this is bbc news. the headlines at 7pm. michael gove acknowledges he committed a crime when he took cocaine while working as a journalist 20 years ago. yes, it was a crime, it was a mistake. i deeply regret it. 100 firefighters tackle a blaze at a block of flats in east london. no injuries have been reported. so i picked up my sons and my missus, and wejust ran — just ran out. and as we came out the front door, behind us was the most raging fire i've ever — scariest thing i've ever seen. chanting. violence flares at a huge protest in hong kong against a new law that would allow suspected criminals to be extradited to china. police are investigating after two female actors were targeted in an alleged homophobic

attack in southampton. and england hang on to beat scotland 2—1 in the women's world cup. good evening. 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 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. with me now is our political correspondent, chris mason. how awkward was this for mike hull one? i thought it was excruciating. it will be filled his campaign and there will be scrutiny for others — there will be scrutiny for others — there already has been in there will real questions for boris johnson given what he said on the past. he's done little in terms of public scrutiny so far, but for mr gove this morning... it doesn't get much more awkward if your pitch is that

you want to be prime minister next month and you're having to plead with viewers that if you become prime minister, you will be let into the very country whose leader we host on a state business just the other day — that whole row about what he may or may not have put on his visa forms when travelling to the us. desperately awkward for mr gove, andi the us. desperately awkward for mr gove, and i think it tells you the extent to which the headlines have been dominated this weekend by his personal conduct that his announcement that he wants to scrap vat, a huge economic policy if he wa nts to vat, a huge economic policy if he wants to do it, gets a mention of 1-2 wants to do it, gets a mention of i—2 sentences, but little scrutiny beyond that because obviously as pa rt beyond that because obviously as part of the contest to become prime minister, policy and brexit matters, but character matters also. intense investigations of a person's character in the process of becoming the prime minister, and that's what mr gove has been suggested that aiko subjected to. i've also read a lot of people saying this was sheer

hypocrisy. these people want to hold high office, get other people would go to prison for the things said to have been done years ago. and mr gove and monk alleged that what he did wasa gove and monk alleged that what he did was a crime dutch acknowledged. if you are seen to have done something and set another. in his argument that was in the past — when you read an article featured in the papers from 1999 when he was a writer in the times, he acknowledges he took cocaine. he talks about the dangers of cocaine, in particular the hypocrisy among some middle—class users who advocated legalization. he has never advocated for legalization. interestingly there's a line in that article where he doesn't admit to being a drug taker himself, but he acknowledges that it taker himself, but he acknowledges thatitis taker himself, but he acknowledges that it is right to have tough laws evenif that it is right to have tough laws even if you occasionally break them because that shows that your values are in the right place and the law asa are in the right place and the law as a pollutant cue to solid

standards. but obviously that condition of hip toss test hypocrisy. we are going to see the leadership process come to life. tomorrow the nominations go in and close, we'll find out by the end of play tomorrow how many actual contenders they are. thursday is the first round of voting, and in subsequent rounds in the weeks after that, i think very quickly the list will shrink down from 11 to a much smaller number. and we will have a new prime minister in six weeks. you make it sound so simple. thank you so make it sound so simple. thank you so much, chris. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30pm and 11:30pm this evening in the papers. the guests joining me tonight are the parliamentary journalist tony grew, and the entertainment broadcaster caroline frost. around 100 firefighters have brought a large fire at a block of flats in east london under control. 15 fire engines were called to the flats at de pass gardens near barking, where the fire had engulfed six floors of the building.

the cause of the fire is not yet known, and there are no reports of any injuries. barking and dagenham council has opened a rest centre and says it will be arranging temporary accommodation for those who need it. joining me now from the scene is our correspondent, leigh milner. well the flames have died down, in the smoke has stopped pouring out of this building. but if we take a closer look inside, we can see the devastation that has been left behind. it's a six story block of flats — four of those floors have been absolutely gutted by those fla mes u nfortu nately. been absolutely gutted by those flames unfortunately. earlier on i actually saw some of the balconies fall to the floor as the flames engulfed the entire building. now throughout the afternoon, we've been seeing the firefighters tackling this blaze. they've done such a good job, we've had 15 fire engines and 100 firefighters trying to tackle

the blaze. meanwhile residents — i'm surrounded, there must be dozens of residents out here watching what's happening and watching it unfold. some of them are angry, some upset, and some of them, including serena, who has lost her entire flat. and some of them, including serena, who has lost her entire flatlj and some of them, including serena, who has lost her entire flat. i live in the second flat down from the top, which is completely burned out. itook top, which is completely burned out. i took out five minutes, got a call in the car park because people are asking me if i was in the flat. i came back, so within seven minutes of me getting there and back, the whole thing was completely in an inferno, basically. but it begs the question the fact that we have fire marshals in the evening. so if there isa fire marshals in the evening. so if there is a fire marshal, there is clearly an issue with fire regulations. this isa an issue with fire regulations. this is a system failure at the end of the day. if you have something like gran fell happening, why aren't people learning from the? we can stand here and be grateful for the fa ct stand here and be grateful for the fact that we are all here, and just

because we are all fine — but at the end of the day, something has happened before and we should learn from this. we have fire marshals — there was an incident, something had to have happen to. how do you feel looking at your flat now? everything is gone! my grandma passed away — everything she gave me has gone. i'm think will for the fact that i'm standing here and not in there, because you just don't know what could've happened. and the fact that it took that long — so quickly for that to go up and complete flames to show you structurally, in terms of the building regulations, that is not ok. serena there, one of the residents who live here that's been speaking to me. it seems as though most of the residents who live here are feeling exactly the same — devastated but also angry. 0ne are feeling exactly the same — devastated but also angry. one of them with me here today is michaela. tell me what you saw when the fire

broke out? i was indoors and ijust heard a massive banging on my door. my neighbour was shouting, screaming and crying at the same time — she carried a three—month—old baby, and she was shouting to get out. i only just managed to get my shoes on and iran just managed to get my shoes on and i ran out. where do you live? the fourth floor on the other side, just oi'i fourth floor on the other side, just on the other side from this building. icame on the other side from this building. i came out and everyone wasjust coming out and crying, shouting to get out. i managed to pick upa shouting to get out. i managed to pick up a child on my way out, and i wasjust worried because i knew we had six children on the floor and i wasn't sure if they were all out, or if someone was left behind. so we left, we came down the stairs, and i could see more people coming out. everyone wasjust could see more people coming out. everyone was just scared.|j could see more people coming out. everyone wasjust scared. i was speaking to a few residents here, and there seems to be a sense of anger — why? and there seems to be a sense of anger - why? we are very frustrated because we've been living here for

six years, we all pay a lot of money for these flats. in all the six years, we've raised concerns to the landlord and the council, to the maintenance company about all this would that hasn't been treated at all. in the legal papers, they don't say that the maintenance company needs to treat it — no one came around in six years. this was an accident waiting to happen? yes, unfortunately. thank you so much for joining me. lots of anger and frustration here. we will be contacting the landlords to see what they have to say. we just heard from london ambulance that at the moment, fortu nately london ambulance that at the moment, fortunately no one has been injured. thank you very much, lee milner in parquet. —— in barking. it's been an eventful start for the home nations in the women's world cup. england narrowly beat scotland 2—1 in nice to get their campaign off to a win. they're one of the favourites, whilst it's scotland's first appearance at the tournament.

the game finished in just the last half hour, let's take a look at some of the action. paris to england against scotland for the opening dart. it's absolutely crucial... ta ken for the opening dart. it's absolutely crucial... taken with unerring accuracy, england lead with avi are giving penalty. it's come through here to white — and she's got in numbertwo through here to white — and she's got in number two for england! she had been ruled earlier out, she made sure the site. in england too, scotland neil in this group. absolutely clinical. thereby the england captain. she streaks forward... she tried to bring it in, and a big transfer scotland! she puts it away and they're back in the game! back in the game, but not for long. katie gornall is pitchside for us at the allianz arena in nice.

it sounded like an amazing atmosphere? it was a very vocal crowd, just over 30,000 here in nice. i think scotland fans in particular, this was a special occasion because that's the first time they got to see their team play ina time they got to see their team play in a world cup. scotland have never qualified for a world cup before, so it was an extra special occasion. scotla nd it was an extra special occasion. scotland are probably playing the best they've ever played — they had a good build up to this tournament, they would've been confident of running england close in this game. the last time the two sides played each other was two years ago, scotla nd each other was two years ago, scotland lost 6—0. it's a sign of development that we have such a close game again that gives the crowd an awful lot to cheer about. but for england, the pressure was really on them, they knew they had to deliver. they ranked 17 places above scotland, they were one of the contenders for the whole tournament. phil neville spoke about this being the toughest fixture in the group,

it being the first one against their rivals, a group of players that they know very well as well. a lot of these players are club mates, they play against each other in the ws l begin and week out. we saw an indication of that at the end of the match when they all came on the pitch together and were shaking hands, each other hugs and going out for photos. so there was pleasure on england to deliver here, they've done that, and i think phil neville will be pleased to have gotten this one out of the way. i saw him at the end of this last whistle here, you know his sorts have already turned to england's next game against argentina. how is that likely to go? how are england likely to fare against argentina? well argentina are the lowest ranked size in the group. actually possibly one of the poorest in this tournament, but really it's impressive that they even made it to the world cup,

because there were times in the recent history when they didn't have a coach or any backing from the federation — they had no games to play for two years, and they dropped out of the world rankings. so really they've achieved something just by getting here to france. but england will be the favourites for the game. and i think phil neville has a lot to work on with his team — scotland put a lot of pressure on them and the second half, there were some gaps in defence, and they scored against them. so he will be tinkering with his line—up, trying to bring some players and for that game against argentina. scotland have a much tougher challenge in their next game, dave travelled to play japan, the winners their next game, dave travelled to playjapan, the winners in their next game, dave travelled to play japan, the winners in 2011 their next game, dave travelled to playjapan, the winners in 2011 and the runners—up in 2015. they will ta ke the runners—up in 2015. they will take an awful lot of heart but their performance here tonight, and also in the performance of their young star who set up their goal in the second half. she's just star who set up their goal in the second half. she'sjust 20 star who set up their goal in the second half. she's just 20 years old, she was the team's mascot when she was a youngster, and now here

she was a youngster, and now here she is. she could be one of the young stars of this cop. katie, thank you very much. there have been violent clashes outside the seat of the hong kong government after one of the biggest marches the territory has ever seen. hundreds of protesters tried to break into the legislative council complex, clashing with police in riot gear. —— hundreds of thousands. 0rganisers say a million people took to the streets on sunday, but the hong kong government is insisting it will nevertheless press ahead with the passage of a highly controversial extradition law. critics fear the bill will erode thejudicial independence hong kong was guaranteed when britain handed it back to beijing. robin brant reports. estimates of the number of people on the streets in hong kong tonight vary from 250,000 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's overwhelmingly peaceful, a mixture of hong kong's diverse society is here. their worry is that 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. well, people are afraid, people are also angry about this extradition treaty. mainland china uses all sorts of ways to exercise their so—called dictatorship in hong kong — to kidnap the people they treat as enemies. say no to the evil bill! say no to 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. but critics 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's 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 to the mainland. robin brant, bbc news. with me in the studio is helier cheung, who used to be based in hong kong as the bbc‘s reporter there. why is this law being proposed now? it's actually being proposed for a com pletely it's actually being proposed for a completely different reason, which because a man in hong kong is alleged to have killed his girlfriend in taiwan when they were in holiday there together. but then the man fled taiwan and went back to hong kong. now the hong kong government sets it can't extradite

him to taiwan to be crime to micro charge for this alleged crime because they have no expedition agreement. but a lot of people say this also includes mainland china and seems to be going beyond their scope. a lot of people are simply worried because the prospect of hong kong citizens being sent to mainland china where they don't trust the government there. supporters say there are safeguards in place so that anyone accused — people safeguarded from religious and political persecution. why are the people not happy with that?m political persecution. why are the people not happy with that? it all comes down to the fact that critics end upjust comes down to the fact that critics end up just don't trust the hong kong government any more. they feel it answers to beijing, not to the hong kong people. people feel that this could still open the way to more extradition that they think could affect not just more extradition that they think could affect notjust political activists, but business people and

visitors, as well. how risky is it to stage demonstrations in hong kong these days? hong kong as a former british colony inherited certain rights and freedoms you don't see in mainland china, which is why in hong kong, they generally have their right to free speech and free protest. and as long as that's agreed with the authorities the same way in the uk. stating a political devastation is not risky, but we have seen some violent clashes at night after the police permit expired. that's because a lot of hard—line protesters tend to stay on longer because they feel traditional peaceful protest hasn't worked.|j was on my way into work today and saw hundreds and hundreds of people in london protesting about the same extradition laws. so how much attention is it grabbing around the world ? attention is it grabbing around the world? has grabbed a lot of attention around the world. in fact they call these solidarity protests in 29 cities around the world, including sydney, berlin and tokyo —

a lot of them are linked to the chinese diaspora, but a lot of people have worked in hong kong since it is an international city. they talk about the erosion of the freedoms that exist in hong kong — what evidence is there that that is happening? it's an interesting subject because supporters of the hong kong government will point out that hong kong has plenty of freedoms, that's why they could state such a large protest. but critics say they've been seeing a drip drip effect where they feel the government has been slowly encroaching on hong kong's rights. there was the case of the missing book—sellers a few years ago who we re book—sellers a few years ago who were detained, disappeared and reappeared in mainland china. there was also the case of the financial times journalist who had was also the case of the financial timesjournalist who had his was also the case of the financial times journalist who had his visa revoked after he became a pro independence activist to give a speech dashed invited a pro independence activist. how likely is it that these demonstrations will have any impact at all? that's the thing — in the past, historically

after very big protest, we have seen the hong kong government backed down 01’ the hong kong government backed down or offer concessions. in 2003 they shelved controversial legislation on national security. but in recent yea rs national security. but in recent years the chinese government has taken a much harder stance against hong kong. most people think that in this case, the legislation will push through an protest won't change their minds. thank you very much. 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 southampton theatre has been forced to cancel its last performances of a gay and lesbian play after some of the cast reported that they had been victims of a homophobic attack. two women actors say they were verbally abused and one was struck in the face with a flying object, as they made their way to the nuffield theatre,

at southampton university, yesterday. the police are now investigating, as roger finn reports. two actors, who are also partners, pausing before they leave southampton after what they say was a shocking ordeal. yesterday morning, they were on their way to the nuffield theatre on the university campus where they were due to perform in the award—winning comedy, rotterdam. they say they were kissing when a car drew up. we kissed once, and i saw the car approaching out of my eye. and then, we kissed again. you know, like, you kiss and you laugh, and you kiss again. and then they shouted something out of the window, and i felt something hit my face, but i was turned this way. i felt it hit my face, it knocked me down, and i could hear laughing because the car window was down as they were driving off. it was obviously quite upsetting because i didn't really know what happened. i heard some shouts, and then luce was in pain and on the floor — and, like, was struggling to breathe properly, and i was trying to calm her down.

i heard boys' voices — young boys' voices — and then, laughing as they were going off. not really sure why they were laughing. it's not really funny to do that. the play they're in is described as a queer love story which explores issues of gender and sexuality. we're just people. we're just two people looking for happiness, like everybody else is, so i don't really understand why we were met with aggression from strangers to strangers. 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. and now, some pictures of a baby elephant. there are some words to go with it, but do we really need them? here she is, taking herfirst steps at a zoo in belgium. she's only a few hours old here, and hasn't been given a name. it wasn't long until the calf was up on herfeet, with help from her mother, and getting used to her new surroundings. asian elephants are critically endangered, with just 38,000 left in the world. there she is. now it's time for a look at the weather with alina jenkins. hello, some sunshine to end the afternoon. but further frequent and heavy showers particularly across scotland, northern ireland, wales, south west england also

working their way further north and eastwards — so nowhere immune from the thundery downpour. but lighter winds are feeling warmer than it did yesterday. we will keep that shower activity going through this evening and at first tonight slowly fading, but showers continuing across southwest england with heavy and persistent rain moving into southeast england and east anglia. temperatures generally between 7—11dc, locally 2—3dc for rural parts of scotland. aside from a scattering of showers, much of scotland and northern ireland having a mainly dry day tomorrow with spells of sunshine, but persistent rain potentially across eastern counties of england, starting to rotate its way further north and west through the day. the far north of england just about staying dry with heavy thundershowers in southwest england and wales — a brisk northeasterly wind. so while we have that rain, it will feel really quite cool and autumnal, just 13—14dc.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines. michael gove acknowledges he committed a crime when he took cocaine while working as a journalist 20 years ago. yes, it was a crime, it was a mistake. i deeply regret it. violence flares at a huge protest in hong kong against a new law that would allow suspected criminals to be extradited to china. 100 firefighters tackle a blaze at a block of flats in east london — no injuries have been reported. so i picked up my sons and my missus, and wejust ran — just ran out. and as we came out the front door, behind us was the most raging fire i've ever — scariest thing i've ever seen. police are investigating after two female actors were targeted in an alleged homophobic attack in southampton. it comes