this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa barak. the headlines at 11pm: the conservative party suspends mp charlie elphicke over serious allegations which have been referred to the police. he denies any wrongdoing. questions for labour as a party activist claims mp kelvin hopkins was promoted despite her complaints he harassed her and sent her a suggestive text. spain issues an arrest warrant for the ousted catalan leader carles puigdemont, who's remaining defiant in belgium. and coming up on newsnight: as well as discussing the claim swirling around westminster, we hear the shocking testimony of children liberated from so—called islamic state. good evening and welcome to bbc news.

in the last hour, what the conservative party is claiming are serious allegations about the conservative mp charlie elphicke, have been referred to the police and he has been suspended from the party. in the last few minutes, the mp has said he doesn't know what he's been accused of and he denies any wrongdoing. meanwhile, a labour activist who accused the labour mp kelvin hopkins of sexual harassment has told bbc news she feels disillusioned by how the party handled it. hopkins was promoted to the shadow cabinetjust months after being reprimanded about his alleged behaviour. this evening he has denied the allegations. could the scandal of alleged misconduct in politics get much worse?

it just has. tonight, in the last hour, it has emerged tory mp charlie elphicke has been suspended from the party at westminster and allegations have been referred to the police. he denies any wrongdoing and said the media herd —— heard of his suspension before he did. at this stage no more detail is known but allegations against mr elphicke fall within the scope of the unfolding controversy about mps‘ behaviour. it won't be the last chapter of the story. step—by—step, one by one, in one party then another, and today a young labour activist with more allegations of sexual misconduct in politics. her story isjust added to the crisis unlike anything else westminster has seen. ava etemadzadeh tells of a labour mp 50 years her senior, kelvin hopkins, who she says subjected her as a labour supporting student to inappropriate treatment again and again. the first happened on campus, and he held me very tightly and rubbed himself against me. he made me feel extremely

uncomfortable and it was a revolting act. the second incident was in parliament when i went to have a conversation with him and he told me that, let's not talk about politics, do you have a boyfriend? he also mentioned that he also said that if nobody was in his office i would have been taken me there. i was shocked. there were calls she didn't answer and then came the uncomfortable text messages. i'm an "attractive, lovely young woman" and a man "would be lucky to have me as a lover" and if he was young... but he's not. kelvin hopkins was reprimanded two years ago after she complained, yet he was made a shadow cabinet minister when jeremy corbyn was facing a party mutiny and needed allies lastjune. now the story has come out and he has been suspended from the party.

there is an investigation and tonight he is denying any wrongdoing. he said in a statement: he said she had thanked him in a text for a fantastic time. today, jeremy corbyn was in no mood to defend his position as leader in the whole affair. thank you for coming to my road, goodbye. were you aware of the allegations against him before you promoted him to beat shadow cabinet? no word from him or his office but he knew about the reprimand and some if not all the detail and promoted kelvin hopkins anyway. goodbye! but some in labour's ranks want to hear more. she said she was satisfied with the way in which the chief whip at the time managed the situation but horrified to then see the mp in question promoted. i think it's a fair question as to have happened and it is one

that only the leadership can answer. i know the victim felt a bit bereft by his promotion. expect more allegations. labour mp clive lewis is under investigation for allegedly touching a labour activist inappropriately during a party event. he says it's all untrue. i am completely refuting the allegation, it didn't happen the way this person is describing it. it is right and proper that they and others have the ability to be able to complain about these situations and situations that happen like that that leaves them feeling confident about the process but i think we will find a number of these allegations simply aren't going to stack up and from my point of view this is one of them. as for the tories, reports say cabinet minister andrea leadsom accused sir michael fallon before he resigned after allegations of misconduct six years ago, he denies it and downing street said she had never called for him to go. theresa may has produced a tory code of conduct with complaints hotline and an independent figure to help cases.

tories accept action is needed. it's important all political parties have codes of conduct where they set out the standards that should be expected of people who are in elected office and who are in public life. no one here is arguing with that but new safeguards for people in parties and in parliament won't banish the dark clouds hanging over politics. the fear that every day could bring a new scandal and another crisis. well this evening clive lewis talked to me about the allegation against him. he strongly denies them. the first i heard of it was when the independent asked me for comment on the story andi asked me for comment on the story and i obviously denied allegation. i've now read the comments from the person in question. i don't as a

rule grope people's bottoms when i greet them. it's just not how i roll, it's not what i do. if the person mistaken? am i going to give them a hug and has this been misinterpreted? i don't know. all i know is that deliberately do that. what an clear about is as difficult as it is for me i will say it is right and proper that there are robust and effective processes in place to allow people to come forward if they work in westminster oi’ forward if they work in westminster or beyond and they want to make an accusation that they are being abused in some way, bullied, assaulted. i think that's really important that westminster clears up its house and has those processes in place. the hollywood actor and theatre director kevin spacey is being investigated by the metropolitan police. it follows an allegation of sexual assault here in the uk. it's understood officers

from the child abuse and sexual offences command are looking into claims that the house of cards actor sexually assaulted a man in lambeth in 2008. the met has declined to identify the suspect. a spanishjudge has issued a europe wide arrest warrant for the catalan independence leader carles puidgemont tonight. mr puidgemont is in belgium, he insists he's not trying to evade justice but says the spanish judiciary has been politicised. it follows the disputed independence referendum for the catalan region which the spanish government declared illegal. there were demonstrations against the arrests of other catalan ministers tonight. tom burridge reports. another night, another protest. this time, calls for catalan politicians to be released.

these prisoners didn't commit any crime. if they take them to jail, they should take us to jail too. we only want to vote and to be free. catalonia's former government, which they elected, is accused of rebellion. eight former catalan ministers will spend the weekend in prison after a judge denied them bail. and now, an arrest warrant, for the former catalan president, carles puigdemont. he's in brussels. tonight, on belgian tv, he described the case against him and his colleagues as exceptional and wrong. translation: this is not normal, that we face up to 30 years in prison, 30 years because we respected the wishes of the electorate. this is not normal, it is extremely barbaric.

and in sleepy catalan villages, divisions are now often on public display. the abuse hurled atjordi, a pro—independence councillor. at the local school where a month ago, he, arms crossed at the front, led a human wall blocking spain's civil guard. it's because of that disputed referendum that his political leaders are now injail ahead of their trial. translation: it reminds me more of a repressive state like turkey than a country in the european union. lively discussions at home too. this family, split on that key question. who is in favour of independence for catalonia? his sister is, his mum and dad are wavering. but jordi is not. "spain's laws have to be followed," he tells me, "and those who don't should be prosecuted." almost every day, a new chapter in this catalan crisis. on the horizon now,

regional elections. with pro—independence leaders in jail, divisions below the surface are ever more entrenched. tom burridge, bbc news, in barcelona. a fast food delivery driver is fighting for his life and his eyesight after having acid thrown in his face. the incident in walthamstow in london was one of two attacks on delivery drivers last night, which police suspect were linked. a 14—year—old boy has been arrested. an army sergeant accused of trying to kill his wife by sabotaging her parachute has begun giving evidence in his defence. victoria cilliers suffered multiple injuries when her parachute failed to open during a jump at 4,000 feet in wiltshire in 2015. emile cilliers denies all the charges. duncan kennedy was in court.

after four weeks of prosecution witnesses, today it was emile cilliers who gave evidence. he is accused of trying to kill his wife, victoria, twice in one week. in the court, emile cilliers said he'd joined the army but had many debts. his barrister, elizabeth marsh qc, asked him: he replied: the prosecution claim that it was emile cilliers' debts that was behind the reason why he wanted to kill his wife, victoria. they say he hoped to benefit from an insurance policy pay—out in the event of her death. in court he said victoria didn't know about the extent of his debts. ms marsh asked:

it was here in wiltshire that victoria cilliers fell 4000 feet when her parachute failed to open. she suffered multiple injuries on landing. this was her reserve chute, which the prosecution say emile cilliers sabotaged, after going on a parachute packing course. but in court he said: emile cilliers denies two counts of attempted murder and will continue giving evidence on monday. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in winchester. a 24—hour strike on a railway in the

north will go ahead on the ninth of november. members of the rail, maritime and transport union will walk out next week after talks aimed at resolving the row over the role of guards on more trains collapsed today. that's a summary of the news. newsday is coming up at midnight. now on bbc news it's time for newsnight. harassment becomes a full—blown crisis in politics. denials of wrongdoing and not denials of wrongdoing and not knowing what the accusation is.|j denials of wrongdoing and not knowing what the accusation is. i do not, as a rule grope people's

bottoms. what will the effects on oui’ bottoms. what will the effects on our politics and the main parties be as allegations accumulate? can you judge a regime by how children are treated? we look at children are treated? we look at children liberated from islamic state. also tonight, given what we have heard about kevin spacey, should we still be watching house of cards? it has been yet another extraordinary elliptical day. it is a