efiggflz‘uzr euer e‘fir northern england and moving south—east through into friday as low pressure starts to clear away. brighter skies developing further north and west with some spells of sunshine. we stayed in that rather chilly air. 7 degrees for newcastle, 10 degrees in cardiff. quite a cold night on friday night with some frost and freezing fog patches. another change on saturday, some pretty wet weather and maybe some snow over higher ground in the north. time now for a new feature on bbc news to address specific questions you have about the upcoming general election. so let's return to norman for our first your questions answered. norman, what can you tell us?

well i have selected three of the questions which i think i can answer. the first about the number of mps standing down. is it a particularly large number? i thought that there would be because we had some big names, kenneth clarke, the pam and the former chancellor, vince cable former leader of the liberal democrats standing down. but is not particularly large, 68 so far, on average it is about 80 and after the expenses scandal it rocketed to above 100% not a huge number this year. the second question is when will we know who the candidates are and how on earth are they selected. the truth is i suspect most of us already know, the literature has been coming through the door, the dog has chewed it up, but you will not know absolutely everyone until next thursday when the nominations close. how are they chosen, by the

local pleiades, dow given a list by head office and then it is up to the local parties by large to decide who your local candidate will be. question number three, why cannot we move into the modern world and felt online. the answer bluntly is dodgy russians! in other words, online. the answer bluntly is dodgy russians! in otherwords, cyber security, theatre and fraud and help secure the process would be. interestingly the estonians are already doing it, would you believe it. the introduced online voting in 2007. and there was a commission here in 2015 saint you know what, we might get round to it in 2020. that is next year as a standby, it could yet be farewell to the polling stations! if you have questions then we are going to put up on screen now how you can contact us by e—mail or twitter for any kind of questions around the nuts and bolts of the

election. and we will have a go at answering your questions. norman smith, thank you very much. a reminder of our top story... a cabinet minister resigns from government on the day the general election campaign officially begins. that's all from the bbc news at one — so it's goodbye from me — and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. good afternoon. it's just after 1:30 and i'm ben croucher with a round up of the day's sports news. the double olympic champion nicola adams has announced her retirement from boxing. at 37, having become wbo world flyweight champion as a professional, she's called it a day due to the risk of going blind in one of her eyes.

she said, "hanging up my gloves was always going to be hard, but i have neverfelt luckier. and i'm so immensely proud of how far the sport has come." adams isn't the only british boxer to have retired this week. former world lightweight champion anthony crolla fought for the final time on saturday and he told sally nugent that it's not easy for fighters to know when the time is right. it is so hard to let go and so many fighters carry on too long. we see it time and time again and then boxing then has an effect on your health in later life. you have got to get out at the right time and i believe that is what i have done. i am probably not the fighter i was a few years ago. and if you hang around too long, trying to pick up paydays, it comes at a cost. and certainly when you see people like nicola adams, who says her eyesight

is in dangerand nicola adams, who says her eyesight is in danger and she has been able to achieve everything she has she can walk away proud and boxing took very little from her. she still ends up very little from her. she still ends up with —— if she ended up that life changing injuries that would not have been worth it. is that a conversation you have had with your family? yes, and that is why i believe now is the right time. boxing will always be a huge part of my life and i will always have the hunger of being a fighter, but i will try to sell it in different ways by coaching and stuff like that. exeter‘s chief executive says saracens should be relegated for breaching premiership rugby's salary cap rules. the european and premiership champions have received a 35—point penalty and a fine of over five million pounds — suspended pending an appeal. exeter lost the last two premiership finals to saracens and their ceo tony rowe said relegation would be a fair punishment. chiefs director of rugby rob baxter stopped short of that but has welcomed the findings.

probably pleased that it is kind of out in public. i think most people who have been in involved with building squads and contracts in trying to recruit players over a number of years you see the change in the market and the way things works while that squad has not quite been put together and kept together and changed in a way it has been possible purely within what salary caps are laid out. manchester city and spurs are in champions league action later. they'll do well to match the drama at stamford bridge last night with eight goals, two red cards, late var drama and nothing to separate chelsea and ajax. after going 4—1 down, chelsea fought back to draw 4—1; after the dutch side had two players sent off. teenager reece james — who was playing for wigan last season — scored the equaliser. manager frank lampard

described it as madness. a little calmer at anfield where reigning champions liverpool beat genk 2—1. alex 0xlaide chamberlain scored his third goal in two games against the belgian champions. wednesday is a champions league night but arsenal will be in action later in the europa league. it's to avoid a fixture clash for opponents vitoria guimaraes and another portuguese side. arsenal will be without granit xha ka. the midfielder has been left out of their squad having been stripped on the captaincy. he swore atjeering fans, took off his shirt and stormed off against crystal palace last month. pierre—emerick aubameyang will take over as captain — he's also been left at home for the trip to portugal. that's all from me. katie will take you through all the sport in afternoon live after two. good afternoon and welcome back to downing street. borisjohnson has launched his election campaign

by repeating his promises for more spending on the nhs and schools. but his speech in downing street was overshadowed by the resignation — minutes earlier — of the welsh secretary, alun cairns, who has been facing accusations he knew about allegations that a former aide sabotaged a rape trial. mrjohnson said he did not want to hold the election on the twelfth of december — but he had no choice because parliamnent — as he put it — was paralysed over brexit. we have got to the stage where we have no choice because our parliament is paralysed, it has been stuck in a rod for three and a half yea rs stuck in a rod for three and a half years and i'm afraid our mps are just refusing time and again to deliver brexit and honour the mandate that the people. i can tell you i have got to the stage where i wa nt to you i have got to the stage where i want to chew my own tie—in frustration because in a sense we are nearly there. we have got a deal

oven ready by which we can leave the eu injusta oven ready by which we can leave the eu in just a few weeks. it is a great dealfor this eu in just a few weeks. it is a great deal for this country, it delivers everything that i wanted when i campaigned for brexit. we cannot only take back control of our money. yes, we will be able to spend hundreds of millions on our priorities. such as the nhs. we can ta ke priorities. such as the nhs. we can take back control of our borders in an australian style points—based system so we can attract workers from scientist to agricultural workers that our economy needs. we can take back control of our laws and do things differently and better if we choose. that was boris johnson a little bit earlier here at downing street. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is here. what he wanted to talk about is that —— he talked about what he wanted to talk about and avoided what is happening with alun keynes. yes, his

resignation people are saying whites ahe resignation people are saying whites a he has got —— when borisjohnson has such a big event going on. i think most people thought that the welsh people knew he had to resign. and therefore may be it is better to get it out of the way this morning. borisjohnson is get it out of the way this morning. boris johnson is not get it out of the way this morning. borisjohnson is not taking questions today. he does not have to a nswer questions today. he does not have to answer anything about all of that. reasonably just hoping that answer anything about all of that. reasonablyjust hoping that he can move on tomorrow to other things. it has been a pretty torrid 2a hours. if you wanted to style your campaign in any way at all it would not have been like this. parties have grades about what is going to happen each day and you can bet for sure that i cabinet resignation would not have been on it. is this going to be a brexit election because that is not

what the labour party wants. brexit election because that is not what the labour party wantsm brexit election because that is not what the labour party wants. it is a crucial factor. everybody said brexit means brexit. 0f crucial factor. everybody said brexit means brexit. of course jeremy corbyn was not talking about brexit. it made a big difference. when you get to the election campaign it is about broader issues whether you like it or not. we have had three and a half years where brexit has dominated everything. 0f course, it will be dominant. it is likely to be discussed. what i thought was interesting with boris johnson is of course politicians a lwa ys johnson is of course politicians always attack their opponents, but he very specifically talked about jeremy corbyn and the labour party and the left—wing labour party and the tax rises and saying thatjeremy corbyn was on the side of president putin. really going for a. attacking the labour party there. whatever side you are on, there is a very

distinct choice here. you cannot say all politicians are the same. there isa all politicians are the same. there is a massive choice in what kind of economy you will be running between the conservative party and the labour party. i non—brexit there is a huge disparity. big decisions to be made. the big question is anything that has happened over the last 2a hours if it has an effect on polling day. so many parties in contention for seats in a way that did not used to happen. it means we are heading for another narrative of are heading for another narrative of a hung parliament. it is all to play for at this stage. many people think that we might end up in a situation where we were before. it is impossible to say. you have got the four party system in scotland and wales that you have always had. slightly becoming a five party

system if you include the brexit party. but i think that is happening more and more across england to. save the liberal democrats poll higher than they did last time which would not be difficult, they would win more seats, potentially but not dozens win more seats, potentially but not d oze ns of win more seats, potentially but not dozens of new seeds. it is what happens, where the seats are coming from. does not harm labour party's chances? these other parties may not win many seats, but they can have a big influence on the two major parties. you were saying how unpredictable election can be. we can look back at moments where politicians were accosted on the streets. these things happened, they all had the narratives they want to push, but the next five weeks could be very unpredictable. of course they have their grades and what they

wa nt to they have their grades and what they want to do. remember the conservatives lack were talking about... they were drying up analysis of what it would mean under labour. that has derailed them because it is not allowed to be published because the conservatives we re published because the conservatives were not able to do what they wanted to do. you can have your plans, but you cannot account for cabinet ministers going on air and saying things that people find offensive which is what happened with jacob must read! the green party launch their campaign in bristol this morning. 0ur west of england political editor paul barltrop was there. the green party has chosen bristol to do their national lunch because this is one of their big hopes for the election campaign. they have been setting out their campaign promises here today and i am joined

by the party co—leader sean barry. now, the most eye—catching one of all is £100 billion a year. that is a huge amount of money. that is the investment we need to make a new industries, in transforming our economy. sorting out our housing to get as to carbon neutrality by 2030. that is the target that we set as a country and we need to fund that target correctly. for context, it is about the same for the education budget, the health budget. that is paid for... education and health are paid for through taxation. you are going to borrow nearly all of it. yes, we are. we are going to borrow it and it will pay back over time this investment. not in the least avoiding under climate chaos, but also in creating newjobs, healthier communities, stronger and more resilient local economies. those things will pay back into the exchequer and it will help paid off the loan as well. 0k, leaving that aside, you know, you also want to do things like stop airport expansions. a lot of people would feel that you are going to spoil their holidays, they're fun. there is no place for more

air travel in a climate emergency, i think. you need to look at the way the amount of air travel that we currently do is distributed throughout the population. the richest people, the rich is 15% of people take 70% of the flights. most of the people who fly are flying a lot. and most people in a given year, an ordinary person like you and me probably does not fly. we do not fly every year. now we need to distribute the number of flights we can take in a climate emergency more evenly. we have argued for progressive taxes on flights to do that. so that the richer people aren't not using up far more carbon then they should be on the activity. you have had a good year with your local european elections. we are trying to go for the hat—trick in the december election. it is a lot harder in a

general election. is very tough on small parties. you did not come anywhere near in this constituency 20 years ago. 2017 was a very tough snap election. big parties were able to do much better than they should have. it does not deliver the mps that people vote for and most people's folks and constituencies end up getting wasted. that is completely wrong. we need to focus our efforts... we have that many councillors. we have carla who is the best candidate i have seen in a very long time. she invented the idea of councils declaring a climate emergency. this is our best chance ina very emergency. this is our best chance in a very long time. you could do with ventilatory impact. are you going to get one. we are talking to

other parties about ways in which we can other parties about ways in which we ca n p reve nt other parties about ways in which we can prevent boris johnson' other parties about ways in which we can prevent borisjohnson' crash out in brexit. it is only right that under this system that we have parties talk about where they are targeting. there are no decisions made about anything, but we are talking to people because it is the right and grown—up thing to do. write comments thank you, sian berry. look out for the next day or two and announcement coming. they have been in talks, but it is yet to be revealed what the pact might involve. it is day one of the election campaign. five weeks else ago. borisjohnson election campaign. five weeks else ago. boris johnson in election campaign. five weeks else ago. borisjohnson in downing street behind me, he will go to the west midlands for his first event on the road. i will hand you back to the studio. joanna, thank you very much. more from downing street and

westminster to calm. you are watching bbc news. we will look at some of the other stories around here today. hundreds of mental health patients in england are being treated miles outside their local area, despite a government pledge to end the practice. that's according to a new report from the royal college of psychiatrists, but the nhs says patients are placed away from home due to ‘a complex range of factors'. dominic hughes has more. for those who need it, a place in a mental health unit can be a lifesaver, but the number of available beds has been falling as services move out of hospitals and into the community. and now, there are concerns that cuts in bed numbers in england have gone too far, meaning some patients who still need hospital treatment end up many miles from home. it has gone too far. we have cut the beds very hard, we don't have enough beds now even for people who really need to be in hospital. community services haven't kept up, so as the beds have been cut, the community services haven't

been expanded enough to treat people at home. the royal college of psychiatrists says that at the end ofjuly, nearly 750 adult mental health patients were being treated away from home. this is despite a government pledge to enter the policy by 2021, and independent report for the rcp says more than 1000 mental health beds are now needed as a short—term measure. psychiatrists generally support moving adult mental health treatment away from hospitals, but they argue community services are struggling to cope with existing demand, and that the additional beds are needed while long promised increased investment in mental health services takes root. humans will face ‘untold suffering' as a result of a global climate emergency — that's the warning from a group of more than 10,000 scientists. the research calls on governments,

businesses and the public to support policies to reduce population growth and meat production, and end the use of fossil fuels. gareth barlow has more. wild fires in the united states and droughts in the andes and typhoons. symptoms of a climate emergency, according to 11,000 scientists. a report says humans are facing untold suffering, amid a climate emergency caused by issues such as booming population, a rise in air travel. 0ur planet is in crisis. you know it, we know it. climate change is a key social and political issue and the report says governments and the public must do more to tackle the causes

of climate change. they neat the growing protest movement does offer hope. but as scientists warn of a changing climate, on monday donald trump began the formal process of withdrawing from the paris climate accord. the issues are notjust political. the report says diets must change, population growth must reduce and the reliance on fossil fuels must end. big solutions to fix an even bigger issue. 0ne one more story to bring you before the weather. in the space ofjust two years, british pop superstar dua lipa has shot to the top of the charts, won three brit awards and two grammys. she's back with a disco—themed single and she's been talking to bbc brea kfast‘s louise minchin about her rise to fame, her hectic life, and how she manages to fit in a bit

of down time. # don't show up, don't come out. # don't start caring about me now. # walk away, you know how. # don't start caring about me now. you've got a new single out. ido, yeah. how does that feel? so exciting. just kind of getting started again. it's, i don't know, i'vejust been waiting this moment for so long. i've been writing for such a while. # i'm all good already. # so moved on, it's scary. # i'm not where you left me at all, so... it's called don't start now and it does sound, when you listen to the lyrics, as many of your lyrics do, deeply personal. is it? yeah. is it about some person, a particular person? i think when i, you know, with all my songs i don't really know any different. it's really about finding happiness and being confident with that and not allowing anyone to take that away from you.

it says "aren't the guy who tried to hurt me with the words goodbye?" does that person know who they are? maybe. what do you think they'll make of that when they hear it? it's, you know, it's a song. i guess, for me, the way i like to think about it is, like, i work on these songs and once they're out into the world they no longer belong to me. so whatever they want to make of it, it's up to them, i think. it's subjective. # i keep pushin' forwards, but he keeps pullin' me backwards. # nowhere to turn, no way, nowhere to turn, no... talk to us about the videos as well. because i've watched so many of them and they're — first of all, most of them are really kind ofjoyous, fun, also a lot about girl power. is that important to you? all my closest friends are all girls that i've grown up with a school. i always feel like i've thrived around feminine energy and felt my strongest around girls. even directors i work with it's

like, 0k, how many girls do you want in it? it's like natural for them to ask me about the girls, because it's just how i like it. being a girl you get understood more by girls. if you talk to me a little bit more about social media. are you worried about some of the stuff you see there? what you do, do you ignore it? what do you do? it really depends. some days i don't read into the comments. some days maybe i feel a little bit more vulnerable and a dive in and i almost go looking for things that they don't want to see. i think it's definitely human nature and i don't want to hide that and i definitely don't want to hide that because i want people to hear that we're all human and we go through the same thing. and social media can be such an amazing tool, and it can be so fun to share things. but at the same time it can really — it's like almost a breeding ground for, like, hate and anxiety and people feel like they can say things because they're hiding behind a computer screen and i think, for me, it's important to use social media, in like bitesizes.

apparently you literally diarise "i must do shopping now". is that really true? i'm crazy with my calendar, i feel like that's how i feel very much in control of my life. but it's funny, my parents have mentioned that even when it was little theyd find little to do lists around the house. tidy up my room at this time, revise at this time, chill time at this. like i would plan everything. so i feel like that's definitely served me quite well now in myjob. at least she didn't talk about brexit. it's a little bit of a change. a glimmer of something else. much more about the election. it is the first official day of campaigning. we will catch up with the weather right now. it's chris fox. it was a chilly start for many of

us, but there was some early sunshine to be seeing. this is from the weather watcher. here's another picture further north and marley send where the cloud has been spreading across the skies. for most of us it is turning progressively cloudier. we have got some rain arriving across western areas which i was pushing towards the north across scotland. the weather is getting worse for many of us. 0vernight tonight, the main band of rain is in northern ireland will head towards the east. the showers in scotland will continue. because of more cloud in the skies it will not be as chilly as last night. temperatures between four and seven celsius. thursday, it is going to be a wet day. particularly for people in north wales and northern counties of england. sunshine and showers will follow up particularly in the

southwest. the best of the sunshine across east and northwest areas. temperatures between seven and 10 celsius. it is the rain that is going to cause problems particularly across north wales. because the rain will arrive early on thursday morning, it does not really stop raining until friday morning. 2a hours worth of rain on the way for some of us. that is a lot of rain. 22 40 some of us. that is a lot of rain. 22 a0 mm. that can cause some local isolating and disruption to transport. here is that a troublemaker. the area of low pressure will slip into france. friday it will start to brighten up, but the cloud and patchy rain will probably never really disappear entirely. it will get brighter, but a cool northerly wind and the

temperatures will struggle between seven to 10 celsius. some rain on the way for the first part of the weekend, it may be some snow in the very highest hills of northern england and scotland. i try and bright day on sunday. see you

hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2. welsh secretary alun cairns resigns over allegations he knew a former aide had sabotaged a rape trial. the announcement coming minutes before boris johnson launched his election campaign ido i do not want an early election. no one much wants to have an election in december but we got to the stage because we had no choice because our parliament is paralysed. 0n the campaign trail, jeremy corbyn tells supporters the country will see real change if labour wins the election. the man accused of murdering british backpacker grace millane