it seems to have begun with a conclusion it wanted to reach, and so it has behaved in a way that would enable that to happen. so i don't think it begun with the police saying, "let's see what we find." it began with the police saying, "this is what we want to find, and we will do our damnedest to make sure we get that." there were allegations that the former prime minister abused dozens of other people, but the police dismissed these. some because of undermining

evidence, others because the police believed the claims were false. the former director of public prosecutions ken mcdonald believes the whole investigation was an exercise by the police to cover their backs at the expense of a dead man. "shame on them," he wrote. there are calls now for an independent judicial inquiry to try to determine whether or not mr heath was involved in child abuse. but with the former prime minister long dead, the truth may never be known. richard galpin, bbc news. supporters of sir edward heath say that because he's not here he can't a nswer to that because he's not here he can't answer to those allegations and they say this is simply going to leave a dark stain on the reputation of a man who cannot defend himself.

eleanor, what, if anything happens next? the crown prosecution service can't comment on the strength of any evidence. they can't advise on any prosecution because sir edward heath is no longer alive. but we know that today the independent inquiry into the child sex abuse has requested a copy of the report from wiltshire police. what they say is that they will consider it as part of its westminster investigation. it also says it will investigate whether there was any knowledge within westminster institutions and, if so, what actions were taken. the chief co nsta ble what actions were taken. the chief constable here, michael veale, didn't think that was appropriate. lets talk to the chief executive of

the national association for people abused in childhood. gabriel shaw joins me. thank you for being with us. joins me. thank you for being with us. what do you make of what wiltshire police have said today?” think they carry out a fair, thorough, proportionate investigation. what we know, in yea rs investigation. what we know, in years gone by, victims and survivors of non—recent abuse have been failed, failed dreadfully by police, by society at large. you only need to cast your mind back to thejimmy savile revelations that broke in 2012-13 to savile revelations that broke in 2012—13 to know that. the police had to investigate. it would have been remiss of them not to. their investigation and report today is very fair investigation and report today is veryfairand investigation and report today is very fair and balanced. you will have heard some of the criticisms of what the police have said and done. for example, in that report, lord macdonald, former director of public was at you and said the police have been covering their backs at the expense of a man who can't defend himself. shame on them. very strong

words from a you know, man with huge experience. i found it a remarkable statement by the former director of public prosecutions, because my question to him would be, what was the alternative? the allegations have been received, alleged victims had come forward. would the police supposed to not investigate, to ignore them, because the alleged abuse was a person of public prominence? ifind abuse was a person of public prominence? i find it abuse was a person of public prominence? ifind it astonishing thatis prominence? ifind it astonishing that is what the logical outcome would have been. do you think the police have made no mistakes in their handling of this? there has been criticism of the way they have handled it. it's a convex community investigation covering many forces, wiltshire police were nominated as the lead force. i think they would themselves admit that, with the benefit of hindsight perhaps another thing they did may not have been best for the outcome the inquiry. be that as it may, having read the report fully today, they stress

proportionality. i think the outcome... rememberthis proportionality. i think the outcome... remember this was never about deciding guilt, it was never about deciding guilt, it was never about staying sir edward heath was 01’ about staying sir edward heath was or wasn't guilty of these charges. it was merely that was there an evidential threshold with which they could bring him in had he been alive to be interviewed under caution? the fa ct to be interviewed under caution? the fact there were seven different allegations, several different victims, they met the threshold, proves the point of the inquiry. what do you think should happen now? as the reporter noted earlier, the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse will pick this up as pa rt sexual abuse will pick this up as part of the wider westminster strand of investigation, i think it's the right thing to do. thejudge of investigation, i think it's the right thing to do. the judge led inquiry into the handling of this is disproportionate and a waste of money. they will investigate whether there is any cover—up in westminster, icsa, and it'll be interesting to see what they find.

it's your case, really, that any suspect to be investigated whether they are alive or dead? it's an interesting point, doesjustice die when the alleged abuser dies? remember those who have been abused as children live with this for a lifetime. it often takes them decades to come forward to disclose. some victims and survivors never do for many reasons. i think yes, if the survivor comes forward, they should be listened to with respect and the police should go where the evidence takes them. if the cases that there is enough evidence for a suspect to be interviewed, go there and do that, that is fair and proportionate. good to talk to you. gabrielle shaw, chief executive of the national association of people abused in childhood. senior conservatives have urged the party to keep a cool head and focus on the threat from labour, despite swirling rumours about the future of theresa may as prime minister. it is thought

a group of mps is discussing whether to ask her to stand down. rather than mounting a direct challenge. meanwhile members of the cabinet have pledged their support for mrs may, but one former minister has warned many inside the tory party are very concerned. our political correspondent reports. her report contains flashing images. this wasn't how it was supposed to go. the chaotic course of a speech meant to bolster her position has left theresa may exposed and vulnerable. this morning, though, senior cabinet ministers have rallied to defend her. what did you think of mrs may's speech? very brave, very good speech. the prime minister will continue in her role to do an excellentjob. does she still have yourfull support? she has my full support. factors beyond her control — a cold, prank, a crumbling set — all conspired to present a leader struggling. she pushed on to the end, winning support from the crowd. but her performance raised questions again about how long she can carry on. in public, most people are being pretty loyal. i think in private people are very concerned.

i think there'll be quite a few people who will now be pretty firmly of the view that she should resign. the tory party conference was a great opportunity to reboot the party and therefore reboot the country, to give a clear sense of direction, and that didn't happen, so i'm finding it increasingly difficult to see a way forward. westminster can be a fickle place, where political careers can quickly rise and fall. ever since the election and the loss of her parliamentary majority, there has been talk among tory mps about theresa may's future. now a group of her critics are considering a renewed push to persuade her to go. but what remains unclear is whether a critical mass of backbenchers will materialise to try to force her out. foreign secretary, is the prime minister going to resign? if she does go, who takes her place? he's been touted as a potential successor, but he has plenty of opponents, too. talk of leadership does nothing

but shift the momentum towards labour, and nobody wants a general election, and nobody wants us to be distracted from the real challenge, which is showing we have a vision for this country for the 21st—century. that's what theresa may wanted to set out in her speech. away from destabilising talk about the fragility of her position, for now she will be hoping to recover, regroup, and get on with herjob. we'll be back discussing the future of the prime minister in a moment but i want to bring news coming in from spain. the continuing constitutional crisis over catalonia following the independence referendum that had been declared illegal on sunday, you'll remember, hundreds of people injured in the police crackdown doing that referendum. the latest we're hearing

is that the constitutional court in spain has now suspended a session of the catalan parliament that was planned for monday, at which it was thought independence would be declared. this is reuters quoting the newspaper el pais in madrid. the constitutional court in spain suspending the catalan parliament session planned for monday where it is thought they might unilaterally declare independence. we'd already heard from the catalan leader, saying he was not afraid of being arrested for organising a band referendum on sunday. the stakes are being raised all the time. that is the latest twist the constitutional court has banned that session of parliament. we'll see what the reaction to that is in catalonia in the next few hours. mourner fallout

from theresa may's speech at the party conference in manchester yesterday. it was beset by problems, of course. coughing, a prankster and some of the set falling apart behind her. let's go tojonathan blake, who is at westminster. tory mps, are they sharpening their knives to get rid of the prime minister? or are they swearing allegiance to her? several of them are swearing allegiance to her in public. after her speech yesterday, which, as we saw in the report a few minutes ago, went so badly for her. there are conversations happening about whether this is a moment to make a move and say to the prime minister that her time is up. but they are between a relatively small minority of conservative mps who have been discussing this since the election result earlier this year. so far that hasn't amounted to anything much. of those speaking in public,

you heard ed vaizey the oxfordshire mp, former culture minister, saying there are quite a few people now who are of the mind she should resign. on the other hand you have the senior backbencher mark pritchard tweeting a little earlier on, appearing to confirm some sort of plot is in motion. attempts to drum up plot is in motion. attempts to drum upa plot is in motion. attempts to drum up a delegation of 30 mps to force the pm out will fail, he says. there is no sense there is anything in need it happening. we're not expecting to hear or see the prime minister today. certainly, as you've seen, her senior cabinet colleagues are standing by her. the fact is, the general narrative, whatever the disaster of theresa may's conference speech yesterday maybe, remained the same. most mps do not want another general election because they fear labour could gain more support and they'll end up in opposition. the brexit negotiations are still underway and any kind of leadership contest during that period could be destabilising to the whole process.

there is no obvious successor. there is no one name around which conservative mps can unite and say, this is the person to take over. so for now theresa may is still in the job and carrying on. thank you very much indeed. let's follow up on some of the substance from that speech from the prime minister yesterday, in particular what you said about a cap on gatland —— gas and electricity prices. it could be as early as this winter. greg clark told the bbc the regulator ofgem would receive legal backing from parliament to introduce a cap. however there are warnings this could mean the end to cheap energy deals. let's talk to our personal finance correspondent simon gompertz, who is here. the energy cap was a big part of the prime minister's speech. is it easier said than done to bring in a cap like this? you're right, it was one clear pa rt this? you're right, it was one clear part of her speech. she said there would be a draft bill introducing a

price cap across the whole gamut of people paying what is called standard variable tariffs. about two thirds of customers. the bill would be tabled next week. that then start ofa be tabled next week. that then start of a whole long process of getting legislation through that could take quite a long time. after her speech we began to get noises from within government that ofgem, the energy regulator, could take this as a push to come forward with their own cap. the talk was that they did have the powers and could move more quickly. the problem with this is that ofgem has always said although it has the power to do it it didn't want to wield that power, because the competition authority, the body that decides those sorts of issues, had already said it did like the idea of already said it did like the idea of a cap. any company could then make an appeal to the competition authority, and they'd win it. so there is no point in bringing it in, that's why ofgem hasn't done it yet,

they've gone off in a huddle to decide what they can do next. more reaction to theresa may's speech yesterday. so many problems surrounding it from her point of view, the repeated coughing fit, the prankster who interrupted her with a p 45, prankster who interrupted her with a p a5, what was purporting to be a p 45. p 45, what was purporting to be a p 45. not to mention the set falling apart behind her. let's chat to conservative mp charles walker. we've heard there are mutterings on the tory backbenchers against the prime minister, are you hearing that? i've been a conservative member of parliament since 2005 and there have always been mutterings about the leader of the day or prime minister of the day. there is nothing new in that, there is always tension on the conservative backbenches. i don't read too much into it at all. what about boris johnson's position? what would you say about that? he is still being

touted by some as the loosest rival touted by some as the loosest rival to the prime minister, the man who, whatever he might say in public, would like to steal her crown. lots of people would like to be prime minister but the truth is theresa may is doing an outstanding job, her florence speech we set eu negotiations, and boris is an important part of the current cabinet team. i'm not here to talk about boris. he is a member of the cabinet, as 1819 other people are. i expect them to be getting on with their dayjob, going out to bat for their dayjob, going out to bat for the uk. as we've heard from some conservatives, they had already been seeing theresa may not as a long—term prime minister, but medium—term prime minister. now they see her as a short—term leader and prime minister. if you talk to two or three conservative mps and you found these mps who have that point of view, good for you. the truth of

the matter is, theresa may is prime minister, i think she's doing an excellent job, most of minister, i think she's doing an excellentjob, most of my colleagues think she's doing and excellentjob. i'm faced chairman of the 1982 committee, i spend a lot of time in the company of colleagues. most collea g u es the company of colleagues. most colleagues i talk to our behind the prime minister and think she's doing an outstanding job in difficult circumstances. by her own admission, she got the election completely wrong, didn't she? she said it was too scripted, to presidential. i am sorry were her words, she gets things badly wrong. isn't that outstanding, you have a politician who has said sorry? i don't think it's a sign of weakness, it's a sign of great strength, to be honest. i'll have to come back to that speech yesterday which was so u nfortu nate. speech yesterday which was so unfortunate. everything that could go wrong did go wrong. not her fault, but people are saying that is, ina fault, but people are saying that is, in a sense, a metaphorfora

prime minister who is weak and not having much luck. such nonsense, here is a woman who stood on stage foran hour here is a woman who stood on stage for an hour with here is a woman who stood on stage foran hourwith an here is a woman who stood on stage for an hour with an appalling cold, who did brilliantly well, given all the circumstances she had to contend with. i think she comes out of it as heroic to be perfectly honest, strengthened, i don't buy into the media narrative that you always have to be pitch perfect. you are allowed to be pitch perfect. you are allowed to be pitch perfect. you are allowed to be ill occasionally, that's what she was, ill, she was ill because she's been working so dam hard on behalf of this country since she became prime minister. she's been working really hard. maybe it is the fault of her advisers and people around her they let her do so many speeches and interviews in the run—up to the big conference speech. maybe they'll have to get better at bringing her in, say no, prime minister, you need to take a rest, this is a woman committed to serving her country and the citizens of this country. i think she's a pretty special person, personally. charles walker thanks for your thoughts, charles walker conservative mp

joining us from westminster. police say stephen paddock, who shot dead 58 people on sunday, may have been planning to escape instead of killing himself. they've not elaborated on what led them to the conclusion but have suggested he had been living a secret life and spent yea rs been living a secret life and spent years building up his arsenal of weapons. his girlfriend is now being questioned by the fbi, but has said she had no idea what he was planning. laura bicker reports now from las vegas. police believe stephen paddock had help getting hold of his arsenal of weapons. he legally bought some of his 47 guns here at a shop just outside las vegas. he owned dozens of semiautomatic weapons, which he modified to turn into machine guns. officers are also trying to work out how he moved all of his guns unnoticed into a hotel room on the 32nd floor. from here, he waited until the concert ground was full of thousands of people. and then he started firing. gunfire and screams.

what we know is stephen paddock is a man who spent decades acquiring weapons and ammo and living a secret life, much of which will never be fully understood. stephen paddock‘s girlfriend, marilou danley, has been questioned by the fbi. she flew back from her family home in the philippines after hearing about the shooting. she said the 64—year—old paid for her to go, and she thought he was breaking up with her. he wired me money, which he said was for me to buy a house for me and my family. i was grateful, but honestly i was worried at first the unexpected trip home and then the money was a way of breaking up with me. her sisters in australia said she knew nothing

about stephen paddock‘s plan. and i know that she don't know anything as well, like us. she was sent away. she was sent away so she will be not there to interfere... america is once again grieving the victims of another mass shooting. it is not fair and it's not right and i will now forever have to have a bullet in my back. for no reason. so i'm just sorry other people have to deal with similar worse injuries or losses. detectives say they still don't know why stephen paddock decided to commit mass murder, but they are building a picture of the killer and they believe he had been planning this attack for some time. laura bicker, bbc news, las vegas.

our north america correspondent rajini vaidya nathan joins me from las vegas. the police now say they think the gunmen had been planning this potentially four months. that is their theory but they still don't have a motive. the fbi says usually in these cases they are looking for affiliation, motive and intent. the fbi concedes themselves they are astonished investigators have still been unable to uncover more information about the gunmen. he had a low—key private life, very little can be found about him. on social media. he had very few close friends, apart from his girlfriend, who is said to be cooperating with investigators. there are more than

100 investigators working on the case. one area they are looking at is the fact that the gunmen checked into a hotel, different hotel, about a week before he carried out the attack at this particular hotel. he had a room overlooking another music festival, the life is beautiful festival, the life is beautiful festival in las vegas, around september 22. his room overlooked the vantage point of the music festival. they are wondering whether or not he booked in there to perhaps plan to attack that. they are also looking at a purchase he made in october last year, of more than 30 guns. they are trying to work out whether he bought those in response to what they describe as a specific life event. those are the lead they are looking at. seven days on from the shooting here, they are still no closer to revealing what his motive might have been. it's just

it'sjust approaching it's just approaching half past two. the british—based author kazuo ishiguro, who wrote "the remains of the day", has been awarded the nobel prize for literature. the swedish academy said his novels had great emotional force, and praised the japanese—born writer's exploration of the themes of memory, time and self—delusion. mr ishiguro said the prize was a magnificent honour that placed him in the footsteps of the world's greatest authors. when we contacted him to get his reaction to the news he's got the nobel prize, it was the first he'd heard of it, so let's take a listen to this rather stunned but very happy, as you might imagine, response from the author. well... i mean... you've got a pretty authentic reaction there, my reaction was... do you have any evidence this is true? i really

heard it definitively from you just now. my agent phoned saying they thought i'd won the nobel prize. but we we re thought i'd won the nobel prize. but we were just thought i'd won the nobel prize. but we werejust going thought i'd won the nobel prize. but we were just going to check it up to see if this wasn't a hoax. obviously not. you seem to have very reliable evidence. in which case, you know, it'll be... it's a magnificent honour. you know. because... mainly because, you know, it means i'm in the footsteps of, you know, greatest, the greatest authors that have lived. so that's a terrific compliment. there you are, that was his very first reaction after being told by the bbc he'd won. here is a rts told by the bbc he'd won. here is arts correspondent rebecca jones. he thought it might be a hoax, he was double—checking. thought it might be a hoax, he was double-checking. that says a lot about him, i've interviewed him on many occasions, he is a modest, self—effacing man. when i spoke to

him this morning he said, i was in the middle of some e—mails then i got this phone call. hejust the middle of some e—mails then i got this phone call. he just didn't believe it. as you could hear, he had to be reassured several times. then came up with this wonderful line, that he was flabbergasting lee flattered by your talk. whatever else it tells us, if you win the nobel prize for literature, you get no tip—off, it really comes out of the blue. he was up against some pretty astonishing opposition. why do you think they chose him?” pretty astonishing opposition. why do you think they chose him? i think it is for a number of reasons. i think it is body of work, including the remains of the day, which won the remains of the day, which won the booker prize and was turned into a film starring anthony hopkins and emma. i is a film starring anthony hopkins and emma. i 5ng themes q»—

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