tonight at ten, police say they would have questioned the former prime minister sir edward heath, about allegations of sexual abuse, had he still been alive. sir edward, who died 12 years ago, would have been questioned about allegations of indecent assault and the rape of an 11—year—old boy. he would have been interviewed under caution in order to obtain his account in relation to the allegations made against him. sir edward's friends and supporters say the police report is highly is highly unsatisfactory — a view shared by a former public prosecutor. ina in a sense of what the police are doing in making the assertion they would have interviewed sir edward we re would have interviewed sir edward were he was alive, is to cover their own backs. despite the allegations, the police concluded that no inference of guilt should be made. also tonight. why we will. .. why we will... excuse me. after yesterday's eventful conference speech, theresa may's senior colleagues have insisted she deserves the party's support.

four days after the las vegas shooting, some senior republicans say they may be willing to consider a form of gun control. the number of families forced to live in emergency accommodation in england is the highest for a decade. mr stevens. yes? the british author best known for his novel the remains of the day, kazuo ishiguro, has won the nobel prize for literature. england score! and a late goal from harry kane secures england's place in the semifinals. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news: a big blow to castleford tigers‘ hopes of winning the super league grand final on saturday. one of their star names withdrawn from their squad. good evening.

wiltshire police have been criticised for their handling of an investigation into the former prime minister sir edward heath, who died 12 years ago. the force said today that if he'd been alive, sir edward would have been questioned about allegations of historical child abuse made by seven individuals, including an allegation of raping an 11—year—old boy. but officers said that no inference of guilt should be drawn from their report, which took two years to produce. friends of sir edward say the report is "profoundly unsatisfactory", and they've called for a judge—led inquiry to settle the matter once and for all, as our home affairs correspondent tom symonds reports. for many, he is now a figure from distant history. the prime minister in the early ‘70s who took us into europe. but today, the police set out a staggering claims against sir edward heath. that he raped a child in 1961. indecently assaulted six others.

children and adults. we have gone where the evidence has taken us. whether it supports or negates the allegations. most importantly, the report does not draw any conclusions as to the likely guilt or innocence of sir edward heath. because the former prime minister is dead, can't answer his accusers, can't be prosecuted. police said they had a0 allegations in all. the two year investigation found discrepancies in most of the accounts. two were proved to be false. but if he'd been alive, seven cases would have justified sir edward being interviewed after receiving a caution that his account might be used in court. these claims spanned a period between 1961 and 1992, but not his time as prime minister. there is a similar pattern of alleged behaviour in three cases, that he paid for sexual encounters. so how much evidence is needed for a suspect to be questioned?

the threshold for interviewing somebody after caution is very low. and many innocent people are interviewed after caution. that is for... that is as far as the legislation will allow me to go and that is as far as i'm willing to go in relation to this investigation. but the obvious outcome of that discussion is that you have, there's really no other way of putting this, tainted the reputation of a man who can only be innocent under the law. i think the guidance is clear and i think when people read the report they will see that it's been put together very carefully, very precisely, so that people don't draw that inference. in fact the inquiry‘s critics say today's report is more about justifying the investigation than presenting meaningful conclusions. in essence what the police are doing by making the assertion they would have interviewed sir edward had he been alive is to cover their own backs at the expense of a dead man. but why did the investigation start? lawyers for wiltshire police

advised that people who made allegations of sexual abuse had a right to an investigation, a human right, especially if the person accused was powerful. and the force said it already had five allegations when in 2015 and it made a controversial appeal for victims in front of sir edward's former home. i'm really appealing for anybody who's been a victim of crime, or as a witness to anything that may have taken place involving sir ted heath, please come forward. the police now say making the appeal here was wrong. two years on, sir edward heath's supporters are now demanding a judge be given all the evidence and asked to review it. there will always be a number of people who will not wish to be persuaded. and i'm afraid there's probably not much we can do about those. but we want to do our best to give his reputation a fair chance. we think he'll be exonerated. but this report now

takes its place in sir edward's history. it will be passed to the national child abuse inquiry, and an unedited version will be placed, top secret, into government archives. let's go live to swindon and wiltshire police headquarters and tom is there. this report was meant to be the final word, but it seems to be the final word, but it seems to have produced more questions, not least about the police's handling. even the police would accept that it's probably raised more questions thanit it's probably raised more questions than it has answered. other presentation here today, it appeared to be about convincing us that this was a proportionate and fair investigation, reviewed by an expert panel. but the one question the police couldn't answer was our these allegations true, and the police a lwa ys allegations true, and the police always knew that was something they weren't going to be to say. they weren't going to be to say. they weren't even able to be very clear about whether there was evidence to back up the claims they'd received. there are going to be more questions

i think about whether the enquiry was justified, whether this information today should have been published. this is of course a problem for any enquiry, where the evidence is old, the accusers are dead and huge public interest. tom symonds, many thanks at wiltshire police headquarters. senior ministers are engaged in a sustained effort to bolster the prime minister's position after yesterday's blighted conference speech, and to dismiss any talk of a challenge to her leadership. but there are growing signs of disaffection on the back benches, with one former minister suggesting that yesterday's speech had left a number of colleagues convinced that the time had come for her to resign. our political correspondent ben wright has the latest. it was an ordeal to deliver and difficult to watch. a prankster, a cough, a disintegrating set derailed theresa may's keynote speech to the tory party conference. she looked vulnerable and exposed, but battled on. and, just as they did yesterday, her cabinet has rallied round. what did you think of mrs may's speech?

very brave, very good speech. sir, is there a plot against her? i should think not. should think not, the brexit secretary snapped. does she still have yourfull support? she has my full support, thank you. there was already heightened tension in the tory party after the snap election that destroyed the conservatives' commons majority. and the prime minister's rotten luck yesterday has got her critics circling again. in public most people are being pretty loyal. i think in private people are very concerned. i think there will be quite a few people who will now be pretty firm in 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. foreign secretary, is the prime minister going to resign? in recent weeks there has been much speculation about borisjohnson‘s own leadership plans. but in the absence of a standout successor to theresa may, and fear of another general election running deep within the party, this senior mp from the tory backbenches thinks his colleagues must get a grip.

there are always tory members of parliament who have been grumbling about leadership. they grumbled about david cameron, they grumbled before that about michael howard. they‘ re now grumbling about theresa may. you always get that. what would you say to your fellow tory mps who think this is the moment to try and post theresa may? —— depose theresa may. well i haven't found any yet and i haven't talked to any yet but next week when the house returns i will find them and i'll politely ask them to shut up. at the moment there doesn't seem to be enough momentum among a minority of tory mps to threaten theresa may, who is, of course, embroiled in brexit and bridging divisions within her party on the issue. most tory mps i've talked to are very sympathetic about the prime minister's struggles yesterday. one cabinet minister told me it was proper and fair to stand by her. number ten scoffs at any suggestion theresa may might quit. so for now the embattled prime minister fights on. ben wright, bbc news, downing street. the national rifle association, which campiagns for gun rights

in the us, says it might be willing to consider some form of gun control in the wake of the mass shooting in las vegas at the weekend. that view is backed by some senior republicans, including the speaker of the house of representatives. paul ryan said congress needed to look at sales of a particular device — used by the las vegas attacker to convert his guns into automatic weapons. our correspondent james cook has more details. the golden glass was shattered by a man intent on mayhem. why, police still don't know. they say there is evidence stephen paddock had planned to survive the attack, and that he may have had help. we know 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. so far, there has been a lot of attention paid to the actions of the man who was in that building and what he did, firing down on this concert below. but what many people

who were at that gig have told us is that they think the focus should be on the response and the bravery that was on display there. kristin babik showed immense courage. the 24—year—old kept running from the bullets, even after she had been shot in the back. i felt something hit me really hard and then i felt something splatter on my back, so i thought it was either somebody‘s drink, it kind of felt like a paintball or something like that. it's not fair and it's not right... and now i'll forever have to have a bullet in my back... for no reason. so i'm just sorry other people have to deal with similar or worse. the girlfriend of the man who inflicted such suffering says he was kind, caring and quiet. marilou danley has now been questioned by the fbi. in a statement she insisted she had no

warning that something horrible like this was going to happen. that horror was intensified by the rapidity of the shooting. made possible by a device called a bump stock, which increases the rate of fire on a gun. this advert for bump stock salutes the founding fathers who codified the right to bear arms. senior republicans, the white house, even the powerful national rifle association, are talking about a ban. in a statement tonight, the nra said such devices should be subject to additional regulations. but banning this accessory is not gun control, which is anathema to the nra and to the republican party it helps to bankroll. meanwhile, the killing continues. since 59 people died here, at least 87 more americans have been shot dead. that's a las vegas massacre every three days. james cook, bbc news, in las vegas. next week's meeting

of the parliament of catalonia, which had been expected to approve a formal declaration of independence, has been suspended by spain's constitutional court. the session was cancelled after a challenge by the catalan socialist party, which opposes plans to break away from spain. it's the latest stage in the ongoing political crisis between the spanish government and the regional government of catalonia. our europe editor katya adler reports from madrid. wherever you go in spain at the moment, people argue, banks and vent about it. the catalan question, and how on earth it can be resolved. in the capital madrid, there's talk of little else. of course we are concerned about the situation, and so are a concerned about the situation, and so are a lot of catalans, who don't wa nt so are a lot of catalans, who don't want independence. translation: a lot of us don't

understand what's going on. the politicians on both sides are acting in their own interests. they should be looking out for us, the people. tension is mounting. today, spain's constitutional court banned monday's meeting of the catalan parliament, where lawmakers were expected to declare independence. but the cata la n declare independence. but the catalan government has ignored constitutional rulings before and you get the feeling they're going to do it again. translation: we condemn this ruling which violates the freedom of expression. we will not be censored. inside the spanish parliament meanwhile, prime minister mariano rajoy is feeling the heat. these famous for his wait and in this case a kind of cat and mouse waiting game of will they or won't they declare unilateral independence in catalonia. but he's coming under increasing pressure from those on the left, who want him to start a dialogue with the catalan nationalists, and those on the right. who favour what spaniards

have dubbed the nuclear option. translation: we have the trigger article 155 of our constitution, dissolving the catalan parliament, revoking catalan autonomy, until new regional elections can be held there. i asked him if he felt differently about the situation because he is catalan. translation: i, like many catalans, are torn between our mother, but is catalonia, and our father, are torn between our mother, but is catalonia, and ourfather, that is spain, buti catalonia, and ourfather, that is spain, but i believe, like gordon brown said before the scottish referendum, that we are stronger together. in a nod to those demanding action, spain's prime minister has warned catalan leaders to abandon their unilateral independence plans, or face to abandon their unilateral independence plans, orface greater evils. former nato secretary—general and eu foreign policy chiefjavier solana has and eu foreign policy chiefjavier sola na has offered and eu foreign policy chiefjavier solana has offered to mediate. and eu foreign policy chiefjavier solana has offered to mediatelj lived solana has offered to mediate.” lived many events in the balkans i

saw breaking countries, i saw changing borders. it leads nowhere. we area changing borders. it leads nowhere. we are a century where we have to go together and neither catalonia to go another brexit in the european union, they want to be the european union, they want to be the european union and they are demanding to be in the european union with spain. passion for the beautiful game unites all spaniards but the night, ina sign unites all spaniards but the night, in a sign of national nervousness, football clu b in a sign of national nervousness, football club fc barcelona appeals for the dialogue to end the catalan crisis, while big bank sabadell moved its legal headquarters out of the region. this is a country bracing itself for what might happen next. katya adler, bbc news, madrid. the highest number of families in a decade are being forced to live in emergency accommodation in england, as cuts to welfare and a lack of affordable accommodation have left tens of thousands of families homeless. 120,000 children will be sleeping in emergency accommodation tonight. 78,000 households are affected. councils say they are struggling

to cope with a sharp rise in families being evicted by private landlords. the prime minister has said it's her personal mission to tackle the problem. our home editor mark easton has been to east london, where the crisis is particularly acute. boarded up for over five years. rubbish piled in the doorway. the earl of essex pub in east london has a secret. upstairs, behind the filthy nets, is a shocking consequence of the housing crisis. this is what the phrase "temporary accommodation" means for desperate families. how many of you are in this room? four. four of you? yes. and just all on the one bed? i met alexandra, a business and management student whose husband is a technician at stansted airport. through no fault of their own, the couple and two small children were recently evicted from a rented flat. homeless, the council put them here. we pay around £200 per week here. £200 per week for this?

yes, yes. and council tax extra. around £900 per month. how is it for you and the family? it's hard. i am all the day with my kids here. there are many families i've met here, including at least eight children that share cooking facilities, bathroom facilities. this room here is home to a family of four. they've tried to make it as homely as possible, but all their possessions are in this one room. four people sleeping in this bed, including a small baby. now this isn't a squat, this isn't the product of some slum landlord, this was provided by the state. what have you taken today? any drugs? any alcohol? three london councils send the homeless here. children mix with drug users and people with mental health problems, all upstairs at the earl of essex. it's very difficult time for us, very difficult...

this young dad, a financial manager who asked us not to identify him, says there's nothing he can afford to rent anywhere near his daughter's school or his work. he's been warned he could be here for months. looking for somewhere like a two—bedroom is really hard for us because my wife, she's not at work currently so... have you thought about moving out of london? it may be something we may consider sooner or later, but then i would have to leave myjob, which would leave me unemployed and then things would probably dramatically change again for us. the prime minister yesterday dedicated her premiership to helping families on lower incomes access decent housing. the law already says children must never be in so—called bed and breakfast for more than six weeks, but in the london borough of redbridge alone, over 350 children have been living in b&bs for more than that. geraldine and her 13—year—old daughter have been in this single room for over six months. there's not much space, there's no chairs so she literally has to kneel on the bed to do her homework.

because of the time to get to school on time, she barely would have any meal. she has to go to school on an empty tummy and then go to school and find food. it must be very difficult for you as a mother. yes. i just don't know what at all that i have personally done to put me in this situation. after being evicted by a landlord who wanted his flat vacated, geraldine suffered clinical depression and had to give up her job with a financial ombudsman. now with her housing benefit capped, she fears there's no way out her predicament. it is a proper trap, you have no escape from it now. i have called thousands, thousands of letting companies of course, and they wouldn't. as soon as you say housing benefit... they say no.

yes. it is a trap for many. the charity shelter says the government's welfare cap has resulted in 61% of private landlords turning away anyone on housing benefit. many struggle to pay the rent, with councils like redbridge trying to find emergency housing for people evicted. they are buying nursing homes and hotels, installing prefabs and even converting council offices to provide shelterfor the homeless. so, this is currently a council office, but soon it's going to be somebody‘s home... desperate measures for a desperate situation. i would say we're at crisis point, and since universal credit started to be rolled out and housing benefit has been capped, we have seen an unprecedented amount of people coming to us because they're facing eviction in the private rented sector. you should be doing more, surely? well, we're trying. our hands are tied a lot. the government has capped how many council homes we can build so while the demand is increasing, the supply is diminishing. three years ago in redbridge,

there were no children who had been in b&bs for more than six weeks. tonight there are hundreds. mark easton, bbc news, redbridge. a terminally ill man has lost his high court case to change the law on assisted dying. 67—year—old noel conway, who has motor neurone disease, had wanted a doctor to be allowed to prescribe him a lethal dose of drugs when his health deteriorates. currently any doctor helping him to die would face up to 1a years in prison. sales of new cars in the uk have fallen for six months in succession. the society of motor manufacturers and traders says economic and political uncertainty is having an impact on consumer confidence. it's the first time in six years that figures have fallen in the september market — a key month for car sales, as our business editor simonjack reports. new cars with new autumn plates.

people often hold off car purchases until september to get them. this month's figures are an acid test of consumer demand, and it's falling. the confidence in the economy doesn't seem to be as strong as it once was. that's been borne out by some recent figures. so it's just causing consumers to delay purchasing. buying a brand—new car is a very big financial decision, so people look at car sales numbers to get an idea of what's going on inside the economy. and the numbers for september aren't great. the first time in six years they're down, and by 9%. year—to—date they are down nearly 4%. if you look at the other major markets, germany, france, spain, italy, you can see the uk is now the only market in reverse. so we've got to remember this is coming off quite a few strong years for car sales in the uk. nonetheless, it does add to other evidence suggesting consumer spending growth in the uk is pretty sluggish at the moment. certainly compared to growth in the euro area, which is where car sales appear to be doing quite a bit better. it is another disappointing

bit of evidence. concerns over emissions, confusion over new rules, and fear for future value saw sales of diesel cars plummet by more than 20%. you don't know what's going to happen, if they're going to get banned in a few years, who's going to want to buy a car you can't use, or is going to have no value in the next few years? is it like carcinogenic, fumes coming off. i know my mum told my dad not to get diesel cars. even big incentives aren't helping to shift new diesels. there's been a lot of confusion about what is bad about diesel. i think people are concerned about the values of diesel. if they buy diesel, can they sell it on, are they going to be penalised in clean air zones or by taxation purposes? in a lot of cases, new diesels won't be penalised in clear air zones, which will come as a surprise to a lot of people. whether it's doubts about diesel or doubts about the economy, september was not the banner month the industry was hoping for. simon jack, bbc news. tonight's football —

and three of the home nations have been playing in crucial world cup qualifiers. england were looking to seal their place in russia next year. scotland had to win to stay in contention. while northern ireland faced germany in belfast. andy swiss is at wembley, katie gornall is in glasgow, and natalie pirks is in belfast. let's join andy first. well, huw, england came here tonight knowing a win over slovenia would see them through and they did win, but only just. a see them through and they did win, but onlyjust. a 1—0 victory secured in stoppage time. in truth, a pretty unconvincing display. but england are through to the world cup finals. so was their long march to the world cup about to reach its finish? england arrived with hope in their hearts and qualification in their sights. despite the occasion, though, thousands of empty seats at wembley and a distinctly muted first half. jordan henderson went close

but it was a rare highlight as england huffed and puffed to little effect. after a desperate hour, finally they stirred, but instead of the simple marcus rashford tried a spectacular and promptly wished he hadn't. at last the slovenian goal was under threat. raheem sterling's shot cleared off the line. england's limitations painfully clear, only joe hart's heroics denying the visitors. the clock was ticking down. but deep into stoppage time who else but harry kane? not his prettiest, but no one cared. england are through. the world's best work to be quaking in their football boots, but it's mission accomplished. andy swiss, bbc news, wembley. scotla nd scotland have moved up to second in the group behind england after a night of sheer drama here at hampden park. so much riding on this game, they knew they had to beat slovakia

to keep their world cup dream alive. though they dominated the match, at times it felt as if it wasn't going to be scotland's night until a late goal changed everything. a brave face from the manager, but don't be fooled, these were nervous times for scotland. yet they made a bright start, forced to wear their pink away strip, the home fans were nearly on their feet, only to be spectacularly denied. minutes later, scotla nd spectacularly denied. minutes later, scotland would have an advantage, robert mac's died saw him sent off but even with ten men, slovakia proved stubborn opponents. —— mak. the scottish tide kept coming. with the tension almost unbearable, finally, a breakthrough. it'll go down as an own goal, though no one here seemed too concerned about that. it's been almost 20 years since these fans last saw their team ata since these fans last saw their team at a major tournament, with this kind of momentum, their weight may $0011 kind of momentum, their weight may

soon be over. katie gornall, bbc news, glasgow. the task on paper at least was clear, northern ireland had lost a competitive match here in four yea rs. competitive match here in four years. a win tonight would guarantee a play—off spot for the world cup. right from the off, the world champions had very different ideas. germany don't lose away qualifiers, not in 83 years. they weren't about to give the home fans something to sing about. windsor park is famed for its atmosphere. but fans had barely time to find their voice before germany went ahead. into the box. an absolute stunning it from rudy. the green and white army were still dancing, after all, the onslaught had been expected. afterjust 20 minutes it was waggler calling the tune. —— wagner. minutes it was waggler calling the tune. -- wagner. magnificent goal again. a chink in the seemingly

impenetrable german armour. washington had to score, surely. against such quality opposition, missed chances will always be rude. a vital header by evans. it's kimmich. it's the third. somehow he squeezed it in. northern ireland finally got the consolation goal they deserved to make it 3—1 at the end. despite defeat, they should still find themselves in a play—off spot. natalie pirks, bbc news, belfast. the british author kazuo ishiguro says it's a "magnificent honour" to receive this year's nobel prize for literature. the writer, who was born injapan and moved to the uk as a young boy, is best known for the novel the remains of the day. the judges praised the "great emotional force" of his work. he's been speaking to our arts editor, will gompertz. the nobel prize in literature 2017 is awarded to the english writer kazuo ishiguro. i thought, in this age of false news, i thought

it was perhaps a mistake. kazuo ishiguro has written seven novels in a 35 year literary career in which he's won numerous other awards to go with his nobel prize. his first novel, a pale view of hills, made an immediate impact when it was published in 1982. it, like his second book, an artist of the floating world, features a japanese protagonist. i do feel that the japanese part of my upbringing is crucial to who i am as a person and as a writer. i'm a british citizen, i've lived in this country since the age of five, entirely educated in this country. but i did grow up in a japanese home. there was always this other dimension. i saw things through the eyes of japanese people. i saw british society through japanese eyes. he is perhaps best known for his 1989 booker prize—winning novel,