this is bbc news. we are live in harare, the capital of zimbabwe, on an historic day. a momentous decision taken by zanu—pf, the ruling party, to dismiss robert mugabe as the party leader after 37 yea rs. mugabe as the party leader after 37 years. also, to strip his wife, grace mugabe, of her position in the party, accusing her of promoting hate speech and divisiveness. robert mugabe has now been given a deadline, an ultimatum, by his own party, zanu—pf, to resign by midday tomorrow local time, or to face impeachment proceedings. those would likely begin on tuesday, when parliament resumes. let's get this report on the dramatic events so far. from harare, our correspondent shingai nyoka reports. senior military commanders have met president robert mugabe to further pressure him to step down from government, as his own party held a historic meeting to dismiss him.

it's a humiliating end for the decorated war hero and the party's longest serving leader. our people, colleagues, are demanding from us gathered here to show leadership and to give effect to their demands for the recall of the president and first secretary of zanu—pf, comrade rg mugabe, from his position in the party and government. applause bruising infighting for power has taken its toll — an empty top table, no robert mugabe, and no first lady. this is the beginning of the end of an era. president robert mugabe will no longer head the party he has led for more than a0 years. the question now is who will take his place? the central committee has sacked not only the president but also the first lady as the leader of the women's wing, but she still remains

the head of government. parliament are expected to impeach him if he refuses to resign. war veterans who fought alongside him in the war of liberation have warned of an undignified exit if he digs in. we're hoping that by 12 o'clock that they resume their negotiations, that he gives in to the fact he is going to tender his resignation and leave. in the event he doesn't, we take over from where the people left yesterday. the vice president he sacked for disloyalty, emmerson mnangagwa, has been recalled to lead the party. it's an extraordinary end for a man whose name has been synonymous not only with zimbabwe, but also this party, since 1975. it really is utter humiliation for robert mugabe to be stripped of the party leadership after 37 years, almost four decades in power here and at the helm of the party. it's

important to remember that, despite that humiliation, despite losing his leadership of zanu—pf, he is still technically president. unless he agrees to resign voluntarily or is impeached by parliament, then he will still technically be president. let's hear how the announcement was made about him losing the zanu—pf leadership. it came from one of the leading members of the party. comrade rg mugabe is hereby recalled from the position of president of zanu—pf forthwith. cheering and applause further, the resolution is that comrade rg mugabe should resign

forthwith from his position as president and head of state and government of the republic of zimbabwe. and if a resignation has not been tendered by midday tomorrow, the 20th of november 2017, the zanu—pf chief whip is ordered to institute proceedings for the recall of the president in terms of section 97 of the constitution of zimbabwe. cheering and applause comrade rg mugabe is hereby recalled from the position of president the central committee meeting of

zanu—pf. let's go to andrew harding, who has been at zanu—pf although. extraordinary scenes. really unthinkable, not long ago, to have this party, zanu—pf, who had been so slavishly loyal to robert mugabe, turning against him like this and humiliating him? absolutely amazing scenes. the congress isjust humiliating him? absolutely amazing scenes. the congress is just ending. there has been singing and dancing, there has also been, particularly from some of the older ministers i have been speaking to, who have known president mugabe over the yea rs, known president mugabe over the years, a certain sorrow, a wish that it could have been otherwise, that he had resigned when he have the opportunity, that he had not pushed his wife, grace, onto the party. as you say, this is the party that, two weeks ago, was doing anything president mugabe wanted. when he asked them to get rid of his deputy,

emmerson mnangagwa, they did so immediately. they expelled him from the party. he fled the country for his life. today, in an act of extraordinary political expediency and ruthlessness, they have turned on him. notjust saying you are no longer the president of the party, but kicking his wife out of the party for good and giving him an ultimatum, an extraordinary ultimatum, an extraordinary ultimatum, saying if you are not gone as president of the country by tomorrow, noon, we will impeach you. does that look to you like the most likely course of action? so far, he has been talking to the army for several days, certain he talked to them on thursday, talking to them again today. he has shown no signs whatsoever, it seems, of willingly resigning his position. he is going to have to be forced out by impeachment? well, that is the way

it looks at the moment. if he has an appetite for more humiliation, as it seems, perhaps he will take it to the very end. it is remarkable that a story here that, in some ways, is about constitutions, about legality, about constitutions, about legality, about party politics, really boils down to the character, the human emotions of one elderly man who lost his nerve, he wanted his wife to ta ke his nerve, he wanted his wife to take over because he felt he could not trust anybody else, and who is now digging in, talking about the constitution, we understand, talking about the letter of the law, saying it was a coup, saying he will not go. and yet the reality of zimbabwe, the reality of the world around him, has changed utterly. he is grasping at straws that don't even exist. andrew, zanu—pf also said today that they want to amend the constitution

to re m ove they want to amend the constitution to remove the notion of one centre of power. what do you think they mean by that? do they effectively mean by that? do they effectively mean this country cannot be a dictatorship any more? what you are seeing now are zanu—pf very sensibly positioning itself for elections next year. this is a party that does not plan to lose power. it has elected as president a very rough quy: elected as president a very rough guy, a person who has a revelation as an enforcer for robert mugabe. when i spoke to patrick chinamasa, the minister that announced mugabe was out, he said, i remember talking to you a few years ago about the opposition mdc and whether they could win an election. he said they will not be allowed to. we will not let them. i said, has anything changed? he said, yes, we still want

to win elections, but we will not have one man in charge for the next 37 years. so, how much has zanu—pf changed? 37 years. so, how much has zanu—pf changed ? we will 37 years. so, how much has zanu—pf changed? we will have to see. andrew, for the moment, thank you very much indeed. andrew harding, oui’ very much indeed. andrew harding, our southern africa correspondent. let's talk to martin fletcher, formerforeign editor of let's talk to martin fletcher, former foreign editor of the times newspaper. he has covered stories for many years in zimbabwe and he has interviewed the newly appointed leader of zanu—pf, emmerson mnangagwa, who could turn out to be an absolutely pivotal figure in the post—mugabe era. he is the man who is their candidate favoured by the military to be the next leader, the next president. he has been appointed interim party leader. martin fletcher, tell us what you think of him. he has a reputation for brutality. he was a strong man within the regime of robert mugabe. he is not exactly a candidate of human rights and shining virtue and democracy, is he? ithink

human rights and shining virtue and democracy, is he? i think the people of zimbabwe need to be a little careful about what they wish for. mnangagwa has a long and brutal record, he has been yoked to mugabe for 30 years or so. he was closely involved in a massacre of 20,000 civilians in the 1980s. he was named ina un civilians in the 1980s. he was named in a un report for looting diamonds from the democratic republic of congo. he orchestrated the brutal repression, the brutal theft of the 2008 presidential election. he has a long and very unpleasant record. i will say this, i think he will differfrom mugabe will say this, i think he will differ from mugabe in will say this, i think he will differfrom mugabe in one respect. he is much more of a pragmatist, much less of an ideologue and he understands the need for economic reform. he is business savvy. when i interviewed him for the new statesman magazine last year, there

was one sentence statesman magazine last year, there was one sentence thatjumped out. he said capital goes where the weather is warm and welcoming. if it is cold, it flees to another country. he understands that zimbabwe has to have foreign investment. it has to have foreign investment. it has to have western bailouts. mugabe would never have uttered words like that. he understands, i think, the need to restore the rule of law, to encourage investment. in that sense, typical change. i don't think there will be any political reform. he is zanu—pf through and through. he believes in their divine right to rule. but he may well see a more sta ble rule. but he may well see a more stable economy, an improving economy. but to what extent, martin, do you think things have changed dramatically in this country, not just because of robert mugabe, but that demonstration we saw yesterday,

the extraordinary euphoria and exuberance, tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to demand his resignation. do you think that changed the atmosphere politically in this country, whereby nobody can really rule it as a despot in the way mugabe did? eu the military allow the demonstration because they wanted mugabe to go voluntarily, in inverted commas. they didn't want to appear to be a coup, because they don't want zimbabwe to continue being a pariah they know that it need outside help. i think there is a lot of smoke and mirrors. i am going to interrupt you for a moment. you are watching bbc news, live coverage of the crisis here in zimbabwe. martin fletcher, sorry to interrupt you. just finished your thoughts on what you see as the political future

of the country? as i said, i don't think mnangagwa will preside over any sort of relaxation of zanu—pf‘s grip on power. you may see more windowdressing. he may attempt to bring morgan tsvangirai, the mdc leader, and those expelled from zanu—pfa leader, and those expelled from zanu—pf a couple of years ago, you might see him try to bring them into a government of national unity for the sake of appearances. he might try to delay the elections for two three years on the grounds that there is a state of emergency and we have to rebuild the country. all of which would play into his hands. you know, he's not going to allow zanu—pf to be beaten. it will remain in power. just on the mechanisms now

by which mugabe might be pushed out, do you think it is going to come to impeachment? he's going to resist all attempts to get him to resign of his own flea will, and it will be parliament not just kicking his own flea will, and it will be parliament notjust kicking him out of the party leadership but out of the presidency? well, it is not like the presidency? well, it is not like the british system where mps choose who becomes prime minister. mps in the biggest party. he was president, he was elected president, albeit in a rigged election. his calculation, i guess, is that he has some average because the military and mnangagwa don't want this to be seen by the outside world as a coup. what does he want? i guess he wants safe passage for himself and for race, and for his family. and probably for the enormous fortune that they have managed to accrue during his 37

yea rs managed to accrue during his 37 years in power. martin fletcher, thank you very much indeed. let's just recap where we are. there are rallies out there behind me on the streets, prayers being said for the future of this country. the deadline set by zanu—pf, after it stripped robert mugabe of the party leadership, now telling him that he has to resign the presidency of this country by midday tomorrow, local time, orface country by midday tomorrow, local time, or face impeachment proceedings, which would begin on tuesday when parliament resumes. it isa tuesday when parliament resumes. it is a humiliating end to the leadership of robert mugabe of zanu—pf. he has been president and party leader for 37 years. our southern africa correspondent looks back on his career. i, robert gabriel mugabe... robert gabriel mugabe was a revolutionary leader who fought in the liberation struggle against white minority rule. ..and beartrue

allegiance to zimbabwe... his tight grip on power earned him the title of being the oldest head of state in the world. the 93—year—old leader has been in power since zimba bwe's independence in 1980. he has continued his life as an international statesman despite a diminishing reputation, as zimbabwe's economy crumbled amid corruption and violence. mugabe's rise to power began in 1979 when the lancaster house agreement ended white minority rule. at first, he protected minority rights. but in the 2000s, he changed tack — he led a chaotic land reform programme, including redistributing land from white farmers without compensation. the country's economy collapsed with runaway inflation figures. the central bank printed money on a massive scale. supermarket shelves were empty.

a loaf of bread would cost you trillions to buy. mugabe's misrule prompted widespread protests. that was the birth of the opposition mdc, led by trade unionist morgan tsvangirai, who later entered into a power—sharing agreement with mugabe, following a disputed election. the economic climate was unbearable, something it is still struggling to recover from. millions of zimbabweans crossed the border into neighbouring south africa, looking for a better life. he tried to pave the way for his wife, grace mugabe, to be his successor. the army found that unacceptable, saying that "this is not a dynasty". milton nkosi, bbc news, south africa. just speaking about grace mugabe, in

a sense for the whole crisis, zanu—pf not only stripping her husband of the party leadership, also accusing her of provoking hate speech and divisiveness, saying she should be investigated and prosecuted as well. zanu—pf also saying they want to amend the constitution of the country to remove what they say the notion of one centre of power. it is not quite clear what that means, whether it means that, in future, there could not be a dictatorial figure like mugabe. for the moment he has lost his party leadership after four decades. but he is still technically president of the country. zanu—pf setting him that deadline, the dramatic deadline of noon tomorrow, high noon, if you like, for robert mugabe. if he doesn't resign voluntarily, he will be impeached. that would probably begin on tuesday. both houses of parliament

behind me would need a two thirds majority to impeach him. we're hearing that could be fast tracked and done pretty quickly. that would be, ina and done pretty quickly. that would be, in a sense, the final end and final humiliation for robert mugabe. vicki, back to you in the studio. the headlines on bbc news: president mugabe has been dismissed at the leader of the ruling zanu—pf party — a day after tens of thousands marched on the streets calling for him to resign. his wife, grace, has also been expelled from the party. police say they are confident that the body found near swanage is that of the missing teenager gaia pope. her sister described her as the light of my life. the chancellor, philip hammond, has said britain needs to build an extra 300,000 homes a year to make an impact on the housing crisis. the chancellor, philip hammond, says there's no silver bullet to solve britain's housing crisis. but he told the bbc that a range of measures — to be set out in this week's budget — will help to get 300 thousand homes built a year.

mr hammond also dismissed suggestions the government should borrow tens of billions of pounds to fund a massive house building programme. here's our political correspondent, emma va rdy. this is what phillip hammond wants to see, and he's calling time on so—called land—hoarders, saying it is no longer acceptable to have so many sites with planning permission that aren't being built on. today he told the bbc the state would intervene. there are, in london alone, 270,000 residential planning permissions that have not today been built. we need to understand why these planning permissions that are going up all over the country, that will continue to increase across the country, why they are not being built out. on wednesday, philip hammond will announce £5 billion of investment for new housing, and he will reveal a range of measures not only designed to encourage the big construction firms but also schemes such

as government—backed loans for small developers too. there could also be help for first—time buyers on things like stamp duty. the drive for more housing has cross—party support. but labour said today the government isn't doing enough for public services. shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell argued this could be funded by ending tax cuts for the wealthy, not through borrowing. stop giving the tax cuts to the corporations and the rich and recognise you have an emergency out there in terms of public services. invest in those public services. and will these be on our roads by 2021? philip hammond said driverless cars are the future and is setting up plans for new investment for technology and artificial intelligence. but will robots eventually put millions of us out of work? mr hammond said that won't happen, but had to clarify his comment that suggested there is zero unemployment. where are all these unemployed people? there are no unemployed people...

there are a lot of unemployed people. we have created 3.5 million newjobs since 2010. this economy has become a jobs factory. this budget, says philip hammond, is also about building a country that's fit for a post—brexit world. but don't expect anything too controversial. that slim majority means the governmentjust doesn't have strong enough foundations to take many risks. 0ur political correspondent emma vardyjoins me now. a lot of expectation about this budget, of course. have we got any idea how much philip hammond is willing to splash the cash, if you like? he has a reputation as being somebody that is more keen on keeping the purse strings tight. absolutely. he has talked about £5 billion as an investment in housing. compare that to what someone else in his own party, the communities secretary sajid javid, in charge of housing, suggested. he said let's borrow 50 billion for housing. quite

a gulf. you can see that others in his own party wanted to go much further. philip hammond is putting the onus on the big developers, the big construction companies, saying you guys can finish the job. it's not exactly clear whether that would do enough to reach this target of 300,000 new homes each year. in bygone years, before austerity, budgets used to be full of giveaways. it feels like that was quite some time ago. as you say, philip hammond, much tighter with the purse strings. he is saying, look, there are still a budget deficit, we are spending more than we get in taxes. he is saying we are just about to approach the point where we turn the corner and start to bring that down. that is why he is holding firm. they are expecting more caution from him and not loosening the purse strings as much as some would like. there are lots of pressures on him, obviously brexit, which he feels he needs to keep some money, keep some headway in case things go wrong. the pressure of universal credit, many

think more money should be put towards that. he has to juggle all those different things. he does. at the same time, labour keeps ramping up the same time, labour keeps ramping up the pressure on the government and ramping up the pressure on philip hammond to end austerity. labour is pitching itself very differently, actually sane conservatives are the party which continues with the tax cuts for the wealthy, but labour sets out a very distinctive position. we had john mcdonnell this morning talking up the benefits of renationalising the utilities. 0f the benefits of renationalising the utilities. of course, the conservatives need to pick up support amongst young voters, something they are really low on at the moment. any time we come back to the moment. any time we come back to the budget and we look at labour policies, it always comes back to this question of our people ready to trust labour again, do they have the economic credibility? it was pointed out tojohn economic credibility? it was pointed out to john mcdonnell this economic credibility? it was pointed out tojohn mcdonnell this morning that, despite their resurgence under jeremy corbyn, actually, they are still behind on the polls. john mcdonnell himself said, yes, economic credibility as a place where they do need to improve. thank

you very much. we only have to wait until wednesday for the budget to find out what is good to happen. let's get more on the developments in is about way. south african leaders will hold a crisis meeting in angola on tuesday. let's go to johannesburg. what has the reaction been to this momentous event in zimbabwe? well, south africans are com pletely zimbabwe? well, south africans are completely glued to their screens. they are watching development is on social media and news channels. everybody here, remember, south africa is hosting millions of zimbabweans who fled their own country of birth because of the economic crisis there. they have come here, seeking job opportunities. it will be those people, certainly, that following development closely. 0rdinary south africans, because what happened in zimbabwe has a direct bearing on

their daily lives. there has been competition forjobs their daily lives. there has been competition for jobs between zimbabweans, willing to take lower wages compared to south africans, who have been fighting the apartheid system for higher wages when there was a racial segregation, which was legislated, as you know. now, the south africans are following development quite closely. president zuma said two envoys to harare to try to get a fact—finding mission, i suppose. and then on tuesday he is heading up to angola, to meet with the president. they will be looking at it from a regional perspective, from the sudden development community perspective, as to how they resolve the crisis in zimbabwe. today, things have moved pretty quickly. i doubt they will have much

to do particularly if parliament removes president mugabe on tuesday. i was going to say, how much influence were people like president zuma have over what happens to robert mugabe if he decides that he does want to try to cling on to power, to stay there as long as possible, will president zuma and other african leaders try to influenced the decision?” other african leaders try to influenced the decision? i think what president zuma is hoping for is a natural conclusion to president robert mugabe's presidency without having to assist in pushing him out of thejob. as having to assist in pushing him out of the job. as the zimbabweans, and many of them have been saying that they want to deal with this process independently, in other words they said they did not want this whole intervention by the group of leaders, the neighbours surrounding zimbabwe. president zuma isjust trying to make sure that the whole military intervention is brought to a conclusion without any bloodshed on the streets of harare. 0k, thank

you very much indeed. police in dorset say they're treating the death of the teenager gaia pope as unexplained. the 19—year—old's body was found yesterday afternoon close to a coastal path near swanage. she was last seen alive on the 7th of november. 0ur correspondent james ingham is there. the police are trying to establish the circumstances around gaia's death. when she went missing, she was said to be in a distressed state when she was last seen, and didn't have the medication for epilepsy she needed. but detectives believe she may have been killed. they have questioned three people on suspicion of her murder, but all have since been released. in fields behind me here, close to the coastal footpath, forensic teams are at work, near to where gaia's body was found. they are hoping to unearth clues that will be able to guide theirfuture enquiries, together with the postmortem investigation.

this has really shocked the town here. hundreds of volunteers turned out to help. tonight, prayers will be held at a local church service, as this small town comes to terms with her death. time for a look at the weather. changes afoot over the next 2a hours. many others are still enjoying some sunshine. you can see ona enjoying some sunshine. you can see on a satellite picture how the is just starting to build from the west. that will turn the sunshine slowly hazy over the coming hours will stop maybe a bit of light and patchy rain into the western isles of scotland. for most during daylight hours it is dry. this system approaches and will increase the cloud bringing abbots of rain and snow into the scottish hills, heavy rain for parts of northern england as well. further south, mainly dry overnight. much milder but still quite cold. part of scotland, three your four celsius.

but still quite cold. part of scotland, three yourfour celsius. a wet start the day across much of northern ireland, scotland and northern england. still snow over the scottish mansions. try further south. a milder day. the rain may be slow to clear from the midlands and eastern side of england. behind it, dry and potentially brighter conditions. a lot of cloud and a much milder day for most, double figures across england and wales. as we going to tuesday, still u nsettled. we going to tuesday, still unsettled. the heaviest rain across scotland, northern ireland and northern england. drier, but cloudy and milderfurther south. northern england. drier, but cloudy and milder further south. goodbye.