this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines at 11pm: a decision on the succession of the head of the commonwealth will be made tomorrow as the queen says she wa nts made tomorrow as the queen says she wants prince charles to follow her in the role. it is my sincere wish that the commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations, i will decide that one day the prince of wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949. the home office say they're now looking into more than 200 windrush cases. an attempt to clean up plastic pollution as the government sets out plans to ban billions of plastic straws, cotton buds and drinks stirrers. on newsnight, we live from new york where the uk exclusive interview with the former direct of the fbi,

james comey, arguably the most pivotalfigure of james comey, arguably the most pivotal figure of the us election in 2015 that gave us donald trump. we will have live reaction from anthony scaramucci. join us ben. —— we are live from new york with the exclusive uk and you —— join us ben. —— then. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the queen has welcomed commonwealth leaders to buckingham palace for the formal opening of the commonwealth heads of government meeting, which involves representatives from 53 countries and territories. looking to the future, her majesty, who'll be 92 this weekend, told the leaders that it's her sincere wish that prince charles will succeed her one day as head of the commonwealth. the summit is happening amid intense controversy about the government's mistreatment of caribbean migrants who settled in the uk. our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, reports. the diplomatic term for it is "transition".

the careful, discreet preparation for the inevitable, when a monarch, who will be 92 this saturday, is no longer on the throne. commonwealth leaders at a banquet at buckingham palace tonight must decide who will be the next head of the commonwealth. the title is not hereditary, but it is clear that the commonwealth's choice is prince charles. in the palace ballroom this morning, the 53 commonwealth leaders prepared the way. # god save our gracious queen #. # god save our gracious queen # they know that this will almost certainly be the last commonwealth conference over which the queen will preside in person. change is coming, and prince charles reminded the commonwealth of his long—standing involvement in their affairs. for my part, the commonwealth has been a fundamental feature

of my life for as long as i can remember. i pray that this commonwealth heads of government meeting will not only revitalise the bonds between our countries, but will also give the commonwealth a renewed relevance to all its citizens. from britain's prime minister theresa may, a reminder of the incredible opportunities offered by the commonwealth, important, of course, in the post—brexit world. but then to the topic that bound them all emotionally today. a tribute to the queen. you have seen us through some of our most serious challenges and we commit to sustaining this commonwealth, which you have so carefully nurtured. and then it was the turn of the queen to speak. she had committed her life to the commonwealth at the age of 21. now, 71 years later, it was apparent that she was keen to prepare the ground for the leadership of the commonwealth after her death.

it is my sincere wish that the commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations and will decide that one day the prince of wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1919. by continuing to treasure and reinvigorate our associations and activities, i believe we will secure a safer, more prosperous and sustainable world for those who follow us. the commonwealth has big issues for discussion. preserving the oceans, democracy, trade, gay rights, but the significance of today was that for the first time publicly, through the medium of the commonwealth, elizabeth ii looked ahead to the time after her reign is over. nicholas witchell reporting.

billions of plastic straws, drinks stirrers and cotton buds could be banned from sale in england. the government is to launch a consultation while scotland has already announced plans to ban plastic cotton buds. the move today has been prompted, in part, by the huge amount of plastic polluting the world's oceans and waterways. our science editor david shukman has been to indonesia to see how serious the problem is there. soldiers hack away at a dense mass of plastic waste. it's hard to believe, but this is actually a river, and they're trying to clear it up. you can just see the water — underneath all the bags, containers and bottles. this is bandung, one of many indonesian cities choking in so much waste that the army's been called in. for the military, plastic is a new and strange kind of enemy. this looks like a rubbish dump,

it certainly smells like one, but what's striking is that this massive accumulation of plastic is happening in indonesia's rivers, despite the country making a huge effort for several years now to tackle it. itjust shows you the staggering scale of the problem. all the time that the soldiers are at work, the flow of the river brings yet more plastic waste. it's a constant struggle for the officials in charge. do you think you're winning this battle against the plastic? i think so, yeah. we have to win. if not, this is very dangerous for our life. but how long will it take you? i'm sure within ten years. within ten years, you could clear everything up? yes. while we're filming, the soldiers realise they don't have enough trucks to carry away the waste. so they use a diggerjust to push it downstream. it's not exactly a long—term

solution and the plastic floats away to become someone else‘s problem. right beside the river, another nightmare sight, incinerators openly burning plastic. a desolate scene as children stand in the path of the toxic fumes. this is illegal, but the authorities turn a blind eye because it does do something to reduce the mountain of waste, and campaigners say everyone must take responsibility. we need to solve the problem. at the same time, we need also to convince people that we're doing something about this. we're notjust staying still, but we're solving the problem also. and part of that problem is that this landfill site is the only one bandung has. the convoys of rubbish trucks collect just a fraction of the waste generated by several million people in the city. a new load is dumped. flies swarm in the tropical heat. people rush to be first

to search the rubbish. it's incredibly risky. dodging an excavator. someone died here recently. but ironically, they're after the very things that most people want to get rid of. a plastic bottle. 500 people make a living on the dump, including this woman and her children. i ask her how. people are looking for plastic, she says. "it can be sold." "the other rubbish has no value." so toiling in the foul conditions does bring in some cash. plastic, by the sackload, is sold to companies that use it to make new products. the challenge is getting everyone to see that there is value in plastic. little by little, the message is spreading that recycling

can create an income. in a village outside the city, this scheme is tiny, but it's one of many, and separating the different types of plastic earns a higher price. experts say that a culture of just throwing things away is now changing. i think particularly young people here are very much aware of, er, of that they don't want to be part of this problem, and they want to have a future that is at least a plastic—free environment. so they're working hard for that. but a view from the air reveals just how massive the challenge is. plastic dumped close to the river soon finds its way into the water and then downstream. near the coast, we came across this canal on the edge of the capital, jakarta. once again, you can hardly see the water, there's so much plastic. and down at the coast, a fishing village looks like it's

drowning in plastic. the children here are growing up surrounded by the stuff. it's depressing evidence of how much still needs to be done to clear up. so what begins as a local problem of failing to handle waste turns into a global one, as the oceans fill with plastic. david shukman, bbc news, indonesia. the chairman of save the children, the charity facing claims of harrassment against a number of its staff, has resigned. sir alan parker said there'd been some unacceptable workplace behaviour at the charity while he was in charge. save the children is currently facing an investigation by the charity commission. our correspondent, james landale, gave us more details. documents circulated internally at the home office over two years ago warned that theresa may's attempt as home secretary to create

a hostile environment for illegal immigrants might well cause difficulties for british citizens born overseas. some people who've been unable to prove their migration status have been denied nhs treatment, lost theirjobs and even been threatened with deportation. our community affairs correspondent, adina campbell, is at the home office tonight. these were documents designed to make it more difficult for people living here in the uk without the right paperwork to access benefits, benefits such as property within the rental market and the first documents claiming in the 2014 immigration act and a second similar document came in a couple of years later in 2016. now, the home office has responded to this and it has said significant work was done to ensure there wasn't an adverse impact on this group of people stopping now, tonight, a big public meeting has been taking place, this

was a meeting arranged by labour mps and hundreds of people turned up for that meeting, we heard some very personal, emotive stories on some of those affected as well as some angry speeches from some of the mps supporting this group. we know a helpline set up earlier this week to how people affected, there have been more than 200 enquiries to that helpline, and tonight we can confirm four people have had their cases resolved. adina campbell there. a bbc reporter who broke a story about sir cliff richard's home being searched by police investigating a claim of historical sexual assault has denied strong arming senior officers into cooperating with him. danjohnson officers into cooperating with him. dan johnson told the officers into cooperating with him. danjohnson told the high court he was aware of privacy issues around the story but he said those matters we re the story but he said those matters were dealt with by people higher up. the evidence came on the sixth day of the singer's privacy action against the broadcaster. sir cliff was never arrested oi’ against the broadcaster. sir cliff

was never arrested or charged. the corporation said its reporting was in the public interest. a woman has gone on trialfor in the public interest. a woman has gone on trial for murder after being accused of throwing acid over her former partner in an attack that left him with such serious injuries he was granted the right to end his life. miss wallace is accused of attacking this dutch engineer in bristol in 2015. she denies all the charges. the pilot of a jet that crashed during the short run airshow has appeared in court charged with manslaughter. 54—year—old andrew hill was flying a hawker hunterjet fighter as part of an aerobatic display when it came down on the a 27 sure bypass nearly three years ago, leading to the deaths of 11 people. —— scored bypass. that's a of the news. now on bbc news, it's time for newsnight. tonight, we bring you a newsnight special live from new york — a uk exclusive interview with former fbi directorjames comey. perhaps the most pivotal figure

in the us presidential election of 2016 that gave us donald trump. although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes recounting the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. it was an an important role and prominent role. whether it made a difference in the election, i do not know and i hope not. arguably, after putin, no one outside had more influence on what happened. that is the thing i hope is not true. no one had a more difficult role than the fbi but i don't know the answer to the ultimate question. and his firing — by trump — was the beginning of the mueller investigation into alleged links between russia and the trump campaign. do you dislike him?

not as a person. as a person i feel sorry for him. i dislike his actions, particularly on the rule of law. also tonight, we'll ask president trump's former director of communications, anthony scaramucci, what he makes of it. good evening from new york. the former director of the fbi has told this programme he has no faith that there is anyone around donald trump to stop the president from acting impulsively. speaking in his first uk interview, james comey told me he hoped he himself had not been pivotal in the election of donald trump, and he believed that the special council investigation into alleged links between russia and the trump campaign would go on even if trump chose to fire robert mueller and his team. james comey also told me he felt "sorry" for the president. you'll hear that interview in full in a moment, and we will be getting live reaction to it from former white house director of communications anthony scaramucci.