nuctf attack on theresa may. he did an attack on theresa may. he did call for a change. he did, an attack on theresa may. he did call fora change. he did, but an attack on theresa may. he did call for a change. he did, but you know as well as i do having been there, this is a febrile time of the year always at westminster and in 2018, the mps i have spoken to, they consider it a poisonous time as well. the prime minister is going on a tour, we are told in the papers, during the summerand a tour, we are told in the papers, during the summer and i a tour, we are told in the papers, during the summerand i hope a tour, we are told in the papers, during the summer and i hope she finds time for one of her long walks around the welsh countryside, i think it is, to get away from it. what struck me about it was, neither side of this great debate seems to acce pt side of this great debate seems to accept that the other side got roughly 50% of the country. and i thought the idea was the referendum, when it was over, would pull everybody together. and nobody seems to be pulling everybody together. you are absolutely right, and in the last week, every day, it could not get any worse, the amount of

mudslinging and people nicholas soames, an mp for 35 years, he mudslinging and people nicholas soames, an mpfor35 years, he has set in 35 years, this is the worst it has been. the atmosphere is poisonous, mps on their own side attacking each other and it is not just the tory party. labour resignations today as well. it is extraordinary. a couple of days ago, people were saying theresa may would still survive, she has the numbers, and in the last 2a hours, people who thought maybe she did not, she has had a good meeting with a 22 committee and she does seem to have appeased, for now. but you are right, this lack of compromise and being able to see things from the other side is extraordinary. you needis other side is extraordinary. you need is therefore new. whether it is nicholas soames and his national government, where will that come from, for goodness' sake? where can it possibly, how can that happen at this moment? you can't believe it. a

coalition government. a general election is nearer tonight, another general election, and it has been for ages. and maybe theresa may is laying the groundwork for that. the times reporting she is going to go out to woo grassroots tories. because those are the people she needs to go out and do some of the footwork. absolutely, it is interesting, but you'd think it is blocking something out of the air, i am going to go on a tour and convince people. it is a pr man solution. david, i have picked up on this and the last day, it is beginning, there is a muttering about a grand coalition government. you can't imagine how that works when they can't get along with people in their own party but people like robert preston has written about this this evening. he's not saying it should happen, but he is picking up on mutterings about that and that is fascinating. at the

moment, theresa may is the least worst option for the conservative party. that has to be how she survives. and she knows that, i suspect. whether she is enjoying it, i can't believe she is enjoying it. but that is where we are. is something going to change over the summer? will people, down over the summer? will people, down over the summer? there is something called party conferences in september. that will calm things down, won't it?|j don't believe it. is that what boris was doing today, saying he could lead a coalition government?|j was doing today, saying he could lead a coalition government? i can't imagine anybody wanting to be in it but maybe that was behind his thinking. it is hard to see how one would be formed. it is unlikely to seejeremy would be formed. it is unlikely to see jeremy corbyn would be formed. it is unlikely to seejeremy corbyn agreeing to form a government of national unity with either theresa may or boris. government of national unity with either theresa may or borism certainly would not be him. you can form a coalition government at times of great crisis and it is eased argue we are in one now. and

fascinating that, of course, the new brexit secretary dominic raab is trying to lay the groundwork for if they fail to get agreement on all of this. and if we do end up crashing out without a deal. the financial times with this story. the link with boris... he was critical with those of his colleagues on the brexit side like, one assumes, dominic raab, and michael gove, for staying on in the cabinet. he seems to suggest they had some dream that somehow, they might geta had some dream that somehow, they might get a deal and then they can tweak it and improve it and all the rest. the dominic raab story in the financial times is basically that the government is thinking now very seriously, it's another one consideration is what —— is whether we crash out and what then, what happens next? talk about project

fear! you will have project fear, 2.5 with that. and interesting also, dominic raab has his first meeting with eu negotiators tomorrow which the ft mentions. all eyes on that to see, all these insinuations that actually, the cabinet members are not doing the negotiations, the civil servants are doing the negotiations, so that is an interesting power play. fascinating stuff! lots of other stories. moving on to the guardian, which talks about brexit and has a picture of sir cliff richard after winning that court case today. perhaps at last, we are going to have a proper debate in this country in the digital age, in these very, very challenging times, with new technology, of on the one hand freedom of the media and freedom of information shared with the public and on the other hand, your right to

privacy. it seems to me, even those of us who were phone hacking victims early on in all that and he agonised about that during that period and to think we were very strong supporters of freedom of the media and we still are,i of freedom of the media and we still are, ijust still of freedom of the media and we still are, i just still uneasy of freedom of the media and we still are, ijust still uneasy about what is the defence of what happens to cliff richard, who was not arrested, he was not charged, he was not guilty? slinging him out wasjust in the public interest, because it might draw more people out who had done wrong for the police's benefit. iam very done wrong for the police's benefit. i am very uneasy about that. it is difficult because we had two arguments. cliff richard's legal team's argument won and they said his right to privacy in the convention of human rights, article eight, is more important than

article ten, which was the bbc‘s defence, which is the right to know and the rights to freedom of expression. thejustice and the rights to freedom of expression. the justice mann and the rights to freedom of expression. thejustice mann had to decide which side to come down on and he came down on the side of privacy and that has huge indications. the trouble with his defence and his summary of his decision is when he talks about the way that the bbc decided to go about covering that story, his criticism is that it was about protecting the scoop and he says, of course you are allowed to protect the scoop, but if thatis allowed to protect the scoop, but if that is your primary objective rather than the public‘s rate to know, that is a problem. huge implications and fascinating to know if the bbc will appeal and get the support of other newspapers. if the bbc will appeal and get the support of other newspapersm if the bbc will appeal and get the support of other newspapers. it is interesting, the sun and the guardian are unlikely bedfellows on media freedom under threat, in a big way. the sun on its front page, the ruling threatens to gag free speech,

coming down firmly against the judge's ruling. coming down firmly against the judge's ruling. what does one say to sir cliff richard? does one say, well, we are sorry, the bbc has said, we are sorry. they have not, they have said, we are sorry he is distressed, they refuse to issue a proper apology which was probably the legal position. i don't think thatis the legal position. i don't think that is mean hearted, that is probably legal advice, but he was bitter he did not have that apology. the lawyers have not had a wonderful run in the past few months, one might argue, i don't know. this is an extraordinary case and now president has been set. it will be fascinating see whether as in the leather suitcase, the newspaper editors and publishers do back the bbc because it is in their interest to do so, or whether the urge to kick the bbc will be so strong, they cannot yet. but fascinating. a couple of other stories. back on

the front page of the times, losing religion can be seriously good for your wealth. this is an extraordinary story suggesting that being religious is not particularly good if you want your country to get richer. what is funny about this is that academics in america, in tennessee university and bristol university, got together to test the theory that nations become more secular after becoming richer. they did their research and decided it is the other way round and you don't lose your faith when you gain wealth, you gain wealth and you lose yourfor wealth, you gain wealth and you lose your for luck. dashiell wealth, you gain wealth and you lose yourfor luck. dashiell faith. they we re yourfor luck. dashiell faith. they were surprised by this. the explanation is that as a nation you lose your faith, it you become explanation is that as a nation you lose yourfaith, it you become more tolera nt lose yourfaith, it you become more tolerant about, this is what they say, this could get me in hot water! the university of tennessee! you become more tolerant for individual rights including women and gay

people, divorce and abortion, and that somehow increases wealth because she get more people in the workforce. just squeezing in the metro with a story about the cave boysin metro with a story about the cave boys in thailand which gripped audiences around the world. well, 12 boys and a coach? a football team. at the end of the world cup. trapped for two weeks in this cave. you could not believe they survived. and then you saw them today coming out in front of a huge news conference andi in front of a huge news conference and i thought, these are nine, ten, 13—year—old boys behaving with extraordinary calmness and dignity and it was an incredibly impressive sight and sound. and you had to take your hat off to them and indeed the thai authorities. and a very heart—warming sight, talking about

the food they have missed.|j heart—warming sight, talking about the food they have missed. i did not realise they were trying to dig their way out, they were drinking water coming down through the roof of the cave and this quote saying, sorry we were so of the cave and this quote saying, sorry we were so naughty, that is heartbreaking! but so sweet. they are children. thank you, both. that is it for the papers this hour. you'll both be back at half eleven. good evening. another day, another sunset. this one containing a lot of cloud for our weather watcher in devon. there have been large areas of cloud join today, but that will continue to melt away through tonight. clear and starry skies overhead, some mist and fog patches and temperatures, 8—9d in the countryside in scotland and towns

and cities 15 or 16 degrees. tomorrow, early mist clearing quickly and lots of fine weather, spells of sunshine, is more transmission tower in eastern scotland, north east england and bigger cloud bringing outbreaks of rain to the far north west by the end of the day. temperatures up to 21 degrees in aberdeen and edinburgh. 28, 29 in the south east. out of thursday and friday, this system out of thursday and friday, this syste m m oves out of thursday and friday, this system moves from the north west. a bit of a change because this brings some rain. much needed in many places, across scotland and northern ireland, heavy for a time. as the wet weather sinks into england and wales during friday, it will fade out and large parts of the south stay dry all day. warm in the south as well and cooler with more cloud further north. if you are looking for rain in the south east, there is the chance of hit and miss thunderstorms from the south on

friday evening. at many places fall between the gaps and stay dry. if you do get a thunderstorm, it could give a lot of rain in a short space of time. the frontal system with the rain and showers moves to the near continent on saturday and high—pressure reasserts itself, so saturday, another largely fine trade —— day with sunshine and areas of patchy cloud floating around. temperatures between 19 and 25 degrees. a little down on friday, but that's not last. sunday, temperatures up again, the best sunshine on sunday across southern and south—western parts. more cloud further north and west, but notice the temperatures bouncing back. to sun things up for this weekend, there would be a lot of dry weather, some spells of sunshine, and just a little rain at at times. this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00pm: sir cliff richard says he is relieved after winning his privacy case against the bbc.

he has been awarded £210,000. there has to be something done that says you cannot do this again, you must not do it again, and i'm still not sure why they didn't have some kind of legal advice that would stop them. i was never even arrested, let alone charged. borisjohnson appeals to theresa may to reconsider her brexit strategy, warning the uk will exist in a state of miserable, permanent limbo unless she changes course. it is not too late to save brexit. we have changed tack once, and we can change again. president trump has said he is holding vladimir putin