this is bbc news, i'm carrie gracie. the headlines at 11:00pm: borisjohnson launches his party's election campaign, saying his brexit deal delivered everything he campaigned for. let's get out of the rut of the last three years and get on with our work as conservatives of making this country the greatest place in the world to live. tom watson announces his resignation as labour's deputy leader, and says he won't be seeking re—election as an mp. this really is a personal decision. there's never a right time to in politics, but you can leave it longer than you should. the climate campaign group extinction rebellion wins at the high court, asjudges rule that police were wrong to ban their protests in london.

several people are injured at the piccadilly theatre in london's west end after part of the ceiling collapses. and at 11:30pm, we will be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, giles kenningham and maya goodfellow. stay with us for that. borisjohnson has launched the conservative election campaign in the west midlands, hours after visiting buckingham palace to meet the queen following the dissolution of parliament. he addressed supporters this evening after a day which saw the resignation of one of his cabinet colleagues. the welsh secretary, alun cairns, stepped down because of his links with a man who had sabotaged a rape trial. our political editor laura kuenssberg sent this from the conservative

launch in birmingham. he has been one of the best—known politicians in the country for a decade. but fame and having faith are not the same thing. he may be the tory party's darling, but he wants you to trust him, and to stay in number ten. i didn't want an election. i love myjob, and no prime minister wants an election, particularly when i'm enjoying it so much that we want to get on and do. but, my friends, we have no choice. the whole brexit delay is holding us all back. it's like a bendy bus. i banned them in london — jackknifed on a yellow box junction.

laughter and adoration in this room, but if claiming a crop of mps is the answer, why should the new one speak from his side? we get this deal through parliament and get on with the fantastic projects in which this government is engaged, uniting and levelling up the country, giving people opportunity across the country with better education, better infrastructure and new technology. that is what this government is all about. cheering. it's about giving hope. get used to hearing this. this country is aching to move on. so let's make next year the year of prosperity and growth. let's get brexit done, my friends, and get on with our project of sensible, moderate — sensible, moderate but tax—cutting one—nation conservatism, spreading hope and opportunity across the whole of the uk. hang on — a loud, cheering crowd does not drown out tory woes. like a small clutch of protesters here tonight, there will be many who just don't buy it. and a minister had to quit this morning. yesterday, the welsh secretary was nervously scratching his head in cabinet.

at lunchtime today, he resigned, after claims he knew about a former member of staff's role in collapsing a rape trial. one of your colleagues had to quit this morning. i think boris showed he is the right person to be prime minister. he has got out there, fantastic speech. great reception and i think we are away. there is always noise. but at the heart of it, there is a message, and here we have the clearest possible message. only the conservative party can get brexit done. you can't pretend it has not been a tricky 2a hours. well, you know, there are always problems, in any campaign. but boris hasjust given us really good reasons to be cheerful. the bright future. a glossy mall is one thing, but he is risking his all. win, and he will get his brexit, and maybe five years in at number ten.

fail, and jeremy corbyn will be right behind instead. jeremy corbyn. for four years, his ranks of supporters have dreams of him walking through downing street's door but like his rival, he wants to move on from the mess. westminster hasn't exactly covered itself in glory recently. you're right to feel frustrated with the political system, 'cause it's not working for you. politics should be about your life, your community, your job. but on what to do instead, their solutions are different — very different. if the british people elect a labour government on 12 december, i'll be proud to be a labour prime minister. but i have to warn you, it will be very different, because i was not born to rule. none of us in this room were born to rule. the politics that i stand for is about sharing power and wealth with people who don't have a lot of money, don't have friends in high places, so they can take control of their own lives. the two contenders for the top job can both pack a room. both prompt cheers and chants on their own side.

but they both divide, too. which will govern — that is down to you. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, birmingham. labour's deputy leader, tom watson, is to step down. in a surprise announcement, he revealed that he would not seek re—election as a member of parliament, and is also resigning as deputy leader. mr watson said his reasons were personal, not political. our political correspondent iain watson reports. the labour party and tom watson have seemed inextricably linked. over three decades, he has been an official, a minister, a shadow minister, and deputy leader. he has had an uneasy relationship withjeremy corbyn, but while he is resigning as an mp, he is not defecting to another party. i'm not walking out on the party. i'm going to be campaigning for our candidates up and down the country until polling day. and i will remain as deputy leader until then. i want to see a labour government, i want a labour team to triumph. but it's time for me to go to pastures new.

applause. he was elected as labour's deputy leader in 2015, at the same time asjeremy corbyn, but he often followed his own distinctive agenda. he won plaudits across the political spectrum for campaigning against phone hacking. and came under pressure recently for having used parliamentary privilege to raise allegations of a paedophile ring at westminster, allegations which were untrue. on brexit, he increasingly called for labour unequivocally to back remain in a new referendum, despite representing an area that voted to leave. cheering. he was often at loggerheads withjeremy corbyn‘s supporters, this culminated in a failed attempt to oust him as deputy leader by some on the left on the eve of labour's conference, without his leader's knowledge. and, in his letter to jeremy corbyn tonight, tom watson praises his leader's decency and courtesy, even in difficult times. well, it's a very personal decision, not a political one.

i've been in front—line labour politics for 35 years. i'm 52 years old, i've been on a health journey in recent years, and i want to take a leap and do something new. tom watson was at the head of a group of around 100 moderate labour mps. they've lost their standard—bearer tonight. the question now is whether some will, like him, walk away from westminster or stand their ground. iain watson, bbc news. our political correspondent jessica parker is at westminster. jessica, how surprised are you?” think it was a bit of a shock announcement, partly because of the timing, i suppose. one announcement, partly because of the timing, isuppose. one might announcement, partly because of the timing, i suppose. one might imagine that, if a politician has decided they are going to stand down, although we have seen quite a few announcements trickling through in the past few days, but such a prominent politician is tom watson, labour's deputy leader, maybe they would do it before the first official day of campaigning. having said that, in a way the timing was vaguely helpful to the labour party, because i think he pretty much made the announcement while borisjohnson

was on stage in the west midlands at his conservative party campaign launch. there will be a lot of speculation as to why tom watson has done this. he is making it very clear in his letter tojeremy corbyn that this is for personal reasons, and as we heard just a moment ago, that he still intends to support the party. but there is no hiding from the fact that there have been tensions between the deputy leader and the leader's office, and allies ofjeremy corbyn as well. tom watson has been seen to stray somewhat on brexit policy, been very outspoken in terms of trying to get the party to back remain, and as well, he talked about the idea of having a referendum before an election. and for some, i think, referendum before an election. and forsome, ithink, allies referendum before an election. and for some, i think, allies ofjeremy corbyn, they saw tom watson a something of a thorn in the leader's side. but the letters exchanged tonight striking a very amicable tone. all right, let's turn to some of the other tribes in another location, because obviously wales has been the focus for a lot of

political attention today because of the resignation of the welsh secretary, and meanwhile plaid and the liberal democrats have been cosying up a little bit. yes, so plaid cymru and the little democrats and the greens have announced an electoral pact in ii of the seats in wales. the bbc has led this evening. that is really interesting, because you saw in the bracken by—election there was a packed which saw a liberal democrats elected there. —— pact. i think what you have to look at is the details, we will get more details in the coming 2a hours as to the nature of this pact. exactly who is standing aside for whom, in what seat, what are the maths in each of those seats, and is there really a realistic chance of that making a difference? but the broader picture is, what we are seeing here are parties that back remain working together to try and enhance their chances of returning more remain supporting mps to parliament. we will leave it there, thank you for

joining us. as we have heard, the prime minister was in birmingham this evening to launch his party's election campaign. so what is the policy offer from the conservatives at this election? our deputy political editor john pienaar has been listening to some of the questions people have been asking. can borisjohnson deliver brexit? well, of all the main parties, he's the only leader who'd take britain straight out of the european union if the tories win outright. no more referendums, no more wrangling over the withdrawal agreement — that's the terms of divorce. just out. he had a deal, and he couldn't get it through parliament. if most mps were tories, he could. but there's the question, what kind of brexit? borisjohnson has said there'll be no more extensions. he's also said he wants to break out of the european union like the incredible hulk — remember? and if no comprehensive trade deal is agreed, that's our long—term

future relationship, after another tough round of negotiations, we could still face the disruption of a no—deal exit next december. as a mum to a young daughter, my question to the conservative party, what are you doing to our schools, and to public services in general? the tories are promising to spend more. who isn't? but borisjohnson has moved on to labour territory by promising he'll end austerity and pour cash into hospitals, schools and the police. it's worth noting that the extra £7.1 billion for schools in england, that's about reversing cuts and keeping pace with growing school rolls. the extra money for the police, it'll recruit another 20,000 officers in england and wales. but it'll rebuild forces that were cut under the last tory—led coalition government. and, as for the nhs, an extra £34 billion a year eventually. that's a lot of cash. but again, the health service needs it, just to meet growing demand and the rising cost of health care.

ijust wanted to know, what does the prime minister mean by, "come with us?" he means trust me, not the other guy, and that's for you to judge. no party leader can be called hugely popular or trusted now. borisjohnson broke his promise to take britain out of the eu, do or die, by 31 october. political opponents say you can't trust his word. even some tories have their doubts, about his command of detail, for example. yes, he was a popular london mayor, but that was before brexit split the country. his party decided he was the one most likely to win. right now, his personal poll ratings are well ahead ofjeremy corbyn‘s, but polls can change, and that is one reason why this could be as personal, maybe as nasty an election campaign, as any we've seen. our deputy political editorjohn pienaar. let's take a look at some of today's other election news: launching its campaign, the green party in england and wales

has said 12 december should be the climate election, arguing the future wouldn't get another chance. the party called for additional borrowing in order to fund £100 billion of spending a year for the next decade in order to protect the environment. we know these are dark times. it's easy to fear the future. the threat of brexit hangs over our heads. the climate emergency rages, from the amazon to the arctic. and our fragile democracy is under attack. but, despite all this, greens don't fear the future. we are the future. the snp leader, nicola sturgeon, said demands for a second scottish independence referendum will become irresistible if her party wins most of scotland's 59 westminster seats. scotland's first minister said she has already set out plans to hold a new vote next year, and said the notion of westminster politicians rejecting a second vote was starting to crumble. the liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, took to the campaign trail on an electric battle bus with the slogan, "stop brexit, build

a brighterfuture." she visited a mental health charity in north london, saying her party would pledge £11 billion to mental health services, funded by a penny rise in the basic rate of income tax. throughout the election campaign, the bbc will be looking at the key issues, explaining the policies that are being talked about and the subjects that aren't. have a look at some of our online explainers at bbc.co.uk/news, or on the bbc news app. or minus the headlines on bbc news: borisjohnson launches his party's election campaign, saying his brexit deal delivered everything he campaigned for. tom watson announces his resignation as labour's deputy leader and says he won't be seeking re—election as an mp. the climate campaign group extinction rebellion wins at the high court,

asjudges rule that police were wrong to ban their protests in london. let's turn to that story now. action taken by the metropolitan police to to prevent extinction rebellion activists, protesting in central london last month, was unlwaful, according to the high court. the met now faces the prospect of hundreds of claims of compensation after it enforced a ban on protests of more than two people, in an effort to curb the group's so—called autumn uprising, as our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford explains. for seven days, extinction rebellion protestors brought parts of london to a standstill. stretching police resources to the limit. on the eighth day, organisers adopted a tactic from the hong kong pro—democracy movement, in which protestors are told to be like water — to flood a site and then, when police arrive,

quickly move on to another location, causing as much disruption as possible. at that point, the superintendent in charge banned all extinction rebellion protests in london, a decision the high court today ruled unlawful. we are delighted with today's result. it vindicates our belief that the police's blanket ban was an unprecedented, unlawful infringement on our right to protest. it also opens the way for those who were detained for breaching the ban to sue the police for unlawful arrest. we're disappointed by the ruling, but clearly we absolutely respect the court's decision. and what we need to do now, i think, is, in slow time, carefully consider what it means for us, and review our tactics in light of it. so, the police now have a challenge — how do they deal with the "be water" tactic of protesters,

when lots of mini—protests keep popping up all over the place? the judges were clear that a city—wide ban won't wash, it's unlawful. so, police will have to revert to dealing with each mini protest one by one, with all the implications for resources that that involves. police said today they spent more than £24 million policing extinction rebellion‘s autumn uprising, and said it had caused unacceptable and prolonged disruption. daniel sandford, bbc news, at new scotland yard. the man accused of murdering the british backpacker grace millane in new zealand last year has gone on trial in auckland. the court has heard that the suspect went on a date with another women, while grace millane's body was in a suitcase in his room. a court order prevents us from naming the 27—year—old, who denies murder and claims her death was accidental, as our correspondent phil mercer reports. grace millane came to new zealand for the adventure of a lifetime but

on the eve of her 22nd birthday, she disappeared. on wednesday, grace's pa rents disappeared. on wednesday, grace's parents arrived at the high court in auckland to find out what happened to her. in the dock, accused of murder, a 27—year—old man who, for legal reasons, we can't identify. thejury legal reasons, we can't identify. the jury heard that the couple met through an on line dating app and went drinking. grace millane went back with the defendant to his apartment. she died there. prosecutors say she was strangled in this city centre building. a week later, her contorted body was found stuff in a suitcase in a shallow grave. only two people know what happened in that room. one of them can't tell us. and the other one hasn't told the truth about what happened. prosecutors allege the next day, the defendant went on a date with another woman while the

body of grace millane was still in his apartment. lawyers say this has shown his utter disregard for the life of the young english woman. the defence, however, has a different story. it believes grace millane's death was accidental. defence lawyers argue it was a sex game that went wrong. grace millane died as a result of what they consensually engaged in during their time together. so while his actions may have caused her death, he is also not to blame, although he may blame himself. and yet certainly not criminally responsible. grace millane's death last year shocked new zealand. the judge millane's death last year shocked new zealand. thejudge has millane's death last year shocked new zealand. the judge has warned thejury to new zealand. the judge has warned the jury to ignore the publicity surrounding the case. today, the court heard a poignant statement from grace's father david. he said she was a gregarious young woman who

chose her friends carefully. she was a gregarious young woman who chose herfriends carefully. the trial is expected to run for at least a month. phil mercer, trial is expected to run for at leasta month. phil mercer, bbc news, auckland. marks & spencer says its profits dropped by nearly a fifth in the first half of its financial year. the retailer was hit by a sharp fall in demand for its clothes and home goods. overall sales were down by two point i% — but it reported that its food business had grown. more than 1,000 people were forced to leave a london theatre after part of its ceiling collapsed during a show. emergency services were called to piccadilly theatre in the west end where people had been watching arthur miller's death of a salesman. four people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. wendell pierce, who plays the lead character willy loman, spoke to the crowd outside. idid not i did not mean for it to go like this. i would like to thank you all

for one, safely evacuating. we apologise and we are glad that no—one is hurt and i ask you all to come back and see our production. we are so come back and see our production. we are so honoured that you came tonight. one person in the audience who saw the roof come down told how at first, the crowd could hear water coming through for several minutes before part of the ceiling collapsed. i think it's the normal things, you are sitting in a theatre, you are watching the show and very sto i ca lly, watching the show and very stoically, use it there and let this happen and then you suddenly realise something is happening that shouldn't be and clearly things went right. a few people started to panic that i wouldn't say it was a mass panic but there was a very, very quick evacuation. it's 30 years since the fall of the berlin wall, marking the end of the cold war. it was one of a series of momentous events in eastern europe in 1989 when communist regimes were overthrown by popular revolutions. our world affairs aditor john simpson, who reported

on the revolutions of that year, has returned to a now—united german capital and looks back at the events which led to the fall of the wall. the brandenburg gate — thriving, touristy and very relaxed. but it wasn't always like that. 30 years ago, the eastern side was silent, scary and there was no avoiding the wall which cut the city in two. if you ventured into east berlin, it was like going through the looking glass. few people here had cars, so the streets were mostly empty. life was drab and depressing and the police were everywhere. this was stasi land, the secret police state. the stasi's archives are on public show nowadays. there are 111 kilometres of secret files in all. something like one person in every seven was being watched and reported on. there were spies in every factory, in every office, in every street,

in every block of flats. husbands spied on their wives and wives on their husbands. stasi headquarters kept a special eye on a leading dissident called hans—jurgen misselwitz. 30 years later, he's come to terms with the fact that people he knew, friends even, had spied on him. they were people who i knew, yeah. but i had a different... ..or we had a different explanation of what their motives were. and what their...some were still convinced that they did the right thing. did anybody who'd informed on you say sorry? 0h... clears throat no. the east german crowds were emboldened by the liberal changes in moscow, brought in by the reformist soviet leader mikhail gorbachev.

gorby! they took to the streets, demanding greaterfreedom and the demonstrations grew bigger and bigger. the police and the stasi used plenty of force, but it still wasn't clear if they'd actually open fire on the demonstrators. there was no massacre, to the huge relief of protest leaders like jens reich. that was really miraculous, that no violence took place. such a peaceful outcome is really not.. ..not the usual thing. and there was another miracle. the east german government's spokesman announced live on television that the wall would open that night. thousands of people headed for the crossing points and no—one stopped them. and this is november... the last premier of communist east germany, hans modrow, told us

that he and his colleagues had no idea this would happen when they took the decision. it was only as he walked home afterwards that some excited young people told him the wall was open. a whole new world was being born. john simpson, bbc news, berlin. let us look at some breaking news coming in from wiltshire police. shortly before 8:30pm this evening, following rob —— report of suspicious activity. ambulance and fire services attended the scene, medical checks were carried out. 14th of "14 of these

individuals have been conveyed to custody. not believed to be in a serious condition. road closure in lease on the 350 at the kington langley crossroads while that laurie is recovered. one man aged in his 50s has been arrested on suspicion of assisting with the legal entry and taken into custody for further questioning and you will remember this incident involving 15 people in the back of a lorry comes just a fortnight after the tragic deaths of 39 migrants who appeared to be vietnamese in essex. that story of illegal migration in the face of it, appears to be illegal migration will no doubt featured tomorrow night. we will be taking an in—depth look at the papers.

with giles kenningham and maya goodfellow — that's coming up after the headlines at 11:30. police in the us have come to the rescue of a black bear, that got stuck in a bin. the animal became trapped in the bin in kings beach, california, where it was foraging for food. the bear — named t—shirt by locals — because of the white "t" on its chest, was too large to climb out of the small openings in the lid, so officers tried various ways to free it. eventually they showed the bear how to flip the lid and it escaped. luckily it's no longer in the bin. now it's time for the weather with ben rich. the short—term forecast brings a lot of rainfor the short—term forecast brings a lot of rain for some of us throughout thursday but the longer term forecast brings rain but where the

wettest places will be remain somewhat open to question. this is the big weather pattern. it's what the big weather pattern. it's what the jetstream is doing. the big weather pattern. it's what thejetstream is doing. diving southwards, and when we get these dips in the jetstream, southwards, and when we get these dips in thejetstream, we southwards, and when we get these dips in the jetstream, we are able to generate areas of low pressure and the lows essentially get stuck in the dips. it's going to sit and spend throughout thursday and a long line of this weather front, we are going to see quite a lot of rain, perhaps enough to cause some problems. most especially north wales and northern england, the potential for localised flooding and travel disruption and to the south of that, a mixture of sunny spells and perhaps thundery showers to the north. sunshine and showers here as well. showers over high ground in scotla nd well. showers over high ground in scotland could be wintry because is going to be another chilly day. let's see how this rain just lingers across parts of northern england. into the evening. into the early hours of friday. the ongoing risk of

travel problems but through friday, this bump in the isobars is going to edge its way and this is a ridge of high pressure as it topples in. more on the way of sunshine. showery rain might be slow to clear from eastern parts of england. temperature is no great shakes. attending cardiff, 11 in plymouth. temperatures will take a nosedive. widely down to freezing 01’ a nosedive. widely down to freezing ora a nosedive. widely down to freezing or a good few degrees below. quite a widespread frost. fog patches to greet us on saturday morning. for most, a decent amount of sunshine, notice out west already, a change. outbreaks of rain. some snow over the high ground, the pennines, up into scotland, another single digit day for most of us. that weather slides eastwards. another one of these pumps in the isobars, another

ridge of