today at five — theresa may agrees to set a timetable for her successor once parliament holds its latest vote on her brexit plan in earlyjune. next month the prime minister will hold talks on her departure from downing street with the chairman on the conservative backbenchers — whether or not she wins her brexit vote. following that second reading, she and i will need to agree a timetable for the election of a new leader of the conservative party. that's the position agreed by the prime minister and the 1922 executive. and boris johnson — one of the front runners to succeed her — officially confirms for the first time that he'll be a contender for the leadership. we'll have the latest from westminster.

the other main stories on bbc news at 5... dramatic evidence from a nurse at the inquests into the london bridge attacks. helen kennett tried to save the life of this man — and was stabbed herself. president trump effectively bans the use of chinese company huawei in the united states over security concerns. the government abandons its controversial part privatisation of the probation service. and from monday international passengers flying into britain will no longer have to fill out landing cards. theresa may has promised to set a timetable for her departure, after a meeting with backbench conservative mps.

the chairman of the 1922 committee, sir graham brady, says she will set it out in earlyjune, after mps vote for a fourth time on her brexit plans. that vote is due to be held in the week beginning 3june. sir graham says the meeting to decide the leadership timetable will take place whether mrs may wins the vote on the withdrawl agreement or not. if she loses the vote, sources tell the bbc she would resign. and meanwhile the former foreign secretary boris johnson has today officially confirmed for the first time that he will be one of the contenders to succeed her. our chief political correspondent vicki young is at westminster. a little more clarity now about the prime minister's possible timetable for leaving downing street.

i think for leaving downing street. ithink so, for leaving downing street. i think so, it not explicit but certainly tory mps are reading it in a certain way and they way they are reading it is if theresa may doesn't get that second reading, that vote on their withdrawal agreement bill, if she doesn't get that through then she will have no other option than to resign at that point so we are in a position really that if it goes through, she can say a bit longer to get the bill through but if it's defeated, she will go. mps have told me that we are in a position where those eurosceptic mps who hate the deal but they did when it last time because they thought they might get rid of theresa may now have no incentive to vote for it whatsoever so incentive to vote for it whatsoever so they feel the game is up. here is sirgraham so they feel the game is up. here is sir graham brady. we have agreed to meet to decide the timetable for the election of a new leader of the conservative party as soon as the second reading has occurred, and that will take place regardless of what the vote is on the second reading, whether it passes or whether it fails.

some say that the implication is if it fails, she does resign. that goes beyond what we've agreed and it goes beyond what i am able to say today. we have an agreed position, an agreed statement and i think it does give much greater clarity much greater clarity about the timetable, which will be agreed for the election of a new leader of the conservative party. how would you describe the mood at the meeting? it was a very frank discussion. i tried to make sure that all the views represented on the executive were expressed and we had a very frank exchange with the prime minister. that sounds like a disagreement. no, we have reached an agreement and the statement that i have given you reflects that agreement between the prime minister and the parliamentary party. certainly different views in the room. some think theresa may should go immediately but she has been given one more chance to try to get

her deal through. meanwhile, with an amazing timing up in manchester at an event, boris johnson, amazing timing up in manchester at an event, borisjohnson, the former foreign secretary was speaking and if you listen carefully to this, you can hear him saying that he would be to be the next leader. this is a room full of very big brains, boris. they have been reminded in the last few days of how intelligent they are. let's decode that for them. you want the job? i'm going to go for it, of course i'm going to go for it, of course i'm going to go for it. you know... i don't think that is any reticular secret to anybody. but there is no va ca ncy secret to anybody. but there is no vacancy at present. it does sound like there could be a va ca ncy it does sound like there could be a vacancy in the next few weeks. there are all sorts of leadership campaigns up and running already behind the scenes and i think they

are about to burst out into the open but of course, whoever does take over will have to deal with the same issues. how do they deliver brexit ina issues. how do they deliver brexit in a parliament that is completely divided? the inquests into the london bridge attacks have heard how helen kennett, an off—duty nurse, tried to save the life of one of the victims. alexandre pigeard told her to leave him and to run for her life instead. when she was confronted by one of the attackers, the nurse asked him what was wrong with him and he then stabbed her in the neck. helen kennett told the old bailey there was "empty, souless evil" in her attacker‘s eyes. our correspondent, jon donnison is at the old bailey for us. jon. just tell us a little bit more about what was said today? powerful testimony today, to be honest. it focused on, as you say, alexandre pigeard. he had been

living in london for two years, was french and he'd been working at the borough bistro for nine months. a regular nine months for him, but it will change shortly after 10pm when he heard a loud bang up on london bridge. this is the moment alexandre pigeard first knew something was wrong as panic started to spread in the borough bistro restaurant where he worked. minutes later he would be dead. the 26—year—old frenchman had been living in london for two years. the court heard how the staff heard a loud bang outside, the waiter went to see what happened. soon after, the attackers descended into the courtyard and he was stabbed in the neck and midriff. the court heard evidence from helen kennett, an off duty nurse. she said she had had a few drinks,

but as a nurse knew she could help. she described going to help alexandre pigeard, she thought he had been involved in a car accident. then she saw a wound on his neck and an attacker holding the knife. she said she looked into the assailant‘s eyes which were soulless and empty. "what's wrong with you?" she said to him. "no, what's wrong with you?" he replied. he then stabbed her in the neck. helen kennett told the court she thought she was going to die. she tried to find her family, she said she didn't want to die alone. it was two hours before she got to an ambulance. jon donnison, bbc news. helen kennett was amazingly stoic in her testimony today but as soon as it was over, she broke down in tea rs. it was over, she broke down in tears. now, we also heard today from

customers at the borough bistro that evening. we heard from anne angelica, who was celebrating a birthday with friends. she also witnessed the attack and said that as alexandre pigeard was being stabbed, the attacker had a smile on his face. we also heard from jeffrey, who was out celebrating some exams he'd just finished and also witnessed the attack. he identified for the first time today, he said that having seen the press coverage afterwards, he could identify the attacker as rashid radwan, who was later shot dead by police later that evening. thank you very much. president trump has declared a national emergency to protect us communication networks from what he calls "foreign adversaries".

it's believed he's targetting the chinese telecoms giant huawei. several countries, led by the us, fear huawei poses a risk to their national security because it's too close to the chinese government. here sir richard dearlove, the former head of m16, has said that involving huawei in britain's 5g network would be a "potential security risk" to the uk. peter bowes reports from washington. another fight with china, a foreign adversary whose telecom giant could pose a national security threat to the us. in a statement from the white house, there is no mention of specific countries or companies, but it is clear the trump administration has huawei in its sights. the us will ban transactions posing an unacceptable risk, with the president pledging to do what it takes to keep america safe and prosperous. this executive order was a long time coming. it's well known that huawei acts in many ways as an agent of the chinese communist party, and so banning the type of activity that they do within our networks

really makes a lot of sense. as the us and other countries develop 5g networks, this is a battle over new technology and security on top of the trade war which has escalated in recent days. chinese companies can be pressured by the chinese government and the communist party. the question is — can customers of those companies around the world build their systems in a way that mitigate those risks or is it just too much of a risk? and that is really a technical question that will vary from one application to the next. the us commerce department has said american companies will be restricted from selling their technology to huawei, which is engaged in activities that are contrary to us national security or foreign policy interest. translation: we urge the united states to stop such erroneous practices and create conditions for normal trade cooperation between enterprises of the two countries,

and avoid further impact on the economic and trade relations between china and the united states. in a statement, the chinese company said: with donald trump describing the impasse over trade talks as a little squabble, this latest clash over technology and security will further test deteriorating us chinese relations. peter bowes, bbc news. bbc news has learned that all landing cards for international passengers to britain are being scrapped from monday. currently landing cards have to be filled out by people from all countries outside the eu. our homes affairs correspondent, affairs

correspondent, is here. this is happening because the home office has decided these learning cards are not necessary anymore. that is the root of why they are doing it. they say the information can be recorded on computer systems and some of it is entered in advance. they had previously said they would phase out all landing cards but it always assumed this was going to take place over a matter of months or even years. they had already said that from june they we re already said that from june they were going to phase out landing cards for seven countries including usa, australia, new zealand and canada and allow people coming from those countries to use electronic gates so they could come through the border more quickly but they have gone further than they expected and from monday, they will be no landing cards in existence for anyone coming to britain. so they have gone further and

quicker than expected, and union leaders representing immigration staff are not very happy? they are very concerned about it. we had a statement from them saying that they are deeply concerned about the short notice they've been given. they were only told it was confirmed today. they expected this would happen when the home office had technology in place as an alternative to record data. they don't believe that has happened. and although they say the majority of landing cards are used for statistical purposes, and there are other ways that people can count numbers and so on, that there are a minority of cases where this is the only opportunity for border force officers to actually speak to a passenger on arrival and record on the landing card that interaction, what they said and the reasons they are coming to britain. for a minority of cases these landing cards, they say, are still very important for security and immigration control.

thank you very much, danny. the archbishop of canterbury has announced the suspension of the bishop of lincoln following infomation he received from the police. bishop christopher lowson has not been accused of abuse himself but a statement from the archbishop said that if these matters were proven the bishop would present a significant risk of harm to children and vulnerable people. the bishop said he was bewildered by his suspension. the headlines on bbc news. theresa may agrees to set a timetable for her departure from office after the vote on her brexit deal in the first week ofjune. this lunchtime the former foreign secretary borisjohnson says "of course" he will run for the conservative leadership when she steps down. a nurse has been giving dramatic evidence at the inquests into the london bridge attacks. helen kennett tried to save the life of this man — and was stabbed herself.

and in sport. gareth southagte has named his squad for next month's nations league finals. there's no ruben loftus—cheek, with the england manager revealing that the chelsea midfielders ankle injury will rule him out of the europa league final with his club. because of poor weather in rome yesterday, johanna konta had to play twice at the italian open today but won both matches against sloane stephens and venus williams to reach quarterfinals. twice at the italian open today but won both matches against sloane stephens and venus williams to reach quarterfinals. and australia's nick kyrgios has been disqualified from the italian open, after an outburst which saw him throw a stool onto the court. the umpire awarded the match to norway's casper ruud. i'll be back with more on those stories later. a leading british scientist says drugs designed to stop cancer cells becoming resistant to treatment could be available within a decade. professor paul workman, the chief executive of the institute for cancer research, says the new approach could make it possible to manage cancer as a chronic condition, and make the disease more curable.

our medical correspondent fergus walsh explains. we have known about this darwinian evolution for years. in fact, it was discovered by scientists at the institute for cancer research many yea rs institute for cancer research many years ago but they are now setting up years ago but they are now setting up the worlds first dedicated centre looking into darwinian evolution and looking into darwinian evolution and looking for drugs that may help combat it. they are putting £75 million in, it sounds like a lot of money, and it is, but one new cancer drug probably cost around £i money, and it is, but one new cancer drug probably cost around £1 billion to develop. it is very good to have this money from charities who are good at drug discovery, we depend on big pharma to come up with the hundreds of millions of pounds that are needed. the general trend that we have seen for many years is try

to find more targeted treatment for cancer and turn it into a more chronic, manageable condition where you can't cure it. labour has announced plans to re—nationalise the national grid for electricity and gas, to provide what the party says will be a better dealfor the public. national grid says the idea would delay investment. labour also says it would install solar panels on nearly two million homes to generate electricity, as part of a new energy policy. simon gompertz has more. labour's big increase in solar panels would build on community projects like this in south london, powering the lifts and communal lights in a block of flats and promising lower bills. it means some kind of energy, and clean one... local backers like fay say the savings are winning over other residents. some people — full stop — "i just want to pay less," and if they can also see that in their bill with the solar energy, how could they complain after that?

labour says i million council and housing association homes would get the panels, saving £117 a year each on electricity bills, and there'd be interest—free loans and grants to help 750,000 other households install them. so this is what labour wants its green energy policy to look like, and it says that, to get this done quickly across the country, that's one of the reasons it wants to renationalise the national grid and the local electricity distribution companies, with the current owners and investors probably getting back a lot less than they think those businesses are worth. labour would borrow to buy the grid back, but cut the amount paid by adjusting for what it calls asset stripping, despite warnings that it could be challenged in court for paying too little.

the labour leader talked about it. national grid hasjust the labour leader talked about it. national grid has just declared profits of £3 billion in one year, and paying dividends out to shareholders. i think that money would be better spent in investing in renewable energy. national grid defended itself today, saying it was investing. we are exactly the same as any other company so we pay taxes, we pay interest on our dividends. the rest of the money is ploughed back as reinvestment into the national grid and investments. labour is promising a green revolution and lower bills. the government says that renationalisation, if it happens, would saddle taxpayers with debt. simon gompertz, bbc news. prince harry has accepted substantial damages and an apology from a news agency which used a helicopter to take photos of his home in the cotswolds. the duke of sussex sued splash news, arguing it had

breached his privacy and data rights under british law and the european convention on human rights. buckingham palace said prince harry welcomed the formal apology. this time next week voters across the uk will be heading to the polls in the european elections. you've probably had your polling cards through the letter box, but how much do you know about the elections and what they mean for the uk? chris mason reports. the european union, a club of 28 countries, and yes, the uk is still one of them. so, let's head to brussels, where at the heart of the eu, there are three institutions. firstly, the european commission. it is the executive of the eu. it dreams up plans for new european laws and implements the decisions of two other things. the european council and the european parliament. if the council of the eu is where government ministers meet up from each member country to discuss, amend and adopt laws,

and to coordinate policies. and then there is the european parliament. it meets here in brussels and also in strasbourg in france. it is the lawmaking body of the eu and the one bit that is directly elected by us. so, how big is it? well, there are 751 meps elected from all corners of the eu, with 73 of them coming from the uk. but here is the rub with these elections — they only happen if you are a member of the eu. and by now, the uk wasn't meant to be, but it is, and so they are on. meps will be elected to represent i2 chunks of the uk. here's how it looked in two bits of the uk in 2014. firstly, in scotland, and then also in the south—east of england. now, the election uses a proportional system to work out which parties

and candidates are successful. in scotland, wales and england, parties choose a list of candidates in each area and voters just choose a party. or any independent. things are a little different in northern ireland, where voters list candidates in order of preference. let's take a closer look at the result last time. that was five years ago. ukip won more seats in the uk than anyone else, followed by labour and then the conservatives. ten parties in total won seats representing different parts of the uk. turnout was 34%, but loads has changed since then, not least of course the eu referendum in 2016. and we've also seen, watch this, the collapse of ukip. 2a seats last time round, all the way down to just three when the parliament dissolved. this time round, there are two new parties clamouring for attention, the brexit party, and change uk, with opposing views on our departure from the eu.

and one final thought — what on earth happens if we go through this whole shebang and then the uk leaves? well, our 70—something beaming, victorious meps might be out of a job before they even start. so yeah, these elections are just a tad odd, but they could prove crucial in shaping the political weather and so determining everything from how long theresa may last as prime minister to what on earth happens with brexit. so what are voters making of the campaign so far? over the next two days the bbc‘s political editor in the west midlands, patrick burns, will be reporting from two very different parts of the region. today he's in north staffordshire which registered one of the biggest votes to leave the european union.

welcome to brexit central. biddulph is one of the towns in and around stoke—on—trent which sent shock waves through the political establishment with their resounding referendum leave vote. more than two thirds of electors here voted out. so, i'm here to sample some opinions now almost three years on from the referendum. and it's not just opinions i'm sampling. well, when in staffordshire... cheese and bacon, please. £1.60. people had a vote and it hasn't been delivered. and it'sjust getting delayed and delayed and delayed. people are just losing faith in their politics today. they need to look at themselves because they didn't get together and deliver what the vote said. i think we just need a clear out. i believe now we'll never come out. here in tunstall, the leave vote was even higher. it's part of the stoke north

constituency, where nearly three quarters of those who voted backed vote leave. the question now is, will they turn out in such great numbers in these european elections? this former stoke council leader lost his seat in the council elections, even though most other city independent candidates fared much better. now he says next week's european poll is one election we could have done without. three years ago, i did my duty and went to vote, and i did vote out. to leave the european lot. but no one took any notice. i mean, as leader of the council if the government had given me a directive to do something, an order, say, to do something, and i hadn't done it in three years, i would have had government intervention,

most probably. simmering anger which may help the new brexit party in what could be a fight to the death with the longer established ukip. but there is also an icy contempt here which could make it difficult for all parties to persuade voters to venture out at all. patrick burns, bbc, north staffordshire. just to say in a few minutes' time, we will be speaking to the co—leader of the green party and putting your questions to her about the green party and what they are saying in the run—up to european elections. tonight sees the second semi—final of eurovision — to confirm the final line—up for saturday's final in tel aviv, in israel. this year's song contest is notable for a number of reasons — one is iceland's entry — a band called hatari who style themselves as an anti—capitalist, techno bdsm group. speaking to the bbc‘s newsbeat, hatari said the competition was founded in the spirit of "peace and unity", and they're "conflicted" about performing in israel due to the israeli—palestinian conflict. steve holden reports.

they are the most talked about band at this year's eurovision. we are icelandic award—winning anti—capitalist techno performers bdsm band happening. hatari made it through the first semi to qualify for saturday's grand final. eurovision hasn't seen a band like hatari in years. they are getting loads of attention here in tel aviv, and not just because of their outfits. with the gaza strip just over an hour down the road, the band are fully aware of the political situation playing out in the background here. how do you guys feel about participating in israel? we feel conflicted, of course. our stance is a contradictory one but, obviously, we feel that a contest like eurovision, which is founded in the spirit of peace and unity, we find it absurd to host it in a country

that is marred by conflict and disunity. the ebu which produces eurovision says the contest is strictly nonpolitical and acts are banned from making any kind of political statement on stage. lots has been said about whether you will or will not protest on the stage. well, we have considered many options but the result that we decided has been to comply with the rules. we can't be political on stage, so we will do our performance as planned as it has been rehearsed. an audience of nearly 200 million people will now get to see them on saturday's grand final. time for a look at the weather, with stav da naos.

thanks very much. it has been a warm day today, 22 degrees across northern scotland. sunshine further south but windy. particularly around lincolnshire with gusts of 30 mph. overnight we will start to see cloud and showery burst of rain are moving from the east so a damp end to the night across southern areas. showers clearing away and we will see clear spells and a chilly start to friday. more cloud around for england and wales and a stronger breeze across the north sea coast. feeling quite grey. probably the best of the sunshine across scotland and into parts of northern ireland, where we could see it cooler than we have in the last few days and a cooler feel across england and wales with more cloud around. thru friday night it will be wet across the northern part of the country so into the weekend it is looking more unsettled thanks toa it is looking more unsettled thanks to a weak area of low pressure. more cloud around and longer spells of rain but some sunshine as well,

particularly across southern areas. this is bbc news. the headlines. the prime minister theresa may will agree the timetable for her departure from office after the vote on her brexit deal in the first week ofjune. this lunchtime, the former foreign secretary boris johnson told a business conference in manchester that of course he will run for the conservative leadership. dramatic evidence from a nurse at the inquests into the london bridge attacks. helen kennett tried to save the life of this man —

and was stabbed herself. sport now — and olly foster is at the bbc sports centre. england have named their squad for the nations league finals in portugal next month. nine players are involved in the champions league finaljust five days before england face the netherlands. captain harry kane is in the party even though the tottenham star has been out for a month with a ligament injury. ruben loftus—cheek is out, because of his own ankle problem, that gareth southgate says will see him miss the europa final with chelsea although his club hasn't confirmed that. gareth southgate knows he may yet lose players with those european finals coming up. we will find out more. but we can

change if there are injuries. we have got to make the best possible decisions with the information that we have. it is constantly moving. when i went to bed last night ruben loftus—cheek was in the squad. as i say, huge disappointment. he is missing a major european final and a brilliant opportunity with us. manchester city have been referred to uefa's adjudicatory chamber following an investigation into the club's finances and possible breaches of the financial fair play regulations. if found guilty they could be banned from next season's champions league. here's our sports correspondent david ornstein. we simply do not know on the timescale. ac milan are under similar investigation. that has been going on for months. other suggestions are this will be dealt with quickly. manchester city say they are disappointed but not surprised. there statement is very strongly worded, especially towards the chairman of this investigation.

they also hit out at the immediate lea ks, they also hit out at the immediate leaks, but they seemed particularly confident of clearing the name. they say they have provided irrefutable evidence and they hope for a satisfactory outcome to this. it's been a busy day forjohanna konta at the italian open in rome — because her match was rained off yeterday in rome, she had to play twice today first she beat the seventh seed sloane stephens before a third round clash with venus williams. and even thoughn williams had a bye in the last rou8nd because of an injury to her sisetr serena, konta went through 6—2 6—4 in just over an hour. the result means the british number one has reached her biggest czech marketa vondrousova or daria kasatkina from russia nick kyrgios has been disqualified from his second round match against casper ruud at the italian open after hurling a chair on to the court.

he was penalised again for speeding in the third set. he flung a stool onto the court. the umpire then awarded the match to ruud. he was banned three years ago for walking off court midway into a match. formula 1 is in talks to hold a race in morocco. the last grand prix to be staged there was in 1958, when stirling moss won in casablanca. africa last hosted a race in south africa in 1993. i will be back at half past six. we have more on the bbc sport website. that us pga championship, shaky start for tiger woods, defending champion brooks equipped cat was top of the leaderboard a couple of

minutes ago. we are back at half past six. in just over a week the uk will go to the polls, to vote in elections to the european now that of course wasn't supposed to happen due to brexit, but the delay in leaving the european union means we now have to take part and in the run—up to the vote on may 23rd, we're talking to all the main uk parties here on the bbc news channel, putting your questions to them. today taking your questions is sian berry, co—leader of the green party. what would your candidates actually do while in the eu parliament — both about brexit itself, and about other matters important to you?

iamso i am so glad that that question has been asked. we are outstanding with a serious purpose of actually doing things in the european parliament. if we manage to stop brexit which we are passionate about as greens, our members are there for four or five yea rs members are there for four or five years to carry on the good work with the meps who have been there for 20 yea rs. we have the meps who have been there for 20 years. we have a long—term view. we wa nt to years. we have a long—term view. we want to stop brexit. the meps will not have a role in that, that is down to what happens in parliament. our manifesto for the eu is all about building on the environmental work we have been doing, making sure that we get a proper plan to tackle climate change. the demonstrations that we have seen, the enormous concern that the public has for the crisis of climate change, the emergency that there is of the short time we have to sort it out is right across europe. those protests are in

every single country. we are as greens a party that is a family of the green parties. there is a european green party of which we are part. all of the parties across europe are gaining ground because of that there is about climate change. also as greens we are a progressive party. we are fighting for social purposes that the european union includes, things like workers' rights, the need for a minimum income guarantee across europe. so countries are not fighting to the bottom on things like workers pay. but also so that welfare systems are a proper safety net and that is guaranteed across europe. those are important rights that are meps will be fighting for in the european parliament. you say that you want to stop brexit. why did the green party's 2015 general election manifesto promise a referendum of eu membership, to which you are now ignoring the result of?

we campaigned for a manifesto, yes to having a referendum, yes to staying in europe, and yes you working hard to reform europe. there have been some changes stop the a nswer to have been some changes stop the answer to that referendum from the british people was that they did wa nt to british people was that they did want to leave europe so when you see you want to stop them, why are you contradicting the will of the british people that was expressed in the referendum that you asked for? the referendum result was clear. we needed to work towards trying to leave. one of the things that we campaigned on in 2016 was it would not be easy. one of the things that is important is that caroline lucas, ourmp, came out is important is that caroline lucas, our mp, came out almost immediately and said this is not going to be easy. the deal that we could put together would not be simple to do. it would not provide those benefits that were written on the side of a bus. the lies that came out during the leave campaign were not true and we knew that at the time. she said

this was not going to be simple. when there is a deal it is, we're not going to satisfy people, probably is not going to be beneficial, we are going to need a referendum to ratify that deal. we have been calling for that from the start, for a peoples fault. that is what we need now. can ijust check? in terms of that call for a referendum back in 2015 by your party, do you now regret saying that a new 2015 manifesto?” party, do you now regret saying that a new 2015 manifesto? i do a little bit. i think not only has brexit been a big distraction. it was never going to work out as simply as people said. now we are in a position where we have spent three yea rs position where we have spent three years distracted from some of the most important issues that we need to be sorting out. poverty has grown. you got that wrong, did you? different divisions within society. iamon different divisions within society. i am on the police and crime committee in the london assembly and we we re committee in the london assembly and we were talking about hate crime, division, those are bad things that

are affecting people's daily lives now. you think you got that wrong? i think quite possibly it would have been better to have that debate within parliament rather than putting it to a referendum. if there was a second brexit referendum, would you accept the result? see the british people said again they wanted to leave, you would accept that? it is important that the question that is put to the british public is a deal that is agreed with the european union, or remaining. we cannot be putting no deal onto the ballot paper because it would be an absolute disaster for the country. people would be seriously harmed by a no—deal brexit, it would be chaotic. but if there is a deal that is agreed by europe, if there is a rational basis to it, even if we do not like the result and we think it will harm business and harm people's free movement and all those rights that we enjoy to travel around europe,

put that to the people versus remaining and we would accept that final result because then it would be clear the choice that people were making. we voted to start the process and this would finish it in a way that was democratic. in your mind, why has a brexit deal has not been concluded by government yet? i think it was always going to be virtually impossible to do. you notice that the people who campaigned hardest for brexit, boris johnson and nigel farage, they fled the scene after 2016. they did not wa nt to the scene after 2016. they did not want to be involved in actually putting together a brexit deal because i think they knew it was going to be very difficult. they knew that whatever we came up with, we we re knew that whatever we came up with, we were not in a powerful position, whatever we wanted to do, europe would have to agree. negotiations would have to agree. negotiations would be difficult. the northern ireland border question would be incredibly difficult and that has not been dealt with yet. so they left, and the prime minister to try to get on with it. really, really badly. now we have a situation where

nobody in parliament backs the deal which she managed to put together. i think we are in a position now where we can see the results of all of that and we do need to sort it out. look at all the people who signed the petition, and many people who originally voted to leave. how will your party stop the eu's damaging focus on endless economic growth and instead build a greener, local and more resilient society? that gets right to the heart of green philosophy. a good question. the relationship between that european union focusing on economic growth and many of your green environmental policies. the european union does not by necessity have to do that. it is a body that sets standards for their markets, how we trade with each other, it sets social standards. agreements as to how we cross borders. they do not necessarily need to be based around the camp economic model that we have

and we want to change economic model and we want to change economic model and the economic model and that we may change that is by getting the majority in that european parliament, it is a democratic body. —— necessarily need to be based around the current economic model. trying to reduce the growth in use of resources. if we can get to a sustainable society through voting for parties that want to implement that kind of thing then europe will change. that is how we do that, by staying in and working constructively with other parties, outgrowing the green vote, our views are more prevalent there but we do not do it by leaving and ditching all of those processes. you do not think that is a contradiction between the eu, tariffs, promotion of free trade, and environmental policies? some of the provisions, some of the directors there are but those are things that we can change. iam also those are things that we can change. i am also a local councillor. i would like the council to have a

policy of letting its contracts to local providers for things like new buildings, things like that. and repairs. but there are rules within the eu which means if you are letting a big contract that has got to go through eu processes, people from abroad need to be able to bid for it and in a way that is a less sustainable thing that happens, we would like to be able to say, for environmental reasons, not necessarily protectionist reasons, we would like to control economies that are locally based. let us focus on one area of eu activity, agriculture. given that our agricultural policy is the main driver for local environmental action in the uk, how will the green party work to reduce environmentally damaging farming practices? that is a really good question. i am so glad we are getting questions about what meps would do in policy terms. greens focus on agriculture,

we have got a strong section on agriculture in our manifesto. the common agricultural policy as it stands tends to reward people for owning land. we want to change that to one that rewards people for how they manage the land. they will only qualify for subsidies if they are at managing the soil, their water, if they are not using damaging pesticides, if they are improving biodiversity and improving the ability of the land to absorb carbon. the committee on climate change said that to get to net zero carbon we have to improve the ability of our land to absorb carbon, grow more forests, sort out the soil and the water, the wetlands, so they are absorbing carbon so that we can emit less. how important is it that voters look beyond the candidates' and parties' this positions on brexit and what issues are most important for voters to consider when considering who they want to represent them in brussels?

if people are notjust thinking about leave — remain, what else should they be thinking about? the green vote is a strong vote to see you want to remain in the eu. we have three meps at the moment. compared with the liberal democrats, they only have one. we have a strong record of voting. look at our record. vince cable from the liberal democrats was saying that they approached you, said let us that they approached you, said let us all get together as remain parties, havejoint us all get together as remain parties, have joint candidates. us all get together as remain parties, havejoint candidates. he said they did not get a warm reception from the green party. we have issued a statement. vince cable has clarified this already to see that he did not approach the green party. formally or informally. none of our leadership team, our mp, no one was approached by that liberal democrats. if they had been approached? he has clarified it once and yet he keeps saying it, it is frustrating, i do not know why he is saying that. the point is, there remain votes being split. look at

the service, labour party, conservative party are both losing votes to as an to the liberal democrats, both parties are now in a position to gain seats. it is not either or, you are electing a region and a proportional system which is designed to elect a range of meps, you can elect meps from the greens and liberals in many regions, in some regions we are the strongest party, you should definitely be voting for us as well as because of other reasons. but also, it can be difficult for one party once it has gained a seat to gain further seats with the extra votes. sometimes it is better for the next party to get votes a nd is better for the next party to get votes and when its first seats, it can be easier to do that. there is no reason why under the system you need to make a choice. there is no starting the vote involved. you have got about 30 seconds to tell as, apart from brexit, what are the other issues most important to consider? voters should look at all the main issues, we can be trusted

to ta ke the main issues, we can be trusted to take action on climate change, we are also a sociallyjust party, we ca re are also a sociallyjust party, we care about reducing inequality, look at our policies on that, we are also standing upfor at our policies on that, we are also standing up for free at our policies on that, we are also standing up forfree movement, that isa standing up forfree movement, that is a real difference with as and the other parties. labour party policy in their manifesto on free movement is nonexistent. we have the courage to do that. we are a pro—european party with a heart. and with a headset to make sure we have a future. sian berry, co-leader of the green party, thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. as i've said, we're going to be interviewing all the main parties here on the bbc news channel. tomorrow we'll hear from chuka umunna of change uk. you can email us at askthis@bbc.co.uk or text us on 61124 or use social media

with the hashtag #bbcaskthis. the supervision of all offenders in england and wales is being brought back under public control. the government has decided to reverse the part privatisation of the probation service, introduced five years ago by the thenjustice secretary chris grayling. the chief inspector of probation recently described the system as irredeemably flawed. here's our home affairs correspondent danny shaw. he promised it would transform rehabilitation for offenders. chris grayling was the architect of the biggest probation shake—up in decades, allowing private firms to supervise former prisoners and people serving community sentences who pose a low or medium risk, but now the reforms are being scrapped. there was a mistake and chris grayling has to share responsibility for that. he thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, we pleaded with him not to do it

or at least pilot some of the schemes first. he flatly refused, pushed it through to satisfy his own political agenda and has cost the taxpayer millions, hundreds of millions of pounds. inspectors said chris grayling's model of part privatisation was irredeemably flawed and people would be safer with the public sector in charge. they were concerned offenders were not being properly supervised and were unable to access courses to help them turn their lives around. very chaotic, to say the least. i would turn up to appointments and the worker wouldn't be there or it would be a different worker or they wouldn't even be expecting me in some cases. under the new system, offenders will be monitored by the national probation service in 11 regions. the private and voluntary sectors will provide unpaid work and drug misuse programmes for offenders but there will be no payment by results, a key element of chris grayling's approach.

one aspect that hasn't worked, and i accept that, is that when it comes to offender management, payment by results has not worked. complex reasons why that's the case, some of this is to do with the fact the caseloads have been very different from what was anticipated. mr gauke says the new system of supervising offenders will increase public safety. it will be introduced in wales this year and across england in 2021 but the current private providers have been told it could take four years until the service improves. they are concerned the new setup will become fragmented with offenders more likely to slip through the probation net. with me now is alice dawnay, founder of the switchback charity, which helps to rehabilitate offenders and michael, a former offender who says he turned to the charity when the probation service let him down.

michael, first of all tell us your experience as a former offender, being dealt with under the privatised system of probation? my experience with the probation system, the first step is a visit when you are inside prison, to establish what they are going to do for you when you come outside. it could be housing, if people have a problem with housing, it could be job opportunities. you are assured when you are inside that you will have these opportunities when you get released. unfortunately it is false hope. a lot of the time i got called —— i got told, do not worry, things will get better. when i did get out i did not see that at all through my probation. was that the fault of the system as it was then? that system could be improved a lot

if it was taken back into state hands, renationalise? the deeper someone looks at it, the more clearly a nd someone looks at it, the more clearly and visible the problems you will see. my problems were housing, job opportunities. when you get released from prison you have that hopefulness that things will get better. probation and never give me that. it was depressing. i had to go there just to sign a piece of paper to clarify a has been there. sign on. nine out of ten times, that was the basis of the probation. go in, signa the basis of the probation. go in, sign a piece of paper, then you could go home. alice, what is your experience, do you welcome this move away from privatisation of the probation service? it has been called by many experts a big mistake, the entire government

policy over the last few years, do you agree with that? yes. those of us you agree with that? yes. those of us working in the justice sector, from the perspective of the charity, we re from the perspective of the charity, were trying to warn of this back in 2014 when it was coming about. we are delighted that there is a rethink and are hoping that this will be a new system that puts people at the heart of the process, and that looks at the entire person, as michael was describing. there are many young men coming out of prison who desperately want to change their lives and theyjust need to be given an opportunity to do that. that means looking at housing, mental health, employability, and all of those things together. what was the private system not doing that that should have been doing? was it not devoting enough time to each offender? yes, at switchback we have seen young men coming out of prison without a probation officer,

everybody was supposed to have a probation officer, that there was consistent support through the gate. at switchback we offer this consistent support of the way through, to support people, to build the life they can be proud of in the future. probation has not been able to do that. it also has not been able to allow small charities like switchback to operate in that field. because the bureaucracy and the heavy top—down tick box culture has excluded some charities like switchback. michael, you turned to switchback. michael, you turned to switchback to get some of the help you were not getting you felt from the probation service. did you feel you just were not being given enough time, they were not spending enough time, they were not spending enough time on you? what were they saying to you are not seeing to you that you wanted to hear? that weird thing was when you see a probation officer, you are given a lot of hope that things will get better, you

start to believe in yourself that things may get better. one day i might actually feel comfortable, be happy. then you get outside and realise that the probation officer allocated to you, it is more a place of work for the people there. i think that the person in that position has opportunities. in my time of need, my probation officer was that person to help me. alice, do you think that with this being taken back into government control, for example what happened to michael, that would change, he would get better help, better advice? are you confident of that? i can be hopeful in that. those of us working with the justice system had to be hopeful. i think this start of

acknowledging that transforming rehabilitation has been an incredibly costly and damaging mistake, notjust incredibly costly and damaging mistake, not just for all that young men in the system and all the people in the system, but also for victims and the general public who have been failed by an extremely expensive syste m failed by an extremely expensive system that simply has not worked, so, yes, iwould hope that's system that simply has not worked, so, yes, i would hope that's making a big change and putting people at the centre of that change should get us the centre of that change should get us to the centre of that change should get ustoa the centre of that change should get us to a better place. good to talk to both of you. thank you. founder of switchback charity which helps rehabilitate offenders, and also, michael, a former offender, thank you. here is the latest weather. it has been another lovely day for many areas, top temperature 22 celsius and in northern scotland, not quite as hot as yesterday. more cloud across southern areas, that

will be a theme overnight, more cloud, outbreaks of rain in central and eastern parts of england. windy across eastern scotland. actually and milder night for some because of the breeze. tomorrow will be different to the last few days. more cloud for england and wheel is, outbreaks of rain, best of the sunshine across parts of scotland and northern ireland, particularly western scotland, there we will see the best temperatures. lower temperatures further south because of the cloud, outbreaks of rain and the breeze. start of the weekend, friday night it turns wetter across the northern half of the country. it stays unsettled this weekend because of low pressure. there will be some shower surround but also some sunny spells. it should be a little bit warmer on sunday.

time is running out for theresa may as she promises to prepare for the way for the end of her premiership. if she loses the next vote on brexit at the start ofjune, sources say she will resign. it follows talks today with senior conservatives. i tried to make sure that all the views represented in the executive were expressed, and we had a very frank exchange with the prime minister. would you do a better job on brexit, boris? as theresa may prepares to leave, boris johnson finally confirms he'll run for herjob. we'll have the latest from westminster. also tonight: the french waiter stabbed to death by the london bridge attackers — a nurse who tried to help him tells the inquest how she was stabbed as well.

turning cancer into a chronic rather than fatal disease —