hello, it's monday, it's10am, i'm victoria derbyshire. good morning. this programme can reveal more than a hundred grenfell tower survivors and relatives are launching legal action in the us this week. the claim for damages will be made against the firms that made the cladding and insulation on the block — and against the maker of the fridge which was blamed for triggering the blaze. we have been told any successful claim against those firms could cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. we will bring you that exclusive story in the next hour. the 11 candidates who want to be prime minister have until 5pm tonight, to get at least eight mps backing them. michael gove's campaign seems to be faltering after he admitted to taking cocaine several times

before he went into politics. health secretary matt hancock is launching his campaign any moment, we'll bring you the top of his speech and we've got backers of four other leading contenders here. we will bring you his live speech. also today, has the crown prosecution service made a deliberate decision to bring fewer rape prosecutions to court? a group of women's organisations thinks so and is launching legal action against the cps. we'll speak to this woman who told us that even though her alleged rapist apologised for his behaviour in a facebook message to her, the case was still dropped. i was absolutely devastated. this person has, since that abuse happened, you know, he has a gun, he moved at one point to follow where i was. he constantly hounds me with threats. to have built the courage to have

finally gone forward after other kind of sexual offences and a rape had happened, and then for that to be dropped like that made me think, "well, if you're a kid growing up in abuse, you really have nowhere to turn to." hello, welcome to the programme. we're live until ”am this morning. what do you think of the tory leadership race? should michael gove pull out of it? boris johnson has admitted to taking cocaine in the past — should he? is it the hypocrisy, is it the drug—taking? if you are a conservative party member — and you'll be making the final choice — who are you backing and why? if anyone else wants to make a bid to be tory leader and indeed prime minister,

they have until 5pm today to do so. six out of 11 candidates already have at least eight mps backing them, which means they get through to the first round of voting on thursday, that's michael gove, matt hancock, and jeremy hunt, plus sajid javid, borisjohnson and dominic raab. the other five who have declared are sam gyimah, mark harper, andrea leadsom, plus esther mcvey and rory stewart. those pictures went around really quickly, sorry. i hope you kept up. in the past 2a hours, the work and pensions secretary amber rudd has announced she backsjeremy hunt, while mr gove is struggling to move on from the revelation that he took cocaine several times many years ago. any moment now, the health secretary matt hancock is launching his campaign in waterloo in london, we'll bring you that when he stands up to speak. there he is. than any generation in history. just this morning with saw news that we have more successful start—ups from britain than any country in europe. this island of 60 million people creates the music that 6 billion people listen to. but

in the parts of our life where we need politics to sort it out, where we need government to take action, things have got stuck. 0ut there todayis things have got stuck. 0ut there today is a metaphor. there is dark clouds over westminster. but underneath, britain is a great country. britain isn't broken, it is politics that's in a rut and we need to move forward. we need a fresh start. and it's because we need a fresh start that i'm putting my name forward to be prime minister. it's not really about my back story. i was brought up in a happy, loving, complicated modern family. i've watched my parents battle against the odds to build a business. when i was young they almost lost it all in the early 90s recession. so i know how hard it can be. but we got through. i had good role models, i

had a great education, i'd consistently high expectations, that was important. but when it comes to understanding the it isn't so much the back story, it's the front story that matters, it's about the future. iaman that matters, it's about the future. i am an optimist about the future. i'm excited about what it holds. i believe the world is getting better and i'm an optimist because i believe in people. i love people. this is one of the reasons i love my job running the nhs so much because of the amazing people we work with, the amazing people who do so much and deliver four people every single day, and it is what has guided me in everything i've done in politics, in government, it is a simple belief that every single person has a contribution to make, that

inside anyone's heart, inside the heart of every single person there is something of value and it is our job to help them release it. that's what politics should be for in service of people. i'm also an optimist because i look at the fa cts . optimist because i look at the facts. i look at the world around us andi facts. i look at the world around us and i think, wow, right now over the last generation, we have brought more people out of poverty around the world than at any other time in history. right now, you are less likely to die in a war than at any other time before. last week, we watched in admiration the footage of

oui’ watched in admiration the footage of our grandparents‘ generation as they waded ashore and made the hail of bullets. i‘m sure you saw it. and what really moved me about that, what really moved me about that, what i really saw in that footage was the fact that just two generations ago, ordinary people, most men under the age of 30, were prepared to die for freedom. and now, thanks to them, we live in freedom. and most people don‘t even ever have to ask the question for what would i be prepared to die? now, this progress, this piece, is precious and we mustn‘t take it for granted. they created those sacrifices, they made those sacrifices, they made those sacrifices to create a better world. and we have the freedom to travel, the freedom to communicate with anyone we want the freedom to communicate with a nyone we wa nt insta ntly. the freedom to communicate with anyone we want instantly. —— peace. the freedom to be just who we are.

we have freedom like never before and for all the problems, ask yourself this, if you could choose what time you‘d be alive, wouldn‘t you choose now? so, i believe that we have to harness this progress. we‘ve got to never tire in tackling the problems that face us. but we‘ve got to be confident in what we have achieved, and ifi got to be confident in what we have achieved, and if i am your prime minister, i will bring every ounce of energy and optimism to improve lives for all. the next question i‘ve got is how. how do we go about this? to get things done, you need a credible plan. the reality is the first task of the next prime minister will be to deliver brexit. because, without that, none of us can move forward. my brexit delivery plan is the only credible plan that can deliver brexit by the 31st of

0ctober can deliver brexit by the 31st of october with the support both of the european union the house of commons. that is just the reality of the situation. some have said, stick with the current plan. but the current plan has been seen to fail. 0thers current plan has been seen to fail. others say, let‘s just run at no deal. but the brutal truth is we know that no deal will not get through the house of commons. and then there is this idea from some people, you might have heard of it, there is this idea from some people back to deliver brexit we should suspend our parliamentary democracy, that we should prorogue parliament. but that goes against everything that those men who waded onto those beaches fought and died for, and i will not have it. since i published it, my brexit plan has received more support here and in europe as a credible and deliverable plan than anything else that anyone has said.

so, i will deliver brexit. but this can‘t just be about so, i will deliver brexit. but this can‘tjust be about brexit because britain is about so much more than brexit. we‘ve got to deliver brexit and then we‘ve got to move forward. because, if we think brexit is the biggest issue facing this country we have got another think coming. my god, there is this huge, massive revolution driven by technology that‘s changing everything. i sometimes feel in this leadership debate so far, i sometimes feel that it‘s completely focused on the here and now will stop it‘s a bit like britons in the 1840s and we had a tory leadership race then. most politicians were still banging on about the corn laws and then there‘s this guy who says there is an industrial revolution going on, it is fundamentally changing the lives of every person in this country, and instead of just of every person in this country, and instead ofjust talking about of every person in this country, and instead of just talking about the here and now, we need to talk about the future, and it‘sjust

here and now, we need to talk about the future, and it‘s just the same today. and the impact this new revolution, the impact is energising, it is full of promise, but it is also unsettling and it is also destabilising. the truth is it is only going to get faster. if you think about it, the pace of change that we are living through today is the slowest pace of change we are going to be living through for the rest of our lives. the slowest. it is only going to get faster. and u nless we is only going to get faster. and unless we harness this change for the benefit of people, the scale of it is going to be overwhelming. i know that the mantra of silicon valley is move fast and break things, but the problem is that things, but the problem is that things that really matter are starting to break. like our sense of national community, the self—esteem of our children, the possibility of civilised debate, our sense of releva nce civilised debate, our sense of relevance and belonging and meaning ina relevance and belonging and meaning in a world that is governed by machines and algorithms. this is

what we are living through, right. and in their place, the threat of automation, poor mental health, angry ideologies clashing all the time on social media, dividing communities, unpicking the fabric of the nation, and while liberal ideas defeated both communism and fascism in the last century, it is clear that today our collective faith in that today our collective faith in that liberal story is being challenged by this massive disruption. we can‘t allow this sane and sensible country that we love to enter a new age of nihilism and narrow nationalism, so i refuse to be the leader offering simplistic solutions and populist answers to such profound change. instead, i offer an emotionally charged platform to improve lives that is rooted, rooted in objective fact. some people say these changes are too big and too inevitable for us to

do anything about it, that the devil a lwa ys do anything about it, that the devil always has the best tunes. i say no, we are masters of oui’ own always has the best tunes. i say no, we are masters of our own destiny. we can win this fight. ultimately, the success of liberal democracy and oui’ the success of liberal democracy and our way of life depends on it. we can and we must work with this change and master it and bend it to oui’ change and master it and bend it to our benefit. not to move fast and break things. my mantra is move fast and make things happen. move fast and make things happen. move fast and make things happen, the words of matt hancock, the current health secretary. he wants to be the next tory leader and your next prime minister. he is the youngest candidate in the race. he said it is a good time to be alive. yeah, he doesn‘t want to move fast and break things, he wants to move fast and... now i can‘t read my own writing. make things happen, that‘s it!

we can speak now to four conservative mps backing different candidates who they want to take over from theresa may. all four of these candidates look likely to get through to the first round of voting as they‘ve got more than eight public backers. we have somebody back in michael gove, facing calls to quit over those cocaine revelations, alberto costa. good morning. daniel kawczynski is backing prominent borisjohnson who today is promising tax cuts for those who are relatively well off. steve brine is backing jeremy hunt who‘s also received the backing of work and pensions secretary amber rudd. and in salford is mary robinson, who wants home secretary sajid javid to be her next leader. we were supposed to be joined by nadim zahawi who is backing dominic raab but he‘s had to go off to mr raab‘s campaign launch which is at ”am today. daniel kaczynski, listening to matt hancock, you said this is torture. yes. i wasn‘t expecting you to repeat that on air. why did you say was torture? i don't think he comes across as a credible candidate. i

don‘t think he has the experience to be the next prime minister. what really irritated me is that he is attempting to portray my candidate borisjohnson as being somehow indifferent to the situation facing any prime minister in the house of commons, the arithmetic, and he is trying to suggest that any prime minister who goes for a no deal is basically, you know, in another cloud cuckoo land if this is not going to get it through. quite frankly, i don‘t believe that the european union has negotiated with us european union has negotiated with us in european union has negotiated with usina european union has negotiated with us in a proper and fair and transparent way. i think we may have to ta ke transparent way. i think we may have to take on the house of commons even if it means another general election, because we cannot allow these remainer fanatics to prevent these remainer fanatics to prevent the will of the british people. you will have heard michael gove yesterday saying if you have a general election before you have delivered brexit then the conservatives will lose. jeremy hunt, your man, said it is political suicide. it would be, you've only

got to look at what has happened in the european election results, a nationwide poll, the two winners of those things, both saying very clear defined things, stop brexit on the remain alliance site and deliver exit on wto on the other side and they are eating the conservative vote, literally eating it alive on both sides —— delivered brexit. if we go to the country before brexit is delivered, you will see labour come through the middle as you saw in peterborough last week. does matt hancock look like a prime minister in waiting to you? matt and the other candidates are my colleagues. i would say it wasn't exactly a tub thumping speech by matt, he is a good secretary of state, but i'm here to support michael gove, and may i tell you why i'm supporting michael gove? michael is the only candidate that has made a bold new offer to all 3.6 million eu nationals. as you know, i have championed this issue and steve and daniel and all mps around the house of commons, the only time we have

been united... but has been overshadowed by the revelations of taking cocaine at the weekend and accusations of hypocrisy. the only time the house of commons has united on brexit was in february over my amendment. we have unanimously said that the citizens' rights part of the withdrawal agreement must be protected. michael has gone a step further. what michael has said is that rather than having eu nationals having to apply for their rights, their rights are guaranteed. why are you still supporting a man who people are describing as a drug—taking hypocrite? people are describing as a drug-taking hypocrite? on saturday i was ina drug-taking hypocrite? on saturday i was in a cafe having a late lunch andl was in a cafe having a late lunch and i overheard two ladies talking about boris and michael and other candidates, and i interrupted and said, ladies, can i ask you something? what about today's news on saturday about the drugs issue, they said to me, this was a lady who was a lawyer and a lady that was a medic, they said to me that they are swing conservative voters, but they have absolutely no interest in the past lives of politicians. you are

supporting michael gove pics of two women in a cafe? no, because of his promise to 5 million people, british citizens in the eu and 3.6 million eu nationals, that's why i'm backing him. if michael gove lied on his esda form to get into the united states when he went there to interview donald trump, for example, is that the end of his bid to be prime minister? i have asked michael directly and he said to me he didn't lie on that form,... they ask if you have... i have been assured that nobody lied on this issue. -- esta. michael gove said i didn‘t lie on the visa waiver form? michael gove sat in this very studio yesterday and gave a very clear answer to andrew marr. he wasn't clear, that's why i‘m asking. andrew marr. he wasn't clear, that's why i'm asking. i thought it was clear. when he's been asked directly... that's exactly what he said. the important thing is, and we all agree, the issue said. the important thing is, and we allagree, the issue is said. the important thing is, and we all agree, the issue is not whether somebody smoked cannabis... the issueis somebody smoked cannabis... the issue is about him lying. this is an enormous point for the united

kingdom. mary robinson, if somebody lied on an official form, kingdom. mary robinson, if somebody lied on an officialform, should they be disqualified from standing? good morning, victoria, and i heard what alberto said and also what michael gove has said on this, and i have to take him on his word as far as what he said on this so far. i'm asking, if somebody has light on an official form, should they be disqualified from being your next leader? it is a really serious offence to lie on an official form and it would have to be treated as such. it should disqualify them from standing? i think it would have to be treated very seriously. daniel kawczynski, i want to ask you, your man can boris johnson, kawczynski, i want to ask you, your man can borisjohnson, told gq magazine that in 2007 he tried cocaine at university. should he withdraw from this race?|j cocaine at university. should he withdraw from this race? i have spoken to my local councillors in shrewsbury and party members, and we are not shrewsbury and party members, and we a re not interested shrewsbury and party members, and we are not interested or concerned about what these candidates may or may not have done in their private

lives. we are interested in, we are ina lives. we are interested in, we are in a political crisis at the moment. this is where i think some people, forgive me for interrupting, some people feel that that dismisses it too easily. who? voters. that's not what voters are telling me. normal people, if i can put it like that, break the law in their private lives... if normal people break the law in their private lives they can be sent to jail, whereas if you are in the political class it sometimes doesn‘t happen. in the political class it sometimes doesn't happen. i can only answer the question that you have posed, which is that we are assessing the most suitable man or woman to be the next prime minister, and for me, having discussed this issue extensively with my local councillors and senior party figures in shrewsbury, we are very, very interested in ensuring that the next few weeks sees a forensic dissection as to how these candidates are going to pull us out of the european

union, and then move on to the important domestic agenda about more funding for public services and cutting taxation will stop let me read this out, joe says i don‘t think michael gove should be allowed to run for prime minister, they are hypocrites, i have a criminal record and struggled to find work. no one wa nts to and struggled to find work. no one wants to give me a second chance. see turner e—mails, the tories have shown that what they say and what they do are two different things. bill on e—mail, gove must go, double standards and can‘t be trusted. this from phil. iam standards and can‘t be trusted. this from phil. i am a tory party member, i will vote for borisjohnson, he is the only candidate with the skill, political experience and resilience to ta ke political experience and resilience to take on brussels and charisma to ta ke to take on brussels and charisma to take on corbyn and farage at the next election. 0n take on corbyn and farage at the next election. on twitter, yet another unelected pm in a minority party clinging to power. an unsavoury array of unsuitable candidates looking after their own interests while shafting the poor. 0n interests while shafting the poor. on twitter, none of them have a plan, they are all deluded. let‘s talk about your candidates‘ various

plans. mary robinson, sajid javid, when it comes to brexit, seems to be saying that he would be able to find alternative arrangements for the border on northern ireland and ireland before october 31. that is just not realistic, is it? of course, this is the crucial aspect of all of this and we know that we have to sort out the border issue to enable us to move further forward with this. what about by october 31? he clearly believes that he can. you think that is credible?” he clearly believes that he can. you think that is credible? i think the fa ct think that is credible? i think the fact that he is the first person who has said he is going to go to ireland and talk to the irish directly about this really does say he has the imagination and innovation to actually tackle this and we need to think about this in a different way. you don't need to go to the irish and talk to them because we know what they say about the border, has to be invisible and seamless. and all of these things

need to be discussed with the irish directly because the way this has been tackled in the past as we have been tackled in the past as we have been talking to the eu, the eu is standing alongside ireland with a particular position on the backstop. we now need to get to a position where we are looking for answers to this and it‘s in the interests of the irish government and irish people and of all of us to find a way through this and to get a solution which will really work. i think the approach sajid has got to this of going directly to ireland and talking to the irish people directly, talking to the negotiations, negotiators there and with his negotiating background he is the right person to do this. steve brine, you say that the man you are backing, jeremy expletive... sorry, jeremy hunt, i‘ve never said that before in my life, so i‘m sorry. you say he is the right man to negotiate some kind of withdrawal deal and get it through parliament

as well as negotiating with the eu. that is not possible because they are not going to renegotiate.” think that the next leader, the next prime minister, is going to have a very, very small window of opportunity, one chance at best to land this. there will be goodwill for a new leader so what i'm looking at is the character of that person. i thinkjeremy at is the character of that person. i think jeremy is at is the character of that person. i thinkjeremy is proven, trusted, respected leader on the world stage. he spends his whole time as foreign minister talking to merkel, macron, he was there last week doing exactly that. it was going to sit around that. it was going to sit around that table and have a chance to have a sensible dialogue with them? if you go in there with... the negotiating is over. if you go in with a bombastic style, threatening things, threatening the withdrawal of money etc, i think you will get a very robust response back. jeremy hunt isa very robust response back. jeremy hunt is a deal—maker, that's what he does, that's what he spends time doing. they've done the deal, you are deluded, aren‘t you? doing. they've done the deal, you are deluded, aren't you? they have done a deal. the eu don't want no deal any more than i do and in were more than i think most mps in the

house of commons with a few exceptions, don't want. no leadership contenders have said they are pursuing actively no deal, i don't believe it's in the national interests or in the conservative party's interests electorally, so the new leader has the small chance, postage stamp to land this deal on, and the question people have got to ask is, when it gets to that point, who do they want sitting round the other side of the table? jeremy hunt is trusted and respected in the world stage and somebody i'd like to see doing that. you have got to accept the fact you are ignoring the fa ct accept the fact you are ignoring the fact the eu has said there is no more negotiations. let‘s bring in daniel kawczynski and alberto costa, daniel kawczynski and alberto costa, daniel kawczynski and alberto costa, daniel kawczynski is supporting borisjohnson. daniel kawczynski is supporting boris johnson. can you daniel kawczynski is supporting borisjohnson. can you expand how he would get no deal through parliament without triggering a general election? he is going to obviously clearly map this out over the coming weeks. how do you think he will manage that? i think that a new leader will have the opportunity to try to unite the conservative parliamentary party, which is splintered all over the place over

the past few months. but even then... sorry, go on. the dup, i suspect, would go along with the possibility of a no deal if that was the only option left on the table, and we will have... we cannot be frightened of a general election. we may end up, and by the way, boris johnson, if you look at the opinion polls, the conservative party... you can be frightened of the conservative party in the elections. you cannot tell me how you would get no deal through parliament without triggering a general election. the opinion polls show if borisjohnson is the leader of the conservative party we would then go back into the lead the first time in many months and then we could save the british electorate. a heck of risk, theresa may was in the lead before the 2017 general election. it is a risk but there is no other alternative. we could say to the british people, look, the only option on the table

because the europeans refuse to negotiate is no deal. will you back us negotiate is no deal. will you back us and give us another mandate on that basis? and i think on that basis, listening to my local party members, and public meetings in shrewsbury, i say to people, would you be willing to accept a no deal, the vast majority of people out there, outside of the watford gap, they are far more relaxed about a new deal. would you be willing to accept a general election? let me bring in alberto costa. you didn‘t ask that follow—up question, i‘m assuming by the smile on your face. i assume we would win a general election. michael gove doesn't appear to have any new, real, credible plan to get the withdrawal deal through parliament. credible plan to get the withdrawal dealthrough parliament. he has held three senior officers, secretary of state for environment, secretary of state for environment, secretary of state for environment, secretary of state forjustice... state for environment, secretary of state forjustice. .. that is irrelevant. and chief whip, four are in fact, as chief whip he unite the party. it is about the deal. the deal consist of three things.

citizens' rights, that's 5 million people, reciprocal rights. the money, and the backstop. and it also has a political declaration. michael has a political declaration. michael has been very clear on this, as re ce ntly has been very clear on this, as recently as yesterday he said that if he becomes prime minister he will come up with a new commission, remember, there is an election for a new commission president. he hasn't put down the red line of 31st october, is certainly going to work for that but if it takes a few more days or a few more weeks, he will get changes to the political declaration. you are being very polite and sticking your hand up like a child in a classroom. all we are talking about is a withdrawal agreement, not the future relationship. the reason why i resigned from government at the end of march and why think no deal, no withdrawal agreement is not in the national interest, is, look at it like this, people talk about crashing out, you either go down over like that with no deal, or smooth your way out through the transition period that is the withdrawal agreement and if you come out on that axis, at the end of that time, who is going to be in a better

position to negotiate a future relationship with our closest trading partners? you are telling me it isjeremy trading partners? you are telling me it is jeremy hunt, trading partners? you are telling me it isjeremy hunt, making the same point but i want to come back to michael gove‘s plan. i still don‘t know how it is different yet. let me tell you. he has made a holistic promise to all citizens that come from the eu. you have made that point. that is one third of the withdrawal agreement because what the eu have said, the member states, is in the event of no deal, they will reciprocate the same rights to british citizens living and working in the eu as we give to eu nationals here, so that's one third of the withdrawal agreement already dealt with. the next issue is money. broadly, the house of commons accept that we have to pay in a sum of money, not least because we want an implementation period, so all that remains is the backstop. michael is a unionist to his fingertips, he is an aberdonian. he gets the uk in a way that other politicians don't. maybe he is misunderstood on this because he said there will be a stop to the backstop, which defeats the

ups no object of the backstop. not at all. because michael is a scotsman like myself, he understands the delicate nature within the four nations of the united kingdom. coming with that background, i was raised in glasgow, and i really understand northern ireland to my fingertips. he, to me, is the most credible conservative leadership candidate that can negotiate with the dup, because this is the key to it. to persuade them to do what? to persuade them to continue to back the conservative government in order to allow us to get the deal over the line. you have got to admit, this is lacking in credibility. not at all, it isa lacking in credibility. not at all, it is a challenge and michael is the first to say that this is a challenge. they will not accept the backstop. not even if michael gove is prime minister. michael has made clear that the red line of 31st of october does not apply. he will ensure that he will get that deal and if it takes an extra few days or weeks he will get that over the line. my friend and colleague said he isa line. my friend and colleague said he is a scottish mp from scotland. and the first of the polish born

british member of parliament and i talk to the polls a lot, they are very worried also because britain is their second trading partner —— poles. is this relevant? it is because a lot of european capitals are getting increasingly worried about how the european commission are handling these negotiations because they don‘t believe it is in their strategic interests, direct relationship with the united kingdom... i would say it is very important now for the united kingdom to demonstrate that we can pull out of the european union and regain our sovereignty because we will not be the only country to pull out of the european union within our lifetimes. how manyjobs will be lost if we leave the eu with no deal? we had operation fear... that's not what i‘m asking. how manyjobs will be lost if the uk leaves the eu without a deal? i have every confidence that the economy will motor ahead even faster than it does now. no job losses ?

faster than it does now. no job losses? i don't believe there will bejob losses? i don't believe there will be job losses. will there be job losses ? be job losses. will there be job losses? absolutely they will come of the just—in—time supply chain in the car industry in the west midlands for a start, prediction time, victoria. poor theresa may said when she resigned compromise is not a dirty word and i predict to you and your view is that the withdrawal agreement that gets to the house of commons, it may be rebadged, polished and maybe even a shiny new folder on it but i predict it will look very similar to the one she failed to get through in the last few months. i want to bring in mary robinson who is backing sajid javid. why do you have confidence in sajid javid to run the country when serious violent crime has gone up on his watch as home secretary? sajid javid has really got a plan for how we can unite this country. what about serious violent crime going up while he was home secretary? why does that instill you with confidence because you know i have huge confidence in sajid javid, his record in the home office has

been excellent... apart from serious violent crime going up, surely.” sat on the offensive weapons bill which was part of the legislation which was part of the legislation which was part of the legislation which was brought forward to tackle the crime that is on our streets. and he knows first—hand just how much we need to do in order to tackle crime within our country and it is things like the offensive weapons legislation we are bringing forward which will do that. i‘ve got every confidence in his ability to lead this country forward. he is also a unifying candidate. it is interesting to hear earlier with a piece with matt hancock when he talked about britain not being broken. no matter, it is in but it is divided and we need somebody who can unify the country north and south, who can unify the urban areas and those town areas, too, somebody who can do all of this which is why iam who can do all of this which is why i am backing sajid. thank you, mary.

let me ask you, on that unifying question, because it has been toxic, it has been divisive and it still is in many parts of the country. how is michael gove the man to unite the country? i voted remain in 2016 and in 2016i backed michael gove and the reason i did that is because michael gove was chairman of the vote to leave campaign, one of the biggest political campaigns in british electoral history. i believe and i think many of your viewers believe that the person who has to take the country out in a smooth and orderly manner must be either michael gove or boris. they were the ones that made pledges in 2016 and they mustn‘t just be given made pledges in 2016 and they mustn‘tjust be given the right, they must be given the responsibility to honour the electoral mandate they were given by that successful campaign. daniel kawczynski, last time i saw you before you came on the programme you are telling me you are going to back dominic raab so why is borisjohnson the man you‘re now backing the man

to unite the country? i think we need to be lifted as a party. we've been... i don‘t care about the party, with respect. i‘m talking about unifying the country.” party, with respect. i‘m talking about unifying the country. i think he has proved to be somebody who can unify society. he has won london on two occasions. a very labour city. london voted remain as you know. yes, but he won it twice and united londoners. and people were very pleased. people still talk to me about what a good mayor he was of london. we see all the problems in london. we see all the problems in london as a result of a very inefficient mayor siddique khan. mayorjohnson is perceived to have beena very mayorjohnson is perceived to have been a very good mayor of london. steve ryan you‘re backing jeremy huntand steve ryan you‘re backing jeremy hunt and you‘re going to tell me he can unite the country even though yesterday he said he believes lowering the abortion limit from 2a to 12 weeks. you won't unite anything, party or country, and

country is more important than party, until you deal with the underlying issues that lie behind the referendum result, the burning injustices, and they are all still there, that north—south divide is still there and you won't address any of those domestic issues that people care about or vote about at the ballot box until brexiters done, until the country can move on from that. and women who heard him speak yesterday suddenly anxious that, oh my god, this is a man who wants to be promised and wants to roll back women‘s rights! be promised and wants to roll back women's rights! i didn't see the interview yesterday.” women's rights! i didn't see the interview yesterday. i did. women's rights! i didn't see the interview yesterday. idid. he women's rights! i didn't see the interview yesterday. i did. he was asked why he voted the way he did ten years ago doctor mackie was askedif ten years ago doctor mackie was asked if he still believes in lowering the abortion limit from 24 to 12 weeks, and he said yes he still believes in it. he said he won‘t bring it on as government policy. well, there you go. i have many things victoria in my inbox and in my intro and i can tell you the abortion time limit is not one of them. i don't see me wanting to vote

to change the abortion laws in this country and if they come before the house of commons it wouldn't be from prime ministerjeremy house of commons it wouldn't be from prime minister jeremy hunt. house of commons it wouldn't be from prime ministerjeremy hunt. ok, thank you, all of you, thank you for coming on the programme. nominations close at 5pm today. let‘s hear another clip from towards the end of matt hancock‘s launch. he wants to be the next tory leader. there were a few policy initiatives in his speech — he promised to create insurance to fund social care, to cut taxes when the economy allows it and to increase the pay of people working full time on the national living wage by £3,500 a year. some people say that we need a brexiteer. that with the need to deliver brexit, we‘ve got to have a brexiteer. i think that is getting it completely the wrong way around. we need to deliver brexit. and, as a party, we need to win back the

voters who voted for the brexit party because we haven‘t delivered it yet. but if we just become the brexit party, then we are finished. we then need to turn to this gaping centre ground there is in the heart of british politics. we need to win over people who voted lib dem, we need to win over people who have flirted with voting labour under jeremy corbyn! people who share our values but don‘t yet know that the conservative party is the home of those values. we need to win over younger voters, those values. we need to win over younger voters, we those values. we need to win over younger voters, we need to win over younger voters, we need to win over younger women voters younger voters, we need to win over younger women voters in particular. the idea of a lifelong conservative voter is at risk because of the tiny proportion of women under the age of 24 who would even consider voting for us. we need to deliver brexit and then we need to move forward. and the best way to do that is with somebody who can turn the page from the bitter battles of the last three

yea rs. we the bitter battles of the last three years. we need elite and notjust for the next six weeks or six months but for the next six and beyond. matt hancock. a little bit more of what he had to say in his launch this morning and then it is dominic raab launching his campaign at 11am and a few more throughout the day. this programme can reveal today that more than 100 grenfell survivors and relatives are taking legal action in the us against three firms they blame for the fire. the firms targetted by the lawsuit are cladding maker arconicinsulation, maker celotex and fridge supplier whirlpool. a successful action in the us could cost them tens of millions of dollars in damages. the grenfell fire, injune 2017, claimed the lives of 72 people and another 70 were injured. the new lawsuit in the united states comes as official investigations into the fire continue here in the uk. jim reed and i have been

working on this story. jim, let‘s bring our viewers up to date with what we know. morning. we‘re expecting this lawsuit to be formally launched later this week in the us state of pensylvannia. that has been chosen as the location partly because it‘s the american headquarters of two of the companies involved — arconic and celotex. this is significant because the laws in the united states around what are called "product liability" are seen as being tougher than here in the united kingdom. or at the very least the potential damages if you sucessfully sue can be much, much higher. the us lawyers working on this say it‘s impossible at the moment to estimate the size of any future award but they have indicated that, in 2013, a similar lawsuit related to a building collapse that killed seven people, settled for $227 million. the number of people who lost their lives in the groenefeld disaster was higher than that, 72 people lost their lives that and people we have

heard from, survivors say it is important to them to inflict as much damage financially and reputation on some of these companies which they blame for this disaster as possible. let‘s talk about the firms involved. to start with the cladding firm. the cladding was fixed to the outside of the tower, this is before the fire backin the tower, this is before the fire back in 2016, and that is the outer sheet of this cladding, very thin metal panel made by a company called arconic. that panel was what they call the primary cause of the spread of the fire. arconic say it has no comment at the moment on this potential litigation but says... then there is the insulation. this was the foam material attached between that panel and the wall

itself. it was made by a company called celotex, which in turn is owned by a big french company. you can see some of that panel where it has burnt off, you can see the foam material is insulation itself. the company said it found out about this potential lawsuit on friday last week, it‘s currently considering its position. it says it will continue to cooperate fully with the public inquiry and other investigations into this disaster. and then there is the manufacture of the fridge in flat 16. the fridge itself was built bya flat 16. the fridge itself was built by a company called hotpoint, which is owned or the company is owned by whirlpool. you can see some photos after the fire in flat 16. the public inquiry has heard evidence, expert evidence, that it was the cause of the fire, although other evidence given in the inquiry says there was insufficient proof of that so it isn‘t entirely settled as a subject. in a statement, whirlpool

said to us... they went on to say... while the inquiry is ongoing it‘s inappropriate to give any more detail at this time. we know over 100 are involved in this lawsuit. not everybody is taking action against these us manufacturers. what are residents and survivors and relatives sing about it? over 100 people will go forward about this, some survivors thought to be uneasy about pursuing a damages claim in the united states in particular. one resident told us he didn‘t feel it was morally right to take that us action. another described it as a distraction from any ongoing investigation into the local council te na nt investigation into the local council tenant management organisation. ok, and how long could this take? years. these actions could take years and yea rs. lawyers say these actions could take years and years. lawyers say an initial

judgment is likely quite quickly within six months, then getting to court if that gets the go—ahead would take another 18 months, so it could be years. thank you very much, jim, and we will follow what happens. thank you. thank you for the messages about the tory leadership contest. one says michael gove should pull out, it should be led by someone who has a clea n should be led by someone who has a clean record. borisjohnson can‘t be trusted, he has misled the electorate and should be held to account. an e—mail says i couldn‘t ca re less account. an e—mail says i couldn‘t care less what candidates have or have not done in the past. i want someone who wants to do the job and do it well. i‘m afraid i wouldn‘t even trust a saint. eve says esther mcvey for me as pm. the woman is a true democrat and will make sure the decision of the people is upheld. michael gove is only interested in the position of pm and will say anything to get it. as for boris johnson, i hope that when he gets elected, that he does as he has said... oh... if he gets elected, he

does as what he says and not be from the same mould as michael gove. craig tx, i‘m a and x police officer. i had to have a regular drug officer. i had to have a regular d rug test officer. i had to have a regular drug test which means i would lose myjob and be prosecuted. politicians who make the law shouldn‘t break the law and should be treated to the same standards of the people they serve. bring in drug testing for our politicians and senior civil servants, like we have the soldiers, teachers and police officers. the crown prosecution service has made a "secret" decision to prosecute fewer people accused of rape. that‘s the allegation from a coalition of women‘s rights groups today, who are threatening to take the cps to court over the claims and have launched a crowdjustice fundraising appeal to support their challenge. they say prosecutors are trying to second—guess whether a jury will believe victims. the cps denies this. i‘ve been talking harriet wistrich,

who is founding director of the centre for women‘s justice and is the solicitor bringing this case, bonny turner, who says she was raped in her sleep by a man she knew, and beth, which is not her real name. a man who raped her as a child was charged with 44 offences, but the cps dropped the rape case five months before it was due to reach trial. thank you very much for talking to us. beth, you were allegedly raped as a child and, as a result, the cps brought 44 charges against that man. and then dropped the case. why? yes, so... the 44 charges were brought around in the summer of 2017 and the trial date was set for february 2018. in april, i got a call from the police officer in charge of the case for two years, gathering the evidence from over 50 witnesses, from teachers to doctors, and he told me on the phone he was called in for a meeting with the cps, where they said to him the case is being dropped. he said, "i can‘t believe you‘re doing this, this guy has done it, what has happened? let me show the evidence."

he felt the decision had been made by powers above and the decision was made. that couldn‘t be changed. and how did you feel when the police officer relayed this news to you? i was absolutely devastated. this person... ..has... since that abuse happened, you know, he has a gun. he moved at one point to follow where i was. he constantly hounds us with... ..threats. and to have built the courage to finally come forward, after other sexual offences and a rape had happened, and for that to be dropped like that made me think, well, if you are a kid growing up in abuse, you really have nowhere to turn to. what were the reasons, as far as you could work out, why this case wasn‘t taken to trial? i was given the reason by the police officer that during... this evidence had been used to make

those charges in the first place, that during an earlier intervention by health professionals, i hadn‘t disclosed. so, you hadn‘t told a health professional about the abuse many years before? yes. and that was, according to the police officer a reason why the cps were not taking it forward? exactly. bear in mind he had his gun and that threat was very live. so, that was used against me. what did you think of that? imean... i think that... ..the cps have no understanding of how child abuse works, if that is the case. for me to be picking the cases that are ones where kids won‘t have come forward earlier, which is a sign of that abuse or where people have mental health problems which, again, as a consequence of severe abuse and trauma, seems to me they are wildly off the mark. or something else is going on.

you have an opportunity to get these decisions reviewed. the cps provide that process of review. you did that, what happened? so, i was offered a right to review but the review is conducted by the same people that made the decision. so, not independent? it is not at all independent. i had one of the cps officials crying at that time and when i asked them are you giving him back his gun they said yes. that was the end of the line. the way they closed that case meant that even when their decision was proved to be wrong he could never be charged with those charges again and that was it. 0k, let me bring in harriet wistrich, the solicitor that potentially could be taking the cps to court. the case beth has just described, it is one thing for the cps not to take a case forward but totally different for 44 charges to be brought and then it‘s dropped before it reaches trial. yes, well, what we are seeing

is a massive fall in the prosecution of rape and serious sexual offences by the cps. the statistics show the figures are going down and down even though more and more women are reporting rape. and we have gathered together, together with the end violence towards women coalition, a coalition of women's organisations who are the claimant in the case, and we have brought together a load of evidence from a variety of different sources which reveal that, first of all, the head of the director of legal services at the cps did a training session around all the rape prosecutors to say let's remove some of the weaker cases from the system so that we can improve the conviction rate. and, secondly, they have surreptitiously removed or reference to something called the merits based approach to prosecuting.

so, the merits—based approach was brought in about ten years ago because it was recognised there are a lot of myths and stereotypes around rape, for example, as we've heard from beth, if somebody doesn't disclose at the beginning, it doesn't mean they were not actually raped. there are lots of reasons for that. and the merits—based approach is designed to look out the facts objectively rather than to second—guess what a jury might say at a trial, which is known as a bookmakers choice. so, the odds of whether a case a jury would convict? yes, odds—on or not. the reality is that juries are reluctant to convict in a lot of cases but if the cps are robust and if they really work to counter the myths and stereotypes and listen to the reasons why beth didn't disclose at that time and find ways to deal with that, those harder cases should be brought

forward because you've got a dangerous man out there who is not being held to account. and the more that men, who rape and abuse, know they are not going to be held to account, the more they will do it again and again and again. so it's notjust a disaster for those that their cases are not prosecuted. it's also leaving women as a whole unsafe. let me bring in bonny. you‘ve waived your right to anonymity to talk about what you say happened to you. again, the cps didn‘t proceed in your case. you say despite the man who allegedly raped you effectively confessing and apologising to you over facebook. tell our audience about this. yes, so... the man who raped me happened when i was fast asleep. so, i had up until that point a consensual sexual relationship with that man. and i was fast asleep one night.

and he raped me. he verbally acknowledged what he'd done the next day. but, then, it wasn't until two weeks later, when he was repeatedly trying to contact me, that i said i didn't want to talk because he'd really hurt me. and those facebook messages you‘ve given us permission to show our audience. let‘s just have a look. he said, "want to talk." you said, "not really, ifeel angry with you for what you did a few days before you left. very shaken". he said, "bonny, i am so sorry really, i made a huge mistake, i was very stupid, if there is anything i could do to make you feel better, please tell me". you said, "i was still fast asleep when you forced yourself inside me. i was frozen with fear and so deeply sleepy that i thought i was dreaming". he said, "i know,

i completely read wrong." why didn‘t the cps continue with that case? i don't really know. what do you think? well, the decision from the cps came to me injanuary 2018, so i believe that is one month after the liam alan case collapsed in court. which was to do with various messages from the woman who was accusing him not being disclosed by the police. yes, exactly. so, it is possibly partly that but also because the training sessions that harriet was referring to happened between april and december 2017. so, do you think it could be partly because you continue to have a sexual relationship with this man for a few days afterwards? could that have influenced the cps? potentially. because it happened when i was deeply asleep... ..i was questioning whether it happened or not.

yeah, it took several days for the shock to wear off. and i started getting panic attacks within two or three nights after the rape happened. is this an example of where you say the cps are not going to take this forward because the jury will go, well, bonny continued in a relationship with this man while at the same time claiming he raped her? yes, precisely, it is another example of a rape myth. there are, unfortunately, a lot of myths and stereotypes surrounding how rape victims should behave and also what sort of men rape. we know for example that younger men are much less likely to be convicted because people seem to think, you know, a young, good—looking man would never rape, which of course is not true. so, there are myths and stereotypes, and the cps in the past, and the police, have been committed to challenging those. but i think the cps are riding back from that.

they tell us there‘s been absolutely no change of policy. are you prepared to go to court over this? let's see how they respond. we've sent a letter before claim today. let's see how they respond. got to have some explaining to do about first of all these training sessions and secondly why have they removed all reference to the merits—based approach? this was introduced... from their website? from their website, from their guidance in the prosecution guidelines. why have they removed something which was brought in specifically to help counter this second guessing ofjurors? that is our question to them. and we will see. but i can't see what their explanation is. i think they are just trying to reduce the number of prosecutions they are bringing to try to improve their conviction rate. it isn't good enough. 0k, we will see what they have to say. thank you all of you, thank you very much for coming on the programme, really appreciate your time. thank you. and if you want info or advice cos

of any of the issues raised in our discussion, then you can find them listed on the bbc‘s actionline website at bbc.co.uk/actionline. thank you for your many messages on the tory leadership race. my game is to say i will be backing esther mcvey, she seems to me to be the only genuine person to get our country out of the eu. lynn says all of these people, politicians, journalists and joe public calling michael gove a hypocrite, are they squeaky clean with no skeletons in their cupboards? yeah, right. let he who is without sin cast the first stone. paul says, your guests today backing various contenders are in denial. they are living in fantasy land. bring on a general election. notjeremy corbyn‘s biggest fan but i prefer him to any of the hypocrites and liars standing for prime minister. seth asks, why is borisjohnson being prime minister. seth asks, why is boris johnson being considered prime minister. seth asks, why is borisjohnson being considered for the highest post in the uk? am i the only one going crazy? flamboyance

doesn‘t equal responsibility. and a couple more, barry says, i wouldn‘t like any prime minister who has taken drugs like any prime minister who has ta ken drugs past like any prime minister who has taken drugs past or present to be in charge of the nuclear button. malcolm says, michael gove was very honest about his past therefore should be held in high esteem and remaina should be held in high esteem and remain a candidate for the prime ministerial job. remain a candidate for the prime ministerialjob. i think the interviewer that questioned him has underlying political views against michael after just putting underlying political views against michael afterjust putting the same question to him and are asking one on what you do if he was to become the next prime minister. that was a new biography of him so he did an interview about it in the mail. thank you for your company today. we are back tomorrow at 10am. good morning. it has been a dry—bob start the day with some sunshine—bob across scotland, northern ireland, north and western areas of england and wales but towards the east you can see from the earlier rainfall radar imagery we‘ve had some heavy rain across parts of south yorkshire

and lincolnshire and down towards hampshire. that rain will continue into the afternoon, gradually spreading its way further north and westward into east wales, the south—west of england and for northern england sting largely dry apart from a few showers, if few sharp showers for scotland and northern ireland with some sunny spells. maximum temperature highest in the west of scotland, up to 19, elsewhere 13—14 but it is the rain in the south is the met office have issued an amber warning. so we could see a lot of rainfall by the end of tonight in that south—east corner, may be a months worth of rainfall falling through the evening and tonight in the south—east of england which could lead onto some localised flooding problems. through this week, it stays unsettled, further rain, heavy at times to come, it‘ll be wendy bob and stein quite cool. bye— bye. be wendy bob and stein quite cool. bye—bye. —— it‘ll be wendy bob and staying quite cool.

you‘re watching bbc newsroom live. it‘s 11am, and these are the main stories this morning: the conservative party‘s leadership race begins in earnest today, as nominations for who should be the next prime minister close at 5pm. frontrunner borisjohnson has pledged to cut income tax for higher earners if he succeeds theresa may in number ten — health secretary matt hancock launched his campaign this morning. we need a leader not just for the next six weeks or six months, but for the next six years and beyond. we don‘t need a leaver, we don‘t need a remainer, we need a leader for the future. the uk economy shrank by 0.4% in april. it‘s the biggest monthly contraction in three years, mainly due to a dramatic

fall in car production.