last post plays when you go home, say, for your tomorrow we gave our today. nimrod plays

the familiar sound of nimrod at the national memorial arboretum and around the country, two minutes‘ silence was observed at 11 o'clock to mark armistice day. the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, to remember the deaths of fallen servicemen and women in the two

world wars and in conflicts since. the duke of kent is attending that service at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire. the silence is marked every year to mark the day in 1918 when the fighting in world war i was stopped. the allies and germany signing an armistice in and germany signing an armistice in a railway carriage in france at 5am on the 11th of november 1918. six hours later, at 11 o'clock, the conflict ceased. the first armistice

silence was observed in 1919 and has continued every year since then. nimrod plays you're watching bbc newsroom live — and these are the main stories this morning. the country has just fallen silent to commemorate those who died in the two world wars and all later conflicts. the two main parties are marking armistice day by promising measures to support military personnel and veterans.

a chinese firm's announced a deal in principle to buy british steel — potentially saving up to 4,000 jobs at plants in scunthorpe and teesside. it's been a big concern, nobody knowing what's going to be happening, whether they've got a job, can pay their mortgages orfeed theirfamilies. it's job, can pay their mortgages orfeed their families. it's great news. authorities warn flooding around south yorkshire's river don will continue, with more than two inches of rain forecast today. five severe flood warnings — meaning a threat to life, remain in place. the latest figures on economic growth are out showing a 0.3% rise from july to the end of september — avoiding a recession. in hong kong, a pro—democracy protester has been shot by police during another day of demonstrations while a pro—beijing demonstrator was set on fire after arguing with protesters.

good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. there's fresh hope for thousands of staff affected by the collapse of british steel, with a chinese firm on the verge of signing a recue deal. british steel collapsed six months ago, and has been run by the government at a loss ever since, but china'sjingye group has now agreed a £70 million deal to buy the company. jingye is ranked 217th in scale among large enterprises in china, with assets of £41; billion — and plans to increase production at british steel from 2.5 million to 3 million tonnes a year — but they've warned some costs will be cut. james dunn has more. british steel has been feeling the heat for more than six months. since going into liquidation, it's been propped up

by the government. so é you rescue so .e you rescue deals have already failed but there's new hope about the new offer from chinese firm jingye group. the new offer from chinese firm jingye group. what we would like to see as an investor likejingye group putting significant investment into british steel for the longer term. british steel for the longer term. british steel for the longer term. british steel has around a500 employees at its scunthorpe and teesside sites with a further 20,000 people working in the supply chain. many of whom have rallied to save the firm. i feelthe many of whom have rallied to save the firm. i feel the steelworks is the firm. i feel the steelworks is the life of the town. basically, it's the heart of the town and if the heart stops beating, services, retail, everything else around it will be affected massively. jingye group says it plans to up the production but also cut costs, so although the news brings hope for those working for british steel, uncertainty overjobs continues.

james dunn, bbc news. well, as employees arrived for work this morning they were asked for their reaction to the news. yeah, the majority has been told. we've been told by managers and stuff like that, yeah. everyone's happy, like, because obviously we're still in a job. it's been a big concern, nobody knowing what's going to be happening, if they've got a job, pay their mortgages, feed their families. it's great news. how much of a worry has it been? yeah, it has been. you don't know if your batting or bowling, do you? once it gets sorted, we can get on with it better, can't we? it's good finally something positive. it's good. what are your thoughts about jingye? anything's better than nothing, i suppose. yeah, it's getting better. joining me now is our economics correspondent dharshini david. 0ther other potential buyers decided not to proceed because amongst the things they cited was competition from chinese steel. here we have a chinese company wanting to buy

british steel, what we know about jingye group? it is hardly a household name but it's one of those companies set up by a former communist party official. we don't know that much about it but we know it's been very difficult to find a buyerfor it's been very difficult to find a buyer for british steel and the reason is quite simple, it was difficult to turn a profit there for two reasons. what we've seen is intense competition not least from the chinese when it comes to making steel. the uk wants the birthplace of steel—making, now we are not even in the top 20 of steel makers around the globe. we are seeing very low prices, so it's hard to turn a profit when you make steel and of course there was all the uncertainty over brexit and former owners are saying that meant orders had dropped through the floor because nobody wa nted through the floor because nobody wanted to take a bet on getting their steel if they weren't sure what the trading arrangements were going to be. don't forget, we were meant to leave the eu when this actually fell apart in may. 0verriding all of that of course, as

we we re 0verriding all of that of course, as we were hearing there, it's a hugely important industry particularly in scunthorpe. 3000 jobs, it matters to the whole area immensely. these are very skilled jobs as well. it is a strategic industry, very important for our defence, huge efforts going into making sure a rescuer could be found but that has come at a price. we understand there are probably government guarantees in there, financial support and that's probably what makes it attractive. what else is in it forjingye group and ata what else is in it forjingye group and at a price tag of £70 million, are they getting a good deal? a lot of people say, british steel should be sold for more than this. despite the difficulties, people are saying the difficulties, people are saying the price tag should be higher. we've got to see the detail of this deal because at the moment we've got an agreement in principle and we've been hearing unions and workers and a nalysts been hearing unions and workers and analysts say, we've got to see exactly what is involved. 0ur understanding is there is some

enticement from the government when it comes to things like loan guarantees and other forms of assistance. that is an incentive that the company is looking at. ultimately, we are talking about a very important industry in what is still a strategic area for chinese companies. let's look at the wider economic picture with the economic growth figures this morning. the economy avoiding falling into recession but grace is at its lowest for a decade. not much to cheer about. the economy did expand by 0.3% but that followed a period in which it contracted. 0ver 0.3% but that followed a period in which it contracted. over the last year or two, frankly, we've lost stea m. year or two, frankly, we've lost steam. it is pretty lacklustre. business investment still suffering, many saying that is down to continued uncertainty over brexit. consumer spending is holding up well and exports as well. when you look at what is going on, we are looking at what is going on, we are looking atan at what is going on, we are looking at an economy where there's not much

to shout about against a backdrop of wea k to shout about against a backdrop of weak global growth. what does this mean? ultimately some are saying we could see the next movement on interest rates being down rather than up. thank you. house back now to the commemorations on armistice day. we can speak to our correspondent tim muffet, who is at the national arboretum. it is always such a poignant time. absolutely. this british forces memorial is designed so that when the sun is out on the 11th hour on the sun is out on the 11th hour on the 11th month that the sun shines directly onto the memorial. it was quite a beautiful sight. hymns at the moment, the duke of kent has given an address and right across the country, this two minute silence, so important to so many people, armistice day. of course, the first two minutes' silence took

place in 1919, one minute after the end of world war i so this is the 100th anniversary of that. it was the idea of king george v he was keen to allow people to pay their respects to the many, many who had died during the dreadful conflict of 191a to 1918. armistice day is on just about the first world war or the second world war, it's about those who have died in all conflicts since then. today, we've been speaking to veterans, their families and many current servicemen and women as well. all of them finding this a very moving and important moment to reflect. thank you. the headlines on bbc news. it's armistice day and the country fell silent for two minutes at 11 o'clock to commemorate those who died in the two world wars and all conflicts since then. the two largest parties are marking

armistice day by promising measures to support military personnel and veterans. a chinese firm's announced a deal in principle to buy british steel — potentially saving up to a,000 jobs at plants in scunthorpe and teesside. and in sport — jurgen klopp says he could never imaging that his liverpool would be 9 points clear of manchester city at this stage of the season. they beat the champions 3—1 at anfield. they are eight points clear of leicester and chelsea. celtic and rangers are still neck and neck in the scottish premiership. celtic only top on goal differnece after beating motherwell 2—0. and roger federer lost his opening group game at the atp finals in london. dominic thiem beat him in staright sets. i'll be back with more on those stories.

the conservatives and labour are marking armistice day with pledges to support members of the armed forces and their families. the tories would change the law to protect veterans from legal action they describe as "vexatious", by amending the human rights act. they are also promising extra childcare before and after school for military families, as well as a new railcard for veterans and their families, giving a third off the price of most rail tickets. meanwhile, labour says it will boost the income of the lowest paid members of the forces, and improve support for forces children by helping those who frequently move schools. plus, the party is restating its previous pledge for an armed forces day. borisjohnson has been meeting armed forces veterans in the west midlands today. 0ur correspondent alex forsyth is there and we can speak to her now. tell us more about what the prime minister has been doing and the

reaction to bait the offer from the conservatives and labour. well, it is very unusual that armistice day. during an election campaign, it hasn't happened for decades because this isn't usually the time of year when we are in an election period. as you say, partly for that reason and also because of important issues across the board, the parties are putting this front and centre. this support for veterans and their families and for military personnel. the prime minister this morning in the west midlands, he has been a tonne armistice day service and has been meeting veterans. —— he has been meeting veterans. —— he has been at an armistice day service. they are keen on ending what they call vexatious prosecutions of vetera ns. call vexatious prosecutions of veterans. this has been promised before by the conservative party and not been delivered and there has been some criticism because of that. the idea behind this is that they would change the human rights act to stop it applying to things that happened before the year 2000 and

there for to try and prevent what they call vexatious prosecutions. it might not be as simple as that because of the people have tried and failed and it could also run into the european court of human rights. whether boris johnson the european court of human rights. whether borisjohnson can deliver on that pledge will be crucial. labour has offered to extend improving support for children is families and that includes support for housing and pay rises for military personnel. jeremy corbyn trying to get on the front foot but he is facing some difficult questions about his approach to defence as well. thank you. let's go to... i'm afraid we can't go to our other political correspondent, hopefully we will be there very soon but staying with the election. health has been a major topic during this election, and at half past eleven we'll be

putting your questions to helen buckingham from the health think—tank the nuffield trust. so if you have anything you want to ask, please do get in touch, using the contact details on screen, and we'll put those questions to helen. two cannabis—based medicines to treat epilepsy and multiple sclerosis have been approved for use by the nhs. it follows new guidelines from the drugs advisory body nice. here's our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. medicine? indy rose has severe epilepsy. but her seizures have reduced dramatically since she's been on medicinal cannabis. her parents are deeply disappointed as her drug will still not be available on the nhs. the epilepsy drug, which has been approved, is called epidyolex. doctors will be able to prescribe it in england, wales, northern ireland for two hard—to—treat forms of epilepsy, dravet and lennox gastaut syndromes. scotland may follow later.

it contains cbd or cannabidiol, but no thc, the main psychoactive component of cannabis. many parents spend thousands of pounds a month on getting thc—containing cannabis medicines from overseas, despite the law being changed last year to allow specialist doctors to prescribe them here. the other treatment, also derived from cannabis plants, specially cultivated in the uk, is for multiple sclerosis. sativex is a mouth spray which contains a mix of thc and cbd and has been available on the nhs in wales since 201a. it's been approved for treating muscle stiffness and spasms. doctors will not be allowed to prescribe it to treat pain, which has disappointed ms patient groups. fergus walsh, bbc news. let's return to election

campaigning. in hartlepool the brexit party is due to hold a news conference shortly. the party has faced criticism from some brexit supporters for splitting the leave vote by running in seats where they could take votes from the conservatives. 0ur political correspondent tom barton is there. i'll be expecting any announcements from the brexit party today to say whether they are standing in certain constituencies? there has been a lot of talk about whether there could be an alliance between the brexit party and the conservatives. it is something nigel farage has mentioned over and over again. the conservatives have given the idea short shrift ever since nigel farage started talking about it. he has come under pressure from some within the brexit party, the concern being that in areas where the brexit party is fielding or might field candidates against the conservatives, but that could potentially split the brexit vote and allow other parties instead

which would damage the prospects of delivering brexit. now, we are in what is really a brexit heartland seats here in hartlepool. the brexit party say this is their number one target seat at this general election. labour won the seat with a 7000 majority for mike hill back in 2017 but this is the place where 70% of people voted to leave the eu at the referendum in 2016, in the european elections earlier this year, the brexit party overwhelmingly won here with 55% of the vote. i'm sorry if you heard any u nfortu nate the vote. i'm sorry if you heard any unfortunate language there. the brexit party hope this is somewhere they can win but their concern is that this is somewhere where is the conservatives are standing, that could split the brexit vote and stop them succeeding. nigel farage is

again likely to try and pile on the pressure to the conservatives to not stand in seats where the brexit party is trying to take on labour. there is very little sign from the tories that they are going to take the bait and do what nigel farage wa nts. the bait and do what nigel farage wants. it will be interesting to see how that seat plays out. we will bring you details of that news conference when it happens. in hong kong, a man is critically ill in hospital, after being shot in the chest at close range by a police officer during demonstrations. earlier, our correspondent stephen mcdonell was at the scene. this is the pedestrian crossing where the man was actually shot. there is a lot of activity going on. i will show you some of it. this oil was spilt on the ground to try and make police officers fall over by activists. there is graffiti on the ground here. it says "they shot here". this is the exact location where the man fell to

the ground after being shot. this is being turned into a political shrine, if you like, with political messages on the wall over there. and if we come over here, activists are preparing for battle, actually. all these bricks on the ground, you can see, have got to come from somewhere. they are bricks to be thrown at the police. and people over here are digging the bricks up to use for the clashes. i suppose they think they will happen in the coming hours. in another incident today, just when we thought it couldn't get more violent, a man who was seen to be pro—beijing, i guess, had an argument with some more hardcore pro—democracy activists. they doused him in some sort of accelerant, lit it and the man caught fire. this is all over the internet,

peopled seeing this man on fire. he is in hospital in a critical condition. the young student who was shot by police at point blank range is also in hospital in a critical condition. if either of those two people die today, it'll make a very tense situation even worse. authorities in australia have declared a state of emergency — saying tomorrow's weather is expected to be worse than originally forecast. 6a bushfires are still burning — and several of them are edging closer to the outskirts of sydney. at least three people have been killed in new south wales and authorities fear more lives are at severe risk. 0ur correspondent phil mercer is there and sent us this update. sydney and regions to the north, south, and west are on edge, you can already smell the smoke in the air, you can see this smoky haze starting to blanket australia's biggest city.

strong winds cause chaos during bushfire crises and we can feel the wind really starting to pick up here, so firefighters in the next 2a hours could well be facing horrific conditions, australia is a land well—used to nature's extremes but officials say this fire emergency is unprecedented. a bushfire emergency has been declared here in new south wales, a state of emergency has also been declared in queensland. what that means is that fire authorities have extra powers to try to deal with the onslaught. firefighters, there are hundreds and hundreds of boots on the ground, they are being supported by a squadron of water bombing aircraft, it really is a military style operation to try to protect life and property. but fire authorities are warning some residents who decide to stay

in bushfire—prone regions, that the flames may well be much too intense and that help might not come. australia is bracing for the onslaught. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. we are keeping a very close eye on the weather forecast with flood warnings in place. we've got some rain in places where we really don't want it where we have got those flood warnings. some of the showers will be heavy and thundery, there are currently some across the peak district. the best of the dry and bright weather towards south—eastern areas of england. strong gusty winds, very windy out there and the winds will pick up as the showers come through. feeling cool with temperatures peaking in high single figures for most places. this evening and overnight, showers continue to feed

through on the north—westerly breeze. winds helping to stop frost forming but still rather chilly and some of that rain in northern scotla nd some of that rain in northern scotland turning to snow over higher ground. temperatures down to low single figures, a chilly start tomorrow. remaining chilly as we head through the rest of the week. all of the details on flood warnings issued by the environment agency on the bbc weather website.

hello, this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines: it's armistice day, and the country fell silent for two minutes at 11 o'clock, to commemorate those who died in the two world wars and all conflicts since then. the two largest parties are marking armistice day by promising measures to support military personnel and veterans. a chinese firm's announced a deal in principle to buy british steel. the news has been welcomed by

workers who were told this morning. authorties warn flooding around south yorkshire's river don will continue, with more than two inches of rain forecast today. five severe flood warnings, meaning a threat to life, remain in place. the latest figures on economic growth are out, showing a 0.3% rise from july to the end of september, avoiding a recession. in hong kong, a pro—democracy protester has been shot by police during another day of demonstrations while a pro—beijing demonstrator was set on fire after arguing with protesters. now the sport with 0llie foster. good morning. liverpool are eight points clear at the top of the premier league this morning,

after beating manchester city 3—1. there was a frantic start to the game at anfield. city felt they should've had a penalty when trent alexander arnold handled in the box. and then, just 21 seconds later, fabinho scored to give the home side the lead. mo salah made it 2—0, before sadio mane sealed the victory though city did get one back. pep guardiola appeared less then genuine as he applauded the referees for their performance at full—time. city are fourth, one point behind leicester and chelsea. here is their captain. they have been crowned champions twice on a bike to bike. i don't see why the defeat yesterday would cast any doubt. i know if i was in the middle of the dressing room i would have been thinking, we created a lot

of chances against a very strong liverpool, more chance probably than in previous years when we went to anfield. and nine points is really, it's something you can overcome. but with a busy winter period coming, i would still believe. manchester united are up to seventh, with a 3—1 victory over brighton. it's united's fifth win in six games. manager 0le gunnar solskjaer thinks things are, finally, coming together. sir alex ferguson approved. elsewhere, wolves beat aston villa. twelve games into the scottish premiership, celtic and rangers are still neck and neck. both won 2—0 yesterday — rangers victors at livingston, while celtic beat motherwell. both have 31 points, but celtic are on top by virtue of a better goal difference, just the one goal better. arsene wenger appears to have ruled himself out of taking over at bayern munich. the german champions sacked nico kovac after a poor run of results, and the former arsenal

manager was in the frame iam out i am out of this. first of all, i never was a candidate. i had been approached. and i am not in the running for thejob. approached. and i am not in the running for the job. you were neither approached nor are you running for the job?|j neither approached nor are you running for the job? i was approached. but he never felt you we re approached. but he never felt you were a candidate for the job?|j approached. but he never felt you were a candidate for the job? i am not a candidate for the job. that's it for now. they're back to bbc news. time for your questions. health has been a major topic during this election, with each of the parties making claims about how their opposition would treat the nhs. joining me now to answer your questions about health is helen buckingham, director of strategy at health think tank the nuffield trust.

hello, thank you very much for coming along. we have got a few interesting and varied questions. let's begin with maureen. she asks about looking ahead to potentially another vote, not of the general election, but worrying as if scotla nd election, but worrying as if scotland votes to become independent, will they still be able to access the nhs? great question. i think what many people perhaps don't understand at the moment is that although we talk about having a national health service, what we actually have a four health services in the four countries of the united kingdom. scotland already runs its own health service and people access that. we have got arrangements in place that if you are in england only a you are ill over the border, you get treated and vice versa. what we need to look at in the event of a scottish referendum for independence is how the rules that we currently have woodwork in the future. right now it's nothing for people to worry

about. it is definitely something respective governments will be think very carefully. julie asks if it is more expensive to provide bursaries and train nurses from within the uk, or bringing nurses from abroad. this is getting out any gaps in the number of staff needed. yes, what probablyjudy has heard is that we have a big shortage of nurses in the uk. in england we think we are about a0,000 nurses assured. and so it's not as simple as one or the other. we have to do both. in the short term it probably is cheaper to bring nurses in from overseas. what we need to do when we are doing that is making sure we are doing it ethically. so we're not taking nurses from countries that can't look after themselves. we also need to invest so we can train nurses in this country. in the short term, what better value if we can train

nurses ourselves. the cost will depend on if those nurses are directly employed by the nhs or their agency nurses? yes, it is much cheaper for the nhs to employ nurses, including from overseas, thanit nurses, including from overseas, than it is to employ agency or bank people who do individual shift. that is more expensive for the nhs. the next question relates to potential staff shortages as well. liz asks, how can we address the drain of newly qualified doctor is going to work abroad straight after training? well, this is about making the nhs a great place for junior doctors well, this is about making the nhs a great place forjunior doctors to work. for many of the moment it is not. so we see from the staff survey under surveys of junior doctors in particular, that we still have places in the nhs where people feel bullied and harassed. people feel discriminated against. particularly people from an ethnic minority. those are things the nhs has recognised and definitely needs to address. it is about making sure

that when people come to work as junior doctors they have a good experience. it is a big step from being a medical student to becoming a doctor. we need to make sure people feel supported and taking that big step and they have good leadership in the organisation to do that. and they have a good opportunity to have a good worklife balance. a brief supplementary. do you feel so far in this campaign we have heard very much about the nhs relative to other subjects?|j have heard very much about the nhs relative to other subjects? i think it is fairto relative to other subjects? i think it is fair to say the nhs has been quite settled in the campaign. we have heard things about pensions and how it has affected doctors and health care professionals. we have also heard about privatisation. that was one of your other questions. also heard about privatisation. that was one of your other questionsm is. bobby is leaning towards voting for the conservatives but is worried about privatisation of the nhs. what is the truth about what they are planning? right. it is not for me to be able to tell your viewers how they should vote. they should make

their minds up. i can set out a few fa cts their minds up. i can set out a few facts about how the nhs works in the private sector. people probably don't realise how much nhs care is provided by the private sector no. when you go to see your gp, most gps are independent providers. they are businesses with contracts with the nhs. what a lot of things like patient transport services are provided by the private sector. in some cases some community services are. almost anywhere in england if you need surgery, if your gp says you need surgery, if your gp says you need surgery, if your gp says you need an operation, then you have a right to choose to go to the private sector. so it is there already. and when we look at the gps, which i think most people would regard as part of the nhs, the amount of money the nhs spends on the private sector, things like hospitals etc, is about 7% to 8% of its budget. it has been like that for the last four to five years. it doesn't change very much. we can look at how the private sector works

for the nhs. that is something i think all the parties were commenting on. but actually it is a reality now. there is no reason to think it will be a significant issue either way. what we don't know from the question is whether it refers to the question is whether it refers to the discussion around whether they could be some linkup between the uk and the us in a future trade deal post brexit in relation to the nhs? yeah. that has clearly been in the media in recent weeks. there are a couple of issues. one is about us health companies providing health ca re health companies providing health care services. and as i say, that option is open to them though. we haven't seen any significant uptake of that in recent years. the other factor which i think might be more ofan factor which i think might be more of an issue is around drug costs. and the amount of money that we in the nhs pay for medicines is lower than we would pay for those medicines in the united states. we think that is something the us wants to look out in the future trade

deal. clearly a deal is a deal. it has two parties. just because it is something we know the us wants to look at it, doesn't mean it didn't necessarily have a significant cost for the nhs necessarily have a significant cost forthe nhs in necessarily have a significant cost for the nhs in the future. time for one more question from john. he asks, have the nhs waiting time targets been abandoned by the government over the past few years? they are still very real and the nhs report so it is doing against performance standards. we look at that are monthly and quarterly basis. they have not been abandoned. it is true to say the nhs is going to find it harder and harder to meet those standards. there is a standard that says 90% of people should be treated or admitted to hospital within four hours when they come to a&e. we haven't met that target since 2015. everybody needs an operation should be seen and treated within 18 weeks. 50% have been waiting longer than that. it is getting harderfor the waiting longer than that. it is getting harder for the nhs waiting longer than that. it is getting harderfor the nhs to meet those standards and that is because

we have got more people, more sick people, or more people who need health care. the amount of staff of the nhs and the hospital services hasn't kept up with that in recent yea rs hasn't kept up with that in recent years because investment hasn't kept up years because investment hasn't kept up with it. that is something that has impacted on delivery but it doesn't mean the targets are gone away. they are very real. hello, great to have your expertise. thank you to you as well for sending in those questions. a row throughout this election campaign we will be putting your questions to all of the main parties and we will have somewhat later today at half past five when we will be joined by the deputy leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed davey. if you have anything you want to ask, please get in touch.

let's get more now on the economy. as we've already heard, it grew by 0.3% in the three months to the end of september. the office for national statistics released the figures this morning. it means the uk has avoided going into recession after a slight downturn in the previous quarter. we can cross to inverness and speak to the scottish national party's drew hendry good morning to you. give us your thoughts on these figures? well, it seems we have narrowly avoided a recession because of the spending that governments under businesses have had to put into brexit preparations. this is the lowest level of growth since 2010 coming out of the financial crisis. it certainly nothing to be pleased about. of course, gdp doesn't really tell all the story. people don't really care about percentages and so forth. they just see really care about percentages and so forth. theyjust see the widening inequality in their communities and

in society. the past five years has been a wasted opportunity and wilful mismanagement by the tory government. the objects are important for the government in that recession has been avoided, albeit relatively narrowly? as i say, they have scraped by only because of brexit preparations. businesses have had to invest enormous sums of money on stockpiling for the different deadlines that have been set up by the conservative government under two different leaders know. what we have seen is that they have been put off investing. investment has grown toa off investing. investment has grown to a halt. according to pdos, business confidence is low at zero. it is not a good picture at all, no matter what kind of spend the tories try to put on this. —— spin. this is a terrible picture of wilful mismanagement that is affecting people in their homes and their livelihoods. how much in this

election campaign are you projecting when you talk to people, to potentially an independent scotland? and are people asking you for early projections you might have on where economic growth would be in an independent scotland ? economic growth would be in an independent scotland? what people have seen throughout this brexit how scotla nd have seen throughout this brexit how scotland has been ignored by westminster. 0f scotland has been ignored by westminster. of course, the needs of the scottish people need to be di coke —— taken forward here in scotland. that is integrating people on the different levels for many different reasons, even those putted —— voted no in 2017, going to look at independent is something they can bring us forward. what we have seen in scotland is with the limited powers we have, the growth in renewables, the growth in food and drink, the scottish ability —— mike, it has the ability to influence things. of course, that is threatened by the situation is the borisjohnson is 20 put in place. we

have the —— single also... borisjohnson is 20 put in place. we have the -- single also... so you are not putting in your own project —— projections yet on what you would be aiming for in an independent scotla nd be aiming for in an independent scotland in terms of gdp growth? there is a big piece of work under the growth commission which laid out plans for an independent scotland. not all of it will be able to be followed through. in some we may not wa nt to ta ke followed through. in some we may not want to take forward. what it does is it set out a vision for the future. what we need to do is make sure we have the powers in the economy to make sure we have —— make a difference. the lowest growth since 2010, for all of this uk government was like mismanagement it has left us in a place where people in their communities are suffering through the austerity which has been proven to be a complete failure, and all it has done is impacted on people and families across scotland. it is very much the case that people here are at seeing what is happening

at westminster and saying, there is no way we can do worse than that and indeed we can do a lot better having the power here in scotland to drive our own economy first. and of course, putting that principle rather than gb ddp at the front of that —— rather than gb ddp at the front of that -- gdp rather than gb ddp at the front of that —— gdp of the front of the... good are communities could be and how happy they could be. we must leave it there. thank you for your time. in we must leave it there. thank you foryourtime. ina we must leave it there. thank you foryourtime. in a moment we must leave it there. thank you for your time. in a moment we will have all the business news. know doubt a mention on those economic growth figures. right now, their loads. the country fell silent for two minutes at 11 o'clock this morning for the 100th commemoration of armistice day. the two largest parties are marking armistice day by promising measures to support military personnel and vetera ns.

a chinese firm has announced a deal in principle to buy british steel. the move has been welcomed by workers were told this morning. in the business news... british steel is set to announce a rescue deal with china's jingye group, which could safeguard up to a,000 jobs in the uk. after months of uncertainty, the chinese group has an agreement in principle to buy the troubled operation for £70 million. the government, it is understood is providing some financial support, including loan guarantees. the economy has avoided recession after expanding 0.3% in the three months to the end of september. however, growth has lost momentum over the last year with output up just 1% in the year to the third quarter, the weakest expansion in the aftermath of the financial crisis. two cannabis—based medicines, used to treat epilepsy and multiple sclerosis,

have been approved for use by the nhs in england. charities have welcomed the move, although some campaigners who have been fighting for access to the drugs have said it does not go far enough. stronger activity in the service construction sector enabled the economy to grow by 0.3% in the three months to september, offseting stagnating manufacturing economy. business investment slumped again in recent months, stoking concerns that brexit uncertainty is putting businesses off spending. joining us now is yael selfin, chief economist at kpmg good morning. as you strip out the brexit preparations under various noise, frankly it's pretty lacklustre growth, isn't it? well, so quarterly figures were not too

bad, although we need to bear in mind july was relatively strong and the months nearer to us were a bit weaker. but overall, it's a mixed picture. it is a mixed picture and if you look at the back log as well, we have got a slowing global economy as well. it is not that impressive overall, is it? many people are saying the next move in interest rates could be down rather than up? yes, in terms of interest rates we would probably expect them to go down in line with other major central banks. the interesting figure was that exports were relatively strong, despite the fact that we had weaker global momentum, but as you say, with brexit ahead, this is likely to continue with the wea ker this is likely to continue with the weaker global growth as well. as you say, it was explored holding things up say, it was explored holding things up to say, it was explored holding things uptoa say, it was explored holding things up to a large extent in the recent three months. to a lesser degree,

government spending. how much of thatis government spending. how much of that is to do with companies trying to pre—empt what they thought was going to be another brexit deadline? so, this time around what we see in terms of stockpiling at least is something different to what we saw earlier in the year. companies actually drawing down on stocks at the moment. they weren't piling up more. they weren't actually potentially taking the deadline that seriously this time around. the numbers we are seeing here and there are more like the pure numbers of what you would expect in an environment of uncertainty around the brexit earned a week—old lobar —— weaker global momentum. the brexit earned a week—old lobar -- weaker global momentum. we have the major political parties promising to splash the cash. it is likely we will see more as for the economy from the particular support, but concerns about what that could mean in terms of the public debt situation for the uk? absolutely. it is very likely that we will see high

public spending in the coming months and years. the big question would be, held that the spending is implemented and where it is going to be spent in order to be able to understand the impact of the medium—term growth momentum in the uk. there are concerns about the credit wording —— creditworthiness of the uk? yes. that is one concern that obviously you will not have a very organised government that will invest where it should spending will not necessarily be as coherent as we would want it. obviously you have the brexit delay, making investment wea ker the brexit delay, making investment weaker because businesses are likely to postpone investment until better

clarity. all of that means you have less confidence in the uk economy in that sense. looking forward, there area that sense. looking forward, there are a variety of parts of the government could take. what is your forecaster? we are expecting gdp to remain relatively subdued in terms of growth, between 1.1 1.3%, depending on how things evolve. at the moment we are not expecting a recession. we are expecting consumer spending to remain relatively resilient, with government spending picking up a little bit from what we saw in the third quarter. thank you. a british airways whistle—blower has revealed an industrywide practice that adds weight to flights. fuel tank ring sees plains filled with extra fuel to avoid paying higher prices for refilling at their

destination. bbc panorama is discovered at the airline's play is generated an extra 18,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide last year through that particular practice. ba says it is common to carry extra fuel for operational, safety and price reasons. and the world was my biggest online shopping event is under way in china. alibaba is expecting the shopping frenzy to break records. last year the event brought in over $30 billion. that puts black friday in the shed. let's look at the markets to see how they reacted to the figures. the ftse 100 reacted to the figures. the ftse100 pretty much as expected. really not what surprises from these particular figures. we will keep a close eye on what is going on a double business newsletter. thank you. ajudge in malaysia has ruled

that a huge corruption case against the former prime minister, najib razak, should proceed to the next stage. the trial is linked to a multi—billion dollar scandal involving the state investment fund, 1mdb. mr najib has pleaded not guilty to charges including money laundering and abuse of power. he told the court he would take the stand in his defence. an investigation has been launched into whether apple's credit card discriminates against women, by offering them lower credit limits. it follows complaints — including from apple's co—founder steve wozniak — that algorithms used to set limits might be inherently biased. the card is run by the investment bank goldman sachs. they say credit decisions are not made on factors like the customer's sex. now it's time for the weather with elizabeth. hello. plenty more wet weather in the forecast for the rest of the week in the places where we don't wa nt week in the places where we don't want any more rain. severe flood warnings owed. a met office weather warnings owed. a met office weather warning in place today. rainjust

about everywhere through the week. some hills know on higher ground. 0ften some hills know on higher ground. often quite windy and feeling quite chilly. this is today's weather. 0ur weather front has been chilly. this is today's weather. 0ur weatherfront has been pushing east. quite a lot of rain like in the east. we have got further showers pushing down to the west. some are heavy and thundery. showers in the peak district. a met office weather warning in place. the showers continue to feed done. every brisk and chilly north—westerly wind. strong winds. these are the main wind speeds. temperatures will be up to very much at all. sticking in high single figures. eight to 9 degrees. i was ten to 11 in the south—west. the best of the dry and the bright weather towards south—eastern england. through this evening and overnight at showers will continue to move down. the

strength of the wind will help to keep any widespread first appeared. they will also be wintriness over the tops of the scottish hills. temperatures are generally done into the low single figures, perhaps a touch of frost in sheltered spot into tomorrow morning. tomorrow, our area of low pressure is pushing east. a slight shift in wind direction. still the focus on the showers through the morning again coming in from the north—west, within there were doubts south into pa rt within there were doubts south into part of wales through the morning. the best of the brightness are towards south—eastern areas of the british isles. and again, temperatures seven to 8 degrees. showers fewer and further between as we head through the day. wednesday should be a dry start. then this weather from start to move into the south—west. it is moving north and it is installing just where we don't wa nt it is installing just where we don't want any more rain. we have got those flood warnings on thursday. to check all of the details on the severe flood warnings, the multiple flood warnings that we have got out,

and the localised met office weather warnings, look at the bbc weather website. you will find lots of information.

you're watching bbc newsroom live — it's midday and these are the main stories this morning. a chinese firm's announced a deal in principle to buy british steel — potentially saving up to a,000 jobs at plants in scunthorpe and teesside. it's been a big concern, nobody knowing what's going to be happening, whether they've got a job, can pay their mortgages orfeed theirfamilies. it's great news. the two largest parties are marking armistice day by promising measures to support military personnel and veterans. authorities warn flooding around south yorkshire's river don will continue, with more than two inches of rain forecast today. five severe flood warnings — meaning a threat to life, remain in place. the country falls silent to commemorate those who died in the two world wars

and all later conflicts. in hong kong, a pro—democracy protester has been shot by police during another day of demonstrations while a pro—beijing demonstrator was set on fire after arguing with protesters. a state of emergency has been declared in new south wales and queensland as more than 100 bushfires continue to burn, posing what authorities say is a "catastrophic" threat. good afternoon. welcome to bbc newsroom live — i'm annita mcveigh. there's fresh hope for thousands of workers affected by the collapse of british steel, with a chinese firm on the verge of signing a recue deal. british steel collapsed six months ago, and has been run by the government at a loss ever since, but china'sjingye group has

now agreed a £70 million deal to buy the company. jingye is ranked 217th in scale among large enterprises in china, with assets of £a.a billion — and plans to increase production at british steel from 2.5 million to 3 million tonnes a year — but they've warned some costs will be cut. james dunn has more. british steel has been feeling the heat for six months now. since going into liquidation in may, it's been propped up by the government. several rescue deals have already failed, but there's new hope for the £70 million offer from chinese firm jingye group. what we want to see is an investor likejingye putting significant investment into british steel, not just for today and tomorrow, but for the longer term. we could easily be back here in

three years or five years time and say, it's happened again, looking for a new buyer. what we need to see is an investor who is in it for the long term. from what i understand, jingye is just that company. british steel has around a,500 employees at its scunthorpe and teesside sites — with a further 20,000 people working in the supply chain, many of whom have rallied to save the firm. today's announcement brings hope after months of uncertainty. the majority have been told, everyone is happy because we are still injobs. it's been a big concern, nobody knowing what's going to be happening, pay their mortgages, feed their families. how much of a worry has it been? it really has, once we get sorted we'll be able to get on with it better, can't we? finally something positive, it's good to stop what are your thoughts about jingye? anything is better than nothing, i suppose. jingye says it

plans to increase production but there will also be cost—cutting. for people here, the uncertainty isn't over yet. james dunn, bbc news. we are getting life to hartlepool because nigel farage are speaking. the voters voted leave in the referendum and they promised they would respect that vote. i suppose in some ways it was no surprise that when a new prime minister, boris johnson, one with shall we say slightly more optimism and energy than his predecessor, when he went along to that european summit and the backstop was removed, he cried victory. i think exhausted brexiteers, i think the phrase is brexaustion, said we've got a deal,

isn't that just fantastic? i've got to say, i was very unhappy with this, with this new eu treaty with the attached political declaration. i noticed in the days that followed, unlike many of those who voted for it and unlike many of those who praised it and are still today praising it, iactually praised it and are still today praising it, i actually read it. praised it and are still today praising it, iactually read it. and i drew the conclusion that it simply wasn't brexit. there were many many concerns. i think the separate status for northern ireland and what that might mean for the scottish debate in years to come and for the union was part of it. i didn't like the binding commitments to state aid rules which meant we couldn't for example take a strategic decision about an industry like steel. i certainly, having read the text on fishing, realised it was not going to deliver. 200 miles of the north

sea here in the north—east of england. so, there were many criticisms that i had of it. there we re criticisms that i had of it. there were two aspects that really did stand out for me as being completely unacceptable. the first was that it just did not get brexit done. it's a very tempting phrase. who wouldn't on the brexit side and indeed many on the brexit side and indeed many on the brexit side and indeed many on the remain side, who wouldn't cheer this coming to a conclusion as quickly as possible? but actually, all these documents do is take us into another set of agonising negotiations and ones in which there is no question the eu will have the upper hand. michel barnier who of course negotiated for the eu, who did such a good job he has now been re—recruited by the european union to be the next phase, we should poach him because he is rather

better than our people have been. he has already said that the trade negotiation will last for three yea rs or negotiation will last for three years or more. so, it doesn't as it stands get brexit done. the area that really worried me the most was the extent to which we were committing ourselves to regulatory and political alignment. we were binding ourselves in an international treaty to having parallel laws on everything from financial services to fisheries, even taxation we would not be com pletely even taxation we would not be completely free to set our own rates of vat or indeed corporation tax. i said to myself, when i looked at that, this really isn't brexit, this is in taking back control, this isn't the ability at general elections to choose governments that decide what course of action, what policy areas we choose. that's why

the national nominating officerfor the national nominating officerfor the brexit party last week signed 600 candidate forms, because i felt that in a democracy, everybody deserved to have a genuine choice. but the difficulty with that is weighing up what with the consequences be in this election of us fielding that number of candidates? this hasn't been easy. everyone speculated it would allow corbyn to win. i don't believe that but i understand fully that if we field 600 candidates there will be a hung parliament. that is by far the most likely outcome. i think it is something very few people really want. i also realised that if we did put up candidates i have no doubt that from south—west london down into hampshire and right out through

the western corridor all the way, all the way to land's the western corridor all the way, all the way to lands end, that the effect of us standing would be quite a large number of liberal democrat gains. my real concern about that is what would happen if the remain parties could get between them 325 seats in parliament? we know what would happen, there would be a second referendum. that has been a very real second referendum. that has been a very real concern second referendum. that has been a very real concern for me and i think if there was a second referendum, it would be disastrous for trust in our entire democratic system, disastrous for business, for investment into our country. and also i know that what we get off it is a. choice between remain or a form of remain. after 25 years of battling for us to be free of the eu, 25 years of

believing we should be an independent country, it has not been very easy. i have tried over the course of the last few months as you know to build a leave alliance. i've genuinely tried for months to put about the idea that putting country before party at a moment like this is the right thing to do. but that effectively has come to nothing. it has been very difficult and one or two have noticed my silence over the last few days. it has been a difficult decision to make but i have to say that last night, for the first time i saw something since that brussels summit that actually was optimistic, because i saw boris johnson on a video saying that we will not extend the transition period beyond the end of 2020. that,

in many ways, is a direct challenge to michel barnier that would need a change to the political declaration before all of this gets ratified in parliament. you may say to me, isn't this the same borisjohnson who said he would die in a ditch rather than extend from the 31st of october? yes, the issue of trust, the issue of delivery is a very real one and i will come back to that perhaps in a few moments. at least it was a clear, unequivocal statement from him that we are not going on beyond the end of 2020. but much more significantly, and quite unreported on so far today, he said something else that really did mattered to me hugely. he said, we would negotiate a trade deal, a super canada plus

trade deal with no political alignment. now, that is a huge change because ever since mrs may's abject speech in florence, we've been aiming at a close and special partnership with the eu. we've been aiming to stay part of many of its agencies and forested signal last night a very clear change of direction. i thought to myself, that actually sounds a bit more like the brexit that we voted for. trade, cooperation, reciprocity, with our european neighbours is what we all want. we all want to get on well with our neighbours, what we don't wa nt with our neighbours, what we don't want is to be part of their political institutions. the prime minister is saying he will make sure we aren't part of political alignment then that is, i think, a

significant step in the right direction. so, last night, iweighed up direction. so, last night, iweighed up boris's promises and is he going to stick to them against the threat, particularly in the south and south—west, that we let in a lot of remaina south—west, that we let in a lot of remain a liberal democrat mps. —— remainer liberal democrat mps. remain a liberal democrat mps. —— remainer liberal democrat mp5. i will tell you know exactly what we are going to do. the brexit party will not contest the 317 seats the conservatives won at the last election. but what we will do is concentrate our total effort into all of the seats that are held by the labour party, who have com pletely the labour party, who have completely broken their manifesto pledge in 2017 to respect the result of the referendum, and we will also ta ke of the referendum, and we will also take on the rest of the remainer

parties. we will stand up and we will fight them all. we aren't going to fight 600 seats... applause i have to say, i'm pleased you like it. it's not easy but how do we hold boris to his promises? that is the key. that is the key to whether this strategy actually works. we will expose the fact of labour's complete the trial of 5 million of their own voters. i think that is a very important thing for us today. applause i think it is also fair to say that the london dominated labour party is now thousands of miles away from its

traditional safe seats, many that it's held since 1918, and it actually is the time for seismic change in many of these constituencies. i think there is a labour audience out there waiting for that message, waiting to think there is somebody who is actually on their side, waiting to find a party that believes genuinely in investing in the regions, waiting for a party that says, we actually need in our country, to have sensible immigration controls and not an open door to everybody. these are the m essa 9 es door to everybody. these are the messages that will resonate hard in these labour areas, and you can absolutely rest assured that the people we are putting up for the brexit party to stand in all of the seats are genuine and true, they are doing it not because they want a career in politics, they are doing it because they genuinely want to make a difference to our country. and the way that we keep boris

johnson to his promises is we have to start to win some of these seats. that's what we need to do in this election. applause because when we do that, and we have a brexit party voice in parliament, we are going to keep saying, remember, you told us we were leaving by the end of 2020. remember, you told us we aren't going to have political alignment. actually, he will knowjust as mrs may's vote disappeared in the european elections of this year, the same will happen again if the british prime minister breaks firm commitments and promises that are made to the british people. i have got no great love for the conservative party at all but i can see right now that by giving boris half a chance, by keeping him to

account and by stopping the fanatics in the liberal democrats who would sign us up for everything, united states of europe, european army, you name it, they even want to revoke the result of the referendum. i think our action, this announcement today, prevents a second referendum from happening and that to me i think right now is the single most important thing in our country. applause ina sense, in a sense, we now have a leave alliance, it's just that we've done it unilaterally. laughter we've decided ourselves that we absolutely have to put country before party and ta ke have to put country before party and take the fight to labour. thank you

very much indeed, everybody. thank you. applause so, potentially a very significant announcement from the leader of the brexit party nigel farage to says the party will not contest the 317 seats that the conservatives won at the last election but says the party will concentrate its total effort on the labour party and he said, take on the rest of the remainer parties. he said it was a leave alliance, albeit a unilateral one, and he said he was weighing up whether comments he was weighing up whether comments he had heard from borisjohnson would be followed through on whether he could trust him to stick with those verses the idea of remaining supporting candidates gaining a

significant number of seats in the next parliament, and he said the potential for another referendum. we can go to our political correspondent alex forsyth. we've just lost the line to alex. she has been following boris johnson this morning. i'm pleased to say we have alex back. what you think the conservatives are going to make of that announcement? is it handing boris a lifeline? i think it is hugely in inaudible clearly the sound isn't usable for us and we will try to get back to alex very soon. we will be getting more reaction to that significant announcement by nigel farage, the leader of the brexit party, speaking in hartlepool. the economy grew by

0.3% in the three months to the end of september, according to figures released earlier today by the office for national statistics. it means the uk has avoided going into recession after a slight downturn in the previous quarter. the chancellor, who is campaigning in crawley, welcomed the news. today is a welcome sign of a strong fundamentals of the uk economy. in a global context, it is a strong number. if you look at what's been happening with some of our biggest competitors around the world, germany, italy and france, we are growing faster than most of our g7 competitors and we are exposed to what happens across the world but the biggest issue here in our own economy, the big domestic issue, is the uncertainty that there is. first of all over brexit, and the only way we can get rid of that uncertainty is to get brexit done and we are the only party in this election setting out a very clear plan to have a deal

that will take us out of the eu within weeks of taking office with a majority. the other big risk, probably the first thing businesses bring up is the risk of corbyn's labour and its plans for more uncertainty over brexit, referendum over scotla nd uncertainty over brexit, referendum over scotland and more plans for borrowing, £1.2 trillion of borrowing, £1.2 trillion of borrowing which was in this country into an economic crisis. the weakest year, quarter on quarter we've seen for a decade. you can't seriously blame that on jeremy corbyn. this number isa blame that on jeremy corbyn. this number is a solid number. in the international context, it is a solid number, it shows our economy is growing and other services sector is one of the fastest growing, 80% of our economy. construction is growing, exports are up in this quarter. there is a lot to be happy about from this number and showing that the fundamentals are strong. let's return to the news that nigel

farage has said the brexit party will not be contesting any of the seats won by the conservatives in the last election. alex forsyth is in the west midlands and has been following the prime minister this morning. how significant do you think that announcement is? what is the potential impact of this on the election coming up? it is undoubtedly significant, you have to bearin undoubtedly significant, you have to bear in mind this is an election where brexit is dominant and boris johnson's key message is, trust me, i'll get it done. but he didn't want was to be fighting a party saying, your version of brexit isn't quite good enough. the fact they are pulling out from those conservative seats will be a huge relief in some corners of the conservative party but, and this is the big but, where this election may well be won or lost is in the labour conservative marginal seats in the midlands and the north. the areas borisjohnson is hoping to make inroads. the

brexit party is still standing in those seats according to nigel farage. he wants to take on labour and there for that could still have and there for that could still have an impact on the conservative leave voters. the vote could still be split. undoubtedly there will be some relief in the conservative party but there will still be a huge fight in those marginal battle grounds. what will the reaction be in labour circles? from the beginning, nigel farage has said he believes his brexit party has the ability to take on labour in particular. he has really been focusing a lot of his campaigning in labour areas where there was a high leave vote. jeremy corbyn has got a very different message on this. nigel farage is out there advocating what he describes as a clean break brexit, whereas mr corbyn has said his party will campaign for a second

referendum. i don't think their messaging will attract the same voters. what will be more interesting is to see what happens with those who voted leave, the brexit supporters in those key marginal seats in the midlands, north and some parts of wales, which be crucial in this election. thank you. alex forsyth reacting to that news from the brexit party about the seats it is going to contest. and indeed not contest in this forthcoming election. throughout the campaign we will be putting your questions to all of the main parties. if you have anything you wa nt to parties. if you have anything you want to ask please get in touch. the nation has fallen silent to mark armistice day and remember the moment 101 years ago that the agreement came into force to end fighting

in the first world war. last post plays the silence was observed across the country with remembrance events being held in all corners of the uk from bridgend to edinburgh and at the cenotaph in london. the royal british legion called on the nation to put busy lives on pause, set aside differences and remember those who risked their lives. our correspondent tim muffet, has spent the morning at the national memorial arboretum. right across the country,

this two minute silence, so important to so many people — armistice day. of course, the first two minutes' silence took place in 1919, one year after the end of world war i, so this is the 100th anniversary of that silence. it was the idea of king george v, who was keen to allow people to pay their respects to the many, many who had died during the dreadful conflict of 191a to 1918. armistice day isn't just about the first world war or the second world war, it's about those who have died in all conflicts since then. today, we've been speaking to veterans, their families and many current servicemen and women as well — all of them finding this a very moving and a very important moment to reflect. in hong kong, a man is critically ill in hospital after being shot in the chest at close range by a police officer during demonstrations. our correspondent stephen mcdonell was at the scene earlier. this is the pedestrian crossing

where the man was actually shot. there is a lot of activity going on. i will show you some of it. this oil was spilt on the ground to try and make police officers fall over by activists. there is graffiti on the ground here. it says "they shot here". this is the exact location where the man fell to the ground after being shot. this is being turned into a political shrine, if you like, with messages on the wall over there. and if we come over here, activists are preparing for battle, actually. all these bricks on the ground, you can see, have got to come from somewhere. they are bricks to be thrown at the police. and people over here are digging the bricks up to use for the clashes. i suppose they think they will happen in the coming hours.

in another incident today, just when we thought it couldn't get more violent, a man who was seen to be pro—beijing, i guess, had an argument with some more hardcore pro—democracy activists. they doused him in some sort of accelerant, lit it and the man caught fire. this is all over the internet, people seeing this man on fire. he is in hospital in a critical condition. the young student who was shot by police at point blank range is also in hospital in a critical condition. if either of those two people die today, it'll make a very tense situation even worse. now it's time for a look at the weather with elizabeth. there is yet more rainfall in the forecast this week particularly for areas that have seen more recent

flooding. showers are piling in through the northwest, heavy and thundery with some hail and possibly lightning. there is a met office weather warning out for south yorkshire down into the peak district. turning drier and brighter with some sunshine further south and east but a cool feeling with a north—westerly wind around today. temperatures not getting out of single figures for most of us. overnight, where we are seeing showers through the day, they will continue moving down on this north—westerly. turning more wintry, clear spells in the south and east but the brisk north—westerly will keep any widespread frost at bay. a chilly start tomorrow. more rain for the rest of the week, severe flood warnings in place from the environment agency, all the details on the bbc weather website.

hello, this is bbc newsroom live with annita mcveigh. the headlines: brexit party leader nigel farage says he won't fight 317 conservative seats won in 2017. he said it had been a difficult decision. the brexit party will not contest the 317 seats the conservatives won the last election. but what we will do is concentrate our total effort into all of the seats that are held by the labour party. the two largest parties are marking armistice day by promising measures to support military personnel and veterans. a chinese firm's announced a deal in principle to buy british steel. the news has been welcomed by workers. it's been kept running by the government, since the company's liquidation in may. authorities warn flooding around south yorkshire's river

don will continue, with more than two inches of rain forecast today. five severe flood warnings, meaning a threat to life, remain in place. in hong kong, a pro—democracy protester has been shot by police during another day of demonstrations, while a pro—beijing demonstrator was set on fire after arguing with protesters. a state of emergency has been declared in new south wales and queensland, as more than 100 bushfires continue to burn, posing what authorities say is a "catastrophic" threat. two cannabis—based medicines, to treat epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, have been approved for use by the nhs. it follows new guidelines from the drugs advisory body nice. here's our medical correspondent, fergus walsh. indy rose has severe epilepsy. but her seizures have reduced

dramatically since she's been on medicinal cannabis. her parents are deeply disappointed as her drug will still not be available on the nhs. the epilepsy drug, which has been approved, is called epidyolex. doctors will be able to prescribe it in england, wales, northern ireland for two hard—to—treat forms of epilepsy, dravet and lennox gastaut syndromes. scotland may follow later. it contains cbd or cannabidiol, but no thc, the main psychoactive component of cannabis. many parents spend thousands of pounds a month on getting thc—containing cannabis medicines from overseas, despite the law being changed last year to allow specialist doctors to prescribe them here. the other treatment, also derived from cannabis plants, specially cultivated in the uk, is for multiple sclerosis.

sativex is a mouth spray which contains a mix of thc and cbd and has been available on the nhs in wales since 201a. it's been approved for treating muscle stiffness and spasms. doctors will not be allowed to prescribe it to treat pain, which has disappointed ms patient groups. fergus walsh, bbc news. more than two inches of rain could fall today in parts of northern england, where five severe flood warnings — meaning there is a threat to life — are already in place. an raf helicopter has been brought in to strengthen flood defences. here's our reporter, luxmy gopal, from one of the worst affected areas, fishlake. take a look — the road behind me looks like a river. hundreds of homes have been flooded and you can see that home there has been flooded behind me. the water levels have gone down a bit and you might be able to see the dark water mark of where the water came up to, just up to the windowsill of the ground floor level. it has gone down a little bit

and it is not surprising that residents have been told it is unlikely they can return to their homes for at least a day or so while the water is at these levels. i have got a few other residents with me now, a team of local farmers who have been affected by the flooding. if we start with you, alan, how have you been affected? our farm is five feet higher than the road and the water level has been two feet higher than any building on ourfarm, the floor level, so all the grain stores are flooded and the house is two steps up the stairs. you have also been affected. how bad has it been? i live next door to allen and the whole house has been flooded. all the farm buildings. we have had to move the livestock to higher areas to get them out of the water. it has been such a stressful time. how much have the authority is done about this? not enough, really.

we are all of the same opinion. we think the river don has to be dredged. we have been speaking to the environment agency and he says that would not cure the problem. they say dredging is not suitable for all places and other measures are better suited to this place. are you happy with that response? not at all. he has promised me that after this is over, we can have a meeting and they will come and speak to me, and i am sure that will be very well attended by local farmers to try and convince us that not dredging the river won't cause a problem. what do you think would be a better solution and what would you like to see happen? i would like to see the river being dredged. we dig her own debt is owed. does what dishes. the river is effectively a big data. it has been elected which i feel has caused this. we would like to see something

happen. we don't want this devastated up and over again in my lifetime or anybody's lifetime, it's so lifetime or anybody's lifetime, it's so heartbreaking. understandably. you will all remember the flooding in 2007 so how worried are you that this will happen again? people keep banging on about global warming and it is obvious it is from global warming and we need to control the flow of water around these villages and farms as opposed to letting it run through. it can be done if people put the money up to do it. the environment agency has said they have invested a huge amount of money in this area and fewer homes have been flooded this time around than last time round as a result. there are potentially more worrying times to come for people here and in other areas who have got that severe flood warning in place by the environment agency because the forecast is said to potentially worsen with more rain ahead in the next couple of days. so just take a look behind you. you can see why this is a worrying

time for the people of fishlake. we can talk to pam webb, owner of a lodge. i am sorry to hear your predicament. take us through what has happened ? predicament. take us through what has happened? thank you. over the last two weeks we have been on high alert for floods. the environment agency have been sending out flood alerts. i am agency have been sending out flood alerts. iam not agency have been sending out flood alerts. i am not getting away from that. what i do want to point out, the beginning of this is, the floods of 2007, it didn't affect this village. this village has not flooded in 100 years. that is quite an important to point to make. on friday at 1700 hrs, we were informed via the environment agency, to

basically sand down. any sandbags delivered... there was no risk of flooding. by nine o'clock that evening it was absolutely evident the properties were starting to be flooded in a rapid way. just to clarify, within two hours of you being told there was no risk of flooding, you were pretty clear that there was going to be flooding? absolutely. the fire service have said to me it is unprecedented, the amount of water that there was. 20 minutes, it to two feet. if it was unprecedented, given the position you find yourself in, do you have any civilly for those who told you there was not the risk of flooding? absolutely none whatsoever. the farmers that you have just interviewed, i know them all really well. they have the knowledge of this area. they know, as i do, but

if you don't maintain something, whether it be a car, whether it be yourself, eventually it will give. i think it has given on a spectacular magnitude. the investment put into sheffield, the defence barriers up there, is great. it solved a problem there. what it is done is it has caused a problem in the lower valley of the river don. it has caused the flooding that has happened down here. it created a full effect. it couldn't go anywhere. have you been able to salvage anything from your business? the bottom floor is com pletely business? the bottom floor is completely bone dry. the swimming pool completely bone dry. the swimming pool, white home, my business —— my

home... the girland pool, white home, my business —— my home... the girl and the team who work with me, you know, yeah... that is just incredibly awful. i work with me, you know, yeah... that isjust incredibly awful. i mean, to this damage because not only to your business, your livelihood, but also to your home as well. i presume you have got insurance? not that that is a huge consolation to you as you stand no. yes. after fighting so ha rd to stand no. yes. after fighting so hard to go to the environment agency here, i was interviewed this morning on the today programme, whether it was also the chief executive of the environment agency. my direct appeal to him was, get somebody on the ground here because they were here physically yesterday. please, please, get them here. get them to assess the situation. go to the pumps in. the water won't go

anywhere without those pumps. he said yes, they were on their way. the former commander —— the four of introduced me to the environment agency. within half an hour, i discovered... my insurance company rang me and said i was not covered. i've got no insurance at all. perm, this is a really awful situation for you to be in. no cover, your insurers so. because of exclusion or flood on the policy. where do you go from here? have you been able to think straight to figure this out? no. the only thing i can say is a huge thanks to the press, who have been with me for the last 2a hours,

getting the coverage that we needed to get it out of there, to get doncaster council here, to the environment agency here. you know, they voted completely with me. i know it isn't just they voted completely with me. i know it isn'tjust way. it can't be just my property that will not be covered. all the people are going to back and find out, that's why only appealing to people no. check your policies. are we all in the same situation? 0k pam, thank you very much for talking to us. we may well hear more from you in the coming days. and people in your immediate area about how you are being affected. thank you for talking to us. pam webb who has had severe damage caused to her home and her business in fish leg. she says she is not insured for this flooding. a man who smuggled 60 firearms into dover in his car, has been

jailed for nine years. robert keogh, who's from dublin, was stopped stopped by border force officers at the port of dover in august. it's believed to be the largest seizure of lethal firearms at a uk port. simonjones has the latest. simon, remind us of the background to all of this and what has been said today? well, robert keogh arrived at the port of dover in august about five in the morning. he was asked what he had been doing. he said he had spent days on the continent driving around. but they we re continent driving around. but they were suspicious. they carried out an initial search of his car, a volkswagen passat, and they found a gun. they took the car apart and found 59 further weapons inside. the national crime agency say it's the biggest haul of its kind that they have ever made at a uk port. know today, the joint at canterbury crown court said it was likely these guns

would have ended up in the hands of criminals. they would likely have been used to threaten people, should people and possibly even to kill people. robert keogh said he was going to be paid 10,000 euros for bringing in the hall. he said he had a big gambling debts. he also claimed that he feared if he didn't go along with this, if you didn't cooperate with this game, then he himself could be shot. but today he was jailed for nine years. the national crime agency are very pleased these guns have been taken off the streets, they make the country a safer place. inevitably they would be used in criminality. in court we heard that robert keogh had the role of a career, he knew what he was doing, he knew what the hole was. he hasn't said who else is involved. who was the big criminal network behind this operation? today that still remains a mystery. simon jones, thank you.

now with all the business news, here's dharshini. british steel is said to announce a rescue deal which could save jobs. after months of uncertainty, the chinese group has an agreement in principle to buy the troubled operation for £70 million. the government, it is understood is providing some financial support, including loan guarantees. the economy has avoided recession after expanding 0.3% in the three months to the end of september. however, growth has lost momentum over the last year— with output up just 1% in the year to the third quarter, the weakest expansion in the aftermath of the financial crisis. two cannabis—based medicines, used to treat epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, have been approved for use by the nhs in england. charities have welcomed the move, although some campaigners who have been fighting for access to the drugs have said it does not go far enough.

the number of pubs and bars that have fallen into insolvency, rose by 13% to 530 in the year to september. that's according to analysis performed by uhy hacker young, the network of acountants on data collected by the insolvency service. this year is the third successive year in which pub company insolvencies have increased. i am joined by peter kubik. do you understand exactly why the trend is moving in this direction? partly it is for the decrease in spend per person. it has dropped about £30 per person. that doesn't sound a lot for an individual but the number of people visiting these pubs and extrapolating that, it is a

huge number. is that £30 per per visit? over a 12 month period. and that alongside rising costs, i would imagine? certainly alongside rising costs, the national wage increasing. i think it is altered to do with brexit, whereby the foreign staff are leaving the country and the overall cost of rates and rent is making a drastic effect on the environment. we did hear some relief announced in the form of business rates for smaller premises. as that made any discernible impact?m would have done over the last few yea rs. would have done over the last few years. it is slowly coming in. if they can't afford it, it is a problem. and your members must be working with these pop groups around the country. what is working? or are a company is able to cope? you have to keep an eye on your overheads.

make sure that wherever possible you cut those overheads to take into account the loss of incomes. what about diversifying? on the one hand perhaps we were spending less but there are ways to entice us to spend more when they go out? certainly there are ways of enticing people to come in but that would entail spending money in the pubs in the first place. unfortunately, people are not willing to invest at the mould. the licences can be quite valuable. on a poor but fails, what happens? depends on the type of licensee. some pubs are tied into the brewery. the brewery owns the license. once the individual company has gone into insolvency, the licence is lost. thank you. a quick look out the markets. we have the gdp figures owed. broadly in line with what the market was expecting. it hasn't been enough to provoke them going into negative

territory this lunchtime. all this happening against a backdrop of a wea ker growth happening against a backdrop of a weaker growth around the globe. lots of concerns that even though we are seeing an uptake in the last three months, going forward growth may be pretty lacklustre. lots of questions about what happens next to interest rates. i am betting the next move could be done. more business news later. thank you. more now on the announcement by nigel farage in the past hour that the brexit party won't stand candidates in seats won by the conservatives in the last election. he said he had taken the decision because he feared that if they had run it would have led to a hung parliament with significant gains for the liberal democrats. conservtive chairmanjames cleverly welcomed the news, but said the brexit party still risked costing the conservatives seats. i welcome the recognition the brexit

party do risk actually preventing a sta ble party do risk actually preventing a stable majority government and i welcome the fact that that has been taken on board by the brexit party. there is still of course the danger that in a number of seats it looks as if they might stand. those are exactly the things that could potentially have voted conservative. the vote will still be split. we still end up with an mp was going to frustrate the brexit process, try to prolong this system whereby the last make—up of parliament, preventing things from happening. james cleverly. authorities in australia have declared a state of emergency — saying tomorrow's weather is expected to be worse than originally forecast. 6a bushfires are still burning and several of them are edging closer to the outskirts of sydney. at least three people have been killed in new south wales and authorities fear more lives are at severe risk. phil mercer sent us this update.

syd ney sydney and regions to the north, south and west are on edge. you can already smell the smoke in the air. you can also see this smoking haze starting to blanket australia's biggest city. now, strong winds cause chaos during bushfire crisis. we can feel the wind really starting to pick up. firefighters, in the next 2a hours, could be facing horrific conditions. australia is a land well used to nature's extremes, but officials say this is unprecedented. a bushfire emergency has been declared here in new south wales. a state of emergency has also been declared a further north in queensland. what that means is that fire authorities have extra powers to destroy to deal with the onslaught. —— to try to deal. there

are hundreds of boots on the ground being supported by a squadron of water bombing aircraft. it really is a military style operation to try to protect life and property. but fire authorities warn some residents who decided to stay in bushfire prone regions, the flames may well be too intense and help may not come. australia is bracing for the onslaught. phil mercer, bbc news. oscar—winning film director steve mcqueen opens a new exhibition at the tate on tuesday. year three saw him and his team photograph more than three—quarters of a million year three children across london's schools. the project — which aims to be a visual snapshot of the people of the city now — was inspired by looking at his own school photo. brenda emmanus went to meet him. big smiles! for the last year this

has been happening in london. class photos of seven and eight—year—olds that are part of one of the most ambitious art exhibitions ever staged. do you feel special? yes. you should do. it is the brainchild of steve mcqueen, an award—winning artist and oscar—winning director, no going back to school for his latest work. this was his school photo in the 19705. his plan was to turn that image into a picture for london in 2019. my first ever visit to tate britain was on a school bus. it isjust to tate britain was on a school bus. it is just about to tate britain was on a school bus. it isjust about reflecting london and, you know, the future, our future. here we have photos of the te5t future. here we have photos of the test this morning. with so many school5 test this morning. with so many schools are signing up, the challenge has grown and grown. 2000

more to go! three weeks later they are ready for the grand reveal. what you think is going to happen when these kids come in here and see them? what do you hope will be their response? that they are important. they are on the walls of tate britain and they are important. they are notjust britain and they are important. they are not just important britain and they are important. they are notjust important within britain and they are important. they are not just important within their school, they are important within the wider environment of london. the first visitors, children from steve mcqueen'5 old school, little ealing, here to find their picture among the many thousands. really surprising and cool. amazing and cool. it is really amazing to be here. like, i feel really, like, inspired. the

exhibition won'tjust be out of the tate britain. but in 600 billboards across london. and at specially decorated tube stations. it's great because you see it in situ. that is exactly what steve wanted, to have this epic projectjust visible in steve wanted, to have this epic project just visible in the everyday spaces. it is hoped close to 80,000 young people will see the exhibition in the next six months. ben brown is here with the news in a couple of minutes. fir5t, couple of minutes. first, the weather forecast. couple of minutes. first, the weatherforeca5t. hello there. remembrance sunday was quiet weather—wise but still pretty cold. the next few days look like praying —— 5tay pretty un5ubtle. low pressure never far away. plenty of isobars under5core leak showers out

the moment. a brief lull before another weather front moves through in the middle part of the week. it i5 in the middle part of the week. it is likely to stay pretty cool for the next few days and un5ubtle. if you have got out5ider plans, keep abreast of the forecast. further rain likely. hibald5tow a5 abreast of the forecast. further rain likely. hibald5tow as well. temperatures 5taying disappointing. the winds will be a feature as well. a ru5h the winds will be a feature as well. a rush of shower cloud this afternoon. plenty of showers, some of them heavy with hale and rumble5 of them heavy with hale and rumble5 of thunder. we have seen wind5 of them heavy with hale and rumble5 of thunder. we have seen winds of 50 to 60 mph this morning acro55 west facing coa5t to 60 mph this morning acro55 west facing coast of scotland. they will ea5e a touch. it will still be a blu5tery afternoon. frequent showers in the north and west. a few showers across wales and the central and 5outhern areas should stay largely dry. not particularly warm with it. five to 10 degrees. a5 dry. not particularly warm with it. five to 10 degrees. as we go through this evening, we keep the show is going, particularly through

scotland. wintrine55 on the tops of higher ground. a scotland. wintrine55 on the tops of higherground. afair scotland. wintrine55 on the tops of higher ground. afairamount scotland. wintrine55 on the tops of higher ground. a fair amount of cloud around. it will be a cold night with low 5ingle figures rightly acro55 night with low 5ingle figures rightly across the country. —— widely. low pressure drifting into the north sea. then we will see the5e showers developing. they will continue to be quite heavy and 5qually. showers acro55 continue to be quite heavy and 5qually. showers across scotland, northern ireland, north—west england into the midlands. further 5outh, fewer showers through the middle pa rt fewer showers through the middle part of the day but still not particularly warm with it. five to 10 degrees. a5 particularly warm with it. five to 10 degrees. as you move out of tuesday and wednesday, the next low putting in from the atlantic will need to keep abreast of the forecast for the next few days. becau5e need to keep abreast of the forecast for the next few days. because the position of this weather front could be subject to change. but u nfortu nately, be subject to change. but unfortunately, it may mean more rain in those areas where we just don't need it. further updates on the

flood warnings can be heard at our website. take care.

nigel farage says his brexit party will not stand in conservative—held seats at next month's election. in what's being seen a5 a boost for borisjohnson, mr farage says his party will instead concentrate all its efforts on labour—held 5eat5. the brexit party will not conte5t the 317 seats the conservatives won at the last election. but what we will do i5 concentrate our total effort into all of the seats that are held by the labour party. we'll be analysing what impact the announcement might have on the election. also this lunchtime... hopes that thousands ofjob5 at british steel will be saved with a rescue deal this afternoon by a chinese indu5trial giant.