today at five — nominations have just closed in the race to become the next leader of the conservative party. the leading contenders have been launching their bids to be the next prime minister. i am now ready to unite, ready to deliver, ready to lead. we need to get real, we are facing a constitutional crisis. our new prime minister will preside over a hung parliament. these are serious moments and call for a serious leader. we'll be bringing you the results live from westminster with some of the 11 candidates likely to be out of the race — and we'll be talking to some leading conservative figures... the other main stories on bbc news at 5. and end to blanket free tv licences

for pensioners over 75. though households receiving pension credit will still be eligible. we think that is fair to those over 70 but also to all our audiences for whom there was no appetite for the level of cuts which would have been necessary if this concession was expanded to everybody. necessary if this concession was expanded to eve rybodyi necessary if this concession was expanded to everybody. i want to television, if i want to watch it, same as everybody else, we have to pay for it. hong kong's leader says she has no plans to withdraw a draft law allowing extraditions to the chinese mainland — despite further demonstrations. and as england celebrate a win in the women's world cup — we meet these players who almost 50 years ago were among the first to fly the flag.

it's 5 o'clock. our main story. nominations have just closed for the conservative leadership contest. ii contenders are in the running and in the next hour we'll find out who are the confirmed candidates and who's out of the race. this afternoon michael gove set out his agenda and said he is ready to lead. earlier the foreign secretary jeremy hunt received the backing of cabinet ministers amber rudd and penny mordaunt — while borisjohnson promised to cut income tax for people earning over 50 thousand pounds a year. here's our political correspondent jonathan blake. who wants to be prime minister? borisjohnson certainly does. the front runner grabbing headlines with a promise to cut income tax for higher earners but so far shying away from speeches,

avoiding interviews on camera and letting his opponents do the talking. others could not wait to take the stage. first up, one styling himself a fresh face for the future and says britain should look beyond brexit. we need a leader notjust for the next six weeks but for the next six years and beyond. we don't need a leaver, we don't need a remainer, we need a leaderfor the future. next to set out his stall, the former brexit secretary who said he would take the uk out of the eu by the current deadline regardless. we won't deliver brexit with bluff and bluster. i am the conviction brexiteer with a plan, discipline and focus to lead us out by the end of october. i am the brexiteer that you can rely on. it is my privilege to introduce my choice for the next leader of the conservative party, jeremy hunt.

backing from brexiteer in cabinet. helped the foreign secretary make his pitch. this position takes more than just tough talk. we need to get real, we are facing a constitutional crisis, a new prime minister will preside over a hung parliament. this serious moment calls for a serious leader. aligning herself with the conservative icon, another candidate voiced her frustration and impatience, get on with brexit deal or not. i cannot understand the pessimism of people who feel that we as a the country cannot go forward and meet such a positive case, not only for ourselves as we go with our free trade agreement but actually take place in the world as a global reader. i do not understand that pessimism. michael gove. and after calls for him to quit over his cocaine use 20 years ago, one of the leading lights try to get the focus back on his pitch to be

prime minister. i have always always always taken the opportunity on every platform to make the case for the conservative values that made our party great and our country strong. that is why i am now ready to unite, ready to deliver, ready to lead. there are 11 contenders in the contest to be prime minister. so far it is clear at least six have enough support to continue, the rest will need to show they have the backing of eight mps by the deadline tonight. beyond the westminster bubble, a plea from several newspapers for the candidates to find policies that will give boost to the north of england. this contest is set to run for the next six weeks, expect a deluge of policies and promises before our next prime minister is chosen. from the houses of parliament.

talk as to what we can expect the next hour. about six o'clock, perhaps before, we will get the 1920 to committee telling us exactly who has made the cut for the long list. this is the first hurdle that people who are standing for the leadership have to get over. two weeks ago when we find out theresa may was resigning, there was a deluge of candidates coming forward so the party said we need to introduce some new hurdles to getting on the ballot paper. tonight mps will have had to had the backing of it people, that can include themselves so seven others to be on the ballot paper. we will get the result of who has made that from the 11 vine for position tonight. there is a feeling that most of them will get there but there might be one or two who will

not make that cut. from thursday, there will be a set of ballots where there will be a set of ballots where the threshold will increase, the 17 on thursday need the backing of 17 and 33 after that in a week. there will be another round of voting. until we are left with two to be voted for by members throughout the country. we are nowjoined by malcolm rifkind. he served as foreign secretary and defence secretary, thank you forjoining us. thank you. what do you make the race and who would you like to see the next prime minister? we at least have a very good choice of very able candidates. i would have a very good choice of very able candidates. iwould be have a very good choice of very able candidates. i would be looking for, not who is going to general election in three months‘ time, apart from jeremy corbyn, there is no one in the country who wants another general election so i am looking for who will make the best prime

minister to govern this country both on brexit and a whole range of other crucial issues over the next two or three years. i am looking for somebody with a proven record of knowing how to run a government department. i worked under margaret thatcher and john major and i saw how both of them, the one thing they had in common, both thatcher and major was they could handle huge amounts of detail. they knew what was happening in every department and could provide structured leadership and that is the criteria you need. not just leadership and that is the criteria you need. notjust to govern the country, that is the most important thing but speaking as a conservative, in order we can win back some of the respect and being a government that can govern with competence and professionalism over the next three years. a lot of the debate around the candidates has centred around the brexit deadline and whether we should be prepared to leave without a deal if necessary,

where do you stand on that? of course that is the most crucial short—term requirements and you need someone short—term requirements and you need someone who has the capability of negotiating, but does not mean making great speeches, it means negotiating about the detail whether it is the irish backstop or the budget contribution or future trade relationships, these are massive details which you do not resolve by rhetoric but by hard negotiating. i rememberjohn major patiently going through the northern ireland issues which led to the good friday agreement... a lot of people with the theresa may was a good negotiator, she worked hard talking with the eu but it did not do her much good. you want someone who has that attention to detail and skill but also has the degree of political skill required. you look for both. he asked me earlier who i would

personally support, there is a number of candidates i could support but if i have to choose one, i would sayjeremy hunt, he did an excellent job as health secretary. what most interests me then, it is one of the most difficultjobs in the candidates —— mike in the cabinet and after a few years he was offered and after a few years he was offered a reshuffle of another department. he declined to be moved because he said there is still a job to be done andi said there is still a job to be done and i thought that was very impressive and growing up. nicola sturgeon has said, what sort of a horror show the tory leadership election is, attacks on abortion rights, hypocrisy on drugs, continued brexit delusion, a tax cut for the rich, true colours to the onshore. what would you say to that? if nicola sturgeon had said what a fine body of men and women, i would

have been even more astonished at the remarks she needs. thank you very much for being with us. we will bring you the live announcement of which candidates have made it through, systemic as of the next hour or so. and on tuesday 18thjune bbc one will be hosting a live election hustings between the candidates for conservative leader — one of them will be the person who moves in to downing street. the debate will be shaped by your questions — and we‘re asking you to submit them in advance. email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your question and include your name and contact number if you‘re interested in asking it live on the night. more than 3 and half million pensioners will — from next year — have to start paying the bbc licence fee. the government is ending the funding of free licences to the over 755, and the bbc says it will now cover the cost only for people receiving

pension credit. the prime minister says she is ‘very disappointed wth the decision‘ our media correspondent, david sillito is here. explain to us how we have arrived in this position? 2,000, the government said they would pay for over 70 is to have three tv licences, in 2015 that funding was withdrawn. there has been a long period of transition in which the bbc has wondered, can it fit that bill? £7115 in which the bbc has wondered, can it fit that bill? £745 million, a very large chunk of the programme budget. the decision announced today is that they will fund a part of it, only those households over the age of 75 that receive pension credit, the rest, around 3.6 million pensioners will have to pay the charge from next year. letters will be sent out this year, informing people they will have to start

paying the licensee. pensioners groups, many are very angry about this, although some are angry with the government rather than the bbc. they say a lot of pure pensioners don‘t claim pension credit so this is means testing which does not work fairly? some fairly forthright comments, national pensions convention said it is an absolute disgrace that the bbc has the ba refa ced disgrace that the bbc has the barefaced cheek to call this fear. tom watson from the labour party says this is an outrage. age uk says it is something which will affect the sick and disabled. and the pure in society but the accept this is the fault of the government, not the bbc. the government says it is disappointed, it expected the bbc to cover this. this was the agreement they made with the bbc back in 2015, so there is a mix of use. so is the

balance between how much the bbc has to cut in the service or how much is essentially that the elderly are the heaviest users of the bbc and how many of them should receive the service free? thank you very much. in about ten minutes i‘ll be talking to the director—general of the bbc lord hall — stay with us. a nurse has been rearrested by police investigating deaths at the neonatal unit at the countess of chester hospital. lucy letby was first detained last july on suspicion of the murder of eight babies and the attempted murder of six more. our correspondent danny savage has more details. if details of this case unfamiliar, it is because we were standing outside this hospital talking about this case last july.

outside this hospital talking about this case lastjuly. that is when lucy b, the nurse here at the hospital who has been arrested was first arrested by cheshire police. she was detained on suspicion of the murder of eight babies and the attempted murder of another six, she was questioned at the time her home was questioned at the time her home was searched and she was be out as the investigation continued that was the investigation continued that was the situation until this morning when cheshire police issued an updated statement. they have never officially named the health professional but said she had been rea rrested professional but said she had been rearrested on the same charges as last year and the attempted murder of three additional babies. she is now in custody, helping police with their enquiries, being interviewed we understand. police said they are keeping the families involved closely updated with events as they u nfold closely updated with events as they unfold and the hospital cannot say very much but they are cooperating fully with the investigation. so it

appears to have moved on from one year ago when the original arrest was made. the same person was rea rrested as was made. the same person was rearrested as this inquiry continues. danny savage reporting. the headlines on bbc news... nominations for the conservative leadership election closed a short time ago — all 313 conservative mps will vote for their preferred candidate in a series of ballots held this month. no more free tv licences for all pensioners over 75. though households receiving pension credit will still be eligible. hong kong‘s leader says she has no plans to withdraw a draft law allowing extraditions to the chinese mainland — despite further demonstrations. and in sport, japan and argentina had an action at the women‘s world cup. 30 minutes have gone, this one will given indication of what scotla nd will given indication of what scotland and england need to do to

progress. ferrari are appealing the penalty hand which saw sebastian vettel demoted. most drivers have slammed the decision but nico rosberg said it was fully deserved. west indies and south africa have one point apiece from their abandoned world cup game. south africa where 29 for two when rain stopped play. in the last error, that game has been called off. i will be back with more on all those stories at half past five. thank you very much indeed. campaigners are preparing to take the crown prosecution service to court over claims sexual offence cases are being dropped without good reason. a group of women‘s organisations have accused it of secretly deciding to bring fewer rape prosecutions in england and wales. the cps denies the claims, and says decisions to prosecute are based on clear legal tests being met. our home affairs correspondent, june kelly, reports.

phone messages and social media are now playing an increasingly important part in rape investigations. rebecca says she had some nonhostile exchanges with the man she accused of raping her because she was terrified and he‘d threatened her with a knife. but she was told her messages could be misinterpreted by a jury and on the eve of the trial, a prosecutor announced they were dropping the case. she said that the whatsapp messages were of a concern. and that they didn‘t think that a jury would believe that he had raped me. i was absolutely devastated, i was retraumatised all over again. i actually felt suicidal. women‘s organisations say there has been a 173% increase in rape complaints over the past four years,

but there‘s also been a 44% drop in cases actually getting to court. this means that only around one in 25 rape complaints result in a prosecution. prosecutors are being encouraged to anticipate what quite a prejudiced jury might think, and therefore, to drop cases that are thought to be weak at an early stage. this is not acceptable, we say it's not lawful and we want it changed and we'll see them in court to get that change if we have to. rebecca says she would now deter other women from making a complaint. the cps insists prosecutions are decided solely on evidence and denies there has been any change in approach. june kelly, bbc news. activists in hong kong say they‘re planning another day of protest on wednesday — in their campaign against a proposed new law that would allow suspects to be sent for trial to mainland

china. it‘s feared the extradition bill — if approved — could allow beijing to target political opponents in the territory, a former british colony, handed back to china in 1997. but hong kong‘s pro—beijing leader carrie lam is standing firmly behind the bill. she insists human rights will be safeguarded. here‘s our china correspondent stephen mcdonell. the hong kong government has remained defiant, even in the face of enormous opposition. exactly how many people joined the demonstration has been a point of debate, but it was certainly in the hundreds of thousands. protesters clogged the city‘s streets, opposing a move to allow extradition to mainland china to face trial. hong kong chief executive carrie lam says there has been a lack of communication, but that she won‘t delay the process.

we are doing or objecting to the work that we are doing, i want to thank everyone of you. carrie lam says those protesting do not understand that there are fugitives hiding in the city with no fear ofjustice across the border. yet lawyers, judges, academics and some in the business community have condemned the bill. even with amendments limiting extradition to serious crimes only, people from many walks of life are joining the protests. hong kong has the restriction clause when it comes to fugitive offenders. that is to say we don't send defendants to china for trial because there is a lack a fair trial. our concern is no matter how guilty one person is, this person has to be tried fairly. right now we do not see that in the chinese legal system there is any fair trial. visitors to the city could also face

extradition to the chinese mainland if they pass through in the future, and foreign governments have condemned the change, which many see as a betrayal of what was promised when the former british colony was returned to china. i think it is the most serious challenge to the autonomy of hong kong and to the rule of law in hong kong since we left in 1997. and it flatly goes against all the promises that were made about guaranteeing hong kong‘s local autonomy. tensions look set to rise again now that the chief executive has said she will push the bill forward in the coming days. under hong kong‘s system, support for the legislation is ultimately guaranteed, so those who oppose it say their only option is to take their protest to the streets. now if you‘re a night owl who struggles to get out of bed early, then there‘s hope. scientists say making slight changes

in sleeping habits can shift people‘s body clocks, and improve their wellbeing. tin t in the reaction from pensioners about paying for their tv licence. t in the reaction from pensioners about paying for their tv licencelj about paying for their tv licence.” do not mind but i would like quality programmes. i am going to be 80, i am alsoa programmes. i am going to be 80, i am also a retired mental health professional and i think it is a very bad idea because people who are isolated and as we get older, more people are going to be older and we become more socially isolated and the television helps to in that gap. i feel we should not have to. we have only got a few years to live

ourselves. how much is a television licence? 154 p. you see, that is terrible, out of our pension. —— £154. let us talk to the director—general of the bbc. you had that lady saying it is terrible and the scottish national party theatres daylight robbery. i understand the concerns of people but if we go back, the government decided to end painfor back, the government decided to end pain for the concession which allowed us to get the licences to the over 75. they said by act of parliament, we had to consult on that and that is what we have done. what has been right at the heart of our concern is to work out what is fair. it is notjust for people who cannot afford it to end having a free television licence, it is not fairfor free television licence, it is not fair for those who are peeing a licence to find that services they are paying for like bbc two and bbc

four with the axed because the cost of climb on with this concession would be so high. so we are concentrating on saying what is fair and we believe the fairestjudgment is to take the government definition of poverty which means you are getting pension credit and the to those people, 900,000 or more, they will continue to get a free television licence. we are not part of social services, we cannot be the people who decide what is poverty, it must be the government definition. but the national pensioner convention is saying that pensioner convention is saying that pension credit is massively under claimed, lots of per pensioners do not claim it so they will end up in many cannot afford to people. we are announcing this now to give people one year and we will work with groups representing pensioners to bring in this change in one year.

regarding pension credit, there are 1.5 million people who could be getting this credit. at the moment it is 900,000. i think one of the perverse results may be that the feed television licence concession, linked to pension credit, will lead to more people demanding and getting pension credit so that could be an unexpected result of what we have announced today and it will be a good result getting to people who deserve pension credits. age uk are saying sick and disabled people in the 80s and 90s who are completely dependent on their cherished television for news and companionship be forced to give it up. i completely understand their own we have with many people above 75 years old, we are their companion. the radio and television are their companions. they are your biggest audience group? they are but we have had a dilemma, which is how

we have had a dilemma, which is how we are fairto we have had a dilemma, which is how we are fair to those over 70. there are people there who are willing to piano can he against what is fair to the rest of the people who are paying and who want to see bbc two and bbc three and do not want the services to be cut. in the consultation we have done, everyone said, more or less everybody said, the bbc of the scale and scope it is at the moment we really believe in. who have you consulted with, how did you choose the people? this has been the biggest consultation the bbc has ever done, 193,000 people. lots of people have written. lots of people have been consulted in 19... so you got the answer you wanted, some people will be suspicious. the a nswer people will be suspicious. the answer has been mixed but the

overall conclusion was we should reform and it should be round pension credit. why have people gone for that? because people want the concession of a free television licence carried on for those who are really in need. not ourjudgment, it isa really in need. not ourjudgment, it is a governmentjudgment. also, as people have said on this programme, if the government come back and say, we will pick up the bill for continuing with the free television licence for over 70 is, we would go along with that. we will have a new prime minister, will that be are message to them? we have been told by parliament to consult and that is what we have done, we have made up our mind what we think is fair independently. but we have had two licence fee settlements which have been done behind closed doors in a matter of days, i think that is not right. we are seeing strongly today

that we now need to get to the point where the people as a whole, the people who paid a licence and parliament, have a c in what their licence should be. these two settle m e nts licence should be. these two settlements have been wrong—headed ina settlements have been wrong—headed in a sense and we need a better system for the future. some people are saying that settlement was part of the deal with the government that she would pick up the bill and you would —— and you have now reneged on that? the settlement in the house of commons a few weeks ago, the settle m e nt commons a few weeks ago, the settlement we came to in 2015 said we we re settlement we came to in 2015 said we were consulted and that is what we were consulted and that is what we have done. we hope people will see this decision as a fair but hard decision, fear to pensioners and also to those people who are paying for the service across the country. the way the means you will enter peeing about £250 million as opposed to £750 million so you will start to

make cuts to programmes? we thought very ha rd make cuts to programmes? we thought very hard and failed to abolish the concession entirely was the least favoured option, it did not feel fear to us. what the bbc board has been thinking about is what is here? the terms and 50 million shortfall, when it mean cuts? it will not mean cuts in programmes but it will mean we need to be as efficient as we currently are. only 5% of our budget is spent on overheads, 95% is spent on services and programmes and getting them to our viewers and listeners. i want to keep up the pressure on how we spend public money. i want to make sure we spend it properly. thank you very much for coming in. we had some breaking news from westminster, the former minister who was campaigning for a second referendum, has announced he

is pulling out of the leadership race because there has not been enough time. some gym out was one of the 11 which has now gone. he said it had been a tremendous privilege to be able to make the case for a new referendum to break the brexit deadlock but he had not had enough time to build sufficient support. just to remind you, we will get a full list of who has gone through around six o‘clock so lots of news coming out of westminster in the next hour, to stay tuned for that but for the moment, look at the weather. hello there. a contrast across the country, this was great yarmouth earlier today. weather warnings have been issued by the nate office due to the intensity of this rain as it heads west. into the south—west, some sharp thundery

downpours. some areas have an amber weather warning because we could see as much as one month‘s rainfall. this weather will jet westwards tonight but by contrast it has been a beautiful day in scotland and northern ireland, a little cloud overnight but to the north and extreme south—east, a quiet start to tuesday morning. we will see this conveyor belt of rain drifting in on the north sea. it will be relentless on tuesday. heavy bursts as well. in the far south—east, we could see sunshine and get thundery downpours as well. 19 degrees, with the brisk north easterly wind, i cold 12 celsius. into wednesday, the weather front is not moving, more wet weather drifting through. reaching

southern scotland by the end of the day. this is bbc news. the headlines. nominations for the conservative leadership election comes to a close on a day that many of the contenders have been vying for the spotlight. no more free tv licences for all pensioners over 75. though households receiving pension credit will still be eligible. hong kong‘s leader says she has no plans to withdraw a draft law allowing extraditions to the chinese mainland despite further demonstrations. holly hamilton has the latest sports news for us. hi there. we will start with the women puzzle broke up because japan and argentina in france. there in england and

scotla nd france. there in england and scotland bonsai group. this will give them an indication as to how they progress was a around half an hour gone in the first half, no goalsjust half an hour gone in the first half, no goals just now. the japanese were the winners back in 2011. argentina have never won a game in the two previous tournaments for which they qualified and if you want to follow all the action from paris, you can watch this game live on bbc two right now. west indies and south africa have one point a piece from their abandoned world cup game only seven and a half overs were bold. he had two early wickets. that celebration again saluting. south africa were 29—2 when rain stopped play and the game was eventually called off so south africa have just one point and probably have to win their five one point and probably have to win theirfive or one point and probably have to win their five or many matches to qualify for the semifinals. better news from the england camp. we could

joss butler is responding well to treatment on hip injury before friday positive world cup game against west indies he suffered heavy bruising while batting and did not take to the field and saturday bonsai win over bangladesh. england said butler will train with the squad and wednesday and will be reassessed later in the week. ferrari are appealing that —— the decision to have sebastian federal promoted to sect estimate of the second at the canadian grand prix. they fought for most of the race, he turned back on, the steward says he did so unsafely and docked in five seconds and that effectively handed hamilton the wind. the german not pleased with that decision as you can see. niko ross burke, a former mercedes driver says he believes it was a mercedes driver says he believes it wasafair mercedes driver says he believes it was a fair call. my father said to me "it is probably 60—40, £60, 40 knots. wife would not? because he was out of control and he could not

better than that because he had dirt on the stars and coming from the grass". i said fine i know that. but so what? used to have to return safely if you are out of control than you are not returning safely. so that is it from a penalty is deserved and as you can tell, it‘s not a valid excuse i was out of control. i had three tyres and could not see lewis was a not a valid disuse and forgery. so the penalty is for the serve. england women head coach has named his board for the super serious way this month. colby edwards and claire nielsen have been added to build on the red roses gra nts added to build on the red roses grants and success and the world‘s top five teams will be taking part withing an opening their campaign against the usa on the 20th ofjune. england eased the six nations title earlier this year. but captain sarah hunter believes the standard will be much higher in california. you probably would not play the top five

sites in the world during a world cup campaign. so it gives us a great chance to actually see where we are at. we did have a great six nations and we can only play the opposition in front of us but now we're going halfway across the world and playing the best teams that they are and it is our chance to showjust what we're capable and find out where we are and how we then need to move on in terms of looking at the big picture of two years' time. that is all the support for now. you can find more and all the stories on the bbc sport website. head over subdued —— head over to bbc dr uk/ sport and i have a full line—up for you at half past six. see you then holly,. let‘s return to those developments in hong kong activists in hong kong say they‘re planning another day of protest on wednesday in their campaign against a proposed new law that would allow suspects to be sent for trial to mainland china. lord patten was the final

governor of hong kong from 1992—1997 and hejoins me now, what are your thoughts on this? we have seen hundreds of thousands of people protesting this draft bill? extraordinary scenes as you say, hundreds of thousands of people may be as many as 1 million all sorts of ages, horrified by what is being proposed. i think frankly it is being imposed on hong kong by the communist regime in beijing. it demolishes the firewall between hong kong and the mainland between the rule of law and the sort of law which chinese communist believe in which chinese communist believe in which involves sometimes confessions, there is no difference between the courts, security services, or the rule book of the chinese commonest party which changes from time to time. we see lawyers being representing dissidents and human rights advance being locked up for their pains. it is really serious. i think it‘s the

most serious thing that‘s happened to hong kong since 1997. more serious in its long—term implications than the way the democracy demonstrations were dealt with in 2014. but back in 19971 was there when they handover happened and you handed over to the chinese everybody was saying... me too! at the time, the sort of china fixation of hong kong was inevitable. that this would never —— inevitably happen over the time. and over the decades was up that‘s exactly what we are seeing. not everybody was saying that. and certainly the chinese government weren‘t saying that. the chinese government signed a treaty with us called the joint declaration which was supposed to last for 50 years after 1997. and that declaration, that treaty guarantees hong kong‘s high degree of local autonomy, its rule of law, freedoms of speech and the press and

association and so on, guarantees those for 50 years. we know china is going to play a more prominent role in the history of the 21st century. if you can‘t trust china to keep its work in an international treaty like this one, what can you trust china about? that‘s one of the issues which is at stake. but about all what i am concerned about is the well—being of people in hong kong and the well—being of the economy because if you treat hong kong just like a mainland city, it will lose its status as an international trading arm and other countries will be disinclined to give us the sort of trading relationships, the sense of trading relationships, the sense of independence in economic matters that it has today. can i ask you about the tory leadership race as a tory grandy anti—former party chair, what are thoughts about this race to become the next prime minister of this country? well, unless some of

the candidates except that they will have to change the red wines which theresa may laid down at the beginning, then there is going to be no progress at all. there were two absolutes, one is that the house of commons will plainly not accept a no—deal brexit which is why bizarre way some of the candidates have suggested perot king permits which would be a constitutional disaster. —— perrault gang parliaments. and the other hand i don‘t believe for one moment that this or that candidate turns up in brussels and says "i want a better deal than mrs may or says "i want a better deal than mrs may oer says "i want a better deal than mrs may or mr cameron god" that they are going to get it. as long as you‘re going to get it. as long as you‘re going to get it. as long as you‘re going to be outside of the customs union, it‘s going to be difficult to solve the question of the northern ireland border and that is fundamental to the continuance of the good friday agreement. it‘s not just making up a problem, there are

no examples of two different customs areas in the world side by side that don‘t have a border. there are big issues to face up to and i very much welcome the fact that one or two of the candidates are being rather more realistic about it like worry stuart. i think however wonderful diplomatjeremy hunch may be, he would have to face up to that as well. as for the alleged frontrunner johnson, will be no that principle and competence are strangers and mr johnson‘s world. and competence are strangers and mr johnson's world. if boris johnson we re johnson's world. if boris johnson were the tory party leader and the prime minister of this country, what would you make of that? well, i think for me it would mean that the conservative party are irretrievably at least for the time being become a narrow english nationalist right—wing party. ithink narrow english nationalist right—wing party. i think the trouble at the moment is while there area trouble at the moment is while there are a lot of conservatives about in parliament, they were listening to amber rudd and nikki morton, i think

in the country, we are seeing partisans who as we know in the european parliament election voted 60% for nigel farage. this isn‘t the conservative party. we have a tory government but we are ceasing to have a conservative party which it believes in free trade, which believes in free trade, which believes in free trade, which believes in the union, which believes in the union, which believes in the union, which believes in working with business, which believes in what mrjohnson is talked about one nation conservatism but if you believe in one nation conservatism you don‘t offer a packet of tax cuts to people who are better off because the british people are better off, older, white middle—class, and what you think your electorate is going to be. but there are plenty of people saying that if the tory party wants to survive against nigel farage in the breasted party, they have to achieve brexit by october 31 whether that means no deal or not. we don't have to achieve brexit by the 31st of october. we cannot achieve brexit with an agreement by the 31st of

october. if people are saying in that case we would just walk away with no deal, they bang on about wto terms as if they know what that meant. if we walk away without a deal, it would be very bad for this country‘s economy, individuals less well—off individuals in this country, and will be appalling for our international image. lord patton, grateful for your time and talking to us both about the tory leadership race and hong kong. thank you for being with us on bbc news. let‘s get more on the race than from westminster. we note that one of the 11 candidates has now pulled out in the last few minutes. our political correspondent nick eardleyjoins me now from the houses of parliament. with more on the runners and the front rotors. bring us up—to—date. about 15 minutes from now, about 20 metres from where i am in a room, we

will see the 1922 committee reveal who has made the cut of having eight mps backing them. sam was one who was struggling quite frankly to get to that level. he backs another referendum on leaving the european union and that‘s a policy not hugely popular in the conservative party. he has pulled outjust before the