the local elections. labour fails to make the gains it wanted. the conservatives suffer losses, though not the drubbing some had feared. jeremy corbyn‘s party took plymouth, but their high profile campaign in london didn't bring the success they hoped for. obviously i am disappointed in any of the places where we lost a bit of ground, but if you look at the overall picture, labour gained a lot of seats across the coal country. we gained a lot of votes in places where we had not had those votes before. theresa may claims the party did well as the conservatives lose councillors but hold on in some key areas. we won't take anything for granted. we will continue to work hard for local people and we will build on this success for the future. the liberal democrats celebrate victories in cambridgeshire, and richmond, as support for ukip collapses. we'll be looking at what swung the vote and where this leaves the parties. also tonight.... how failings are shortening the life expectancy of some people with learning disabilities by up to 30 years. caught in spain — one of britain's most wanted fugitives and a former suspect in the murder of stephen

lawrence. and stephen gerrard on the moment he was asked to become the new manager of rangers. there were a lot of things to think about, but, from that phone call, i got a special feeling and i knew rangers was for me. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, a big night for both teams at the amex with manchester united hoping to all but nail down second place in the premier league while brighton could ensure survival. good evening. the local elections in england have largely seen voters stick with the status quo with neither of the two main parties able to celebrate significant gains. labour has fallen short of the expectations of many in the party and failed to make the inroads supporters

had hoped for. the conservatives lost councillors but outperformed predictions. the conservatives took control of barnet which many attribute directly to the labour row over anti—semitism. they also won basildon, peterborough and redditch. but they lost control of six councils. two went to labour — kirklees in yorkshire and plymouth. but labour lost the leadership of derby and nuneaton which went to ‘no overall control‘. the liberal democrat leader vince cable said his party winning control of four councils from the tories — richmond—upon—thames, three rivers in hertfordshire, south cambridgeshire and kingston—upon—thames — marked the start of the party's fightback. but it was a near wipeout for ukip. they won on average just over 6% of the vote for the council seats that they fought — losing 123 councillors. on councillors, the tally a short time ago, looks like this — labour gained 59, conservatives lost 31, lib dems gained 75, and the greens up 8. the bbc analysis of the votes

suggests that in a general election the two main parties would be neck and neck on a projected vote share of 35 per cent each — with the liberal democrats on 16. here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. there had been a lot of tory nerves, but they held them, for the most part. here, in a famous tory council, wandsworth, they clung on. but only just. they thought they could take control. this was one of their top targets and they threw everything at it, but they failed. cheering and applause. the prime minister and her party are relieved to have held on in areas like this, rather than being overjoyed to be making any progress. what do you think it says about the tories right now, that labour ran it so close in such

a traditional tory area? well, it's not surprising, there are big national issues out there, which they attempted to capitalise on. ultimately, it was the cliches, bins not brexit, actually that was the thing that made the difference. i think that the result last night showed that they are all mouth and not a lot of trousers, if that is the word. it wasn't a victory lap, but a tour of the ground they had held, but the tories did lose seats, but only two councils. by traditional standards for a party who has been in power for eight years, you can see from their faces, that is better than they had hoped. thank you very much. is he walking towards power, though? labour did edge up. taking two councils, plymouth and kirklees, but losing three others. dramatic strides to number 10 — not quite. i am absolutely ready for it.

we've got numbers, we've got organisation, we've got enthusiasm. look at these people here they have come out, having been up all night at the count in plymouth, celebrating. that is what labour is about. so we haven't seen peak corbyn then? oh no, there is much more to come and it is going to get even better. his legions of supporters agree. i am really excited for what plymouth can come up with and what labour can do for us. thrilled about the plymouth result. i think it is about time. cheering and applause. they certainly had reasons to be cheerful around the country, pushing the tories out of power in trafford, the only patch of blue in the north—west sea of red. piling on council seats in the cities. but not enough to grab their high—profile targets in london. the mayor there left before the disappointment of one of the big results. conservative, 3567. and labour's hopes of capturing barnet, where there is a big jewish population, crashed,

partly due to anti—semitism in the party. you put it down to that? looking at how the votes went in different wards, that was certainly the biggest factor. and outside the cities, labour could not stop many towns from turning tory. swindon stayed blue, they took basildon, peterborough, the conservatives scooping up the most from voters deserting ukip in their droves. cheering and applause. but the lib dems burst out of their lethargy, taking from the tories. cheering and applause. the only party promising a public vote on the brexit deal turned pockets like tory richmond, yellow. whether it is against labour or conservatives, in brexit or remain country, we are reasserting ourselves as a major national force, down to a lot of hard work and effort and ijust want to thank all of you for what you have achieved.

but some of that success was down to happy greens working alongside. they gained a sprinkling of seats themselves. i feel incredibly positive, we have exceeded our expectations, we have broken through on five new councils, managed to defend a lot of seats that were being attacked by the bigger parties. this place had almost got used to turmoil every time voters went to the polls, but this time around, the public has chosen something like the status quo. labour edging up a little, the tories slipping slightly, but that doesn't mean that nothing has changed. perhaps the lack of movement tells us both main parties are even more firmly stuck in their comfort zone. for labour, some disappointment, but no disaster. don't worry, we are going to be here a lot as well. for the tories, a sigh of relief rather than celebration. are you going to call a general election, prime minister?

laughter. no, i think we are just going to enjoy this. voters perhaps not yet ready for that kind of dramatic change. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. as we've heard, labour held on to their strongholds in a number of inner cities including birmingham. but they failed to win some key target seats, like wandsworth and swindon — where our deputy political editorjohn pienaar has been talking to voters. we know how people voted — those that bothered. the question now is why? good morning, this is bbc five live, your call, we are in wandsworth, where labour didn't get over the line. we want to hear from you, wherever you are. i didn't vote, i don't have any faith in uk politics, and i don't think there's any real leaders to vote for, so there's no point in voting at the moment. not everyone turned down all the choices on offer. which way did you go? conservative. why? i've lived here for the last 30 years and enjoyed one of the lowest council taxes in the country, throughout that period.

you voted with your wallet? completely, and why would i want to vote any other way? here's pete in trafford, how did you vote? i voted labour for the first time, purely based on local issues. i have always been a tory voter, but living here, it put me off. these were local elections, people weren't choosing a government, and they knew that, but we're still seeing, from the results we have got, what a divided, polarised country this is, and more so than ever after brexit. and even so, people in a local election like this one have any number of different reasons for how they cast their vote. local elections, what about you? in the end, i voted lib dem, i could not be bothered with the other two. i am sick of them, really. honestly, i wish someone in the council would bring through on compost bins. that is the biggest issue for you, compost bins? compost bins, yes. i don't understand why the council can't put in compost bins, so we can reduce waste. it's something other countries do. how did you vote and tell us why.

ivoted labour, because i believe they are still working for the people, the working—class. jeremy corbyn is a polarising figure. we got this text into the phone—in, from morris in manchester. i voted conservative because of my disdain forjeremy corbyn and his cronies. isjeremy a plus or a minus? he can be a minus at times, but labour's notjust one person. the messages from around the country showed strong feelings, deeply split. labour was the party to stop the poor paying for the greed of the rich again, said one. a tory supporter texted, governments always get a bashing in local elections. this was an absolute disaster for corbyn. he made this trip three times, but in swindon, labour only gained a single seat — hard effort gone to waste? party loyalty‘s often an unbreakable habit, however you describe yourself. an historic conservative voter. it's in your blood? it's in my blood. i can't ever imagine voting for any other party. i never vote.

i don't believe in none of them. none of them? none of them — a load of rubbish. i used to vote for conservative before. you voted conservative before, but labour this time? yes. what changed your mind? to bring somebody new to the council this time. what with brexit, internal struggles, it's harder now for any party to get to the top of the pile. not much changed in these elections. but then, so many old rules of politics have ended up on the scrapheap. john pienaar, bbc news, swindon. sinn fein has won the west tyrone by—election. the party's successful candidate — orla begley — becomes the first woman to hold the seat — but as with all sinn fein mps she won't take her place at westminster. our political editor laura kuenssberg is in westminster tonight. so while the parties are all putting their best foot forward, claiming some victories, there has been no great change. we must remember, this is a

particular set of results based on a particular set of results based on a particular set of contests around england,. we have to introduce caveats were we are trying to translate that into any kind of national result. those caveats given, it is possible to use what has happened in the last 2a hours to project some kind of sense into what might happen if they were to be a general election any time soon. and what these results suggest is, that those of the main westminster parties would pretty much be level pegging. it buy it be something that would feel pretty much like a dead heat. what that means, really, we have been in the kind of situation where whatever the political roller—coaster is of the last six months, we would end up with neither labour nor the conservatives able to

rule on their own. we would have a kind of continuation notjust of a hung parliament, but they hung kind of politics. both of the main parties have the difficulties, both of them have their divisions, but given how even these results suggest they truly are, the question for theresa may and fourjeremy corbyn is which one of them is really willing, if able to really tried to do something different to be able to break out of that stalemate. thank you. and if you want to find out the result where you live, log on to our election 2018 web page at bbc.co.uk/election2018 and enter your postcode in the box there. for the first time, the premature deaths of people with learning disabilities have been investigated by nhs england. out of 103 cases, there were serious failings in one in eight deaths — with patients suffering from abuse, neglect and delays in treatment. in two thirds of cases, mistakes were found in the care of patients.

the report also highlighted that the life expectancy of those with learning disabilities is dramatically lower than the national average in england — 29 years lower for women and 23 years lowerfor men. 0ur disability affairs correspondent nikki fox has been hearing from some of the families involved. it's so devastating, really. it shouldn't have happened. if all those measures to protect him had been in place, i'd still have a son. the lives of people with learning disabilities aren't as important as those of other people. they can't hurt her now. a society is known by how they treat their most vulnerable people. these are just some of the faces of those with learning disabilities who died too young. nickjones was one of them. nick loved coming here, all this open space. he was so mischievous. in 2014, his mum sue took him to southmead hospital in bristol with a ruptured kidney.

because nick had a learning disability, he was supposed to receive one—to—one care, but that didn't happen. we witnessed nicholas being left alone in soiled beds. he had removed cannulas and tubes. 27 days later, nick died. an inquest found that gross failings and neglect by the hospital contributed to his death. we weren't listened to. a failure to spot his decline meant that sue had to try and resuscitate her own son on the hospital ward. i had performed three cycles of cpr before a young doctor entered the room. ijust remember leaving the room, and my knees just buckled. and that was it. do you think nick would have got better medical treatment had he not had a learning disability? yes. the trust has since apologised to nick's family and says it has improved its training programmes.

nhs england commissioned today's report, the first of its kind following the preventable death of this young man, conor sparrowhawk. the problem has been that the project is under resourced. now his mum wants action. jeremy hunt made a big speech about trying to prevent these deaths from happening and in actual fact, the situation is worse now than it was before. those involved in training health care professionals say that increasing specialist care is vital. what we need to see is government and nhs england making sure that learning disability nurses are in every single health trust. we're all human beings, just like anybody else, and deserve the same access to health care. so far, only 8% of the 1300 reported deaths have been reviewed. nhs england says an extra £1.11 million will be spent to increase that number and that early lessons will feed into care. but for the many bereaved families,

they want to see immediate action so that more people don't die prematurely, just because they have a learning disability. nikki fox, bbc news. one of britain's most wanted fugitives has been captured in barcelona. jamie acourt is wanted for his alleged involvement in the large—scale supply of drugs. he is also a former suspect in the murder of the black teenager stephen lawrence. he has always denied involvement in stephen's death. daniel sandford is outside new scotland yard. what more can you tell us? well, jane neil acourt was on the run and was on the list of britain's most run and was on the list of britain's m ost wa nted run and was on the list of britain's most wanted suspects who are believed to be living in spain —— jamie acourt. he was arrested by armed officers from the spanish national and at a gym in barcelona, which is close to the famous cathedral. this was him shortly

after his arrest today. the national crime agency, which coordinated the operation, and which directed spanish police to wearjamie acourt was, says that he was wanted by the metropolitan police on suspicion of a large scale supply of drugs. he was detained using a european arrest warrant, which are designed to make it easier to arrest people and fellow european countries and the fairly short extradition proceeding should begin in madrid at a quarterly next week. he was, as you said, one of the original suspects in the stephen lawrence murdered 25 yea rs in the stephen lawrence murdered 25 years ago. he was one of those who gave evidence to the stephen lawrence enquiry but there and ever since he's always denied any involvement in stephen lawrence's murder. daniel sandford at new scotla nd murder. daniel sandford at new scotland yard, thank you. donald trump has said that americans' right to own guns are "under siege", in a speech to the powerful national rifle association. and he suggested that the uk's tough gun laws had led to a rise in knife crime. the president said a hospital in london was like "a war zone" because of the number of stabbing

victims it was having to treat. from dallas, gary 0'donoghue reports. there he is, there's donaldj trump. travelling to the nra's convention has become an annual pilgrimage for president trump but recent mass shootings have put the organisation on the back foot, but today, the president remained staunch in his defence of them and their right, constitutionally, to own a gun. your second amendment rights are under siege, but they will never, ever, be under siege as long as i am your president. cheering and applause. but after the shooting of 17 students and teachers at the school in parkland, florida, on valentine's day, the mood has changed, with young people around the country, keeping gun control at the forefront of the debate. my my daughter has no voice. she was

murdered last week. shortly after that shooting, the president seemed prepared to stand up to the organisation, though little action followed. let's talk about guns, shall we? cheering but there was no such tough talk at the nra today. the president also suggesting that just having tight gun laws like those in london did not stop people being killed in other ways. even though britain's murder rate is a fraction of that in the united states. i recently read a story that in london, which has unbelievably tough gun laws, a once very prestigious hospital, right in the middle, is like a war zone for horrible stabbing wounds. yes, that's right. they don't have guns, they have knives. lindsay falcon was one of those close by urging tighter controls. her nephew was one of four people killed in a waffle house

shooting in tennessee last month. please stop calling us stupid, you know, for wanting to protect our children. this was an uncompromising speech by the president in a year where the there are congressional elections are unlikely to be compromise by republicans. gary 0'donoghue, bbc news. public health england says more than 10,000 calls have been made to an official helpline, since a failure in the breast cancer screening programme was revealed. 0ne charity says it's had four times the usual number of people getting in touch with them . almost 500,000 women were not invited for their final routine check due to a computer error. here's our health editor, hugh pym. phone rings. how can i help you? hello. after several attempts helen got through to the official breast screening helpline. it was set up after catastrophic errors caused hundreds of thousands of women to miss their routine mammogram. helen was one of them. she was diagnosed with breast cancer in march and had a mastectomy. we're all post—war babes. we've worked all our lives probably, most of us — paid into the system.

now we're in our late 60s and early 70s we're probably not wanted anymore. i feel desperately sorry and very, very angry for those who have gone on to have aggressive breast cancer in those intervening years. those aged between 50 and 70 should be invited every three years for breast screening, but it failings and other mistakes over nine years meant that some older women in england never got the letters. there are still questions over when the screening failure was first identified. public health england say injanuary 2018 they were first informed of a national problem. but in march 2017, local health officials in london and the west midlands raised concerns with the it contractor hitachi consulting. they were told there were no software problems. it's understood this exchange was referred up to national level. hitachi consulting said it had no responsibility for the error that's led to this situation and had been engaged merely to maintain and support the system as designed.

breast cancer charities, like this one, say they're extremely busy as people get in touch seeking reassurance and an explanation of what the screening errors might mean for them. hello, breast cancer care helpline. call volume here has been four times the normal level, with people raising a range of concerns. some people are angry they've been missed out and some people are reallyjust worried and want to make sure that they do the right thing for themselves, whether they choose to attend breast screening or not. they want that opportunity. helen simply wants someone to hold their hand up. i'd like to see a certain amount of compensation but certainly actually people probably falling on their swords. people at the top who are responsible for all this need to actually admit to the problem and actually resignations probably are in order. the department of health and social care and public health england said they weren't

available for interview. hugh pym, bbc news. steven gerrard has been appointed as the new manager of rangers. the former liverpool and england captain will take over in the summer on a four—year deal. it's his first step into elite management, as our sports correspondent natalie pirks explains. steven gerrard is well used to the spotlight, but never before as number one. in the end, it was the butterflies that got him. it was a no—brainer for me. there were a lot of things to think about, but from that phone call i got a special feeling, and i knew rangers was for me. rangers' chiefs say gerrard's ability and character outweighs the inexperience. he certainly had ability in spades. a 19—year playing career brought him nine major trophies and 114 caps for his country. since retirement in 2016, he's been

coaching liverpool's youth teams, but despite a massive first step into the glare of management, fans at ibrox believe they've got the right man. a wonderful aura, rangers need a leader and we have been lacking a leaderfor a long time. he's a winner and rangers deserve to have winners. we're looking forward to him being part of our establishment and good team, and hopefully the future will be bright for us. we need to stop celtic, we need to stop celtic now. and there's gerrard's biggest task — restoring rangers to their heyday. in liquidation just six years ago, the club has promised to back him with the cash he needs to break celtic‘s stranglehold on the scottish premiership. his former liverpool manager brendan rodgers led celtic to the club's seventh successive title last weekend. i always say when i welcome new managers into the job, it's welcome to the land of no sleep. it's a totally different experience, but you only get that through doing it.

i am sure he will really enjoy it. of course, he'll want to do well with his team, and that's the only thing i can't wish him the very best with! i just want to win football matches. that's what i love doing — that's my buzz. that's what i want to do here and that's the demand here and i am ready for that. he'll need to translate that passion into points — and soon. natalie pirks, bbc news. that's it. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. have a very good night. hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm hugh ferris. the headlines tonight. stevie g is for gaffer.

gerrard steps into a demanding spotlight taking over at rangers for his first managerial job since retiring. one season. one survival. brighton are staying up after beating manchester united forjust the second time in their history. just as goalline technology gives them a famous win. and it's a bumpy start for chris froome as the giro d'italia begins injerusalem. good evening. thanks forjoining us. steven gerrard says he is honoured to become rangers manager. 18 months after the former liverpool and england captain stopped playing. this is no gentle reintroduction to football. in his first managerialjob he will be expected to bridge the gap in glasgow as soon

as possible, a city dominated by celtic‘s success. pressure? well, he says, "bring it on". here is bbc scotland's senior football reporter chris mclaughlin. yes, a huge day for rangers here in glasgow. a huge day for scottish football as well. hundreds of fans were here on the south side, trying to catch a glimpse of stephen gerrard, the former liverpool and england captain. this is a support that had to deal with a lot of pain in recent years, watching celtic pretty much move out of sight on and off the field. but this support finally believe that the club has a man who can finally turn all of that around. it was an open secret anyway, but rangers wanted to do it their way. no shots of the new man, not yet anyway. fans also wanted a glimpse,

this is not one to be missed. then inside the stadium, in a new club tie, stephen gerrard entered the world of football management and said exactly what those outside wanted to hear. when the call came with a chance to speak to rangers, it was a no—brainer for me. i have a different feeling in my stomach. from the previous opportunities i have had in terms of being a number one manager. so yeah, there were a lot of things to think about, but from that phone call, i got a special feeling and i knew rangers was for me. i was very happy to get someone of the ability and character, which i think is very important. in this instance, i do not think the inexperience will necessarily work against it. i think it can be a plus in this case. this is the reality, though. he faces a rapid celtic

pretty much out of sight. and as gerrard was chatting, his old boss had this to say. i am delighted for him. he obviously has had an incredible playing career and wanted to manage, wanted to coach. and now he gets the opportunity to do that. i always say to new managers into the job it is welcome to the land of no sleep. do not talk to rangers fans about sleepless nights but can the they now dare to dream? i think what we need to come back... he will bring passion, and a physical presence to rangers and that is what we are not getting at this point in time. a big move, a bold move to him and maybe even a gamble.