this is bbc news, the headlines at 12pm... downing street reacts angrily as borisjohnson is referred to the police watchdog due to his links to an american businesswoman while he was mayor of london. meanwhile, the opposition are considering a challenge to the government. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn is promising to replace universal credit if they get into power. renewed pressure on the trump administration over its dealings with ukraine — the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, is ordered by democrats to turn over documents connected

to the impeachment investigation. hosts japan make history by beating ireland for the first time with a stunning 19—12 victory at the rugby world cup. and coming up, click tests all things audio, by paragliding, breaking glass, and going to an eltonjohn concert, that's in half an hour here on bbc news. good morning. as conservative mps gather in manchester this weekend for their party conference — the scottish national party has said it believes there's a realistic prospect of a no confidence vote being held next week to try to bring down borisjohnson‘s government — in an attempt to avoid a no—deal brexit.

the snp would need the support of other opposition parties in order for the vote to pass — but the liberal democrats and some tory rebels say they are not prepared to back the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, as leader of a temporary government. the snp mp stewart hosie joins us from dundee. thanks forjoining us. what likelihood is there then the vote of no confidence this and when? well, i would hope there is a high chance, i would hope there is a high chance, i would hope there is a high chance, i would hope that it is as soon as possible because the clock is ticking. we cannot now have an election before the 31st of october, so election before the 31st of october, so the only way to secure the deal given the lack of confidence people have in the prime minister doing that, is in order to have a vote of confidence, have an interim administration, ask for the extension of article 52 january next year and then call the election. so when you say you hope this is going

to happen, how much support is therefore this and worthy snp back jeremy corbyn as interim leader? there are discussions ongoing. i think there is a great deal of support for this idea. now, think there is a great deal of support forthis idea. now, clearly for this to work we need the labour party on board. i think it is only right and proper that he is the leader of the largest opposition party should have the first opportunity to form an administration. but if another name appears in the frame, ken clarke or appears in the frame, ken clarke or a dominic grieve that people can coalesce around then i personally, andi coalesce around then i personally, and i think the snp, would have very little difficulty with that given its sole purpose would be to get the extension to article 50, make sure no deal was off the table and then call an election. what likelihood is there though ofjeremy corbyn backing anybody else in his party or any other and therefore for this opposition plan to work? well, we in the snp are happy to look at all of

the snp are happy to look at all of the options to make this plan happen, to make this plan work. i think all of the politicians and all of the parties who are serious about stopping no deal should go into these discussions with no preconceived ideas, with no red lines and let's work out the best and most effective way to make it happen and then to deliver this. and can you give us happen and then to deliver this. and can you give us more happen and then to deliver this. and can you give us more of an idea of just how much support what you are saying has amongst your opposition colleagues? i understand there is significant support, i understand discussions are ongoing almost as we speak and for those who genuinely ca re speak and for those who genuinely care about stopping the most damaging no—deal brexit, given the timescale is now in place, this really is the only game in town. isn't it wrong though for the opposition to try and stop the prime minister in his tracks ahead of that crucial eu summit in the middle of october? surely the government must be allowed to put forward their final negotiating plan as the clock

i’u ns final negotiating plan as the clock runs down? well, that question just highlights the entire problem with the brexit process for the past three years. the uk government have not really had a plan, they haven't really even at this point have detailed formal proposals to be put to the european commission. the fear has to be that they are not really wanting a deal at all, they want to run down the clock, crash out with no deal and i think it is incumbent on all of us who want to protect jobs and prosperity in this country that we stop that. but the likelihood is that conservative mps will not back any vote of no confidence in the leader until boris johnson has been allowed that final negotiating gambit. and the government says, has indicated, that it will put forward a plan to the eu after tory party conference later this week. well, let's wait and see. i think to demonstrate how little confidence i have and many, many

people have, in the prime minister, when he was asked only this week would he stick to the law, would he obey the law to seek an extension if the other conditions were not met, he said no. i think if we have a prime minister who is not prepared to be un—categoric in a bathe the law then i think we have every right to try and change the government in order to protect the economy from a no—deal brexit. order to protect the economy from a no-deal brexit. and just to unpick a little bit about the process of this, if you did call a vote of no confidence, would that be called by the labour party or the snp and would jeremy corbyn then formally be allowed, in your view, should he be allowed, in your view, should he be allowed, to form some sort of opposition government to start with? should that process happen or should you just agree on a name from the outset? well, clearly any party can call for a no—confidence vote but only one proposed by the leader of the official opposition is guaranteed to be taken. so it would

be preferable if he asked for the confidence vote to take place. there would then with the obligation or the ability to form a new administration, whether it was jeremy corbyn or whether it was another preagreed name, in a sense doesn't matter, given that this is for a very temporary period to achieve one specific objective. but how could anybody trust that it was a temporary period for a time and who is the name that you think has got most chance of getting broad cross— party got most chance of getting broad cross—party support? got most chance of getting broad cross-party support? well, the name thatis cross-party support? well, the name that is most commonly bandied about is ken clarke. but as to whether or not he would be happy or willing or able to do it you would have to ask him. buti able to do it you would have to ask him. but i think in the first insta nce him. but i think in the first instance the person who would make the request would be the leader of the request would be the leader of the largest opposition party. the snp would back ken clarke if that was to happen? the objective is that this is to seek an extension from the european union, to make sure no deal is actually properly off the

table and then to call an election. ina sense, table and then to call an election. in a sense, it doesn't really matter who the name on the piece of paper is, who is the prime minister is for that short period of time, so long as we achieve the objective of stopping the damaging no—deal brexit. stewart hosie, thank you very much for speaking to us today. meanwhile, downing street has reacted angrily after boris johnson was referred to the police watchdog over his friendship with an american businesswoman. the independent office for police conduct will look at whether a criminal investigation should be launched into allegations thatjennifer arcuri was given favourable treatment, including financial grants, when mrjohnson was mayor of london. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. come to london. build your businesses here. the mayor of london supports you. the american tech entrepreneur jennifer arcuri received £11,500 sponsorship for events run by her company innotech from organisations linked to borisjohnson's office while he was mayor of london. she then went on three overseas trade missions with borisjohnson — all of which she'd originally

been turned down for. the bbc has spoken to several people who were on the trips. they said jennifer arcuri seemed out of place, as her companies were less substantial than those of other participants. borisjohnson's office intervened to make sure that she got on one of the trips to tel aviv, though she paid her own way. ilike it! it's brilliant! the allegations of improper conduct were originally made in the sunday times and have been looked at by the greater london authority monitoring officer this week. she's now decided to ask the police watchdog, the independent office for police conduct, to assess whether borisjohnson should be investigated for the criminal offence of misconduct in public office. the iopc are involved because, as mayor of london, borisjohnson was also in charge of london's metropolitan police. i really think there are so many more important issues like putting more police on streets, increasing funding for schools. all of these things

are the kind of issues that my constituents and the general public want us to focus on. ijust do not believe that this complaint is the issue that it is being made out to be in the media this morning. the prime minister has vigorously denied the allegations. a senior government source said the referral to the iopc was "a nakedly political put—up job". daniel sandford, bbc news. jeremy corbyn has said that if labour is elected it will scrap the government's flagship welfare system, universal credit. mr corbyn, who has been giving a speech in chingford in essex, described the benefit as "cruel and inhumane" — and outlined his party's approach. there is a number of things we will do leading up to scrapping universal credit in its entirety. but first of all, we will end the capability for

work assessment tests that are so crucial to people in their lives and tragically led to some people taking their own lives and committing suicide because they cannot see any way forward. as a constituency mp i stick with people going through the pain of saying they're capable for work when they are clearly not, losing benefits as a result and going into a terrible period of stress. this is a deliberate act of government policy to achieve it. secondly, we will end the bedroom tax because it is unfair, unjust and wrong. thirdly, we will... in order to give people something reasonable to give people something reasonable to survive on. we will make the carer‘s to survive on. we will make the ca rer‘s allowance to survive on. we will make the carer‘s allowance the same as jobseeker‘s allowance and recognise that carers do an amazing job on behalf of those that they love, that they shouldn't be impoverished in doing so. fourthly, we will end the

two child policy in benefit distribution. that will cost around £2 billion per year, so i'm sure the daily mail and the express already with the headlines... look at it another way, the two child policy, where does it come from, where is the mentality of it? if you have a large family, did the third, fourth, fifth child if it is a big family have less value than one and two? that is really what it is same. so that 2 billion it will cost is actually 2 billion that is been taken out of the living costs and the mouths of the children of larger families. to me, that is simply immoral and it has got to go. we will end the two child policy.

mr corbyn also re—iterated labour's strategy to avoid a no—deal brexit. we will do absolutely everything we can to prevent a no deal exit from the european union on the 31st of october. we are not going to allow the people of this country to be taken over a the people of this country to be ta ken over a cliff the people of this country to be taken over a cliff edge knowing full well it will damage medicine supplies, damage the food supply, damagejobs supplies, damage the food supply, damage jobs and lead supplies, damage the food supply, damagejobs and lead us supplies, damage the food supply, damage jobs and lead us straight into the arms of a donald trump inspired free trade deal with the united states. we are simply not going there. and when that no deal is off the table and the government has finally accepted it must obey an act of parliament that was passed, then straight into it, we will take them on in every town, every city, every street and every village and

have a general election so we can put an alternative point of view to the people of this country. jeremy corbyn speaking there in the last hour or so. leading democrats in congress have made their first demand for documents in the impeachment inquiry into president trump. the secretary of state, mike pompeo, has been ordered to hand over ukraine—related material within a week. the us special envoy to ukraine, kurt volker, has resigned. our north america correspondent, david willis, reports. donald trump is defiant and lashing out on his preferred medium, twitter. taking aim at the man who will play a key role in his impeachment hearings, the democratic chairman of the house intelligence committee, adam schiff. of him, the president said... the whistle—blower who revealed details of his telephone conversation with ukraine's president, volodymyr zelenskiy, mr trump has branded a partisan operative. yet the whistle—blower‘s account of events has proved uncannily accurate,

not only about the contents of the telephone call but attempts by the white house to cover them up. they have now confirmed that a transcript of the call was moved to a more secure server. as the democrats' impeachment inquiry gathers pace, today saw the first subpoena to the secretary of state, mike pompeo, demanding documents relating to contacts between members of his staff and the government of ukraine. committee members also said they had scheduled depositions from five state department officials, among them the former us ambassador to the ukraine, marie yovanovitch, who was recalled over policy disagreements with president trump. and the us special envoy to ukraine, kurt volker, who is said to have helped president trump's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, set up meetings there with government officials. shortly after the news

of the depositions was announced, mr volker resigned from his job at the state department. president trump's reaction to the impeachment inquiry continues to veer from anger to incredulity. the witchhunt continues. but they are getting hit hard on this witchhunt because when they look at the information, it is a joke. impeachment for that? yet the pressure is growing from outside congress as well as within. more than 300 former us national security officials from both republican and democratic administrations have endorsed the impeachment inquiry, saying they want to know the facts. events are moving quickly here, with some democrats predicting that articles of impeachment could be ready to be voted on by the end of november. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. we can speak now to scott lucas, professor of international politics and american studies at the university of birmingham.

how much pressure do you think president trump is now under?‘ how much pressure do you think president trump is now under? a lot and a lot that is going to get bigger in the next few days. the reason i say this is first of all the significance of the facts of the case and that is what you have in the transcript of the phone call with donald trump and the president of the ukraine, in campaign to... is to try to dig up dirt on a political rival and to try to open up an investigation into a political rival, former vice presidentjoe biden. that in itself is a central violation of electoral law but it looks like an abuse of power by the president. and what we now have on top of that in the last 48 hours but is that the white house tried to bury the news of this phone call and to try to bury the news of other phone calls that he had with

president vladimir putin and others and that resident trump had with the foreign minister of russia, where he bragged that he was able to quash the investigation of russia's interference in the 2016 election. all of that looks like, in contrast to the trump russia investigation, this is a very concentrated episode in which i think you could look at that phone call and look around it and say is donald trump compromising... donald trump denied any of this will fly. isn't this just a political move ahead of the election? well, i think first of all that you will probably have the impeachment, the indictment in the house. i think that does not mean he will be convicted in the senate because the republican majority. but at some point you have to go beyond politics and that is donald trump or any man in the white house, if there

has been abuses of power, if there has been abuses of power, if there has been abuses of power, if there has been criminal activity, you really have to investigate it and to get to a resolution. otherwise, what is the us constitution therefore? otherwise, what is the us system therefore? that any person in the white house thinks he or she is above the law. in terms of throwing forward , above the law. in terms of throwing forward, is there some damage potentially also to joe forward, is there some damage potentially also tojoe biden here? well, joe biden will be in the frame and people will discuss this in terms of what this does to his 2020 run for the presidency. but i think we have to start first and foremost that what donald trump and his allies, allege aboutjoe biden is a conspiracy theory, and unsupported conspiracy theory, and unsupported conspiracy theory. and that is that joe biden tried to get the prosecutor of ukraine fired in order to protect his son who worked for a gas company there. that is not what happened there. us officials say thatis happened there. us officials say that is not what happened, ukraine official say that is not what

happened. if americans believe the conspiracy theory about joe happened. if americans believe the conspiracy theory aboutjoe biden of course that can harm him. people will conspiracy theories aside and focus on the facts of the case because it is donald trump, notjoe biden, who is the first port of call on this case. thank you so much for your time this morning. sorry the picture froze but it was good to hear you. there's been a series of attacks on polling stations across afghanistan, as voters cast their ballots in the presidential election. security forces are on high alert, after the taliban vowed to disrupt voting. 16 people are reported to have been injured in an explosion in the southern city of kandahar, and several more wounded in a blast in the northern province of kunduz. and at least five bombs went off in the eastern city of jalalabad, killing at least one person. the taliban has vowed to disrupt voting. the main candidates, incumbent president ashraf ghani and the chief executive abdullah abdullah, have managed

to cast their votes. but although more than nine million people are registered to vote, turnout is expected to be relatively low, due to security fears. our correspondent shwaib sharifi is in kabul for us. how many people are voting? well, it is very difficult to know at this time. the exact level of turnout across the country but it has continued to be patchy and low throughout the day, particularly in the mornings, initially because of the mornings, initially because of the fears of the serious talybont warnings a day ahead of the voting and also in the voting centres were opened parallel to multiple attacks, mortar attacks in some cities in afghanistan, including the one in the southern province of kandahar where inside a polling centre a bomb exploded wounding at least 16 people

who had come there to cast their vote. this somehow added to the already worry about attacks against polling centres and the turnout continue to be low and that perhaps may is the reason that the afghan independent elections commission extended the voting time to another two hours. it was supposed to close at 1500 kabul time. but reports from some provinces of afghanistan suggest that people slightly later got momentum to turn out to the voting centres and that was one of the reasons that the time was extended. and in some places in the morning due to security and logistical problems some centres had failed to either open on time or operate on time. so another hour from out the voting centres will be

open but still compared to the 2018 parliamentary elections on the previous presidential elections, turnout doesn't seem to be very impressive. 0k, shwaib sharifi in kabul, thank you very much. protesters in hong kong are holding a rally to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the so—called ‘umbrella' protests. this is the scene there live now. the original series of pro—democracy demonstrations took place in 2014 — with protestors carrying umbrellas to protect themselves from police pepper spray. the movement has surged again this year with anti—government protests. stephen mcdonell has the latest from hong kong. today marks five years since the start of the failed umbrella movement pro—democracy push. and these protests have gathered here in these protests have gathered here in the heart of hong kong to remember that moment. now, those in the city will know that behind me is the stage and there is the harbour. if we come around in this direction

that there is the legislative building, effectively the parliament. and if you were to walk up parliament. and if you were to walk up that hill behind me that would ta ke up that hill behind me that would take you into the central business district and the streets where that sit in actually took place. people occupied that area for more than two months and then when it finished many thought, well, that's that. however, fast forward five years, here we are again with people calling for the same thing, calling for universal suffrage and democratic reform here. today's anniversary though, tonight's rally, tomorrow's protests and all of the political activity in the city over the next few days are all pointing to one thing though and that is next tuesday there is another anniversary, it is the 70th anniversary, it is the 70th anniversary of the communist party come into power in china. now, beijing wants that to be a big

celebration of everything that is fantastic about modern china, pointing to all the great achievements that this country has made over those decades. but these protesters though are determined to try and crash that party and so for that reason there is a lot of security around the city to try and make sure that everything remains relatively calm over this weekend. but we will just relatively calm over this weekend. but we willjust have to see how things pan out and in fact whether they are able to upstage beijing in this city that people say they love so much and that they say desperately needs democratic reforms. steve mcdonnell therefore is in hong kong. more than half of patients with a type of skin cancer once seen as "untreatable" have been handed a lifeline thanks to a revolutionary new treatment, doctors will announce today. a decade ago, most patients diagnosed with late—stage melanoma would not survive more than a few months.

now drugs that harness the body's immune system mean 52 per cent are living for longer than five years, according to research carried out at the royal marsden hopsital. more than half of british holidaymakers affected by the collapse of thomas cook have returned to the uk. the civil aviation authority said 76,000 people have flown home in the last five days since the tour operator went into administration. operation matterhorn is repatriating over 150,000 people with the majority expected to be back in the uk by the end of next week. transporting animals long distances to abattoirs could be banned by the government after brexit. instead, journeys would be expected to be as short as possible. ministers say this will have the effect of ending most live exports — something they have been prevented from doing by eu rules. other animal welfare measures under consideration include compulsory micro—chipping for cats and a ban on bringing hunting trophies into the uk. the broadcasting regulator ofcom says it is assessing comments made by the bbc presenter naga munchetty

following tweets by president trump in july. she was speaking on bbc breakfast after president trump called for four non—white congresswomen to ‘go back to their countries'. the bbc received a complaint and ruled that naga was entitled to comment about her own experience of racism — but she should not have speculated about the president's motives as that breached impartiality. ofcom says it has now received complaints about the broadcast — and it is assessing whether a full investigation is necessary. skin—lightening creams act like "biological paint stripper" and should be avoided at all costs — that's the stark warning from the local government association. seizures of whitening creams — sold by rogue retailers online, in market stalls and in some shops — showed that many contained hydroquinone which strips off the top layer of skin, and is illegal in the uk unless prescribed by a doctor.

hello, broadly speaking today is way of sunny spells and scattered showers. some strong winds as well with the possibility we could see some travel disruption. morning rain clearing from eastern scotland and northern england. much of the uk spells of sunshine, showers around for north wales and into the midlands this afternoon. heavy rain arriving into the south—west. a breezy if not windy day, gusty winds developing across wales. in the sunshine, temperatures as high as 19 or 20 celsius. cool in scotland. he was a low—pressure overnight, pushing heavier rain across england and wales perhaps as far north as southern scotland and into northern ireland. with that gusty winds a particularly across wales and southern england, touching 50 miles an hourfora time. southern england, touching 50 miles an hourfor a time. that rain slowly clearing away through northern england tomorrow stain windy though

and sane and settled into the new week. goodbye.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: as conservative mps gather for their party conference, the snp say there could be a confidence vote in the government as early as next week, in an attempt to avoid a no—deal brexit. meanwhile, downing street reacts angrily as borisjohnson is referred to the police watchdog over his links to an american businesswoman when he was mayor of london. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, promises to replace the government's controversial welfare policy, universal credit, should they get into power. renewed pressure on the trump administration over its dealings with ukraine — the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, is ordered by democrats to turn over documents connected to the impeachment investigation. sport, and now a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, with olly foster.

hello, this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre.