this is bbc news. i'm lu kwesa burack. the headlines at 11. nigel farage gives in to pressure from fellow brexiteers and says his brexit party will not stand in tory held seats. the brexit party will not contest the 317 seats that the conservatives w011 the 317 seats that the conservatives won the last election. however what we will do is concentrate our total effort into all of the seats that are held by the labour party. a chinese firm confirms a rescue deal for british steel — buying it for 70 million and saving 4000 jobs in scunthorpe and teesside. it has been a big concern, nobody knowing what would happen and whether they would have a job to pay their mortgage. finally something

positive. it's good. there are 42 flood warnings still in place in the north of england. ministers will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow as locals underline the scale of the crisis. a state of emergency has been declared in new south wales and queensland as bushfires continue to burn, posing what authorities say, is a "catastrophic" threat. families in england will benefit from two cannabis—based medicines approved for the nhs — but others say they still won't get what they need. and at half past 11 we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers asa bennett, the brexit commissioning editor at the telegraph and sienna rodgers, the editor of labourlist.

there's been a potentially significant shift in the dynamics of the upcoming election caused by the brexit party's decision not to contest those seats won by the conservatives last time. the brexit party leader, nigel farage, who once promised to stand in the vast majority of seats across the uk said he'd made the decision because of what he called boris johnson's ‘shift of position‘ on brexit. mr farage said his party would focus its efforts on trying to take seats held by labour, the party he accuses of ‘betraying' voters who backed leave. mrjohnson has welcomed the offer but labour said it amounted to a kind of trump alliance between mrjohnson and mr farage. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg has more details. there are flashing images in her report. a moment in front of the cameras — not something nigel farage

ever wants to miss. i think this has been quite a long—anticipated speech, from what i can gather. today, though, he publicly gave up some of his ambition rather than turning up the swagger. 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. so, the brexit party will now only stand in about half the seats around the country. even though last week, this meeting was rammed with hundreds and hundreds of candidates. mr farage then swore he'd take on all comers. we will run 600 candidates who will offer the electorate the choice to vote for a clean break brexit. that bravado though, rather disappeared. and nigel farage's troops, who had hopes of making it to westminster mainly had no idea. i am, of course, very

disappointed to be stood down. i was literally having my nomination papers checked just five minutes before nigel farage held his press conference. so i had no idea, really, what was going on. borisjohnson repeatedly turned down nigel farage as a companion on the trail. the brexit party ignoring tory seats makes it easier for the prime minister to keep the leave vote together. i'm glad there is a recognition that there is only one way to get brexit done and that is to vote for us and to vote for the conservatives. in theory, this makes it easier for the tories to send the same mps back here to westminster. 0ne cabinet minister said nigel farage's decision is a step in the right direction. but for borisjohnson to win a victory, he has to take seats currently held by labour, and the brexit party could well still gobble up those votes elsewhere.

the brexit party will stand in seats thatjeremy corbyn‘s defending, and could stop the tories there in their tracks. the issue is, isn't it, if you vote farage, do you get johnson, and if you vote johnson do you get farage? i don't think that the electorate like these backroom deals. we are absolutely clear we want to stop brexit, and it's absolutely clear from what even nigel farage is saying, that we are the ones who can take seats from the conservatives at this general election and stop brexit. and in an election, anything is ammunition. i think today's announcement proves beyond any doubt that borisjohnson and nigel farage are joined at the hip. any form of brexit that is acceptable to nigel farage is going to be deeply damaging to scotland. tonight, the brexit party leader was still on the trail with less to look cheerful about now. but over the years, nigel farage has packed halls and piled up problems for the conservatives. and he's not done yet.

the prime minister is to chair an emergency cabinet meeting, known as cobra, tomorrow to discuss the response to widespread flooding in the north of england. labour has criticised the government for not declaring a national emergency. the environment agency says 42 flood warnings are still in place, including 5 severe warnings on the river don near doncaster. the local council says it's concerned that some residents in the village of fishlake are refusing to leave their properties despite extensive flooding, with more rain expected over the coming days. 0ur correspondent dan johnson sent this report from fishlake tonight. 0n the low, flat land east of doncaster, fishla ke is a village still under water. three days on now, and its residents are still coming to terms with what hit them when the river don overflowed.

it was just coming up out of the floor, so only a little bit trickled at times... some have lost their homes, others, their business. but at the spa pam runs and lives above, it's both. and today she checked her insurance and the news only got worse. we've lived here since 2004, it was covered completely. but now there's a clause being put into it, as an exemption to flood and where do you find some solace? if i could go away to a workplace and just throw myself into still being able to run the business, but i can't. some scenes defy explanation. a man was lucky to escape this car. the water poured through the village late on friday night, chasing people from their homes. we've never experienced this in our lifetime and we've lived here nearly 55 years... i was born here, so... ..we just think the system has completely let us down. there is a sense here, they may have felt the force

of floodwater diverted by improved defences elsewhere. the construction of hard walls and flood defences often does push the problem downstream. so that's why we need to look at other types of flood mitigation, such as improved early warning and changing the way that water is detained upstream, so it doesn't get to our urban areas in the first place. alan's farmed here all his life. he's one of those who knows this land best and feels environmental priorities aren't always right. the environment agency have spent £600,000 creating a wildlife and wetland area by building fences to stop cattle approaching on to it. as you can see, all it does is collect rubbish and debris to restrict the flow of water, just to create habitat for wildlife. which is absolutely ridiculous when the river is supposed to be there to transport water from a to b to get rid of it. getting rid of it now means pumping

and they are working through the night here. with the extreme amounts of rainfall that we've seen and the very high river levels that you'll have seen as you've been around the area today, the capacity of some of those defences in some places has been exceeded and that has, as a result of that, caused flooding to people's homes and properties. my heart does go out to them, it is truly devastating and tragic. balancing the interests of town and country, those who work the land and those who live on it is always tricky. but where else to channel this water is a huge question and one we may face more often. dan johnson, bbc news, fishla ke, near doncaster. peter is the church warden near fishlake peter is the church warden near fishla ke and he peter is the church warden near fishlake and he chose not to evacuate despite the warnings from the local council. i spoke to him earlier. the problem with evacuation are multiple in this village. it is are multiple in this village. it is a rural village with many people

with livestock and animals. it is not so easy to jump with livestock and animals. it is not so easy tojump in a with livestock and animals. it is not so easy to jump in a vehicle and go. the otherfactor not so easy to jump in a vehicle and go. the other factor is twofold, firstly, we will not let this village life. we will not let fishlake village life. we will not let fishla ke disappear. had village life. we will not let fishlake disappear. had we all evacuated, this village would have been looted within hours and it would have been impossible without a squad of soldiers to stop it. the looting is already taking place. someone was broken into last night and the police are now out in force in boats and on foot seeking to put protection from looting. the second factor is that we didn't necessarily need to leave the village. the suggestion that the whole village needed to be evacuated is probably an excessive risk assessment not based on information on the ground.

the situation is that we had a lot of water, a frightening amount of water in the village but it was not wholly out of control. fortunately the fire brigade and the environmental agency have come together and put together a coherent plan to now pump the village dry and in doing that they create a situation that does not require evacuation because it leaves us with sufficient opacity to absorb normal rainfall. you would not expect what happened at the end of last week to happened at the end of last week to happen again so quickly. so what is happening now is that the head of the environment agency has instructed that everything we require should be facilitated and to his credit, the top to bottom of that organisation have moved heaven and earth today to get large pumps into position so we are pumping the village dry. the problem referred to earlier of the water coming over the

embankment higher up is part of the problem part of the problem is something no—one could have foreseen and that is the level of rainfall, so and that is the level of rainfall, so large that it overspill the area it is meant to encompass. some of these things are natural, we cannot control them. but the spirit of the village is strong. we have an active church open 2a hours a day, a lot of food, a lot of clothing. the local spirit is strong and vibrant and we're forward and will soon have the place put to rights. one of the uk's biggest steel—makers has been rescued by a chinese company, potentially safeguarding thousands of jobs. british steel had been facing collapse after going into liquidation earlier this year but the chinese producerjingye confirmed today it had agreed a buyout. it's promising to invest in british steel's main plant in scunthorpe as well as its other sites on teeside and in north yorkshire.

our business editor simonjack reports. this plant has been on government life support since it collapsed in may. technically in liquidation, it was offered a chinese lifeline today, and workers on their way home welcomed it. well, it's been a big concern, hasn't it? nobody not knowing what is happening, whether they've got a job, can pay their mortgages, feed theirfamilies. yeah, it's great news. obviously, there's been uncertainty around it, but now we know, this close to christmas, that we've got a job. with 4,000 employees and 20,000 in the supply chain, the steelworks is the lifeblood of scunthorpe. it's massive good news for lots of families and obviously for all the housing, for jobs, for younger people and older people alike, it's just great news. the thought of scunthorpe not having steel—making here really doesn't bear thinking about. charlotte charles worked there for 12 years and is now a union organiser. we're cautiously optimistic. our members have been in a state of flux for a number of months now, and so to have some concrete commitment to steel—making in scunthorpe is always

going to be welcome news, but the devil will be in the detail. the due diligence has been done extremely quickly, and so now what we want is a commitment to secure the jobs and terms and conditions for our members moving forward. if the deal goes ahead, current workers' jobs are secure, according to company assurances to the government. well, i have been given reassurances that next to all current staff will be kept, and that in the medium to longer term they are likely to want to expand the workforce, so i have been given quite strong reassurances on that front. this is not a totally done deal yet, there's details to go through, investment plans to be pored over, and we've had false dawns in scu nthorpe before. but folks here are encouraged that the prospective buyer is a steel—maker, not a financial investor — and company that doesn't make some of the products that are made here, so there's commercial logic to it. however, there are still some concerns about the economic and strategic rationale of putting one third of britain's steel production in chinese hands.

from nothing, injust 20 odd years... despite revenues of £10 billion, jingye is a relative minnow in china's giant steel industry. in 2017, china produced over 800 million tonnes of steel, the uk less than 8 million. so how important will scu nthorpe really be? the main principle of the deal that i would urge the government to concentrate on is long—termism. is this a company that will invest for the long term, that will ensure that british steel remains one of the linchpins of our industrial strategy? steel has been made here for 150 years. the prospective chinese owners are promising many years more — a message that's getting a very warm welcome tonight. simonjack, bbc news, scunthorpe. the headlines on bbc news: nigel farage gives in to pressure from fellow brexiteers and says his brexit party will not stand in tory held seats

a chinese firm confirms a rescue deal for british steel, safeguarding four thousand jobs in scunthorpe and teeside. more rain forecast in areas of england already been hit by flooding. five severe flood warnings — meaning a threat to life — are still in place. britain's economy has grown at the slowest annual rate in almost a decade according to official figures but has avoided going into recession. gdp which measures all goods and services produced increased by 0.3 per cent between july and september slightly below market expectations. 0ur economics editor faisal islam has the details. at this warehouse for a top tyre fitter in peterborough, business remains resilient, even as the impact of a world of economic uncertainty can be felt. like the economy generally, the consumer is holding up,

but fears around supply disruption and price rises linked to brexit have held back investment. a lot of the supply into our business comes from europe or further afield, so the strength of the pounds important to us in terms of how we can give a good—value price to the customers, and that's certainly something that's putting pressure on us at the moment. the last quarter's figures showing the economy shrinking by 0.2% between april and june brought fears of recession — if the latest quarter had again been negative. so today's figure of plus 0.3 does bring some relief. but 0.3% is slow by historical standards — and when compared with the same period last year. take that number back a decade or so, and it represents the slowest economy over a year since the aftermath of the financial crisis at the beginning of 2010. today's growth numbers are a very welcome sign, i think, of the strong fundamentals of the uk economy. 0.3 is not strong, chancellor.

well, it is, actually, 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're growing faster than most of our g7 competitors, and, of course, we are exposed to what happens across the world. the big pitch here — that the uncertainty will end with the prime minister's new brexit deal. but the chancellor partly acknowledged the bank of england's assessment that the deal will lead to new customs checks. it's a good deal. it gives us a new economic partnership with our friends in europe. customs checks, says the bank of england. with our european friends, the whole of the uk will leave as its own customs territory, and yes, there will be as the uk, when we trade with the eu, there will be some changes, but it also means there's opportunities. the man who wants mrjavid's job after the election took the opposite view and defended labour's plans to hold another referendum. no—one can be pleased with these figures. it's a worrying trend within our economy, and i worry about what labour will inherit

when we go into government. but it does mean that when labour goes into government, we need the investment that we promised. surely businesses won't invest if that uncertainty is prolonged. i think what businesses want is an exact, clear plan about how we go forward, which is about renegotiation, a referendum and then reunite the country. 0ther opposition parties were similarly critical of the figures. this is a terrible picture of wilful mismanagement. it is affecting people in their homes, and it's affecting people's livelihoods. it's not just that the economy is growing slowly. international investors are losing confidence in the british economy based on borisjohnson's brexit plans. there is a slow puncture in the economy arising from poor investment — if not an actual flat tyre, the election offering rather different ways to patch that up. faisal islam, bbc news. two people are in critical condition after another day

of violent demonstrations in hong kong. the first person — a protester — was injured when he was shot by a police officer. later a pro—beijing supporter was soaked in flammable liquid and set alight after arguing with protesters who are demanding greater democracy and police accountability. 0ur correspondent stephen mcdonnell reports from hong kong. this is how the day of extraordinary violence starts. a police officer, arresting the person in white, is approached by another protester, wearing black. he's shot at point—blank range. and it's all captured in a facebook live video. the 21—year—old is seriously injured yet somehow, despite his injuries, and amidst the chaos, he attempts to flee, but is captured and is taken away in an ambulance. elsewhere in the city, a police officer drives into a group of black—clad protesters, veering the motorbike towards them three times before taking off. he's since been suspended.

hours later, a middle—aged man argues with hard—line protesters. in an act too graphic to show, he's doused in flammable liquid before being set on fire. there's no question that escalating violence could get what the rioters want. not from the government, not from society at large. and yet this evening, the clashes continued. there's been an outpouring of anger here today and a very tough police response. it seems that this city is now locked in an ever—deteriorating cycle of violence and retribution.

and now it's no longer like just a protest or strike, it's war now, and it's a war that i think all hong kongers must win. i think i even can't imagine what is going to happen tomorrow, so...yeah, i don't know. more than 250 people were arrested today. with both sides digging in, there are fears this conflict could only escalate further. stephen mcdonnell, bbc news, hong kong. a former british army officer who helped set up the syrian rescue group the white helmets has been found dead in turkey. the body of james le mesurier who received an 0be in 2016 for his work in syria was found this morning in istanbul. the turkish authorities have launched an investigation into his death as our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley reports. it was on the street outside the building where he was staying thatjames le mesurier‘s body was found early this morning. there's been no official statement from police, but security officials have been quoted as saying they believe

he fell from a balcony. james le mesurier, who was in his 40s, set up the mayday rescue charity, which helped train syria's volunteer rescuers, known as the white helmets. these are the white helmets in action. they operate in rebel—held areas of the country, saving survivors of the indiscriminate air strikes by the syrian military and its backer, russia. speaking to the bbc five years ago, he paid tribute to their courage. it has been a source of immense pride for everybody who has been involved in the training and support to these heroes. they provide an incredible amount of inspiration in an environment that is otherwise so devoid of positives. seen here just yesterday, the white helmets rush into danger in idlib province, the last area of the country still held by the rebels.

for the work they do, the white helmets and james le mesurier have earned the hatred of both the kremlin and the syrian regime. 0nly last week, the russian foreign ministry accused him of being an m16 agent and of having links with terrorists. the russian charges against him, that came out of the foreign ministry, that he was a spy — categorically untrue. he was a british soldier, he'd been to sandhurst, but above all he wasn't a serving soldier when he founded mayday and the white helmets, he was a real humanitarian, and the world and syriaa in particular is poorer for his loss. whatever the exact circumstances of his death in istanbul, friends and colleagues say he'll be remembered for helping save countless syrian lives. caroline hawley, bbc news. two cannabis—based medicines have been approved for use on the nhs in england for the first time. the drugs advisory body, nice,

says the medicines will help people suffering with epilepsy and multiple sclerosis. charities have welcomed the decision but say thousands of people who could benefit from cannabis—based medicines are still facing uncertainty. a coroner says she will write to all uk theme parks following the accidental death of an 11 year—old schoolgirl urging them to conduct cctv training. an inquest heard that evha jannath drowned after falling from a water ride at drayton manor in staffordshire in may 2017. the emergency stop button for the ride was not pressed for several minutes. a 2—minute silence was observed across the united kingdom at 11 o'clock today to mark the time and the day when the first world war ended in 1918. the royal british legion called on people to put busy lives on pause

to set aside their differences and to remember those who gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today, as our correspondent daniela relph reports. the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire, where remembrance happens daily, all year round. but today is different. armistice day here was marked with a service of remembrance and a silence. 0n the 11th of november, 1919, the first two—minute 0n the 11 november, 1919, the first 2—minute silence was observed. 100 years on, wherever you are, it remains a moment to stop, to reflect and to remember.

the first two—minute silence was introduced by king george v. thousands packed onto whitehall after he said the country should stop to honour those who never came home. the silence remains at the centre of remembrance a century later. but, this year, the royal british legion wanted more than just a pause. it asked that we all mute our phones, switch off tvs and close our laptops to honour those who defended our freedoms and our way of life. daniela relph, bbc news. and we'll be taking an in—depth

look at the papers. that's coming up after the headlines at 11:30. now it's time for the weather with louise lear. it's been a pretty miserable november so far in terms of flooding rains, at least to say that sunday and monday, we had a brief lull in proceedings for the remembrance services and had some sunny spells but it was on the chilly side. it's not just the uk but it was on the chilly side. it's notjust the uk that is called for the time of year. some of the cold air is pushing all the way into north—west europe and the parts of northern scandinavia, we are seeing temperatures well below where they should be for the time of year. low pressure a cross should be for the time of year. low pressure across the uk, still a dominant feature. and still on the chilly side. this is our outlook if you haven't already guessed it. because it's cold, and with

elevation, we will see snow. tuesday, low pressure and weather fronts spiralling around that low. we start off with more frequent widespread showers through scotland, northern ireland, north—west england and wales and some of these will drift that little bit further south. light winds on tuesday meaning if you catch a shower, some of them can be pretty slow—moving. sunny spells as well but still on the cold side. 5- 10 as well but still on the cold side. 5— 10 degrees at the very best and it will be miserable if you are caught in those showers. this little ridge of high pressure building allowing temperatures tuesday night into wednesday all the way to the blue tones denote when we are likely to see if crossed. it's going to be a cold start in scotland and perhaps northern england and low single figures generally into central and eastern areas so touch of frost first thing in the morning, maybe some dog around but it's not going

to last. —— fog. an area of low pressure said to come in from the west. ahead of it, it stays cold, dry with sunshine. this is when the front potentially could bring some along spells of wet weather across england. just exactly weather front is likely to sit. that could have an impact yet again. keep abreast of the forecast, england and wales, rain, butfor the forecast, england and wales, rain, but for scotland and northern ireland, cold, dry and sunny. we've still got those blue tones sitting across the uk as we go into friday. another ridge of high pressure builds on quieten things down a little bit of it will certainly come yet again as well, welcome news. the rest of the dry and sunny weather, northern england, a few scattered

showers running in of north sea