this is bbc news. the headlines at 9pm: the labour mp kelvin hopkins has been suspended from the party while allegations made against him are investigated. meanwhile gavin williamson is replacing the defence secretary, sir michael fallon, who resigned because of sexual misconduct. the bank of england raises interest rates for the first time in a decade. the rise, to 0.5%, is part of the bank's fight against inflation, and there could be more to come. consistent with our mandate and consistent with supporting the economy, that requires two more interest rate increases over the next three years. the brother of manchester arena bomber salman abedi will not be returned to the uk to face questioning by police, say the militia holding him in libya. an arrest warrant is issued for ousted catalan leader carles puigdemont, as eight former colleagues are remanded in custody after the independence vote. and scientists discover a mystery chamber hidden

inside the great pyramid of giza. good evening and welcome to bbc news. in the last hour, labour has announced that it's suspended one of its mps, kelvin hopkins, from the party. a spokesman said that it was ‘on the basis of allegations received'. this comes amid a raft of allegations against numerous mps of inappropriate behaviour — reports that have seen sir michael fallon resign as defence secretary. let's talk to emma vardy, our political correspondent. what is known about kelvin hopkins at this stage? this has come about after a statement sent by the party

in the last hour, saying on the basis of allegations received by the labour party, kelvin hopkins has been suspended from party membership and therefore the labour whip while the investigation takes place, and kelvin hopkins is the labour mp from luton and has been since 1997. a supporter ofjeremy corbyn. we are not clear about what these allegations are but clearly they are serious enough for the labour party to have taken a serious enough for the labour party to have ta ken a pretty swift serious enough for the labour party to have taken a pretty swift piece of action, to suspend kelvin hopkins party membership. the statement says the labour party takes all such complaints extremely seriously and has robust procedures in place to deal with them. this comes off the back of a number of days of rumours and allegations circling westminster about the behaviour of certain mps and ministers, most significantly so far, last night we saw the defence secretary michael fallon resign and

gavin williamson, the chief whip, appointed in his place today. as our correspondent reports. who would it be? nervously waiting at the ministry of defence. he looked a bit fretful too, as he waited across the road at number 10. is it time to clear out the stable, defence secretary? before long, gavin williamson emerged with the top brass. to take a proud walk across whitehall. into one of the biggest jobs in government. he's never worked in a government department before though. it's a privilege to be able to step into this role. what's so amazing is to have so many first— rate, world— renowned people to be working with. and the armed services are the greatest pride of our nation. until today, he was in charge of party discipline. last month, he described his approach. i don't much like the stick.

but it is amazing what can be achieved with a sharpened carrot. less time for cheesy local mp pictures. instead of managing his constituency and 315 tory mps, he's in charge of about 200,000 staff and £36 billion. part of a rising tory generation and a yorkshireman to boot. and here's his replacement, julian smith, the new tory arm twister in chief. one of gavin williamson's compatriots, who seems to have inherited his tarantula. yes, the giant spider the former chief whip kept on his desk. is it time to clean out the stables, ms mcvey? the new number two, esther mcvey, who says she'll add this to the mix. maybe i can bring a feminine touch to the whip's office and work with all my colleagues. the logic of gavin williamson's move

over there is simple — he's a good operator and theresa may trusts him. but the pushback has been fierce. 0ne senior tory told me he's abandoned his post at a crucial time. 0ne minister suggested that he has outplayed number 10, saying theresa may is so weak, she has allowed him to appoint himself. and one former minister said this shows that the government is in the grip of a bunch of boys. as ever in politics, the irony is rich. the man who was in charge of making sure mps behave has found himself in a plum newjob because one of his colleagues did not. and all the parties are readying themselves in case they have to defend their side from more potential allegations of bad behaviour. the foreign secretary, known for his interesting private life, said today he had nothing to hide. thank you, foreign secretary. number 10 acknowledges that everyone has to do more to protect staff

and victims at westminster. but there are calls for wholesale change. we've seen bullying allegations that've happened between members of staff, we've seen allegations of sexual impropriety between elected members and others, and this is all about power. it's who holds that power and how they use it that sets the course. it seems that michael fallon took the difficult decision to resign them rather than wait for any further allegation which may or may not have come and that is a sign of how greatly scrutinised the behaviour of mps is, compared with ten yea rs behaviour of mps is, compared with ten years ago, the way they are being held to account for it now. as we have heard in the last hour, another development in the sex scandal, kelvin hopkins, the labour mp has been suspended by the party asa mp has been suspended by the party as a result of allegations received by the labour party today. any more

details emerging? a few details, but we understand from labour sources, there were complaints made about kelvin hopkins a couple of years ago, which was looked at by the party, and handled by the party internally at the time, and we are told the complainant was happy about that at the time, but since then and in light of the other allegations which have been circling this week, the scrutiny that has been given to mps behaviour this week, the complainant came back to the party with new information about that same incident and it looks like labour have decided to act very swiftly, suspending kelvin hopkins tonight, from the party membership and from the labour whip while the investigation takes place, so we have got to see what emerges in the coming days, but this really isjust a sign at the moment of how party leaders and theresa may has really

set the pace by wanting all party leaders and parties to take this extremely seriously. to be seen to be taking action. we know on monday all party leaders will meet to discuss an independent grievance procedure which can be setup but in the meantime we don't know how many other allegations may emerge on this is just other allegations may emerge on this isjust a other allegations may emerge on this is just a sign other allegations may emerge on this isjust a sign now other allegations may emerge on this is just a sign now that parties will look to act pretty swiftly and pretty strongly when there are any other questions that may emerge about inappropriate sexual behaviour by mps. emma, thanks forjoining us. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are stephen bush, special correspondent for the new statesman and david wooding, political editor of the sun on sunday. interest rates have gone up for the first time in a decade. the bank of england has increased the rate by a quarter of 1%, to 0.5%, as it tries

to control inflation. the bank's governor mark carney said households across the uk are "generally well positioned" to deal with the rate increase. the decision will mean higher monthly payments for millions with variable rate mortgages. but it's good news at last for savers. here's our economics editor kamal ahmed. one small step upwards for interest rates, affecting millions of savers and millions of borrowers. it's more expensive if you have a mortgage, and forjames in south london, it's time to cut costs. we've been very lucky without realising it. i think it's going to start, it will probably bite more from now on. for so long we thought, it's always going to be like this, but it's got to end sometime. we never realised it was going to be this soon. the governor of the bank of england knew it was

a delicate balancing act. the economy is still struggling but he said rising prices had to be controlled. so in many respects, today's decision is straightforward. with inflation high, slack disappearing and the economy growing at rates above its speed limit, inflation is unlikely to return to the 2% target without some increase in interest rates. of course, these aren't normal times. brexit will redefine the uk's relationship with our largest trade and investment partner and it will have consequences for the movement of goods, services, people and capital as well as the real incomes of uk households. this is certainly a historic moment for interest rates. to realise why, it is worth remembering when incredibly low interest rates were not the norm. if we go back to 1992, when britain was struggling with a currency crisis and norman lamont was the chancellor, interest rates hit 12%. in the era of cool britannia, the economy righted itself

and interest rates tumbled to 7.7%. but then the financial crisis hit. in a desperate attempt to keep global economies afloat, interest rates were slashed to 2%, so all of us could borrow cheaply and spend. but then, after the referendum, another cut to a record low of 0.25%. today, the first rate rise for more than ten years. how high could those interest rates now go? i asked the governor just that — should we be ready for further rises? the path would be very gradual relative to history, and to a limited extent. i can be a little more specific about that. the forecast we put out today, that requires two more interest rate increases over the next three years. economists said it was clear why. in the past when you've had one rate

hike you usually have a series of them in quick succession. the world's not like that any more. growth is slower, everyone's worried that if you hike rates now, the economy may soften too much. so, i think they're going to wait. they may do one early next year but that will depend on the economic data. for millions of people, today is one they have not experienced for ten years, an interest rate rise. but with a key economic ingredient still being uncertainty, it is likely to be a long time before we see another one. spain's high court has remanded in custody eight former members of the regional catalan government. it's also issued a european arrest warrant for the ousted catalan leader, carles puigdemont, and four members of his former cabinet, who travelled with him to belgium. mr puigdemont‘s lawyer in belgium said he would cooperate with the court, but he added that the climate in spain was "not good". 0ur correspondent james reynolds has

the latest from barcelona. these pro—independence campaigners have come out to protest against the remanding into custody of eight former ministers. "libertad, libertad," they chant in catalan. "freedom, freedom." bear in mind, just a few days ago, these ministers were working in this, the headquarters of the catalan government. but now the reversal has been stunning. in a matter of a few days, those ministers declared independence, then madrid took over this region, and now all the ministers who work there are now in exile, on bail or in prison. and the town hall has reacted. in catalan there, there's a sign, "freedom to the political prisoners." that will be a strong feeling among the pro—independence camp here in catalonia. the anti—independence camp might

simply say that spain is now following the law. there will be plenty more demonstrations, probably from both sides, in the next few weeks and months. a libyan armed group holding a man wanted in connection with the manchester arena bombing in may has told the bbc they will not extradite him to the uk. greater manchester police have issued an arrest warrant for hashem abedi, the brother of the suicide bomber salman abedi, in relation to murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to cause an explosion. the headlines on bbc news: labour suspends its mp kelvin hopkins while it investigates allegations made against him. the new defence secretary

is former conservative chief whip gavin williamson, following the resignation of sir michael fallon. the bank of england raises interest rates for the first time in a decade, the rise to 0.5%. two men have been charged with negligence following the deaths of three soldiers after an sas selection march in the brecon beacons. lance corporal craig roberts, lance corporal edward maher and corporaljames dunsby died on the hottest day of 2013. but the parents of lance corporal roberts say many more should be held to account. paul heaney has the details. craig roberts, edward maher and james dunsby, they were trying to join the sas, to do so they had to com plete join the sas, to do so they had to complete a timed 16 mile march on one of the hottest days of the year, in the brecon beacons in 2013, and of course that was going to be tough, especially with heavy equipment, but neglect by the ministry of defence also played a pa rt ministry of defence also played a part in their death, according to an inquest held two years later. the

army apologised. it is necessary to train our soldiers to the highest standards, to meet the secluded challenges we face in this country and overseas —— security challenges. to do this requires individuals to push themselves and take risk, however, we must make sure that those risks are carefully managed. in this case we did not do this and accept responsibility for the in march last year the health and safety executive said the mod would have faced prosecution for what happened if it didn't have immunity. several independent reviews decided not to bring any charges, against individuals involved here that day, but relatives of one of the soldiers who died challenged that decision and today we have learned to men will face charges of negligence and their cases will be heard by a

special military court. margaret and kelvin roberts sat for many weeks in dignified silence at their son's inquest to hear how he died and today they told bbc wales they were very disappointed that only two men have been charged. they feel many more should be held to account for the amount of failings on that day. a lawyer who acted forjames dunsby‘s father at the inquest is also critical. there were systematic failings, shocking failings that went on in that incident, and the corporate manslaughter act makes it very clear in the circumstances that they should be severe sanctions against any employer in those circumstances, and to be honest, u nless circumstances, and to be honest, unless there are sections against the mod there will be no lessons learned and no changes made. —— u nless learned and no changes made. —— unless there are sanctions. in response, defence sources have told us response, defence sources have told us tonight that certain military

activities were exempted from the corporate manslaughter act and the mod has made improvements to reduce the risks on such exercises. a former director of british special forces said these men pushed themselves beyond their ability to enjoy. the process of possibly holding individuals to account on what happened on that day continues more than four years after their deaths. —— beyond their ability to endure. now what should happen to foreigners who travel to syria and end up being captured by the opponents of the so called islamic state? that's the question raised by the case of a british man, who's being held by kurdish fighters. the parents of the man known as ‘jihadi jack‘ say not enough is being done by the uk government to bring him home. john letts and sally lane have been charged with funding terrorism, having sent money to their son in syria. the bbc‘s christian fraser spoke to them about their son jack letts and what they know of his whereabouts. we do know he was charged last week by the kurds of belonging to is.

the last timejack‘s mum spoke to him, was injuly. he told us that he's been how four months in solitary confinement and he's receiving very little food. he's not allowed out of a cell at all. he used to be allowed out for half an hour all. he used to be allowed out for halfan hourand all. he used to be allowed out for half an hour and then was reduced to ten minutes and then was reduced to no time at all. how did he come to be there? he was in raqqa and he was in hiding, trying to get out, as everyone else was, and we knew that. the last message he said, was pretty harrowing, saying that isis was after him and that if they catch on, they will kill him because they have already imprisoned him several times, he basically said goodbye, itiuiti times, he basically said goodbye, mum and dad, this won't end well, but thank you for believing in me. the next thing we heard was, three

weeks later he had escaped, and we have not had a detailed conversation about it, but somehow with a people smuggler he got out and he was picked up with a group of refugees from raqqa. he has now been charged? that happened in the last week. what are the penalties? i presume the penalty for being a member of isis is death, i've no idea. the legal syste m is death, i've no idea. the legal system is a self—declared autonomous zone and the legal system is being worked out. we have no idea. we have a clip of your son speaking from the jail. supposedly we will go to the kurdish territories for a bit and then continued to turkey and then as sooi'i then continued to turkey and then as 50011 as we then continued to turkey and then as soon as we got here we got arrested and put imprisoned, we were there for a few days, maybe a week, and then after that i was in solitary confinement until now. what you think about his state of mind? he has told us about that and he said

he fears he is losing his mind, that he fears he is losing his mind, that he knows he is hallucinating and he feels he's going mad. let's talk about what is being done, is anything being done by the british government? by the british government? by the british government? from what we know, nothing at all, and we have been told by the foreign office then we have tried to talk to them about, theyjust kept have tried to talk to them about, they just kept repeating have tried to talk to them about, theyjust kept repeating the mantra, their policy is based on the advise people not to go to syria because it isa very people not to go to syria because it is a very dangerous place, and i think we know that. after that, they admitted to us that the policy is not to do anything to help anybody come back from syria. you have now approached the canadians? yes, we approached the canadians? yes, we approached them six months ago, because we are canadian british citizens. the canadians said they

ta ke citizens. the canadians said they take allegations of torture very seriously and they will do everything they can. the foreign office minister said many of these fighters went to die in syria, and they really only want to die fighting the enemy, and in almost every case it is better to kill them. what seems to be happening is a link between everybody who went to syria should be killed, and if you get the tabloid writers, they are referring to anyone who went to syria, that should be killed, open season on syria, that should be killed, open season on anyone who went, does that include the ambulance drivers and the surgeons and health workers who we nt the surgeons and health workers who went for religious reasons and to not fight with isis? rory stewart speaks of the concerns people have come public are concerned, about bringing people back. is it not importing ideologies that could put

people at risk? yes, and i have as much fear as anyone, in that type of situation, but this is not a situation, but this is not a situation where you can make it disappear by shooting everyone in the head. that is doing exactly what they are doing. we have the rule of law, what are british values? do they all disappear the moment you cross the board? do you understand why people in this country will not wa nt to why people in this country will not want to see people who travelled to is territory come back to this country? yes, we share the same fear as ordinary citizens about terrorism on the streets of london and magistrate as much as anyone else. be very clear, i think everybody who comes back from syria should be detained and probably arrested and locked up until you can be assured that they have done nothing wrong. i have no problem. we support that, thatis have no problem. we support that, that is democracy and the rule of law, due process, but putting

someone up law, due process, but putting someone up against the wall and shooting them in the head is not a british friday for the givenjack the chance to speak. —— is not a british value. do you think you will see your son again? we can't imagine that we won't. we can't go there, really, we have to believe that he is alive and that reason and sense and justice will prevail, because we can't cope otherwise. well, this is a statement from the british foreign and commonwealth office. a mysterious void — the size of a holidayjet — has been found inside the great pyramid of giza, a discovery which egyptologists believe could finally shed light

on how the ancient tombs were constructed. the gap — which is about 100 feet long — was found using a scanning process which can sense density changes inside large rock structures. it's not known why the cavity exists or if it holds anything of value because it's not accessible. now the weather with darren bett. good evening. we have the area cloud stuck in the same place all day, and on the whole there will be cloud overnight, but also dry weather, and across the south of england, south of the main band of fouled we have faulty batches —— the main band of cloud, we have faulty patches. —— .de. in the rush—hour, they will be

fa u lty there might be a spot of rain, but on the old will be dry, cloudy skies, as well, to begin the day —— but on the whole will be dry. it is a weak weather front, not making great inroads, affecting north west scotland, otherwise light winds, and the sunshine will try to come out, but rather half—hearted. the fog patches lifting slowly, a lot of dry weather, a lot of cloud, temperatures similar to today, just about making double figures, and then things change overnight, because the band of rain moving south away from scotland and northern ireland, the wet weather developing. we don't need to worry

about the temperatures, and we don't need to worry about the fog patches. showers coming in and bringing cooler air. we start the weekend with rain, those westerly wind will draw down as the weekend progresses. it will linger across eastern england in the afternoon, cloud relu cta nt to brea k england in the afternoon, cloud reluctant to break up, but otherwise sunshine developing, showers towards the north west and northern ireland and western scotland, those showers could be a touch wintry over the mountings and it will be turning cold in those north—westerly winds, and more sunshine on the way on sunday, a few showers, as temperatures fall away to around eight — nine at best. this is bbc world news today eric dier reporting from washington. meet the man picked to head the us federal reserve. jill rovman powell tapped for the top spot. we are giving them a big beautiful

christmas present in the form of a tremendous tax cut. authorities learning more about the man behind the new york terror attack. and scientists discovered a new species of orangutan, soria it has gone straight onto the endangered species list. —— so rare.