this is bbc world news today, i'm ben bland. our top stories: the former leader of the liberal democrats lord paddy ashdown has died at the age of 77. he led the liberal democrats for over a decade and was the first leader after the liberal party merged with the social democrats in 1988. he also served as international high representative in bosnia. from across the political spectrum, tributes have been paid to lord ashdown, including from the former prime minister sirjohn major and tony blair. police investigating the drones at gatwick search our house in west sussex following the arrest of a man and woman from crawley. good evening. it has been announced

that the former liberal democrat leader lord paddy ashdown has died at the age of 77. he began his career in the military as a royal marine and led the liberal democrats for 11 years in 1988. in november, this year, he revealed he had been diagnosed with ladder cancer. —— bladder cancer. wejoin diagnosed with ladder cancer. —— bladder cancer. we join sir vince cable now. a very sad evening for the party and you yourself personally. talk to us about what sort of figure lord ashdown was. well, he was a very formidable man. it is very sad that we have lost him. he was politically active and really very dynamic and full of

ideas, right to the end. he was a big figure at our party conference only a few months ago. going back to the beginning, he was mr action man, he was ex—military, full of drive, full of ambition, full of energy, and that is how he led the party and he let us from a very low base in the mid—19 80s to a position of being a formidable new third force in which politics in the mid—90s which is when i got a leg did in 1997, very much on his coat—tails. he was very charismatic, a strong leader, led from the front, a good strong opinions and very idealistic. he had a very strong belief in britain's international mission. he was in favour of humanitarian intervention in yugoslavia and later served as our representative there. as the united nations, he fought for the rights of people of hong kong

when they were threatened from —— with exclusion from britain. those we re with exclusion from britain. those were some of the elements in this really remarkable individual. you spoke earlier of the immense affection that he would inspire. yes, indeed. i mean, he was a tough man, truly, you have strong opinions, strong views about how things should be done, but he was a lwa ys things should be done, but he was always very clear and straightforward and honest and people knew what they were taking on, andi people knew what they were taking on, and i think that inspired trust and affection in him. it was a very long career that he had, he started as leader of the liberal democrats, effectively being the first leader of this new party, this merged party between the liberals and the social democrats, a difficultjob at the time. it was difficult indeed. i think he described it, we were at

that point an asterisk in the opinion polls. and gradually, he built up the strength of the party in the decade. we progressed through by—elections, through growing influence, and we had a really successful period in the late 1990s when all of this hard work on leadership produced good results. i think, actually, you have to go back before his leadership of the party. he served as an example about how politics is done. he started from virtually nothing in yeovil, he was unemployed for a while, did all kinds of interesting things —— jobs similar call community, he was a youth worker, fought his way up from nothing to becoming an mp, and that set an example about how the rest of us set an example about how the rest of us should campaign. he was a terrific role model for campaigning politician. and listening to the

tributes coming into him this evening, what —— one is struck by the number of times people have talked about his honesty, his integrity, and his very strongly held principles. yes, indeed, and i think more than that, i think that period when he was at his peak as a party leader, he had a very positive view about the country. this was a relatively optimistic period and he was an optimistic man, and he gave really great leadership when it was needed. it was a pity, in a way, that his vision, which was that we should work in government with tony blair's administration wasn't realised because there was a labour landslide and his early treatment in dabbling our numbers of mps was slightly overshadowed but he did play a raid —— major role in the way that government developed, and took

on aids —— his views of constitutional reform, which were very much his own. it was only a few weeks ago it was revealed he was diagnosed with ladder cancer. when you aware of how seriously ill he was? i heard it second hand. u nfortu nately, was? i heard it second hand. unfortunately, it all happened very quickly. the last dealings i had with him were at our party conference where he was a major force and speaking up for reforms in the party, he had a real vision about where he wanted us to go and where he wanted the country to go and that is how i remember him, in his prime, and i'm sure that is how he would want to be remembered. indeed. sir vince cable, he would want to be remembered. indeed. sirvince cable, thank he would want to be remembered. indeed. sir vince cable, thank you for sharing your thoughts on paddy ashdown. sir vince cable there, leader of the liberal democrats. let's ta ke leader of the liberal democrats. let's take a look back at lord ashdown‘s life and career. this is how most people will remember paddy ashdown,

the action man, the party leader with the least affection for westminster. long before he fired his first political salvos he was a military man, a marine seeing active service in borneo and melayu, as documented at the time. at this post, 23—year—old marine lieutenant ashdown from somerset has local forces as well as marines under his command. he excelled as a member of the elite special boat squadron, and spoke fluent mandarin chinese. he spent time too in his native northern ireland during the worst of the troubles. after a period as a diplomat and sometime on the dole, paddy ashdown got involved with the liberals, elected mp for yeovil in 1983. later in 1988, after the painful merger with the sdp that formed the liberal democrats, he became leader. i say to the millions out there who are concerned about poverty and about unemployment, come and join us. the party was at rock

bottom in the polls and financially crippled. paddy ashdown built it up again, but at some cost to his home life. he admitted an affair with his former secretary, tricia howard. what paddy said stands, he's made his statement already and i'm perfectly well aware of what he was going to say. fears that his party's poll rating would suffer were unfounded and in 1997 he guided it to its greatest election achievement since the ‘20s, doubling the number of lib dems mps. by this stage he'd already been contemplating the prospect of coalition government with labour. a joint cabinet committee was established and liberal democrats invited to talks at number ten. according to ashdown the plan to bring the lib dems into government foundered amid opposition from senior labour

ministers and the thorny problem of electoral reform. in the liberal democrat leader, tony blair had a candid friend. your government, i believe, could become potentially an historic one, but only if it lets go a little, if it relaxes a little, if it tolerates descent a little, if it welcomes diversity a little and if it interferes a little less. charles kennedy is duly elected leader. paddy ashdown resigned the leadership in 1999, handing the baton onto charles kennedy and retiring from the house of commons two years later. he spent time in bosnia, at some personal risk, at the height of the war there. and in 2002 he became the high representative in bosnia and herzegovina. myjob is to create, to help to create the structures of modern european democratic state and then to repatriate the powers the international community has held here back to the bosnians. but he wasn't done with

westminster politics. in 2015 after lib dems had spent five years in coalition with the conservatives, lord ashdown returned to chair the party's general election campaign. and we are saying the conservatives are the largest party. famously, disputing the exit poll prediction of a dire result. if this exit poll is right, andrew, i will publicly eat my hat on your programme. this is a hat! you are so predictable, aren't you? i knew you'd do that. i wanted to get a bigger one! paddy ashdown‘s energy sometimes his colleagues and he was mocked his action man image, reinforced by a clipped military tones and narrowed eyes staring towards the horizon. but he inspired respect for his constant ideas and enthusiasm, and his efforts to build the liberal democrats into a force in national politics. lord paddy ashdown who has died at

the age of 77. many former prime ministers have paid tribute to him. tony blair said ministers have paid tribute to him. tony blairsaid in ministers have paid tribute to him. tony blair said in a statement, i am deeply saddened and shocked... anotherformer prime another former prime ministerjohn major paid his respects by saying, in government, paddy ashdown was my opponent... very warm tributes that to the paddy ashdown. we can now speak to the former leader of the liberal democrats tim farron. hanky for joining us on this sad evening. first of all, your reflections on this news. i am gutted, he was a hero to me. he was the first person i voted for as leader when he became the first elected libra of the liberal democrats. they say you

should never meet your heroes, in the case of paddy ashdown, that was 0k, he turned out to be everything you hoped he would be. he was a man of enormous charisma. you felt affected by the energy, lifted by. ina time affected by the energy, lifted by. in a time when there were people using their charisma for populist reasons, he is a reminder of how to use that power, because it is power, to move people from one place to another and energise them for good, and he did that in many different parts of his life, winning the seat of yeovil from third place, which parts of his life, winning the seat of yeovilfrom third place, which is where he started in the 1970s and then when he won in 1983. an arrest two in the liberal democrats from the worst position we had been in. he laughed at the opinion poll putting the liberal democrats at 0% and he took us from that to our best result for three quarters of a century and nearly ended up in government. then he stepped down as leader and within three years he was

the un high representative in bosnia, helping to rebuild the country, build the country on the basis of justice, country, build the country on the basis ofjustice, democracy, peace, after the genocide, the appalling bloodshed that had gone on before, he achieved an enormous amount. prove that he would have been an outstanding primaries to have we got him that far. thinking about him yourself as a former leader of the party, and lord ashdown a former leader of the party, he had a unique style. yes, he was a campaigner leader, he was a person who had clarity and had vision, that is massively important but there are times when you maybe lack vision and you look at the next stage you wa nted you look at the next stage you wanted to party too, and you can look in dull drums while you are between visions, shall you say, other thing about paddy ashdown is he could make up for that byjust being phenomenally energetic, and at times when we may have felt deflated

01’ times when we may have felt deflated orflat, he times when we may have felt deflated or flat, he was able to inspire people which is a really unusual and rare talent. i clearly didn't emulate him, however i sort to modulate ash model myself on. he understood the grass roots, he won his seat from nowhere, what it up himself, he was was but for his own big three, he therefore respected others doing the same thing, but he also had the ear for what, others doing the same thing, but he also had the earfor what, i'm trying to think of a nicer way, normal people, he wasn't someone stuck in the riverside atmosphere of westminster, he was an irregular, extraordinary guy who was also an ordinary person at heart himself, and he felt enormous compassion for people, he was very political but not all that tribal, i think that was said by tony blair, he was very loyal to his team but respectful of people who belonged to another team.

his passing is a personal blow to me and especially to his family and people who knew him and loved him but it is also a reminder that we don't have a lot of that in this country at the moment, that ability to reach out beyond your try and make friends, make alliances, and maybe we should be looking to do more of that in his honour. 0k, very good to talk to you, tim farron. thank you for your time. we can speak now to lord david steel, also former leader of the liberal democrats. many thanks for joining us democrats. many thanks for joining us here on bbc news. first of all, your reflections on this sad day. us here on bbc news. first of all, your reflections on this sad daym has come as a great shock, even though i knew he was ill. his image was one of an action man, he seemed indestructible and that is what makes his death so cruel and i in media league1 makes his death so cruel and i in media league 1 to convey my condolences also to jane and the children. it is a terribly sad day

for the liberal democrats because he was the first leader who actually lifted the party from more than just a handful of seats. he took it up to being a really influential party in parliament. and he did this at a time of some political upheaval because he was the first leader of the party that marriage the liberal party with the social democrats. that is right. he took over after the merger and it wasn't an easy time because it was very difficult and the polls were very low but he picked it up and he ran with it. i will just picked it up and he ran with it. i willjust remind you that he came into politics every much without a job. he took a huge risk standing for the conservative seat of yeovil, he had no money, nojob, and he made it his own. the people there were very devoted to him and he served

temporarily cheering his time as mp. what sort of values would you say that he exemplified? he absolutely identified with liberalism and i think that was shown particularly with his concern about the hong kong brits, the chinese who were reddish citizens in hong kong, —— british. he won the battle to secure their rights as british citizens. that was a really obscure issue but a very liberal one and he will be remembered for that as well as all the more important things that he did in his life. the last time i spoke to him, just two or three weeks back, was about the books he was writing, he was starting to carve out a new career as a really very interesting author on books really to do with the second world warand really to do with the second world war and located in france where he had a holiday house. 0k, lord steel

we have to leave it there, many thanks for your time. lord david steel there remembering lord paddy ashdown. tributes have been pouring infor —— ashdown. tributes have been pouring in for —— for lord ashdown on twitter. the former leader tim farron who you heard from a little while ago wrote a the home secretary sajid javid said... well, we can speak now to colonel bob stewart, the conservative mp who was a friend of lord ashdown and served in bosnia but the commander of the united nations, thank you for joining us. first of all, your reflections this evening. i've only just learned about it and i'm very sad. paddy was a dear friend and

just learned about it and i'm very sad. paddy was a dearfriend and i'm getting a lot of feedback here, can you hear me? yes, we can. i'm so sorry, i got a lot of feedback from the phone. ifirst met paddy sorry, i got a lot of feedback from the phone. i first met paddy in 92, 93, when i was the un commander in bosnia and he was... i have to say, a great friend, when he turned up he convinced me to take him to the front line. i wasn't allowed to take anyone to the front line, only generals were meant to go to the front line but paddy somehow got me to do it. he said, i was a soldier, they'll be no problems. and i said, are not meant to take anyone of high rank to the front lines, he said, i'm going there today. and he said, well, i'll come with you. i said,

but you're not meant to. in the end, he convinced me and i put him in the back of my armoured vehicle and we went. and i took him in and i took him and introduced into the commanders there. and it went well, he was clearly confident and at ease on the front lines. but on the way back, a great explosion occurred right in front of my vehicle, it was a mortar bomb that had been aimed by bosnian serbs i suspect, and i thought i had been blinded, actually, i was at the front of the vehicle, paddy was standing at the back, and i thought, that has done it. you know, that is all i want, to be reported that i have taken him to the front line. no one will report it, he said. it was on the six

0'clock news, and i got told off. it, he said. it was on the six o'clock news, and i got told off. he was no respecter of rules. no, i don't think he was. he was always a friend. when i was in trouble at the end of bosnia, for various things, which are irrelevant now, he contacted me and said, look, i've got this house in france, if you need to escape, no one will find you there. and i have always remembered that. he was a very good man and i'm a little bit in shock that he has gone. i thought he would be here for ever because he was such a strong, decent type. but there we are, life is strange. you never know when these things happen but i have to say, i'm very sad. bob stewart, you sound a little bit in a state of shock. did juno how ill he was?

sound a little bit in a state of shock. did juno how ill he was? no, i didn't, actually. it is typical of him that he didn't make a song and dance of it. he has built —— been ill since october, i gather. but he was not that sort of person. i don't think he really... i think he was a very strong man, he must have been a great leader, he was in a special service, and he was in m16, i think, 01’ service, and he was in m16, i think, or something like that. but the one thing i know also, he could speak chinese pretty fluently, i think he was sort of mandarin or cantonese. much cleverer than people thought. i'm a member people in parliament said he is always looking into the distance, he is always quite remote. isaid, yes, distance, he is always quite remote. i said, yes, he distance, he is always quite remote. isaid, yes, he is. he distance, he is always quite remote. i said, yes, he is. he was in the special boat service which is almost impossible to get into, he ran mi6

in geneva when he left the royal marines, when hejoined the foreign 0ffice. then he became an mp, and then he was leader of his party within five years. yes, he must be rooted it, very silly, must be stupid. and i always thought paddy there was much more to paddy then you see the surface. and the two of you see the surface. and the two of you ended up in different political camps, you are conservative and he liberal democrat but clearly didn't come between you when it came to friendship. no, actually, he tried to recruit me for the liberal democrats. but failed, clearly. it wasn't that, actually, it wasn't that so much, i was an army officer and my real vocation was the army and my real vocation was the army andi and my real vocation was the army and i didn't really think that i was and i didn't really think that i was a politician so i didn't really give

ita a politician so i didn't really give it a second thought. it was only a few years, actually, many years later that i came around to thinking maybe i should be a member of parliament. but paddy was a pretty big inspiration as to what a decent man in parliament could do. we are going to have to leave it there. bob stewart, many thanks for sharing your memories there of lord paddy ashdown. well, as you have been hearing, the former liberal democrat leader lord paddy ashdown has died at the age of 77. we will have more throughout the evening on bbc news but now it is time for the weather. the day has been dry and bright for many. some showers around which will continue to fade but ahead of us for the day on sunday, looming masses of cloud,

weather fronts bringing a different day for many. already as we approach midnight the cloud and rain is gathering in the south—west, towards northern ireland as well. little wind to drive it in, so we will have some fog in scotland and also some frost. temperatures above freezing with the onset of more cloud which will sit on hilltops tomorrow. some heavy rain for a time in the south and across northern areas, may be southern scotland before later clearing northern ireland and southern scotland but leaving cloud. the best sunshine in central and northern scotland. much milder under the gloomy skies and more rain further south. the outlook is more cloud for the next couple of days. there is more on the website. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: the former leader of the liberal democrats lord paddy ashdown has died at the age of 77. he led the liberal democrats for over a decade and was the first leader after the liberal party merged with the social democrats in 1988.

he also served as international high representative to bosnia herzegovina following the war which saw the break—up of yugoslavia. from across the political spectrum, tributes have been paid to lord ashdown, including from former prime ministers sirjohn major and tony blair. police investigating the drones at gatwick search a house in west sussex following the arrest of a man and a woman from crawley. now on bbc news, one of the highlights of 2018 from our documentary series, our world. earlier this year, katie razzle travelled from france to reunion island, with two women searching for the families they were taken from as children more than 50 years ago.