this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00: prince andrew acknowledges that the jeffrey epstein scandal has become a major disruption to the royal family, and steps down from royal duties. it follows his widely—criticised interview with bbc newsnight, when he said his friendship with epstein was not a matter of regret. the liberal democrats launch their election manifesto — promising to stop brexit in order to generate a £50 billion bonus for public services. i'm nota i'm not a tribal politician. and where we agree, where we share values, where we share objectives, i will always be open to working with people but i fundamentally do not think borisjohnson people but i fundamentally do not think boris johnson orjeremy people but i fundamentally do not think borisjohnson orjeremy corbyn are fit to lead our country. meanwhile, boris johnson pledges major changes to the amount

we all pay in national insurance. and at the impeachment inquiry in washington, a us diplomat says he followed president trump's orders to pressure ukraine to investigate a political rival. and at 11:30 we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers 0wenjones and dia chakravarty. stay with us for that. good evening. prince andrew, who's been engulfed in controversy because of his links with the convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein, has announced he will not undertake any royal duties for the foreseeable future. the prince, who's 59, acknowledged that the epstein scandal had become a major disruption to the royal family following his widely—criticised interview with bbc newsnight

last week. he said he deeply sympathised with epstein‘s victims and that he unequivocally regretted what he called his ‘ill—judged association‘ with the man who took his own life in prison in august this year. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell has the story. driving himself into buckingham palace yesterday, the only sighting of prince andrew since the newsnight interview was broadcast. hostility towards him has shown no sign of listening. —— lessening. "poison prince" and "pariah prince" were just two of the newspaper headlines this morning. at the same time, sponsors of his various initiatives and charities have continued to distance themselves from him. all this in response to a misjudged interview in which he failed to find either the right tone or the right words to respond to his association with jeffrey epstein. tonight, he and buckingham palace accepted that his position had become unsustainable. in a statement, prince andrew

said, "i have asked her majesty if i may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future and she has given her permission". he went on, "i continue to unequivocally regret my ill judged association with jeffrey epstein. i deeply sympathise with everyone who has been affected. i can only hope that in time they will be able to rebuild their lives". and finally and significantly, "of course, i am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations if required". the tone was notably contrite, something of a contrast to saturday night's broadcast. any sense now of guilt, regret or shame about any of your behaviour in your friendship with epstein? as far as mr epstein is concerned, it was the wrong decision to go and see him in 2010. do i regret the fact that, that he has quite obviously conducted himself in

a manner unbecoming? yes. unbecoming? he was a sex offender. yeah, i'm sorry, i'm being polite. for the queen, fulfilling royal duties tonight on this, her 72nd wedding anniversary, it must be both upsetting and unwelcome. andrew has always enjoyed her particular support but by this morning, it will have become evident that his position was untenable. thus, for the first time, one of her own immediate family has been forced by public opinion to step back. i've never seen such a reaction to a royal interview. i mean, there have not been that many royal interviews but the reaction was just so condemnatory and he came across so badly. not once expressing regret for those, or sympathy, for the victims of epstein‘s behaviour. buckingham palace will be hoping that andrew's statement and his withdrawal from public duties will stem the criticism.

they will be hoping, too, that the epstein allegations have now run theirfull course. tonight's decision has been taken after the queen and senior officials and prince andrew. in practical terms, he is not resigning any of his patronage is but i am told if charities want to find a new patron that will be fully understood. earlier i spoke with royal commentator, pennyjunor who told us herfirst reaction. i think his position really had become completely untenable. i've never seen such become completely untenable. i've never seen such a become completely untenable. i've never seen such a reaction to a royal interview, i mean they have not been that many royal interviews but i mean, the reaction wasjust so condemnatory and he came across so

badly. not once expressing regret for those, or sympathy, for the vic terms of epstein's behaviour —— victims was up and not distancing himself when he had the chance but actually say he had found the relationship quite beneficial to him. i mean, he did condemn his sexual impropriety, crimes, let's not mince words. but he was just so completely un— self—aware and crass, really, in his explanations. it was a disaster and i think it left people feeling, not necessarily that he was guilty butjust that he was so he was guilty butjust that he was so out of touch and so self—centred. soi so out of touch and so self—centred. so i think that was really, you

can't have somebody like that travelling the world on behalf of the queen or heading up charities. have you heard at all how the queen and other members of the royal family have responded to this growing scandal in the last few days and what, in your view, is it going to mean when they see the duke of york is stepping back from public duties? well, i mean, i suspect, i don't know this to be true but i suspect he has been, that he didn't make this choice himself. i suspect he has had some pressure and i would guess that pressure came from the prince of wales. i am sure the communications team at buckingham palace would also have urged this. this was and possibly even the queen, although, andrew has always been a real favourite of the queen's and she is now 93. she doesn't like

confrontation, she doesn't like, i am sure she would not have enjoyed telling andrew that it was time to call it a day. you think this has come from her? no, i suspect it is the prince of wales. but mind you, it could be her private secretary who said, who forced her hand. you think it is the prince of wales because of information that you have? it is my hunch, not information i have. and that would be because of the damage to the royal family and because of the particular seriousness of this whole episode? absolutely, absolutely. really, this must not allowed to infect the goodwill that the public has for the rest of the royal family. it was a cancer that had to be cut out. dickie arbiter, former press spokesperson

to the queen has given us his reaction to today's story. his position was untenable when it came to after the interview. he went into that interview believing it was crisis management but created a crisis management but created a crisis instead of management. there was no other direction he could go. sponsors were falling by the wayside, kpmg sponsorship had finished in october and weren't renewing, but other sponsors are saying they are not renewing at the end of the year when their contracts are terminated and the organisations can't cope and can't function without sponsors so everything was falling about him like dominoes and he was really left with no alternative but to spec —— step back from public duty. and of course at the heart of this was what his relationship was with epstein, what his relationship was with virginia roberts. how difficult is this as a

moment for prince andrew himself and the royalfamily? moment for prince andrew himself and the royal family? well, moment for prince andrew himself and the royalfamily? well, it is very difficult for prince andrew. i think you have to put the royal family to one side. yes, they are feeling desperately sorry for him that one of their own has been confronted with all of this and had to step aside in terms of public duties but it is andrew that has got to come to terms with it because he is not out of the woods yet. the fbi investigators want to talk to him. the litigators lawyers want to talk to him and they want to talk to him under oath so he has still got that to face. does he do it in the states 01’ to face. does he do it in the states or does he do it in the uk? that is still to be decided, but he really had to come forward and say exactly what happened. we had a lot of

flailing in that interview with emily maitlis. i mean, the photograph, he said that is in an u psta i rs photograph, he said that is in an upstairs room but he has never been in that upstairs room. well, how did you know it was there? all sorts of things that fell by the wayside. he was contradicting himself. he has got to take stock of what he wants to do, how he wants to handle it and his -- is to do, how he wants to handle it and his —— is he going to ask —— as the questions put to him on the other side of the atlantic? and it isn't going to go away until the answers those questions. and then maybe, maybe i say, the clouds were clear away. but these are allegations at the moment and until they are proven as fact, we have to accept our allegations. we have to say that he denied that anything had happened as alleged in that interview that we saw this week. you say the problem is, the difficulty, surrounding prince andrew is separate to the royal family but he is the queen's son. isn't this bound to damage the institution of the monarchy itself toa institution of the monarchy itself to a degree? it is not going to

damage the institution of the monarchy because the monarchy is a strong institution. it has suffered all sorts of woes in years gone by. you go to 1994, the prince of wales interview where he admitted having committed adultery while still married to diana. in diana's panorama and you go back to 97 when she was killed in the car crash, there was a lot of criticism. i am jumping around a bit so the monarchy does come out of these things. this is something that affects andrew. he is something that affects andrew. he is the main player in this. it is u nfortu nate is the main player in this. it is unfortunate in terms of the queen, it is her son and every mother, every parent, likes to believe their son and will support their son and asa son and will support their son and as a public face, a public gesture, we have seen the queen leaving church with andrew, smiling, chatting. she would do that. probably seething behind the scenes. so damage to the institution, no, damage to andrew, yes. borisjohnson has proposed major changes to national insurance which could amount to a multi—billion—pound tax cut if the conservatives win the election.

the current threshold applies national insurance contributions when someone earns at least £8,628 a year. mrjohnson says he would raise the threshold to £9,500 which would mean a tax saving of around 85 pounds a year for every worker. and mrjohnson claimed the threshold might eventually rise to £12,500, which would mean a tax saving of more than 450 pounds a year. 0ur deputy political editorjohn piennar looks at the implications of the plans and how realistic they are. borisjohnson has a big job in this election, win round the hard hat vote, the working class support he needs on polling day. 0ut campaigning today, promising lower taxes wasn't enough. you said low tax. do you mean low tax for people like you or low tax for people like us? i mean low tax for people, of the working people. we are going to be cutting national insurance up to 12,000. a taste, then, of tax cuts for all, including lower earners,

but the £12,500 starting rate for national insurance would be phased in over years. there'd be an immediate increase to £9,500, worth £85 a year, say, from next april. if the conservatives were to raise the national insurance threshold this far, it would not leave them with much space at all, really, for additional spending increases or tax cuts elsewhere. they've said they want to balance the current budget. this would use up all of the headroom they have got. borisjohnson's tax promise echoed a pledge made during his party leadership campaign. his opponents, as you would expect, were not impressed. borisjohnson is throwing around spending pledges and tax cuts like confetti. but he's not telling you how he's going to pay for it. and given that his proposals for brexit will undermine our economy and reduce growth, these pledges are completely unbelievable. well, it is a regressive tax. yes, of course some people will benefit from this but the very

well—off will benefit even more than those people on low incomes. labour says the tory tax promise fails to make up for what it calls ten cruel years of cuts. let's not get over the top on this particular policy. and after ten years of austerity, if this is all the government have got to offer, they are falling way short of what they need to do. the giveaways keep coming. mrjohnson has also promised more tax cuts for higher earners as well, recently. the signs are that will have to wait. either way, so far, this election has been about ending austerity and pleasing voters. worrying about how to pay for those promises? that comes later. the pm has been good at grabbing attention, but attention and trust aren't the same thing. borisjohnson wants and needs both. john pienaar, bbc news. 0ur economics editor, faisal islam, says the manifesto commitment is more modest than it initially seemed in the prime minister's announcement. as it was explained that would have

been an incredible radical policy at which workers start to paint national insurance with the income tax level costing £10 billion, a hefty tax cuts for millions and millions of bikers. what will actually be anything manifested tomorrow is more modest, described asa tomorrow is more modest, described as a down payment, an increase of just £1000 to £9,500 and that means a tax cut of £100 and if you take into account inflation would have lifted the threshold, it is £85, to billion pound cost so a big ambition from the prime minister, note timeframe put but actually what is going to be in the manifesto pretty modest. the headlines on bbc news: the duke of york steps

down from royal duties, acknowledging that the jeffrey epstein scandal has become a "major disruption" to the royal family. the liberal democrats launch their election manifesto, promising to stop brexit and cut carbon emmissions. and at the impeachment inquiry in washington, a us diplomat says he followed donald trump's orders to pressure ukraine into investigating joe biden. with just over three weeks to polling day, the liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, has launched her pa rty‘s manifesto. there's a promise to stop brexit, and to build what they call a new future for the uk inside the european union. the party claims that staying in the eu will give a £50 billion boost to spend on public services. and on climate change, they're setting a target of generating 80% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2030. 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg, has more details. the voice of remain, jo swinson!

how she wants to make a big entrance onto the national stage. why she believes the lib dems matter. we are the only party that can win a significant number of seats from the conservatives and deprive them a majority. applause but while the nightclubs different enough to the other parties, can stopping brexit at all costs really appeal? the manifesto calls brexit a national humiliation. is that a way to describe what was a democratic decision? i do believe it has become a national embarrassment for our country. when you speak to people, they look at us with puzzlement. what message does it send to leave voters? very candidly you are seeking to overturn what was a narrow but clear decision taken by the majority of voters in this country. i recognise that the

vote in 2016 had that result but people who want to accept did not agree on what brexit looks like. —— brexit. i think it is worrying to embark ona brexit. i think it is worrying to embark on a path that the government says will make us poorer if we do not have confidence that is what the majority of the population once. few weeks ago you were a candidate to be prime minister, is that still the case? not a single vote has been cast in this election. people have a genuine choice. i recognise that is a big step to take from where the poles look like right now but i am not going to be deterred from my vision for our country. can you level with people now and admit it is extremely unlikely unless something odd happens in the campaign? it is certainly possible.

it is about trying to achieve change... if there is no majority, you could have an influential role. would you countenance working in any way with a government led byjeremy corbyn? we are not putting jeremy corbyn? we are not putting jeremy corbyn into number 10 nor boris johnson with liberal democrat votes. it is one thing to say liberal mps will not vote for that but would you actually block eitherjeremy corbyn 01’ actually block eitherjeremy corbyn or borisjohnson actually block eitherjeremy corbyn or boris johnson from actually block eitherjeremy corbyn or borisjohnson from forming a government? i do not want to see either from government? i do not want to see eitherfrom government... that is not my question. we need to be more imaginative about what happens. are you suggesting that could be a government of national unity if there is no majority? i do not rule that out as an option. beyond

brexit, it is an ambitious ma nifesto. brexit, it is an ambitious manifesto. more money for schools and thousands more teachers, cutting emissions and a special tax on health and care for the elderly. they are still controversial. you can be sure these numbers will add up. there is wide agreement the economy will be bigger if we remain in the eu and we have taken a cautious and of those estimates to calculate and we are being honest about the need to raise more money through taxation, whether it is a penny on income tax or taxing more businesses. a few weeks ago it felt the lib dems could be heading for a much bigger platform but her role may be ultimately about not what she would do instead who she would choose. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. among the pledges outlined

by the lib dems today were a promise of free childcare for children of working parents from 9 months old, there are plans to recruit 20,000 more teachers, and they're promising to make significant improvements to mental health services. 0ur chief political correspondent, vicki young, reports from cornwall, where the lib dems are trying to win seats from the conservatives. there's an election on but there's still plenty of time for seasonal celebrations. tonight, the streets of truro were lit up by hundreds of handcrafted lanterns. this was the only part of cornwall that voted to remain in the eu. but what will be on the minds of the volunteers behind this event when they go to the polls? i think there's more to the country then just brexit. i think a lot of things need to be considered. education — i'm a teacher, or an ex—teacher — but also, the lack of funding in education and the nhs. for me, brexit is important. our back on europe.

so the liberal democrats saying that they would stop brexit if they could or at least have another referendum, does that appeal to you? yes, that appeals to me the liberal democrats are confident of making progress in cornwall and the rest of the south—west, but they do face a tough challenge in many areas. there was a time when every seat in cornwall had a liberal democrat mp. today, they are all conservative, plus labour has performed far better in recent general elections, which means the lib dems need a spectacular turnaround if they are to gain seats like truro back again. this brewery is proud of its cornish ale and sells it to pubs all over the country. the business is doing well but the owner's worried about the economy slowing down after years of uncertainty over brexit. so how is the lib dems' pro—eu message going down here? i voted for remain, for the very reason that i wanted stability. now i am not so sure because ijust think we need to get out. upstairs in the office, most think this election will be dominated by brexit. the lib dems have got a very clear message on brexit.

do you know what that message is and is it something that appeals to you? yes, they will revoke article 50. i get that, they need a usp and that is their usp. whether people believe it, i think it's too little, too late, for them. i don't want another referendum. i think that's totally wrong. we voted once. that's the way we should go. i think that we would be better off remaining. they have a very strong message on that, the liberal democrats. they do but i don't know how much i trust them. but they are... and i don't know how much power they have got to be able to make that change. the lib dems' election strategy depends on voters choosing them in order to register anger over brexit, something that might not work in leave areas in the south—west. vicki young, bbc news, truro. the electoral commission is urging parties to campaign responsibly, after twitter accused the conservatives of misleading the public. they were responding to a move by the conservative media team, during last night's

televised debate, to change the name of their twitter account to that of a fact—checking service. twitter said it would take "decisive corrective action" ifa similarstunt was attempted again. a senior us diplomat has told the impeachment inquiry into donald trump that he was following the president's orders, when he urged ukraine to investigate mr trump's political rival, joe biden. gordon sondland, the us ambassador to the eu, said it was "abundantly clear" that us military aid was withheld from ukraine, to try to make the investigation go ahead. that claim is central to the impeachment case against mr trump, that he misused his public office for personal political gain, but today the president again denied any such link. impeachment, the start of the process to remove a president from office, must first be approved in the lower house of congress — the house of representatives. a two—thirds majority is then required in the senate to remove the president. 0ur north america editor, jon sopel, reports.

the day a simmering pot boiler became a blockbuster drama, with this unlikely character as the leading man. gordon sondland, a wealthy hotelier, was made ambassador to the european union on the strength of $1 million donation to donald trump's inauguration committee. now he'd come under oath to eviscerate the president's account of his dealings with ukraine. i was acting in good faith. as a presidential appointee, i followed the directions of the president. we worked with mr giuliani because the president directed us to do so. we had no desire to set any conditions. we had no desire to set any conditions on the ukrainians. the president has denied repeatedly there was a quid pro quo, or as democrats now call it, bribery. in other words, unless the ukrainians delivered what donald trump demanded,

vital military aid and a white house meeting would be withheld. was there a quid pro quo? as i testified previously with regard to the requested white house call and the white house meeting, the answer is yes. and according to sondland, everyone was in on the plan — the president, the vice president, secretary of state, chief of staff. they all knew what was going on. everyone was in the loop. it was no secret. everyone was informed via e—mail on july 19th, days before the presidential call. but one important source of comfort for the white house — sondland said he never heard directly from the president conditioning aid on an enquiry into the bidens, and that's been seized on by the president, who had his script lines carefully prepared. ready? you have the cameras rolling? i want nothing! that's what i want from ukraine. that's what i said. i want nothing! i said it twice.

gordon sondland was faced with a binary choice in his evidence today. tie himself to donald trump, be vague about the decisions made and hope forfuture protection. or he could throw the president and his personal emissary, or he could throw the president and his personal emissary, rudy giuliani, under the bus and take the vice president and secretary of state with them. he chose option two. it's hard to believe he will be eu ambassador for much longer. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. now it's time for the weather. it has already been a record—breaking autumn in places and we do not need any extra rain because the ground is completely saturated but we have some more waiver. 36 hours of data here and low pressure has not moved. an enormous area of high pressure cove rs a enormous area of high pressure

covers a good chunk of russia and coming up against that, it cannot move through. it is essentially getting trapped close to our shores. a thursday, a change in the wind direction. more south—easterly, pushing rain away from northern ireland by bringing cooler and so it will feel quite chilly compared to wednesday. elsewhere, dry weather. a little bit of drizzle across some off the coast of eastern scotland and the heals. and towards south—west england. some more rain on the way. cloudy. temperatures around 16 degrees celsius. chilly in the breeze through thursday afternoon. 0vernight, more rain across north—east scotland, nothing heavy, mind you. rain extending across england and wales for the night. not particularly cold because of the cloud. lengthier clear spells

and we could see a touch of ross. a friday, unsettled with low pressure in charge. cloudy and some bursts of rain extending northwards. somewhere in northern scotland, not particularly wet over recent months and are starting to turn milder temperatures reaching double figures for cardiff and london. for the weekend, saturday, low pressure developing pushing rain in across england and wales. localised flooding, more rain moving into lincolnshire as well. these are all quite sensitive areas. the far north of scotla nd quite sensitive areas. the far north of scotland may stay dry. in the second half of the weekend, uncertainty due to the jet stream. we will have this cut—off low developing somewhere around the mediterranean. the significance for

us mediterranean. the significance for us is we