this is bbc news, the headlines: boris johnson has become britain's new prime minister. in his first statement, he said the uk would be leaving the eu — no ifs, or buts. he's also begun a radical overhaul of government topjobs. more than half the ministers under theresa may have either resigned or been sacked. there are fresh concerns over north korea — after two unidentified projectiles were fired into the sea towards japan according to reports from south korea. it's reported they were fired more than 20 minutes apart. it comes after kim jong un was pictured alongside a newly—built submarine. scientists in the united states say the speed and extent of the current period of global warming exceeds any similar event in the past 2,000 years. the warning comes as western europe swelters in the second heatwave of the summer.

now on bbc news, wednesday in parliament. hello there, and welcome to wednesday in parliament, where theresa may bows out to applause at the end of her last pmqs. and that duty, to serve my constituents, will remain my greatest motivation. applause. but there are reservations about her successor. outgoing american presidents get to pardon anybody they want. if she could, would she pardon her successor for sabotaging her premiership? also on this programme, urgent

action after an "extraordinary" decline in safety at feltham young 0ffenders institution. and ahead of borisjohnson‘s giant reshuffle, the business secretary is told he won't be forgotten. and he shouldn't worry, because there will always be a parking space in my heart for him. but first, theresa may has resigned as prime minister, handing over thejob to the newly—elected conservative leader, borisjohnson. theresa may made a final appearance outside number ten, alongside her husband philip. she said to serve as prime minister was the greatest honour and thanked the british people. she wished her successor "every good fortune". she also thanked her husband, describing him as her greatest supporter and closest companion. and in her speech, there was a surprise interruption. stop brexit! that wasn't me! i think the answer to that is, i think not. and then it was off to buckingham palace to formally hand her resignation to the queen. and within the hour, it was the turn of borisjohnson, the incoming pm, to make the same

journey — though his trip was disrupted by environmental protesters who stepped into the road, demanding he take action on climate change. the time has come to act. arriving back in downing street, mrjohnson said the doubters and doomsters were going to get it wrong and pledged to restore trust in democracy, recommitting to come out of the eu on october the 31st. well, all the day's ceremonial came after theresa may's final prime minister's questions. it was a marathon session, lasting over an hour, and began with one mp praising mrs may. i recognise that she does have a respect for public service and for the future of our country, so how does she feel about handing over to a man who, among many things, is happy to demonise muslims, is prepared to chuck our loyal public servants and diplomats under a bus and promises to sell our country out to donald trump and his friends?

theresa may said she was pleased to hand over to someone she had worked with in her cabinet, and... ..who is committed, as a conservative who stood on a conservative manifesto in 2017, to delivering on the vote of the british people in 2016 and to delivering a bright future for this country. the labour leader also began by paying tribute to mrs may's sense of duty. being an mp, a minister or indeed a prime minister is an honour that brings with it huge responsibility and huge pressures. so i hope, mr speaker, that she has a marginally more relaxing time on the backbenches and perhaps, like the chancellor, even helping me to oppose the reckless plans of her successor. laughter. mr speaker... mr speaker, if i may continue. i'm glad the government

party's in such good heart today, mr speaker. for tomorrow, they won't be! it's very good to see the conservative party in good heart, which is more than i can say for the labour party... at its heart, politics isn't about exchanges across these despatch boxes, nor about eloquent speeches or media headlines. politics is about the difference we make every day to the lives of people up and down this country. they are our reason for being here, and we should never forget it. jeremy corbyn then moved on to a list of what he saw as theresa may's policy failures and the successes which he said had come from labour's ideas, and he argued she'd been forced into a series of u—turns.

the prime minister has dumped her own manifesto. given that her successor has no mandate from the people, no mandate in which to move into office, doesn't she agree the best thing that the right honourable member for uxbridge could do, later on today, when he takes office, is to call a general election and let the people decide their future? theresa may said jeremy corbyn had made commitments in labour's manifesto which he'd since ditched, and she reflected they were very different politicians. i have spent all but one of my years in this house on the front bench, trying to implement the policies i believe in. he has spent most of his time on the back benches, campaigning for what he believes in — often against his own party. but what i think we both have in common is a commitment to our constituencies. perhaps i could just finish my exchange with him by saying this. as a party leader who has accepted when her time was up, perhaps the time is now for him

to do the same. a former labour backbencher agreed with those comments onjeremy corbyn. ..about his need to consider his future. and can i tell her this as well? hold on, hold on! can i tell her this as well? it's absolutely clear to me that the vast majority of labour mps agree with her too. the snp's westminster leader said they'd clashed on political difference, but they stood together on national security issues such as salisbury. prime minister, i wish you all the best for the future. as the prime minister departs, is she confident that the office of prime minister can be upheld by her flagrant successor? i think the prime minister is a thoroughly good egg, and it's been an absolute privilege to serve on the backbenches with her. mr speaker, this prime minister's commitment to mental health has

been simply fantastic. as somebody who has not, invariably, seen eye to eye with the prime minister, may i thank her for her remarkable public service and for showing that highest of virtues, a sense of duty, and on top of that, being willing to deal with people who must — on occasions — have been annoying to her with enormous courtesy? may ijoin with others in thanking the prime minister for her years in public service, as home secretary and as prime minister, and the thoroughly decent and dedicated, honourable way she has carried out all of her duties and the very courteous and proper way that she's had in her dealings with us as a party? many opposition backbenchers turned their attention to mrs may's successor. i said to her once that i believed she was not the kind of person

who would take this country into a chaotic no—deal — not least because of the advice she had had on the risks to our national security. i am fearful about her successor, so can she reassure me that she really thinks, in her heart, that her successor will take those national security warnings as seriously as she has? and if he doesn't in october, will she speak out? she's absolutely right that i've always said that i believe it is better for this country to leave with a good deal, and i believe we negotiated a good deal. i voted three times in this house for a good deal. i spoke to the right honourable lady about this issue. if she was so concerned about the security aspects of no—deal, she should have voted for the deal. 0utgoing american presidents get to pardon anybody they want. if she could, would she pardon her successor for sabotaging her premiership purely for his own personal ambition? mrs may said her successor

would continue to deliver conservative policies that had improved people's lives. the newly—elected liberal democrat leader wondered what advice she had... ..for women across the country on how to deal with those men who think they could do a betterjob but are not prepared to do the actual work? my advice... laughter. i think my advice to all women is, actually be true to yourself, persevere, keep going and be true to the vision that you're working for. and we'll have more from the final few minutes of theresa may's last pmqs at the end of the programme. now, inmates are no longer being sent to a young offenders institution after a watchdog's inspection revealed an "extraordinary" decline in safety and care. the chief inspector of prisons has

demanded immediate improvements at feltham a in west london. as a result, he's triggered what's called the "urgent notification" process for the first time at a young offenders unit. ajustice minister said the government would respond with an action plan within 28 days. clearly, this urgent notification letter for feltham a does not make for comfortable reading. it is clearly a deeply disappointing and concerning report. despite the significant efforts of staff at feltham a, to whom i pay tribute, and the significant support and resources put in by the ycs and the ministry ofjustice, it is clear, madam deputy speaker, that serious underlying challenges remain. but problems at feltham have been long—standing and the situation should have been avoidable. the government does have much to answer for as to why the decline has been so fast, with a steep rise in violence

against staff, allegations of assault and levels of self— harm. the government absolutely, and desperately, needs to get to grips with the causes of this rapid decline as a matter of urgency. she will be aware, because we met to discuss it earlier in the year, the recent violence in april, i believe, and the incidents of assault on both other prisoners and staff. there were a large number of incidents, self—harm and violence, but a small number of perpetrators of those. so we have some very challenging individuals. the general prisons crisis is bad enough, but here, we are talking about children — children in dangerously unsafe conditions. regarding feltham, the chief inspector warns, this speedy decline has been extraordinary, violent incidents up 45% since january 2019, self— harm increasing ill—fold in two years. high levels of self—harm at feltham is particularly concerning. what is he doing to improve mental health of young offenders? thank you. well, i'm grateful

to my honourable friend. he's absolutely right to highlight the importance of mental health and health care more broadly for offenders, and particularly young people. the levels of self—harm are deeply concerning, and we need to do more to drive them down. 30 years, there have been critical inspections of the regime at feltham, and nothing is getting any better over those 30 years. but does the minister not agree with me that to lock up — in a prison environment — 15,16 and 17—year—olds, who are children, is fundamentally wrong? we are the only equivalent country that does this. yes, they have done terrible crimes, some of them, but they are children with mental health problems, addiction problems, they may be neuro—diverse, or they've got learning disabilities. should we not learn from other

countries and provide a better therapeutic regime to support these children, to turn their lives around? she highlights an important point. there are a large number of those young people, as there are female offenders and others who end up in custody, who are victims as well as perpetrators of a crime. and she's right to highlight that, as well as justice taking its course, we must make sure that the help they need is available to them — be that mental health help or a range of other interventions to tackle the underlying trauma. why are young men locked up in their cells for the greater part of the day — with all the pent—up frustration that that gives rise to — when, in fact, they should enter their cells with relief at the end of the day because they're so knackered at having been involved in vigorous activity? well, in his own unique way, my right honourable friend makes his point. and his point is an important one,

which is that the access to a full regime is important. young people in custody need access to sporting, educational and other facilities. the work and pensions secretary has said that her department is taking action to warn people about benefit fraud. earlier this month, a bbc investigation revealed what's believed to be a multi—million—pound scam ta rgetting claimants. fraudsters were applying for advance loans on behalf of benefit claimants. the scammers demanded a hefty fee once the money was paid into the victim's bank account by the department for work and pensions. and because the payment was only a loan, the victim had to repay it. amber rudd told the work and pensions committee that the fraud only accounted for less than 1% of the claims. you seem to be suggesting that it wasn't terribly important, when you consider this was a small proportion of all claims. but if you are the person that's been in the market and beguiled by somebody who takes a good £1,000 off you, that's100%? absolutely, i don't want to minimise it, but i want to put it in context.

i looked into this, in 2003, the hmrc tax credit fraud level wasjust over 9%. it is now down to just 6%. so there was always going to be fraud and people trying to steal money off of other people. and the element of having online banking effectively through universal credit will give an additional opening. but i do take it very seriously, and we are doing a number of things. and i was actually handed this today, which is a campaign we are doing about identity fraud to make sure that claimants are aware that they shouldn't hand over their identity — it's the same as with banking. there is more we can do and more claimants can do to protect them. where claimants lose their claim through no fault of their own, we do repay the money. but where claimants have been part of — have been beguiled and have the benefit of the money themselves, we ask them to repay the money. so we do get the money back in terms of protecting the taxpayer, but we are also trying to do more to make people aware of what to look out

for and to take steps to stop it. amber rudd. you're watching wednesday in parliament on the day theresa may answered her last round of prime minister's questions, and boris johnson took over as prime minister. and don't forget, if you missed any of this programme, you can download it and previous episodes via the bbc iplayer. mps have condemned the government for not acting quickly enough to compensate victims of historical abuse in northern ireland. ministers said legislation would be introduced before the end of the year to set up a compensation scheme, following allegations of abuse in children's residential homes run by religious, charitable, and state organisations over a 70—year period from the 1920s to the 1990s. a dup mp insisted there was nothing to prevent the legislation being introduced right away. if the will is there, this can be done. and i'd like the minister of state

to affirm there's not one comma outstanding, not one job or title out of place in the draft legislation, and that this bill is ready to go and it will be expedited. i can't tell him that the bill is ready to go today. as i said, it arrived a couple of days ago. it is being gone through in huge detail now, there's been all sorts of supporting documents and so forth which need to be put together — that is being done at pace, i can promise him that. and it is something which will obviously need to be taken forward by the incoming administration and whoever it may be — the two incumbents, it may be other people who sits in in the northern ireland office. but i don't think there's any shortage of good will, there's no shortage of energy, and also no shortage of cross—party agreement. for the existing survivors, actually frankly, every day that goes by is notjustice delayed, it is injustice continued. and ijust want to strongly support the honourable member in his plea for real urgency in this. i find it unacceptable

that we are even thinking that this legislation should be done by the end of the year — it should be done immediately. and given that david sterling redrafted his legislation last week, it could have been tabled and introduced this week. it's unacceptable that it leaves the commitment for the first week when we return should be on the table. the dithering and procrastination, and excuses around the delay of compensating the victims of historical institutional abuse in northern ireland have been absolutely shameful. the dithering must stop. three months ago — three months ago, the head of the northern ireland civil service, david sterling, said that the secretary of state of northern ireland had a moral responsibility to compensate the victims of historical institution abuse, if the assembly were not up and running by the end of the summer. and he was absolutely right!

can he give an undertaking that the legislation will be placed before the house in september, as we only have two weeks back then, and that will be done on the first day back, payments will be made as soon as possible thereafter, and the period of time between now and then will be usefully used to see what institutions will pay where the abuse occurred? madame deputy speaker, i would love to make the commitments as he says, but i'm afraid i can't simply because, as i said in response to the earlier questions, about tempting me into a constitutional impropriety, i can't make that commitment and binding the hands of the incoming new administration. john penrose. workers at british steel have been praised for their "magnificent work" at the beleaguered firm. buyers are being sought after the company was placed in compulsory liquidation in may, following a breakdown in rescue talks between the government and the former owners. the business secretary praised the workforce of british steel... who, during this time, have worked magnificently not only need to continue,

but to increase steel production. often in insolvencies, customer orders can dry up, suppliers withdraw their services, and the workforce can drift away, precipitating a rapid failure. in this instance, the opposite has been the case. the confidence that the support group has built, coupled with the indemnity to the official receiver, has allowed trading to continue, orders to be won, and production to increase. this is without precedent, in my experience. although all decisions are for the official receiver, i've been active in visiting prospective buyers in many parts of the world to make it clear that the uk government will within its legal powers will work with a good long—term owner of these important assets to see how we can make them realise their vision for the company. the mp who asked for this update on british steel pleaded with the minister. will he pledged to prevent cherry— picking? will he pledge to keep asset—strippers at bay so we don't suffer from the same issues we've had before ? will he pledge to ensure

that the terms and conditions of the workforce are maintained? will he ensure that any company that his government supports will invest in the assets and ensure they are modernised for the future of our industry? will they invest in research and development? and will he ensure they are committed to the long—term interests of steel—making in this country? and finally, i hope that whoever will be at the despatch box in the weeks ahead would recognise that they have the jobs and the likelihoods of thousands of men and women in their hands, as well as the guardianship of a vital, modern, innovative, and potentially world—leading british industry. a very large number of my constituents work at scunthorpe, and can the secretary of state assure me that their welfare, whatever happens, is at the forefront of his mind? and can i ask him this — in our international market, which is often manipulated by governments, notably by the chinese, will he assure me that in this case, to quote sir keithjoseph, "the market is not enough"? and will there be an activist — and extreme interventionism, i dare say — approach by this government to ensure that there is a buyer?

it's disheartening to hear that this process continues to drag on with no idea of how long it will take for a deal to conclude. this uk government must at last stand up for the steel industry and deliver a sector deal. i am in no way agitating for his removal, but can he assure this house that if he is replaced in post in the next 24 hours, he will urge any successor not to turn their back on implementing a proper industrial strategy? because now is certainly not the time for a return to the thatcherite economics that frankly saw the destruction of so many great industries in this country. and i do hope that this is not my last exchange with the secretary, butjust in case, i wanted to stress my thanks for the amazing mini cooper toy he presented me with last week. and he shouldn't worry, because there will always be a parking space in my heart for him.

we might differ certainly in our approach to many of the structural flaws our economy faces — but in most issues, we actually have more in common than many people would realise, not least on industrial strategy. i have enjoyed my exchanges in our meetings with her. i hope the parking space in her heart has an electric charging point for that electric mini, that will be very important. laughter. greg clarke, who later resigned from the government. finally, we leave you for now with a final helping of pmqs. the last question went to the longest continuously—serving female mp known as the "mother of the house", harriet harman. even her harshest critics must recognise her integrity, her commitment to public service, her dedication to this country — and those are qualities that none of us should ever take for granted. but can ijust offer her a word of sisterly advice? sometimes you just have to be a bit more careful when a man wants to hold your hand.

laughter. i wish — i thank herfor her service as our prime minister, and i sincerely wish her all the very best for the future. can i thank the right honourable lady for her question, and of course, the right honourable ladyjoined this house in 1982, when there was a female prime minister, but very few women in this house. and she has played a very important role, and she can be proud of the role she played in ensuring that more women came into this house as labour members of parliament. i'm told that over the last three years, i've answered over 4,500 questions over 140 hours in this house. more than i might have expected, mr speaker. laughter. in the future, i look forward to asking the questions. but we are, as the right honourable lady has said,

living through extraordinary political times. this house of commons is rightly at the centre of those events, and that's because of the vital link between every single member of this house and the communities, the commons that we represent. that's the bedrock of our parliamentary democracy, and of our liberty. and each one of us — wherever we sit, whatever we stand for — can take pride in that. and that duty to serve my constituents will remain my greatest motivation. applause.

thursday looks like being a day of extraordinary perhaps even unprecedented heat across some parts of the uk. thejuly record looks like it will be broken but this is the one also in danger, the uk all—time record for the heatwave of 2003 because we could beat that and get very close to 39 celsius somewhere around the london area. not guaranteed but there is a good chance that that is going to be broken. that is the temperature that will make the headlines but there is plenty of hot weather to come elsewhere. plenty of sunshine from the word go and we know it is going to be a very warm and muggy start and those temperatures will just rocket as we go on through the morning. we are keeping more cloud close to northern ireland with the weather front here and breezy as well. chance of a bit of rain the further west you are and it will be breezy elsewhere as well butjust coming from a hot direction, that breeze, so there will not be a lot of relief. and, yes, the temperature close

to london will make headlines but we will be close to 30 celsius if not above elsewhere in england. eastern parts of wales, up towards the central belt in scotland as well with the low 20s into northern ireland and a little more cloud around. there are some storms around to end the day. central and eastern parts of england could see them. they will be hit and miss, more likely through parts of northern england and scotland. the risk of torrential rain, hail and disruption. still warm night going into friday morning, of course, after the heat of the day so bear in mind that the later stages of thursday into the night there could be some disruptive thundery downpours in places. but then it is all change. this weather front moves through and this is the cold front. colder stretch but it is the leading edge of cool air coming in on friday. there will be some cloud moving east and the chance of seeing some showers. they may turn heavy on thundery

towards parts of eastern england later in the day. it will still be warm if not hot and humid towards east anglia but most other places will see lower temperatures in some spots by quite a large margin. going into the weekend, that weather front looks like it will reinvigorate and hang around the eastern side of the uk in particular with the zone of cloud and pulses of rain. still some uncertainty in the exact positioning of that and could still be there affecting some of us into sunday as well so we will keep you updated on that. but where temperatures have been close to 40 celsius, they come back to the more comfortable 20 degrees. and relax.

a very warm welcome to bbc news. my name is mike embley. the headlines: borisjohnson strides into downing street — to start life as britain's prime minister and he made this pledge. it is time to change the record, to recover our natural nature as an enterprising, outward—looking and truly global britain. inside number 10 — he begins building a new team to deliver brexit — promising to succeed where theresa may failed. fresh concerns over north korea — two missiles are fired into the sea towards japan as kimjong un‘s pictured alongside a newly—built submarine. as europe's heatwave intensifies, scientists say current