hello, it's wednesday, it's ten o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire. there are five men left in the race to become our new prime minister and another one will be eliminated later today. last night's leadership debate saw frontrunner boris johnson speaking for the first time — promising we'll be out of the eu on october 31st, but not quite saying how. i think that october the 31st is eminently feasible. that's not a guarantee. rory stewart tells us he was up till 3.15 this morning texting mps to get their support. if he gets the top job, how will he get their withdrawal agreement through parliament? we need to get

another 43 votes. how would you get it through? it is an honest approach, victoria. i don't know what your approach is, you haven't told me. 0k, to get it through parliament off how? convincing mps to vote for it. we'll also be talking to mps backing the other candidates and members of the conservative party who'll be the ones who get the final say on who will become our new prime minister. and harvey weinstein‘s former personal assistant is supporting a campaign for a global law to protect workers from violence and sexual harrassment in the workplace. i'm ina i'm in a situation where you think my a ccess i'm in a situation where you think my access to justice was pretty simple. and in less developed cultures, a woman's access to justice is almost nil. so having global legislation that will help and protect them is incredibly important.

hello. welcome to the programme. we're live until 11 this morning. the morning after the night before — how do you think all the candidates racing to be your new prime minister performed in the tv debate? another one will be eliminated today. get in touch in the usual ways. firstjoanna gosling has the news. the race to be prime minister is gathering pace today after the five remaining candidates for the conservative leadership went head to head in a live bbc debate. frontrunner boris johnson and his four rivals clashed on taxes and social care but it was the question of how to deliver brexit that continued to dominate the agenda. none of us wants a no—deal outcome. we have to resolve this and we have to resolve this quickly. the most important thing is to win for britain and that means getting out.

one of the mistakes we've made so far is by having this sort of flexible deadline. let's get on with it, let's vote it through, let's get it done. more people may be in work than ever before — but there's been a big increase in the number of working households in poverty. a new study released today by the think—tank the institute for fiscal studies found a 40% increase in the proportion of working households in poverty since the 1990s. they say expensive housing costs and slower wage growth have helped cause the rising poverty levels. an elderly woman is in a serious condition in hospital after a road accident involving the duke and duchess of cambridge's police escort. the royal couple were travelling from london to windsor when the 83—year—old woman, whose been named as irene, was hurt on monday. the accident involved a marked police motorbike in the convoy, and the police watchdog is now investigating. kensington palace said prince william and kate are "deeply concerned and saddened" and have been in touch with irene.

investigators looking into the downing of malaysian airlines flight mhi7 are expected to name individual suspects later today. the flight was heading to kuala lumpur from amsterdam before it was shot down, nearly five years ago over territory in eastern ukraine. all 298 people on board were killed. investigators blame russian—backed separatists who they say targeted the plane with a russian—made missile. donald trump has launched his campaign to be re—elected as president of the united states next year. despite recent opinion polls placing him behind democrat opponent joe biden in the running for the white house, he told a packed florida arena that his first term had been a major success. for now i say, we've made america great again, but how do you give up the number one — call it theme, logo, statement in the history of politics for a new one? but there's a new one that really works and that's called keep america great.

former uefa president michel platini has been released from custody after hours of questioning by french anti—corru ption investigators. they're looking at the decision to award the 2022 world cup to qatar. the former france midfielder denies any wrongdoing. conservative mps will again vote on who they want to be the next prime minister later today. yesterday the field was slimmed from six candidates to five, after dominic raab was eliminated. the remaining five candidates jeremy hunt, michael gove, sajid javid, rory stewart and borisjohnson took part in an hour long debate on bbc one last night. here's what happened. they talk over each other brexit.

can you just raise your hand if there is a guarantee to leave by october 31st? they talk over each other just raise your hand if you can guerantee that. let me ask you this question. so i would... no. must come out on october 31st. the most important thing is to win for britain. and that means getting out. if there was a prospect, if we were nearly there, then i would take a bit longer. one of the mistakes we've made so far is by having this sort of flexible deadline. there's only one door out of this which is through parliament. let's vote it through. let's get it done. carmella, are you reassured with what you've heard here this evening? no, i'm not. no, i'm not reassured at all. i think the only one who talked sense there wasjeremy hunt. so, thank you, jeremy. well, to be honest, none of you have really impressed me in the way that i'm looking for. first of all, thank you for your

activism and helping to raise consciousness of this issue. i praise those people, even though i think folks should be in school, praise those people who went on the climate strike. but i do think it's relevant for us all to have a debate about the thresholds for the higher rate of taxation. i'm the candidate in this race who is most pro working people and most pro the relief of poverty. i think we have to show people the brexit that the conservatives are going to deliver is a tolerant brexit. we're not going to put the shutters down and say, "foreigners not welcome." i believe the way that we get everybody back and reunify the country is being honest and realistic. i'm not thinking about promises for the next 15 days, i'm thinking about the next 15 years. if i was prime minister, we do need to reset spending in certain areas. i think the local government is one of those. hhealth has already been identified as one of those and the other one certainly for me is education. my dad was a small businessman

who lost his business. my mum was a shop assistant. when my muslim great grandfather came to this country... i'm sure like me you've been in enniskillen sitting with a sheep farmer... i am married to an immigrant. i have three half—chinese children. my parents were muslim immigrants to our great country and they also settled eventually in bristol. deal, guys? shall we have an external investigation in the conservative party into islamophobia? absolutely. up for it. rory? excellent, great. they talk over each other. let's hear more now from one of the mps who took part in that debate — rory stewart. first off — i wanted to know what time he'd managed to get to sleep. i got to sleep i think about quarter past three, victoria. what were you doing until then? so i was frantically texting mps. one of the strange things about this campaign is that i really want to open politics up to the public.

so i spent a lot of time walking round talking to people in derby, or woking, or in edinburgh or londonderry but actually the votes at the moment are all about members of parliament. so i have the strange life where yesterday i began my day with seeing the president of afghanistan as part of my role in the cabinet and then we had cabinet meetings and security council meetings. and then i was going out to the public and then, as you said, i'm frantically texting to try to make sure, the only way i can really get into the last two and try to bring the kind of politics that i'd like to bring to britain is to get the mps to vote for me. so you're texting the ones who've already voted for you. are you texting those who supported dominic raab who dropped out yesterday? yes, i mean that that's going to be a more difficult group to get over today because many of those people are people who believed in suspending parliament which i'm very strongly against. i think it's actually undemocratic

and a bad thing to do. what is the rudest response he received, assuming you got replies? colleagues one on one are very courteous. so having texted various people until 3:15 in the morning how many yeses did you get? i got two yeses by this morning, two new yeses. the problem of course with all these things is that it's a secret ballot so you never quite sure what people are going to do when they go into that booth. how frustrated are you with your performance in last night's tv debate? i was frustrated because it was a fantastic opportunity and it's the first time, and maybe the only time, that borisjohnson was coming out in front of the public and i thought this was going to be the great opportunity to really ask some questions about how he's going to do it. he keeps saying that he's going to get a new deal out of europe and i thought this was going to be the time when he was going to explain how he would do that. october 31st, he keeps saying that.

i'm asking about your performance, why were you frustrated? because really i'm in this race to try to make sure that we focus on reality and we ask hard uncomfortable questions. and i didn't feel i really had the opportunity to ask those questions. ok, let me ask you about your brexit plan because you don't have a new solution. your plan is to present for a fourth time the very same withdrawal agreement mrs may presented to the commons, which was rejected three times. how will you get that through? well, the thing to start with is the reason why the prime minister did that three times, is that it is actually the only logical legal option for getting it through. it's the only deal that exists and we live in a parliamentary democracy. so trying to do something else, one way of expressing it is that we're in a room and there's only one door out of that room and that door is through parliament with that deal.

so on the last vote there were 270 votes for it. we need to get another 45 votes. we know that there are now labour mps on the record saying they wish they had voted for that deal. and we know that european elections will have had a shock on mps because they realise how angry and infuriated the public is, how impatient they are. they felt they should have left the european union by now. and like me i hope they're going to feel we're going to have to get this done and that all these other ideas... i'm going to pause there because it sounds like a fingers crossed approach. i'm asking how you will get it through. it's an honest approach. and i think the only way that we can sustain a majority in parliament or keep the trust the public is being honest. i don't know what your approach is. to get it through parliament. how? you get labour mps to vote for it by

saying you saw how frustrated people we re saying you saw how frustrated people were in the european elections. i said to lisa from wigan, you wanted a deal through, this is our opportunity to get it through. i said to my party, you said you wa nted said to my party, you said you wanted to get brexit done, this is oui’ wanted to get brexit done, this is our chance. the underlying message will be that this is the only way of doing it. there's only one door out of this room. and if there is only one door out of the room, you have to unlock the door. there is no point staring at the wall and shouting believe in britain. so so magically through your powers of oratory that's how it will pass. there's no magic, victoria, in the end we live in a parliamentary democracy. nobody, not me or borisjohnson, or you, can claim that we can do it without the consent of parliament. the only way this can be done is convincing members of parliament one by one night to vote for the deal and get it done. michael gove use the door analogy as well, we have run into that door three times, he told you.

butjust to be clear, you don't have anything new to say to them that might persuade the 45 extra mps that you need. there are two new things that i have to say. the first, the european election showed that we would all lose our seats if we don't deliver brexit. and enough already of pushing for some perfect solution. we have a good brexit deal. let's get it done. and the second thing i would say is that if parliament fails and remains gridlocked as it has, we should go to a citizens assembly. we should reach back to normal people and give them an opportunity to look at the details of brexit. come up with recommendations, it's only, advisory but come up with recommendations back to parliament not on whether we should do brexit but how to do it. that ignores the fact that the eu is also part of this. they might come up with some recommendations, they might say, yeah, let's drop the backstop and you may

get a majority in the british parliament but the eu has to agree. exactly. and you've already said there's no new deal. so as the citizens assembly was realistic about the options, there is no deal coming from europe. if the assembly came up with something unrealistic, a proposal that europe was never going to give, or parliament was never going to pass, then we would have wasted three weeks. we keep coming back to the central fact. michael said we weeks. we keep coming back to the centralfact. michael said we have run at that door three times. that door is parliament. we live in a parliamentary democracy. no amount of machismo can get around the fact that you have to get it, vote by vote, and the prize is going to go to the person that isn't going to waste your time, victoria, who is not going to waste months and years pretending they will get another dealfrom pretending they will get another deal from brussels. pretending they will get another dealfrom brussels. or pretending that they can get no deal through parliament. it is all about getting

the 45 votes. my fresh idea is if parliament fails to do with the first time, we go to plan b, lock it through a citizens assembly and try again. but we have to keep trying to parliament. if plan a and plan b fail, we could be locked in groundhog day for months and years, if you become prime minister? because we are in a parliamentary democracy. you are agreeing? i am agreeing parliament is sovereign. there is nothing new, i or any prime minister can do about the fact that the lawmaking body in the united kingdom is the parliament of great britain and northern ireland. so we must respect parliament. how long might it be before you, if you were prime minister, will deliver brexit? well, it isn't. that is the sad truth of it. it isn't in my hands, boris's hands, michael's hands, they

are pretending they are the president of the united states with executive authority to instruct people to do things. parliament is sovereign. you have to lead, negotiate, you have to listen and explain. two things will have changed, one is that the european elections will have shown people, and all of the opinion polls, how impatient people are, how much we have to move on, how ridiculous it is that we are still stuck in the european union, how we have a deal that would take is out of all of the political institutions, would allow fantastic opportunities for british trade into europe. let'sjust get it done. in the end it is about convincing people. i gather you are talking to michael gove and his people. what about? we are talking about combining forces. because it's clear that boris is going into the last round, and the question is, who is best placed to sit on a stage with borisjohnson, is best placed to sit on a stage with boris johnson, and is best placed to sit on a stage with borisjohnson, and who is best placed to ask the testing questions that need to be asked, and who has the vision of britain that is going to excite people, get young people involved again in politics, and show

us involved again in politics, and show us that we can build a much better country? let me pause you, it is interesting you are talking to michael gove. because he says he is going to get a new deal. and you have said that it is impossible. how could you conceivably join have said that it is impossible. how could you conceivablyjoin together with michael gove. by sitting down and thrashing through the very issues. you put yourfinger on and thrashing through the very issues. you put your finger on the nub of it. we would have to sit down and come to a common position on that. i would have to him, how is it that. i would have to him, how is it that you think you are going to get a different deal through? how would you get a no deal through parliament? you have to agree to compromise. if neither of us were prepared to budge, of course, we couldn't combine as a team. do you accept that your party had a problem with islamophobia? yes, but it is a few party members, not the party as a whole. there are people that have been saying, thinking and doing things towards muslims in our party that are not acceptable, that is true of the labour party as well, in

relation to anti—semitic comments. and we should have an independent investigation to look clearly into this. because it is not the kind of party we are, and it's not the kind of country we are all the kind of country we want to live in. if it's just a few members, why do you need an external investigation? to reassure people we are transparent, we have nothing to hide, and that we are absolutely unflinching in our condemnation of any type of racism. it doesn't matter if you are stereotyping, abusing or insulting someone on stereotyping, abusing or insulting someone on the basis of skin colour or their religion. that is not who we are as a people. we are one of the most diverse, welcoming societies on earth. we have an incredible tradition of liberty and respect, and courtesy. and all of us, ifeel, respect, and courtesy. and all of us, i feel, would respect, and courtesy. and all of us, ifeel, would fight respect, and courtesy. and all of us, i feel, would fight to our last breath to defend that. do you feel you lost momentum after that debate last night? i think the debate last night was flat performance for me. i think it was a pretty flat performance from the other

colleagues, too. what marks out of ten would you give yourself? i'm not very good at mocking myself out of ten. three, five? it is for you to mark me. i had a flat performance. it was a poor performance. in the end, what the public deserve is a courteous, thoughtful investigation of the real options, and that is not what they got. what they got was five middle—aged men sitting on a bar stool, interrupting a shallow, refusing to answer questions. if i'm lucky enough to become prime minister, i very much hope that we can find minister, i very much hope that we canfind a minister, i very much hope that we can find a different kind of politics. thank you very much for talking to us. thank you for your time. we're alsojoined by conservative mps backing the other candidates. with me is alberto costa who is backing michael gove — he came third with 41 votes yesterday. vicky ford, who supportsjeremy hunt — he came second with 46 votes. andrew selous, who is backing sajid javid — he was last,

just scraping through with 33 votes. and in westminsterfor us is nadhim zahawi, who is supporting boris johnson — he remains the clear frontrunner with 126 votes yesterday. and of course we just spoke to rory stewart — who came fourth with 37 votes. there is more voting to be done today. right, it was dominic raab, now you are backing borisjohnson, you must be absolutely gutted that he only said that leaving by the 3ist he only said that leaving by the 31st of october is now eminently feasible? i think boris was the foreign secretary who had the courage to resign from the government, as did dominic raab. i'm not talking about resignation. please, how do you react to the fact that now it is only eminently feasible that borisjohnson will deliver brexit by october the 31st? iam deliver brexit by october the 31st?

i am confident boris will deliver brexit by the 31st. but he didn't say that, he said it would be eminently feasible. well, he is on record, i spoke to him yesterday to say that he will deliver brexit by the 31st of october. that's really important, did you speak to him before or after the debate? both before or after the debate? both before and after the debate. his position has not changed. before and after the debate. his position has not changedm before and after the debate. his position has not changed. it did come on national television. you have to you allow me to complete one sentence before you interrupt me. it's difficult to have a conversation, your viewers will find it very difficult to understand anything if you keep interrupting each other. what i'm trying to say to you is that boris is committed to giving a good deal, because he will prepare the country for the outcome that he doesn't want, which is wto brexit, but he will prepare the country to leave on the 31st of october, come what may. that is why iam october, come what may. that is why i am backing him. october, come what may. that is why iam backing him. he is right to october, come what may. that is why i am backing him. he is right to do that, he will leave on the 31st of october. i'm going to interrupt because he didn't say that on national television. that must

surely worry you. it doesn't worry me, because i think he is committed to it. he had the courage to resign from government because he couldn't walk the deal through parliament. which borisjohnson walk the deal through parliament. which boris johnson do walk the deal through parliament. which borisjohnson do you believe, the one that speaks on borisjohnson or the one that talks privately to you off air? i believe the boris johnson where when he was foreign secretary i worked very closely with him with iraq, getting very close to a civil war, because the kurds had their civil region deliver referendum —— the kurds had a referendum —— the kurds had a referendum and they had to work with the prime minister is to resolve that issue, along with our american collea g u es that issue, along with our american colleagues and allies. that is the leadership borisjohnson colleagues and allies. that is the leadership boris johnson has demonstrated to me. i believe he will deliver brexit, he will unite the country on the party and i think he will put nigel farage back in his box and defeat jeremy he will put nigel farage back in his box and defeatjeremy corbyn, which is what we all want to see us conservatives. vicky ford, your man, jeremy hunt, gave the example of a

sheep farmer, whose livelihood mr hunt said would be destroyed in the event of a no—deal brexit. yes jeremy hunt is prepared to take the uk out of the eu without a deal. he isa uk out of the eu without a deal. he is a hypocrite, isn't it? what i see from all of the candidates is this agreement that we need to deliver brexit. and that means... specifically about the sheep farmer... jeremy has been very clear that we need to get a better deal from brussels. he is also said he is prepared to take the eu without a deal. first of all... first he would try for a deal, but if that fails... i believe he is the one that can get a deal. because in order to get a deal from the other eu leaders, they need to know that they have someone they can trust. if he fails, i'm must knew about his plan to take the country out with no deal. first of all, he is the person that is

trusted and competent on the international stage. we have a short period of time. he is the person who has that reputation, that proof that they can trust him to deliver this deal. well, we will see. i am asking you about the hypocrisy involved in jeremy hunt's position. he said clearly that the sheep farmer's livelihood would be destroyed if the uk was taken out without a deal, yet he is prepared to do that. there two positions are contradictory, you must acknowledge that? he has gone on to say that if it comes to that date at the end of october, and you have left no stone unturned in order to find a deal, and there is no deal there, then, and only then, do you leave with a no deal basis. which would destroy that sheep farmer's livelihood. the very example that mr hunt said on national television would be destroyed. what he said was

a direct challenge to boris, which was, boris, come the 31st of october, you will have your dream, you'll be in number 10. october, you will have your dream, you'll be in number10. what do october, you will have your dream, you'll be in number 10. what do we say to the sheep farmer? sorry to interrupt, what would jeremy hunt say to the sheep farmer if he takes the uk out of the eu without a deal? because that farmer's livelihood will be destroyed. his point is that he is the person who will be able to deliver a deal. ok, you're not going to a nswer deliver a deal. ok, you're not going to answer the question, so i'm going to answer the question, so i'm going to move on. you've not answered the question so i will move on. then you have an option between no deal or no brexit. i know! i'm not asking about that. he will do everything he can, they all say they will do everything they all say they will do everything they can to try to get a deal, apart from rory stewart who says there is no new deal. what willjeremy hunt say to the sheep farmer about his livelihood if he takes the uk out of the eu without a deal? the whole point is that you need to keep working to find the deal. ok, you're

not going to answer so i will move on. look to the sheep farmer then and say what is the worst option? oh, my god, she farmer will say the loss of myjob and my livelihood! finding a deal? that is why we need to find the person we trust to deliver the deal. andrew, what is sajid javid's brexit plan and when will it be delivered by? well, sajid has focused on the one thing that has focused on the one thing that has got to parliament, which is what we are talking about. if you rememberthe we are talking about. if you remember the brady amendment, accepted... he reckons he changed the backstop? that is despite the eu...i the backstop? that is despite the eu... i mean, i can give you so many quotes, would you like me to read them? the irish prime minister saying we don't have a backstop... graham mackrell your own bbc‘s katya adler has said quite recently there is some wiggle room on the backstop. we haven't tried to engage with the

irish, to understand their fears. can you tell me where there is a border... that's right, kevin wheeler stepping down as part of the uk border delivery group. there is no technology solution which would mean that you could do customs controls and processes and not have a hard border. there is no magic solution that would make that go away. if there was, trust me, we would have found it. just to repeat, katya adler says there is some wiggle room here. at sajid was talking about existing technology, not new technology that hasn't been developed. where is not being used? one of the sticking points... where is it being used? i can't tell you the exact country. there are no exa m ples of the exact country. there are no examples of borders with the eu where technology has eliminated the need for physical checks. the border force, the part of the home office... ijust told force, the part of the home office... i just told you there force, the part of the home office... ijust told you there are no examples of borders with the eu where technology... there is existing technology, victoria, which could be deployed at the moment. why

hasn't it been? there are no exa m ples of hasn't it been? there are no examples of this working. because we haven't engage sufficiently with ireland, because it is expensive, it will cost some money. it's not about money. i think the irish budget is tight, just like ours is. sajid has offered to pay for the technology that will be used. there is no technology. this is not an easy problem. if it was an easy problem, it would have been found out. i think if we are being practical people. if it was an easy problem we would have found the solution by now, but somehow sajid javid will magically come up with this technological solution? all five candidates have work to do, nobody candidates have work to do, nobody can give you a perfect plan. if you are honest, what sajid javid are saying is that he would take the uk out of the eu without a deal on october the 31st. hand on heart?|j think october the 31st. hand on heart?” think it is important there is a ha rd think it is important there is a hard backstop. ithink think it is important there is a hard backstop. i think we are more likely to get ideal if there is a

ha rd likely to get ideal if there is a hard backstop. if this deadline in the sand gets moved on and on, and on, and on, then i think, frankly, the chances of doing a deal much less. a hard stop helps us get that. a border? a 31st of october deadline by which we leave. that is the one thing that is most likely to encourage parliament tobacco deal, because they know what the alternative is. that will concentrate minds on parliament like nothing else so far. there is no new deal. there is no new deal, but ok. alberto costa, supporting michael gove. he is going to magically sort out the backstop as well, isn't it? i supported michael gove three years ago. such a long time ago, bring us up ago. such a long time ago, bring us up to now... i supported him three yea rs up to now... i supported him three years ago up to now... i supported him three yea rs ago because, up to now... i supported him three years ago because, like me, he is a scotsman... is that the only reason why? you asked me a question. i asked you a question about the

backstop, how is michael gove going to sort out the backstop, that is what he is claiming to do. unlike other candidates, michael is a scotsman and like myself, we both understand the dangers of sectarianism and michael made very clear last night in the debate that he isa clear last night in the debate that he is a union is to his fingertips. the issue with northern ireland is not simply have a technological order... how will he sort it out? he understands our cultural issues and he gave a clear answer last night, victoria, which is this... he understands that we need to get all of the major parties of northern ireland around the table. that includes the nationalist. they all need a voice. at the moment, the institutions of stormont are not functioning. what michael gets is that in order to deal with the northern ireland border, we need to understand it goes way beyond technological solutions. it is about cultural issues as much as it is about technological issues.”

cultural issues as much as it is about technological issues. i get that... if there is no backstop, this is acquired from the irish prime minister." if there is no backstop, there is no deal. " michael understands that and that is why he is going to bring the parties together. in a way that sadly has not yet been done. it is important that the dup are on board as confidence and supply partners, but it's also very important the other political voices of northern ireland are around that table, and michael is going to do that, given his fundamental understanding of the northern ireland political situation. so the german chancellor angela merkel has made it very clear tojeremy ina angela merkel has made it very clear to jeremy in a conversation that they had a couple of weeks ago that they had a couple of weeks ago that they are open to other suggestions. she made it very clear that it is out she made it very clear that it is our border with ireland, not the german or french border, it is our border with ireland and the backstop is there if you haven't found the long term solution. and the

important thing here is to continue focusing on finding the long—term solution and no one is going to keep that open border that i desperately want. i was born in northern ireland, we need to have that open border. you will only get that if the eu trust you to be a good neighbour. that is why we need to have a leader that is already trusted on the international stage. they said we will only get that with the deal that has been agreed by mrs may, the withdrawal agreement.” think sajid javid has already been talking to the irish government and obviously there is a limit to what he can do at the moment, but i think with goodwill on both sides... you've got to remember, ireland wants a solution and getting a solution to that border is more important or every bit as important to ireland as it is to the united kingdom, so i think we perhaps underestimate the goodwill on both sides. i agree with vicky and that we need to look to the future, the free trade agreement. if we can crack that, we then move on and the

border issue in northern ireland is less of a sticking point. but you can't get to discussing a free trade agreement until the withdrawal deal has gone through parliament. well, i think we need to look at what may happen after the 31st of october. we are slightly acting as if it is all within our gift. if president macron says sorry, i am not going to extend beyond the 31st of october, personally, i think that will bring a lot of labour mps on board to back the current withdrawal agreement. so i think this path has a few twists and turns to go before we finally get there because we are in a negotiation. if europe says they don't want to extend, ironically it might be the one thing that helps get a deal through parliament. might be the one thing that helps get a dealthrough parliament. one final point, not only is there going to bea final point, not only is there going to be a change of leadership here in the united kingdom, there is also going to be a change of leadership in the eu commission and i think with goodwill on both sides, with a leader that understands the intricacies of northern ireland and the whole of the united kingdom, as

michael gove does, i am confident we are going to get the right deal. ok, thank you for your e—mail send your m essa 9 es thank you for your e—mail send your messages watching around the country. bill says it is time for all candidates to step down except borisjohnson. i all candidates to step down except boris johnson. i thought all candidates to step down except borisjohnson. i thought the debate was very guarded last night and more about not saying the wrong things and being positive. julian tweets, i think rory stewart is showing his unprofessionalism and i also think he lost last night but sajid javid is winning for me. i am surprised because i was backing borisjohnson. carrie on twitter says borisjohnson is embarrassing himself over and over. they are not answering the questions or being held to account. they are anti—all of them. sarah tweets i genuinely don't understand how any can be considered remotely capable of being prime minister, they want the job title and the prestige but i don't think they would never put the country's dates ahead of themselves or their party. i want to bring in the conservative

party members who will get the final vote... party members who will get the final vote. . . we party members who will get the final vote... we should talk about this country, brexit is the presenting issue but we do need to unify and i would say we need a leader who shares the life experiences of the people of this country and sajid javid is someone who grew up, you know, in challenging circumstances. he is from a working—class background, he has lived in rochdale, birmingham and bristol and gets life from beyond the london bubble and he needed public services and underto get bubble and he needed public services and under to get on. his mum marching down to the library to help him read. i will give you all a final sentence to talk about your own candidate's backgrounds. michael gove was the chairman of the vote lead campaign, he has got to be given the right and the responsibility to deliver on the pledges made in 2016. isn't it great that we have so many fantastic candidates? in jeremy hunt, that we have so many fantastic candidates? injeremy hunt, we have someone not only trusted and competent internationally, but also someone who set up his own business, established his own business, has a

strategy to absolutely turbo—charge out strategy to absolutely turbo—charge our economy, so strategy to absolutely turbo—charge our economy, so that we can invest in our public services, make those reforms to social care, the unfinished business that he is so passionate about and look beyond brexit. to sell, for example —— like and the environment is right up there as one of his top priorities. and we've also got with us three of those members who will get the final vote on who becomes our new prime minister. ellie varley, is a student activist for the conservatives and vice—chair of campaign group brexit 4 students. mahyar tousi is a political youtuber and sylbourne sydial is a lawyer and political writer. welcome all of you and thank you for talking to us. ellie, who are you backing? at the moment, i am not backing? at the moment, i am not backing any of them, i have not felt

enamoured by any of them particularly. i think last night's debate was a bit embarrassing, squabbling over each other and trying to take jabs at each other and it is not how i want my party to be represented. ok, so what are you waiting for to draw you towards one particular candidate? well, i was between dominic raab and sajid javid but obviously dominic rob is now outside of the —— out of the leadership race but i'm not 100% on sajid javid. i think he has good longevity in terms of after brexit but i'm not so keen on his brexit policy as it stands. that could change over the next couple of weeks and it is all to play for. he was the lowest in the most recent vote, so he could go out, which is why i am not sticking by a particular candidate at the moment because, again, iam candidate at the moment because, again, i am not feeling too won over by any of them. sajid javid is probably my top person but it is all to play for. so you would want him on the final two. mahyar, thanks for

your patience, you backing at this stage? boris johnson. why? it is quite simple, boris is the only unifying candidate. he has got all the support from all sides of the party but also has a very successful track record in terms of leadership, especially in london as mayor. do you think he's getting support from all sides of the party because he is saying different things to different elements of the party? no, it is quite interesting because if a candidate is divisive, people always criticise and so you have to get everyone on your side. when someone is unifying, it says you are saying different things to someone people. it is not true, he is a one nation conservative so his values and his idea is to appeal to basically all sides of the party economically and socially, especially when it comes to brexit because even remain mps are backing boris and just want brexit to be done. sylbourne, who are you backing? last night, i was

torn between rory stewart and boris johnson and last night i made a decision for boris johnson. the reason i was going for rory before was because rory wanted to reach out and offer, should i say, a leaf for nigel farage, but i saw something about rory, i thought it would be another theresa may kicking the can down the road and with boris, we see a definitive figure, a winner of the mayoral elections in london and as farasi mayoral elections in london and as faras i am mayoral elections in london and as far as i am concerned, what i think we need now is a leader who can get it out of the eu. that is what was decided three years ago. that is what must be done and what is important is for the leader who can bring everyone around the table. we have fantastic candidates. i believe one of the positives that came out is that we have key candidates, 11 of them, james cleverley, sam gyomber, a couple of ladies as well,

and what boris did last night was also say, i agree, i agree, he was trying as much as possible not to be divisive and at this moment in time, we need a leader who can bring everyone together because, guess what, no one person has the answer and that is the reason why no one could say how they would do it but with the quality of leader $z/startfeed. with the quality of leader s:/startfeed. dozen that worry you, that no one can say how they will do it and yet you say the candidates are all quality? but that is where we are at. what is needed now is i don't believe that the eu says it is the end of it. the eu have got to recognise that £39 billion is coming to them, the eu has got to recognise that when you are around the table, you cannot just have one person say that, it is a negotiation so we need somebody who is a brexiteer, that is the first thing and say, listen, michel barnier, this is the case, this is the plan, let's deal with it and if we don't get that deal, let's say we

get a default deal, i don't believe in no deal, i don't believe we will get no deal. alberto costa is still here, conservative mp backing michael gove, andrew is still here, backing sajid javid, vicky ford has had to go. michael gove talk last night about economic turbulence in the event of no deal, what does that mean in practical terms for people like ellie and sylbourne and mahyar? on the issue you know i have been champion, an european nationals rights here and which is eu citizens, economic turbulence can include the movement of workers, so we have got british citizens in the eu that sometimes live in one member state but work on another, we have got to ensure we get a deal because it affects the money in their pocket, the pensions that they pay, which member state what they pay the

pension into? that is why michael, cognisant pension into? that is why michael, cognisa nt of this, pension into? that is why michael, cognisant of this, once to ensure we get a deal. it is notjust about the macro economics, it is how it affects individual people and that is why a deal on citizens‘ rights is of paramount importance. what do you think economic turbulence means? it is people losing theirjobs. we have to be honest that the businesses that have integrated european supply chains, there will be difficulties and there will be difficulties for the farming sector as well as pharmaceuticals. that could mean a lot ofjobs. i think the french pharmaceutical companies will still wa nt pharmaceutical companies will still want to sell us theirjobs, they will absolutely want to do that, the uk is will absolutely want to do that, the ukisa will absolutely want to do that, the uk is a very big market within the european union and i think there will be reciprocal arrangements made. we have to prepare as well as we possibly can. ironically, that is pa rt of we possibly can. ironically, that is part of helping us to get a deal because if they show we are serious about no deal, i think that makes getting a deal more likely which, to

be fair is what every single candidate once. far, far better to get a deal but we do have to fully prepare for no deal. can ijust say about the three members you had, firstly thank them for their deep interest. my job firstly thank them for their deep interest. myjob and andrew‘s job and vicky‘s our job interest. myjob and andrew‘s job and vicky‘s ourjob is to get the two best candidates on that ballot paper that ultimately 160,000 members will decide who the next leader is. so whilst i am backing michael, i do think that the members ultimately will have a choice of two good candidates, i just ultimately will have a choice of two good candidates, ijust hope michael is on the ballot. i think sajid, as isaid is on the ballot. i think sajid, as i said earlier, his background, his childhood growing up in an overcrowded household, his father arriving with e1 in his pocket... they all have interesting back stories. let me ask ellie, mahyar and sylbourne, does somebody‘s back story mean anything when it comes to picking your next prime minister and

leader? i am a bristol girl so to see someone like sajid up there is exciting but i don‘t think there background defines them that much. it is nice to break away from the attorney stereotype that comes to our party but i am notjudging their backgrounds too heavily in informing my decision —— might the etonian. mahyar? it has just froze on, we will come back to mahyar and ask him. sylbourne, what about yourself? i sometimes cringe when i listen to everyone trying to find something in their past to bring to the forefront. i could say right now, i am from jamaica, it doesn't make a big difference. at this present moment, it is what they deliver. what has made you cringe the most when the candidates are talking about their private lives and back story. ijust think about their private lives and back story. i just think sometimes it is irrelevant. i don't know, it

somewhat seems a bit irrelevant because you are trying to actually justify why you are there, because you came with e1 in your pocket. michael gove and his story. what about somebody who doesn't have a tough luck story, are they disqualified from the party as such? mahyar is back with us, you said it didn‘t have much influence, i think. not really, this might be entertaining politics but at the end of the day, people care about action and policy outcome and what that person is going to be doing. if it was based on someone's background, we are political refugees from iran so we are political refugees from iran soi we are political refugees from iran so i would be qualified more than other candidates but obviously i'm not, i would other candidates but obviously i'm not, iwould rather go other candidates but obviously i'm not, i would rather go someone who has a good track record like boris johnson rather than background story. thank you, all of you, you have been incredibly patient. hopefully we will talk again. and thank you to all in the studio for

coming on the programme. and voting again today and you will hear the results are first on bbc news. campaigners from all over the world are coming together this week, to push for a new global law to end violence and sexual harassment in the workplace. at the moment, one in three countries have no laws against sexual harassment at work, leaving 235 million women unprotected. and this week‘s conference in geneva brings together governments, employers and workers to try to change that. zelda perkins is a former pa to harvey weinstein who was sexually harassed by the disgraced producer and forced to sign a non—disclosure agreement. she broke her nda to speak out after allegations about him came to light. katherine nightingale is from care international uk. a charity focusing on the rights of women and girls around the world. zelda, your voice is very prominent in the metoo movement. i know you don‘t want to go into detail about harvey weinstein. broadly, could you talk to our audience about, about his behaviour and why you left? sure. well, i think, quite famously,

he was a very predatory sexual ha rasser and alleged assaulter, as we‘ve now discovered, and i pretty much experienced everything that has been reported in the press, and it is extreme sexual harassment. but, ultimately, the reality of sexual harassment is the abuse of power. and in terms of what we‘re talking about today, it‘s the abuse of power of women globally. and when you look at my position on a sort of global scale compared to other women in the workforce, i‘m in a relatively privileged position. i live in a culture where you would think i had quite a lot of protections. and i discovered myself how difficult it was and what lack of protection there was and how difficult it was to speak up. and i think you can see through the harvey weinstein

exposure how difficult it has been for all of these women to speak up. and women far more powerful than me. and so if you can imagine what it‘s like for women who have no power, no voice, live in a culture where they really are subjugated, what care are doing and what the ilo conference is about this week is hugely important. i‘ve got to ask you, katherine, in a moment for some examples. the phrase you used then, zelda, extreme sexual harassment — which meant, amongst other things, having to work with him in an undressed state and him requesting massages. when you spoke up, you were encouraged to settle and sign an nda, a non—disclosure agreement. can you give some insight into the kind of pressure you felt at the time to do that. i was given no choice, essentially. and not necessarily

by harvey weinstein. it felt like i was given no choice by the legal system. you know, my access to justice felt very compromised. and, again, i‘m in a situation where you think my access to justice was pretty simple. and in less developed cultures, a women‘s access cultures, a woman‘s access to justice is almost nil. so having global legislation that will help and protect them is incredibly important. not everyone has the same. not every woman has the same protection as we might think we have in the workplace, say, here in the uk. give us some examples, katherine, of what women are facing. well, what we know from our work all around the world is that women and other vulnerable groups, particularly where they are in really less powerful positions, are often exposed to harassment, abuse, if they try and negotiate

better wages, if they try and kind of work together to get more rights in the workplace. you know, we've all heard sort of the importance of kind of pleasing clients, so if you're trying to sell something, so we work with beer sellers in countries where actually their sort of role in bars and their sort of pleasing of clients is something that often exposes them to extreme levels of harassment in terms of what they're expected to do. can you give me a specific example? well, there are examples from cambodia where women are expected i think to put up with really quite extreme levels of harassment. i think clients might be expected to, you know, to have sex or kind of engage with the sellers of those beers and on a day to day basis. i think that that kind of business model is dependent on certain things because those employers or that business isn't clear about what its responsibilities are and the government isn't that clear in that environment. there are other examples,

quite well—known examples, i think, from kind of the garment sector, where, you know, whether it's in bangladesh or other areas, where negotiating for better wages or if you want promotion in the workplace, you might be asked to sleep with your boss or you might be expected to do things in a different way. and we're not, i guess, it's not about talking about one individual case. this is endemic across workplaces around the world. so do you tackle it as a global phenomenon? is that your approach? well, certainly, what we're seeing this week is that there's a real chance to make a difference this week in geneva. the ilo will bring governments, employers organisations and union — trade unions together to agree the kinds of standards that could really make a difference. and the reason that you need global standards is that it's not good enough that one country could perhaps lower the bar. actually what we need is that standards apply to everybody. but they would be voluntary, wouldn‘t they? the legislation in all these countries? so how a convention would work is that it is agreed as the global

standard and then national governments would have to ratify that at national level and then turn into law in their national context. but there is a lot of pressure on them to do that and quite quite on them to do that and quite quickly, we know that those countries interested in maintaining and making the convention sort of go into force, you need two states to do that. and then we know from the businesses that have supported this process. businesses like avon, marks & spencer, l'oreal, some of the world's global businesses, they want standards that apply across their supply chains, across their value chains. businesses don't work in one country any more. workforces are not in one country any more. they're moving around. this is the world that we live in. what we know is that global business wants a really clear set of standards so that governments know what their responsibilities are, businesses and employers know what their responsibilities are. and women and vulnerable people know that they have rights in the workplace. they don't have to put up with the kind of treatment that we see happening around the world and that we've seen from the metoo movement.

zelda, you said you felt you had no choice in the end to settle and sign that non—disclosure agreement, that nda, but you did breach it. you did speak up. why? i felt i had a moral duty to. i had tried before and had been silenced several times in the ensuing 20 years since i signed it. but once the correct people started speaking, powerful people started coming clean about what had been happening with weinstein, i believed that public opinion would keep me safe, because i didn‘t believe that i would be attacked for exposing somebody who was clearly a serial predator. i also wanted to try and show other women who had been put in the position that i had been that the sky wouldn‘t fall in if i spoke, because this moment in time and it really is an extraordinary moment in time.

the environment is changing and i don‘t think i could have broken that agreement and not faced legal repercussions at any other time in the last 20 years. and you did the right thing, when you reflect now? 100%. no regrets? no regrets. but interestingly i‘m still in thrall of that agreement. it was not 100% broken. i mean, i‘ve spoken out but because of the legal system, i still am in a position where if i want to actually have access to all my papers, i would have to go to court to receive them from my own lawyers from that time. which seems bizarre, doesn‘t it? it does seem bizarre. are you going to do that or are you just going to leave it? i‘m in a battle at the moment. you haven‘t given up. no, no, no. this is very important and i think the other thing, you know,

the main reason that i did break my agreement was to hopefully make it easier for other people. and that‘s very much why i‘m involved with this. you know, i think as women in a first world environment, we have a duty to help bring all the other women with us who don‘t have the opportunities and the powers that we have. and, finally, does what zelda has done — does it help other women in cambodia and india and places that you‘ve discussed? it does, it so does. i think the importance of women like zelda speaking out, highlighting that, even in their position of power and privilege, even in countries like the uk, in the us, you know, we know that that sexual harassment and abuse of women and vulnerable groups is prevalent and we need stronger laws and we need stronger accountability and women need to know and that they have rights, and zelda's done a really important piece of work in speaking out

for women, who can't speak out and who still can't speak out because they are frightened, because their families rely on the money coming in every week and there is no guarantee that the next day they won't be out on the street because they spoke out and then their families go hungry. thank you both very much. thanks for coming on the programme, we really appreciate it. thank you. thanks. thank you, victoria. harvey weinstein denies sexually harassing or abusing over 75 women. he is facing rape and sexual assault charges in the united states to which he‘s pleaded not guilty. his trial is due to begin in september. thank you for your many, many messages about the tory leadership race. this text says iam from tory leadership race. this text says i am from scotland, i am 28 and i have no clue about politics but i watched the debate last night out of interest. jeremy hunt answered every question with a straight answer but the other candidates danced around the other candidates danced around the questions. julia e—mails to say aye like rory stewart, he seems to

be the only one talking the truth, he can deliver, i would vote for him andi he can deliver, i would vote for him and i am normally a labour voter. there anonymous text says i don‘t understand how the conservatives can‘t be forward thinking enough to realise that, brexit aside, any conservative party led by michael govejeremy conservative party led by michael gove jeremy hunt will conservative party led by michael govejeremy hunt will not get voted in at the next election. either of them spell the end for the party for a decade. and jean says no one can bring the country together when almost half the referendum voters wa nted almost half the referendum voters wanted to remain and no one addresses this. bbc newsroom live is coming up next. have a good day. we are back tomorrow at 10am. good morning. last night, we had around about 10,000 lightning strikes affecting the south—east of england. our weather watchers sent in some great photographs of those fork lightning strikes, that was in eastbourne. today, we could still

see some thunderstorms affecting the south—east of england into the afternoon, just notice those green blobs in the south—east. elsewhere, quite a bit of cloud, some patchy rain but that is tending to clear to the east, so there will be some brighter skies. south—west england, wales, northern england and some sunny spells and for northern ireland, feeling quite muggy towards the south, where temperatures will get into the low 20s. tonight, we continue with a few showers for scotla nd continue with a few showers for scotland and northern ireland and elsewhere, some clear spells to take us into thursday, a much quieter night compared to last night and really for much of thursday, it should be dry. there will be a scattering of showers developing as the day goes on, very hit and miss and temperatures getting into the mid to high teens for many, perhaps low 20s in the south—east. bye—bye.

you‘re watching bbc newsroom live. it‘s 11.00 am, and these are the main stories this morning — a united nations investigation has determined that saudi arabia bears responsibility for the killing of saudi journalist jamal khashoggi. mr khashoggi, who was a critic of the saudi regime, disappeared after visiting the saudi consulate in istanbul last october. the most important thing is to win for prison, which means getting out. one of the mistakes we have made so faras one of the mistakes we have made so far as having this flexible deadline. let's get it done. candidate rory stewart tells the bbc he‘s talking to michael gove and his "people"

aboutjoining forces.