this is bbc news i'm joanna gosling. the headlines at eleven. boris johnson visits buckingham palace for a meeting with the queen — marking the start of the election period. the conservative party launches its election campaign today, but this morning controversy continues over two conservative politica ns‘ comments on grenfell tower victims. they have caused a huge amount of hurt and pain for the people involved. i think they both recognise that and in the apologies that they have made they recognise that and i think were right to apologise. the green party promises to invest £100 billion a year for a decade to rid the uk of fossil fuels — as it launches its campaign. taking action on the climate emergency is notjust about

averting disaster, it is about creating a brand—new britain. we'll bring you the latest election developments live from downing street throught the programme. i'm anita mcveigh, the other stories this morning. extinction rebellion win a high court challenge against the metropolitan police over a london—wide protest ban. the trial of the man accused of murdering british backpacker grace millane begins in new zealand. marks & spencer says it is rapidly pushing ahead with its "turnaround" plan after news of a half—year sales slump. in the sport, two—time olympic champion nicola adams has retired from boxing over fears she could lose her sight. and coming up, british pop superstar dua lipa on her rapid rise to fame.

good morning and welcome to downing street. campaigning in the general election is officially underway after the prime minister, borisjohnson, travelled to buckingham palace for an audience with the queen to tell her parliament has been dissolved. later he will launch the conservative party campaign. but the tories are facing a tricky start with questions over jacob rees—mogg's comments on grenfell, a doctored social media video — and fresh controversy with mrjohnson comparing his rival jeremy corbyn to the soviet dictator, joseph stalin. in an article for the daily telegraph, mrjohnson said the labour leader had a shared "hatred" of wealth creators — a claim dismissed by mr corbyn as "nonsense". so, let's take a look at what the start to the general election campaign involves: parliament was dissolved at one minute past midnight — at which point mps reverted

to being members of the public. mps lost their title, and stopped representing constituents. but government ministers remain in theirjob — they continue to run their departments and are only replaced when the new government is formed. boris johnson formally marked the dissolution of parliament at an audience with the queen at buckingham palace this morning. it marks the start of a five—week election campaign before polling day on the twelfth of december, when candidates will be canvassing to be your next local mp. during this period, the house of commons does not sit, no new bills are passed, and all brexit negotiations stop. it's also the start of the purdah period, when civil servants and other government agencies have to be careful about using public resources in a way that might help candidates or parties. the prime minister is back in downing street now after that trip to the palace earlier. we will be

hearing from him in downing street a better letter. let's speak to our royal correspondent nicholas witchell who's at buckingham palace. a short audience as we expected on an occasion such as this. the prime minister arriving here just before 1015 and leaving 20 or 25 minutes later. not of course is used to be the case, a prime minister arriving to request the queen to dissolve parliament, but a prime minister arriving to tell the queen that parliament had assaulted cell. that is the way things work now. still, a short audience and not an occasion at the queen might have talked much about the campaign, other than her wish that it would be conducted in as kindly a passion as a political campaign can be. but she will not be wanting to involve herself in any sense in the details of the campaign. that is now the politicians. so, a little bit more than 20 minutes later, borisjohnson left to return to downing street and

here at buckingham palace, the ordinary business of the day goes on and that is the changing of the guard. well, jermaine is to be seen whether we will have a changing of the political guard in coming weeks. 0ur third general election injust five years. as i mentioned, we are expecting to hear from five years. as i mentioned, we are expecting to hearfrom boris five years. as i mentioned, we are expecting to hear from borisjohnson isa expecting to hear from borisjohnson is a bit later. he will come out of the door behind me and speak to us here in downing street. let us talk 110w here in downing street. let us talk now to our assistant political editor norman smith. the campaign has not garrotted as a start has it? it is been a wobbly wednesday for tea m it is been a wobbly wednesday for teamjohnson. it is been a wobbly wednesday for team johnson. —— the it is been a wobbly wednesday for teamjohnson. —— the campaign has not got off to the best start. not helped by mrjohnson himself this morning in the daily telegraph accusing jeremy corbyn of being like josef stalin in his attitude towards the wealthy people having the same attitude as a soviet dictator. to

the unfortunate peasants who were slaughtered in their millions. that was not a great phrase. but perhaps more seriously, we had this comment byjacob rees—mogg more seriously, we had this comment by jacob rees—mogg yesterday, more seriously, we had this comment byjacob rees—mogg yesterday, which caused a lot of disquiet. and so, the task for mrjohnson today really is to try and get his campaign back on track and what we hear is that he will have a barely stark message which will be nothing is happening until brexit is sorted. the only person who's going to get is me. you vote forjeremy corbyn what you get is to my referendums, and brexit referendum and as a bonus you will also get a scottish independence referendum. now, the calculation in tea m referendum. now, the calculation in teamjohnson referendum. now, the calculation in team johnson is that everybody is fed up to the back teeth and really does not want any more referendums, because of the acrimony, the bitterness, the divisiveness. so, they will keep plugging away at that message, albeit they have to just can't things down. it was

interesting this morning james cleverly really got run around a bet on these different rows that have engulfed the party. here he was trying to explainjacob rees—mogg's comments. none of us, none of us could, with any credibility, put ourselves into the situation of someone, you know, trapped in a fire. and i think to try and do so was wrong and i think jacob recognises that. it is not a situation, it is not a situation where any of us could, as i say, really think through the circumstances or the decisions that we would make and, you know, he recognises that what he said was wrong and he has apologised. now, on one level you can say this is all part of the campaign, it is forgotten in an afternoon and we all move on to the next round. i think white matter slightly more as it plays very much to the labour narrative which is that team johnson are people who feel they are born to rail, they are above the rest of us,

they have a rather disdainful attitude towards ordinary people. so, it plays to that narrative. jeremy corbyn what happened to that ina jeremy corbyn what happened to that in a speech about now, when he will contrast his own style of leadership withjohnson he will say he is the type of leader he opens the door to people, rather than either to slam. but he faces a bit of a problem because nicola sturgeon has said this morning that she would expect another independence referendum next year. now, labour have been saying how non—a second, s we are to countenance another referendum it will not be in the formative years ofa will not be in the formative years of a labour government, in other words certainly not next year. so thatis words certainly not next year. so that is a little bit of a problem and here is nicola sturgeon. i do not want to play with words here, it is my intention to have a referendum next year. i had said we will seek that transfer of power to put the legality of it beyond doubt before the end of this year and, you know, on this question of will westminster allow it or not? we at the start of an election

campaign, this is an opportunity for people in scotland to have their say and make their views known and if the snp win this election, we have a mandate from previous elections for this, but if we went this election, i think that demand becomes irresistible. -- if —— if we win this election. meanwhile the katmai greens have launched their plant today. they are suggesting spending £900 billion to ensure that by 2030 we are fossil feel three, that we are entirely green. that means around about 100 billion a year, which is an awful lot of money. their leader saying that time is up on pledges and promises, we need action. we have to make this investment if we are going to tackle the climate emergency and we have to make it now, rather than in ten years time. because we know that the change has to come and be completed in ten years. of course, it will save us a hell

of a lot of money in the long run. you know, the climate emergency, if it comes to fruition, does not bear thinking about in terms of the cost of trillions to the economy. but also, it will pay for itself in the long run and if you want to make that kind of investment which is going to benefit people for 10, 20, 30, 40 years, you want to spread that cost, you don't want to pay it all now. you want to be able to borrow, so you can pay that off over time as people get the benefit. norman, that is a huge promise, isn't it? they are saying they would funded by primarily by borrowing the money, 10% by increasing corporation tax. 0bviously money, 10% by increasing corporation tax. obviously in the run—up to the election have parties promising also to things and then obviously voters can be let down if they do not happen. i think what is interesting as we have pledged inflation, seems to me. parties make grandiose offers, wrapping together spending pledges for one year and for five yea rs pledges for one year and for five years and for years. so, you end up at the humongous figure. another

example, boris johnson at the humongous figure. another example, borisjohnson saying he will build a0 hospitals. well, no, actually he is with great six and the other 3a, well, they will get a bit of cash to look atjoint plans for possible future expansion. what happens is i think voters become a little bit cynical when they get is astronomical offers. it is not that they discount them, but the impact of individual policy promises, the all—star retail politics where you offer vote rs all—star retail politics where you offer voters a whole lot of goodies in the attempt to an over, i think thatis in the attempt to an over, i think that is a waning bourse in terms of winning elections. now, it seems to me it is much more about identity, a sense of allegiance, where you stand on huge issues like brexit being a very obvious one. all these different policy promises, although they are often quite staggering, i am not sure they actually sway opinion in the way they used to wear

whether voters now don't decide well, he seems a bit like me or i kind of sympathise with his worldview, rather then i agree with such and such pledge in law and order or outlay without pledge on whatever i'm not sure ties this interaction is due. the new tribalism is roomy and that is why politicians have been tying themselves in knots trying to straddle the camps between left and right and remain and leave. although, you know, it is a cliche to say this is a brexit election, it is very hard to see it any other way. it is absolutely true labour would desperately like not to be a brexit election, they want to move the agenda onto austerity and equality, frankly anything but brag that. which is why i think mr corbin had his big brexit speech yesterday, get it out of the way, so he can cite a everybody look, i have dealt with brexit, now we can move onto other things. but it is very hard to

deal with anything but brexit. let's go to telford wherejeremy corbyn is campaigning peter, thank you very much for coming. and also, malcolm dylan harrison, our candidate and i wish him the best and all the best for this election. this election is about who represents telford and parliament and you have somebody with a determination and experience to stand up for all the issues that face telford on housing, jobs, on industrial needs and of course on health needs and services to the people. she has got the experience and determination to do it. so, i first started here campaigning in shropshire for a better society. and you know what? i have never stopped. what is inspiring is that i see the same passion that i had and has from

when i first joined same passion that i had and has from when i firstjoined the labour party in the 19605 in when i fir5tjoined the labour party in the 19605 in young people today, all over this country, among5t our half—million members of the labour party. this election campaign was called one week ago yesterday, when we in the shadow cabinet decided it wa5 we in the shadow cabinet decided it was time to call an end to this nonsense was time to call an end to this non5en5e 5ince was time to call an end to this non5en5e since the no to know deal 5trategy non5en5e since the no to know deal strategy we adopted had been completely effective and so now we will have the election. so, the danger of no deal has gone. since then, i have been devoting con5tituencie5 are ready to die and the response is amazing. the numbers of people coming out... —— i have been to ia con5tituencie5 already been to 1a con5tituencie5 already today. the labour party are utterly determined to end the selection. ——

win this election. people are out doorknocking and spreading the message of labour's open social media. it is about discussing things, talking to people, it is not just door knocking and identifying out just door knocking and identifying our support, it is about encouraging people as to the world they could living and raising their sights as to what is possible within our society. dino what? the atmosphere is absolutely electric and every constituency i go to. because we all know that the selection is a once in a generation chance to transform our country. tear down the barriers that are holding people back. a chance to rebuild our national health service, out rebuild our national health service, our schools, our police force, by taxing those at the top to properly fund these services for everyone else. and a chance to tackle the

greatest issue facing our age and out greatest issue facing our age and our generation, the climate emergency. applause it is the biggest issue any of us has ever faced, it is the biggest issue this planet basis. our way forward is a green industrial revolution at the very heart of our proposals to transform this country. in this election, labour is putting forward the most radical and far— reaching forward the most radical and far—reaching plan for real change in our lifetimes. but i know we have got to work very hard to when people pass my trust. because, for all the excitement here, many people and our country have grown weary of politics, they have lost faith that politics, they have lost faith that politics can change anything that actually affects their lies. i understand that, i get that. let us be honest, westminster is not exactly covered itself in glory recently. the childish insults that are thrown around, rowdy mp5, the

unbelievably weird rails, which i do not fully understand i have only been there 37 years, it is all a long way, a long, long way from the reality t people's lives. if you are working long hours for wages that barely cover your bills, bait and re nt barely cover your bills, bait and rent and nothing ever changes, you are right to feel frustrated with the political system. because it is not working for you. politics should be about your life, your community, your job, be about your life, your community, yourjob, the issues that you face every day of the week. for me, real politics is not about shouting matches in parliament. i'm not interested, i do not do personal attacks. for me, real politics, the politics that i stand for, it's about sharing power and wealth are people who do not have a lot of money, do not have friends in high places, so they can take control of their own lives. myjob as leader of

my party's task is to champion those people and bring about that will change. here in telford, where a fantastic local community campaign led by katrina, the labour party and the labour council, ifighting led by katrina, the labour party and the labour council, i fighting the closure of your women and children's ce ntre closure of your women and children's centre and the downgrading of the a&e department. that is absolutely crucial. to me, that is real politics, bringing people together to stand up for the community. that is why i became an mp in the first place. i never thought that mp5 are special individuals with unique wisdom. it is not supposed to be a glamorousjob. sorry, wisdom. it is not supposed to be a glamorous job. sorry, katrina, wisdom. it is not supposed to be a glamorousjob. sorry, katrina, it is an ordinaryjob. glamorousjob. sorry, katrina, it is an ordinary job. but glamorousjob. sorry, katrina, it is an ordinaryjob. but it is a platform for your community, not for yourself and that is howl platform for your community, not for yourself and that is how i see it. when i was elected to the leadership

of this party i was proud to have the chance to extend that principle into everything that we do. to what labour at the heart of communities, standing alongside the people we seek to represent. and i was proud to see our party grow into not just the biggest in britain, but the biggest political party in western europe, but half a million members. determined to put wealth and power in the hands of a many and determined to put wealth and power in the hands ofa many and build determined to put wealth and power in the hands of a many and build a fairer country that cares for all. my view of leadership is different from the one that people are yesterday and that is been deeply analysed by many hostile articles in newspapers, but that is ok for they have to write things, it is the living. yes, i believe leadership have clear principles that people can trust and the strength and commitment not to be driven off course. you have to stand for something! but leaders must also

just others to play their part. think of it like this, a good leader does notjust barge through a door and let it swing back in the faces of those following behind. a good leader holds open the door that others may walk through in the future. applause in our society everyone has a contribution to make. so, when i talk about real change, that is not something that'll be done to you, it is something that can only done with you. so, if the british people elect a labour government on the two other december, i will be proud to be a labour prime minister. but i have to warn you , labour prime minister. but i have to warn you, it will be very different. it'll be a very different way of doing things. because i was not watchable. none of this in this room

per bontril. i do not pursue the kind of politics that think it is all a kind of politics that think it is alla game. a kind of politics that think it is all a game. a debating society game —— iwas all a game. a debating society game —— i was not born to rule. i want to seek power for our party in order to show that power out of across the country and with all those communities that will have contributed to this historic labour election victory, which were looking forward to on the 12th of december. it is about all of us. and together, we can go it is about all of us. and together, we can go beyond defending the gains made by previous generations. it is time we started building a country that for the next generation. where young people do not be the future, but that forward with confidence and hope. think of the young people give them a subliminal message, look after your own education, your own health, forget about council

housing, make your own way in the world. it is depressing, it is unnecessary and it is all part of the contraction of the public realm and the public state. it is within our and the public state. it is within 5 and the public state. it is within our grasp to do something different in the selection and 905 what we are absolutely determined to achieve. —— in this election. look what has happened this country in the last years, more children and more pensioners living in poverty. more people rough sleeping on our streets. purchase citizens who have lived here for decades deported from their own country. and more and more people being forced into dependence on food banks by the cruel, nasty and unnecessary policy of universal credit. the damning report from the

chancel trust yesterday exposed just how awful it is. indeed, the un condemned this country for replacing the ethos of the welfare state with a cold and uncaring ethos. it is not just people at the sharpest end of austerity who are feeling at impact. it is all of those struggling to make ends meet. those who cannot afford to buy a home. those who never quite have enough left over to save for a holiday, which isjust a dream for many. those who have to fork out even more on rail fares and bus fares and services get worse and worse. just imagine how britain could be if we had a labour government committed to building a fairerand more government committed to building a fairer and more prosperous society, that works literally for the many, not the fee. the future is ours to make. iwant not the fee. the future is ours to make. i want a labour government to

be judged, judged differently from the way governments have beenjudged in the past. judged by whether it changes people's lives for the better after five years. judge as on the real change we deliver, the concrete improvements to the lives of millions of people. here is how you will be able to judge the success of the next labour government. judge us on whether in work poverty still exists in five years time. judge us on whether people are still sleeping rough after five years of a labour government. judge us on whether proud women and men still having to depend on food banks in five years time. judge us on whether1.a million older people are still not getting the help they need after five years of a labour government.

judge us on whether tuition fees have been scrapped for all students, so that no one is priced out of education. judge us on whether we have built hundreds of thousands of genuinely affordable homes, so that decent and secure housing is within the reach of everybody. judge us on whether patients are still waiting more than four hours in a&e departments and tens of thousands are waiting months for cancer treatment. judge us on whether we have got brexit sorted within six months by offering the people the final say between a credible leaf deal and remain. final say between a credible leaf dealand remain. so, we can get on with delivering the real change that this country needs. just on whether imiss this country needs. just on whether i miss god children, including more than 2500 here in telford are still learning in class sizes after five

years of a labour government. judge us on years of a labour government. judge us on whether we have unleashed a green industrial revolution that will create hundreds of thousands of green energy jobs will create hundreds of thousands of green energyjobs in the communities that need them most. and significantly reduced our greenhouse gases emissions. we do not have time to waste. it frustrates me every day in parliament that we're not taking action now. on all those needs and demands of ourtime. action now. on all those needs and demands of our time. because labour has the policies to deal with all of them. and isn't it telling that conservative candidate in the election have been told by tory headquarters they are not allowed to pledge to tackle the climate emergency? they are not allowed to pledge not to privatise our national health service. they are not allowed to pledge not to sell out our

precious national health service in a trade deal with donald trump and dsa. well, let us make our own pledge all of us together, we pledge that we will never let them put a price tag on our nhs. 0ur nhs is not for sale. applause we will never let them send £500 million a week in nhs money to big us drug corporations. we are not going to let donald trump get his hands on our nhs, because our nhs as i think you have already understood, is not for sale. but you know something the conservative candidates are alleged pledge? tory hq says they can pledge to defend

shooting animals for sport. they have not said anything about fox hunting yet, but i'm sure that is to come next. does into that tie everything you need to know about them? everything you need to know about them ? actually, everything you need to know about them? actually, there is, then you need to know, they quite shamefully think the victims of grenfell fire died because they did not had the common sense to save themselves. i will tell you what is common sense. do not pit glam about cladding on people's homes, that is common sense! applause .do applause . do not close by stations and do not cut firefighters jobs. that is common sense. applause

and when residents tell you their home is a death trap, do not ignore them. listen to them. that is what it all comes back to. it is what i was talking about, it is about leadership. do much leaders who think they are above us all? who think they are above us all? who think they are above us all? who think the rules they make for everyone else do not pledge them? or is good leadership really about listening as well as talking? i have spent my life travelling around this country and indeed many parts of the world. and i am fascinated by the people i hear, the life experience they share with me. it is humbling when you meet people of great wisdom who did not get the opportunity for education. because vasil levski stadium there is often great wisdom amongst the pros people, amongst those who have been badly treated by society. it is the only way you can

learn about the world as people actually experience. their struggles, their hopes, their dreams and their frustrations. so, struggles, their hopes, their dreams and theirfrustrations. so, i believe it is about compassion and understanding, not ego. i want to lead a government that is on your side, that puts power and wealth into the hands of the people. a government that works for you. this election is a once—in—a—lifetime chance us. we have seen what austerity has sent in this country, the levels of inequality and poverty. and we have seen the stress and those who thought they were relatively comfortable off and then discovered that they were not because they had to pay for their children's education and social care for elderly relatives. the levels of stress and mental health illness in

our society is a product of the stress that this country has been put through when austerity came in in 2010. it is up to us, our party, with all of its members and ambition and determination to do something very different. we have got the joy of the cold and rain in november and december. there will be plenty of that. don't worry about that. together we can do something spectacular. we can transform people's hopes by the inclusivity and ourcampaign and people's hopes by the inclusivity and our campaign and determination so that communities and people are not held back and left behind. i think it is time for real change and i cannot wait for december the 12th when we can start that real change to change this country into a decent, caring, compassionate place

that works for and cares for all. te lfo rd , that works for and cares for all. telford, thank you for all you have taught me, thank you for your support and all the best to win on december the 12th. thank you. applause we are all right because he has not yet made me cry. it is to come, i have not many days left to come. we are going to take some questions, i'm going to start with the media and we will take them in groups of four. i will ask everyone in the room that we respect people's views

and opinions and we let them ask their questions. we will start with their questions. we will start with the media... itv? wow. thank you mr corbyn, you say that leaders must allow others to play the part, but isn't it the truth that your personal ratings is that you are pa rt of personal ratings is that you are part of the problem for your party? thanks. i thought that was the answer. see if you like this one any better. you have run through some of the benchmarks by which a future labour government should be judge. missing from that is the policy to... does it mean this policy will

not be in your manifesto. and in leadership, do you personally believe that chris williamson should believe that chris williamson should be official labour party candidates in this election? from sky. thank you, you say that this election is not about you, that it is about the labour back movement. but do you worry that your personal ratings could become a block on your party's path to victory especially if the tory attacks reflect on you? we are going to do one more. nadine. i am dyslexic for a start if i have said your name wrong. i am sorry. dyslexic for a start if i have said your name wrong. i am sorry. that was fine. 0n offering help to young

people and students, something that has always attracted students is freedom of movement, going to live and study in the eu. can you clarify what you are going to be offering in your brexit deal under freedom of movement? thank you for your questions. thank you very much for your point. i never comment on opinion polls, personally. i'm not about to start that. i leave the party and i am proud to do so. i have been elected twice and i have spent my whole time travelling around the country, campaigning for this party and that is what i will do in the general election. applause. i don't do personal abuse. when personal abuse is thrown they go low, i go hi. i go lower, i go

higher. i am just not indulging in that game. we will take our message out there as a party that is inclusive for our whole society and wa nts to inclusive for our whole society and wants to see a labour government elected. ian, thank you for your question. the manifesto will be launched a little later on. it is not all finished in the writing of it yet. the conference policy has been passed and some of it will go into the manifesto. i can say at the very least there will be... we will be expecting the private education to pay tax rather than getting funding. iwant to pay tax rather than getting funding. i want to see fully funded and properly funded primary and secondary schools within our society through our national education service. i do not think head teachers or any other teacher should be put through the stress of trying

to raise money just be put through the stress of trying to raise moneyjust to maintain a school. we pay our taxes in order to getan school. we pay our taxes in order to get an education system for all of our children. the national executives are meeting at this very moment and i am obviously not fair. the issues of candidates and someone is being discussed and they will come to a decision. i do not dictate to the party, i lead the party and i am very keen that we have the greatest level of democracy in our party. and they will come to a decision today and no doubt you will hear about it later on. the issue, beth, thank you, on poll ratings. while, i have given my answer that i don't particularly follow poll ratings. all i know is our message is one of inclusivity in our society, about social justice is one of inclusivity in our society, about socialjustice we wa nt to society, about socialjustice we want to bring to this country and this world and our messages to

everybody who is not yet registered to vote, get on that register to vote. in the 2017 election, there we re vote. in the 2017 election, there were lines of experts in tv studios and radio studios lining up at the beginning of the campaign to write off the labour party. what happened to then? i will tell you that is, this campaign is one of people in their communities on the ground where they are in the midlands, in the north, and scott in scotland, and whales, all across the country, bringing people together. to discuss and vote for the kind of society that they can live in. where young people get the opportunities for education that they are denied, that we deal with the mental health crisis, that we deal with the communities that have been denied any investment since the margaret thatcher attack on industry. those

small towns in the midlands and the north that have seen nothing but the removal of good jobs in big industries replaced by zero—hour contracts, insecure work, it seemed their high streets disappear... it is about how we invest in our community. but austerity has done, underfunding community. but austerity has done, under funding local government all over the country, so you go into towns and what do you see? close libraries, swimming pool sold off, and what do you see? close libraries, swimming pools sold off, parks not maintained, schools underfunded. you centres closed. and then you wonder why there is a rise in crime, why there is greater depression in our society? it is about investment in the public round. applause. so it is about properly

funding our public services and taxing fairly in order to pay for them. thank you for your question from aljazeera. your opinion in nationals have made a fast plastic —— a fantastic contribution to our lives and world. children have been born because one person came from europe and one king for britain and someone. the uncertainty that they have been put through by boris johnson threatening a no—deal brexit and threatening their living has been horrendous. in my own constituent area —— in my own constituency there are some who are besides himself with stress. straight after the referendum, the first thing i did was put on motion to parliament saying that all eu

nationals should have guaranteed rights to remain and family raking in. borisjohnson voted for it. i was quite shocked when i went in to cast my vote and saw him there. i said, what are you doing here? he said, what are you doing here? he said, i don't know really. laughter. that was about it, that was the end of that conversation. yes there has to be movement of people and our young people need access to things like the erasmus scheme so they can study in universities and other parts of europe and the world. i wa nt parts of europe and the world. i want our young people to be brought up want our young people to be brought up in want our young people to be brought upina want our young people to be brought up in a world where they can travel and experience other societies. do you know what? that enriches their lives and the lives of all of us. thank you for that question and i

will tell you that is, i want to make sure that all those european union nationals running here, i can come here, we'll stay here and we will be happy to work with them as indeed many british people have made their homes and other parts of europe doing the same in their society. jeremy corbyn there on the campaign train until floyd setting out benchmarks by which the labour government should bejudged. he out benchmarks by which the labour government should be judged. he said i was not born to rule. i want to seek power in order to share that power out throughout communities. so jeremy corbyn on the campaign trail in telford. for more information, you can go online because throughout the election campaign, the bbc will be looking at the key issues, explaining the policies and the subjects that are not being talked about. check out our explainers on the website or the bbc news app.

let's stay with the election. we are going to welcome you to a new feature. called your questions answered — where we want to hear from you with your questions about the upcoming election and other stories featured on bbc news. it's a phrase you're going to be hearing a lot here on the bbc news channel and on the bbc news website. so we're really keen for you to get in touch with us with your questions. you can get in touch on twitter using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions and you can email us on yourquestions@bbc.co.uk you can also send us questions via text as well. i'm very happy to say that joining me is sirjohn curtice — professor of politics

at the university of strathclyde. i love this first question. it's from twitter. it says will this be the most unpredictable election for poll predictors? have you been scratching your head over this?|j think scratching your head over this?” think the answer is yes and no. there is one sense in which protecting the election looks fairly easy. —— predicting. 80% are going to just 80% of the voters are going to just 80% of the voters are going to vote for the conservative party. and 80% of remainers are going to vote for the labour party. there are some difficulties. number one, as a country, we are very evenly divided between remain and leave. that would point to a close election and those

are more difficult to predict. the second thing is that within the remain camp and the pros second referendum camp and leave camp conservative versus brexit party, voters still have a choice. a lot of the dynamics in the polls in the last few weeks has essentially been in those two camps. why is the conservative party in the lead in the polls because it has an main... there are still plenty of opportunities of vitality for voters. that is the poll of polls that we are seeing chest on the screen. i guess there is going to be a huge amount of polling going on.

yes, and the other thing to keep in mind is that the polls agree about the broad structure of where we are. that voters are voting in line with their sympathies about remain or leave. there are also differences between how far they think the conservative party is ahead. some think it is very comfortable and some say it is not very clear at all. on the number of mps stepping down higher than usual? we have to be careful about what we mean by usual. this is an election that is taking place only two years after the previous one. it would make people think that not many will want to stand out. —— stand up. it looks as if we've got about 70 mps who looked like they might stand down. we still have a way to decide. that

is somewhat below the average in the last 20 or 30 years or so. this is a short parliament. in 2017, only 21 mps decided to retire. so compared to 2017 we have a lot more retirements. we are off the record. 1a9 was the record in 2010. the scandal resulted in quite a few mps standing down. in comparison to what we might have expected, we have got a lot of voluntary resignations. not that long ago at all since we had even more standing down. and you ask to mps still get paid during the

election period? they still get paid, they cannot get into the house of commons, their passes are withdrawn. you can still go and see yourmp in the withdrawn. you can still go and see your mp in the constituencies and they can still write a letter, but thatis they can still write a letter, but that is about as much as they can to. if they lose on polling day, the salary check will stop. when do we find out when our local candidates will be and how long does it take to select a candidate? anyone who wants to stand in this election has to hand in their papers by november the 1ath. if you want to see who is standing, you can try your local council. clearly things like the bbc news website or the website of many newspapers will have this

information fairly... if you going to wikipedia, you will see who is standing to wikipedia, you will see who is sta nd i ng co nsta ntly to wikipedia, you will see who is standing constantly being updated. put the name of your constituency in google and you will find out. 1080 suspended mp stand for a general election? yes, we have one case at the moment that is in that situation. you might have had jeremy corbyn referring to it in the q and a just now. as far as the law is concerned, he can stand, he would serve out the rest of his suspension if he is reelected. why can't the electoral process be brought into the 21st century? we had some experimentation in the early days of the internet. what we discovered is

at that time at least it did not do anything for the turn out. the broader issue is security. can we devise a system that is unable to be hacked and people have confidence? and can we have a system where we can and can we have a system where we ca n follow and can we have a system where we can follow the money as it were. we can follow the money as it were. we can see the trail. that entails having the software which is open source which means anyone can look at it and see how it works and how it counts out the data. there are commercial considerations that stand in the way. those are the constraints. at the end of the day we have to be clear that the votes being counted properly, the advantage of paper is we can always check it. with computers we need to have access to the code. we have one more question. is borisjohnson

going to move to a very safe seat? we are not expecting him to do so. he has about a 10% majority, it is small by this time. there is no room or our expectation that he is going to make a change. i think he isjust to make a change. i think he isjust to fight it out. i guess to actually do that would be extraordinary.” to fight it out. i guess to actually do that would be extraordinary. i am sure that the prime minister if if he was here would reply that he is a 100% confident that he can continue to supply excellent service to the public. thank you for being here in the studio. thank you very much for sending in your questions. to keep them coming in throughout the election campaign.

i was iwasjumping i was jumping the i wasjumping the gun ever so slightly there. now we are going to go to the brexit party leader nigel farage. he is answering questions. we will just listen farage. he is answering questions. we willjust listen in, but the reason he is there is because of a... he is there trying to steal the majority away from conservative parties. we will issue a contract with the british people, it will not be called a manifesto. let the others call it that, they will not be believed by the british people. hours will be a contract. i have laid out already significant political reform. particularly in connectivity in the 21st system

without which we cannot compete. we will go on through health, talking about how we can get better value for the money that we spend. i have touched on... i tell you what, we are going to take back our territorial waters and not let the government fisheries policy to go on destroying the industry. don't worry, they will be no shortage of alternatives for how this country, we believe, could be governed. but we believe, could be governed. but we have got to have a clean break from the european union to be able to do any of it. applause. i want to say thank you to david and sarah. the last question. i would rather nigel as prime minister if the brexit party wins. that is a

good question. let's be realistic, under the current political system, there are only two people who can be prime minister. boris orjeremy corbyn. i thought watching yesterday joe swenson stand up and say saying i could be the next prime minister, it is! it is funny, i suppose, but it is! it is funny, i suppose, but it had no credibility. in the same goes for our party. we cannot win this election, but what we can do and what i am going to do going around the country over the next five weeks as i am and am very pleased to be here with you this morning, when i am going to do is fight the case to get enough mps into westminster to make a difference. 0ver into westminster to make a difference. over the course of the last two years, the ten members of the dup have basically held the balance of power in westminster. while corbyn cannot possibly under any circumstances get a majority, we

are likely to have the conservatives as the biggest party and have a relatively hung parliament. that is how it looks to me right now. getting enough brexit party mp in theirs will not only put the fear of god into them, but we might do any luck be able to get brexit going in the right direction. that means not signing up to a new eu treaty whose terms in many ways are worse than even staying a member of the union. and that is what we are going to fight. there is one good thing about boris in the situation, he changes his mind all the time. twice he voted against theresa may's deal. saying it would be a suicide vest around the next of british democracy. 0n the third occasion he voted for eight. he is very good with moving around with the wind. if we in the brexit party can get that wind strong that says we voted to

leave the european union and nothing less tha n leave the european union and nothing less than that is good enough, he will change and we will get there. thank you. nigel farage there. he says he expects what he calls a relatively hung parliament to emerge after the general election. he said he would be fighting the case to get enough brexit mps into westminster to make a difference as to what happens next. nigel farage chasing the vote there and working ten. thought to be a key target for the conservative party if they want a majority. to move away from politics... dozens of police officers have been attacked with fireworks and bricks during a bonfire night disturbance in leeds. emergency services in other parts of the country were also targetted, on one of the busiest nights of the year. andy moore reports.

come on, everyone out. everyone off this road now. bonfire night, and there are riot police on the streets of leeds. youths were seen hurling bricks and fireworks, bins being set alight. dozens of police officers moved in to control the disturbance. the road was closed and the general public were moved out of the area. police said a number of people had been arrested, and cctv was being used to identify others who had been involved in the trouble. a number of police vehicles were damaged, but no—one was reported injured. west yorkshire police said they have been prepared for antisocial behaviour on bonfire night, and were able to respond quickly. there were problems elsewhere in the country. manchester fire and rescue said they have responded to over 200 incidents, with their staff being attacked by youths with fireworks on a number of occasions. the service said such

attacks were not acceptable when firefighters were working hard to keep people safe. it is almost 12 o'clock now. let's see the weather forecast now. we have simon king. it has been quite a chilly start for many of us, but further west, we have got some cloud and rain. you can see from the earlier radar imagery, the rain is moving its way in across northern ireland, wales. this patchy rain will continue to head towards east. further rain will spread in from the rest. in the east it will state largely dry and east with —— dry and sunny. bands of rain will continue to move towards the north and east. a bit of snow in the

north and east. a bit of snow in the north of scotland. temperatures about three or four celsius. thursday, this band of rain will move to the north it will be heavy and persistent. goodbye.

this is bbc news i'm joanna gosling. the headlines at 12pm: borisjohnson has an audience with the queen at buckingham palace — marking the start of the election period. controversy continues over two conservative politicans' comments that it would have been "common sense" to flee the grenfell tower fire. i will tell you what is common sense, don't put flammable cladding on people's homes. that is common sense. the green party promises to invest £100 billion a yearfor a decade to rid the uk of fossil fuels — as it launches its campaign. taking action on the climate emergency is notjust about averting disaster, it is about creating a brand—new britain.

we'll bring you the latest election developments live from downing street throughout the programme. i'm annita mcveigh, the other stories this lunchtime... extinction rebellion win a high court challenge against the metropolitan police over a london—wide protest ban. the trial of the man accused of murdering british backpacker grace millane begins in new zealand. marks & spencer says it is rapidly pushing ahead with its "turnaround" plan after news of a half—year sales slump. in the sport, two—time 0lympic champion nicola adams has retired from boxing over fears she could lose her sight.

good morning and welcome to downing street. campaigning in the general election is officially underway after the prime minister, borisjohnson, travelled to buckingham palace for an audience with the queen to tell her parliament has been dissolved. later he will launch the conservative party campaign. but the tories are facing a tricky start with questions over jacob rees—mogg's comments on grenfell, a doctored social media video — and fresh controversy with mrjohnson comparing his rival jeremy corbyn to the soviet dictator, joseph stalin. so, let's take a look at what the start to the general election campaign involves: parliament was dissolved at one minute past midnight — at which point mps reverted to being members of the public. mps lost their title, and stopped representing constituents. but government ministers remain in theirjob — they continue to run their departments and are only replaced when the new government is formed. boris johnson formally marked the dissolution of parliament at an audience with the queen at buckingham palace this morning.

it marks the start of a five—week election campaign before polling day on the twelfth of december, when candidates will be canvassing to be your next local mp. during this period, the house of commons does not sit, no new bills are passed, and all brexit negotiations stop. it's also the start of the purdah period, when civil servants and other government agencies have to be careful about using public resources in a way that might help candidates or parties. well, we can see some pictures now of mrjohnson leaving leaving downing street. formula bettors pictures, there is the podium coming out. the sign that borisjohnson will be the podium coming out. the sign that boris johnson will be coming the podium coming out. the sign that borisjohnson will be coming out of that door in a letter while addressing cameras here, bunching officially the conservative party campaign. he will be heading to the west midlands elizabeth later to start his campaign on the road. let us take a look at what happened

elizabeth earlier when he left downing street and went to buckingham palace. he went to see the queen he after parliament was dissolved in the early hours dissolved in the early hours of wednesday morning. a pretty short audience with the queen inside the palace. not asking her to dissolve parliament, but telling her it had already happened. so, campaigning officially begins today. that five week campaign launching ahead of the election on the 12 december. the third election and by the urge, if he did not know. norman is here. no election fatigue. it has got off to an extraordinary start, hasn't it? it is been a very scratchy, ragged start for team johnson. they had been blown off course by a series of setbacks in the first 2a—hour is. we saw that

storm overjacob rees—mogg, there was the article in the sunday telegraph, daily telegraph when borisjohnson suggested telegraph, daily telegraph when boris johnson suggested jeremy corbyn was justice talent. and then we the argument over alun cairns. we arejust we the argument over alun cairns. we are just hearing that alun cairns is expected to resign in the next three minutes. that is quite a significant setback. to lose a cabinet minister vasil levski stadium ministry minutes before you are going to make a big lunch statement is things not going to climb. clearly the view was that alun cairns could not carry on giving the gravity of the claim, namely that he was fully aware that there is individual had sabotaged a rape trial and had been publicly criticised by the judge.

rape trial and had been publicly criticised by thejudge. as rape trial and had been publicly criticised by the judge. as often these events it is the lie that does in the cabinet minister. the bbc received an e—mail to state that he was aware of what had gone on. nevertheless, alun cairns is to resign. things are not going to plan for teamjohnson. resign. things are not going to plan for team johnson. i suppose resign. things are not going to plan for teamjohnson. i suppose maybe if able to be this had the potential to drive on and team johnson had hoped they could reach into some of the labour leave traditional constituencies like wales. maybe they took the view to have alun cairns there is a wounded beast was going to make that impossible, far better to cut him out, move on, get it over but in the early days of the campaign stop in the hope that in the days and weeks ahead would be forgotten. so, a bad start for the tories. but perhaps they take the view it would have been a lot worse. we had the letters, c if we can take a look at them. they have just come through. we will be able to take a look at them in just a moment. but the letters had been exchanged, so

alun cairns has now resigned. as you are saying, norman, the hope of downing street is that it draws a line under that. the other issue, i am adjusting events more about what alun cairns is saying... —— i am just hearing a little bit more... he is saying he will cooperate fully. the bottom line is it tells us election never go to plan. you can have other master plans you want, but events unfold in ways that no one could predict. this could have blown up weeks ago, instead it has erupted on day one of boris johnson's much. inevitably, that will knock him off course. it means he will now face questions about this, he will now have to replace, i presume, alun cairns. there will be, iasi presume, alun cairns. there will be, i as i say, presume, alun cairns. there will be, iasisay, a presume, alun cairns. there will be, i as i say, a look at issue in wales about how this plays in wales. the other side of a team johnson is able say they have moved quickly. that is

soon as this became apparent that he did seem to know about the rape trial bowling apart because of his former aid role and it, that they made sure he resigned quickly. it was not left for days and days of coverage dribbling on. which i suppose is a reflection of the pact that they want to get their message over and we know borisjohnson must get as big bouts of brexit and so on, there is no way you can do it if in the background you have the scandal brewing away about alun cairns. so, from their point of view, get the rubbish at the door quickly, rather than leave the smell hanging around for to come. our political correspondence has the details of what is in the latter. what can you tell? actually, i do not have that at the moment. but we do not obviously that has been incredibly difficult for alun cairns. when saying that he is one ofa cairns. when saying that he is one of a conservative cabinet ministers who served under david cameron, to

may and boris johnson. who served under david cameron, to may and borisjohnson. 0ne who served under david cameron, to may and borisjohnson. one of the few who survived all of those. i think the other side of that before we get the details of the letter, is that for the conservatives, they really see wales and a lot of seat in wales as a place where they can pick upa in wales as a place where they can pick up a large number of seats. i have spoken to several cabinet ministers about this and when you said that look, the predictions are given not to very well in scotland, you could lose to the liberal democrats to places in the south, then they say but wales is looking really good for us. a recent opinion pull suggested the tories were doing quite well there. now, i do now have the letter. someone has butted into me. the letter from alun cairns to the prime ministers saying you'll be aware the allegations relating to the actions of a party employ. this isa the actions of a party employ. this is a friend and colleague of alun cairns, he was involved in a rape trial as a witness, the trial collapsed because of something he said. now, this is not about the trial itself, it is about the fight that alun cairns categorically said he knew nothing about it. it then

transpired there was an e—mail from his adviser about it. so, that is theissue his adviser about it. so, that is the issue for alun cairns. having said he knew nothing about it, turns he did. a lot of people were saying to lead the campaign in wales be incredibly difficult. alun cairns said in his letter, it has a very sensitive matter and denied of continued speculation i write to tender my resignation as secretary of state for wales. i will cooperate in film the... i am confident i will be cleared of any breach of wrongdoing. clearly, as norman was saying, they have realised because we are in the middle of the general election campaign, they‘ re we are in the middle of the general election campaign, they're having to act much more quickly. rather than waiting and saying there is an investigation into the ministerial code and whether he breached were not, they have decided that at this point it isjust not, they have decided that at this point it is just better that he resigned. he goes on to say it is been an honour to serve in the government and a privileges of the positive step to have taken in a short time. talking about brexit and government policy. i'm 20 see here

whether he is saying if feeble stand as an mp in his seat. does not say here that he will not. and then of course, there is the response from borisjohnson, this course, there is the response from boris johnson, this is course, there is the response from borisjohnson, this is not happening incredibly quickly. saying he is very grateful for the service alun cairns has given to the government and is on stage and bracket of service in wales as an assembly member is a member of the government. the timing of this on the best at the election campaign and just moments before we are expecting to hear of the prime minister as he officially kicks off the conservative party campaign, really cannot be worse for the tories, could it? no, we were commenting yesterday they had a very difficult day, those comments from jacob rees—mogg about the victims of g re nfell jacob rees—mogg about the victims of grenfell seem to be suggesting that they had common sense they would have just left that building. that caused an absolute for glory and has

been seized on today byjeremy corbyn. so, they had that. this was praying, they have just decided it is better to deal with it now and then hope that because borisjohnson is about to speak at the issue to do something later on launch the campaign, ithink something later on launch the campaign, i think he is not due to ta ke campaign, i think he is not due to take questions from journalists today. so, that might be the only saving grace for the conservative party at this point. that boris johnson cannot be quizzed about any of this. but the point about these scandals that happen and we have seen very many of them over the yea rs, if seen very many of them over the years, if the person in question resigned quickly, it does tend to mean that things move on. because the question stop, because you can say it has been dealt with. as you say, that is the hope of the tory party on this issue. the jacob rees—mogg comments, he has apologised, but they're not going away. we heard earlierfrom jeremy corbyn saying in a broader sense the

tories think that pectins of the g re nfell tower tories think that pectins of the grenfell tower did not have common sense. that is going to presumably be able find that will not be easy to put back in the box and keep appearing. 0f to put back in the box and keep appearing. of course, it is such a sensitive issue. i mean, theresa may was criticised at the time for her reaction to it. i think downing street would have felt that boris johnson handled it well. there was a holiday‘s debate about the enquiry and in proportion to what happened. it was doubt whether course from all sides of the house of commons chamber sensitively and they comments yesterday from jacob rees—mogg flew totally in the face about. he denies this, but it seems to be that he is saying someone like me would have had common sense, i would not have listened to the fire brigade, i would would not have listened to the fire brigade, iwould havejust left. another mp who came out two defenders comments has had to apologise. we heard from jeremy corbyn today saying what common sense would be with speech not but

flammable material on the outside of high—rise buildings and that is what the government should be looking at. this is of course an incredibly difficult issue for the government and very difficult for them to try and very difficult for them to try and move on from. i think what they did not want was that other story going on and i havejust decided that alun cairns was much better off resigning as welsh secretary. thank you, i will be speaking to wales political editor shortly. they have been breaking this story. norman esther with me in downing street. the podium is there, we are expecting to hear from the podium is there, we are expecting to hearfrom boris johnson. what can he say to try and get on the front foot now in this campaign? there are two ways. one is he ignores the alun cairns saga, but then anything he says about alun cairns says straight to the village. they want this all to be about eye and the man to deliver brexit, jeremy corbyn has two more referendums. that is the story they want, they do not want welsh

secretary porsche to resign in bout of sabotage of rachel. that's absolutely not what they want. so, my... —— in sabotage of rape trial. they will hope it will generate a degree of news momentum which means yes, of course, the alun cairns story will be out there, but it may sink down a bit. because we covered some of that yesterday, there was a bbc story, bbc wales managed to get the e—mail exchange between his former, one for special the e—mail exchange between his former, one forspecialadviser the e—mail exchange between his former, one for special adviser and alun cairns which proved that he did know about these allegations, despite his denial. it was known last night, so i think mrjohnson will just try and move last night, so i think mrjohnson willjust try and move on, frankly, from it. he will not want to get into it. because it will suck the life out of what he wants to be the big narrative for the selection,

which is i will deliver brexit. the other thing which i think it's awkward, as part of his pitch is to engender a more optimistic, upbeat tone to say once they get brexit done, good things are going to happen. investment will come into this country, business confidence, consumer confidence, we can get on the some of the big decisions. more police, hospitals, more forschools. it is something that is difficult to do when you have a cabinet minister having to bite the bullet for lying over a rape trial. the two do not mesh. so, that's likely charged with what he has now got to do. so, he has to think how he calibrates this. but my guesses and it is purely a guess, i do not think he will go anywhere near it, because acidity does, as i say, buying, despite the twopenny bulletin. what does that mean, then, about his interactions when he is out and about? presumably

he will not take questions when he comes out here now. by and large, prime ministers do not take questions of the poem. tonight my recollection is there is no queue and a session tonight. when he has begun. that does not get round it, because wherever he goes and the he does anything now inevitably they will shout questions about alun cairns. i guess the ball back possession of team johnson will be we did not hang around. the story broke yesterday evening and he is gone. more burning for them is that this had dribbled on for days and days and the pressure had built and then eventually come the weekend he has troubles over the cliff. that is a much worse scenario. you want to get rid of them quickly. you do not wa nt get rid of them quickly. you do not want this hanging around, a better rating all other tory election news coverage and with the opposition parties infill cry. so, it is

minimising the damage, i guess. what happens to alun cairns? who knows? does he stand as a candidate or is he so damaged that even within his own constituency it is questionable? i guess they will now be going through the permutations in wales is to have his abilities for him to on. thank you, let us go to bbc wales political editor. illicitly, you are breaking the story, you were instrumental in breaking it. it has obviously caused a big shock today. yes, absolutely. we need that pressure was intensifying alun cairns. the party had tried for days and days to shut the story down. we have been covering it here in wales bought most of last week and yesterday we got an e—mail that suggested that senior figures in the party did no earlier than they had initially led us to believe about the behaviour of alun cairns's former aid in collapsing this rate

the child. it is pretty clear that decisions were made much higher up than in the welsh party. —— collapsing this rape trial. inevitably, the prime minister will be making visits to wales and he will not be want to be bombarded with questions about this. the party clearly decided that they need to try to put on enter this and the best way to do it was alun cairns decided to step down. though as you see from his letter, he has denied any wrongdoing and he is confident that he will be cleared. it is clear whether he will stand again as an mp? at this stage that is not clear. we will of course be trying to get to the bottom of that. you have to question how damaged he is, given that this is something that is dripped on and on for over a week now and he has finally decided that he needs to resign from the

government as a result. clearly, if he does continue as a candidate, he will be an extremely damaged one. and welsh secretary, we have been saying of course this morning, they fa ct saying of course this morning, they fact that parliament has been dissolved means that there are no mps, although men search remain in post to run their departments. now they welsh secretary is gone, there is no possibility of getting somebody else in place, is there? you are right, the government stays in place, doesn't it? even though parliament is dissolved and we do not actually have any mps. that is why alun cairns and a sense to have something to resign from, because at the end of the day, that is one of the end of the day, that is one of the reasons the story is such a serious issue, alun cairns was a member of the government of the united kingdom. he endorsed a candidate for the welsh assembly elections in 2021 when a judge had accused of deliberately sabotaging a

rape trial. questions about what and when alun cairns new about this were questions that he appeared unable to be able to picturesquely stop what happens now in terms of that vacancy on the government? they will of welsh secretary, i'm not entirely sure. i do not even know if we have had a government resignation, a cabinet resignation during a general election campaign before. so, i have to hold my hands up and say i am in the dark about what happens. and in terms of whether this will draw a line under this issue, which is obviously the hope of the tory party, what would your anticipation be about this in the weeks ahead? certainly, they will hope they have taken the heat out of the snow. but there are questions surrounding more people than alun cairns. there are questions about what other senior figures in the party knew about ross england's role in the collapse of this rape trial before they selected

him asa this rape trial before they selected him as a candidate for the election in 2021. the rape trial collapse in appalachia, ross england were selected eight months later in the december of last year and we know that the e—mail was sent by alun cairns... that is four months before his selection by the welsh conservative party. so, there are still questions to be answered. thank you very much, the list that we are expecting to hear shortly from borisjohnson. we are expecting to hear shortly from boris johnson. all the we are expecting to hear shortly from borisjohnson. all the cameras trained on that podium behind me and borisjohnson is expected to step out of number ten in a little while to make his statement. officially launching the tory election campaign and of course, as we have been hearing, overshadowed right now by the resignation of the welsh secretary alun cairns. let us go to telford, because that despitejeremy corbyn has been the spawning making

a speech. ten pledges he was petting to the public. and ian is there for us. a political gift, i suppose you could say, but political opponents today. well, absolutely. we have no reaction yet from jeremy corbyn to the resignation of alun cairns. certainly puts further pressure on a different member of a conservative can net in his remarks here in telford. he was talking about jacob rees—mogg and what he said about g re nfell tower rees—mogg and what he said about grenfell tower and whether it would have been common sense to leave a burning building. he said they s ha m efu lly burning building. he said they shamefully seem to think the victims of g re nfell shamefully seem to think the victims of grenfell died because they did not have the common—sense to save themselves. i will tell you what is common sense, do not put flammable cladding of people's. he is attending thou to characterise the conservatives as unsympathetic and to put further pressure on boris johnson about what he does about jacob rees—mogg in addition to alun

cairns. we are expecting jeremy corbyn to talk about alun cairns's resignation basin. his general message with is set at the saturday measures through which a labour government should bejudged. also given the criticisms he had been given the criticisms he had been given insight as party never meant outsiders for his style of leadership, it was people he would bea leadership, it was people he would be a very different style of reader if elected. this election is a once—in—a—lifetime chance for us. we have seen what austerity has done to this country. we have seen the levels of injustice and equality and poverty and we have seen the stress amongst those that thought they were relatively comfortably off and then discovered they were not. because they had to pay for the children's education at university and they had to apy for the social care for elderly relatives. the level of stress and mental health illness in our society are a product of the stress this country has been put through since austerity came in 2010.

so, it is up to us, our party with all its members and all its ambitions and all its determination to do something very different. jeremy corbyn said he made be a very different type of prime minister, one who introduced airpower, to take power not just himself one who introduced airpower, to take power notjust himself but on behalf of the people. that is his pitch. what is also interesting as afterwards i asked about some of labour's own controversies. we heard about the resignation of alun cairns and and the pressure onjacob rees—mogg. but also to date neighbouring national executives discussing what today into figures in their own ranks. labour's national executive are deciding whether they should be official labour candidate in the selection. jeremy corbyn to leadership and the

centre of his campaign personally felt they should represent the labour party, he said he did not dictate, it was a matter for labour's national executive which is currently meeting. i asked them about their benchmarks, get image of poverty and food banks, why he had not mentioned the recent policy about abolishing fee—paying schools. he said well, in the manifesto he could at least promise they would be abolishing the charity status for fee—paying schools and suggested that forthcoming manifesto, which they will discuss in just over a week's time, would be very radical indeed. thank you, we are here and downing street waiting to hear from borisjohnson. downing street waiting to hear from boris johnson. whether downing street waiting to hear from borisjohnson. whether he has had a finesse that is going to stay in the light of the resignation of the welsh secretary alun cairns, we do not know, obviously was not he is still in downing street and expected to come at any moment now. norman smith is with me. i wonder what is going on in his head right now, there is a lot to be contending with. i would think they are

screaming in there what we do? it is a big one, but the backdrop could hardly be worse with the alun cairns decisions. and that of course after the jacob rees—mogg comments and a whole litany of bad news. without doctored tears stammer video, there has been a whole load of gas, self invested when the. he has to get a grip of his campaign and pillage back from the brink of near disarray. he has got to get a hold of this and set the tone and the direction that he wants for this campaign. now, we know the tone he wa nts a campaign. now, we know the tone he wants a beads, optimistic, confident. get brexit done, things can happen. only i will get brexit done, you vote jeremy can happen. only i will get brexit done, you votejeremy corbyn you're talking much alive. if we get it done, business confidence returns, investment returns, consumer confidence comes back. we have left. that is what he wants this to be

about. so, he has to try and shift the selection story which today basically is about what a disastrous start the tories have had on to one where he is throwing it forward to the prospects ahead. the vision for britain post this election. so, it is really his moment one he has to grasp the selection by the scrap of the neck and from his point of view pellet back from the bank. so, it is a big moment for him and i think tone is going to be so important. i do not think we will get policy, he will not be checking out new policy announcements. he perspective his court pledges on hospitals, police, more cash for schools outside london. it is not a policy moment. this is a sort of blaming the election moment. but tone is so important and election moment. but tone is so importantandi election moment. but tone is so important and i say that because i think a lot of the gas we have seen

over the past 2a—hour is our absolutely plain to the labour narrative that the tories are a bunch of people who basically think they are born to brill and they have a rather disdainful the of the mere hoi polloi. he has to get this tone right and squash the idea that he has come into this as some sort of arrogant assumption that the election is the payments are. he will have to fight for this other way and earn our vote. we will need to see that. i think tone will be more important than policy. to see that. i think tone will be more important than policym to see that. i think tone will be more important than policy. it is obviously not going to be enough to try to avoid the issues that are now centrestage. alun cairns's resignation, and jacob rees—mogg. the survey period when my than ever the political leaders are up for scrutiny and questioning and facing learners on a daily basis.” scrutiny and questioning and facing learners on a daily basis. i suspect borisjohnson will hope to wait

until the heat has died down a bit before he confronts the alun cairns question. if it doesn't now that we will be clapping it up and putting it straight at the front of our ability. we know that, he knows that, he will try to avoid it. maybe iam wrong, that, he will try to avoid it. maybe i am wrong, maybe but i did take it head on, i kinda think he will not, but we will see. i think he will leave it to james cleverly to batted away. he had a torrid morning on the brea kfast away. he had a torrid morning on the breakfast programme this morning when he was getting... unless boris johnson can successfully refocus this campaign away from the setbacks and everything that has gone wrong. he may be able to, because you know, news attention is incredibly short lived now. we look for the next owner, san abby had the alun cairns scalp, we kind of move on the bed. so, it is quite possible by close of day today that portions of his big left of lunch might actually have

shifted things on a bit and the alun cairns issue will begin to slide away. i am sure it was of a massive in wales and that has a b because is, because team johnson are hoping that they could do well in some of those solid labour lead seats. personally, i think it is an enormous ask because these are seats with colossal majorities. but that was that hope, that there brexit message would resonate in the labour heartlands. so, in wales, alun cairns five double play on. without being too brittle, and the rest of the country nobody knows who he is outside westminster and wales. it is not a big name casualties and in that sense they can probably live with it. but it is a major disruption bore what we are now about to see. iamjust i am just hearing that borisjohnson isa i am just hearing that borisjohnson is a little delayed. i wonder why.

in terms of the messaging and how this goes down with people sitting at home watching and knowing five weeks for another election, a third in five years and how engaged people i would that. it is a december election which is already a difficult time for people to get out and vote and mobilise the vote. how much in terms of the messaging is about getting people to be engaged in the selection and care about it and voting? i think people will come out to vote and quite large numbers andi out to vote and quite large numbers and i say that because of brexit. what other thing that we have found is there is an assumption that people are bored to death with brexit. yes they are, but they also ca re brexit. yes they are, but they also care passionately about it, they have views on it. we find the story which get that highest readership and feeling tend to be brexit

stories because people have a view and they do care about brexit. i think actually people will come out and vote even though it is going to be chilly and dark and so the other thing to say is in elections, things happen, things go wrong. think of tony blair being beaten up outside the birmingham children's hospital by one of the mothers there. things do go awry in elections when you're out on the road. normally when you have to confront real voters. it is unscripted, it is off piece, anything can happen. this alun cairns story is slightly different. is because of the work at bbc wales that managed to establish that yes indeed he had been told by a special adviser that they did have an issue with the rape trial and then he falsely claimed that he was not

aware of it. so often and then he falsely claimed that he was not aware of it. so often imparted text that it aware of it. so often imparted text thatitis aware of it. so often imparted text that it is a lie that because you ain't. and that is what has happened to alun cairns. in general when you are on the road, everything becomes more fluid, it moves so quickly. as i come at you from all sides. in a way you think you have five weeks of this, the wheels can come off all over the place. it is unavoidable. there is no seamless progression to downing street. you're going to go into ditches and crash in to post, not literally, but figuratively. it isa not literally, but figuratively. it is a long campaign and we are watching and waiting at every twist and turn. it is very difficult to have the hermetically sealed campaign where reality does not get a grip of the leaders. it makes a great television. that was something that theresa may was credit aside! she was criticised for. she tried to

keep it like that and it was contrasted with jeremy keep it like that and it was contrasted withjeremy corbyn out on the stump with the big rallies. that is run of the reasons the tory party chose boris johnson is run of the reasons the tory party chose borisjohnson because theresa may exuded fear of the electorate. she was worried the whole time and she viewed the video with deep anxiety. boris johnson is she viewed the video with deep anxiety. borisjohnson is a different beast altogether. he comes from the media, he knows how we work and heat rather enjoys a. i think he quite likes the banter, the cut and thrust. he is clearly a man who is at ease campaigning. and let's be honest, when he has been out on the road it has not always gone to plan. he has been in towns where people have asked him to kindly leave. we saw him in the hospital when he was confronted by the very angry father. very powerful television. he wasn't confronting borisjohnson because he

was out labour activist, he was doing it as a dad who is angry about the treatment his child was getting. borisjohnson has the treatment his child was getting. boris johnson has had the treatment his child was getting. borisjohnson has had his moments and he handles them a bit better. he does not get fazed with them and he tries to engage. that is one of his skills as a politician. he is much more relaxed out and about. we saw that in the brexit referendum. he largely turned to the brexit campaign because of that optimism which contrasted with david cameron's... he will have difficult moments, but hey, that is what he is he is to. he has been there before. one funny thing about borisjohnson is that he seems to come through the scrapes which otherwise would have donein scrapes which otherwise would have done in previous politicians. you think of the late—night row with his

girlfriend. when we heard about that, a lot of us were thinking crikey. that does not look good. and yet, who is talking about that now? we have all moved on. he's come through it. he does get through things. we are still waiting for him, hopefully not much longer. he isa him, hopefully not much longer. he is a little bit delayed. in terms of the strategy and the plan of action... obviously there is the brexit party it is one of the biggest threats for the tory party and nigel farage was out this morning and workington, a symbolic move. a workington man is nominated idea of what the typical voter that the tories need to win. how concerned are they about what is going on in downing street? difficult to say. i think less of them you might think. i think they would have been hugely encouraged by

the fact that nigel farage leads a divided party. many hard—line brexit tea rs i divided party. many hard—line brexit tears i think take the view that they are not surrounded by boris johnson's deal, but they absolutely wa nt johnson's deal, but they absolutely want brexit. i think a lot of them think this is their last chance, blow it again and they will not get another chance. and they risk losing brexit altogether. even the spartan steve ba co n, brexit altogether. even the spartan steve bacon, says to borisjohnson and nigel farage, don't be that man who threw away brexit. i think a lot of the brexit party people feel that as well. when nigel farage had his lunch here in westminster and he was building up to his big pitch about boris's deal and he said this is not brexit. ok, half the hall said yes and the other half stayed sitting down. i think perhaps he is

overreaching himself in this idea that he can deliver 650 candidates up that he can deliver 650 candidates up and down the country to take on the tories and brexit tears —— brexiteer. we had seen a little trickle of brexit party candidates actually backing off saying we are not going to stand because we don't agree with that strategy. we saw erin banks, the man... he and nigel farage were like that appeared saying he has behaving like a dog in a manger. there is clearly discord andi a manger. there is clearly discord and i think in downing street they will hope that maybe they can cut some sort of deal with nigel farage. say they were to say to nigel farage, if we get to the end of transition and we cannot strike a deal, we will look at leaving without an agreement. does not provide nigel farage with enough

leeway to get done or not? he knows that we know that is not happening. johnson is not going to abandon his deal. will nigel farage at the end of the day back off, hold fire and fight at data later on in the belief that at the moment he does not really have his troops fully behind him. ithink really have his troops fully behind him. i think that gives downing street some comfort. clearly if he does stand and he manages to get all these brexit party candidates to stand that is bad news for boris johnson. what is morale liked within the tory party now? they saw a lot of the mps, 21, lose the way over that no—deal brexit and so many figures are not standing.”

that no—deal brexit and so many figures are not standing. i find it extraordinary. it is reality check when people like philip hammond former permanent torrey of westminster is now standing down because he cannot stand as a conservative candidate. it is like bass what is going on here? the party is changing dramatically in front of us. and a lot of those big beasts from romaine are now vanquished. not in retreat and demise. —— the voters of romaine. there's another one who announced this morning that he is not going to contest. the tory party is really changing in front of our eyes becoming a more straight down

brexiteer party and that has come apart as... because of boris johnson. come an election, he will be able to push through his deal. that probably chimes with that tory party in the country as well. when you speak to the activists they are pretty hardline. it is not that sort of party any more. it is extraordinary. the zeitgeist of the tory party is utterly changed. and not just tory party is utterly changed. and notjust in europe, i would suggest. politics as a whole is just so much more different parties clearly

defined. if you think back to the days when it was tony blair and it felt like he could not get a cigarette paper between the parties in terms of policy. there are huge distinctions. you really would never have thought ten years ago you would have thought ten years ago you would have a general election where two contenders for prime minister were going to be borisjohnson and jeremy corbyn. who represent almost the political polar opposites. one of the mysteries of british politics is what happened to the centre ground? tony blair and david cameron were of the view that is where elections are fought and yourquestions@bbc.co.uk. now the centre ground is a wasteland. there have been attempts to kind of establish something very. .we to kind of establish something very. . we saw the independent group of mps trying to forge a new thing it

never really took off. joe swenson is now trying to bring it together again, butan is now trying to bring it together again, but an enormous uphill task from where she currently is to reach that sort of numbers where she could be anywhere close to... being prime minister or forming be anywhere close to... being prime minister orforming a be anywhere close to... being prime minister or forming a government. the centre ground and i guess it is primarily because of brexit is no longer where it is. maybe it will return once brexit is return, but it is very hard to see how it has any traction at all when the only issue that people care about nowadays is brexit. one of the truths of modern politics is normalcy will not be resumed until brexit is dealt with. joe swenson's battle bus was

launched. we are wondering what the message on the side of it might be. we are still waiting for her and how long are they delayed? they are now 15 minutes delayed. i'm thinking about the one o'clock news. come on guys, about the one o'clock news. come on guys, you've got to get out here or you're going to miss it. if we remain there will be a 15 billion pound... there are no figures on the side of the battle bus this morning. i think the numbers game we know all treat with a huge bucket of sea salt, frankly. we have all been

burnt by stick to acute —— statistical chicory. yesterday we had jeremy corbyn talking about a £500 million bill for the nhs from a future trade deal. you know, that was based on how we import our drugs from the us and we pay us drug prices. i see the green party this morning are suggesting £900 billion on getting rid of fossilfuels morning are suggesting £900 billion on getting rid of fossil fuels over the next ten years. it is kind of pledge inflation gone ballistic. i think voters almost now have dialled out from that, they are not impressed on however grandiose the number is you put on it because the numbers have become almost, i don't know, so meaningless. we throw billions all over the place. they

have lost the sense of traction. i come back to the point that policy is less important in this election then position and identity. in the old school, he would unveil, retail policies that would be good for mothers and pensioners, for the public sector and he would pick off little groups and give them a here and that way you would have a coalition that would win an election. now i don't think it works like that. what people respond to is... here we go. good afternoon. i have just been to see her majesty the queen early on and she agreed to dissolve parliament for an election. i want you to know that i do not want an early election no one wants to have an election in december, but we have

arrived to the stage where we have no choice because our parliament is paralysed. it has been stuck in a red for three and a half years and i am afraid that our mp5 are refusing time and again to deliver brexit and honour the mandate of the people. i can tell you i have got to the stage where i have wanted to chew my own tie infestation. because we are so nearly there in a sense. we have a deal of it ready by which we can leave the eu and just a few weeks. it isa leave the eu and just a few weeks. it is a great deal for the country. it is a great deal for the country. it delivers everything that i wanted when i campaigned for brexit. we cannot only take back our control of the money and yes we will be able to spend hundreds of millions every week on our priorities such as the nhs, we will take back our borders, with an australian style points—based system. so we can attract the workers that our economy needs. we can take back our laws so

we can do things differently and better if we choose. from freeport, to free trade deals, banning the cruel trading of animals. we can leave the eu as one uk, whole and entire and perfect as we promised. so it has been mind—boggling in the la st so it has been mind—boggling in the last few weeks to see how parliament first voted to approve this deal and then voted for delay. i am afraid it is clear that if parliament had its way, this country would not be leaving even on january the 31st. which is bad for democracy and disastrous for trust in politics. why should mp5 decide they can cancel the referendum? i why should mp5 decide they can cancelthe referendum? ithink why should mp5 decide they can cancel the referendum? i think this delay is bad for the country and the economy and with every week that goes by, uncertainty is deterring

people from hiring new staff, from buying new homes, from making new investments. if we can get this deal over the line with a sensible majority government, we certainly can, then we can release that pent up can, then we can release that pent up flood of investment. hundreds of billions are waiting to pour in the uk and we can inject a surge of confidence into our system. and we in this government can get on with delivering on the priorities of the people. i am very proud of what we have done in the last 180 days or whatever it is. the biggest programmes on nhs investment for a generation. lifting up funding for schools across the country. 1a new hospitals. putting 20,000 more police on the streets. infrastructure revolution we are planning in railand road infrastructure revolution we are planning in rail and road from electric buses to new green cycle

schemes. broadband in every home. and we have the confidence as one nation conservatives to make those investments not despite our belief ina investments not despite our belief in a strong private sector, but precisely because we champion this enterprise economy in the uk. when people get up at 5am to get their business is ready, when they risked their own money or mortgage their own homes to develop a new product, when they have the guts to find a new market at home or abroad, we don't sneer at them, we cheer for them and do what we can to help because we understand that it is only by having a dynamic free—market economy that we can deliver on our programme of uniting this country. it is only if you have great public services that you can have a successful market economy. so i say

come with us. that is the choice of this election. come with us a government that is putting things into education or go with jeremy corbyn and the labour party because thatis corbyn and the labour party because that is the only alternative, that wa nt that is the only alternative, that want to ban ofsted that protects kids from being bullied in the classroom. come with us government that believes in raising a living wage to £10 50. are go with a left—wing labour party that believes in high taxes for everyone and that voted under this government against £7,800 of tax cuts on working people. that is what they did. come with us. to put in a points—based immigration system. article with labour party that has a totally uncontrolled immigration system that would put huge stress on the nhs and other systems. come with us a government that believes that

britain should stand tall in the world or go with jeremy corbyn who sided with when russia ordered poisonings on the streets of salisbury. come with us, get brexit done and take this country forward orend of done and take this country forward or end of this is the alternative next year, spend the whole of 2020 ina next year, spend the whole of 2020 in a horror show of yet more gather and delay. imagine waking up on december the 13th and finding corbyn at the head of his coalition. —— did their —— dither and delay. and another referendum on brexit which is meant to happen in nine months' time. after he has supposedly renegotiated the deal. what is the

plan for that renegotiation? what question might be put to the public? we do not know. we don't even know what side he would take. and we don't know what would happen if the result was either for or remain or believe. best of three? we do not know. what we know is that in any scenario the dither and delay which is increasingly damaging for our country would continue. there is only one way to avoid that and that is to vote for a moderate and compassionate one nation government. we will make this country the greatest place to live. a country where we lead the world and cutting c02 and tackling climate change and clean green technology. where we stand up for our values around the world. a country where everybody has the opportunity to make the most of

their lives and where we work as a government to give them that opportunity from the moment they are boring. that is our mission. if i come back with a working majority in parliament, i will get parliament working again for you. on day one of the new parliament in december we will start getting our deal through so we can get brexit done injanuary and unleash this country's potential. we will put uncertainty behind us. families and businesses will be able to plan. let's make 2020 the year of investment and growth, not the year of two referendums. i want to thank everyone in the building behind me and across government for all the wonderful work they have done over the last three months. i am going out now to campaign across the whole country for those values and for

that programme. i hope very much that programme. i hope very much that you will support us. let's get brexit done and unleash the potential of the whole united kingdom. thank you very much. thank you very much. so boris johnson in a slightly delayed statement outside number ten. saying again that he did not want to be in the position of calling it an early election in december election, but placing the blame with mps for the fact that brexit has not happened yet. a difficult day for him to be launching the conservative party campaign. there will be a launch event later. lots of controversy still continuing about jacob rees—mogg's comments about the g re nfell tower rees—mogg's comments about the grenfell tower comments. and the news breaking this morning that alun kinds has quit as well secretary.

claims that he knew about a former aide's role and a rape trial. —— alun cairns. the news that one will be happening in just alun cairns. the news that one will be happening injust a alun cairns. the news that one will be happening in just a few alun cairns. the news that one will be happening injust a few minutes, but here is the forecast first. good afternoon. temperatures have dropped in some parts of the uk meaning we have had a cold crisp autumn morning and many areas. there were some showers close to aberdeen. you can see from this weather watch picture we have had more cloud gathering. to produce some outbreaks of rain as you can see from our earlier satellite picture. at best a brightness is in the eastern and southern parts of england. you can see the various bands of showery rain twist —— drifting in from the west. the top temperatures are not very high. between six and 11 degrees. this evening and tonight, the first band of showers will come

across scotland. this band of rain will then drift towards the north. it will give some cause for concern because it will be heavy and persistent. with the extra cloud and rain it will not be as cold. touch of frost in some parts of scotland. showers in the south as well, but in between the band of rain. it will be very slow moving. it is uncertain about where the it will be the heaviest. it looks like north wales and north midlands. it could cause some transport disruptions and localised flooding possibly. to the north, northern ireland and scotland, some showers. they could be wintry. it will be breezy as well. breezy in the southwest as well. breezy in the southwest as well where there will be some hefty downpours. the temperature will be seven to 10 degrees. it is going to

feel chilly. it will be disappointed if you are stuck under the cloud and rain. this weather front and the area of low pressure will start to clear away towards the east as we go into friday. i think the rain will lingerfor into friday. i think the rain will linger for a into friday. i think the rain will lingerfor a while. in the into friday. i think the rain will linger for a while. in the west, they will be more dry weather and sunshine. temperatures still just they will be more dry weather and sunshine. temperatures stilljust a little bit below the november average. seven to 11 degrees. the weekend, a very chilly start on saturday with frost and fog. we will see more rain coming from the west.

a cabinet minister resigns from government on the day the general election campaign officially begins. alun cairns has stood down as welsh secretary, following claims that he knew about a former aide's role in the collapse of a rape trial. the prime minister has met the queen at buckingham palace to mark the start of campaigning for the election on december the 12th. i don't want an early election and no one much wants to have an election in december, but we have got to the stage where we have no choice because our parliament is paralysed. jeremy corbyn tells supporters the country will see real change if labour wins the election. i will be proud to be a labour prime minister,