this is bbc news. the headlines. the prime minister says she has the support of her cabinet after a former conservative party chairman said 30 mps want a leadership election. what i think is necessary for the country now and what it needsis for the country now and what it needs is calm leadership, which is exactly what i am providing, with the full support of my cabinet. exactly what i am providing, with the full support of my cabinetm would be better to enable us to move on as would be better to enable us to move onasa would be better to enable us to move on as a party by having a full leadership election now. uk productivity falls. british workers are producing less each hour than france or germany. a funeral is held for liz dawn who was in coronation street for more than 30 years. and newsnight, lots on the palace of westminster. who needs guy fawkes when you have grant schapps. we speak to one of the reason may‘s

close friends. —— theresa may's close friends. —— theresa may's close friends. —— theresa may's close friends. hello, and welcome to the programme. theresa may has said she has the full support of her cabinet after a former chairman said they needed a leadership contest. she said she is providing calm leadership. but grant says 30 mps are backing his call for a leadership election and said others are going the same way. if only theresa may's bodyguard could see off the political plots, but that's up to her friends and to her, away from westminster today, and doing her best to look cool, still in charge, getting on with business. what i think is necessary for the country now, what the country needs, is calm leadership.

that's exactly what i'm providing, and i'm providing that with the full support of my cabinet. thank you. maybe, but not all ex—cabinet colleagues from happier times, like the former party chairman, who's been outed as a plotter and admits stirring mutiny, gathering names of other tory mps who want the prime minister gone and gone quickly. well, actually, just over a period of time, since the general election that went so badly wrong, there are quite a lot of colleagues who feel we might now be better served by having a leadership election sooner rather than later. and this was really to try to gather those people together in order to be able to say that to her. mr shapps claims some 30 mps support a plan to get mrs may out and force a leadership contest, including five former ministers. under tory rules, it takes 48 mps to force a vote of no confidence. if she loses that vote, she must resign. allies say rebels don't have the numbers. i was in the hall when the conservative party rose as one to give her a thunderous standing

ovation, and i've also been in receipt of telephone calls, text messages, and e—mails from people in my constituency and elsewhere, saying, get behind theresa. i've been able to say to them — absolutely, we are all behind theresa. grant schapps knows what he needs to do, he needs to get 48 signatures to trigger an election for the leadership of the conservative party. he says he's got up to 30, that could be eight. i suspect that he hasn't got anywhere near what he needs and that's why he's doing this tantrum at the moment. by the time mps gather here again next week, mrs may's team feel sure they'll have seen off this assault, at least for now. but privately, among tory mps, there's no longer much debate about whether mrs may will be driven out of office, just about when. few seem truly to believe she can fight on through another election and just now she's looking so weakened that even lasting through to brexit, less than 18 months away,

looks like a tall order. that accident prone speech was tough to watch, even for ministers who are thought to fancy herjob. she tried to revive her premiership and everything went wrong. watching her and ambitious colleagues it's hard to avoid thinking — be careful what you wish . new figures show the productivity of british workers fell in the second quarter of this year. the office for national statistics said the uk is 1596 national statistics said the uk is 15% behind the average of the most advanced economies. as we report, that could have serious implications for the chancellor, the payment, as he prepares for next month's budget. at this cumbria glass maker, growth starts with a glob of molten sand. at each stage of the process, where it's melted, shaped and transformed into luxury goblets, the firm's analysed how it can trim costs and boost the amount each worker produces, their productivity, from new glass recipes to energy—saving furnace doors and that in turn can boost

the amount each worker is paid. 0ur turnover has doubled and our productivity has tripled. we managed to reduce our energy costs by 30% byjust changing the style of doors. the furnaces didn't have any doors, they had to be invented and designed especially for us, but a small change that's brought about a massive benefit to the company. u nfortu nately, growth in productivity like that is now the exception, not the rule. until the financial crisis, each worker produced a little more each year, but that engine of growth has stalled. if it had kept growing like it used to, each worker would produce a fifth more than they do now. we're not the only ones struggling to boost productivity, japan and canada produce less per worker, but we're now behind italy and france and far behind germany. that weak record helps explain why we have the lowest unemployment in 42 years, but living standards aren't improving. the economy has been growing by adding workers, not by boosting the amount each worker produces. the big reason for that is a lack of investment by private companies

and by the government. it's not good for britain and it's not good for british people for the economy to be producing lower wage jobs of a lower quality. we need to invest in roads, in skills, in the kinds of investments that lead to high—value jobs, and into sectors in which those high value and those high earning jobs are going to take place. the treasury had been expecting productivity to grow, not to slump, and the official forecasts now look wrong, leaving the chancellor with a headache. with the economy projected to grow more slowly, the taxes won't roll in as fast, leaving him with a lot less room for manoeuvre and less money set aside in case of emergency. if productivity doesn't pick up, economic growth won't pick up and the chancellor will have less tax revenue to play with, even less than he thought, and that means he will find it really difficult,

more difficult than he thought it would be, to increase public pay, to give more money to the nhs, to sort out the social care problem. this really matters for my income and your income and also for the quality of public services. the chancellor had thought he'd have a rainy day fund of £26 billion. money he could spend or use for tax cuts, without busting his self—imposed financial targets. when official figures revised at the nest next budget much of that money won't be there. andy verity, bbc news. vigils have been held in las vegas to remember the 58 murdered in the biggest mass shooting in modern american history. some of those who survived the attack have said they remain opposed to tie the gun control. —— tighter. # amazing grace, how sweet thy sound #. in their darkest hour,

they have turned to their god. #..like me#. the massacre in las vegas struck at the heart of the christian country music community. these are patriotic americans. they are proud of their country and of its freedoms, including the right to carry a gun, even after the deadliest of mass shootings. we lost my uncle from a head wound on tuesday afternoon. tara king is the niece of brett swanbeck, who was 61 years old. my uncle was the funniest, funniest, hillbilly, red neck, country—music—loving good old boy. this was brett at the concert with his fiancee. even though tighter gun laws may have perhaps saved his life his

niece is resolute. i believe in the right to bear arms. we are in the land of free. we are here because we are free to make our choices. your uncle was shot and killed by a gunman. yes. that doesn't change your view? absolutely not. are you kidding me. my uncle is all about... ..he's all for guns. the worst thing that could happen, my uncle would be in a fit. my whole entire family, if they were going to take oui’ guns away. grief, it seems, does not heal divisions in the united states. guns and country music have always gone together. the cultures are intertwined. in rural america, you often hear people say that this lifestyle is maligned and misunderstood. and even in mourning, many people here are determined to defend their right to bear arms. for those americans, these crosses are the price of freedom. james cook, bbc news, las vegas. cata la n

catalan leaders say they will address the parliament this week when they may declare independence from spain. tonight, the spanish football tea m from spain. tonight, the spanish football team has played against albania for the world cup qualifier. as well as the action on the pitch, the attention focused on wind player, gerard pique, who spoke out in support of the referendum —— one player. espana, espana. tonight, spain has brought its football and its many arguments to this, the coastal city of alicante. the national sport reveals this country's divisions. spain's fundamental questions extend to these, its fans and its national team. can you be both catalan and spanish at the same time, or must you choose between the two? gerard pique, the team's most famous catalan player, faces these questions. he was booed here in training

for having publicly supported the catalan referendum. in a tearful statement, he even offered to leave the squad. but tonight, protected by headphones, he got off the team bus ready to play. i don't really like him, to be honest. why? because he's mixing all the time sport and politics. but he won the world cup for spain! so! it doesn't allow him to say everything he wants anywhere, you know. translation: he can do whatever he wants off the pitch, so long as he performs on the pitch. translation: i'm going to whistle him.

he's a hypocrite who thinks one thing and says something else. contrast that to 2010, when gerard pique and half a dozen more catalan players helped spain win the world cup, suspending the myth that catalan players wouldn't give their all in spanish jerseys. tonight, at a bar in alicante, fans scrutinise pique's performance. translation: pique always delivers. the problem with him is that he always wants to be on the front page. gerard pique helped his team to victory here and qualification for next year's world cup. and that really is spain's entire point, the whole country is better off when its catalans stay put. james reynolds, bbc news, alicante. the funeral of liz dawn, 3a years on coronation street, died last week at

the age of 77. her funeral was held today. to herfamily she was mum and gran, but to millions she was vera. salford cathedral isn't far from the corrie cobbles where liz dawn made her name, and from where her cast mates came to say goodbye. carry on doing what you're doing. show them you've got principle! jack and vera duckworth were one of tv‘s most enduring double acts, on screen for more than 30 years. now i can say i'm going to bingo and then i might go for a drink after. i can't think of another coronation street character who's as strong as vera duckworth was. what a great comedy couple they were. there'll never be another jack and vera. they were amazing, legends. very dear friend, and you're all part of one family? absolutely we are, and it's times like this that you really understand that. she'll be looking down

now and just saying, "eh, that were nice." do you know, don't he talk posh, him. liz dawn worked in factories herself before becoming an actress. she was often funny, but always believable. that was her saying, wasn't it? "ta—ra, chuck." rita and shirley are long—time vera fans, they came to pay their respects and remember the highlights. and when she had the house clad and everything, didn't she? yeah, yeah, she did. admiring my stone cladding, are you? well, it's certainly eye—catching. the laughter, the tears, the arguments she had and everything, because that's what goes on in real life, ain't it? they closed coronation street today as liz dawn's real and screen families came together to remember the soap legend they loved. judith moritz, bbc news, salford. and a quick look at the front pages.

may fights for a grip. it reports collea g u es may fights for a grip. it reports colleagues say she could be kicked out by the end of the year. tory mps say she should reassert discipline and the party and sack boris johnson. conservatives in open warfare. but the prime minister has seen off the immediate threat for now. the eu has brought brexit talks with labour amid concerns in brussels about whether the uk government is special. germany and france have crushed british hopes for a fast track deal in the transition period. a more positive ta ke transition period. a more positive take for the prime minister in the express. she has slapped down the plot to oust us. wealthy families are exploiting