tonight at 10: the race to become the next prime minister is offically under way. ten candidates have been confirmed tonight after gaining enough support from fellow tory mps. they face the first ballot on thursday. vying for the topjob, vying for the top job, some launch their campaigns today. the winner should be in place by the end of july. should be in place by the end of july. who will be getting us out of the brexit maze and moving into another ten? —— into the brexit maze and moving into anotherten? —— into number10. also on the programme tonight:

the end of free tv licences for most over 755 but the bbc says the poorest pensioners still won't have to pay. the military represssion deepens in sudan, three oppostion leaders are forcibly deported and the internet‘s almost completely shutdown. unravelling the causes of rare diseases — seriously ill children in england will have full genetic analysis to help speed up diagnosis and improve treatment. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, the latest from the women's world cup, where one of the favourites, japan, dropped points against argentina to leave england and scotland's group wide open. good evening. the race to become the next conservative leader and prime minister is officially under way. the names of the ten candidates who have gained enough support

by fellow tory mps were announced this evening in westminster. they all now face the first ballot on thursday, when conservative mps will cast their votes. the result of the first round will be known by lunchtime. the candidates will be whittled down further by tory mps in three more ballots ending on the 20th ofjune, when just two candidates will remain. then the conservative party membership gets it say. around 160,000 of them can vote from the 22nd ofjune. the final result will be announced in the week ofjuly the 22nd, when we should have a new prime minister. laura kuenssberg reports. a wet monday morning in central london, the first official day of the rest of all of our lives, in a way. time to meet the tribe of tories who want to be the next prime minister. i am an optimist, because i believe in people. the health secretary, matt hancock. isn't it extremely optimistic to imagine you might ultimately win this race? what

this country needs is to turn a page, to move forward, to have that energy and to reignite politics again. because, frankly, it has been stuck in a rut. but there are plenty of others vying for attention. believe it or not, the next event is just downstairs. the man who already tried to negotiate brexit, but quit over the deal, is running, too. now he says he will take a tougher approach. we won't deliver brexit with bluff and bluster. i am a conviction brexiteer with a plan, the discipline and the focus to lead us the discipline and the focus to lead us out by the end of october. you say you can get a different deal with the eu, which they have com pletely with the eu, which they have completely ruled out again and again. or leave without a deal, which parliament probably wouldn't allow, unless you really are serious about suspending the house of commons. the one thing i haven't done, which other candidates have, is take things off the table, which only weaken our negotiating leverage

in brussels. the candidates have some things in common, beyond of course being all ambitious tories. they have all held office, five are in the current cabinet and for all of them, untangling the brexit mess is the biggest question. even for the big hitters, there is no easy way through. i think they understand off to a packed room of the tory establishment. the foreign secretary said he would try to change the brexit deal again. we need tough negotiation, not empty rhetoric. having talked to many european leaders, i believe that if we show determination, ingenuity and confidence, there is a deal to be done. he would try to change the brexit deal again. what is it that european leaders are saying to you privately about the possibility of a new deal that is the opposite to what they say publicly, which is that there cannot be?” what they say publicly, which is that there cannot be? i had conversations last week with angela merkel, emmanuel macron, there is a willingness to engage. one of those braving the rain and the race says

none of the other candidates are being realistic. i still haven't heard anybody else set out a credible plan to deliver brexit. i am the only candidate that has been honest enough to say that we have to keep no deal on the table, but we are not going to leave on the 31st of october. a candidate who quit the cabinet over brexit insists it can be done. what we need now is a leader who can deliver on brexit by the end of october, and then take us into the amazing future that awaits the united kingdom. and she's not the united kingdom. and she's not the only one. esther mcvey, who also resigned over europe, says it has to happen. the trust with the public was broken when we didn't come out on the 29th of march. equally, that corrosive uncertainty for business and individuals has come from this never—ending what are we doing. and individuals has come from this never-ending what are we doing. you could hardly move round here for people who want to be prime minister. upstairs, sajid javid, the

home secretary, who is in the middle of the pack. for my colleagues and the members of the party, they are all listening, they are all listening to the messages that are coming from the candidates and they will decide. at what they want ultimately is an election winner. and i think i can prove that. because it will be tory members and mps, not you or me, who choose the next prime minister. 1.3 million views. even though this candidate is travelling all around the country making his case. i am the only person who is not making huge unfunded spending and tax promises. everybody seems to be competing like a bizarre bonanza. whether day or you like it or not, borisjohnson is still the frontrunner. are you confident? still keeping carefully schtum for now, bundled away by his supporters. michael gove! there is no escaping the vitriol from the race last time, already raising its

head from his rival, then and now. estherjohnson, whatever you do, don't pull out. i know you have before. and i know you may not believe in your heart that you can do it. but the conservative party membership deserve a choice. so let's have a proper race. he has his own trouble, though, admitting cocaine use nearly 20 years ago.|j have acknowledged i made a mistake. i also believe that if you made a mistake and you have fallen from high standards, you shouldn't subsequently lower the standards, you should reflect on your mistake. now, the tory backbench ruling body has made it official. the first ballot will be held on thursday... mps will campaign and collude in earnest. the contest that started so long ago is now properly under way. the central issue for all ten candidates is of course brexit. so where do they all stand on that and other policy areas? 0ur chief political correspondent

vicki young has been finding out. well, it's a pretty crowded field, and here they all are, all hoping to be our next prime minister. the first round of voting for conservative mps is on thursday and before that many are using campaign launches to lay out some of their key messages. now, of course, their approach to brexit is going to be one of the most scrutinised areas. one group argues that the uk must leave the eu on the 31st of october, with or without a deal. they include boris johnson, dominic raab and andrea leadsom. there are those who say they would consider a delay if a deal is close, but would be willing to leave without a deal. this group includes michael gove and jeremy hunt. and two of the candidates say we should only leave with a deal. they are rory stewart and matthew hancock. now, what about life beyond brexit? there's a pretty lively debate under way about other policies. borisjohnson wants a tax cut for those earning over £50,000.

he said he'd use money currently set aside for a no—deal brexit. what aboutjeremy hunt? amongst his promises, a pledge to provide 1.5 million new homes for young people. and then there's michael gove. he wants to replace vat with a lower, simpler sales tax. then there's the home secretary, sajid javid. he wants to delay balancing the books and pump billions into schools instead. dominic raab, he wants to reduce employees' national insurance, so they pay less. and matthew hancock, he wants to increase the national living wage to more than £10 an hour. so, let's have a look at how much support each of them have from conservative mps. the number of declared backers is changing all the time. this was the bbc‘s tally earlier. and many have yet to make a public commitment. as you can see, boris johnson out in front.

and that means the other candidates are focused on exposing his perceived weaknesses. now, if you want a closer look at some of the key policies and pledges, visit our website, bbc.co.uk/politics. vicki young there. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg joins us now from westminster. so, the starting gun has been fired. what can we expect over the next few weeks? i think it is going to be pretty frenetic, and it could be quite stormy, like it has been in westminster. in terms of what they have in common, they are all conservatives, they all say they wa nt to conservatives, they all say they want to get brexit sorted. none of them are saying they want to stop brexit, in spite of the efforts of protesters in westminster. beyond wanting to live behind that shiny door, there are also lots of divisions between those people that wa nt to divisions between those people that want to move into number 10. they don't all agree on who should get tax cuts. they don't all agree on whether or not to ease up the

squeeze on public spending. and this isn't just about brexit. squeeze on public spending. and this isn'tjust about brexit. this is also about the future profound direction of the tory party. do they wa nt to direction of the tory party. do they want to be a party that is moving into the middle ground, where floating voters are? 0r into the middle ground, where floating voters are? or do they want to be hardening up their base, tory activists around the country, he will be the people, of course, in this contest, making the final decision. this race, i expect, like all the other political events in the last few years, will probably have all sorts of unpredictability inside it. it may be that day after day we are astonished by exactly what happens. but so far, no big, big surprises as yet. but we might not have to wait for long. laura, thank you. more than 3.5 million people over the age of 75 who have been getting a free tv licence will now have to pay for one from next year.

but the bbc says the licence, which cost £154 a year, will still be free for the poorest pensioners households where someone is claiming pension credit. our home editor, mark easton reports: right, jack, what garbage are we watching today? older people are the biggest users of bbc services. since the year 2000, the licence fee has been free for the over 755, but not for much longer. in a year's time, over 3 million people aged 75 and over will have to start paying again, because the corporation believes that to protect services only those on low incomes and receiving pension credit should be eligible. oh, that's the high chaparral! we think that's fair to those over 75, but fair also to all our audiences, for whom there is no appetite for the level of cuts that would have been necessary if this concession had been extended to everybody. some people are going to really struggle. just over the pension credit level, they're going to really struggle with all the bills they've got, now they'll see this as an extra tax. i accept that. but i think the decision around pension credit is one for the government. in 1999, labour chancellor gordon brown announced free tv licences for the over 755.

in 2015, conservative chancellor george osborne said the bbc, not the government must pick up the bill. last year, bbc director—general tony hall, having agreed to take on the responsibility, asked the public what should happen in a consultation. there were over 190,000 responses. 48% of people said the bbc should keep the scheme as it is. 37% said it should be reformed, and 15% said it should be abolished. the bbc board said that means by 52—48, the will of the people is that some pensioners should have to pay for the licence again. in north london, there was a mixed response from pensioners at this exercise class. i'm not on pension credit, but i'm not rich. for me, that is going to be a bit of an effort. i can afford to pay the fee, so i'm quite happy, in one way. but i would like quality programmes.

by opting for a means—tested measure set by parliament, the bbc hopes to avoid the criticism that it's making its own judgments about poverty. currently, single pensioners with a weekly income of £167 or less, £255 for a couple, are eligible for pension credit. but the numbers are actually going down. the prime minister blames the bbc for a very disappointing decision. labour blames the government. this is a broken tory party manifesto pledge from the 2017 general election. they promised to give over 755 free tv licences for the duration of this parliament, and this represents a breach of trust. so you're actually putting older people really at risk. there will be practical help for those affected, although bbc managers say they can't rule out taking legal action against those who don't pay. mark easton, bbc news, broadcasting house. let's take a look at some of today's other news. a nurse has been rearrested by police investigating the deaths of 17 babies at the

countess of chester hospital's neo natal unit. lucy letby was first arrested in july last year on suspicion of the murder of eight babies and the attempted murder of another six. she has now also been arrested in connection with the attempted murder of three additional babie5. a drop in car production this year contributed to a slow down in growth for the uk economy. gross domestic product — the total value of all goods and services — contracted by 0.4% in the month of april according to the office for national statistics. this means growth slowed to 0.3% in the first quarter of 2019 — a sharper fall than expected. campaigners are preparing to take the crown prosecution service to court over claims that 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 england and wales. the cps denies the claims, and says decisions to prosecute are based on clear legal test5 being met.

several weather warnings are in place for parts of south east and eastern england tonight after a month's worth of rain fell in the space ofjust a few hours. the met office said flooding and transport disruption were likely. the bad weather is set to continue until later this week. 0ppo5ition leaders in sudan say they will use civil disobedience to pre55uri5e the ruling military government to make way for the civilian rule that had been promised in the north ea5t african country. north east african country. scores of pro democracy demonstrators have been killed in the past week, with many more reported missing or detained. a military council took over in sudan after the long time dictator president 0mar al ba5hir was ousted in april by persistent protest5. today the regime took journalists to see ho5pital5 they claimed were ransacked by prote5tor5. but as our africa editor fergal keane report5 the propaganda tour didn't go as planned. it must have seemed like a good idea

to somebody — showjourn i journali5t5 the government's sime. but then reality loomed into view. the rapid support force, that has terrori5ed civilians. they were camped outside the clinic we were taken to. we were shown ransacked office, the work of protesters the government said. the militia followed u5 government said. the militia followed us and were camera—shy. roll on me. 0fficials pleaded with them so we could film. this is 5uppo5ed them so we could film. this is supposed to be a propaganda trip, the government showing us the problems of other side. what it is turning into is a farce. becau5e a5 we are going on the tour, the rapid support forces are interfering. gives you an indication of the real story here. that we will discover

was different from the official version. translation: this is the hospital where damage was caused by the revolutionaries. they destroyed the revolutionaries. they destroyed the equipment, medicine and furniture. do you really believe that? it was definitely attacked and destroyed. we can't confirm who did it. but a witness who didn't want to be identified told us it was the militia who attacked. we crossed to a hospital designed to show life returning to normal. for the last two days, this hospital was closed, because of insecurity in the

area. now, sick people crowded in, waiting for help. but too little available. without intending to, like so much of this propaganda journey, the government has given us an insight into the anger which fuels the protest movement. in this case the chronic state of health services. the family of this man we re services. the family of this man were mourning after he died in what they said was a diabetic coma. the family struggled to find medical help in a country being pushed beyond consolation. a court in northern india has sentenced three hindu men to life in prison for the rape and brutal murder of an eight year old muslim girl. the case of asifa bano has triggered widespread anger and religious tension across india.

three police officers who were found guilty of destroying evidence in the case were also given five year jail terms. one person has died after a helicopter crashed onto a high rise building in new york. it's believed bad weather forced the pilot to attempt an emergency landing onto a roof, causing a fire. the city's mayor says there's no suggestion the incident is terror related. the vatican has said that people cannot choose or change their genders. in a document called "male and female, he created them" the congregation for catholic education says the debate around gender is designed to challenge traditional understandings of family life. 0ur religion editor martin ba5hir is here. tell us more about what this document says. this is the vatican's education department wading into some of the most contentious cultural territory and doing so in a pretty assertive manner. this document is effectively a critique

of what it described as the approach that says gender can be chosen and changed across a lifetime. no, says the document. gender is assigned by god. it is basically saying that gender is not something we can achieve, but something we receive. it is not imputed, i want is not chosen by us, it is imputed to us. it dismisses the idea of gender as a social construct, saying that approach to personal identity flies in the face of biological truths and differences between male and female. and the reaction to this? the document itself says i wants to have a dialogue, but it has provoked angen a dialogue, but it has provoked anger. 0ne organisation called the new ways ministry, an american organisation, described the document asa organisation, described the document as a harmful tool that will be used

to oppress and says it will encourage hatred, bigotry and violence. thank you. england's win over scotla nd violence. thank you. england's win over scotland in the world cup yesterday was the uk's most watched women's football match of all time. it had a peak of 1.6 million viewers. thousands of children suffer from serious undiagnosed conditions needing intensive care hospital treatment and it can take years to find out what's wrong. now a ground—breaking trial to diagnose rare conditions at a much earlier stage could dramatically change that. from next year the nhs in england will offer to sequence the entire genetic code of all seriously ill children, if the cause of their illness is unknown and the dna of their parents will also be looked at to find if conditions are inherited. the research from addenbrooke's hospital in cambridge could result in better and faster treatment in future.

fergus walsh has this exclusive report. this is life at its most vulnerable, made even more perilous when the cause of a baby's sickness is unknown. in some cases it can take months or even years to get a diagnosis, but that is set to change, because of genome sequencing. milly mae and her parents claire and chris each had their genome, their entire genetic code, sequenced, to try to discover why she was having life—threatening seizures. the results showed she has a rare form of epilepsy caused by a single gene error not inherited from her parents. it led to immediate improvements in her care. since we've had the diagnosis, it's been a lot better. we had to change one of her medications, due to the fact that the one that she was on was obviously

aggravating the type of epilepsy that she has. we saw a big difference as soon as that change was made. it's priceless. that one test result obviously allowed us to put all the correct people in place and make the best for her. sequencing the billions of letters of dna code that make up a genome used to be hugely expensive. now it costs less than £1,000. scientists in cambridge analysed the genomes of 350 children in intensive care, comparing it to the dna of their parents. they found one in four children had a genetic disorder and were able to give the diagnosis in two weeks. this study shows conclusively that whole genome sequencing is of real benefit to patients, speeding up diagnosis and helping to find the right treatment. from next year, throughout england the nhs will offer whole genome testing to all babies and children where the cause of their illness is unknown —

the first national health service in the world to do so. parents will no longer have to suffer this agonising diagnostic odyssey of often going to multiple different specialties, repeating the same story, and by having an early diagnosis we can use that time and that professional time much more focused on really thinking about the care of that child as opposed to trying to find the diagnosis. rhys is a healthy five—month—old, but his elder sister seren died atjust 13 weeks from an inherited condition. genome sequencing revealed that katie and ian had each passed on a rare faulty gene, and inheriting both meant she had a fatal condition. knowing the reasons helped her parents cope. there is nothing we could have done. it made no difference to seren, if unfortunately her fate was already determined, but it gave us closure

for her and for us and gave us hope for the future as well. hope, but fear too. there was a one in four chance that rhys might have inherited the fatal condition, but another test during pregnancy confirmed he was healthy. it was a hugely emotional moment for everybody. we just sat and cried of happiness, and sadness, because of what we'd gone through with seren. for rhys‘ generation, having your genome sequenced will eventually be the norm, benefiting individuals from cradle to grave, ensuring the treatment they get is right for their unique genetic code and helping researchers find better medicines in future. fergus walsh, bbc news. newsnight is on bbc two in a few minutes, here on bbc one it's time for the news where you are.

hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm adam wild delight for argentina at the womens world cup, which could be a boost for both england and scotlands chances. gibralter run the republic of ireland close in their euro 2020 qualifier in dublin.

and south africa are on the brink at the cricket world cup after their game was washed out leaving them still without a win. lots of football to get through this evening and we'll start at the womens world cup in france where there has been a shock that could potentially be a big help to both england and scotland. japan began their quest to reach a third straight final with a poor goalless draw against argentina in group d. these two teams are of course in england and scotland's group. japan won the tournament back in 2011 but couldn't find a goal against an argentina side who have never before now earned a single point at a womens world cup. they were, as you can see, delighted with that result,

which leaves england top of group d after they beat scotland yesterday. so here is that table in group d. just one game played for each side but england on top as the only ones to have registered a victory. all back in action on friday with scotland against japan and england taking on argentina. there were two games played this evening. the other one, in montpellier where canada, the hosts from four years ago, beat cameroon. kadeisha buchanan got the only goal of the game. the netherlands and new zealand are the other teams in group e, they play tomorrow. in the mens game, it's been a busy night of qualifiers for the 2020 european championship. ireland stay on top of group d but they had a frustrating night against gibraltar in dublin. they went in front when david mcgoldrick‘s shot was deflected in offjoseph chipolina. that went down as an own goal, and ireland had to wait until stoppage time right at the end for robbie brady to grab a second.

elsewhere, in one of the big games of the night spain beat sweden three nil to keep up their 100 per cent record in group f. mikel 0yarzabal scored the third on his competitive debut for spain. northern ireland, scotland and wales all have qualifiers tomorrow. northern ireland have won their first three so far. michael 0'neill‘s men are away to belarus and need to rack up the points as they play germany and the netherlands in the autumn... we will cover the assumption that it drops against belarus and we have also, it takes us a while and we have a huge game to look forward to and that is the task list at the players up for and we put ourselves up players up for and we put ourselves up in players up for and we put ourselves upina players up for and we put ourselves up in a strong position. scotland have a difficult task, away to belgium, currently the world's top ranked side. steve clarke's reign as manager got off to a winning start as his side

beat cyprus at hampden on saturday. wales are third in their group and play leaders hungary in budapest. there will be 3 thousand seats shut off after hungary were punished by uefa for racist chating and vandalism during the game