tonight at ten, on the eve of the conservative election launch, a cabinet minister is facing calls for his resignation. the welsh secretary, alun cairns, is heavily criticised over his links with a man who sabotaged a rape trial. ross england, a former aide to mr cairns, was reprimanded by a judge for his conduct in court but the conservatives still selected him as an election candidate. my understanding is that the person who was involved has been suspended. alun is a fantastic secretary of state, deeply respected and effective. that was the party chairman. we'll have more details as mr cairns is accused of falsely denying the extent of his knowledge. also tonight... the conservative jacob rees—mogg apologises for suggesting that residents of grenfell tower should

have used "common sense" and left the building, instead of listening to the fire brigade. the lib dems launch their election campiagn and claim the uk would get a ‘remain bonus‘ of £50 billion over five years if brexit was stopped. cheering five years if brexit was stopped. and in south africa, a triumphant return home for the springboks, who won the rugby world cup in great style. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, all the action from a big night in the champions league. good evening. one the eve of the launch of

the conservative election campaign, a member of borisjohnson‘s cabinet, alun cairns, the welsh secretary, has been urged to resign by a victim of rape. the victim, who can't be named, says mr cairns should step down because of his links to a man who sabotaged her trial. ross england, who served as an aide to the welsh secretary, was heavily criticised by a judge for his role in wrecking the trial last year. mr england was subsequently selected as a conservative candidate for the welsh assembly. mr cairns had denied knowledge of the events, but bbc news has seen an email sent to him mentioning the issue. our wales political editor felicity evans has the story. alun cairns arriving at the last cabinet meeting before the election, just hours before he faced calls for his resignation. he has been under pressure over what he knew about this man, ross england, a former aide who was a witness in a rape trial in april last year. mr england's evidence caused the trial to collapse. thejudge, stephen hopkins qc, told him...

eight months later, the conservative party in wales selected ross england as a candidate for the welsh assembly elections in 2021. alun cairns endorsed him as a friend and colleague with whom it will be last week, when his role in the collapse of the trial came to light, the party suspended ross england and alun cairns said he became aware of the collapse of the trial some considerable time afterwards, and had no knowledge of the role of ross england. but it has emerged that last summer mr cairns‘ special adviser sent him an e—mailwhich said... how do you feel we can best do that? that was four months before mr cairns endorsed him as a candidate. alun cairns has not given an interview or a statement today but the conservative party in wales

has issued a statement. they said, "there is no new information in this leaked document confirming an informal conversation which took place a considerable time after the trial collapsed and is consistent with statements made." but the woman who was raped has called on mr cairns to step down. she told us... speaking last week, she spoke of her anger that the party had selected mr england as a candidate. for them to make him a candidate in a target seat for the welsh assembly proves to me how little respect they have for me, how little respect they have for the criminaljustice system. why would you notjust give the victim a fair chance of actuallyjustice to prevail? why wouldn‘t you just let a jury decide on the facts? with a general election under way, mr cairns‘ political opponents are echoing calls

for his resignation. it is time for alun cairns to look at his position and to think about whether he should step down now, for the sake of the country and for the sake of his party. but senior conservatives are trying not to get drawn in. the person who was involved has been suspended. alun is a fantastic secretary of state, deeply respected and effective. i do not have the full details on this. obviously it is a very, very sensitive issue, i don't want to speculate. for the moment, mr cairns is digging in. but with a campaign launch tomorrow, the party will want this row settled, and fast. felicity evans, bbc news. and felicity is in cardiff tonight. you have been talking to welsh conservatives today about mr cairns‘ position but what are they telling you? no one is willing to go on the record but off the record a great

deal of concern. the conservatives are optimistic of their chances in this campaign, particular hoping to ta ke this campaign, particular hoping to take seats in the north—east of wales but one source said earlier the toxic nature of these revelations could bring down the whole conservative campaign in wales put it another senior party figure said of mrcairns, put it another senior party figure said of mr cairns, i personally think he is in serious trouble. tonight and that said there was increasing anger and alarm among election candidates as the story has unfolded and added that it looks very difficult to see how alun cairns can lead the campaign in wales without fully explaining the circumstances of this case. another source just commenting saying, our three priorities in the national campaign outside brexit ah law and order, the nhs and schools. he is undermining one of those. there is no doubt that tonight alun cairns is facing increasing pressure, including from within his own party here in wales, to explain exactly how much he knew about ross england‘s involvement in the colla pse

england‘s involvement in the collapse of that trial and perhaps most importantly, when he knew it. felicity, thank you very much. felicity, thank you very much. felicity evans, our political editor in wales. in another development today involving a cabinet minister, the leader of the commons, jacob rees—mogg, has apologised after suggesting that people living in grenfell tower might have used common sense on the night of the fire two years ago and left the tower block, despite the fire brigade‘s advice to stay in the building until help arrived. 72 people died in the fire in the summer of 2017. our special corrspondent lucy manning reports. if there‘s one tragedy it‘s easy to show sympathy with and be sensitive about, it‘s grenfell. the inquiry finding just last week residents shouldn‘t have been told to stay put in their flats for so long, yet one government minister has managed to upset the survivors. the more one‘s read over the weekend about the report and about the chances of people surviving, if you just ignore what you‘re told and leave, you are so much safer.

and i think if either of us were in a fire, whatever the fire brigade said, we would leave the burning building. itjust seems the common sense thing to do. marcio gomes, his pregnant wife, and two daughters were trapped on the 21st floor. they filmed the smoke and the darkness that made it almost impossible to escape. their son, logan, was stillborn after the fire. there is no way you can get out? floor 21? there's no way! there's no way. we have tried three times already. the fire's here! you know, i lost my son and, yeah, it was hurtful. it's not very nice for the survivors, the families, or even the community, as well, what he said. he certainly needs to start thinking a bit more about what he's saying. and if he wants to talk about common sense, then i can quite... you know, turn around and say it's common sense not to build houses or flats with flammable material.

as he left cabinet, mr rees—mogg was asked if he thought grenfell residents lacked common sense. that‘s not what i said. not what i said. do you regret your comments? that‘s not what i said. he later said... do you accept his apology for those comments? no, not really. i think it was just very insensitive. it shows how out of touch he is with everyone. at any time, jacob rees—mogg‘s comments would be seen as insensitive, but at the start of an election campaign, they suggest a government minister lacking empathy at the very time politicians are trying to connect with people. grenfell survivors again feeling let down by those in charge.

lucy manning, bbc news. the liberal democrats have launched their election campaign, claiming they‘re the only party with a clear—cut promise to stop brexit. the party leaderjo swinson said this election could bring about a "seismic change" in british politics and that the economy would benefit from a so—called "remain bonus" — an extra £50 billion to spend on public services over the next five years. brexit was also a prominent feature of both labour and conservatives campaigns today, as our political editor, laura kuenssberg, reports. there are some flashing images coming up. 0ur liberal democrat candidate for prime minister, jo swinson. a liberal democrat candidate for prime minister? could jo swinson really transform a dozen from 2017 into a group who could govern? this is not a normal election. it is not a typical choice about whether you want the red team or the blue team

to be in government. her ranks have grown as brexit has rippled through the two big parties. but, as a tribe who unashamedly wants to keep us in the eu, the lib dems believe their best chance is now. i never thought that i would stand here and say that i‘m a candidate to be prime minister. but when i look at borisjohnson and jeremy corbyn, i am absolutely certain i could do a betterjob than either of them. honest whispers suggest number 10 is out of reach so, if no one got a majority, would she — could she — prop up one of the others? i‘m absolutely, categorically ruling out liberal democrat votes putting jeremy corbyn into number 10. you said this morning you want to bring the country together. how would you do that if your plan is to disregard the vote of millions of people in the referendum of 2016?

as liberal democrats, we are standing up for what we believe in and being very honest and straightforward about that. i recognise there are differences of opinion on this issue. it's a new politics now and i do think they really have a chance to form a government. very optimistic and it's a really good feeling, actually, going out on the doorstep. very, very positive feedback. if they get more than 50 to 80 plus, i‘d be happy with that. labour will come knocking with a different proposal for brexit. after months of internal agonies, they are suggesting, if they win, they would negotiate a different deal with brussels and then, within six months, give you another choice of leaving or staying in. a labour government will get brexit sorted within six months. it won‘t be a rerun of 2016. this time the choice will be between leaving with a sensible deal,

or remaining in the eu. that is the policy. it really isn‘t very complicated. # i'm a believer... believe it or not, the official campaign has not started but we are speeding through those kodak moments already. the snp refrain familiar, too. this is an election about who decides the future of scotland. if we allow westminster to do that, we risk being taken out of the eu against our will. of course, more than a third of people in scotland did vote to leave. and he has sent everyone to the polls because it hasn‘t happened yet. do you feel up for the campaign? yeah! i think you do, you look as though you‘re full of beans. however bouncy any of our politicians appear now, some of them have chosen this to be their last day. for those who want to stay, this election is a gamble that the grins cannot hide.

laura is here. the campaign now moving up a few gears. from today‘s evidence, what are we looking forward to? boris johnson has even gone through the formal ceremonials. he will officially go to buckingham palace tomorrow to speak to the queen for the actual monarch‘s rubber stamp that this election campaign will be under way but a tricky day for the conservatives, not just under way but a tricky day for the conservatives, notjust calls under way but a tricky day for the conservatives, not just calls for a serving cabinet minister to quit and stand out but also a really toxic reminder for the conservatives after jacob rees—mogg‘s remarks about the tragedy of grenfell tower. he has clearly apologised very sincerely but it is an absolute reminder for the conservatives of how vulnerable they are to the charge made repeatedly by their critics, that in some ways they just repeatedly by their critics, that in some ways theyjust don‘t relate to millions of ordinary people who find life difficult, who struggled to get by, who live vulnerable lives. that is something conservatives, wise

conservatives, are absolutely aware of. but what we saw today, of course, gives all sorts of fodder for their critics in the other parties to throw at them repeatedly through this campaign, and already spreading all over the place online. it's spreading all over the place online. it‘s also a reminder to all of the parties, whether the lib dems today wanting to talk only about stopping brexit or labour wanting to push their policies, try as they might, they do not control the agenda of they do not control the agenda of theissues they do not control the agenda of the issues that will pop up. but in the issues that will pop up. but in the end, however bumpy and however varied this campaign is, in six weeks‘ time, the outcome will determine one huge thing: if the conservatives get majority, we will leave the european union may be in a matter of weeks at the beginning next year. if they don‘t, we might be on the path to another referendum and that is why people talk correctly of this election being one of the most vital in modern times. laura, thanks. laura kuenssberg our political editor with the latest analysis. the former conservative chancellor

philip hammond says he will leave parliament with "great sadness" after deciding not to stand as an independent candidate in his surrey constituency. mr hammond lost the conservative whip after defying borisjohnson over plans for a no—deal brexit. he said he wouldn‘t run as an independent as that would be a "direct challenge" to the party he loved. the outgoing head of the european commission, jean—claude juncker, has told the bbc he believes the uk will leave the eu by the end of january, the end of the current extension period. mrjuncker admitted he regretted not speaking out at the time of the european referendum, so our europe editor, katya adler, has put to him some of the promises made by the parties in the run—up to this election to get his reaction. if we start with boris johnson, because he‘s still our prime minister... i like him, by the way. 0k. so, he says if he wins the election and the withdrawal bill is passed, then he thinks it‘s possible to get a new trade deal negotiated

by the end of 2020. so, you know, in less than 12 months. is that possible? i don‘t want to be a prisoner of this tight framework. but is it even possible, it took seven years to negotiate a deal with canada, for example? it takes time to negotiate a free—trade agreement. sometimes, i have the impression that in britain, people... ..parliamentary representatives, governmental representatives do think that this is an easy thing to be done. it‘s not easy, because we are negotiating for years with canada. it will take time. can i have a look now at some other claims being made? so, the labour party, for example, says if it wins the general election, it will renegotiate once again. so, a third brexit deal. i will no longer be in office when this happens. so, it will be up to the next commission to decide if yes or no there is room for manoeuvre

of a new deal, a new treaty. honestly spoken, i don‘t think that this is a realistic approach. would you like there to be another referendum and the uk to give brexit another thought? the question if yes or no there should be a second referendum... ..is a british issue. i don‘t think that there will be a second referendum. the brexit party says the new brexit withdrawal agreement is not brexit, they say, it‘s just brexit in name only. is that a fair thing to say about boris johnson‘s deal with your commission? no, it‘s brexit. i‘m not a supporter of mr farage. you made a bet at the time of the referendum... yes. ..with the uk commission, and you pointed out that you thought that remain would lose the referendum, you bet him £1. yeah, yeah. so, just going back to the 31st january, this latest brexit extension, would you bet the £1

that the uk will be out by the 31st january, no more brexit extensions, you think? i do think that it will happen but this is a too long story. it has to be brought to an end. you know, you‘ve been in this job for a long time. would you be tempted to stay in your office until brexit is done, or at least this phase of brexit? no, no, no. i had brexit enough in my life. presidentjuncker, thank you very much for your time. thank you, it was a pleasure. thank you, thank you. the outgoing head of the european commission jean—claude juncker speaking to katya adler. thousands of scientists from around the world have joined forces to declare a global climate emergency. they say that without deep and lasting change, the world is facing "untold human suffering" and that governments are failing to address the crisis. so, how important will the issue of climate change be in this uk election and what can the next government hope to do about it? 0ur science editor david shukman reports.

with a new series, david attenborough is, once again, attracting huge audiences with revelations about the natural world. climate change now has a profile like never before. so, do people care about it? protests by extinction rebellion were annoying for some, but inspiring for many others. we love you! and the school strikes showed a growing concern that‘s reflected in some opinion polls. the environment is of particular concern to younger voters. in fact, in our most recent poll, it was seen as being the second most important issue to these voters, second only to the issue of brexit. and i think over this election campaign, politicians are going to have to start discussing the issue of the environment, if they want to win over the support of those youngest voters. so, what needs to be done? this solar farm in sussex is one relatively small part of the answer as the uk tries to go low carbon, and no longer add to

the rise in temperatures. all the main parties have committed to tackling climate change, more or less rapidly, so whoever ends up in charge faces a monumental challenge. and notjust overseeing many more of these, but also wind energy. thousands more turbines out at sea and maybe on the land, as well. greening our homes, moving away from gas as the main source of heat, and cleaning up how we get around — ditching diesel and petrol. it‘s a huge task. but is this transformation possible? the modern british economy was founded on carbon — burning fossilfuels. changing that will touch every aspect of our lives. but the government‘s climate advisers say that must be attempted. when we think about the things that need to be done, to get to that goal of net—zero emissions, it's absolutely enormous. it involves things in every sector

of the economy and, of course, we need government policies in every sector of the economy to deliver that. and we will need to see in the manifestos that come forth in the next election whether those policy commitments are there. it's essential that they are. this comes as we hear that the past month was the hottest 0ctober ever recorded, and as 11,000 scientists have banded together to warn that we are facing a climate emergency and that the world has so far failed to respond. david shukman, bbc news. throughout the election campaign, the bbc reality check team will be checking facts about the parties‘ claims, looking at whether the data backs them up. you can find more details at bbc.co.uk/news or on the bbc news app. let‘s take a look at some of today‘s other news. the uk business of mothercare is being wound down, after formally entering administration this evening.

all 79 stores will close over the coming weeks and months — a move which will affect some 2,900 jobs. the business has been hit hard by intense competition from supermarkets and online retailers. more than 100 families with children at a nursery in south devon have been contacted by police following the arrest of one of its employees in relation to allegations of sexual offences. police began a major investigation in july after one family reported their child had alerted them to an incident at the jack and jill childcare nursery in torquay, which is now closed. bristol is set to become the first city in the uk to restrict diesel vehicles in its city centre. the city‘s council approved the plans in an bid to cut air pollution, banning diesel cars, lorries and buses from certain areas during the day. it is due to come in to force in two years‘ time. a us diplomat has changed his original statement

as part of an impeachment investigation that has the potential to remove president trump from office. mr trump is accused of putting pressure on ukraine‘s leader to produce damaging information aboutjoe biden, the former us vice—president and a likely challenger for the white huse next year. 0ur north america editor jon sopel is at the white house this evening. tell us more about what‘s been going on. i think this is a really significant development in the impeachment inquiry. donald trump has been insisting throughout there was no quid pro quo. in other words, no attempt to withhold military aid to ukraine vitally needed in return for them launching an investigation into corruption surrounding a gas company that joe into corruption surrounding a gas company thatjoe biden‘s son was a director. now, gordon sunderland, he is the eu ambassador appointed by donald trump, a trump fundraiser who was awarded the ambassadorship

because of those fundraising efforts, has changed his evidence to the intelligence committee, saying that resumption of us aid would likely not occur until ukraine provided the public anti—corruption statement that we‘ve been discussing for many weeks. now, republicans can say it doesn‘t matter, who cares about whether the president was leveraging this? but it can‘t maintain the defence that there was no quid pro quo. the white house has defended the president this evening, saying the president has done nothing wrong. jon sopel there, our north america editor at the white house. people living with illness or disability or having problems with benefits are most likely to rely on foodbanks. that‘s according to research carried out by heriot—watt university for the charity the trussell trust. it described 94% of people who use foodbanks as destitute, with many living on less than £50 a week. in 2010, the trussell trust handed out 41,000 food parcels. by last year, that had increased to 1.6 million.

0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has been speaking to one woman in northern ireland who had to use foodbanks after falling ill. i mean, i was bedridden for a few weeks, and, yeah, that‘s when it started to hit that i needed to do something. misfortune can strike at any time. donna kennedy was working as a nursing auxillary when she had two mini strokes. unable to work and with little income, money ran out for the single mum, forcing her to go to a localfood bank. it‘s being that person that‘s been providing for the family for so long and then, all of a sudden, it‘s just, through illness, it‘s been taken away. donna remembers clearly her first trip to the food bank, driving around, uncertain if she‘d go in, sitting outside in tears, feeling embarrassed. feeling degraded, feeling sort of... has it had to come to this? you know, itjust wasn‘t...

itjust didn‘t seem fair that it had come to this. at the food bank in county londonderry, where donna now volunteers, demand for help has increased each year since it opened in 2015. here, as elsewhere in the uk, problems with benefits are a key reason people need food. the initial five week wait for universal credit creating particular difficulties. a lot of the families that we would see come to the food bank have tried to survive for five weeks and they‘ve borrowed from family members, from neighbours, from whoever they can to survive. but, actually, when the benefit then comes in, they owe money back to those people and then they find themselves in difficulties and they‘ve had to come to the food bank at that stage, then. today‘s research is intended, in part, to tackle the argument that more people are using food banks because there are more of them. while that was a small factor, the major reasons people needed help were to do with a lack of benefits and living with an

illness or disability. single parents were also at much greater risk. hunger isn‘t about food. it‘s about money and it‘s about how people do not have enough to afford the absolute basics. we found that the average household income of somebody who‘s been referred to a food bank after they paid the rent is just £50 a week, and that is leaving people facing real destitution. there's no more cereal, so i have the last piece of toast. luckily, mum isn't hungry. this children‘s book was recently published about a family in need, a sign of how normal food banks have become. mum doesn‘t like going to the food bank but i do. it‘s a no—money day helps explain why more than half a million food parcels were given to children last year. the topic is familiar to this school, as they collect supplies for their own local food bank. maybe one day me and mum won‘t have to worry, but tonight, because of kind people, our tummies are full.

the government has emphasised they spend £95 billion annually what they call the welfare safety net, but the increasing use of food banks suggests it‘s not enough for many people. michael buchanan, bbc news. there were two british teams in action in tonight‘s uefa champions league. there was an astonishing match at stamford bridge, where chelsea played ajax. they came back from 4—1 down to draw 4—1! with the dutch champions, who were down to nine men — reece james getting the equaliser. holders liverpool had a much easier night, winning 2—1 at home to genk. rugby — and the world cup winners, south africa, have arrived back in johannesburg from japan, where they‘ve been greeted by thousands of springbok fans, keen to welcome home the victorious players. with more on the celebrations, here‘s our correspondent nomsa maseko. the moment springbok supporters

had been waiting for. thousands came to welcome home the best rugby team in the world. a team that not only broughtjoy to the nation, but also inspired a deeply divided country. cheering. but, for now, united by south africa‘s first black captain, siya kolisi, and his journey from poverty to national hero. he‘s an icon towards all young black south africans that anything is possible. so, thatjust really inspires me about him and he‘s everything a person could ever want to be. i mean, he‘s got the support of his whole country. the rainbow nation, actually, that mandela was fighting for. i think we've done a change in the world. i think that freedom is actually here and i think this rugby game, with a black man leading it, has changed south africa. i'm here because i'm really proud that the springboks won and i knew they were going to win. which one is your favourite player?