the united kingdom will go to the polls on the 12th of december following an overwhelming vote in favour in the house of commons denied. the prime minister said the public must be given a choice. he is hoping for a new mandate for his brexit deal. for labourjeremy corbyn said the election was a once ina corbyn said the election was a once in a generation chance to transform the country. and he promised the most ambitious and radical campaign for change the uk had ever seen. we will start tonight with laura kuenssberg on the day mps voted for an early general election. these will soon be portraits from the past.

order! order. the howls and the rage of a house divided. they'll be replaced with some new voices. some here will disappear. i call the prime minister. mr speaker, thank you... but it's never been that straightforward with this group of mps, as this still—new prime minister knows to his cost. there is only one way to restore the esteem in which our democracy is held, and to recover the respect in which parliament should be held by the people of this country, and that is finally to offer ourselves to the judgement of the people of this country, and i commend this bill to the house. labour had said no three times already, but this morning they were up for the rallies and the photo ops of a campaign, ready after weeks of refusing for the first december election in nearly a hundred years. it's going to be fun, and i've just had a weather forecast — it's going to be good weather!

even though some in this crowd believe it's a mistake to go to the polls now. we are going out there to fight an election campaign, and i can't wait to get out there on the streets. in every town and village in this country, labour will be there, giving a message of real hope, where this government offers nothing. labour only in line because the smaller parties changed tack. the snp and the lib dems reckon now the eu has backed a delay to brexit, their best chance of stopping our departure is that election. if you'd heard them earlier, you might have imagined it was under way already. i welcome the opportunity of an election, because make no mistake, the election that's coming is going to be the right of scotland to determine its own future. as a united kingdom family of nations, strong together, working within the eu, we can reshape our economy

and harness the technological revolution, and build a brighter future, and that's the message the liberal democrats will be taking to the country in this general election. but that was not everybody‘s view. a general election is about general issues. it is impossible to extrapolate from the result what people think about a very specific issue, in this case brexit. what do we do if we return a hung parliament that once again, just like in 2017, is split exactly down the middle and we cannot get anything through? order. those backing a trip to the ballot box won the day. the ayes to the right, 438. the noes to the left, 20. barring something strange happening in the house of lords tomorrow, the election will be on the 12th of december — giving the prime minister his way, giving all of us the chance to say who will come here, which mps, which parties will have the job

on unfurling the tangle of the last few years, who will be the prime minister who defines what happens next. laura is with me outside the palace of westminster with some of the usual chorus of demonstrators behind us. usual chorus of demonstrators behind us. first question is i suppose is this a done deal for the 12th of december? technically it has to go through the house of lords and his and her lordships will tomorrow i suspect rubber—stamp this decision but you never know until it is final. it does seem 99.99% the case borisjohnson is after weeks of trying to get parliament on side going to get his way and that of course means the decision will not be for the people in parliament but for all of us as to what we want to happen next. given what we've heard today, given the tone and content of what we've heard, what would you say about the nature of the campaign we

can expect? it won't be quiet. this isa can expect? it won't be quiet. this is a tiny taste of what could be, many mps fear, a brutal campaign and if we look at what has happened in politics in the last couple of yea rs, politics in the last couple of years, certainly, for many people it has been agonising, fraught, divisive, bitter, and i wouldn't be surprised if the tone of the campaign mirrors that in some way. the other thing to say is while the prime minister would very much like this to be about using the frustration he believes is out there in the country to finally sought out brexit, some of the opposition parties would like to use this as a chance to call a halt to the whole thing. labour want their option of campaigning for another referendum to settle the question once and for all. when it comes to the point of it, an election isn't set by the political parties. they don't control the terms, they can try, they will have their manifestos, their chosen agendas, but ultimately it'll be for the public to decide what the issues are that matter to them. as theresa may found to her

cost, she wanted to have a decisive brexit election but it veered off into all sorts of other issues that we re into all sorts of other issues that were tricky for the conservatives and harmful to her politically. that could be something that happens to borisjohnson. in the big picture, the fact is in six or seven weeks' time, it'll be up to all of us to choose who comes here next, who sits on the green benches and ultimately who the person is in charge who determines and tries to shape what happens next, who gets to move into downing street will stay there, if borisjohnson gets what he wants and manages to achieve a majority. once again, laura, thanks very much. laura kuenssberg with her thoughts after the votes in parliament tonight. the prime minister says the only way now to "get brexit done", in his words, is to "refresh" the house of commons with a general election. the prime minister says the only way now to "get brexit done", the last vote in 2017 ended with a hung parliament and the conservatives have governed with a minority since then. so, where could this election be won and lost? our deputy political editor john pienaar takes a look

at the current state of the parties ahead of the vote that's expected. almost nothing about british politics is easily predictable right now, an awful lot could change between now and the day we make our next trip to the polls. let's take a look at the current state of the parties. the conservatives have 288 mps, labour 244. 298 mps, labour 244. there are 35 independents, many of them former conservatives. the snp have 35 and the lib dems 19. no party comes close to the 326 needed for an overall majority. in the 2017 election, the two main parties dominated. the tories taking 43% and labour 41% of the vote. compare that to how the parties are polling now. the conservatives are averaging somewhere around 36% and labour 24% in recent polls. polling leads can vanish in an election campaign, just as theresa may. if the current polls were

reflected in the election out and vote to switch parties evenly, the conservatives might be on course for a majority but it won't be that simple, it never is. the tories will focus on winning voters in leave voting areas. in their top 50 labour—held targets, 39 voted leave. places like stoke—on—trent north, 72% leave, blackpool south, 68%, dagenham and rainham, 70% leave. but the tories could lose these seats to other parties, they could lose votes although maybe not seats to nigel farage's brexit party which could hand seats to other parties. places like stirling and gordon could go to the snp. cheltenham, southport and winchester to the liberal democrats, the lib dems will fight as the main anti—brexit party which could help them in heavily remain supporting areas like london. but labour's hoping, as in 2017, they can turn around the polls in they can turn around the polls in the run—up to voting and jeremy corbyn will hope his promises to pump investment into public services

excite voters more than boris johnson's rival pledges to invest in the nhs and schools and clamp—down on crime. another hung parliament, another stalemate can't be ruled out. and as for the main candidate for pm? jeremy corbyn is a seasoned campaigner but so is borisjohnson. it'll be an election unlike any we have seen before. john pienaar there. during the day, the scottish national party, the third biggest party at westminster, said it welcomed the chance to test voters' opinion in scotland. in a moment, we'll have the view from northern ireland and from wales, but first our scotland editor, sarah smith, in edinburgh. how scotland votes in this election could be decisive to the outcome for the whole of the uk. there are 59 westminster seats here, many of them on a knife edge — 46 are considered to be marginals. at the last election, both the tories and labour made significant gains, but many of those mps have tiny majorities, and they won't be feeling very safe. if the election's dominated

by brexit, and remember scotland voted clearly to remain in the eu, then the snp hope to benefit from their clear anti—brexit platform, and the lib dems would hope to make some gains on that basis too. but independence is the big question — the snp will put at the heart of their manifesto a commitment to a second referendum next year, while labour, the tories and the lib dems will all stand against another vote on independence. in northern ireland, elections are largely dominated there are 40 constituencies in wales, 70% of which are held by labour but despite the party's dominance they've been struggling re ce ntly dominance they've been struggling recently and the truth is many welsh labour mps recently and the truth is many welsh labourmps are going recently and the truth is many welsh labour mps are going into this election reluctantly. about a quarter of welsh seats have relatively few votes between the parties, meaning they could change hands quite easily. one of those is brecon and radnorshire, won in a summer by—election

by the liberal democrats, partly with help from plaid cymru, the nationalists — the two parties have been discussing similar pacts for the forthcoming campaign. wales voted to leave the eu in 2016, and some welsh conservatives are worried that the brexit party will be able to exploit boris johnson's failure to deliver the brexit he promised. for all the parties, there's a lot to play in northern ireland, elections are largely dominated by the two rival political tribes of unionist and nationalist parties. there are 18 seats in total here, and the largest irish nationalist party, sinn fein, currently holds seven of those. this party will fight the election on a heavily anti—brexit agenda. but however many seats they win, you won't see them sitting in westminster — the party has a long—held policy of abstaining, a mark of its opposition to the british governance of northern ireland. now, at the last election in 2017, a hung parliament meant that northern ireland's democratic unionist party became

kingmakers in westminster, with their ten mps able to lend the government a slim majority through that confidence and supply agreement. but when things shake down this time around, the parliamentary arithmetic may well change, and the big question for northern ireland will be, does the dup lose its powerful and influential position that the party currently enjoys? that was emma vardy with thoughts in northern ireland and felicity evans in cardiff, sarah smith in edinburgh. that's all from westminster for now. i'll be back later in the programme. over now to reeta for the rest of today's news. fewer people would have died in the grenfell tower fire had the london fire brigade acted differently. that's according to a report, sections of which have been seen by the bbc, into the 2017 tragedy in which 72 people died. the report, due to be published officially tomorrow,

relates to the first phase of the public inquiry, which focused on what happened on the night. the report strongly criticises what it calls "serious shortcomings" and systemic failures in the service's response. here's our special correspondent lucy manning and a warning — some viewers might find parts of her report upsetting. who was to blame? yeah, hello, hi, the fire in grenfell tower. how did 72 people die in their homes, unable to escape the flames? get out, get out! some told by those sent to rescue them to stay put. where is the fire brigade?! jesus! firefighters were brave that night, risking their lives, but the fire brigade failures were many. the blaze was like one never seen, but institutional failure, wholly inadequate planning and communication problems left people trapped. most damning, the decision to tell residents to stay put in these flames for nearly two hours.

the report says if the building had been evacuated sooner, it's likely more lives would have been saved. it's very hard, very hard, very hard, to go on. nabil choucair lost six members of his family in the fire. the families have been told they can't discuss the report before it's formally published tomorrow, but he can talk about what happened to them. do you think your family could have been saved if the building was evacuated earlier? of course, of course. i believe a lot of families could have been rescued, without a doubt. i personally believe they were inadequate of dealing with the fire. the report also criticises leadership failures. the commissioner of the london fire brigade gave little comfort to families at the inquiry. i wouldn't change anything we did on the night. remarkable insensitivity, said the inquiry. she has already announced her

retirement with an estimated £2 million pension pot. i was very disgusted in her comments, and how can you... it shows her incompetence. it's the fact that she has given an escape route for herself. there's some frustration the main criticism centres on firefighters and not those who made the cladding and refurbished the tower. that will be for the next stage of the inquiry. but the report did find there were building failures, that the cladding failed to comply with building regulations — it spread fire rather than stopping it. we've got planners, designers, architects, builders, subcontractors, building owners, building maintenance. all those things failed before the fire service comes along to put things right. it does feel at times that 20 years of building regulation failure is being laid at the feet of the fire and rescue service. the chairman of the inquiry,

sir martin moore—bick, met the grenfell families yesterday and told them he has written to the prime minister, saying he confidently expects the government and those in charge of the emergency services to implement his recommendations without delay. and the bereaved wonder if they will ever get justice. hamid aljafari's family didn't all escape. his father ali died. there's not a day i won't remember him. every second, anywhere, i can smell him, i can feel him, you know? the memories, you know? to be honest, i don't know, we lost what we are fighting for, i don't know the meaning ofjustice. i don't know, it's now more than two years. we're kind of like leftovers, we don't know what's happening. this tower once dominated the skyline in the most terrible way — a symbol now of so many failings, and the families agonise about how 72 people could have died in what was supposed to be the safety of their homes.

lucy manning, bbc news. senators in the us have accused boeing of putting profit over safety in its design of the 737 max 8 aircraft, which crashed twice in the space of five months, killing a total of 346 people. the head of the company, dennis muilenburg, faced a flood of questions and accusations from members of a senate committee over the plane's design. tom burridge reports. the photos of loved ones killed over boeing's boss, who senators said to put profit of a safety when designing an aircraft which crashed twice in the space of five months. we do have competitive pressures around the world, but i can also tell you that never takes precedent over safety. i could tell you it

definitely did in this case, i would walk before i got on a 737 max. the plane had a new flight control system which malfunctioned and pushed the nose of each plane repeatedly down. the senators pointed out today it was not in the pilots manual. was pilots never had a chance, these loved ones never had a chance, these loved ones never had a chance, these loved ones never had a chance, they were in flying coffins as a result of boeing deciding that it was going to conceal mcas from the pilots. and on the key question of whether the aircraft should have been grounded after the first crash, there is. we have asked that question over and over, and... if we knew everything back then that we know now, we would have made a different decision. sammy was 24 when she boarded the flight sammy was 24 when she boarded the flight from addis ababa in march. her mother nadia wants answers from boeing and its regulator, the faa.

the only way to re—establish trust is to share information, and i are still guarding it. still grounded, the 737 max has been modified to make it safer and get it back in the air, but today boeing's reputation took a battering again. tom burridge, bbc news. donald trump's attempts to fight off moves to impeach him have suffered a serious setback, after evidence from a senior white house official that he was so troubled by the president's phone call with his ukrainian counterpart that he reported his concerns to a superior. lieutenant colonel alexander vindman is the first serving white house official to speak to the congressional inquiry. our north america editor, jon sopel, is at the white house. just how potentially damaging to the president is this testimony? i think this is serious and i think, reeta, it is getting more serious by the day. donald trump has sought to

characterise what is unfolding us do nothing democrats trying to tie him down over what was a perfect call, he has called it a lynching, and he said it is also the people giving evidence never trumpers, and that is what you accuse lieutenant colonel vindman of being today, except he is a decorated war hero, injured in iraq, turned up at the hearing in his military uniform, and it is hard to characterise him as just some kind of party hack who wants to destroy the president. he has served both republican and democratic party administrations. so that makes it more difficult, and what he said in his testimony was devastating — he saidi his testimony was devastating — he said i did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a us citizen, the us it is and he is referring to is, of course, donald trump democratic rival, joe biden, and his son, over their business dealings. and he said there was no national security justification of it, it was turning

ukraine intoa justification of it, it was turning ukraine into a partisan issue, which it shouldn't be, and he said that the president's interest in ukraine and joe biden predated this particular phone call. in other words, he has flatly contradicted what the president has said — not only that, the white house has tried to put a man on officials giving evidence to this impeachment investigation, they have given evidence, and it hasn't been favourable to the president. jon, many thanks, our north america editor, john sopel, there. bulgaria's footballers have been ordered to play their next home match behind closed doors and they've had a second match suspended. they've also been fined £65,000 after england players were racially abused by fans in a euro 2020 qualifier. it comes as haringey borough and yeovil replayed their fa cup fixture this evening. the first match was abandoned when haringey players left the pitch, accusing yeovil supporters of racist abuse. from north london, our sports correspondent natalie pirks reports.

fa cup games always have a special importance for the coffers of non—league clubs, but for haringey borough, this rescheduled match tonight had a deeper meaning. just ten days ago here, in this diverse area of london, some of borough's players alleged they were racially abused by some yeovil town fans. you can see here some players complaining to the referee as objects were also thrown. borough's manager decided enough was enough, and the team abandoned the match. ijust reacted on the day, reacted to the situation, and i hope i never have to make that decision again. i think other people should be making that decision. commentator: in fact, to me, that looked like a right—wing gesture. earlier that same week, england players had run a gauntlet of abuse in bulgaria — nazi salutes and monkey chants prompted uefa's president to say football must wage a war on racism. but today the governing body fined bulgaria and ordered them to play their next match

behind closed doors. that's not good enough, say campaigners. massively disappointed that the outcome didn't see bulgaria facing probably an expulsion, points deduction, harsherfines. i think if we really are going to challenge racism in this day and age, and remember that bulgaria were already on a partial stadium closure anyway, then we really need to really significantly hold them to account for their fans. well, england may not have walked off the pitch that night in sofia, but what they did has clearly had a ripple effect on football up and down the country. i think it highlighted the fact that in order to make change, you have to be change, you have to actually do something and stand up for something, even if it isn't the proper decision. what they done was right, and i stand by it, know what i mean? i support them all the way. a bumper crowd saw haringey borough's quest to reach the fa cup first round end in 3—0 defeat. but their contribution to the fight

against racism will live far longer in the memory than the result. natalie pirks, bbc news, haringey. this saturday's rugby world cup final between england and south africa promises to be a bruising encounter, with both sides preparing for a hugely physical match. today the south africa head coach said his team must be ready for the new level of intensity that england reached in their semifinal victory over new zealand. our sports editor, dan roan, reports from tokyo. they're known for brawn, bulk and brute strength, and now they're the barrier between england and world cup glory. south african rugby prides itself on the power of its pack, but their coach believes they need every ounce of muscle in this weekend's final. the physicality that england brought to new zealand was just next level last saturday. i thought it was a long time since i've seen in england team pitch up with that amount of physicality. they must be brimming with confidence, and i'm sure that they need to bring that same intensity, and we will have to be

really up to try and match that. south africa have a rich history in this tournament. their iconic 1995 triumph on home soil uniting a nation. 12 years later, john smit led the country to a second world cup victory over england, but he believes that if the current springboks and their first black captain, siya kolisi, collect the trophy again this weekend, it would have surpassed it all. if he lifts it, it will be a far greater moment than ‘95. it will be the biggest one ever. that picture back home, i think it will change people's lives back home. that's the magnanimity of what the potential of siya lifting the trophy. at close quarters, it's easy to see why south africa are known for the size and power of their forwards. one things for sure — this weekend, england will have to bring their physicality very much to this final. they've already come out and said that they're going to fight fire with fire, and i guess we return by saying,

i guess, bring it on. flanker tom currie's performances have been crucial for england, and he will enjoy some extra special support on saturday — his twin brother ben also plays for sale sharks. after a social media campaign gathered momentum, the club agreed to give him a few days off to fly out to be there. my my man died have been out there since the quarterfinal, semifinal. __ my since the quarterfinal, semifinal. —— my mum and dads. my sister has been out there and has come back. she can't get enough of it. we have friends and cousins coming, godparents. england will go into the biggest game of their lives as favourites, but it's clear they're preparing for a bruising battle. dan roan, bbc news, tokyo. that's all from me, now it's back to huw in westminster. reeta, thank you very much. a pre—christmas ballot would be the third general election in the space of five years. and it will be the first

december poll since 1923. experts think the winter conditions will have little impact on the turnout. but what do voters think about this snap election? our political correspondent alex forsyth has been to worcester, a narrow conservative marginal in 2017, and which voted leave in the 2016 referendum, to get the views of some voters there. there we go! there we go indeed — a decision from mps at last. as news filtered through at worcester‘s firefly pub tonight, there was some hope that this election could be a light at the end of the long brexit tunnel. we've reached a point where nothing's going to change unless we have a new mandate. certainly plenty want clarity about the country's future, but not everyone here's convinced an election is the best option. i think it's going to get muddled with whether you're a brexiteer or a remainer, rather than which party you're going to vote for.

the country is split 50—50, so you could have as many elections as you want, you're always going to end up with that 50—50 split, aren't you, really? but with the halloween brexit deadline out of the window, it will now be for people to unpick the tangle that politicians couldn't. earlier, at st peter's garden centre on the edge of worcester, the director said he is resigned to an election to try to break the logjam although fears it could mean continued uncertainty. i think it's probably necessary so that whoever is in control can actually have a commanding authority. i definitely don't want it to go on for any longer than is absolutely necessary, because it's so frustrating from a business perspective. many people are now craving some sort of brexit resolution, which will mean a poll close to christmas. it's cold. people are going to be doing other things, i don't think people are going to have time to make up their minds. the timing isn't the best time, but we have to go for a general election, because it'sjust getting even more complicated, and i think this might finally,

you know, sort it out. the purpose of an election is to try to try to end the paralysis in westminster, give one party a mandate for its vision on brexit and other policies, but with divisions so entrenched, some fear even a public poll might not help. at the wise owl toy shop in the city centre, the owner is frustrated that there's been no brexit outcome so far. dependent on supplies from europe, he does hold some hope that a clear public message could lead to some action. indecision, uncertainty, is not good. and do you think an election could help stop that? yes, i think it could, it's one possible way. if there is a definitive answer, then whoever is in power, i would suggest, would actually go ahead and do whatever they want to do, hopefully get things done. the crucial question, though, whether this election will prove a christmas gift for any one party orjust another stage in the brexit puzzle. alex forsyth, bbc news, worcester.

alex there with some of the views of voters in worcester after today's news. that's it from westminster, where mps have decided that britain should go to the polls on december 12th, the first december election for nearly a century. by by the way, if you technical niggles during tonight's programme, apologies for those, we will be back tomorrow. more on the bbc news channel, but now on bbc one time for the news where you are. have a good night. hello and welcome to sportsday... hello and welcome to sportsday —

i'm gavin ramjaun.