this is bbc news. the headlines at midday: tens of thousands take to the streets of barcelona, in support of spanish unification. this is the scene live in barcelona, where the rally is supported by all the country's main national political parties. the international trade minister, mark garnier, faces an investigation after he admitted asking his secretary to buy sex toys. heathrow airport says it's investigating how details of its security procedures were found lying in the street. anthonyjoshua successfully defends his wba and ibf world heavyweight boxing titles with a tenth round stoppage. and spotting fake news and debunking the people in power — the journalists trying to sort fact from fiction — that's coming up in click at 12.30. good afternoon and

welcome to bbc news. pro—unity demonstrators are gathering on the streets of barcelona, as the spanish government continues to take powers back from catalonia. catalonia's leadership was sacked and the region's autonomy was revoked after it declared independence on friday. but madrid has said former catalan leader carles puigdemont will be free to take part in new elections in december. sarah corker reports. spain is gripped by its biggest political crisis for a0 years, and the standoff is excalating. on friday, catalonia declared independence from spain. madrid responded by imposing

direct rule and sacking the entire catalan government. but its deposed leader, carles puigdemont, says he isn't going anywhere. translation: we do not deviate, we continue persevering in the only way that can make us winners — without violence, without insults, in an inclusive way. but in madrid, thousands of people turned out on saturday calling for national unity. the spanish government has announced new elections in catalonia and warn that mr puigdemont may yet face prosecution for charges of rebellion, but nevertheless said it would welcome his participation in those elections. he has no powers, no competences, no financial means, so i insist that if he wants to continue in politics, which is his right, i think he should prepare the next elections to be held, as i mentioned before, on the 21st of december.

and so the two sides remain poles apart. sarah corker, bbc news. this is the scene live in barcelona where pro—unity supporters are holding a rally. they are in the heart of barcelona in the sunshine. to make the point, it is not by any stretch of the imagination all people in catalonia who support independence. these people are very much against independence. there has been an opinion poll, interestingly, ahead of those proposed december elections. that suggests that it really is neck and neck in terms of how people in catalonia feel about independence. pro—independence parties, according to that poll, getting 42% of the vote. anti—independence supporters

including those taking part today will be slightly in the majority with 43.4%. according to that one opinion poll, it is a snapshot of the opinion in catalonia. on the line is javier merolo — a political activist who is against independence — and is at the pro—unity demonstration in barcelona. thank you for being with us. why are you on the street with those other people opposing independence for catalonia? good afternoon. i am here because we have to demonstrate unity. until now, they've had to show that catalonia doesn't only belong to them. show that catalonia doesn't only

that what madrid has done is saying that what madrid has done is a coup, a:k.a. against democracy. it's the worst attack on catalonia since general franco —— it is a coup against democracy. what about that? it's not ready a problem inaudible if people blame the police, telling them that it is their fault, you are

not winning. they are what is you happening in catalonia. thank you for being with us. our correspondent sarah rainsford is on madrid. what are the next steps in this constitutional crisis? these next apps are critical, they will be difficult for the government here in madrid because this is crunch time. monday morning will be crunch time, when the civil servants and the ministers who have been removed from power officially on paper, that is when we find out whether they intend to go back to their offices or whether they intend any of them to resist orders for direct rule from

madrid. also, the 200,000 or so civil servants and staff members who work for them. the question is, what ca rles work for them. the question is, what carles puigdemont decides to do, if he decides to retake office, he has officially been removed from power but he does not accept that. if he tries to return to his office, what will madrid do? into will madrid do? it is heading into sensitive and difficult moments for madrid but certainly, madrid will impose direct rule and take control of those institutions of power in catalonia, but there is also a deep awareness here that this is an extremely sensitive operation. whilst they declare these in public, i think behind the scenes there will bea i think behind the scenes there will be a lot of deep thinking about how exactly this plays out. be a lot of deep thinking about how exactly this plays outlj be a lot of deep thinking about how exactly this plays out. i suppose from the madrid point of view, one

of the key factors is, what do the cata la n of the key factors is, what do the catalan police force do? do they stay loyal to their regional leaders there, or royalty madrid?” stay loyal to their regional leaders there, or royalty madrid? i think thatis there, or royalty madrid? i think that is key, it is the second point, depending on what the catalan leaders do. we had from carles puigdemont, who says that he does not accept the fact he is removed from power. we had the need for democratic resistance. if that means a human chain formed around democratic resistance. if that means a human chi building d around democratic resistance. if that means a human chi building in wound democratic resistance. if that means a human chi building in catalonia, if democratic resistance. if that means a human ch thatding in catalonia, if democratic resistance. if that means a human ch that happening ilonia, if democratic resistance. if that means a human ch that happening aroundf that means that happening around ministries, how are police going to respond? we ministries, how are police going to respond ? we know ministries, how are police going to respond? we know the chief of police has been removed from his post and his deputy has been promoted to take over the police. but, the question is, how loyal those officials are and how loyal individual people within the police force are to madrid and the national police. as you say, it will be critical. everybody remembers the scenes during the referendum, where police

we re during the referendum, where police were seen to use excessive force. i do not think madrid wants a repeat but when i spoke to a spokesperson for the governing party and i asked whether it would not be provocative for the police to go into heavy—handed, he said they are enforcing the law, it's an illegal referendum. what is happening in catalonia is illegal. we cannot be seen to be heavy—handed if we are doing is enforcing the law. sarah raynsford, thank you. in madrid. mark garnier to the cabinet office over accusations of inappropriate behaviour and to establish whether there has been a breach of the ministerial code of conduct. our political correspondent jonathan blakejoined me earlier. he said the claims about mr garnier are in the mail on sunday newspaper today. a former secretary of mark garnier making allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him, saying that

he asked her to buy sex toys for him and also used to work true —— derogatory language towards her. he has told the newspaper that he will ta ke has told the newspaper that he will take these allegations on the chin, he said that they were hijinks and does not constitute harassment. the fa ct of does not constitute harassment. the fact of the case are somewhat disputed by those involved. the government is taking action to investigate, and have referred mark garnier to the cabinet office to see if the ministerial code has been broken regarding this case. health secretaryjeremy broken regarding this case. health secretary jeremy hunt spoke broken regarding this case. health secretaryjeremy hunt spoke to andrew marr about it on the programme today. andrew marr about it on the pro totally 3 today. andrew marr about it on the pro totally u na cce pta ble andrew marr about it on the pro totally unacceptable and the are totally unacceptable and the cabinet office - conduct an cabinet office will conduct an investigation as to whether there has in the ministerial has been a breach in the ministerial code in this case but the facts are disputed. i would say that their mums and dads who have daughters who are politic students, hoping to get

are politic students, hoping to get a job are politic students, hoping to get ajob in are politic students, hoping to get a job in westminster. they must be confident that if they get that job, their daughter will not be subject to some of these behaviours that we have been seeing. jeremy hunt explaining what the government was going to do in the immediate term. the also explained the prime minister, in the wake of these accusations and others, have written to the speaker of the house of commons asking for a new independent body to be set up where mps are able to refer reports of sexual misconduct or other forms of abuse to. in the wake of these accusations, mps have been reflecting on their own experiences, and it is seen as something of the cross— party and it is seen as something of the cross—party issue. the labour mp diane abbott this morning spoke of her experiences during what has been a long career in parliament. if anything it was worse when i became an mp. - would have

became an mp. you would have micro—sexual aggression is, women would get up in the chamber and men opposite would do a gesture like they were weighing their breasts. there were jokes that were not that funny. it was a very male environment, 650 mps and when i went only 20 women. all these men are away from home, there were eight bars and the very long hours, the bars and the very long hours, the bars are open for as long as we are sitting. and the notion that what happens in westminster stays in westminster. it was worse, a little better now but there is a long way to go. diane abbott with her experiences there and jeremy corbyn spoke yesterday on this issue and talked about a degrading culture which existed at westminster and thrived in the corridors of power. he said any examples of this should be stamped out. yesterday we had the new labour mp jared o'mara be stamped out. yesterday we had the new labour mpjared o'mara being suspended over comments he made online sometime ago which were

sexist, racist and homophobic. online sometime ago which were sexist, are st and homophobic. online sometime ago which were sexist, are hoping iomophobic. online sometime ago which were sexist, are hoping to 1ophobic. online sometime ago which were sexist, are hoping to tacklelic. online sometime ago which were sexist, are hoping to tackle the parties are hoping to tackle the problem, it new parties are hoping to tackle the problem, it- new issue. there problem, it isn't a new issue. there may well be more reports of more recent exa m ples to may well be more reports of more recent examples to come... our political correspondent, jonathan blake. heathrow airport says it is investigating how details of its security procedures were found lying in the street. the sunday mirror says information concerning the queen was on a unencrypted memory stick as well as files on safeguards for cabinet ministers and foreign dignitaries. security measures including maps locating cctv cameras and a network of tunnels and escape shafts linked to the heathrow express train line were also allegedly found. our correspondent ben ando is at heathrow airport. tell us more about how these details came to light? the sunday mirror newspaper says that it was contacted bya man newspaper says that it was contacted by a man who was walking along in the street, and he saw one of these tiny memory sticks on the ground. he picked it up and he took it to his

local library where he plugged it into a computer to see what was on it. he maybe chose the library rather than his home computer in case it had a virus on it. what he found instead was 134 separate files, all unencrypted and able to be read. they documented all sorts of highly sensitive security information about heathrow airport. the information included the route that the queen would take when she comes to the airport, and included the location of cctv cameras. it included information about the different types of id documents needed to access different areas of the airport and included stuff about the airport and included stuff about the ultrasound system used on the perimeterfence. serious the ultrasound system used on the perimeter fence. serious and important information. the airport says it is getting information as to how and why this information was on a memory stick in the street and unencrypted. what our authorities at heathrow saying about this? it is

pretty embarrassing for them —— what our authorities saying? it's important from their point of view to find out how this could happen. most big organisations are aware of the risks as to how much data can be slipped into your pocket. they have systems in place to avoid this happening. the first breach was when this sensitive information was downloaded onto the memory stick. the second breach was when the memory stick was not encrypted, and thenit memory stick was not encrypted, and then it was taken out the airport. then apparently lost in the street. then apparently lost in the street. the airport does not know whether the first man to find it was necessarily the only person to have had necessarily the only person to have ha d a ccess necessarily the only person to have had access to it. there are serious questions that need to be asked but heathrow says it believes its security processes are robust, and are among the best in the board and it says that it is confident that in spite of what has happened here, airport security is still safe. ben and at heathrow airport was there, thank you. the headlines on bbc news:

tens of thousands of people are marching through barcelona in support of spanish unity and against catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence. the cabinet office is to investigate whether international trade minister mark garnier broke the ministerial code after he admitted asking his secretary to buy sex toys. heathrow airport says it's investigating how details of its security procedures were found lying in the street. holly has the latest sport... it was a huge night for anthonyjoshua as he defended both his heavyweight titles in cardiff — after enduring what was, at times, a frustrating fight with carlos ta kam. cementing a record breaking year, the world champion beat the frenchman in front of 78 thousand fans — but it was less than straightforward with the resiliant takam resisting heavy punishment until referee phil edwards controversially intervened in the tenth round — a decisionjoshua defended afterwards.

the referee's job is to let the fight live on another day. you know where i am coming from? is interesting, ta kam was where i am coming from? is interesting, takam was showing the rest that his eyes were nearly hanging off, from a deep cut. when the referee stopped it he wanted to continue fighting, that is the fighter‘s instinct. for me, 12 rounds is fine, and a stoppage is fine. joshua's not the only english world champion this morning... they're already being called the golden generation — england under—17s are world cup winners for the first time after beating spain in the final in india. the u17‘s fought back from two goals down, to win 5—2 — which means england are double world cup winners this year, after success for the under 20s injune as well... if we keep working as we are, and the players keep developing as they

are, i'm sure there will be more opportunities which come down the road. we have good talent in this country. doing what we have done out here, and what the other teams have done back in the summer, i really think that people are sitting up and taken notice. england have some top players coming through. there's been an important victory for england's women in the third one day international of their ashes series, in what was a must—win match for the team. australia went into this match four points up — two are awarded for a win. but some crucial wickets late on helped england, as australia chased a revised total because of rain. they hit a boundary to finish but fell 20 runs short of their target. and with australia only needing eight points in the series to retain the ashes, this win keeps heading into the test match, and t20 matches to come. meanwhile, the mens team have arrived in australia ready for their ashes series which begins next month. captainjoe root has been

talking up their chances, pointing to the strength they have in the squad, with the likes of alastair cook, james anderson and stuart broad. we've got three of england's best all—time players in terms of runs with oki,jimmy and all—time players in terms of runs with oki, jimmy and broady, and guys who have stood up over the last couple of years. we are a completely different side, and we have shown a lot of character in the last 12—18 months. i think it holds us in good stead here. in the rugby league world cup scotland have lost their opening match against tonga. the scots trailed 38—0 at half time but did manage to at least get on the score board with this try from danny addy. but the match ended 50—4 to tonga at full time. they did we thought, coming straight down the middle. powering through the middle. at first, we went wide and made it easy to go through the middle. the second

half we went through the middle. they were greasy conditions but they played quality. 24 sets in the first half, we had two the ball sets. their play to them, they can tackle better than us and they got the result. —— fairplay. justin rose has won the world championships in shanghai — his first title since claiming a gold medal at the rio olympics last year. world number one dustinjohnson had been leading by six shots and was eight clear of rose after three rounds. but rose shot a five—under—par 67, which included eight birdies and three bogeys, to finish on 14 under. birmingham are taking on aston villa in the west midlands derby at villa park. we will keep you up—to—date on that. more in the next hour... let's ta ke let's take you back to one of our main story is this lunchtime, the

claims of sexual harassment by people working at westminster. it's all over the newspapers today. let's talk to the political journalist jane merrick, who experienced harassment as a young lobby correspondent at westminster. can you give us an idea of what happened to you as a younger reporter at westminster?” happened to you as a younger reporter at westminster? i had recently started in the lobby. this was 14 years ago, a long time ago. i went out for lunch with a conservative mp, as a lot of journalists do. we had a couple of glasses of wine with lunch and on the way back, from the lunch, i would describe it as an unpleasant lunge towards me. it was sort of humiliating. it was very unpleasant. because i was so taken aback by his behaviour, i had been out for lunch and everybody had been perfectly fine, ididn't and everybody had been perfectly fine, i didn't challenge him. i shrank away and i ran back up to my office. i didn't say anything. i was first be worried about being

blacklisted by the mp, and if he told his colleagues that i was not told his colleagues that i was not to be trusted at lunch. also, i thought that this was what happened in westminster, and i didn't say anything about it. actually, i'm now worried that maybe i should have said something and i now feel guilty that if this mp is still behaving in a similar way, that concerns me. do you think that is still a culture at westminster? it's more under the spotlight than it was because of the harvey weinstein allegations, and sexual harassment in all sorts of walks of life and industries is under much closer scrutiny, perhaps? yes, and there are more female mps around now, things have changed. but i've been contacted in the last few days about women who work in westminster, and they say that they've complained both inside of their parties and in the

parliamentary authorities. they say they don't feel like they've been listened to, or not enough has been done. women need to have confidence that they are going to be listened to and there will not be recriminations and this is being taken seriously. part of it is that we haven't had high profile names out because women find it very difficult to talk about these things. we talk about the bravery of those women in hollywood who spoke out, but also not speaking out doesn't mean that you lack courage, but you find it difficult to talk about. diane abbott was saying on the andrew marr programme today that she thinks things have got better. there are more women mps than when she was first in the chamber, there we re she was first in the chamber, there were 20 mps who were female and male mps in the bearpit atmosphere would sometimesjeer mps in the bearpit atmosphere would sometimes jeer at mps in the bearpit atmosphere would sometimesjeer at the mps in the bearpit atmosphere would sometimes jeer at the women. has it improved, or not really? it has, there's a better atmosphere that incidents are still going on. we bred these accounts, unnamed mps who

are not safe in lifts or taxis. i've heard allegations of things happening. that happen in private. there needs to be not only a culture of acceptance that this cannot go on, but also that women will be think theresa may supported. i think theresa may saying today that she will write to the speaker, the sunday times reported that she gets weekly briefings of indiscretions by her mps. what has she done so far? is it just used by the whips, as it has been for years? we read about it in the alan clark diaries, they gather information and use it as leveraged, what has she done on this behaviour? and women in westminster, are they organising themselves? we hear whatsapp groups where they are communicating about male mps, and nemtsov staff at westminster who they should perhaps be careful of.

is that an important tool for women, really? to have that method of communication with one another?“ very useful technology. some people have said it is like a witch hunt, but this is a great opportunity for women to share their experiences when they've not been listened to before. thank you. and update where we've before. thank you. and update where wevef: mp before. thank you. and update where we'vefggfie—jéii mp anna we've heard the conservative mp anna soubry has sent a request to the speaker to ask for an urgent statement from the leader of the house about what can be done to ensure that any complaint about anybody in parliament are dealt with properly. she said the idea of a new contractually binding grievance procedure for all mps and their staff voted by theresa may in her letter to the speaker was a good idea. that's the latest. thank you for being with us today. police are appealing for information after a suspected acid attack on a group of doormen in salford. officers were called

to the white hotel nightclub in the early hours of this morning after a man, who had earlier been asked to leave the club, returned with a knife and threw an unknown liquid at door staff. two men are currently in hospital receiving treatment for burns. their injuries are not said to be life—threatening. nurses have had pay rises capped at 196 nurses have had pay rises capped at 1% since 2010. nicola sturgeon is to apologise on behalf of the scottish government to gay men convicted of now—abolished sexual offences. the first minister will make her statement next week to coincide with new legislation to grant automatic pardons to those affected. the law will also allow the removal of such crimes from criminal records. catriona renton reports.

until 1981, all sexual activity between men was a criminal offence in scotland. the law was then changed to decriminalise sex between men over the age of 21. in england, that law was changed in 1967. but it took another 20 years for the age of consent to be reduced to 16. last month, the first minister, nicola sturgeon, announced a new bill that would automatically pardon all men, alive and dead, convicted of these crimes. she will publish this and make an apology at holyrood on the seventh of november on behalf of the scottish government for the treatment of homosexual men under previous governments. by offering you this ring... but looking to the past, the scottish government said the new bill will give justice to those criminalised simply because of who they loved. those who have convictions will also be able to apply to have them removed from central records. in england and wales, there is no automatic pardon,

except for those who died before february this year. those who are living will receive a pardon after their convictions have been deleted because the secretary of state is satisfied that the conduct is no longer criminal. catriona renton, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. hello, so far it has been colder but sunny to the north, somewhat cloudy conditions with drizzle a bit further south. that has been sat through wales, the midlands and south east from a weak weather front thatis south east from a weak weather front that is yet to clear. it will do so and as we head into the afternoon, decent and sunny spells for many. a cold northerly wind driving showers in along the east coast. a week weather front by mid—afternoon, in along the east coast. a week weather up it by mid—afternoon, in along the east coast. a week weather up sunny iid—afternoon, in along the east coast. a week weather up sunny spells 5rnoon, in along the east coast. a week weather up sunny spells in mm, in along the east coast. a week weather up sunny spells in south in along the east coast. a week weather up sl south—west. south in along the east coast. a week weather up sl south—west. but th in along the east coast. a week weather up sl south—west. but as wales and the south—west. but as cold here. in the north, maximum of eight or nine. the high pressure

stays with us through the night, the wind remains light. that will allow temperatures to fall away. in rural areas, temperatures just below freezing. our first widespread frost of the autumn season. at least the morning will dawn, with decent spells of sunshine. as we go through the day, a south—westerly wind will bring mild air bed wetter conditions into the far north. —— but wetter conditions. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines at 12.30pm. tens of thousands of people are marching through barcelona in support of spanish unity and against catalonia's unilateral declaration of independence. the international trade minister, mark garnier, faces an investigation — after he admitted asking his secretary to buy sex toys.