hello. this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. we'll be joined by viewers on bbc one shortly for the tea—time news with mishal husain, but first. the conservative leadership candidate michael gove has admitted he commited a criminal offence when he took cocaine on several occasions. speaking for the first time about his use of the class a drug he said he had a "profound sense of regret" about it. he used cocaine when working as a journalist 20 years ago. the assistant editor of conservative home, henry hill, told me that the issue of past drug use was always difficult for politicians. i think that after rory stewart's opium smoking admission, that has opened the floodgates on this. it is always a thorny question for political candidates. i think the problem for michael gove

is that his position doesn't please anyone, because the people who are against drugs, and that will be disproportionately conservative party members, they won't like the fact that he has taken them, but more liberal people who might not mind that he has taken them will object to the fact that whilst education secretary he instituted lifetime bans for teachers for doing the same thing, and has otherwise pursued quite a hard—line anti—drugs stance, and it is the hypocrisy that is the problem. it's slightly unedifying for the whole leadership race, all candidates now coming out and talking about drug use. this is someone, whoever wins, who will become prime minister. it is tricky to try to work out where to draw the line when it comes to examining candidates‘ personal lives. there is an argument that things people did 20 years ago maybe aren't relevant, and it will be increasingly difficult in the age of social media when so much of what people have done is recorded, but this does have consequences for what they believe about drugs policy today. if michael gove believes that he can serve as education secretary and prime minister having taken

drugs 20 years ago, then surely it is right that we are able to ask why he doesn't think the same for people in the education profession. that is a key question that i don't think will go away. let's move on from michael gove a look at the other candidates. from what you have heard today over the weekend, what has stood out? borisjohnson is cementing his lead. last time he went on as the favourite, but as is traditional for conservative favourites, it all went wrong, he didn't appear to take his campaign seriously, he was surprised by michael gove. this time he seems to be very much on top of things, he has his nose to the grindstone, more endorsements coming to him from all wings of the party, which suggests he might manage to pull off being the unifying candidate. the other significant endorsement was that ruth davidson, the leader of the scottish conservatives, has come out for sajid javid, and in many senses, he is competing with gove for that kind of liberal space, if you have borisjohnson broadly representing the pro brexit right, who will be the other member going to the final two? if this drugs question continues to damage michael gove, sajid javid might be able to capitalise on going

as the liberal alternative. so is that your bet to yourfinal two? if he were pushed, who would you say where your final two? with so many early rounds and the mps being as changeable as they are, it is impossible to tell. borisjohnson is a lot for the first position, and for the second position it is probably a competition between sajid javid and michael gove. and for people who are not au fait with the conservative rules and procedures, talk us through briefly the process. conservative mps will vote in ballots until, knocking out one candidate at a time, over a period of weeks until hopefully some of them drop out or we will be here for ever. and then down to the final two, they go to a ballot of the full conservative membership which will be preceded by campaigning on hustings.

the conservative leadership contender michael gove admits he was fortunate not to go to jail for taking cocaine. he's admitted to class a drug use, on several occasions 20 years ago. it was a crime, it was a mistake. i deeply regret it. we'll be asking what effect it might have on the race to become the next prime minister, as nominations open tomorrow. also on the programme... a huge protest in hong kong against a new law that would allow suspected criminals to be extradited to china. i will continue to fight your corner because you're right. nothing more, nothing less. you're right. controversy over the labour mp supporting the birmingham protests against same sex relationship teaching in primary schools. and in the women's world cup, england and scotland's campaigns are about to kick off.

good afternoon. the conservative leadership candidate michael gove has admitted he commited a criminal offence when he took cocaine on several occasions. speaking for the first time about his use of the class a drug he said he had a "profound sense of regret" about it. it happened while he was working as a journalist 20 years ago. here's our political correspondent susana mendonca. these weren't the headlines michael gove would have been hoping for this weekend as he embarked on setting out his pitch for the tory leadership. after it emerged that he'd taken cocaine 20 years ago, today an admission of lawbreaking from the formerjustice secretary. yes, it was a crime, it was a mistake. i deeply regret it.

should you have gone to prison? i was fortunate in that i didn't, but i do think that it was a profound mistake, and i've seen the damage that drugs do. he had wanted to focus on his pro—business agenda, and plans to replace vat with a simpler system. instead he was questioned about whether he'd been honest about his drug use, including when he applied for a visa to enter the united states. i don't believe that i have ever on any occasion failed to tell the truth about this when asked directly. but it would be on the form. i mean, you would have to say yes or no, and if you said yes, you could be banned for life from entering the united states. i think it is the case that if i were elected to be prime minister of this country, then of course it would be the case that i would be able to go to the united states. and i think that it's foolish to suggest otherwise. the environment secretary said he respected the country's most senior police officer, cressida dick, who has said that class a drug users have "blood on their hands".

that's a view echoed by the home secretary, who's also in the running to be prime minister. today, he said middle—class people and others who take drugs destroy lives. they have their organic food and boast about buying fair trade and talk about climate change and at the same time, come friday or saturday night, they're all doing class a drugs and they should be thinking about the impact they're having, especially on children. are you going to be the next prime minister? another leading contender has come out of the shadows, promising not to pay the £39 billion divorce bill to the eu, which labour says is a legal obligation. i always thought it was extraordinary that we should agree to write that entire cheque before having a final deal. i don't wish to conduct a postmortem of the original negotiations, but it was extraordinary that we agreed to pay the money in advance of a deal on the future partnership. while borisjohnson is promising

tory members that if the eu doesn't renegotiate, he'll take the uk out with no deal in october, michael gove has suggested a delay to the brexit date of weeks or days to get a deal done. the real question is whether parliament will let any of this happen. susana mendonca, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent chris mason is here. difficult questions for michael gove to a nswer difficult questions for michael gove to answer today. how will they affect his chances. it was excruciating, particularly when a wannabe prime minister has to plead on television that they think they will be let into the country whose leader we have just hosted will be let into the country whose leader we havejust hosted in will be let into the country whose leader we have just hosted in a state visit, that is the very definition of an awful weekend for michael gove. he will hope he can bounce back because he will know all the other candidates will face the same level of scrutiny, not least borisjohnson when he subjects himself to that kind of interview, if he does. there has been a little of that from mrjohnson so far. it speaks of these goodly coming of character and failings, and also of

policy and brexit will be the prism through which this entire contest is formed. and it will start, it feels it has been going on for ages but it formally starts tomorrow when mps had to submit their nomination papers. the number of candidates already is likely to be culled down in the coming days with the first round of voting on thursday. the challenge for the mps to whittle down the wannabes to just two, the membership of the conservative party gets the final say and we should have a new prime minister in just over six weeks. chris mason, thank you very much. hundreds of thousands of people have been marching through the streets of hong kong in protest at a law which would allow people to be extradited to the chinese mainland to face criminal proceedings. 0pposition activists say putting people on trial in chinese courts would threaten hong kong's legal independence, which was guaranteed at the time of the handover in 1997. robin brant reports. estimates of the number of people on the streets of hong kong tonight

vary from 250,000 to just over a million. whatever the precise number, they were jam—packed into roads that are usually for weekend traffic. almost all are dressed in white. it is overwhelmingly peaceful, a mixture of hong kong's diverse society is here. their worry is a new law that would allow people to be extradited to the chinese mainland, where the courts are not impartial and people can be imprisoned for their politics. people are afraid, people are also angry about this extradition treaty. mainland china use all sorts of way to exercise the so—called dictatorship in hong kong. to kidnap the people they treat as enemy. say no to the evil bill. say no to the extradition to china. hong kong's new extradition law was controversial from the minute it was proposed. supporters say it will target criminals taking

refuge in hong kong. critics, though, see it as a further erosion of the independence of the former british colony, which has a separate judicial system from the rest of china. the police say permission for the protest runs outjust before midnight local time. after that, they will attempt to move people on. a protest of that scale would never, ever be permitted here in mainland china, certainly not now in 2019, anyway. and it is very unlikely that the will of the people marching on the streets of hong kong tonight will prevail on this particular issue. it is the will of china's communist party leaders in beijing that is almost certain to win out as they move slowly, step—by—step, to reintegrate hong kong with the mainland. robin brant, bbc news. police in sudan have used tear gas on protesters trying to put up roadblocks in the capital khartoum.

many of the streets in the city are deserted with people responding to opposition calls for a general strike. it's part of a campaign of civil disobedience aimed at forcing the ruling military council to relinquish power. a woman has died after being struck by lightning while walking in the scottish highlands. the 55—year—old was hiking near kinlochleven, when she and another member of the group were hit. police scotland said both were airlifted to hospital in fort william, but one died of her injuries. the other walker is in a stable condition. five teenagers arrested in connection with a homophobic attack on two women on a london night bus have been released on bail. a group of young men began harassing the women after discovering they were a couple, and asked them to kiss while making sexual gestures. the suspects were questioned on suspicion of robbery and aggravated grievous bodily harm. a labour mp has been reported to the party's chief whip, after he supported campaigners who've been protesting against same sex relationship teaching at a birmingham primary school. roger godsiff is the mp for the constituency which includes

anderton park school — the focus of recent demonstrations. daniela relph reports. chanting: our children! our choice! their protests have been forced away from the school by a court injunction. but the local mp has defied his own party to support these families. for more than two months, there have been demonstrations outside anderton park school. parents arguing that their children are too young to learn about lg bt relationships. now the local mp has spoken out during a meeting with concerned families. i think you have a just cause. and i regret the fact that it hasn't been reciprocated by the head teacher. i will continue to work to try and bring this dispute to an end, because all of you want your kids back in school. i will continue to fight your corner, because you're right. nothing more, nothing less. you're right.

strongly critical of the comments, in a tweet, the shadow education secretary angela rayner said... a labour party spokesperson has also said that the mp will be reminded of his responsibilities. there is, though, no sign of the protests stopping. this week the parents will go to court to challenge the injunction that has moved them from the front of the school gates. daniela relph, bbc news. england and scotland are about to get their campaigns under way in the women's football world cup, with kick—off in their match in nice due in under an hour. let'sjoin katie gornall in nice to look ahead to the game. that's right, after all of the build—up and excitement come the wait is almost over. the fans are

streaming into the stadium here in nice, a big cheerfor england as they take to the pits to train but for scotland fans as well this is extra special fault of their country has made history just extra special fault of their country has made historyjust by being here. it's their first world cup but they are not here to make up the numbers. they are targeting the knockout stages. they know the pressure it really is all on england because they are ranked third in the world, they are ranked third in the world, the favourites for the match and one of the contenders. they are looking to improve on their bronze medal three years ago. we do have some tea m three years ago. we do have some team used to bring you and the big news for england is that toni duggan has failed to recover from a thigh issue that forced her to miss training early in the week and she will be replaced in the starting line—up by beth mead of arsenal who comes in to make her world cup debut. also, demi stokes has had a knee problem in the build—up for the sheet misses out as well. alex greenwood will be full back. scotla nd greenwood will be full back. scotland have a full—strength team.

we will head over an hour to portugal because that is where the england men are playing switzerland ina england men are playing switzerland in a third—place play—off in the nation's league and natalie pirks has been watching. it was the last game of the season and the game no one wanted but the pressure was still on for england to deliver for the fans who had turned out in their thousands. harry kane almost gave them something to cheer from the upper there was a distinct end of school feeling to the match. switzerland the bored kids in class, england trying to give a footballing lesson but missing their cues. dele alli almost woke everybody up before half—time but let's just say there was a pattern emerging. if ever a game needed a goal. switzerland almost handed one to england. but blinking into the sun, jordan pickford had to look alive to granit xhaka's effort. pickford had to look alive to granit xha ka's effort. finally, pickford had to look alive to granit xhaka's effort. finally, in the dying moments, england took the lead. dele alli's header rebounded off the bar to callum wilson but var

was here and a tug was enough to put england back to square one and extra time was looming. unbelievable to think that england have had two potential winner is ruled out by var but even though they were marginally better tonight than on thursday, the disrupted build—up to the competition left them with disjointed performances. england will of course leave portugal without a trophy. 53 years and counting. natalie pirks, bbc news. and to give you an update from portugal, it is still 0—0 in extra time and it looks to be heading to penalties. we are hoping for gold here in nice. the players are training at the moment and i can see the scotland coach, shelley kerr, on the scotland coach, shelley kerr, on the far side, collecting hurdles before this massive game. we can hear from both coaches. before this massive game. we can hearfrom both coaches. shelley before this massive game. we can hear from both coaches. shelley kerr as been talking about how far her

tea m as been talking about how far her team have come in a short space of time while england manager phil neville has been saying that the pressure is on his team to deliver at this world cup. now we are getting to the level where if we don't deliver in this world cup then we have to accept the criticism that goes with it, because we've spoke a lot about our ambitions, we've spoke a lot about what we want to achieve, and if we don't achieve what we want to achieve then we leave ourselves open for criticism. and we should be open and brave enough to accept that. i think we have grown and developed and matured as a team. i think we have played a different brand of football. i think we have certainly bridged the gap but that is on paper. it is up to us to make it happen on the pitch, where it matters. the last time these teams played each other was at the euros two yea rs each other was at the euros two years ago when scotland were very understrength and they lost to 6—0 andi understrength and they lost to 6—0 and i don't think anybody is expecting a repeat of that scoreline. firstly, scotland have their world class midfielder kim

little back and fit. i'm sure she will want to stamp her authority on the game and show what she can do on a world stage for the first time. and it will certainly be a much tougher match but we can't wait for it to get started, the fans are coming in now and it is all live across thank you, katie. there's more throughout the afternoon on the bbc news channel. i'll be back with the late news at ten. now on bbc one, it's time for the news where you are. goodbye.

hello. this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. ijust want i just want to start straightaway with breaking news we are receiving here at the bbc, and that is of a fire at a block of flats in london. a block of flats in barking in east london, we are hearing that there are ten fire engines attending and

70 firefighters. you can see here the tweet from the london fire brigade saying ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters have been called to a fire at a block of flats on de pass gardens in east london, and they say more info soon, so they will be providing updates, and we will be providing updates, and we will provide you with updates as we get them, so a fire has broken out there, at a block of flats in barking in east london, and we will keep you right up to date here on bbc news. 0ld rivals will go head—to—head shortly in the women's world cup in france — when england take on scotland in nice. scotland are making their debut in the tournament — while england are one of the favourites to win the competition. 0ur sports reporterjane dougall has been spending time with both camps this week — and kick—off is in in just over half an hour.

not too long to go now? we are counting the minutes, and the stadium is starting to fill up with fans, we are going to be fighting with the pa system, i'm afraid, it is quite loud. the players are warming up on the field, and as they came out, there was a huge cheer from both sets of fans. i'm very glad to say that we are joined by julie sweeting, glasgow city, and 121 caps for scotland. and also we have got kim white as well who was the longest serving england captain. what an occasion, both of you. how do you feel coming in here, this is the first time scotland have qualified for a world cup, how does that make you feel? it is so exciting. it has been filled with fans, excited to get here, the media, the players are all buzzing, the social media, and it is a fantastic occasion for scotland to be involved in, and they deserve to

be involved in, and they deserve to be here on the big stage, and how exciting we play england in the first game. this is a big match, and even though england statistically are ranked 17 places above scotland in the fifa rankings, this could be a banana skin. definitely, you discount scotland, it is a rivalry, but they have played each other so many times before, they will know a lot about each other because a lot of the players play in the wsl, and they are team—mates, some of them. two years ago we played scotland in the euros and it was a very different, one—sided score, but that is not going to happen today purely because the likes of kim little and jennifer beattie are back, jennifer cuthbert as well and caroline weir, quite a few of those i have played with. so for england versus scotland, i am just excited, and i think the girls as well willjust wa nt think the girls as well willjust want this to start and get their campaigns under way. all those names you mentioned are in the scotland line—up. how do you feel that head

coach shelley kerr is going to line 7 coach shelley kerr is going to line you coach shelley kerr is going to line up? you look at the last warm up match against jamaica, there were of huge defensive errors. what will she do today? i think the defensive errors we re do today? i think the defensive errors were made by players who would still be involved in the starting line—up, certainly keen players, and shelley's line—up against jamaica, it is quite an attacking midfield and i think that is something she's going to have changed tonight because you can't sit out against an england team and all attacking players, because they are so all attacking players, because they are so strong going forward. sol think they will be cautious in terms of how they will defend, take no chances, hopefully. shelley will have said to them, let's not make mistakes, and try and stay in the game for as long as possible. if they can stop england from scoring for a good spell in the game, then they have got dangerous players. and we knew that there were a few injury worries in the england camp, toni duggan does not start, she came up with a thigh injury the other day. and emma stokes doesn't start. how

do you feel about that, will it be a blow to england not having toni duggan? she is an experienced player, and each player gets their own qualities, but i was hoping that beth would get a start, because obviously there is the arsenal connection, but i understand how well she has finished the season, and certainly how she stepped up into the international team recently. beth is an out and out striker in sunderland days before she joined arsenal, the last couple of seasons she has managed to develop her game on the wing, and has been quite potent from there as well, so i'm just excited for her, and it is a shame, alex greenwood you would expect to come in, but i meanl you would expect to come in, but i mean i think the fortunate thing for phil this world cup compared to ones i was playing back in 2011 and 2007 is there is strength in depth to the england team, all the youth players who are used to playing in tournaments, they have age and

experience, coming into the senior team, like nikita parris, like georgia stanway, team, like nikita parris, like georgia sta nway, who team, like nikita parris, like georgia stanway, who are used to this environment, and just wanting to get out on that field without the nerves so to get out on that field without the nerves so much, whereas when i was young, you went straight into the seniors and had to deal with it, kind of thing. sol seniors and had to deal with it, kind of thing. so i think he has got strength in depth, and i'm sure he will rotate the squad during the tournament. strength and fitness as well, shelley kerr said that she has all the squad that she was using in the lead up to qualify for the world cup, and also all the friendlies, everybody was fit, she didn't have that issue, which was a clear issue in 2017. how is that advantageous? it was crucial in our squad, the players that she wanted to be here, she could select them, and i think the arrest was really unfortunate, scotland were really unfortunate, some of those key players being lost so some of those key players being lost so close to the tournament, but now she has everyone available, they

have the height of their fitness level and they will be on display for the world cup. and finally both of you, how jealous for the world cup. and finally both of you, howjealous are you? how much do you want to be out there playing? i'd certainly rather be out there than standing behind the touchline, but i'm really proud and excited to watch these girls. we wa nt excited to watch these girls. we want it to the stadium, and i wished i could play all over again! the way the game has grown and exposure and the game has grown and exposure and the numberof fans, the game has grown and exposure and the number of fans, i was watching the number of fans, i was watching the tournament last time, but this one will be a totally different level, and it isjust excited to be here and be part of it. thank you both so much for your time. not long now until england and scotland's first world cup match, scotland was my first ever world cup match, and all the coverages live across the bbc. we are looking forward to it. time for a look at the weather with alina jenkins. hello. the summer solstice is less than a fortnight away, but the week

ahead will feel like autumn. some late spells of sunshine to end the day for some, but for others heavy and frequent showers, thundery with some hail stones in them, and they will continue to work their way from west to east through this evening and at first tonight, only slowly fading. but as the night goes on, things become mainly dry, showers across the southwest and persistent rain into south—east england and east anglia. it would be a cold night across the southern half of the uk, temperature is not much lower than nine or 10 celsius, could see two or three across rural parts of scotland. the main focus of the weather in the week ahead is this slow—moving front already arriving into south—east england and east anglia overnight, and through tomorrow, it slowly works its way north and westwards into the midlands, parts of east wales, for south—west england we will see some heavy, thundery showers, much of northern ireland, scotland and northern england, a scattering of showers, but here the best of the dry weather with spells of sunshine. we start to pick up a brisk north—easterly wind, so where we have the persistent rain, it is going to feel quite cool, 13 or 11!